UK oil production continues decline

The year-on-year decline in oil and gas production in the UK sector of the North Sea is continuing its decline, dropping by a further combined 10% in March, according to the latest monthly report by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Oil production was down 5% on the month at 1,403,005 barrels per day (bpd) and down 14% on the year, while natural gas output production decreased 3% and 6% respectively to 8,581 million standard cubic feet per day (mmcfd).

The bank said that the decline, which started in 2000, was continuing despite near-record investment in 2006. It suggested that increased drilling activity, the underlying long-term fall in production was "unlikely to be reversed."

- A 14% decline (in the oil portion) is very steep. That's about equivalent to the depletion rate of Mexico's Cantarell (world's second largest) field.

(2007-06-19 12:46:33 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Global warming 'is three times faster than worst predictions'

peakoil.com -> environment.independent.co.uk :

Global warming is accelerating three times more quickly than feared, a series of startling, authoritative studies has revealed. They have found that emissions of carbon dioxide have been rising at thrice the rate in the 1990s. The Arctic ice cap is melting three times as fast - and the seas are rising twice as rapidly - as had been predicted. The study, published by the US National Academy of Sciences, shows that carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing by about 3% a year during this decade, compared with 1.1% a year in the 1990s.

The significance is that this is much faster than even the highest scenario outlined in this year's massive reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - and suggests that their dire forecasts of devastating harvests, dwindling water supplies, melting ice and loss of species are likely to be understating the threat facing the world.

On the ground, a study by the University of California's National Snow and Ice Data Center shows that Arctic ice has declined by 7.8% a decade over the past 50 years, compared with an average estimate by IPCC computer models of 2.5%.

(2007-06-19 12:38:00 SGT) [Env] Permalink

40% efficient solar cells to be used for solar electricity

hardware.slashdot.org -> physorg.com :

Scientists from Spectrolab, Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing, have recently published their research on the fabrication of solar cells that surpass the 40% efficiency milestone—the highest efficiency achieved for any photovoltaic device. Their results appear in a recent edition of Applied Physics Letters.

Most conventional solar cells used in today's applications are one-sun, single-junction silicon cells that use only the light intensity that the sun produces naturally, and have optimal efficiency for a relatively narrow range of photon energies. The Spectrolab group experimented with concentrator multijunction solar cells that use high intensities of sunlight, the equivalent of 100s of suns, concentrated by lenses or mirrors. Significantly, the multijunction cells can also use the broad range of wavelengths in sunlight much more efficiently than single-junction cells. With their conversion efficiency measured at 40.7%, the metamorphic multijunction concentrator cells surpass the theoretical limit of 37% of single-junction cells at 1000 suns, due to their multijunction structure.

While Spectrolab's primary business is supplying PV cells and panels to the aerospace industry (many of their solar cells are used on satellites currently in orbit), the company envisions that this breakthrough will also have applications in commercial terrestrial solar electricity generation. The Spectrolab scientists also predict that with theoretical efficiencies of 58% in cells with more than three junctions using improved materials and designs, concentrator solar cells could achieve efficiencies of more than 45% or even 50% in the future.

(2007-06-19 12:26:03 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

BP to lose $18 billion field amid Russian crackdown

peakoil.com -> bloomberg.com :

BP's Russian venture will probably lose its license to a Siberian field with enough natural gas to supply Asia for five years as President Vladimir Putin extends state control over foreign energy projects. The Russian government has used tax, license and ecological audits to restore state dominance over the oil industry, the world's biggest this year. BP depends on Russia for a quarter of its production and 18% of its proven oil and gas reserves, while projects such as Kovykta promise future growth.

The Russian government now controls more than a third of Russia's oil production through Gazprom and OAO Rosneft. Rosneft has become the country's largest crude supplier this year, acquiring OAO Yukos Oil Co.'s oil assets as the government dismantles what was once Russia's largest crude exporter.

See also :

1. BP loses appeal against Russian oil field seizure
2. Russia - the rising energy superpower (Shell, Sakhalin 2)
3. Russia tightens grip on energy
4. More oil & gas nationalization (Chad, Venezuela, Dubai, Russia, Indonesia)

(2007-06-19 12:10:55 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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