Michael Klare (The Nation): Katrina and the Coming World Oil Crunch

[Jack Rabbit]

From The Nation
Dated Tuesday September 6

Katrina jolts the press
By Michael Klare

More than any other domestic disaster, Hurricane Katrina has significant implications for America's foreign and military policies. There is, of course, the obvious connection to the war in Iraq: National Guard troops that were desperately needed to conduct rescue operations in New Orleans and southern Mississippi were instead fighting a pointless war in the Middle East, and a President whose attention should have been focused on hurricane relief was instead trying to put a positive spin on the Iraqi Constitution debacle. The international coverage of the human tragedy of New Orleans has also torpedoed the Administration's just-announced campaign to enhance America's image abroad. But far more important than any of these is the impact of Katrina on the global oil supply and the resulting increase in US dependence on foreign petroleum. To appreciate the significance of all this, it is first necessary to conduct a quick review of the pre- and post-Katrina oil situation, both in this country and abroad.

Before Katrina, the United States was consuming 20.4 million barrels of oil per day; some 44 percent of this was being refined into gasoline for use by motor vehicles, while another 30 percent was used to make diesel and jet fuel. Continuing a long trend toward increased dependence on foreign oil, imports accounted for 58 percent of America's total petroleum supply in 2004. And here's the kicker: Of the 5.5 million barrels of oil produced every day in the United States, 28 percent (or 1.6 million barrels) came from Louisiana and adjacent areas of the Gulf of Mexico. One cannot underestimate the importance of the Gulf area in America's overall energy equation. While oil output is dropping everywhere else in the United States, it has been increasing in the Gulf, with new wells being drilled in ever-deeper waters. "Generally speaking," the Department of Energy reported in January, "Lower-48 onshore production, particularly in Texas, has fallen in recent years, while offshore (mainly Gulf of Mexico) production is rising." The Gulf Coast also houses approximately 10 percent of the nation's refining capacity and a significant share of its natural gas production.

Meanwhile, the global oil equation has become increasingly dire. While international consumption has been rising at a torrid pace, with much of the new demand coming from China and India, the frenzied search for new fields has largely come up empty. At the same time, many older fields in Mexico, Canada, Russia, Indonesia and even the Middle East have gone into decline. These developments have led some analysts to conclude that the world has reached the moment of "peak," or maximum sustainable daily oil output; others say that we have not yet reached peak but can expect to do so soon. This is not the place to elaborate on the matter, except to say that there was widespread worry about the future availability of petroleum before Katrina struck, as demonstrated by record high prices for crude. (For background on "peak" oil, see Klare, "Crude Awakening," November 8, 2004.)

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[grasswire]

1. Question

Who owns the oil that flowed through New Orleans?

I wonder if there's a way that Bushco could increase its profits if that oil was interrupted.

And I wonder, coincidentally, where the Carlyle Group has been investing lately.