Word: petroleum
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...perhaps he shouldn't. During the late 1970's, at the peak of OPEC's power, the term "energy crisis" was on everyone's lips. The long lines and high prices at the gas station were painful, daily reminders that the world is running out of petroleum...
When we equated "the energy crisis" with "the high cost of gasoline," we erred seriously. Gas prices are lower now, but the real crisis--petroleum depletion--is still with us and is worse than ever...
Since the United States began drilling for petroleum, we have used 121 billion barrels. Today's technology can extract only about 27 billion more. If we develop more advanced extraction techniques, like recovering oil from shale, we can reach another 18-53 billion barrels...
...meeting was motivated by the long, grinding decline in oil prices that has strapped petroleum-rich countries the world over. A decade ago, when OPEC controlled the bulk of oil output, the group could boost prices at whim. But as OPEC's share of the world's oil market has dwindled, from 56% in 1973 to 33% today, so has the group's control over prices. OPEC has tried to persuade its increasingly productive rivals to limit their output, but they have nonetheless pumped freely and helped swamp the market. They hitherto saw no reason to cooperate with OPEC, since...
...lawsuits can be attributed in part to growing litigiousness, some bankers have themselves to blame. In the early 1980s, lenders aggressively sought new borrowers in farming and oil, pushing generous loans under the presumption that the good times would keep on rolling. But when the bottom fell out of petroleum and commodity prices, many ventures were unable to meet payments. In some cases panicky bank officers intervened too harshly, giving borrowers grounds...