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The Promise and Peril of Cheap Oil

(Foreign Policy) The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on Friday to do something that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago: lift the restrictions on exporting domestically produced crude oil that have been on the books since the 1970s. It’s a topic that is definitely heating up in Washington: During a Senate hearing Tuesday on energy security, in which I testified about the importance of ensuring that the 40-year-old Strategic Petroleum Reserve can continue to be effective in an emergency, the questioning was overwhelmed by senators asking U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to lift the restriction. The move, which many U.S. oil producers cheer, comes at a bleak moment for them.

Posted On : Published By : aspo-usa
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Why Earth’s future will depend on how we build our cities

(Washington Post) It may be the most important number on Earth: 1,000 gigatons. That’s roughly how much carbon dioxide humanity has left to emit, scientists say, in order to have a two-thirds chance of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius above the temperature in pre-industrial times — and thus, staying within what has often been deemed a “safe” climate threshold.

Posted On : Published By : aspo-usa
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Quote – 5 Oct 2015

“We went through that four-month window where [natural gas prices] just went sideways and they didn’t stop pumping that whole time. This could be one of those ugly seasons for futures.”

Dean Hazelcorn, trader at the Coquest Inc. brokerage in Dallas.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Peak Oil Review – 5 Oct 2015

Last week oil prices remained in the month-old trading range of around $45 a barrel in New York and $48 in London despite several major geopolitical developments and much news affecting oil’s fundamentals. However, the general situation of too much oil production and slowing economic growth remained intact. During the week, Russia announced that its production hit a new post-Soviet high of 10.74 million b/d, and along with the Saudis, Moscow shows no indication of being willing to cut oil production. US production is now down about 500,000 b/d from the high set in June, but this still seems inadequate to ease the oil glut. US oil stocks have climbed in eight of the last ten Octobers due to refinery maintenance, and there is no reason to believe that this will not happen again this year.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple