Gail Tverberg

Latest articles from Gail

• The Largest Risk to the US Economy Today is an Oil Shock – Awareness of this Risk is Minimal

  Published 07 March 2011 | viewed 6,636 times

  Steve Kopits, Managing Director of Douglas-Westood consulting firm, made a presentation called “Oil, the Economy, and Policy” to the US House of Representatives Energy Subcommittee…

• Despite Huge Resources Only a Small Amount of Oil is Recoverable

  Published 02 March 2011 | viewed 12,305 times

  The world holds a huge amount of oil resources. Besides liquid oil, there is very heavy oil in various forms. There is also liquid oil…

• High Oil Prices and Recessions

  Published 28 February 2011 | viewed 28,611 times

  The idea that high oil prices cause recessions shouldn’t be any surprise those who have been following my writings, or those of Dave Murphy, or…

• Why a Stable Libya is So Important to OPEC and World Oil Production

  Published 23 February 2011 | viewed 16,073 times

  We keep hearing about unrest in the Middle East and Northern Africa, with Libya being the latest country to get top billing. Why all of…

• Why are WTI and Brent Prices so Different?

  Published 22 February 2011 | viewed 11,931 times

  We have all heard at least a partial explanation as to why West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent prices are so far apart. We have…

• A Look Behind Rising Food Prices: Population Growth; Rising Oil Prices; Weather Events

  Published 21 February 2011 | viewed 10,518 times

  Rising food prices, crowned by a recent record high spike and chronicled in the graph below, have played a role in triggering the spread of…

• Is shale Oil the Answer to Peak Oil?

  Published 17 February 2011 | viewed 7,541 times

  Readers have been asking questions about a couple of shale oil articles recently. One is an AP article called New drilling method opens vast oil…

• Peak Oil: Low Quality is What is Killing Us, Not Low Quantity

  Published 14 February 2011 | viewed 13,120 times

  The Peak Oil argument focuses on the question “How much oil?” We spend a lot of time discussing the exact inputs for Hubbert Linearization and…

• Don’t Count on Natural Gas to Solve US Energy Problems

  Published 09 February 2011 | viewed 14,488 times

  We often hear statements suggesting that by ramping up shale gas production, the US can raise total natural gas production and solve many of its…

• How is an oil shortage like a missing cup of flour?

  Published 03 February 2011 | viewed 6,110 times

  If I bake a batch of cookies and the recipe calls for two cups of flour, but I have only one, it is pretty clear…

• Egypt’s Problems and Their Affect on the Rest of the World

  Published 02 February 2011 | viewed 16,301 times

  We have all been reading about Egypt in the newspapers, and wonder what is behind their problems. Let me offer a few insights. At least…

• Why Clean Energy Can’t Exist on its Own

  Published 29 January 2011 | viewed 13,331 times

  To listen to President Obama, you would think that clean energy is our next salvation. But clean energy can’t exist on its own. Clean energy…

• Is Now a Good Time to Pay Down Your Debts?

  Published 25 January 2011 | viewed 7,294 times

  The question of whether a person should pay down debts comes up often, when there are forecasts that suggest unemployment rates and consequently debt defaults…

• Preparing for Life in a Peak Oil World

  Published 23 January 2011 | viewed 32,837 times

  We know that peak oil will be here soon, and we feel like we should be doing something. But what? It is frustrating to know…

• Rising Oil Prices and Municipal Bond Defaults

  Published 17 January 2011 | viewed 8,516 times

  I have written quite often saying that rising oil prices can be expected to lead to debt defaults. For a while, some of this was…

• The Issues with Corn Ethanol

  Published 12 January 2011 | viewed 14,658 times

  Brian Westenhaus, over at New Energy and Fuel, has been telling me what a good product corn ethanol is. He is very familiar with raising…

• Why Nuclear May Not be the Answer to Oil Shortages

  Published 07 January 2011 | viewed 8,284 times

  If oil is in short supply, what should we do? One idea is to add nuclear, but this doesn’t work as well as one would…

• Natural Gas: Continually Running Into New Obstacles

  Published 05 January 2011 | viewed 8,304 times

  Natural gas would like to be bridge fuel as we deal with oil shortages, but it keeps running into obstacles. A big obstacle is the…

• Food Prices 18.5% Higher than a Year Ago

  Published 01 January 2011 | viewed 10,857 times

  I am busy working on some bigger projects that I can’t write about yet, but I thought I would put up a little scanned in…

• Oil Industry Still Coming Under Fire

  Published 31 December 2010 | viewed 5,642 times

  Bashing the oil industry seems to be popular. The most recent example is the New York Times’ editorial They haven’t learned. I don’t think any…