The Oil Drum

infobox weblog
name = The Oil Drum
website = http://www.theoildrum.com/

The Oil Drum is a website devoted to the discussion of energy issues and their impact on society. The site is a resource for information on peak oil, and related concepts such as oil megaprojects, Hubbert Linearization, and the Export Land Model.

The Oil Drum was rated one of the top five sustainability blogs of 2007 by Nielsen Netratings [cite press release | title = ONLINE CONSUMERS CALL FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY IN STRATEGIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, ACCORDING TO NIELSEN ONLINE | publisher = Nielsen Online | date = 2008-03-31 | url = http://www.netratings.com/pr/pr_080331.pdf ] , and is read by a diverse collection of public figures, including Roscoe Bartlett [cite web | last = Bartlett | first = Roscoe | title = Congressional Record: PEAK OIL | date = 2008-02-28 | url = http://bartlett.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Spcl%20Order%20Bartlett%20Record%20Text%20022808.pdf ] , Paul Krugman [cite web | last = Krugman | first = Paul | title = Commodity prices: Deja vu all over again | url = http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/commodity-prices-deja-vu-all-over-again/ | publisher = New York Times | date = 2008-04-19 | quote = …the peakers I read… ] , James Howard Kunstler [cite web | last = Kunstler | first = James Howard | title = Jim Kunstler's Forecast 2007 | url = http://www.kunstler.com/Mags_Forecast2007.html | quote = …the web's best oil debate site… ] , Richard Rainwater [cite web | last = Ryan | first = Oliver | title = The Rainwater Prophecy | publisher = Fortune (magazine) | date = 2005-12-26 | url = http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/12/26/8364646/ Reference appears in print version only; corroborated by http://allfinancialmatters.com/2005/12/20/read-what-richard-rainwater-reads-oil-blogs/ .] , Matthew Simmons [cite web | last = Pulplava | first = Jim | title = Financial Sense Newshour: The GAO Report on Peak Oil | publisher = Financial Sense Online | date = 2007-08-07 | url = http://www.financialsense.com/transcriptions/2007/0407.html | quote = …the most sophisticated energy blog on the internet… ] , and Radiohead [cite web | title = DEAD AIR SPACE | publisher = Radiohead | url = http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/ | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070816032443/http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/ | archivedate = 2007-08-16 ] . In 2008, the site received the M. King Hubbert Award for Excellence in Energy Education from the U.S. chapter of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO) [cite web | title = 2008 ASPO-USA Peak Oil Conference Proceedings | url = http://www.aspo-usa.org/aspousa4/proceedings/Hubbert_Awards_Volunteer_Award_ASPOUSA2008.pdf] .

The Oil Drum was started in March 2005 by [http://lamar.colostate.edu/~ksaun/ Kyle Saunders] (username "Prof. Goose"), a professor of political science at Colorado State University, and [http://rockmech.mst.edu/people/faculty.html Dave Summers] (username "Heading Out"), a professor of mining engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology (then known as University of Missouri-Rolla) [cite web | title = Staff Biographies | publisher = The Oil Drum | url = http://www.theoildrum.com/special/about ] . The site first rose to prominence following its coverage of the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on oil and gas production [cite web | last = Vallance | first = Chris | title = Up All Night Pods and Blogs program summary | publisher = BBC Radio 5 Live | date = 2005-08-29 | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/programmes/upallnight_blog/20050829.shtml ] [cite web | last = Maciulis | first = Tony | title = Connected: Coast to Coast: What's on the show Wednesday | publisher = MSNBC | date = 2005-09-22 | url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9438375 ] . Since then, the staff has grown by dozens and the site has become well-known for rigorous, quantitative analysis of energy production and consumption [cite web | last = Lavelle | first = Marianne | title = Beyond the Barrel: The Oil Drum: $100 a Barrel Quickens the Beat | publisher = U.S. News & World Report | date = 2008-01-07 | url = http://www.usnews.com/blogs/beyond-the-barrel/2008/1/7/the-oil-drum-100-a-barrel-quickens-the-beat.html ] . Notable examples include editor Stuart Staniford's analysis of the depletion of Saudi Arabia's Ghawar oil field ( [http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2470 Depletion Levels in Ghawar] ) [cite news | last = Hamilton | first = James D. | title = Running Dry | publisher = Atlantic Monthly | date = 2007-10 | url = http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200710/oil-field-decline ] and Saunders's analysis of Chinese cement production and consumption ( [http://www.theoildrum.com/node/4162 A Pretty Stunning Graph of World Cement Production] ) [cite news | title = All Things Considered: Cement Contributes to China's Bad Climate Rap | publisher = National Public Radio | date = 2008-06-21 | url = http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91773682 ] .

The site has steadily increased its global reach by adding localized sites for [http://europe.theoildrum.com Europe] , [http://canada.theoildrum.com Canada] , and [http://anz.theoildrum.com Australia/New Zealand] , as well as a [http://local.theoildrum.com site about local activism] .

The site started out on the Blogger platform, moved to Scoop in August 2005 [cite web | title = Welcome to The Oil Drum 2.0! | publisher = The Oil Drum | date = 2005-08-19 | url = http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2005/8/19/203229/567 ] , and to Drupal in December 2006 [cite web | title = Welcome to TOD 3.0! | publisher = The Oil Drum | date = 2006-12-24 | url = http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/12/23/0731/6797 ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.theoildrum.com The Oil Drum]
* [http://www.usnews.com/blogs/beyond-the-barrel/2008/1/7/the-oil-drum-100-a-barrel-quickens-the-beat.html The Oil Drum: $100 a Barrel Quickens the Beat] - Interview with The Oil Drum editor Nate Hagens.