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Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Extend the Age of Oil

bloomberg.com

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Re: Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Extend the Age of Oil

#31

Post by toomuchtodo »

ams6110 wrote: post #30
danieltillett wrote: post #2

... and why do we have to follow? The sooner the world moves away from oil the better.

The world will move away from oil when the alternatives are more economical. Any other conclusion is magical thinking.

All other alternatives are more economical when oil's externalities are priced in. Oil has been cheating, so can we fix that?

Re: Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Extend the Age of Oil

#32

Post by rwmj »

ams6110 wrote: post #30
danieltillett wrote: post #2

... and why do we have to follow? The sooner the world moves away from oil the better.

The world will move away from oil when the alternatives are more economical. Any other conclusion is magical thinking.

But that could happen by taxing the externalities of oil, ie. a carbon tax.

Re: Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Extend the Age of Oil

#33

Post by TheHypnotist »

josefresco wrote: post #13
ddorian43 wrote: post #10

They came from the desert and they will return to it desert. Question: If your land/country is a desert, it's very costly to live there, right?

Maybe the desert they'll return to will be one with schools, technology and ...progress.

I think he's quoting (paraphrasing) a Saudi Arabian prince/king.

Re: Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Extend the Age of Oil

#34

Post by haldujai »

danieltillett wrote: post #17
TomGullen wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't, but it's the path with diminishing resistance as the price of oil drops further.

We don't have to go along with this plan. We could raise taxes on oil and drive SA into the ground. The world would be a better place without oil being part of our energy production.

This would also raise prices on gas and petroleum products (such as lubricants, cosmetics, plastics) on Americans which probably isn't a good idea given the current state of affairs for the low and middle classes.

Re: Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Extend the Age of Oil

#35

Post by gonzo »

melling wrote: post #25
danieltillett wrote: post #2

... and why do we have to follow? The sooner the world moves away from oil the better.

Haven't we been moving away from oil for at least 40 years, since the U.S. oil crisis in the 1970's? Carter put solar energy in the White House. Are we on the 100 plan to move away from oil?

> Carter put solar energy in the White House.

Carter put solar cells (PV) on the White House. Reagan had them removed.

Obama recently installed them again, but it's a mere 10kW, IIRC.

Re: Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Extend the Age of Oil

#36

Post by ebbv »

ams6110 wrote: post #30
danieltillett wrote: post #2

... and why do we have to follow? The sooner the world moves away from oil the better.

The world will move away from oil when the alternatives are more economical. Any other conclusion is magical thinking.

The problem is that the market price of oil an coal don't reflect the long term costs of their use.

Renewable energy has all of its costs right up front. Fossil fuels have major deferred costs which allow the market to act without concern for the consequences.

Which is yet another reason that the market is dumb and should not be trusted with important decisions.

Re: Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Extend the Age of Oil

#37

Post by acjohnson55 »

ams6110 wrote: post #30
danieltillett wrote: post #2

... and why do we have to follow? The sooner the world moves away from oil the better.

The world will move away from oil when the alternatives are more economical. Any other conclusion is magical thinking.

But this can be (and is) manipulated by government policy and social dynamics. The externalities of the fossil fuel energy binge are becoming increasingly impossible to ignore, which is depressing demand.

Re: Saudi Arabia’s Plan to Extend the Age of Oil

#40

Post by acjohnson55 »

bkeroack wrote: post #23
venomsnake wrote: post #6

Seems that nobody is getting peak oil right. The rise of the North Dakota shale is the confirmation of that theory. Also Saudi Arabia is doomed. The kingdom will be collateral damage in the poaching war (its not hot, its not cold) ... to hit russia, the US is doing its best to bring Iran back online. US is self sufficient so they don't fear supply crunch, Europe is moving fast with renewable energy ... and we have ni…

The concept of peak oil is fine (almost self-evident), just the timing has been off. Theories are easier than predictions.

Although Peak Oil won't really happen if demand drops before we hit the supply peak. We might transition to renewables and eventually fusion and never actually experience the specific dynamic Peak Oil envisioned.
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