Obama’s budget
A combination of President Obama’s first budget, the recently passed stimulus bill and the impending climate-change bill could add up to a massive shift in US energy policy. The major energy companies are apoplectic over the proposed changes which impose heavy taxes on the old fossil fuels, largely by removing long standing tax breaks, and transfer billions to help develop renewable sources of
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Production and Prices
Oil prices climbed as high as $48 on Monday, collapsed to the low $40s on Tuesday and remained there for the rest of the week. The fall was precipitated by another round of bad economic news which once again outweighed the prospects of OPEC production cuts. Although OPEC officials maintain that the organization was on track to finish its 4.2 million b/d production cut by the end of January, tanker-trackers
Obama’s stimulus
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan currently making its way through the Congress contains, among much else, the seeds of a multi-billion dollar overhaul of energy. As part of the efforts to sell the bill, President Obama gave a brief speech last week outlining his goals for revamping the supply and use of energy. Starting with the assertion that “America’s dependence on oil is
Venezuela
Of all the oil exporting countries, Venezuela appears to be suffering the worst consequences from the rapid fall in oil prices last year. Russia and Iran may be running close seconds. Caracas says it has averaged $36 a barrel for its oil this year, well below the $60 planned in the state budget. For several weeks it has been rumored that Venezuela has not been paying its bills and that payments on
Briefs February 2, 2009
Fatih Birol, the chief economist at the International Energy Agency, estimates that around $100 billion in projects, mostly outside of OPEC, have been delayed or canceled over the past year because of weaker oil prices. In some cases, companies are waiting for lower costs. In others, they are deferring projects that have become unprofitable at today’s oil prices.
Quote of the Week
“Russian oil production, which was boosted to new heights in 2007, has now fallen 1.0% in calendar year 2008. More relevant now to the world, however, is the ability of Russia to export oil…2008 saw Russian oil exports fall by over 5.00% and the outlook is not pretty from here. Russia simply does not have the kind of dirt-cheap labor or materials advantage that it enjoyed just 10 years
Dangerous Oil
There has been much debate recently within the defense community between adherents of the so-called “era of persistent conflict,” which posits future war will look a lot like today’s low-level wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those who believe we must maintain our traditional focus on large scale conflict against conventional armies. Thus far, the debate has been seen as occurring
