Gail Tverberg

Latest articles from Gail

• BP Data Suggests We Are Reaching Peak Energy Demand

  Published 24 June 2015 | viewed 9,991 times

  Some people talk about peak energy (or oil) supply. They expect high prices and more demand than supply. Other people talk about energy demand hitting…

• Why EIA, IEA, And BP Oil Forecasts Are Too High

  Published 10 June 2015 | viewed 10,538 times

  When forecasting how much oil will be available in future years, a standard approach seems to be the following:1. Figure out how much GDP growth…

• The “Upside Down” Peak Oil Story

  Published 07 May 2015 | viewed 13,850 times

  The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article called, Glut of Capital and Labor Challenge Policy Makers: Global oversupply extends beyond commodities, elevating deflation risk.…

• Why It Won’t Matter If Oil Prices Rebound

  Published 15 April 2015 | viewed 16,564 times

  What is the real story of energy and the economy? We hear two predominant energy stories. One is the story economists tell: The economy can…

• The Real Problem Behind Low Oil Prices

  Published 13 March 2015 | viewed 24,496 times

  For a long time, there has been a belief that the decline in oil supply will come by way of high oil prices. Demand will…

• Oil Limits Could Undermine Our Entire Economic System

  Published 16 February 2015 | viewed 12,438 times

  Many readers have asked me to explain debt. They also wonder, “Why can’t we just cancel debt and start over?” if we are reaching oil…

• How The Economy Is Tied To Energy – Part 2

  Published 05 February 2015 | viewed 11,989 times

  In Part 1 of this series, I talked about why cheap fuels act to create economic growth. In this post, we will look at some…

• How The Economy Is Tied To Energy

  Published 28 January 2015 | viewed 16,500 times

  How does the economy really work? In my view, there are many erroneous theories in published literature. I have been investigating this topic and have…

• Current Oil Crisis More Dangerous Than You Think

  Published 08 January 2015 | viewed 111,234 times

  The price of oil is down. How should we expect the economy to perform in 2015 and 2016? Newspapers in the United States seem to…

• Economic Inefficiency Means Low Oil Prices Are Here To Stay

  Published 31 December 2014 | viewed 18,377 times

  Since about 2001, several sectors of the economy have become increasingly inefficient, in the sense that it takes more resources to produce a given output,…

• Ten Reasons Why A Sustained Drop In Oil Prices Could Be Catastrophic

  Published 08 December 2014 | viewed 73,159 times

  Not long ago, I wrote Ten Reasons Why High Oil Prices are a Problem. If high oil prices can be a problem, how can low…

• The Cold, Hard Truth About Renewables

  Published 19 November 2014 | viewed 15,968 times

  Does the recent climate accord between US and China mean that many countries will now forge ahead with renewables and other green solutions? I think…

• Oil Price Slide - The Real Problem

  Published 06 November 2014 | viewed 34,624 times

  The world is in a dangerous place now. A large share of oil sellers need the revenue from oil sales. They have to continue producing,…

• 8 Reasons For Our Oil Price Predicament

  Published 23 October 2014 | viewed 17,131 times

  A person might think that oil prices would be fairly stable. Prices would set themselves at a level that would be high enough for the…

• Why Peak Oil Predictions Haven’t Come To Pass

  Published 09 October 2014 | viewed 11,497 times

  On Monday, September 29, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a story called “Why Peak Oil Predictions Haven’t Come True.” The story is written as…

• Could Low Oil Prices Point To A Debt Bubble Collapse?

  Published 22 September 2014 | viewed 27,591 times

  Oil and other commodity prices have recently been dropping. Is this good news, or bad? Figure 1. Trend in Commodity Prices since January 2011. Brent spot…

• An Energy-Related Reason Why US Healthcare Outcomes are Awful

  Published 10 September 2014 | viewed 7,526 times

  Back in January 2013, the US Institute of Medicine published a report called U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health. This poor health…

• Making Sense Of The US Oil Story

  Published 07 August 2014 | viewed 9,340 times

  We frequently see stories telling us how well the United States is doing at oil extraction. The fact that there are stories in the press…

• World Oil Production at 3/31/2014–Where are We Headed?

  Published 24 July 2014 | viewed 60,398 times

  The standard way to make forecasts of almost anything is to look at recent trends and assume that this trend will continue, at least for…

• Debt: Eight Reasons This Time is Different

  Published 08 July 2014 | viewed 7,191 times

  In today’s world, we have a huge amount of debt outstanding. Academic researchers Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogart have become famous for their book This…