The Oil Drum

Biography

The Oil Drum seeks to facilitate civil, evidence-based discussions about energy and its impacts on the future of humanity, as well as serve as a leading online knowledge-base for energy-related topics.

Latest articles from The

• Why the US Cannot Extract Most of its Oil Reserves

  Published 04 April 2012 | viewed 3,793 times

  People are often confused about the overall extent of U.S. oil reserves. Some claim that the U.S. has hundreds of billions or even trillions of…

• Oil Production in the 21st Century and Peak Oil

  Published 27 March 2012 | viewed 5,784 times

  The Deepwater Horizon incident demonstrated that most of the oil left is deep offshore or in other locations difficult to reach. Moreover, to obtain the…

• The Global Economy is Now More Vulnerable to Oil Prices than Ever

  Published 14 March 2012 | viewed 4,473 times

  This paper examines the impact of oil price changes on global economic growth. Unlike some recent studies, this paper finds that oil price rises have…

• How Closely are Oil Prices Tied to Economic Activity?

  Published 21 February 2012 | viewed 3,630 times

  Recent developments in oil markets and the global economy have, once again, triggered concerns about the impact of oil price shocks around the world. This…

• Companies Closing Shale Operations: Where Does the Industry Go from Here?

  Published 09 February 2012 | viewed 4,239 times

  On January 23, 2012, Chesapeake Energy announced that it would curtail drilling in shale gas plays in the United States. Subsequently, other operators have followed…

• Why Oil Prices Are About to Collapse

  Published 12 January 2012 | viewed 49,163 times

  All is not as it appears in the global oil markets, which have become entirely dysfunctional and no longer fit for its purpose, in my…

• Kurdistan's Huge Oil Reserves Lend Credibility to Iraqi Claims of 115 Billion Barrels

  Published 10 January 2012 | viewed 4,369 times

  Whilst much of Iraq may be viewed as in a metastable social and political state, the semi-autonomous northern region of Kurdistan has enjoyed relative peace…

• Former IEA Oil Expert: Oil Production Could Begin to Decline in 2015

  Published 09 January 2012 | viewed 2,110 times

  The following interview is a guest post by Matthieu Auzanneau, a freelance journalist living in Paris. This article previously appeared in Le Monde.Olivier Rech developed…

• Massive Oil Field Discovered in the North Sea

  Published 28 December 2011 | viewed 4,948 times

  With relatively little fanfare on the international stage, Lundin Petroleum and Statoil (and partners) have just recently jointly discovered one of the largest oil fields…

• A Sobering Look at the Bakken Oil Boom

  Published 15 December 2011 | viewed 7,892 times

  “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.”…

• Possible Implications of an Iranian Oil Embargo

  Published 06 December 2011 | viewed 2,376 times

  Does Thursday's announcement that the EU is considering to ban oil imports from Iran epitomise the draining of power from west to east? The big…

• Limits to Energy Return On Investment Calculations

  Published 28 November 2011 | viewed 1,030 times

  Hall and Day (2009) report that the EROI for coal might be as high as 80 and that for hydropower, EROI is 40. Does this…

• This is no Normal Recession: Are we Prepared for $100 Oil

  Published 18 October 2011 | viewed 7,452 times

  David Cameron describes the economic downturn as "no normal recession" UK Prime Minister David Cameron to party conference, 5th October 2011. This is the fourth…

• Creating a Sustainable World: Can it be Done?

  Published 21 September 2011 | viewed 1,677 times

  It is clear there are limits to the pollution a given ecosystem can absorb, the level of resources that can be depleted, and debt that…

• Low Carbon Strategies and Economic Growth

  Published 29 August 2011 | viewed 1,813 times

  At the intersection of global energy depletion and concerns about human impact on the environment lie some serious and oft overlooked issues. Largely gone from…

• Large Scale Energy Storage and the Renewable Energy Problem

  Published 12 August 2011 | viewed 2,978 times

  As we look to transition away from fossil fuels, solar and wind are attractive options. Key factors making them compelling are: the inexhaustibility of the…

• The Smart Energy District: Solar Technology and Sustainable Design & Development

  Published 04 August 2011 | viewed 3,789 times

  This is a guest post by Raymond Kaiser, LEED AP, Director of Green Building Services for Stewart Engineering Consultants. Mr. Kaiser has considerable experience in…

• Peak Coal and Chinese Economic Growth

  Published 06 July 2011 | viewed 2,081 times

  This is a guest post by Dr. Minqi Li. Dr. Li was a political prisoner in China from 1990 to 1992. He received a PhD…

• The Strategic Importance of Bahrain to Saudi Arabia

  Published 29 June 2011 | viewed 2,953 times

  The small archipelago nation of Bahrain can't seem to stay out of the news lately, as the government continues its containment of civil protests that…

• Shells Floating LNG Project – A Game Changer for the Energy Industry

  Published 07 June 2011 | viewed 1,671 times

  Shell recently announced that their Prelude floating LNG project off northwest Western Australia has passed another milestone, with the $US12.6 billion ($11.8bn) project receiving final…