Over at The Oil Drum, geologist Jeffrey Brown, aka westexas, made a claim back in January that we face an imminent export crises because the major exporting countries have peaked. In other words, Peak Oil is here. I have disputed his interpretation of the data. I have argued that imports closely track refinery utilization, and [...]
Refineries,Refineries >
This Week in Petroleum 10-24-07 
Whoa! The analysts missed this one by a mile. Here were the predictions, prior to the release of the report:
Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires on average predict crude inventories rose 300,000 barrels during the week ended Oct. 19, and Vienna’s PVM Oil Associates also noted that “expectations for this week’s U.S. oil inventory data [...]
Inventories are Falling Fast
There has been a lot of speculation lately over whether the Saudi oil production cuts over the past year have been voluntary. I have argued that they were voluntary based on a combination of what was happening with inventories last spring (crude inventories were very high and trending higher), and then price (started falling in [...]
Gasoline Prices Part II: Long-Term Factors
Introduction
In Part I, I discussed the short term factors that have resulted in the recent, rapid increase in the price of gasoline. But there are a number of underlying, long-term issues that have been major contributors. I will attempt to address them and answer a number of related questions, such as: Why have no new [...]
Gas Prices, Gouging, and Food versus Fuel
A few newsworthy items to cover: Gas prices, gas gouging legislation, and food versus fuel.
Gas Prices on the Rise
Surprise! It seems that gas prices are rising:
Gas prices on the rise again, analyst reports
Gas prices are on the rise again, just as Americans hit the highways for Thanksgiving.
Gas prices rose about 5 cents per gallon nationwide [...]
This Week in Petroleum 1-30-08
Updated
Gasoline inventories did in fact edge upward, as gasoline imports were very strong. Had that not been the case, gasoline inventories would have definitely come down, as utilization continues to trend down. In fact, just glancing over the data, more gasoline may have been imported this January than in any other January before. As long [...]
The AP on Oil and Gas Prices
The Associated Press takes a question on oil and gas prices, and does a pretty good job explaining the factors affecting prices:
Ask AP: Your News Questions, Answered
Q: Background (my numbers maybe a little off, but you will see my point): About five years ago, oil sold for around $20 per barrel and gasoline was around [...]
This Week in Petroleum 4-18-07
Really late getting this out this week, but it has been a very hectic 24 hours. I have about 3 posts I need to write up.
This week’s report highlights:
U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged over 15.4 million barrels per day during the week ending April 13, up 372,000 barrels per day from the previous week’s [...]
Tyson Slocum is Wrong
Time to debunk another perpetual myth. In a story today in CNN – Big Oil’s Money Machine – consumer advocate Tyson Slocum makes the following claim:
“Are we getting any bang for our buck with record gas prices?,” asked Tyson Slocum, energy program director at Public Citizen, a national consumer advocacy organization. “They aren’t building any [...]
Valero Now in the Ethanol Business
In an update to Big Oil Buys Big Ethanol, it is official:
Valero Energy, the Oil Refiner, Wins an Auction for 7 Ethanol Plants
Valero Energy, the country’s largest independent refiner, said on Wednesday that it would buy seven ethanol plants from VeraSun Energy for $477 million, giving the biofuel industry a lift at a time when [...]
