July 17, 2007
Peak Oil Politics
According to a recent International Energy Agency report (subscription), cast in moderate diplomat-speak, the world is now officially running out of oil. It's a genuine milestone that within short order has led to the creation in the UK of an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas, and this week the admission by one of the pillars of the UK media establishment, William Rees-Mogg, that "the world is coming to the end of the age of oil." In the UK, at least, energy policy is now open to rational discussion. If only the same were true in the U.S. Here, I talk with John Hemming MP, a principal behind the formation of the APPG. It was good of him to take the time to talk with me, which I really appreciate. Total runtime thirty minutes.
Comments
Peak oil is complete bunk. The problem with oil is that there is way too much of it. In Iraq, for example. Selling the scarcity myth, keeping production low, and hence prices high is the name of the game.
Yes, production is peaking in various countries. But production does not need to reflect reserves. Nothing we have been told about reserves is anywhere near reality.
Only when appreciating the truth about oil, and the reasons for the west to want a high oil price, can you start to gain an overview of what is really going on in geopolitics.
Posted by: Norman Feinstein | July 17, 2007 11:42 AM
"Peak oil is complete bunk."
Dear Norman,
You appear to be making assertions from a position of complete ignorance of the subject, and the belief that a high oil price is the result of some political agenda on the part of consuming countries...
Yes, there is a lot of oil still in the ground but that is not the point. I suggest you visit The Oil Drum and do a little research before coming up with unsubstantiated assertions which are so divorced from reality. I would recommend you read the two part primer recently posted by Gail the Actuary.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2743
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2782
Once you've absorbed that, the recently released International Energy Agency report makes interesting reading.
Best Regards,
David
Posted by: David Wilson | July 18, 2007 7:49 AM
Sorry Norman Feinstein it is you who is in deep denial. The physical reality of a finite resource peaking in supply is only a matter of time. The only question is when, and the evidence is rapidly becoming overwhelming that the when is now.
Posted by: Ralph Williams | July 18, 2007 7:57 AM
A lot of information in a short interview. At last the problem is gaining some traction in media — at least in the UK. Mr. Hemming seems very well versed on the subject.
A friend here in Japan who knows some politicians in the Diet tells me they are also well aware of peak oil issues, but that it is politically a no-win situation for them to discuss it publicly. The efforts to deal with it are therefore cloaked under the climate change issue which has wide public support here.
The US evidently has its own plan, called the "war on terror", the last man standing military option.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the future interviews on the topic.
Posted by: Pandabonium | July 19, 2007 1:55 AM
"Solar to hydrogen" (Google it) technology is the promising new thing in the direction of the promised hydrogen economy. If this is as viable and market ready as it is being made out to be a sudden major surge in the demand for it would undermine the-oil-wars-to-keep-the- price-of-oil-high.
Posted by: Dean Metcalfe | October 8, 2007 2:59 PM