By Tom Whipple
Last week the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris released their annual report on the state of the world's energy resources -- World Energy Review 2008.
As the world's energy situation becomes more and more confused, with prices gyrating wildly, and with more voices warning of unprecedented problems just ahead, this 569-page report stands as the most authoritative description of what will happen to the world's energy supply. The energy policies of the 28 countries that are members of the IEA in theory hinge on the report's findings - and that is where the trouble comes in.
Until recently, the IEA's forecasts have been based on the premise....more
(Source: Datamonitor)
The IEA World Energy Outlook has highlighted longer term supply side constraints, despite the precipitous correction in world oil prices of late, as current depletion rates outstrip future demand. Rather than a shortage of physical reserves, the report focuses on a slowdown in necessary investment, which political stability and falling prices could exacerbate.
The IEA World Energy Outlook highlights long-term supply side constraints....more...
By Brian O'Keefe, senior editor.
Matt Simmons is as perplexed as anyone that it has fallen to him to take on OPEC, Exxon, the Saudis, and all the other misguided defenders of conventional wisdom in the oil patch. Why should one investment banker with a penchant for research be required to point out what he regards as the obvious - that from here on out, oil supplies can't meet demand, and if we don't act soon to solve this crisis....more...