Month: December 2008

It was another down week for oil prices. Starting out in the low $40s, oil fell as low as $35 a barrel before jumping to a close at $37.71 after Continue Reading

Of all the countries exporting oil, Russia seems to be suffering the most serious consequences from the precipitous drop in oil prices. The Russian stock market has collapsed and the Continue Reading

It is now generally acknowledged that if the automobile is to have a future, it will be completely or partially electrically powered. GM is staking its future on its plug-in Continue Reading

(clips from recent Peak Oil News dailies are indicated by date and item #)          Japan, the world’s third-largest consumer of oil, said its crude imports fell 12 percent during Continue Reading

PEMEX has released new numbers showing that its oil production slid by 9.3 percent during the first 11 months to 2.8 million b/d.  Through November, exports have fallen by 17.3 Continue Reading

The annual fight over payment for the gas that Ukraine buys from Russia is once again in full force. Moscow is warning the EU that it may cut supplies flowing Continue Reading

Nothing that governments can do seems to stop falling oil prices; Zero interest rates, Detroit bailouts and substantial OPEC production cuts have had no effect on markets that are fixated Continue Reading

In the IEA’s annual report, “The World Energy Outlook 2008”, the agency says that “although global oil production in total is not expected to peak before 2030, production of conventional Continue Reading

Crude prices started the week with the January contract touching $49 on Monday on prospects for an OPEC production cut and closed out the week trading as low as $32 Continue Reading

After touting for weeks the “sizeable” production cuts that would drive oil prices back to appropriate levels, OPEC officials were obviously disappointed by the immediate results of the Oran meeting. Continue Reading

Alarms continued to sound around the world last week bemoaning the sudden drop in oil exploration and production. Active drilling rigs in the US have fallen to 1,790 – down Continue Reading

After weeks of buildup the OPEC meeting in Oran finished with a surprise and an anticlimax. The surprise came in the form of an extra 200,000 b/d production cut tacked Continue Reading

Fatih Birol, chief economist to the International Energy Agency, told the UK’s Guardian newspaper that conventional crude output could plateau in 2020 due a lack of investment caused by the Continue Reading

The clock continues to run down on the US auto industry as the administration struggles with details of the loans it has promised to GM and Chrysler. Both firms say Continue Reading

Later today President-elect Obama will introduce the team that will lead the development and implementation of the country’s energy and environmental policies for the next four years. The names released Continue Reading

So far this week oil prices have gyrated in the low $40s, torn between the prospects of an OPEC production cut,  various bailout and stimulus plans, and gloomier economic news. Continue Reading

The politics within OPEC are coming under closer scrutiny as it becomes clearer that a major production cut is the only thing standing in the way of still lower oil Continue Reading

Although not yet widely appreciated, a key underpinning for economic recovery will be the size and effectiveness of investment in oil production projects. Without substantial investment, world oil production is Continue Reading

For a second week, the world’s attention was focused on efforts in Washington to sustain the US automobile industry. GM and Chrysler claim they will be out of operating cash Continue Reading