Russia’s Pacific Oil Pipeline Still Up in the Air

Russia’s plan to build an oil pipeline to the Pacific, equivalent to adding another Libya to the world oil market, risks foundering over money, politics, the environment and the question of where the oil will come from. The $11.5-billion plan, first mooted four years ago by Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft, promises Russia its biggest economic […]

US Spy Plane Crashes in SW Asia

A US Air Force U-2 spy plane has crashed in south-west Asia killing the pilot, the US military has said. The crash occurred at 2330 GMT on Tuesday, when the pilot was returning to base after completing a mission in support of US forces in Afghanistan. A military spokesman said the location of the crash […]

H.R. 6 Discussion from Congressional Record 6/20/2005

Mr. WYDEN. …..  It is my hope as we go forward with this debate, at a time when prices are in the stratosphere, that we work in a bipartisan way and at least provide some help in this legislation for the consumer who is getting clobbered by these historically high costs. What especially concerns me […]

Exxon CEO Warns on Oil Prices

Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Lee Raymond has warned against assuming that a new energy era has taken hold, but says the current oil price cycle could take a few years to work itself out. Raymond’s comments came as oil prices soared past another trading record Tuesday to nearly $60 a barrel. Demand from energy […]

Petrodollars Fail to Fuel Economic Expansion

Just as crude prices stormed to new heights last September, Russian oil producers appeared to have given up. They added less and less output as the year wound down. This seemed to defy the laws of economics: The higher the price of a product, the more incentive companies have to produce it. As it turns […]

A Flicker Away From a Blackout

At 4:15 p.m. on May 27, the lights flickered across Ontario. Subway cars in Toronto rolled to a stop while safety signals were reset. Pizza oven doors flew open on the ground floor of the city’s landmark CN Tower. Cement and steel plants paused while machinery was restarted. Tens of thousands of computers automatically shut […]

Is It Goodbye To Cheap Oil Forever?

Opec’s president said this week that he would begin consultations with other ministers from the oil cartel on Friday to release an additional 500,000 barrels a day of Opec crude if prices remain high. “If prices continue to increase as it is now, by the end of this week … I will start consultation with […]

Gas Prices Drive More Consumers to Steal

Early last week, a trailer pulled into a Chevron-branded filling station in Cottondale, Ala., to refuel. It ignited by accident, critically burning the driver jmacdaddio’s Comments: Apparently gasoline theft is on the rise with an increasing rate of drive-offs. Could Mad Max style outlaw gangs be next? AP via Yahoo! News

Senate Allows U.S. to Sue OPEC for Oil Price-Fixing

The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to allow the U.S. government to sue the OPEC oil cartel on antitrust grounds in an outcry against crude oil prices that are fast approaching the $60 a barrel mark. The measure, added to wide-sweeping energy legislation by a voice vote, would give authority to the Department of Justice […]

One energy forecast: Oil supplies grow

CERA does not foresee an actual “peak” in oil production. Instead, with huge projects coming onstream on a regular basis, it predicts an “undulating plateau” in terms of supply and demand for decades. An “inflexion” point will come in the third or fourth decade of the century, according to CERA.

“There is no indication to suggest peak oil is imminent,” says Daniel Yergin, CERA chairman and author of several books on petroleum.

The Christian Science Monitor

End-Time for USA Upon Oil Collapse

It is becoming clear to more and more energy analysts that the United States of America as we know it will not endure for long. However, the U.S. may not last at all, if oil collapse and the birth of a new sustainable culture play out freely. Primarily considering the implications of “peak oil,” let […]

Climate Change Plan has Setback in U.S. Energy Bill

A key Republican refused to back a plan by Senate Democrats to slow U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, casting doubt on whether the Senate can muster enough votes on Tuesday to approve a climate change measure. As part of its debate of a broad bill to increase domestic energy supplies, the Senate is expected to consider […]

Heat, Drought Back Haunting Europe on First Day of Summer

With tens of thousands of deaths in a sizzling summer of 2003 still fresh on people’s minds, Europe suffered in a new heat wave the first day of summer, while farmers warned of a historic drought. In Paris, the health ministry ordered authorities in three counties to activate their heat wave plans after they were […]

Talks Avert Norwegian Oil Field Strike

Last minute negotiatons averted an offshore platform strike Tuesday that could have cut Norwegian oil production by 1 million barrels a day at a time when crude prices are pressing a record $60 per barrel.

The agreement between the Lederne, a union representing those with leadership jobs, and the Norwegian Oil Industry Associated came 90 minutes before a midnight strike deadline, following two days of talks.

Norway is the world’s third-largest oil exporter, after Saudi Arabia and Russia, with a capacity of about 3 million barrels per day. The sides negotiated with the knowledge that the govertment would not accept a one-third cut in Norway’s production in a labor conflict, because it would hurt the nation’s economy and reputation as an oil supplier.

ABC News

Oilcast: ”dual market duel”

This Oilcast looks at the way the crude market blames refiners and visa versa, we call it the ‘dual market duel’. Plus Morgan Stanley’s Steve Roach and Andy Xie painting a gloomy picture, seventy dollar oil predictions (by fall), China wants Unocal, Norway wants to strike and we even mention Geri Halliwell…well someone has to…Oilcast.com

Sweden tests first biogas train

Sweden has unveiled an environmentally friendly biogas-powered passenger train – said to be the world’s first. The train, fitted with two biogas bus engines, can carry up to 54 passengers, and will run on Sweden’s east coast between Linkoeping and Vaestervik. BBC

Is a Gas Tax Regressive…?

Ianqui writes: “I have been making noise about a gas tax being regressive–that is, poor people would be affected disproportionately. I advocated rationing instead. Yes, that’s a lot more drastic than a tax would be, and probably not something we could even look to other industrialized countries to find a model for, but I think it could be more fair than a tax.
{big snip}
So, will a gas tax help without unduly burdening an already suffering part of our population? Perhaps if it were implemented well, it would be. On the other hand, many people have speculated in previous comments that the American entitlement mentality–at the level of both the gas consumer and the (sub)urban transportation planner–isn’t going to change until there are physical shortages. We should try a(n enlightened) gas tax first, but don’t be surprised if rationing is the only thing that helps.”

More (including a solid discussion in the post and in the comments of demand destruction alternatives) after the jump at The Oil Drum.

Pickens Says Oil Sands Are No Panacea

Huge development costs and a tight labor supply will prevent unconventional oil supplies, like Canada’s oil sands, from making up for declines in conventional world oil output, veteran energy investor Boone Pickens said on Tuesday. Pickens, who has stakes in the two of the largest oil sands players, pointed out at the Reuters Energy Summit […]

Pickens Sees $3 Gasoline Within 12 Months

Gasoline prices in the United States should reach and pass $3 per gallon within the next 12 months, which will be a blow to the economy and consumers, legendary oilman T. Boone Pickens said on Tuesday. “I think you are going to see $3 gasoline in the United States within the next year, and I […]

Stop debating

Globally, humanity requires 2.2 global hectares of productive area per person to sustain current lifestyles, 1.3 times more than in 1961. But the Earth currently has just 1.8 global hectares available per person. This “overshoot” of 21% depletes the Earth’s natural capital, and is thus possible only for a limited period.Be sure to check out […]

Boone Pickens Sees Crude Oil Market Testing $60

The market will test whether consumers can handle $60 crude, although the level might need to approach $70 to whittle down demand, famed oil investor Boone Pickens said on Tuesday.

“I think people are scratching their heads as to whether the world will accept $60 like it did $50,” Pickens told the Reuters Energy Summit. “You could go to $70, but at some point it’s going to cost on the demand side.

“Sixty may slow everything down.”

Despite promises of output increases worldwide, Pickens predicted global production should steady around 84 million barrels per day (bpd) in the fourth quarter and about 2 million bpd in projected demand will need to be shed.

Reuters

Biofuel Increasingly Competitive if Oil Surge Lasts

Biofuels would be increasingly competitive if crude oil prices, which are back near all-time highs, were to go beyond $60 a barrel, officials at the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday. Soaring oil prices have encouraged major consumers worldwide to sharply increase their use of “green” biofuels, made from sugar cane, vegetable or grain […]

The Coming Saudi Oil Crisis

(Excerpt from Matthew Simmons’ “Twilight in the Desert”) As oil becomes a scarce resource, its use will have to be rationed in one way or another. There are ways to allocate oil use and direct it to its most valuable applications. But achieving such a rational plan will require a carefully orchestrated, global, country-by-country effort. […]

Report: Oil ‘Peak’ Not Coming Anytime Soon

Global oil production is not likely to peak anytime soon, contrary to talk that has helped propel prices to $60 a barrel, although lower prices may still be a few years away, a prominent energy consultancy said Tuesday. Cambridge Energy Research Associates said that, instead of a crest being reached sometime this decade, an inflection […]

Raise Gas Taxes NOW…(or, Justifying Demand Destruction)

The chart below presents inflationdata.com yearly average data, plotted on a logarithmic scale. This unit of time flattens out the spikes in prices, which is probably a more valid measure of sustained price.

The blue line in the graph is the raw price, the pink line is the inflation adjusted price. This kind of a plot does have a more interesting story to tell. The data tell us that the price of oil averaged $51/bbl in 2005, whereas oil averaged $66.20/bbl in 1981, adjusted for inflation. With this data, we’re at 76% of the 1981 price!

The data tell the story. Find some method of demand destruction. Now.

How we get from the 2005 price to the 1981 price and when we do it is going to be one of the crucial public policy decisions of this generation.

And the time to make that decision is not far in the future.

More after the jump at The Oil Drum…

China to Explore Oil in Xinjiang Region

Chinese Vice-Premier Zen Peiyan has called for more oil exploration at the promising northwestern Xinjiang region, during a visit to already existing wells in Tarim, national newspapers reported today. Xinjiang produced last year 22 million tons of oil and plans are to more than double the output to 50 millions tons by 2010. But some […]

Norway and Russia to cooperate on energy development

Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, who is on a three-day visit to Moscow, has announced that there will be a closer cooperation between Norway and Russia on the development of energy. He signed an agreement to this end with his Russian colleague, Mikhail Fradkov.

Putin: Russia cannot influence oil market

President Vladimir Putin acknowledged today that the current high oil prices were creating difficulties for the Russian economy, but said Russia could not influence the oil market. When speaking at a news conference after talks with the Mexican president, Putin said: “High oil prices and the substantial influx of petrodollars have caused certain difficulties for […]

The coming world realignment

Washington and other power centers around the world should prepare themselves not just for the more obvious geopolitical challenges stemming from rapidly emerging new powers, but also for the upcoming difficulties and uncertainties in dealing with a dozen new regional players. Since the US intervention in Iraq revealed the limits of Washington’s ability to implement […]

Crude oil shocks will be felt when retail prices are freed

Yet, the economic threat posed by higher oil prices remains real and the current scenario may be temporary. A year back, an economic survey estimated that world GDP would be at least half a per cent lower in the year following a $10 oil price increase from $25. So, India and China were estimated to […]

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