On Monday the IEA released its World Energy Outlook 2012. This includes an optimistic assessment of the situation in the United States:
The United States is projected to become the largest global oil producer before 2020,
exceeding Saudi Arabia until the mid-2020s. At the same time, new fuel-efficiency measures in
transport begin to curb US oil demand. The result is a continued fall in US oil imports, to the
extent that North America becomes a net oil exporter around 2030.
On Wednesday I noted that encouraging more U.S. oil production was unlikely to result in a significant drop in U.S. retail gasoline prices. Nevertheless, I believe that there would be some important economic benefits from lowering the U.S. oil import bill, as I discuss here.
Here I offer a few reactions to some of the comments that President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney made about energy policy in their debate last night.
The boycott of Iran has been more successful than I had anticipated, with Iranian oil production and exports down significantly from a year ago.
Though the record gasoline prices paid by Californians last week received national attention, it was from the beginning strictly a California problem.
Californians who bought gasoline on Friday experienced an unpleasant shock.
As President Obama and Governor Romney prepare for the first presidential debate this evening, I thought I would offer my vision of where our nation’s leaders should try to take the country.
Can the wild swings in the price of oil over the last few weeks have anything to do with supply and demand?
As U.S. retail gasoline prices once again near $4.00 a gallon, does this pose a threat to the economy and President Obama’s prospects for re-election? My answer is no.
In a new working paper, David Austin argues that for a variety of reasons, private agents do not optimize with respect to energy efficiency measures. From Addressing Market Barriers to Energy Efficiency in Buildings: