Monday, March 19, 2007

It's an Oily Wind

That blows no good.

Pemex has just under 10 years of production left. No, that is not a misprint and when you read the article you will realize that unless they develop more fields, they are going to be toast. They are talking deepwater Gulf projects, so plan 5 years minimum to get one online and producing once development starts. And that is after the site is explored and declared good for production. Think they can get going before the rest of the production dries up? I don't. The Minuteman Project will be busy on the border with the fallout from this, assuming they can straighten out their leadership and financial issues.

Are you ready for a Gas OPEC? Ready or not, you may wake up one morning with one in place. I talked with a member of the condo board about converting to all electric in the future, this may bring it into focus a whole lot sooner than I thought.

From the No Good Deed Goes Unpunished file comes word that ethanol production will impact high fructose corn syrup production. Want some syrup with that sport drink? Or how about your Robitussin? There followed a discussion at The Oil Drum about the merits of pure cane sugar vs sucrose and fructose. I think many folks might like to see their Coke come back with cane sugar.

People focused on parking in RP better find a spot quick. If crude supplies remain tight as alleged, gasoline prices will go up. At the very least they won't fall. I don't know how far up they will go, but I really wonder if $5/gallon will really slow down demand. I do expect it will generate the usual call for corporate heads to roll over insanely huge oil company profits.

1 comment:

The North Coast said...

Kheris, it's interesting you are talking to your condo board about converting to electric in the near future.

My idea is that electric is the only future solution and the only alternative to a Chicago covered in a blanket of coal soot and completely stripped of all trees, to feed coal boilers and wood-burning stoves.

The ideal system for the typical 4-story courtyard seems to be solar panels and generator that is net-grid in combination with an ELECTRIC boiler, which hopefully will obtain better efficiency than the typical hot air electric furnace. A company named ARCO makeas a respectable line of electric boilers but I have not been able to find efficency comparisons.

Electric will be more expensive, and my landlords blanched at the thought- they do not yet understand that gas supplies here in Chicago are liable to become unreliable and expensive. Emphasize the 'unreliable' part. A solar-netgrid-electric boiler combo costs out rather expensive for now, but I would expect the downward trend on the cost of solar on electric to cross the upward trend on gas and oil in about 5-7 years.

What we all need to understand is that we are going to be paying a bigger chunk of our incomes for utilities down the road, at least until major improvements in efficiency are realized,which may not happen. People need to know the choice may be to bite the bullet now and be looking at moderately more expensive utilities, or remain in denial and be either heatless and lightless, or be gathering every combustable in sight to shove into a fireplace or dangerous wood-burning stove.

The choice is obvious.