Big Oil's Last Heyday and What Comes Next
This blog tracks Big Oil’s last heyday – on the A couple of articles in today’s New York Times have interesting angles on the futurist questions. In one, Clifford Krauss describes how some of today’s big petro-exporters are themselves developing big carbon appetites, and will be competing with their customers for the world’s oil. In the second, Norman Mayersohn takes a spin in Honda’s FSX Clarity, the Japanese company's attempt to make a hydrogen car commercial. He likes it.
Both are worth Sunday reads.
Labels: big oil, Caspian, fsx clarity, honda, hydrogen fuel, Kazakhstan, oil, peak oil, Russia, Turkmenistan
4 Comments:
The page one article by Clifford Krauss makes some interesting observations on Iran. Not only is internal demand for energy on the way up, but according to Stanley Reed of Business Week (November 30, 2006) the production and refining infrastructure has suffered from years of neglect. Given that Iran is the worlds Fourth largest exporter, it seems inevitable to me that the West will insist on involving itself in the rebuilding and exploitation of these proven reserves, and their orderly distribution to world markets.
Also in today’s Washington Post, Professor Vali Nasr has an article on “The Decider” in Iran. He isn’t talking about the turbanless Ahmadinejad, but he is referring to the supreme leader Khamenei. Professor Nasr is of the opinion that he is the one to watch by “anyone serious about understanding the sources of Iranian conduct”.
Certainly Big Oil wants to be part of that long-needed reconstruction. Whether governments get involved, as you seem to suggest, I think isn't so clear, especially given probable Western exhaustion after two terms of a chin-out American foreign policy.
That Nasr piece is fascinating. I wish he provided more of a hint as to Khameini's possible future track on nuclear, but I suppose that's not possible to know.
Thanks for the note, Steve
The Washington Post in the December 12 issue has an article by Dr. Kissinger on "Misreading the Iran Report". He is basically defending the administration, and also trying to clarify what he feels the roles and relationships of policymakers and the intelligence community should be. However, he also makes the statement "I have long argued that America owes it to itself to explore fully the possibility of normalizing relations with Iran".
Well, here is the man who went to Peking and Moscow.
Is there any doubt who he imagines making the breakthrough (though perhaps even he realizes his time is past)?
Thanks for staying in touch, Steve
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