SET Energy

In our trip down to North Carolina from New York, we loaded up with $1.65 per gallon gasoline in northwestern Virginia. Amazing. The national average price is now below $1.90 and is probably near the bottom if the higher wholesale prices of the last couple of days hold any sway. But there is some downside potential on today’s EIA petroleum report’s finding that our consumption of gasoline and distillates remains significantly below last year’s levels. Even with prices more than a dollar per gallon below last year (more…)

For many past posts, I emphasized difficult times ahead for the US and other oil importing countries as oil production declines. But falling production will also hurt many producers who depend on oil exports for government revenue. The situation is extremely severe in our southern neighbor, Mexico.

Mexico’s oil production [including crude oil and natural gas liquids] peaked in 2004 at (more…)

One more thing to be thankful for — affordable transportation. While I bicycle and take mass transit for daily trips related to work and basketball, my wife and I are renting a car to get down to family in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. It’s always a trip we’re excited about — to be with sisters, brothers, parents, and the rest of our wonderful family and friends — and to enjoy their delicious contributions to the annual feast. This year will include another treat, one that helps us weather the recession: lower gas prices. Today, gasoline has fallen to $1.99 per gallon nationwide — less than (more…)

House Democrats proved that change has arrived in Washington. Today, they transformed the Energy & Commerce Committee from a foot-dragging institution led by Detroit’s Dingell to a climate-friendly progressive catalyst led by California’s Waxman. Dingell was a force for the status quo with close ties to Big 3 Automakers who obstructed fuel efficiency improvements (a big factor in their terrible economic condition of late). But (more…)

OPEC has decided to have another extraordinary meeting this month in an effort to keep recessionary demand from sending prices even further down toward $50 per barrel. The meeting will be November 29th in Cairo in conjunction with an Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries gathering. OPEC’s president, Chakib Khelil, says OPEC plans to defend the price band of $70-$90, but the key question is will Saudi Arabia (more…)

A new report today confirmed that Japan is in recession. And one of China’s leading oil companies, CNPC, says demand has fallen sharply. These declines in demand out-muscled the news of pirates taking a Saudi Arabian supertanker off Kenya coast to send prices to their lowest level since January 2007 at ~$55 per barrel. (more…)

As the EU announces they are officially in a recession and US indicators continue to fall (such as the record retail sales decline last month), gas prices continue their slide. The average pump price for gasoline nationwide has now fallen to $2.125 per gallon. We may see nationwide prices fall to ~$2 before it finally stabilizes from its two-month collapse. (more…)

Based on yesterday’s Short-Term Energy Outlook by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), carbon dioxide pollution is poised to fall ~2.5% this year. Rapid growth in wind and solar power, massive efficiency, and lower demand for fossil fuels has sent US emission levels down to a level not seen since the 1990s.
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The International Energy Agency (IEA) released its full report today with more details available than from its executive summary that I blogged about last week. Even though it is a sobering report predicting that oil consumption in the developed world will fall as prices climb toward $200 per barrel by 2030, in many ways this report could be optimistic about oil supply.

First of all, it depends on (more…)

After the election of Obama and a number of others with green credentials, the coal and oil industries are ramping up their PR efforts against federal policy to lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). The old arguments of climate policy raising energy prices so much that the US loses its competitive advantage in manufacturing are being dusted off and repeated in an attempt to block progress. But let’s revisit US costs of mitigation by reviewing a solid report by Environmental Defense this past Spring. (more…)