Wednesday July 12, 2006

OPEC does not believe in peak oil

"We in Opec do not subscribe to the peak-oil theory."

Mohammed Barkindo,
Acting Secretary General,
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

- Hilarious. So their oil is gonna last forever? And they're gonna live forever too? We should file this under "Quotable Quotes - Famous Last Words". And check back in a few years' time.

(2006-07-12 12:50:28 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Lucent, Alcatel to cut 9,000 jobs after merger

channelnewsasia.com :

Telecom equipment makers Lucent of the United States and Alcatel of France said their merger would result in the loss of about 9,000 jobs. The companies announced in April that the French firm would acquire Lucent to form a global giant worth about 33.0 billion dollars (27.5 billion euros).

Alcatel is about twice as big as Lucent. The agreement creates the second-biggest telecom technology group in the world, but it is only one quarter the size of the biggest US group Cisco Systems which is capitalized at about 133.0 billion dollars.

(2006-07-12 12:28:13 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

Oil production limit reached: expert

peakoil.com -> abc.net.au :

An international oil industry expert says the limit of global oil production has been reached. Academic and former National Iranian Oil Company executive Dr Ali Samsam Bakhtiari has told the Financial Services Institute in Sydney the world's oil fields are producing as much oil as they can. He says giant fields in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are struggling to meet production targets.

Dr Bakhtiari says the massive output declines in the North Sea oil fields and Mexican oil fields will have a major economic impact. For the first time in 150 years, the world is entering an era in which it cannot have all the oil it wants. "The problem will become the day that you cannot optimise by price," he said. "You will have to optimise by availability, so there won't be oil for everyone."

- Hmm, "optimise by availability"? That sounds like rationing to me. Won't be pretty.

(2006-07-12 12:26:24 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Transportation industry feels the pinch of escalating fuel prices

peakoil.com -> msnbc.msn.com :

Transportation industry officials are warning that rising fuel costs pose an increasing threat to the viability of many small trucking firms. Tiffany Wlazlowski, spokeswoman for the ATA, a national trade association for the trucking industry, says fuel costs represent up to 25% of operating expenses for most of its motor-carrier members. "High fuel prices are having a tremendous impact on our motor-carrier's bottom line ... our industry is expected to spend $100 billion on fuel this year." Wlazlowski says.

There are more than 560,000 motor carriers, she says, and 95% of them have 20 or fewer trucks. "So, essentially, the trucking industry is a small-business industry. The smaller your business, the higher percentage of your operating costs that fuel represents," she says.

(2006-07-12 12:20:48 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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