OPEC, Oil and a Paradox

Already under pressure to pump an additional 1.5 million barrel into the market each day, the organization may well decide to make such a commitment in the hope of easing the current prices.Such a move, however, could produce the opposite effect. Here is why. First, OPEC, although no longer the key player it once was […]

China ravenous

EARLIER this month, ChevronTexaco foiled an attempt by the China National Offshore Oil Corp. to buy Unocal, America’s ninth-largest oil company. The CNOOC bid brought China’s energy needs to America’s doorstep for the first time. It won’t be the last China’s exploding oil demand is sparking competition with the United States. Perhaps more important than […]

Russia: The Curse Of $50 A Barrel

Why steep oil prices could prove catastrophic for the country’s economy With crude prices hovering around $50 a barrel, Russia, the world’s second-largest producer of oil after Saudi Arabia, is raking in petrodollars. This year oil exports are forecast to earn Russia some $90 billion, up from $14.5 billion in 1998. With so much hard […]

Scientific Evidence Debunks Peak Oil Hoax

Claims which have traditionally been put forward to argue a connection between natural petroleum and biological matter have been subjected to scientific scrutiny and have been established to be baseless. The outcome of such scrutiny comes hardly as a surprise, given recognition of the constraints of thermodynamics upon the genesis of hydrocarbons.

Britain faces big chill as ocean current slows

CLIMATE change researchers have detected the first signs of a slowdown in the Gulf Stream

Turbulent Treasure Chest : Gold, Nuclear and Politics

A week ago, President Bush felt it necessary to address the energy issue and did so in a special speech. He endeavoured to show the American public that, despite their widespread concerns, he nonetheless had

Spain Takes Steps to Combat Drought

Spanish ministers agreed to set aside 300 million euros ($390 million) on Friday to guarantee the country’s taps do not run dry this summer after the driest winter since records began. Spain has had the lowest rainfall from November to March since 1947, the Meteorological Institute says.

Drought Makes Vietnam Double Chinese Power Imports

Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the nation’s main power provider, is to double capacity purchases from China to 400 megawatts to make up for a domestic hydro-power shortage caused by drought, state-run media said on Friday. EVN made the decision at a meeting on Wednesday, after which its affiliates will start upgrading their 110-kilovolt transmission lines […]

The new

The United States is spending $ 83 million to upgrade its two main air bases in Afghanistan, the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, and Kandahar Air Field in the south. Both bases are being equipped with new runways, new navigation aids and other facilities. The move reinforces the view that Washington intends to maintain […]

Saudis Have Oil for 140 Years, Says Aramco Chief in Brazil

“Whenever you explore your oil, you also find new reserves. And still we have many areas in Saudi Arabia that have not been fully explored. I think that the bottom line is that there is no shortage of oil in Saudi Arabia or in the world”, he stated. According to the executive, in the next […]

World scientists meet on future energy needs at the University of Ulster

Scientists from around the world are meeting today to discuss how to keep the lights on and the cars moving when the world’s supply of oil and coal runs out. With global reserves of fossil fuels being rapidly depleted, the scientists are looking at ways of introducing and commercialising hydrogen as an energy of the […]

Indonesia Sees Crude Oil Prices High at 46-54 Usd/Barrel This Year

World crude oil prices are expected to remain high this year, ranging between 46 and 54 usd a barrel, Indonesian governor for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Maizar Rahman said, citing an estimate by the London based Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES). ‘Going forward, prices will remain high throughout the year until […]

Back to the Future: Imagining a World of Less Oil

Once production is on the down slide, there is no prospect but mounting prices as Americans, Europeans and Asians bid for every last drops of black gold. “You can’t imagine what the end of cheap oil will mean,” a friend observed. I’ve been taking his words as a challenge. So, let’s imagine:The Oregonian

Oil Trading Choppy — on Horses?

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Many traders who bet on the future of energy prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange fled Friday for another type of betting, horse racing at the Kentucky Derby. The migration of risk-takers to Louisville, home of Churchill Downs where the Derby is held, was blamed Friday for thinner trading volumes […]

When It Comes to Replacing Oil Imports, Nuclear Is No Easy Option

President Bush has proposed reducing oil imports by increasing the use of nuclear power, which he said in a recent speech was “one of the most promising sources of energy.”

There is a problem, though: reactors make electricity, not oil. And oil does not make much electricity.

Nuclear reactors produce about 20 percent of the electricity used in the United States and about 8 percent of the total energy consumed. Oil accounts for 41 percent of energy consumption.

NYT

Oil Peak? Uh-Oh

‘Uh-oh.” That was my persistent response as I read James Howard Kunstler’s new book, “The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century.” I’m an old science-fiction fan, and I take perverse pleasure in a good, old-fashioned doomsday novel, from Ward Moore’s funny “Greener Than You Think” to George R. Stewart’s moving “Earth […]

IAEA: N. Korea Could Have 5-6 Nuclear Weapons

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Sunday his agency estimates North Korea could have five or six nuclear weapons and that a North Korean nuclear test could “open a Pandora’s box.”CNN.com

Billions in Oil Projects Coming, Says Official

A senior government official has called upon Saudi and foreign companies to forge economic alliances in order to carry out new oil projects worth SR487.5 billion ($130 billion).Arab News

Venezuela Pres: Oil Firms Owing Taxes Must Pay or Leave

President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that foreign oil companies operating in Venezuela must pay taxes he insists they owe or else leave the country. “The companies must pay what they owe,” Chavez said during his Sunday television and radio show. “If they don’t pay, they must leave.” Chavez said that many private oil companies have […]

OPEC Not Planning to Hike Output at June Meet: Chief

OPEC president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said on Sunday the oil producers’ cartel does not intend to hike its production levels at its meeting next month since markets are oversupplied. “We can’t increase production now,” Sheikh Ahmad told reporters at an industry function in southern Kuwait, when asked if OPEC will decide an output hike […]

India: Work on Strategic Oil Reserves to Start Early ‘06

The Indian government is expected to start constructing two crude oil storage facilities by early next year as part of its plan to build a strategic oil reserve, a senior official in the Petroleum Ministry said Friday. “The construction of the oil reserves (facilities) would begin early in 2006 and be completed by 2010,” Petroleum […]

Oil Prices are Moderating – Iranian Minister

When asked about a possible raise of the quota by 500,000 bpd in May, as part of a decision made at the last OPEC meeting, he said: ‘We should see the situation of the prices at the time when we receive such a proposal. ‘We have not yet received a proposal to add this amount,’ […]

Secret Papers Reveal New Nuclear Building Plan

The government’s strategy to kick-start a huge nuclear power station building programme is revealed today in confidential Whitehall documents seen by The Observer. In a 46-paragraph briefing note for incoming ministers, Joan MacNaughton, the director-general of energy policy at the new Department of Productivity, Energy and Industry, warns that key policy targets to reduce carbon […]

Building the Hydrogen Boom

Nearly 30 years ago, Iceland was looking for ways to reduce its reliance on imported fossil fuels and replace them with local, renewable sources — geothermal and hydroelectric power. But a chemistry professor named Bragi Arnason outlined a more ambitious goal. From his study of Iceland’s hot-water reserves, Arnason realized that the country was planning […]

Bet on the Bulls with Oil Prices on the Line

With decelerating first-quarter U.S. economic growth pointing to an unexpected global slowdown, some energy analysts are breathing a premature sigh of relief regarding the immediate future pricing of oil and natural gas. These oil bears’ reasoning cites the 35 percent global portion of reduced oil consumption generated by U.S. consumer demand. Such pundits also figure […]

Winter Fuels Oil Price Rise Threat

IF you thought lower petrol prices may be making a comeback after the world price of oil dipped below $US50 a barrel last week, think again. A leading oil producing nation warned on the weekend that oil prices could spike sharply if there was a cold spell in the Northern Hemisphere and fuel consumption suddenly […]

Iraq’s Oil Minister Vows Higher Output, Less Graft

Iraq’s new oil minister, Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, said on Sunday his ministry would follow a new motto in a country gripped by guerrilla bombings and sabotage of pipelines: “Fight corruption and boost production.” Shortly after parliament approved Bahr al-Uloum to head one of the country’s most strategic portfolios, he vowed to lift exports to 1.75 […]

Depletion-Scotland Conference Proceedings

The proceedings of the Depletion-Scotland conference held in Edinburgh on April 25, 2005 are now available: http://www.odac-info.org/PeakOilUKConferenceProceedings.htm

Detailed presentations by the speakers (which included Colin Campbell, Matt Simmons and Chris Skrebowski) are available for download at the above linked page.

 

Beckett Puts Block on the Building of New Nuclear Power Stations

Margaret Beckett, the Secretary of State for the Environment, is blocking attempts by other government departments to pursue plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations, The Telegraph can reveal. In a confidential briefing to Alan Johnson, the new minister for energy, leaked to this newspaper, a leading civil servant has warned that Mrs […]

A Two-Headed Giant Dilemma

With worldwide demand for oil skyrocketing, however, some critics say Exxon should be spending that cash ferreting out new oil sources. Last year, overall capital spending was down 4.1 percent, to $14.9 billion. That means it is spending less on exploration for new prospects at the same time its older fields, like those in North […]

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