Relief at the Pump Hinges on Iran: Daniel Yergin

It is the second time George Osborne has scrapped the fuel duty in the last six months. The Chancellor cancelled a similar 3p rise in petrol prices – due to have taken effect in January – in his Autumn Statement in December. Osborne was under enormous pressure to scrap the duty after official figures yesterday blamed higher prices at petrol pumps for a rise in inflation to 2.8 per cent. Inflation has remained stubbornly above the 2 per cent inflation target of the Bank of England. And economists warning inflation could hit 3.5 per cent by the summer.

By Hawkinvest:The price of oil initially spiked after Bernanke announced the latest QE3 program. Investors see additional action by the Fed as another round of easy money, and since hard assets like gold and oil can't be printed like paper currencies, the first reaction was to buy oil. There is no doubt that tensions in the Middle East, (particularly with Iran) have put support under the price of oil as well.

Saturday, September 17, the WSJ ran an essay by Daniel Yergin called, “There Will Be Oil.” In the essay, Yergin argues that the advocates of “peak oil” theory are wrong. He says, “Meeting future demand will require innovation, investment and the development of more challenging resources,” but he doesn’t make this sound like a huge problem. Most of the big challenges would be above ground issues, like politics, mismanagement of resources, and wars.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil dropped below $90 a barrel for the first time this year Monday, and pump prices dropped 3 cents over the weekend as drivers catch a break after two months of steep increases.

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil dropped below $90 a barrel for the first time this year Monday, and pump prices dropped 3 cents over the weekend as driver caught a break after two months of steep increases.

On 17 September The Wall Street Journal published a fascinating article on “peak oil,” “There Will Be Oil,” written by Daniel Yergin, chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an energy research and consulting firm and deserved recipient of Pulitzer Prize for his 1991 book, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power. According to The Wall Street Journal, “There Will Be Oil” “is adapted from his new book, The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World.”

In “The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World,” Daniel Yergin returns to the topic of how energy policy is driving global change.