Politicians and activists may love to talk about renewable energy sources, but in today’s world fossil fuels are still king. Indeed, as technology has developed in recent years, previously unreachable oil and gas reserves, like shale gas, have become huge sources of industry. Using data from British Petroleum’s 2013 statistical review of world energy, we calculated the countri
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For the two families that govern the Kurdistan Region of Iraq — the Barzanis and Talabanis — the Islamic State’s rampage across Iraq this past summer represented an unprecedented opportunity. Taking advantage of the Iraqi army’s complete collapse, the Kurds captured the oil-rich area around Kirkuk on June 11. Soon after taking Kirkuk, President Masoud Barzani called for a refe
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An examination of allegations that the Obama administration’s failure to secure a long-term U.S troop presence in Iraq after 2011 was the "original sin" that led to the ascendance of ISIS. The meteoric rise of ISIS has justifiably spurred an examination of what U.S. policies might have led to a less dire outcome in territories now controlled by the group. One common focus is t
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The recent debate over falling oil prices has become an over simplified economic question of supply and demand, ignoring other interrelated economic theories. Despite the global recession and, oil demand has remained at 90-91 million barrels per day (mbd) over the past 5 years. However, due to the recession, Western nations have slowly reduced their demand. Meanwhile low growth
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