Ferdinand E. Banks

Fadel Gheit: Oil Prices to Remain Inflated but Don't Pass on Gas

Hmm

Well John Lounsbury, I am NOT a fan of technical analysis, but a finance superstar once said that while he is also no fan, he occasionally pays it some attention. I don't do this because I am too lazy. I also need to take a closer look at natural gas. The change in gas reserves just doesn't look right to me. I spent the last week on Crete thinking about nuclear energy, but I read something in the Herald-Tribune about a certain Amy Jaffe saying that the "geopolitics" of natural gas are now going to change. If Ms Jaffee says that, I know that it isn't true.

About traders - and presumably oil. I will NEVER believe that traders are responsible for the oil price going to $147/b. I am completely satisfied with the work that I have done on that topic,
although I probably should do more before I forget futures markets fundamentals. Maybe I should add that - as a group - traders in the U.S. might be the smartest people in the world. As for other countries, well.....

Fadel Gheit: Oil Prices to Remain Inflated but Don't Pass on Gas

Interesting interview, but full of holes. I'm still not sure that Michael F. is right about gas, but he has more on the ball than Mr Gheit.

Natural Gas: An Energy Resource Whose Time Has Come

Some people are going to make a bit of money if gas is allowed to do what this author and some of the commentators think that it can do, but I don't see the country gaining as a result - definitely not in the long run, and probably not in the short run.

Rough Times Ahead for Natural Gas

Natural gas is just going through a bad spell. This time last year it was selling for seven or eight dollars, and LNG in Asia was bringing between fifteen and twenty.

Peak Oil: A Reality or a Lie?

Marc, have you ever heard me tell people that I am the leading academic energy economist in the world. I do it all the time, and when there is nobody around I tell myself. Anyway, today I was sitting in marvelous Stockholm, whatching the animals go by, and also putting together the lecture on peak oil that I plan to give soon, in which I crush doubters.

Well, this great article of yours will be referred to, although in the first chapter of my new book (or the chapter on oil) I'm afraid that I will use the word brilliant to describe it. Your article is what we need to give the fools their comeuppance.

Is it really so, is it really and truly so, that people are so dumb that they can look at the frequency plots (of outputs) for hundreds of fields, and a dozen regions (like the US, UK and Norwegian North Sea, Russia) and come to the conclusion that there will not be a global peak. Of course, who gives a damn. When the oil price starts to escalate again nobody is going to ask about peak oil.

NYT: The Great American Drilling Boom Is Over

I have some reservations about a few things in this article, but even so I find it interesting and useful. Equally as important is the comment of John Polomny. If he is correct, then there is some very bad news on the horizon for US gas buyers.

Book Review: Robert Hefner's 'The Grand Energy Transition'

I won't read this book, and if Mr Hefner finds himself at a conference where I am doing my song and dance, he would hear some things about his work that he doesn't want to hear.

Of course he won't find himself at a conference with my good self because I have never heard of this man. I've heard of people with ideas that are similar to his, but like Mr H. they would hardly be welcome to flaunt their wisdom in a scientific forum.

I know that I'm naive, but I can't understand why someone with as much on the ball as Michael Simmons would be impressed by Robert Hefner.