The Oil Drum

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• Energy Issues and Political Intervention

  Published 27 April 2011 | viewed 10,802 times

  Energy is back in the public consciousness and perhaps higher up political priority lists than at any time since the summer of 2008. Disruptions in…

• Saudi Arabia Has Not Made up for the Drop in Libyan Oil Production

  Published 18 April 2011 | viewed 11,485 times

  The OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report and IEA Oil Market Report both came out on Tuesday last week and allowed us to see how events…

• Saudi Arabia Oil Exports to Decrease Due to Increased Domastic Demand

  Published 14 April 2011 | viewed 29,100 times

  Oil importing nations have long treated Saudi Arabia as an infinitely deep well of crude oil supplies. In 2005, Matt Simmon’s book Twilight in the…

• Maintaining High Farm Productivity Whilst Reducing Dependence on Fossil Fuels

  Published 04 April 2011 | viewed 7,103 times

  Conventional production agriculture relies heavily on fossil fuels, particularly in its ability to provide high yields at low labor costs. However, the uncertain future of…

• The Fate of the Global Nuclear Industry Hangs in the Balance

  Published 16 March 2011 | viewed 7,672 times

  Yesterday, I believe, will go down in history as one of the most significant for mankind. Whilst most citizens of the developed and developing world…

• Oil Production Fears Increase as Unrest Spreads to Oman

  Published 09 March 2011 | viewed 8,397 times

  There are reports that the unrest in the Middle East has spread to the Sultanate of Oman. While at the moment there have been only…

• Nine Challenges Facing the Alternative Energy Industry

  Published 04 March 2011 | viewed 39,784 times

  The scramble for alternatives is on. High oil prices, growing concerns over energy security, and the threat of climate change have all stimulated investment in…

• A Detailed Look at Urban Energy Consumption

  Published 02 March 2011 | viewed 19,735 times

  Everyone knows that it takes energy to produce anything. The energy used in mining, transport, processing, manufacturing, delivery, and disposal is “embodied” in every product…

• Oil Supply Disruptions in The Middle East Now Becoming Evident

  Published 01 March 2011 | viewed 8,740 times

  The impacts of the disruptions in the Middle East are now starting to become evident as supplies no longer flow into the delivery pipelines that…

• Libya's Role in World Oil Production, Past and Future

  Published 24 February 2011 | viewed 17,632 times

  Libya is a relatively new country, having declared independence in 1951. For the last 39 years, the country has been ruled by a single man,…

• Historical Insights into the Dark Side of Coal

  Published 23 February 2011 | viewed 7,877 times

  I have a special emotional relationship with Telemaco Signorini's painting "The Riverbank." The area shown in the panting has changed very little from the time…

• Egypt’s Declining Oil Fields Lead to Growing Reliance on Natural Gas

  Published 18 February 2011 | viewed 19,886 times

  Current events in Egypt and throughout the Arab world have captivated world attention and with good reason — in 2009, Arab nations exported approximately 17…

• Renewable Energy and Job Creation: Everything You Have Read Up Until Now is Wrong!

  Published 21 January 2011 | viewed 11,751 times

  The current economic distress has invigorated the discussion about jobs creation as a way to incubate new growth. Alternative energy advocates who previously have been…

• Peak Oil and Limits of the Hubbert Model

  Published 18 January 2011 | viewed 14,321 times

  The Hubbert model says that, within a reasonably large region, oil production should follow a bell shaped curve. When the model is applied to worldwide…

• Declining Crude Oil Production and Incorrect Energy Data

  Published 14 January 2011 | viewed 9,837 times

  The dramatic fall of Mexican oil production, and its largest field Cantarell, is often cited as a signature example of the problems facing Non-OPEC supply.…

• The Hype Surrounding Peak Coal

  Published 11 January 2011 | viewed 10,635 times

  Lately there has been a mild, but growing, level of hype about the coming epoch of peak world coal extraction. As with any other non-renewable…

• Why Peak Oil Matters

  Published 21 December 2010 | viewed 17,778 times

  It is easy to become befuddled by the current discourse on peak oil. Peak oil is defined generally as the point at which the flow…

• How Different Energy Sources Create Electricity Price Differences Between Countries

  Published 14 December 2010 | viewed 28,007 times

  In this post an overview is given of electricity prices in a large number of countries, mainly members of the OECD. This shows how prices…

• A Detailed Look at the Middle East OPEC Oil Reserves

  Published 01 December 2010 | viewed 15,300 times

  According to the BP statistical review of world energy 2010, the big six Middle East OPEC oil producers (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Unite Arab…

• Despite Recent Reports Peak Coal is a Long Way Off

  Published 27 November 2010 | viewed 7,722 times

  There has been a growing trend toward predicting an imminent peak to the production of coal. Just this last week Nature carried an article that…