Category Archives: Threats to oil supply

Oil choke points vulnerable to war, chaos, terrorism, accidents, & piracy

Source: Ballout, D. 2013. Choke Points: Our energy access points. Oil Change. Preface. Below are several articles I’ve collected since 2005 on oil chokepoints. If oil tanker traffic were stopped on one or more, much of the world would plunge … Continue reading

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Review of “Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads”

Preface.  This is a book review of Rundell’s “Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads”. If this book is right, things have gotten a lot better in Saudi Arabia than when my other review on Saudi Arabia was written … Continue reading

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Oil theft around the world: Cartels and exploding donkeys

Preface. Oil thefts cost Nigerian oil producers at least $18 billion a year. In Mexico, cartels spend only $5-8,000 to tap into pipelines and withdraw “unlimited” amounts of gasoline, and did so 7,000 times in 2016, resulting in $1 billion … Continue reading

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The effects of Middle East events on U.S. Energy markets

[ Of note from this U.S. House 2011 hearing: John Hofmeister, former President of Shell Oil.  Matt Simmons, who passed away this past summer, used to speak of the Straits of Hormuz as, we live one day away from an … Continue reading

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Energy return of ultra-deepwater Gulf of Mexico oil and gas

Moerschbaecher, M., John W. Day Jr. October 21, 2011. Ultra-Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas: Energy Return on Financial Investment and a Preliminary Assessment of Energy Return on Energy. Sustainability 2011, 3, 2009-2026 [Excerpts from this 18 page paper … Continue reading

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When will the Alaska pipeline turn into an 800-mile-long Popsicle?

[Below are excerpts on the Alaskan pipeline from Rust: The Longest War by Jonathan Waldman.  This is a great book, yet leaves so many possible rust stories uncovered, that I hope Waldman writes Rust II (or any other topic — … Continue reading

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The crude oil export ban: Helpful or hurtful 2015 House hearing

House 114-22. April 14, 2015. The Crude oil export ban: Helpful or hurtful? House of Representatives. [ Excerpts from the 73-page transcript of the hearing follow ] Ted Poe, Texas. The United States is now the largest crude oil producer … Continue reading

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A financial crash would stop new oil production, sending us over the net energy cliff with a 10% decline rate per year

Gail Tverberg’s March 4, 2014 “Reasons for our Energy Predicament – an overview” gave me this sudden insight: There is the potential for a sudden drop of 10 to 30% in oil production.  That magnitude of world-wide oil shocks would … Continue reading

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