lifeneverboring

World oil can go into decline years before there's anything definitive about having reached Peak Oil.

Case in point--1979 looks like this when using US DOE EIA data:



If that chart was of 2008 not 1979 being followed by four years of world oil production declining year on year there would be a hoard of people convinced Peak Oil was past and industrial civilization was over.

``...the second assumption of globalization -- cheap energy -- so take your capital to cheap labor markets in Asia ... let them produce the food and the manufactured goods and then ship it back because energy is cheap. The problem is that when oil went over $50/barrel something interesting happened. Inflation started to rear up in front of food prices to petrol. When oil hit $147/barrel July 2008 that's when the crisis hit. You'll recall the entire economic engine of globalization collapsed in July at $147/barrel because inflation was so high all the people stopped purchasing. Then the crisis hit 60 days later because you couldn't maintain that delusionary, credit-based debt culture. When the engine stops, then the financial markets collapse sixty days later--they're connected...'' -- excerpted from this Jeremy Rifkin lecture.


More about Jeremy Rifkin

MEND breakes ceasefire rule, attacks Shell/Chevron pipeline ``WARRI – ABOUT 35 militants, belonging to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND), armed with rocket launchers, heavy calibre machine guns and assault rifles attacked in the early hours of today, a major Shell/Chevron crude oil pipeline located in Abonema, Rivers state.''

Nigeria Rebels Say They Attacked Shell, Chevron Pipe ``Attacks by armed groups in the oil-rich delta region cut more than 25 percent of the country’s crude output between 2006 and 2009. Nigeria, which vies with Angola for Africa’s top oil producer, is the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.''

Reuters Q+A-What is at stake in Nigeria's Niger Delta? ``The unrest over the past three years has prevented the OPEC member from pumping much above two thirds of its 3 million barrels per day installed capacity.''

Just another undeclared war over oil--but is it the only thing going on here?



(click me)

Or is Nigeria permanently past peak production?

I'm writing a story, and I'm here via little_details, and it is a very small detail. But I can't find this anywhere - I've tried baby-name sites, and the Duke Humfrey's Library site at Oxford University. Though it's a Germanic name there must surely be a formal Latin version for offical documents???

Thanks in advance!

ETA: Asked and answered in the space of hours! Thanks, guys.

Without disputing that there is a problem, I think we can benefit from having more transparency and balance in any investigation we make http://sensit.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/science-is-a-business-for-profit/