Pique Oil

Numbers (lies, damn lies, and statistics)

2005-09-08T11:13:00.000-04:00

My current peeve in the "News" is lack of context for numbers that are thrown about. We hear about how generous all the oil exporters are being, how many millions of barrels they are sending to the US, all without context of how much we use, or how much capacity we've lost.

Gas prices jumped around here, but have now retreated slightly. I presume that's because the Plantation and Colonial (love those names) pipelines are flowing again. I suspect reality will catch up with the prices as supplies tighten. Five dollars a gallon by year's end? More?

"Storm economic impact seen modest-WHouse"

2005-08-31T15:40:00.000-04:00

After reading this I feel much better. I love the conditional statements in this article.

Hurricane Katrina is likely to have only a modest impact on the U.S. economy as long as the hit to the energy sector proves transitory, White House economic adviser Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.

The economy will be okay unless it's not... On my home front, the price of unleaded has gone from $2.53 to $2.78 in the last 6 days. I'm trying to drive less and keep my tank as full as possible.

President Bush, and yes, lots of prominent Dems as well are recommending opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. I have doubts that the refinery capacity is there. Some oil companies have already instituted rationing at the wholesale level. The governor of Florida has asked people NOT to dirve over the labor day weekend.... Are gas lines and rationing at the retail level in the offing? I think they are.

Gas/Fuel Shortages after Katrina

2005-08-31T10:11:00.000-04:00

I just heard that the gas and jet fuel pipelines from New Orleans to Atlanta are out of service for the moment. I grew up in Atlanta. It is the poster city for urban sprawl and long commutes. People complain about high prices, but they still buy gas. Gas shortages are a different matter. Shortages over labor day will send a shock wave through the area. And a shortage of jet fuel at Atlanta's airport will have reprecussions nationwide for the airlines. This means big trouble for Delta.

Hurricane Katrina

2005-08-29T09:55:00.000-04:00

As I write this, hurricane Katrina is bearing down on New Orleans. Evacuees in the Superdome are watching the leaking roof and suffering with little electricity, and no air conditioning.
Interstate 90 is 15 feet underwater.

Meanwhile, around here the front page stories for the last 4 of 5 days have included the trials and tribulations of high school students not being allocated enough parking places. I can just picture the future stories of these developing curmudgeons. "Back when I was in school, they only had 200 parking spots for student cars." ... "Grandpa, what's a car?"

The Oil drum has a great play by play on Katrina, as well a terrific commentary on how Katrina may bring the peak oil issue into the limelight. Oil has hit $70 this morning. TOD is predicting rising gas prices and shortages.

Gas bags - not just for politics.

2005-08-25T10:46:00.000-04:00

What energy crisis?
This is a great newsbyte from Yahoo Germany. My German is not so great, but with suppressed memories and a little help from Google's translation tool I was able to sus out that this pair stole this gas bag from a natural gas source. It will last two weeks (barring explosions). Apparently, this is not an uncommon crime.

The First Post

2005-08-24T15:06:00.000-04:00

Greetings from rural Vermont. The name is Pique Oil. I hope to pique your interest in impending world doom. Great huh?

You'll find the details of the peak oil problem at various places on the internet just Google on peak oil. My favorite news and commentary site is The Oil Drum.