It was with a great sense of loss when we heard of Matt Simmons death. We wanted to express our greatest sympathy, and our hearts are truly saddened. Matt Simmons was one of the great pioneers of popularising Peak Oil, and was a great entrepreneur which founded the Ocean Energy Institute. He dedicated all his life to the work and his reaserch. His book, named “Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy”, gave all of us a truth, which was that the world’s oil industy has already arrived the turning-point and we have entered the post oil age. Besides his book, as a global energy expert, his many reaserch presentations and lots of publication materials were a valuable tool for us. His contributions to the world and us will never be forgotten, and all of us will miss him for ever.

Feng Lianyong and other members of ASPO-China
Web: ASPO China
E-mail: fengly@yahoo.cn

British explorer Rockhopper said the latest well to be drilled in the Falkland Islands as part of a controversial exploration programme was found to be a dry hole. Oil exploration in the islands off the coast of South America has sparked protests from Argentina, which claims the British territory.

The drilling of Rockhopper's Ernest prospect was being closely watched after the Sea Lion well, drilled by the company in the same basin in May, made a significant oil discovery, sending Rockhopper's shares soaring by over 500%, Reuters reported.

"The result of Ernest is disappointing, but the well was always designed to investigate an entirely different geological play type from Sea Lion," said Rockhopper's managing director Sam Moody.

The company will now move to carry out further tests on the Sea Lion discovery to help it plan a potential appraisal campaign, Moody said. Ernest reached its target depth of 2240 metres with initial logs confirming that no hydrocarbons had been encountered, said Rockhopper.

Read more: Upstream Online

By Colin J. Campbell,
founder of ASPO, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas

Matt Simmons in Denver at ASPO 8

The unexpected and tragic news of the death of Matt Simmons at the age of 67 has come as a great shock to his many friends and colleagues. But above all, our thoughts are with his wife, Ellen, and their five daughters, to whom we offer our condolences.

Matt had a successful life having co-founded Simmons & Co. International in 1974, an important bank, based in Texas, which specialised in funding oil contractors. He was the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive until 2005, when he took on a less executive role. His intimate knowledge of the oil industry allowed him to witness the nature of depletion and prompted him to pay attention to early studies on Peak Oil. He came to recognise the importance of the subject which will likely go down as a turning-point for mankind, given the central role of oil-based energy in the modern world.

Personal reflektions by Kjell Aleklett, President of ASPO International
(From the blog Aleklett's Energy Mix)

Matthew R. Simmons

Yesterday afternoon I received a message from Matt Simmons’ assistant Laura Russell that I found difficult to believe – it read that Matt had died suddenly. A few hours later the news had spread over the entire world (e.g. see an article in the Washington Post). It is with great sorrow that I now write these words.

In the autumn of 2001 I visited Colin Campbell in Ballydehob in Ireland. During the visit we discussed the possibility of organizing an international workshop on Peak Oil in Uppsala during the spring of 2002. I remember that I said that we needed speakers from the Middle East, Russia and the USA if we were to call the conference “international”. From the USA we thought of Matt Simmons.

With chock ASPO International has received the following press release from Laura Russell, Executive Assistant to Matthew R. Simmons, Rockland, Maine:

“Matthew R. Simmons, founder of the Ocean Energy Research Institute in Rockland, Maine, passed away suddenly on Sunday. He is survived by his wife, Ellen, and their five daughters. Mr. Simmons was also former chairman of Simmons & Company International. Details of services are pending. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Ocean Energy Research Institute.”

Matt Simmons support of ASPO has been very important and we will come back with more information.

Kjell Aleklett
President of ASPO International

Read an article in the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/09/AR2010080903555.html

Most officials in both Europe and the UK still believe peak oil is a problem the markets will solve. That's a dangerous game to play with our energy supplies, says Lionel Badal.

Two years ago, the British government was still confident that oil reserves were abundant enough to meet rising demand until at least 2030. In other words, we should not worry. This cheerful message relied on the contested assessments made by the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA).

However, ever since numerous academic studies and industry reports have demonstrated that sometime within this decade global oil production will start to decline. In short, we are about to reach Peak Oil, and we are completely unprepared. Brace for impact.

Read more: The Ecologist

A new scientific article by M.J.W.A Vanderschuren, T.E. Lane, and J.J. Wakeford has been published in the journal Energy Policy. The article is entitled "Can the South African transport system surmount reduced crude oil availability?" and based on a joint project between ASPO South Africa and university researchers originally carried out for Department of Transport’s National Transport Master Plan.

Abstract:
This paper is based on an elaborate research project carried out in 2008. International ‘Peak Oil’ predictions were translated to the South African context as a basis for the energy analysis. Based on available plans for the implementation of new power plants, and the like, various energy availability scenarios were developed. On the transportation side, the current transport demand (passenger and freight) was combined with fuel efficiency knowledge in the transportation field. Planned or proven international efficiency improvement interventions were assessed regarding their feasibility in the South African context.

Linda Flood from Veckans Affärer [“The Week’s Business”, a Swedish newspaper] has contacted Kjell Aleklett, president of ASPO International, during the summer to discuss BP and the leak in the Gulf of Mexico. They also discussed how the oil companies handle the technology for drilling in deep water and, most importantly, if they have developed technology to cope with “blowouts”. The discussion was also about other large oil spills and Kjell Aleklett pointed out that it is time to make Shell take responsibility for the leaks in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. He personally became aware of that huge problem after meeting Hafsat Abiola-Castello from Nigeria this summer (read the blog on Aleklett’s Energy Mix).

Linda Flood had now written an article with the headline “Many questions hanging over the oil industry” [the article in Swedish].

The Lloyd's insurance market and the highly regarded Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS, known as Chatham House) says Britain needs to be ready for "peak oil" and disrupted energy supplies at a time of soaring fuel demand in China and India, constraints on production caused by the BP oil spill and political moves to cut CO2 to halt global warming.

The insurance market has a major interest in preparedness to counter climate change because of the fear of rising insurance claims related to property damage and business disruption. The review is groundbreaking because it comes from the heart of the City and contains the kind of dire warnings that are more associated with environmental groups or others accused by critics of resorting to hype. It takes a pot shot at the International Energy Agency which has been under fire for apparently under-estimating the threats, noting: "IEA expectations [on crude output] over the last decade have generally gone unmet."

Read more: The Guardian
Read the entire study here: Chatham House

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has ordered a halt to oil exploration operations to save the hydrocarbon wealth in the world's top crude exporting nation for future generations.

"I was heading a cabinet meeting and told them to pray to God the Almighty to give it a long life," King Abdullah told Saudi scholars studying in Washington.

"I told them that I have ordered a halt to all oil explorations so part of this wealth is left for our sons and successors God willing," he said.

A senior oil ministry official said the king's order was not an outright ban but rather meant future exploration activities should be carried out wisely.

Saudi Arabia, the largest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, pumped oil unchanged at 8.26m barrels a day in June. The kingdom is pumping about 209,000 barrels above its target according to Zawya Dow Jones.

The kingdom's recoverable crude oil and condensate reserves stood at 260.1bn barrels at the end of 2009, the world's largest, according to state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co, or Aramco.