Last Week
It was yet another wild ride for oil prices last week as the markets continued to balance unsettling economic news, Israel’s attack on Hamas in Gaza, and the pace of OPEC’s production cuts. Prices were up 8 percent on Monday as the Israeli attacks began, down on Tuesday on economic concerns, and took a 14 percent jump on Wednesday due to lower US refinery utilization, higher US demand,
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Briefs - January 5, 2009
Russia’s oil production fell by around one percent in 2008, the country’s first annual decline in a decade and possibly a sign of things to come. The decline is expected to continue because of aging reserves and plunging oil prices, which combine with heavy taxation to leave producers with limited cash to invest in maintaining production and opening new fields. (1/4, #13) Russian crude
Quote of the Week
“Just as the world does not work too well at $147 oil, the energy industry does not work well with oil at $37. If $147 oil was a problem, then $37 oil is actually NOT the solution. Cheap oil might even be worse for the world over the long term.” — Byron King, energy analyst/author
The Top 10 Peak-Oil-Related Stories of 2008
1. The Global Recession The impact that declining world oil production will have during the coming year, and possibly longer, is now inextricably intertwined with the course of the economic recession that is sweeping the world. During 2008 the world’s stock markets lost some $30 trillion in investor equity. Nearly every major government was forced to begin massive bailouts of financial institutions
