oil shock

New Zealand Government’s Response to Peak Oil – In time we hope something will turn up

Denis Tegg — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 02:44:57 +0000

On July 8 I attended a forum on peak oil organised by the Sustainability Society.

Even more pain at the pump this year

Denis Tegg — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:41:42 +0000

re-posted from my blog - oilshockhorrorprobe

Oil Shock Horror blog -- the story thus far

Denis Tegg — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:43:38 +0000

re-posted from my blog - oilshockhorrorprobe

9 months after a tentative start last September, and with 45 posts clocked up here at Oil Shock Horror Probe, I thought it was time to re-cap. What are the trends and themes that have emerged so far?

It's the economy stupid

Higher oil prices are already negatively impacting our economy

2007-08 oil shock caused "substantial" decline in New Zealand's GDP say Reserve Bank economists

Denis Tegg — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 05:24:40 +0000

re-posted from my blog - oilshockhorrorprobe

In a recent report, two New Zealand Reserve Bank economists have estimated the real effects of oil price shocks on New Zealand’s GDP. The economists conclude --

UK Ignores Peak Oil Warnings - NZ Pretends It's Not An Issue

Denis Tegg — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 01:48:37 +0000

re-posted from my blog - oilshockhorrorprobe

It has long been suspected that Western governments have been investigating peak oil and its impacts on the economy, but keeping the information hidden from the public. In the case of the UK government we now have definitive proof that this has been happening. The Guardian has reported (15 June) that UK ministers have ignored peak oil warnings.

UK Government to Develop Oil Shock Response Plan. - When Will NZ ?

Denis Tegg — Thu, 26 May 2011 09:57:30 +0000

re-posted from my blog - oilshockhorrorprobe

UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne has agreed to develop an 'Oil Shock Response Plan', following a meeting with the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security (ITPOES).

Ideology Trumps Common Sense

Denis Tegg — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:56:49 +0000

It's said a picture is worth a thousand words. Take a look at these graphs and see if you can make any sense of the government's response to oil prices rising and it's transport policy. Damned if I can. (hat tip to Auckland Transport blog and frog blog)

Traffic volumes on State Highways have not increased since 2005.

Do Saudis have spare capacity? And why your standard of living hinges on it.

Denis Tegg — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 02:21:54 +0000

The conventional response to a supply disruption like from Libya is -- no worries, the Saudis have heaps of oil and can immediately pump more to take up the slack. But do they? And what happens to oil prices if they can't?

Many astute oil experts have grave doubts about the Saudis much vaunted spare capacity. This is vital because Saudi Arabia is the world's largest producer, and up till now has been able to influence the world price by opening the oil taps.

Joining the dots ... finally

Denis Tegg — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:19:44 +0000

Suddenly the world's media is awash with concern that the recent rise in oil prices will stall economic growth worldwide and cause another global recession. Guardian and here BBC Wall Street Journal

Finally, even in New Zealand, Brian Fallow economic commentator for the New Zealand Herald expresses concern about the implications for the New Zealand economy from rapidly rising oil prices.

It has taken the uprising in Libya to finally focus the mind of commentators on the dire effects on the world economy of oil prices. But most of this analysis fails to acknowledge that prices were already rising rapidly well before the uprising is in the Middle East due to accelerating demand in developing nations, as well as in oil producing countries. And that the Libyan crisis and the speculation that has followed is a “fear premium” on the price -- which was already rapidly rising due to fundamentals of supply and demand.

10 Reasons Why Converting Lignite Coal to Diesel is Insane

Denis Tegg — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 02:06:25 +0000

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) has released a report "Lignite and climate change: The high cost of low grade coal" The PCE report also covers using lignite to make urea and briquettes, but this post will focus on the insanity of plans by Solid Energy and L & M Group to convert Southland lignite to diesel

1. The taxpayer subsidy for one lignite-to-diesel plant would be likely to be billions of dollars over its lifetime, (and 1 billion dollars annually by 2020)

NZ Defence Report Ignores Peak Oil. US/German Military Warn It's A Grave Risk

Denis Tegg — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 22:24:14 +0000

The just released Defence White Paper on New Zealand's strategic and security interests to 2025, as Gordon Campbell points out, is long on rhetoric, and short on coherence and detail. But worse still it fails to even mention a very serious and imminent threat to our security which both the US and German military have warned about - namely the peaking of global oil production leading to dwindling world oil supplies.

Mining group believes in tooth fairy -- "New Zealand cushioned against oil shocks"

Denis Tegg — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:01:48 +0000

Straterra, a body representing mining companies has said, "New Zealand is in an excellent position to withstand any future oil shocks, thanks in particular t

"Peak hype" on New Zealand's offshore oil reserves

Denis Tegg — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 07:46:21 +0000

There was much hype and hoopla at the recent New Zealand Petroleum Conference about the extent of New Zealand's potential oil and gas reserves. Chris Uruski, a GNS scientist told Chris Laidlaw on Radio NZ's Sunday that we potentially have 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent in New Zealand's offshore exclusive economic zone.

UK Govt Acting on Peak Oil but NZ Govt Deep in Denial

Denis Tegg — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 01:08:01 +0000

The UK's Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has ordered his officials to look at the impact of a 1970s-style oil price spike on the British economy. Mr Huhne warned that a 1970s-style doubling in the price of oil would drain £45billion from the UK economy in two years, hitting investment and jobs.

Meanwhile our Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee and the NZ government are deep in denial about peak oil and resulting higher oil prices.