“Expanding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would be throwing good money after bad. Instead of remaining a valuable asset mired in the political swamp, the SPR can be turned into an entrepreneurial asset. The reserve can be privatized by selling off either the entire operation or its individual parts.” – RLB (1991)
Good analysis on empirical matters, even from long ago (a quarter-century in this case) must stand the test of time.
It is regular fare at MasterResource to document the false claims of energy Malthusians (neo-Malthusians) from the 1970s until the present (now in their fifth decade!). And from time to time, MasterResource produces analyses from the past by free-market scholars for their relevancy and accuracy for current energy debates.
The example below, from 1991, is a quarter-century old. It concerns the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), a forgotten, obsolete oil stockpile that could disappear tomorrow and not be noticed by the market.…
Continue Reading“Since at least 1989, Mr. Lynch has made a career of poo-pooing any concept that oil supplies might be finite and that we might find production capability dropping as demand continues to rise…. [Oil supply] not an issue? Do you expect to be dead and gone in the next 4 to 8 years?”
– Charles Armentrout, “Lynch Poo-Poos Peak Oil,” LastTechAge, February 2, 2011.
It is entirely appropriate to recognize an intellectual victory, particularly when a confident, even arrogant, mainstream was overcome. In the case of Peak Oil, the victor is Michael C. Lynch, president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research, a Massachusetts-based consultancy.
Lynch has held a number of research positions at M.I.T. and was chief energy economist at DRI-WEFA. He currently blogs at forbes.com, and his publications have appeared in six languages, focusing on petroleum supply, energy forecasting, and energy policy.…
Continue Reading“While commercial operations would take time to start, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has struck the first shale gas in a pilot project at Ichhapur in Burdwan, West Bengal. Its drilling started on October 27, 2013, with ConocoPhillips, which helped ONGC in providing technical help in well planning and data evaluation stage. In addition, ONGC has spudded one more well for shale gas and oil exploration in Gandhar area of Cambay basin.”
Shale gas can emerge as an important alternative source of energy in India. Identified shale-gas formations are spread over several sedimentary basins of the country, such as Cambay, Gondwana, Krishna Godavari Onland, and Cauvery. Shale oil is less developed. [1]
Shale gas is important because India wants to add natural gas’s 7 percent share of its energy basket, now filled with coal and oil.…
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