Kurt Cobb

Latest articles from Kurt

• The Uncomfortable Truth Behind Flat Carbon Emissions

  Published 31 March 2015 | viewed 9,000 times

  Last week we learned that maybe, just maybe, global carbon emissions were flat in 2014 even though the global economy supposedly grew by 3 percent.…

• Oil Price Speed Limit Presaging An Age Of Austerity?

  Published 23 March 2015 | viewed 14,360 times

  It is a staple of oil industry apologists to say that the recent swift decline in the price of oil is indicative of long-term abundance.…

• U.S. Shale A Marginal, Not Swing Producer

  Published 19 March 2015 | viewed 19,528 times

  Most people have heard the old saying: "You can put lipstick on a pig. But it's still a pig." That's sort of what is happening…

• Could This Be Saudi Arabia’s Best Kept Secret?

  Published 23 February 2015 | viewed 30,659 times

  It is popular these days to speculate about why Saudi Arabia cajoled its OPEC allies into maintaining oil production in the face of flagging world…

• Reality Check For Both EIA And IEA

  Published 10 February 2015 | viewed 9,456 times

  Recent developments are beginning to undermine the supremacy of the world's long-running energy information duopoly and its perennially optimistic narrative. Policymakers, investors and the public…

• Bad News For World Economy That No One Wants To Hear

  Published 02 February 2015 | viewed 18,215 times

  Reading the general run of financial headlines might lead one to believe that price declines in those commodities which are highly sensitive to economic conditions…

• Why The World Needs Both Shale And Tar Sands

  Published 26 January 2015 | viewed 11,514 times

  What the current oil price slump means for world oil supply is starting to emerge. "Layoffs," "cutbacks," "delays," and "cancellations" are words one sees in…

• A Word Of Warning About EIA Forecasts

  Published 21 January 2015 | viewed 17,738 times

  Put this in the category of things that can't be true, but that are nevertheless affirmed with a straight face: The U.S. Energy Information Administration…

• Top Five Possible Energy Surprises For 2015

  Published 30 December 2014 | viewed 17,491 times

  The coming year is likely to be as full of surprises in the field of energy as 2014 was. We just don't know which surprises!…

• The Hidden Costs Of Cheap Oil

  Published 15 December 2014 | viewed 19,966 times

  As a consumer of oil, you may regard recent sharp declines in the world oil price as a blessing. But... If you work in the…

• How The US Could Beat OPEC But Won’t

  Published 09 December 2014 | viewed 16,794 times

  OPEC has declared war on American oil production with the intention of making the country more dependent on imported oil and on oil in general.…

• Will OPEC’s Decision Lead To The End Of The American Shale Dream?

  Published 02 December 2014 | viewed 11,983 times

  To paraphrase Mark Twain: Rumors of OPEC's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Breathless coverage of the rise in U.S. oil production in the last few…

• Russia-China Deal Could Kill U.S. LNG Exports

  Published 18 November 2014 | viewed 35,410 times

  Russia and China have signed two large natural gas deals in the last six months as Russia turns its attention eastward in reaction to sanctions…

• Why The Current “Oil Glut” Could Lead To A Price Spike

  Published 03 November 2014 | viewed 24,449 times

  Back in March 1999 "The Economist" magazine carried a cover photo of two men drenched in oil as they attempted to close a faulty valve…

• Oil Market Complexity Means Prices Make The Story

  Published 22 October 2014 | viewed 6,547 times

  When the world's business editors sent their reporters canvassing to find out what is behind the recent plunge in the world oil price, they were…

• World War III: It's Here And Energy Is Largely Behind It

  Published 16 October 2014 | viewed 14,423 times

  I've been advancing a thesis for several months with friends that World War III is now underway. It's just that it's not the war we…

• Yergin Wins Energy Security Medal Despite Views On LNG And Peak Oil

  Published 07 October 2014 | viewed 7,328 times

  Where is George Orwell when you need him?It is a supreme irony that cornucopian oil industry mouthpiece and consultant Daniel Yergin should receive America's first…

• Orwellian Newspeak And The Oil Industry's Fake Abundance Story

  Published 15 July 2014 | viewed 18,441 times

  When what you are saying is so obviously at odds with the plain truth, it is useful to choose your words carefully to obscure this…

• We Will Never Run Out of Oil (Which is Entirely Beside the Point)

  Published 21 June 2014 | viewed 13,931 times

  Harvard economist Morris Adelman, famous for saying that we will never run out of oil, died last month. What followed the announcement of his death…

• Throwing Energy Away – From Trash to Electricity

  Published 10 June 2014 | viewed 5,967 times

  Philipp Schmidt-Pathmann wakes up every day thinking about trash. What got him thinking about it in the first place is how much of it is…