Big Oil’s Burden of Too Much Cash

…….But even as fears of shortages grow throughout the world and prices remain high, the cash-rich oil companies are not pouring a large portion of their money into their basic business: drilling for oil. Indeed, oil executives, in their second straight year of rising profits, are finding that too much money is chasing too few […]

Oil-seeking China steps on US toes

The United States has long regarded Central and South America as part of its backyard; and Canada as an extension of its front porch. But recent forays by China into the Western Hemisphere are challenging US influence. They are part of Beijing’s frenetic global search for large supplies of oil-based energy.The search has recently taken […]

Daniel Yergin says a structural change in oil prices has occurred

Risks complicate meeting oil demand Industry conference to take more expansive global view By Lisa Sanders, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 2:45 PM ET Feb. 13, 2005 DALLAS (MarketWatch) – As the energy industry searches for ways to meet growing demand for oil and gas, risks from volatile commodity prices, technology and geopolitical upheaval are getting in […]

2005 could be warmest year recorded

A weak El Nino and human-made greenhouse gases could make 2005 the warmest year since records started being kept in the late 1800s, NASA scientists said this week.

CNN

China finds more oil reserves

According to People’s Daily, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) found 520 million tons of new oil reserves and 243.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves in six regions in 2004.

China Daily

Ask Umbra: Got time?

Advice on effective environmental activism Q. Dear Umbra, If an environmentalist has about six hours per week to devote to activism, what should the person do to make the biggest, most positive impact? Some people (like myself) think that climate protection is a key leverage point — but is it? If yes, why, and what […]

Arguments for and against floating terminal

The battle over the Broadwater project is likely to be contested over at least four key issues: safety, economics, aesthetics and the environmental impact on Long Island Sound. There were 25 spills, explosions and other “major incidents” at liquefied natural gas terminals and tankers from 1944 to 2002, causing a total of 170 deaths, according […]

Wind Power Is Becoming a Better Bargain

Wind Power Is Becoming a Better Bargain
By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: February 13, 2005

…

Across the country, the increase in gas prices has made a fundamental difference in the purchasing decisions of utility companies, said Michael A. O’Sullivan, senior vice president of FPL Energy, which owns and operates the New Mexico center.

NY Times (free registration required, yadda-yadda)

New Mexico weighs reactor-fuel plant

Nuclear project would be biggest in U.S. To supporters, the proposed $1.3 billion plant is a sign of faith in the U.S. nuclear power industry’s perseverance and revival.

Two antinuclear groups – the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and Public Citizen – hired a consultant, Arjun Makhijani, who asserted at the hearings that the depleted uranium had emissions similar to plutonium and that there was no proven means for safe disposal.

NYTimes via IHT (free)

Yukos sues four Russian companies for takeover role

Yukos sues four Russian companies for takeover role
February 12, 2005

Texas – Russian oil giant Yukos has informed a US court of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection and has announced that it is suing four Russian energy groups for more than $20 billion for their role in the sale of its core production asset.

The suit names state-owned gas behemoth Gazprom, Gazpromneft, Baikalfinansgroup, and state-run oil producer Rosneft, seeking “in excess of $20 billion for their role in expropriating Yuganskneftgaz in December 2004,” a Yukos statement from Friday said.

Business Report

Another energy firm sued

Lockyer alleges price gouging of $850 million by Powerex of Canada.
By Dale Kasler — Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Friday, February 11, 2005

California sued another electricity supplier Thursday over its role in the energy crisis, accusing a government-owned Canadian power generator of $850 million in price gouging.

The lawsuit filed by Attorney General Bill Lockyer against BC Hydro’s Powerex subsidiary represents the latest attack by state officials on the companies that sold power to California as prices soared.

sacbee

The cost of green energy – 5% price rise over next five years

ALAN JONES

CONSUMERS will face a 5 per cent increase in electricity bills by the end of the decade to help pay for the government’s target of generating 10 per cent of the country’s energy by renewable sources, according to an official report.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said the government was on course to achieve a significant increase in renewable power, but a number of challenges remained if the target was to be reached by 2010.

The cost to the consumer and taxpayer will be more than £1 billion a year by the end of the decade, increasing electricity prices by about 5 per cent.

The Scotsman

Are we really running out of oil?

It will take another 30 years for the needle to sink to half empty, says Christopher Hope … As Adam Sieminski, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, says: “Only God knows how much oil and gas there is and that has not been revealed yet in any of the scriptures.” So why do the companies seem […]

North slope prospect reevaluated

Petroleum News writes about the reevaluation of the Burger prospect up in Alaska. Questionable economics, especially as it is a gas and condensate discovery but at an estimated 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent it may show up on a mega projects list one day.

Petroleum News

Green mansions of the millionaires

These days, it’s a lot easier being green. Solar power is cheaper than ever for homes, American families are using geothermal heating and cooling systems, and efficient wind turbines make it a breeze to generate electricity without using polluting fossil fuels.Oil prices have slid since last year, but are still high. For example, the U.S. […]

Build a Solar Home and Let the Sunshine In

If you’re planning to build your dream home someday, this article could save you thousands of dollars. Including simple, passive-solar features in any style home can cost next to nothing up front and save you unbelievable amounts over the long-term in reduced energy bills.Millions of homes easily could be designed to capture free heat directly […]

Wake up – this is serious

The controverisal Kyoto Protocol becomes law next week, as scientists are all but screaming that the world is on a path to disaster unless we stop global warming. In the first of a three-part series, Melissa Fyfe reports that Australia is especially at risk.It takes two grinding weeks by ship to reach Heard Island, halfway […]

APPEX 2004 Global Exploration Trends

Here are the slides of the Stark and Chew presentation to the September 2004 APPEX Huoston Forum. The presentation is filled with lots of interesting facts. I particularly apreciated the wildcats charts on slide 14 and slide 20. They are the perfect counter to the argument that higher oil prices will induce the international oil companies to go out and find more oil.

Slides 4 and 5 are also worth a look. Slide 4 shows that the number of discoveries “peaked” in the 80s. Slide 5 shows that since the 80s the amount of resources being discovered has been less than the amount of resources being developed. That is another way to look at the “Growing Gap” often cited by ASPO.

APEX 2004 Presentation

Only $70 Oil, Subsidies Will Spur Renewables

LONDON (Reuters) – Biofuels and wind power are the best bets for alternative energy sources as oil and natural gas prices rise even though the economics of green fuels are still far from viable, analysts say.

Reuters

OPEC says it may need 2nd quarter supply cut

Feb. 11, 2005, 12:37PM
OPEC says it may need 2nd quarter supply cut
By ANDREW MITCHELL
Reuters News Service

LONDON – OPEC oil producers may need to cut supply for the second quarter even if consumption stays robust and would need a faster, bigger cut if they see a sharp fall in demand, the group’s acting Secretary-General said today.

Houston Chronicle

Exxon abandons Azeri Caspian field

BAKU, Feb 11 (Reuters) – U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has abandoned its Nakhichevan field on the Caspian Sea after failing to find commercial deposits, high-level officials from Azeri state oil firm SOCAR said on Friday. At 7,087 metres, the well was the deepest in the Caspian and Azeri geologists have said […]

Oil Production Not Meeting Demand

Oil Production Not Meeting Demand
WebProNews | Staff Writer | 2005-02-11

Oil prices rose again after a report from the IEA predicting a big growth in world energy demand.

OPEC produced less oil in January than what the IEA claims is needed in the first quarter to meet demand.

WebProNews

Greg Greene to introduce film

Writer/director Greg Greene will introduce a special screening of the award winning documentary film The End of Suburbia at the annual meeting of the Salt Spring Ecovillage Education and Development Society, February 27, 2005, at 1 PM.

This film about global energy resource depletion will be shown at Beaver Point Hall, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada, followed by a business meeting and a potluck dinner.

This screening is open to the public and there is no admission fee.

The Saltspring Island Ecovillage Education and Development Society is a registered non-profit Society. Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

Investment 2005: Assessing the Petroleum Factor

we should be aware that any qualified economic scenario will show that production, transportation and refining disruptions will cause transient oil shortages long before we humans have reached the theoretical peak of oil production. And it’s all downhill from there.

FutureReality.org

UK Says BP Is Fine But US SEC Says No Way

If you want to be on the NYSE you must play by SEC rules.

BP opens the coffers as profits soar
By Carl Mortished, International Business Editor

BP OPENED its coffers to investors yesterday, promising a step change in the level of the dividend payout. But even as it revealed record profits of $16.2 billion (£8.7 billion), the oil company admitted that it had failed to replace fully the four million barrels of oil and gas that it pumped out of the ground each day last year.

Using UK accounting rules, Britain’s largest company more than filled its tank, adding 10 per cent more oil to its reserves than it extracted and sold in 2004. However, the company will deliver a very different figure to the US Securities and Exchange Commission when it files its annual statement on reserves later this year.

Under the stricter SEC rules, BP replaced only 89 per cent of the barrels it produced. Excluding joint ventures, notably its Russian acquisition TNK-BP, BP’s replacement ratio falls to 78 per cent.

Times Online

Trade Gap Widens in 2004

Crude oil prices, slower demand for exports drag on domestic economy much of the year.

INC.com

Road builders plunder China’s Great Wall

HOW MUCH OF THIS TYPE OF THING ARE WE GOING TO SEE BEIJING (AFP) – Road builders demolished a large section of China’s World Heritage-listed Great Wall last month in an indication of the perilous state of one of the world’s best known landmarks, state media said. Almost 100 meters (333 feet) of the wall […]

Canada’s fourth open-pit oilsands mine given final go-ahead approval

CALGARY (CP) – Canada’s fourth open-pit oilsands mine and upgrading refinery took a decisive step forward Thursday as Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. approved the $10.8 billion Horizon oilsands development in northern Alberta. While calling the decision a “major milestone” for the company, Calgary-based Canadian Natural has been preparing itself for years to build the Horizon […]

Turkmenistan wants Russia to pay more for its natural gas

ASHGABAD, February 9 (Itar-Tass) – Turkmenistan insists on a revision of the price of the natural gas, which it exports to Russia. “The Gazprom Company proposal for keeping the price at last year’s level is unacceptable to Turkmenistan,” reads the official report on the results of the Thursday meeting between President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov […]

New Electronic Technology Advances Fuel Cell Development

Washington, DC (Feb. 9, 2005) — With the U.S. Department of Energy’s announcement of yet another advance in the development of fuel cell technology, the nation moves one step closer to the time when all barriers—including cost, size, and efficiency—are overcome to make fuel cells commonplace in our homes and businesses.Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute […]

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