Petroleum - depleting reserves, rising prices and the unfolding energy crisis

Rising food prices: A global crisis

• Food prices have been rising since 2000, spiked in early 2008, and may remain high for another ten years • Prompt action is needed to protect the poorest and support low-income countries faced by surging import bills • In the medium term, economic and agricultural growth can offset the damage, but this will require more determined efforts to boost food production Soaring food prices pose prob...

User-optimal Storage with Rising Energy Prices

When energy prices fluctuate, small scale storage, such as provided by electric vehicles or uninterruptible power supplies, allows users to reduce their overall costs by buying in price troughs. However, if future prices are rising, a user may be inclined to store energy long-term. By analysing the structural properties of the charging schedule for energy storage systems,this paper demonstrates...

The Welfare Effects of Rising Imported Food Prices in Iran

Food products account for a significant amount of the Iranian imports. Despite the rising prices of food products over the last two decades, their imports have been increasing too. In this study import demand of the main imported food products is empirically analyzed using Quadratic AIDS. Welfare impacts are measured using compensated variation. The results indicate that all products, except te...

A Policy of Strategic Petroleum Market Reserves

Unexpected price spikes in petroleum can lead to instability in markets and have a negative economic effect on sectors which rely on petroleum consumption. Sudden rises in the price of petroleum do not have to be long-term to cause negative, cascading impacts across the economy. Firms which make futures purchases or hedge against a higher price during a price spike can become insolvent when the...

The Answer to Rising Gas Prices... Nitrogen?