James Hamilton

Latest articles from James

• Low Oil Prices Could Point To A More Serious Problem

  Published 15 December 2014 | viewed 20,768 times

  West Texas Intermediate sold for $105 a barrel at the start of July, but ended last week at $58. The most important factor has been…

• The Oil Glut And An Inevtiable Oil Price Rebound

  Published 01 December 2014 | viewed 21,615 times

  The world is awash in oil, I’m hearing. The problem is, it’s fairly expensive oil. Take for example Canada. The country that has managed to…

• What Low Oil Prices Mean For The U.S. Economy

  Published 24 November 2014 | viewed 18,863 times

  For the last 4 years, the national average retail price of gasoline in the United States stayed within a range of $3.25-$4.00 a gallon. But…

• How And When Will Saudi Arabia Respond To Low Oil Prices?

  Published 20 October 2014 | viewed 14,326 times

  Oil prices (along with prices of many other commodities) have fallen dramatically since last summer. Some observers are waiting to see if Saudi Arabia responds…

• How Long Can U.S. Production Survive Low Oil Prices?

  Published 13 October 2014 | viewed 18,910 times

  For the last 3 years, European Brent has mostly traded in a range of $100-$120 with West Texas intermediate selling at a $5 to $20…

• The Changing Face of World Oil Markets

  Published 23 July 2014 | viewed 8,874 times

  Here’s the introduction to a new paper I just finished:This year the oil industry celebrated its 155th birthday, continuing a rich history of booms, busts…

• Keeping Oil Production From Falling

  Published 21 July 2014 | viewed 6,974 times

  Production flows from a given oil field naturally decline over time, but we keep trying harder and technology keeps improving. Which force is winning the…

• Iraq, oil markets, and the U.S. economy

  Published 16 June 2014 | viewed 8,111 times

  The group is calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham, translated as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, or ISIS.…

• Commodity Prices and Resource Scarcity

  Published 02 June 2014 | viewed 5,835 times

  How has the world managed to increase both population and living standards on a finite planet?A key feature of raw commodities is that they are…

• US Shale Dealt a Blow as Oil Majors Struggle to Turn a Profit

  Published 07 October 2013 | viewed 15,046 times

  Newly exploited tight oil formations account for more than 100% of the increase in U.S. field production of crude oil since 2005. But that doesn't…

• How Events in Syria Affect the Global Oil Markets

  Published 09 September 2013 | viewed 16,596 times

  The growing likelihood [1], [2], [3] of U.S. military action in Syria seems to be one factor in the recent sharp rise in oil prices.Source:…

• Getting Used to High Oil Prices

  Published 02 September 2013 | viewed 18,118 times

  We've been seeing oil over $100 a barrel and gasoline above $3.40 a gallon for much of the last 3 years. Those prices would have…

• Peak Oil is Dead! How Accurate have Past Predictions Been?

  Published 04 April 2013 | viewed 14,611 times

  "Peak oil is dead," Rob Wile declared last week. Colin Sullivan says it has "gone the way of the Flat Earth Society", writing:Those behind the…

• Why Have US Carbon Emissions Declined so Much?

  Published 27 March 2013 | viewed 6,524 times

  Emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel consumption in the United States have fallen remarkably since 2008, with recent levels the lowest since 1995. Here…

• The EIA Says Now is the Time to Drop Fossil Fuel Subsidies

  Published 05 March 2013 | viewed 5,441 times

  With domestic oil production soaring, and petroleum and coal sector profits rising at a rapid clip, now seems the right time to cut back on…

• Crude Oil Pipelines Planned for the Future

  Published 18 February 2013 | viewed 13,356 times

  The EIA last week released a nice summary of planned additional U.S. pipeline capacity.The reversal of the Seaway Pipeline began last May to carry 150,000…

• Analyzing Changes in WTI, Brent, and Gasoline Prices

  Published 16 February 2013 | viewed 9,661 times

  Here I comment on some recent developments affecting the prices of WTI, Brent, and gasoline.West Texas Intermediate is a particular grade of crude oil whose…

• If Oil Production is Growing Why are Pump Prices not Falling?

  Published 11 February 2013 | viewed 15,247 times

  Those who have been told that oil production is booming may be wondering why the prices of oil and gasoline are climbing again.Price of Brent…

• Where to Invest in 2013

  Published 05 February 2013 | viewed 5,597 times

  With the stock market setting new 5-year highs, I was interested to take another look at some of the long-term fundamentals underlying equity values.On the…

• Is the U.S. Energy Boom being Oversold?

  Published 19 December 2012 | viewed 5,846 times

  I attended the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco two weeks ago at which I heard a very interesting presentation by David Hughes of…