from McClatchy:
GLOBAL ECONOMY
More demand for oil in Mideast hikes prices
Mideast oil producers increasingly consume their own oil to fuel their fast-growing economies, driving up oil prices.
Posted on Fri, Apr. 18, 2008
BY KEVIN G. HALL
khall [Email address: khall #AT# mcclatchydc.com - replace #AT# with @ ]
WASHINGTON –

Middle Eastern oil-producing nations are behind today’s record high oil prices, but not for the reason you might think. Taken together, oil-rich nations represent a bloc of fast-growing economies that are now sucking up new energy supplies almost as fast as they’re coming to market.

Together, the six nations that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council …

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This report from Energy Watch Group is far more pessimistic than any other I have seen. They believe there will be enormous delays in new megaprojects coming on stream and that the decline rates in older fields will be faster than others think, particularly in the Middle East.  So, for example, EWG says oil production in 2020 will be 58 mb/d compared with the IEA estimate of 105 mb/d.  This is a sort of doomsday scenario.  Interestingly, their predictions are based on similar themes in regard to megaproject …

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Politics and oil each influence the other, to state the obvious.  I note  two examples.  The first is the growing tensions between Syria and other Arab countries in regard to Lebanon, which was highlighted in an excellent New York Times piece today. Both Saudi Arabia and Syria seek to determine the political outcome in Lebanon.  KSA is allied with Egypt and Jordan while Syria is allied with Iran, a non-Arab country.  The potential for a military escalation of the conflict seems real.   Obviously, any armed conflict in the Middle …

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The following report from Middle East Online indicates Kuwait may open new areas to international oil companies for exploration and development in an effort to boost oil output from 2.5 mb/d to 4 mb/d by 2020.  In addition, refining capacity would increase by about 500,000 per day.  Here it is:

Kuwait to upgrade vital energy sector

Gulf state of Kuwait plans to spend 51 billion dollars over next five years on oil development.

By Omar Hasan - KUWAIT CITY

The Gulf state of Kuwait plans to spend 51 billion dollars over the next five …

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Here is a link to the NYT coverage of the revolutionary Israeli plan to transform their automotive fleet to electric vehicle over a decade.  We know this is the ultimate future for all vehicles because electricity will be the ultimate energy source as petroleum and then natural gas become scarce.  

It makes perfect sense for Israel to lead the way because

1. the country is physically small enough to use electric cars for most purposes despite the limitations of current battery technology.

2. with high intensity sunlight, Israel is well positioned to …

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A recent Economist piece describing the views of the president of the French oil major, Total, in regard to the global oil outlook is worth reading on numerous levels.  One is his statement that the global decline rate of existing fields is 5 - 6 mb/d per year, much higher than the 3.3 mb/d estimated by Chris Skrebowski at in October at ASPO.  Another is his reported opinion that global production has probably peaked in terms of the practical maximum flow of oil given political realities.   Related to …

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Saudi Arabia is on a building binge. In the works are new seaports, an extended railroad system, a series of new industrial cities and a score of refineries, power stations and smelters. Over the next dozen years, such Saudi investments are expected to consume $600 billion.

But they’ll also consume something else: large quantities of Saudi oil — oil that otherwise could help slake other countries’ growing thirst.

Wall Street Journal

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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ALGIERS - An Algerian company is planning to build a power cable to Germany to export solar-generated electricity from the Sahara, a state-owned newspaper reported on Wednesday. Tewfik Hasni, chief executive of New Energy Algeria (NEAL), said the 3,000 km (1,875 mile) cable would be laid from the Algerian town of Adrar to the German city of Aachen under a project provisionally entitled "Clean Power From The Desert", El Moudhaid daily reported. …

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Masdar, will cut its electricity bill by harnessing wind, solar, and geothermal energy, while a total ban on cars within city walls should reduce the long-term health costs associated with smog. read full post

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A multimillion-riyal world-class research centre for renewable energy has been set up at the Dhahran-based King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). The aim is to help the country play the role of world energy leader for years to come. “The centre aspires to prepare the kingdom for the fast approaching hydrogen and methanol economies and help harness its immense solar and wind potentials,” read full post

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“A German Aerospace Centre study has shown that solar thermal power plants located in the Arab countries could make a significant contribution to future EU energy supplies. Single plants are already under construction in Morocco, Algeria and Egypt and planned for Libya and Jordan.”
Entitled ‘Trans-Mediterranean Interconnection for Concentrating Solar Power (Trans CSP)”, the study advocates an integrated EU-MENA energy system which would ensure by 2050 that 80 per cent of the two regions’ electricity supplies would be derived from renewable sources, the balance from fossil fuels but with no role …

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