US pressure distorted oil figures, says whistleblower

The Guardian by Terry Macalister | Nov. 10, 2009 (News)
Exclusive: Watchdog's estimates of reserves inflated says top official

The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying. The senior official claims the US has played an influential role in encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves. The ... Full Story »

Posted by Mike LaBonte - via Tim O'Reilly, OneRiot, Alexis Madrigal, NewsRack (Energy), The Guardian

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Subjects: Business, Politics, World, Sci/Tech
Topics: Oil and Gas, Global Economy, Climate Change, Global Warming, Energy, Environment
Member Tags: oil and gas companies, United States, World news, uk news, the guardian, oil, news
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Posted by: Posted by Mike LaBonte - Nov 9, 2009 - 2:37 PM PST
Reviewed by: Mike LaBonte (review)
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Edited by: Mike LaBonte - Nov 10, 2009 - 11:38 AM PST
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 by Mike LaBonte - Nov. 10, 2009

Interesting - the key source is anonymous, but there is an audio clip with his voice. The timing of this story, just ahead of an IEA release, prevents the IEA from commenting just yet. CERA would have been a good viewpoint to add.

There is no way the world will ever exceed 90 mbpd for more than a few months, if ever.

Mike posted this story.
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