OIL DAMAGE + MORE HURRICANES

OIL INDUSTRY INFRASTRUCTURE IN SHAMBLES The following was just recently posted in RIGZONE - an industry oil industry service & information center. The estimate of damage - some 3 times hat of Ivan is exactly what I told my clients was coming last week. Normally, this would have led to $80/bbl oil. But through the magic of having 2 very influential oilmen in the Whitehouse -- about the only really smart thing they did was listen and act immediately to what Oil industry execs told them to do. Had they not waived a number of legal restrictions immediately -- many U.S. cities east of the Rockies would be running out of gasoline completely this week. The list of completely off-line refineries is Staggering. Another 'moderate storm' could easily push us into a major energy crisis unlike anything seen in our history -- with the economic impact to the national too obvious.

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4%, 11%, Who the Hell Cares?

Who cares about the depletion rate? It's some small fussy number that we don't know, right? Peak Oil is PEAK OIL! Once we hit the peak all bets are off. Wrong, I say. Once we are post-peak, the depletion rate is going to be the single most important variable by far. I argue it controls whether peak oil is minor unpleasantness, or Overshoot-style die-off. If we understand these issues, I think it can help to clarify exactly why one might choose to live at one or other end of the peak-oil spectrum - complacency or panic.

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Internal Memos Show Oil Companies Intentionally Limited Refining Capacity To Drive Up Gasoline Prices

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) today exposed internal oil company memos that show how the industry intentionally reduced domestic refining capacity to drive up profits. The exposure comes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as the oil industry blames environmental regulation for limiting number of U.S. refineries.

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  thanks to Yolanda Flanagan

Storm Stretches Refiners Past a Perilous Point

For the nation's oil refiners, Hurricane Katrina was a disaster long in the making.

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  thanks to Politics in the Zeros