All the world’s extra oil supply is likely to come from expensive and environmentally damaging unconventional sources within 15 years, according to a detailed study by oil consultants, Wood Mackenzie. They have calculated that the world holds 3,600bn barrels of unconventional oil and gas reserves in Canadian oil sands and Venezuela’s Orinoco tar belt that … Read More
oil industry outlook
IEA: Demand for Oil Increases
As if taking a cue from T-Rex Tillerson that demand for oil will keep rising, the International Energy Agency has raised its outlook for world oil demand for the first time over a year, citing upward revisions to the estimated appetite of the still-booming Chinese economy. The IEA raised its 2007 demand forecast by 273,000 … Read More
North Sea Output Declines Faster Than Predicted
Oil and gas production in the North Sea is now expected to be about 10 per cent lower over the next few years than previously thought, according to the annual survey from the UK Offshore Operators’ Association. The main reason is described as “poor reservoir performance”: in other words, wells not yielding as much oil … Read More
Big Oil Tackles Energy Questions
Some of big oil’s top executives will gather in Houston this week to discuss dwindling oil supplies, pollution concerns and finding new and more effective ways to produce oil and gas — as well as alternatives to fossil fuels. At the Cambridge Energy Research Associates annual weeklong conference that begins today, dozens of the industry’s … Read More
Climate Change Will Boost Economy, Says Bank
Far from wrecking the economic growth, climate change will boost the global economy, according to Barclays Capital, a leading investment bank. It believes the need to increase energy capacity by 50 per cent by 2035, while simultaneously reducing dependence on hydrocarbons, will spark an “energy revolution” reminiscent of the dot.com boom.
Persian Gulf Needs Over $500bn in Oil Investment
The Persian Gulf states need to pump $523 billion over the next 25 years in exploration and production to meet a steady growth in global demand, according to the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research in a new book.
Big Oil Hires At Speed
Big Oil, it seems, has a recruitment problem. Thousands of engineering vacancies remain unfilled. The shortage of engineers has been caused by a convergence of factors, including an upsurge in offshore exploration by cash-rich Big Oil and the ongoing reconstruction of the Gulf’s energy infrastructure damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
Investment by Oil Industry “Inadequate” Says IEA
Further analysis of the IEA’s World Economic Outlook reveals that oil industry has barely increased its investment in oil and natural-gas production during the past five years after accounting for inflation.Data compiled by the IEA and reported in the Wall Street Journal, show that investment in the oil-and-gas industry was $340 billion in 2005, up … Read More