2007-07-24

Increasing Oil Production?

From the BBC:
Oil prices settled below $77 in London, after comments from producer cartel Opec added to speculation that it might increase output.

Brent oil, seen as the best indicator of global prices, settled 78 cents down at $76.86 per barrel in London as sweet crude settled at $74.89 in New York.

It comes a day after Opec boss Mohammed al-Hamli aired concerns about the economic impact of near-record prices.

Analysts remain unsure whether Opec is likely to change output by year end.
As a peaknik, I'm obviously not convinced. What this report shows, however, is that the market obviously believes that production CAN be increased by OPEC. This is actually a serious problem as it means that the market has either discounted, or is ignorant, of Peak Oil.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good points OSO... the marketplace cannot function without the right info.

But here's the thing... aren't government responsible for deciding how we plan our cities?

Surely it's time to dust off your Little Red Handbook, or is that Little Green Handbook, or is that a "Watermelon" handbook, and present some things you'd like to see the government doing as well?

Remember the Hirsch report.... 20 years of a large-scale program for a smooth transition, and that's using stacks of coal to liquids which could cook the planet 4 times over. When are we going to learn? As much as I respect Hirsch (a genius who has worked on Fusion prototypes and even has one plan named after him) if the Hirsch report can overlook Global Warming to that extend by recommending a large scale run to coal liquefaction, then we are in real trouble.

And they basically expect a great depression because of peak oil... and are obviously more worried about it and soaring unemployment than Global Warming at this stage.