About the RAA
RAA Position on ‘Peak Oil’
Background on Oil and Fuel Markets
Global Oil and Gas Prices
Australia’s Oil & Gas Production and Refineries
South Australia’s Petroleum Terminals
Global Petroleum Demand
Australian Demand
SA Demand and Prices
Effect of Rising Cost of Fuel
Public Transport
Measures to Reduce Petroleum Demand
Vehicle Fuel Efficiency
Traffic Congestion & ITS
Fuel Tax Reform
Public Education
Petroleum Supply Issues
Reliance on Foreign
Federal Government’s Liquid Fuel Emergency (LFE) Response Plan
Alternative fuels
Biofuels
LPG
Natural Gas – CNG & LNG
Gas & Coal Seam
Hydrogen
This paper explores similarities and differences between the run‐up of oil prices in 2007‐08 and earlier oil price shocks, looking at what caused the price increase and what effects it had on the economy. Whereas historical oil price shocks were primarily caused by physical disruptions of supply, the price run‐up of 2007‐08 was caused by strong demand confronting stagnating world production. Although the causes were different, the consequences for the economy appear to have been very similar to those observed in earlier episodes, with significant effects on overall consumption spending and purchases of domestic automobiles in particular. In the absence of those declines, it is unlikely that we would have characterized the period 2007:Q4 to 2008:Q3 as one of economic recession for the U.S. The experience of 2007‐08 should thus be added to the list of recessions to which oil prices appear to have made a material contribution.
In A Thousand Barrels a Second, Chief Energy Economist of ARC Financial Peter Tertzakian examines the future of oil and offers insights into what it will take to rebalance our energy needs and seize new opportunities. He answers the top questions asked by business leaders, policy makers, investors, and concerned citizens as we approach the coming break point:
Are today’s high oil and gas prices part of a routine business cycle, or are there more profound forces at play?
Are hybrid vehicles our only solution against high gasoline prices?
Is China’s growing thirst for energy sustainable?
Which government policies work and which do not?
Will nuclear power and coal save the day-again?
Tertzakian also offers a realistic, informed look into the future of our energy supply chains and how our consumption patterns may evolve, revealing how governments, businesses, and even individuals can meet the coming challenges with better solutions and innovations.
There is no doubt that oil production will peak—if it hasn’t already—and that all other fossil fuels will peak soon after. The important questions for investors are: when will it happen, to what extent, and what can I do to capitalize on it? Divided into three comprehensive parts—»The Crisis in a Barrel»; «Making Money from the Fossil Fuels That Are Left»; and «Energy after Oil»—the book contains the information you need to successfully navigate this epic event. But Profit from the Peak is more than just a guide to capitalizing on a potential energy crisis. By asking how this situation could affect you as both an investor and an individual, it offers a sobering assessment of where we are and what it will take to find a way forward amid the coming changes.
In an era when incomprehensibly complex issues like Peak Oil and climate change dominate headlines, practical solutions at a local level can seem somehow inadequate. But they aren’t! Lyle Estill introduces us to «hometown security» with this chronicle of a community-powered response to resource depletion in a fickle global economy. This is the story of how one small southern US town, not willing to rely on the government and wary of large corporations, discovered it is possible for a community to feed itself, fuel itself, heal itself, and govern itself
Lyle Estill is “Vice President of Stuff ” at Piedmont Biofuels, and has won numerous awards for his work in the biodiesel business. He is the author of Biodiesel Power and lives in Moncure, North Carolina.
Although Africa has long been known to be rich in oil, extracting it hadn’t seemed worth the effort and risk until recently. But with the price of Middle Eastern crude oil skyrocketing and advancing technology making reserves easier to tap, the region has become the scene of a competition between major powers that recalls the nineteenth-century scramble for colonization there. But what does this giddy new oil boom mean—for America, for the world, for Africans themselves?
John Ghazvinian traveled through twelve African countries—from Sudan to Congo to Angola—talking to warlords, industry executives, bandits, activists, priests, missionaries, oil-rig workers, scientists, and ordinary people whose lives have been transformed—not necessarily for the better—by the riches beneath their feet. The result is a high-octane narrative that reveals the challenges, obstacles, reasons for despair, and reasons for hope emerging from the world’s newest energy hot spot.
In the waning days of the American empire, we find ourselves mired in crises, with multiple foreign-policy messes and our economy in steep decline. These trends mirror the experience of the Soviet Union in the early 1980s. Reinventing Collapse examines the circumstances of the USSR’s demise and offers insights into how we might prepare for coming events here in the US: (1) Mitigation—alleviating the impact of the coming upheaval; (2) Adaptation—adjusting to the reality of changed conditions; (3) Opportunity—flourishing after the collapse.