State officials fight slippery oil contracts

Middlebury resident Carol LaFreniere thought she’d get ahead of the game last fall, pre-paying for her family’s winter heating oil and getting a lower per-gallon price in return. But when the Waterbury company LaFreniere paid $799 to for 500 gallons of heating oil failed to make good on the contract, and the amount of oil […]

BP appeals LNG pier rejection

Energy giant BP on Tuesday filed an appeal of Delaware regulators’ rejection of a $500 million liquefied natural gas terminal in Logan Township. Crown Landing LLC, a BP subsidiary, is seeking to build the facility on a parcel with access to two pipelines running to New York City and across the Northeast. www.nj.com

Glance at top oil producers, consumers

A look at the world’s top oil producers and consumers this year and projections for 2015, in millions of barrels per day.www.thenewstribune.com

The period of easy oil extraction is over.

So says the president of Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft:

‘”Beyond 2005 we will probably reach the ceiling in output, ” he said. “The period of easy oil extraction is over and to boost output further we need serious capital investment and more time,” he said.’

Link

Japan And China Jostle For Local Energy Reserves

Last year, Tokyo protested to Beijing about the China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s Chunxiao gas field development in the East China Sea, part of the $2 billion Xihu Trough project, which it believes might extend into Japanese territorial waters. CNOOC, which leads in the development of Xihu Trough’s gas reserves, will begin delivering from the […]

Japan And China Jostle For Local Energy Reserves

Last year, Tokyo protested to Beijing about the China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s Chunxiao gas field development in the East China Sea, part of the $2 billion Xihu Trough project, which it believes might extend into Japanese territorial waters. CNOOC, which leads in the development of Xihu Trough’s gas reserves, will begin delivering from the […]

Rig Game

Want to drill an oil or gas well? Get in line. After a stunning 2004, this year looks to be even better for drilling companies. And 2006 could top them both, if prices stay high. To take advantage of oil at $45.50 per barrel and gas at $6 per thousand cubic feet, exploration companies are […]

Peak Oil Conference in Edinburgh, 25th April 2005

A one-day conference on the impending peak and decline in global oil production will be held at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh on Monday, 25th April. The conference is titled ‘Peak Oil UK: Entering the Age of Oil Depletion’ and it will bring together six leading experts to discuss the problem from various […]

Why oil prices are barreling up

In the past week, oil prices have regained about US$3 a barrel after hitting a low of $45. Apart from the perennial US weather factor, positive sentiment was reinforced by IEA (International Energy Agency) data revising previous forecasts for world oil demand growth in 2005 by 80,000 barrels per day, or 0.08 million barrels/day (mbd), […]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, signed bilateral trade agreements on Monday in their effort to establish a strategic economic alliance between the two South American nations. Chavez and Lula da Silva signed a series cooperation accords, including joint ventures between the two countries’ state-owned oil companies hinged […]

Oil Rises as OPEC Says May Cut Supply

Oil prices rose on Monday as the OPEC cartel said it might cut supply as the Northern Hemisphere winter draws to a close. U.S. crude oil settled 28 cents higher at $47.44 a barrel, within a $45-$50 range held over the past five weeks. London Brent crude settled 25 cents higher at $45.53 a barrel. […]

Caspian oil will cushion market-only in the short-term

New Caspian Oil Likely to Cushion Market 02.15.2005, 07:49 AM After two years of construction, workers are welding together and testing with water the last few sections of a 1,760-kilometer (1,100-mile) oil pipeline that runs from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey. Seven huge gray tanks that will each hold 1 million barrels of oil have […]

Global warming as bad as terrorism

The Labor leader, Kim Beazley, has ranked global warming next to nuclear proliferation and militant fundamentalism as a major threat to the world’s security. But on the eve of the Kyoto Protocol coming into force, the federal Minister for Industry, Ian Macfarlane, has highlighted the gulf between Labor and the Government by disputing whether human […]

States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile

“Drivers will get charged for how many miles they use the roads, and it’s as simple as that,” says engineer David Kim.

Kim and his team at Oregon State University equipped a test car with a global positioning device to keep track of its mileage. Eventually, every car would need one.

CBS

The shrinking salad bowl

…
The shrinking salad bowl: Finding our balance on the edge of hunger
Houses and malls becoming the fastest-growing crop in California
Deborah K. Rich, Special to The Chronicle
Saturday, February 12, 2005

It’s almost too late for California to eat local. Even as we rediscover how good tomatoes and cantaloupe taste when they are freshly picked — if not in our backyard, then in the next valley over — our state is fast losing its ability to feed itself.

SF Gate

Lexus Introduces First Luxury Hybrid Vehicle

Affluent car buyers who might have felt it was, well, a bit too low class to forsake image and dual-zone climate control, 10-way power seat and premium audio in order to drive a more environmentally friendly vehicle don’t have to worry any longer.

MSN

Fears roused on LNG plan

…
Friday, February 11, 2005

By LAWRENCE HAJNA
Courier-Post Staff

A plan by the city of Philadelphia to bring big ships carrying liquefied natural gas through the heart of the metropolitan region is sparking fears among residents on both sides of the Delaware River.

The city and its gas company, Philadelphia Gas Works, are exploring using the tankers to deliver liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to a terminal across the river from more than 7,500 homes proposed under redevelopment plans for Camden and Pennsauken.

Brenda Cruz, a 34-year-old Pennsauken resident, is startled by the idea of the tankers coming near her Curtis Avenue neighborhood. The two huge concrete-walled tanks of an existing LNG plant the gas works may expand to accommodate the ships are located across from her neighborhood.

Cruz, who runs a house-cleaning business, fears the tankers pose a safety risk.

“We don’t need that, we really don’t,” she said. “Our kids play at that river. Everyone would be against it.”

CourierPost

States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile

Officials in car-clogged California are so worried they may be considering a replacement for the gas tax altogether, replacing it with something called “tax by the mile.” http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/14/eveningnews/main674120.shtml

China Says Oil to Exceed 50 Percent of Its Energy by 2010

China’s natural gas consumption is rising at an even faster pace and the country is projected to have net gas imports of between 20 billion cubic meters and 25 billion cubic meters in 2010, from zero imports in 2000.

Bloomberg

Toward a normalization of Azerbaijan-Iran relations

The recent visit to Iran of Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, from Janurary 24th to 26th 2005, confirms the rapprochement between Tehran and Baku. Not only did he meet with the Iranian president Mohammad Khatami whom the presidential term of office will be ending soon, but Ilham Aliyev also met with le Guide Ali Khameney and […]

Industry facing product delivery, quality challenges

Reserves growth, he said, comes from conservatism of initial estimates and advances in exploration, drilling, and production technology. The phenomenon, he added, doesn’t occur only in the Middle East, as some analysts assume. In fact, the US has accounted for 85% of all reserve additions in the last 15 years. Globally, Ahlbrandt said, reserves growth […]

Gas-Powered SUV Cracks ‘Greenest Vehicles of 2005′ List

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2005 – Amid excitement over new advanced technology vehicles entering the market and worries about sustained high gas prices, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has announced this year’s “greenest” and “meanest” vehicles, along with the environmental scorings of all model year 2005 cars and passenger trucks. The vehicle scores are […]

Energy price rises boost BG Group

BG Group, the UK energy exploration and production firm, has reported a 22% rise in annual profits on the back of strong gas and oil prices. Pre-tax profits for the year to December 2004 were £1.52bn ($2.86bn). BG, which was formed in 1997 after British Gas was split into two firms, also raised profit targets […]

Blair set to press nuclear button

Tony Blair is preparing to commit the country to the biggest nuclear power programme since the 1960s if he wins the forthcoming general election. The Prime Minister is expected to use a third term in office to pave the way for the construction of up to 10 new nuclear stations in an attempt to ensure […]

OPEC, EU to Hold Twice-Yearly Meetings on Oil Market (Update4)

Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) — OPEC, producer of more than a third of the world’s oil, and the European Union plan to hold twice- yearly meetings to discuss how to maintain a stable oil price acceptable to producing and consuming countries. Officials will meet first in May or June, Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, Dutch minister of economic […]

Legal threat over UK retreat on greenhouse gases

David Gow in Brussels and Mark Milner Tuesday February 15, 2005 The Guardian The government and the European commission clashed head on yesterday over Britain’s plans to allow industry to emit higher than approved levels of greenhouse gases in a row which threatened to undermine Tony Blair’s claim for leadership in combating global warming. … […]

The engines of progress have merely accelerated our rush to the brink.

George Monbiot Tuesday February 15, 2005 The Guardian The reality of climate change is that the engines of progress have merely accelerated our rush to the brink. … The denial of climate change, while out of tune with the science, is consistent with, even necessary for, the outlook of almost all the world’s economists. Modern […]

Gov. Blagojevich Sends Sustainable Energy Plan to IL Commerce Commissi

Plan outlined in State of the State address requires Illinois utilities to generate at least eight percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2012 Aggressive plan expected to give wind power major boost.CHICAGO – As he outlined in his State of the State address last week, Gov. Rod Blagojevich today submitted his proposal for an […]

Kyoto & Beyond (Waking Up a Divided, Mesmerized Globe)

The author encourages others to freely reproduce this article (in its entirety, including a link to the AlterNet version, where it originally appeared on February 14, 2005). Kyoto and Beyond by Felix Kramer On February 16, 2005, the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change goes into effect to begin a global rescue mission. It’s a historic […]

Power cuts

Power cuts help British Energy to £350m loss
Terry Macalister
Tuesday February 15, 2005

British Energy revealed yesterday that it ran up losses of nearly £350m in the first nine months of the year and was forced to switch off a power plant weeks after it was brought back from repair.

The country’s biggest electricity producer saw third-quarter pre-tax losses escalate to £87m – compared with £10m during the same period last year – as it was hit by power cuts at its Hartlepool and Heysham 1 stations.

The Guardian

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