Welcome to Peak Oil Panic!

How do I figure this is good news? Simply because I recall about a year ago all sorts of analysts were calling for $100 barrel by the end of the year. Thats why.

right here,

WORLD oil prices breached $US76 again in
London and hit 73 dollars in New York overnight, approaching record
highs as more kidnappings in Nigeria added to global supply concerns.

Brent North Sea crude for August delivery touched
$US76.34 per barrel, a level last reached on August 10, 2006. The
contract is about $US2 from the record $US78.65 hit the same month.

Ok, its been widely noted that Hubbert’s peak did not factor in technological advances.

Here is a good example. Composites.

In our generation we have moved from wooden tennis rackets, to carbon/composite rackets becoming the norm, with the wooden racket becoming a historic curiosity.

Those are consumer consumables, imagine the advances that are being made in commercial high-performance materials - like maybe those that are used for drilling in deep water.

Here is a bit of an article on some of the development of composity goodness that just may stave off “The Dreaded Peak Of Death”, for maybe a generation or two.

DeepFlex also has patented a lightweight catenary system, comprised of proprietary external weights in the touchdown area, which put tension in their extremely lightweight, high-pressure tubulars that hang from floating production vessels and service subsea installations in water as deep as 3,000m (9,843 ft).

I don’t know about you, but being able to drill in depths of about 3,000 meters sure sounds good to me!

Check out the full article here.

Once again let’s score one up for good news!

The Problem’s Not Peak Oil, It’s Politics

“The oil is in the ground, but serious doubts are being raised about
whether countries have the desire and means to produce it,” says Leo
Drollas, deputy director of the Center for Global Energy Studies, a
London think tank.

Kurdish Oil Riches Lure Wildcatters Unswayed by Deaths in Iraq

This isn’t really good news in terms of the deaths in Iraq, it seems to be good news in that there is another big oil giant
comparable to Ghawar

Once known as Baba Gurgur, Kurdish for “father of fire,” Kirkuk is a coveted prize in the oil wars. It holds reserves second only to the Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

That there is no mention of decline on this one, lets file it under good news!