Institutional Investor (August Issue)
“Investors confront the risk of a carbon bubble fueled by stranded oil and gas assets” should major governments decide to impose strict carbon legislation to combat climate change. One recent report asserts that “to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius between now and 2050, only 20 percent of the world’s fossil fuel reserves can be extracted and burned.”
Tags: Carbon, Climate change, Extraction, Fossil fuel, Gas, Global temperatures, Governments, Investors, Legislation, Oil, Reserves, Risk
The Economist (August 3)
“The world’s thirst for oil could be nearing a peak. That is bad news for producers, excellent for everyone else.” Is oil becoming “yesterday’s fuel”? The Economist believes demand may be nearing long-term decline brought about by advances in fracking and automotive technology.
Wall Street Journal (July 7)
Amid a North American oil boom, “shipments of crude by rail have shot up sharply, as producers race to get all their new oil to market and as pipeline companies scramble to build new lines or reconfigure old ones to handle the growing volumes.” This may change. “The deadly weekend explosion of a runaway crude-carrying train in Quebec threatens to ratchet up scrutiny of rising crude-by-rail shipments on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.”
Tags: Boom, Canada, Crude, Explosion, North America, Oil, Pipeline, Producers, Quebec, Rail, Scrutiny, U.S.
National Geographic (November 12)
“In an indication how ‘fracking’ is reshaping the global energy picture, the International Energy Agency today projected that the United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer by 2017. And within just three years, the United States will unseat Russia as the largest producer of natural gas. Both results would have been unthinkable even few short years ago.”
Tags: Fracking, IEA, Natural gas, Oil, Producer, Russia, Saudi Arabia, U.S.
The Economist (July 21)
“In the past decade emerging markets have established themselves as the world’s best sprinters. As serial crises tripped up America and then Europe, China barely broke stride…. Lately, though, the sprinters have started to wheeze.” China, India and Brazil have all recently reported weak performance. Russia is the only BRIC with a resilient economy, but this is vulnerable to oil prices. What does the “Great Slowdown” mean for long-term growth and the world economy? The Economist believes, “no crisis looms, but serious concern is justified.”
“In the past decade emerging markets have established themselves as the world’s best sprinters. As serial crises tripped up America and then Europe, China barely broke stride…. Lately, though, the sprinters have started to wheeze.” China, India and Brazil have all recently reported weak performance. Russia is the only BRIC with a resilient economy, but this is vulnerable to oil prices. What does the “Great Slowdown” mean for long-term growth and the world economy? The Economist believes, “no crisis looms, but serious concern is justified.”
Tags: BRICS, Oil, Russia, Slowdown, World economy
New York Times (May 20)
“The major powers have imposed increasingly strong sanctions aimed at Iran’s banks and oil trade. It is crucial to maintain that cohesion as a second round of negotiations opens this week in Baghdad.” The Iranians want the sanctions to end. This would be premature. “If Iran makes credible gestures, sanctions should be eased, but not significantly until it takes irreversible steps to roll back its nuclear activities.”
Washington Post (January 11, 2012)
Iran has been acting up in numerous ways. This could be a smoke screen. By year end, Iran may have enough bomb-grade material to rapidly produce the core of a nuclear bomb. “Every effort must be made to intensify sanctions — and in particular to stop…Iranian sales of oil everywhere in the world.”
Boston Globe (November 26)
Domestic car makers are balking over proposed fuel efficiency requirements designed to bring corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards up to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The standards should be enacted. “Technology has caught up with every previous standard, allowing Americans to save fuel while still driving the largest vehicles in the world….The result will be a major step toward independence from foreign oil, with the least possible disturbance of American driving habits.”Domestic car makers are balking over proposed fuel efficiency requirements designed to bring corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards up to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The standards should be enacted. “Technology has caught up with every previous standard, allowing Americans to save fuel while still driving the largest vehicles in the world….The result will be a major step toward independence from foreign oil, with the least possible disturbance of American driving habits.”
Tags: 2025, Automakers, CAFE, Efficiency, Oil, Technology, U.S.
The Washington Post (September 8)
“The slaughter in Syria goes on.” The Post is convinced it won’t end until Bashar al-Assad’s regime comes to an end. The EU’s boycott of oil from Syria is one promising development. “Syria is vulnerable to an economic squeeze. The more that Western governments can apply it, the greater the chance of saving lives.”
New York Times (August 7)
There’s a sensible way to quickly cut $100 billion from the budget. The Times points to “two obvious and long overdue cuts: ending the web of tax breaks enjoyed by the rolling-in-dough oil industry and terminating the ethanol subsidy.” Over 10 years, eliminating these tax breaks “would save up to $100 billion…without hurting the poor and middle class or slowing the economy.”
