Color Revolutions, Geopolitics and the Baku Pipeline

After a short-term fall in price below the $50 a barrel level, oil is now bounding back towards $60 a barrel and likely far higher. In this situation one might think that the announcement of the opening of a major new oil pipeline to pump Caspian oil to world markets might dampen the relentless rise […]

Iranian minister due for pipeline talks

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh will be visiting Pakistan on July 6 and 7 to discuss construction of $4.2 billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project.Petroleum ministry sources told Dawn that the dates for the visit of the Iranian oil minister had been confirmed and he would discuss issues relating to price of gas, security […]

Fueling a hydrogen boom

South Carolinians may love their gas-powered pickups and their SUVs, but the state is still poised to launch a revolution in clean-burning hydrogen fuel. So says U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C., who helped create a makeshift showroom Tuesday for prototype hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the street outside his Capitol Hill office.

Shell shareholders approve merger

Investors in Anglo-Dutch oil producer Shell have approved plans to merge its dual-ownership structure and create a single company worth

Uranium Exports to ‘Treble’ Within Five Years

AUSTRALIA’s uranium exports will “most likely treble” to more than 13,000tonnes a year within five years, according to federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane. Speaking to The Australian, he said such potential in export earnings was being put at risk because of the “illogical” positions of the West Australian and Northern Territory Governments. “Western Australia, according […]

Taiwan Phases Out All Nuclear Power, For Coal

The nation plans to double the amount of electricity it can generate from coal as it phases out nuclear power because of public opposition that may prevent a US$7 billion project involving two reactors from ever operating. “Taiwan will eventually become nuclear-free,” Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh said in Taipei. Taiwan got 21 percent […]

Chinese Chess

…To cut to the chase, the Chinese offer has forced Bush to decide whether he is a free-trader or an America-firster. He cannot be both. If Bush decides that the CNOOC’s $18.5 billion bid for Unocal is a threat to national security, he will implicitly say that Chinese money is not as good as European and Japanese […]

Saudi Aramco Sees Growing Cushion of Light Crude Oil

Outlining Saudi Arabia’s plans to boost crude oil output in coming years, Khalid Al-Falih, senior vice president for gas operations at state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., said Tuesday the kingdom will concentrate on producing more light crude varieties while investing little in medium or heavy grades. Aramco expects to increase production to 12.5 million barrels […]

Oil Spike A Reminder Of 1990 But World Has Changed

Andrew Oswald, an economics professor at Warwick University in Britain, argues that there is no magic answer to predicting prices and that all that really counts is long-term depletion of the world’s resources. “There’s no killer cutoff price level,” he said. “60 dollars is a problem, partly because it does some damage to the world […]

Venezuela Seeks to Build Oil Alliance

With oil prices hitting record highs, Caribbean countries are looking with interest to a Venezuelan plan that promises to bring them oil sales on preferential terms. Leaders from across the Caribbean will join Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday for talks on forming a new joint company, Petrocaribe, aimed at building a regional oil alliance […]

China on the International Oil Market

It is well-known that China’s thirst for oil is increasing rapidly. What is often overlooked is that China is itself quite a significant oil producing nation, and for a long period domestic output was enough, with the Daqing oilfield pumping 50 mln tons out per year. By 1993, however, economic growth had stretched domestic capacity to its limits, and China became a net importer for the first time in its history.

Since then, economic growth has continued at a rapid rate, and the volume of imports has increased relentlessly. Efforts to boost production, particularly in the relatively new oil fields of Xinjiang in China’s far west, have not kept up with the rise in demand.

Interfax

Peak Oil: Two Approaches, One Answer

There are two distinct ways to think about and present the phenomenon of peak oil. It

The Luxury of Being Green?

Ianqui says: It’s true that many of the potential “solutions” we’ve been talking about are steps that people can take only if they’re in a comfortable enough position now. But just because only some proportion of the population (30%? 40%?) can afford to buy a Prius*, go to Whole Foods, and install fluorescent lights in their lamps, does that mean we shouldn’t do it? Does it mean we shouldn’t spend time trying to think about alternatives if they’re only practical for some people?

I would argue that it’s this 30-40% who are spending the bulk of the resources with their big Hummers and driving all over town to run errands and ferry the kids to enrichment activities. So if those people are able to curtail their energy usage, then we’re probably doing a very good job of conservation, and hopefully keeping the prices lower for people who do have fewer options.

If anyone has numbers to back that up, I’d love to see them.

More after the jump at The Oil Drum.

Storm costs ‘could rise by 66%’

The worldwide cost of major storms will rise by two-thirds unless governments start taking immediate action to reduce global warning, a report has warned. The average annual global clean-up cost will rise to BBC

US Senate Passes Energy Bill

The U.S. Senate has overwhelmingly approved (by an 85 to 12 vote) a sweeping energy bill that aims to curb the United States’ reliance on imported oil. The comprehensive bill would promote a broad mix of energy sources, from nuclear power and natural gas to coal and wind energy. It also would aim to reduce […]

Green Engines Seen Doubling US Auto Share

Vehicles powered by hybrid or clean diesel engines will double their US market share by 2012 as drivers shun gas-guzzlers because of high oil prices, new research predicted. Such environmentally friendly engines are on course for 11 percent of auto sales by 2012 from 4.8 percent this year, according to the research study by JD […]

Climate change ‘worries children’

Climate change is young people’s biggest concern for the world’s future, a government survey says. Some 24% believe it is the greatest threat faced, while 19% think it is crime and violence, the Department for Education and Skills found.BBC

Is Gotham (America) worth saving?

The League of Shadows has decided that Gotham is beyond saving, and must be destroyed. The resulting chaos will destroy the allure of Gotham once and for all, and allow something newer and purer to rise in its place. The remarkable insight of this astute analogy is that this argument over whether Gotham is beyond […]

G8 Leaders’ Cars to Use Eco-Fuel Made From Straw

OTTAWA (Reuters) – When leaders of the world’s major industrialized nations meet next week, their cars will run on a blend that contains a fuel made from straw, which its Canadian makers say can help in the battle against climate change.Yahoo! News

Oil forecasts `glib, futile and damaging` – Oilcast #13

In this Oilcast…Adam Porter looks at sixty dollar oil prices on the NYMEX, Shell shares, Iran’s pipelines, a CINOOC man in New York and more possible OPEC production increases.
Plus we take on board one of the harshest industry reports yet, from analysts Energyfiles and Douglas Westwood. They claim current forecasts, like resistance, are ‘futile’.

http://www.oilcast.com/

No End in Sight for Soaring Oil Prices

A year ago, oil cost $36 per barrel. At the time, analysts said the world’s supply-demand scenario justified $30 oil, but speculative buyers of crude were tacking on a war premium of $6 per barrel due to uncertainty in Iraq. As crude prices ticked up, crossing $40 per barrel and then hitting $50 nine months […]

Snow Says Oil Prices Hurting Economy

High energy prices often sap domestic spending, as consumers have to shell out more for gasoline and less for other goods. A consumer-led slowdown has the potential to dent U.S. economic growth, particularly since consumer spending makes up roughly two-thirds of the economy. “Clearly, energy prices serve as a tax, they reduce the disposable income […]

China Oil Trade Deficit $30 Billion In ‘04, ‘Unbearable’ Official

Efforts to blame the spike in oil prices on growth in Chinese consumption are “unreasonable and untenable,” a Chinese oil official said Tuesday, warning against any effort to limit the growing country’s access to energy. “To spread the ‘China threat’ and try to curb China’s progress and starve its energy needs is not in the […]

Peak Oil and America’s Declining Social Capital

With the economic fabric already growing increasingly tattered and the class structure increasingly bifurcated, it seems logical that many people are going to be at a loss due to recession and a decline in the standard of living that is the result of what’s coming.

Therefore, it is an important thought experiment to think about what our society will look like in three, five, even ten years. Let us do it first through the lens of Robert Putnam’s ideas about social capital: the idea that local social networks matter…

More after the jump at the The Oil Drum.

$13 billion nuclear fusion site gets green light

Six partners, the United States among them, have chosen France as the site for a $13 billion experimental nuclear fusion reactor that, if successful, would open the door to cleaner and abundant energy, the partners announced Tuesday.

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, is intended to show that nuclear fusion, which harnesses the same energy that heats the sun to generate electricity, can wean the world off pollution-producing fossil fuels.

MSNBC

The Saudi oil bombshell

The moment that Saudi production goes into permanent decline, the Petroleum Age as we know it will draw to a close. Oil will still be available on international markets, but not in the abundance to which we have become accustomed and not at a price that many of us will be able to afford. Transportation, and everything it effects – which is to say, virtually the entire world economy – will be much, much more costly. The cost of food will also rise, as modern agriculture relies to an extraordinary extent on petroleum products for tilling, harvesting, pest protection, processing and delivery. Many other products made with petroleum – paints, plastics, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and so forth will also prove far more costly.

Asia Times

Central banks fear slump as oil soars near $61

The world’s central banks expressed concern yesterday about the impact of rapidly rising oil prices on the global economy as the price of crude surged to a record high of $60.90 in New York trading. Amid signs that the near-40% jump in the cost of oil since the start of the year has started to weaken demand, the Bank for International Settlements, the Swiss organisation that acts as the central bank for central banks, warned against the assumption that prices would quickly fall back to their previous levels.

The Guardian

Oil prices to stay $50-$60 this year

Global oil prices are likely to remain between US$50 and $60 throughout the year amid strong demand and an overall improvement in the world economy, an analyst says. British energy giant BP Plc’s head of energy analysis Michael Smith said there was a very low capacity of oil producers to meet current demand.

Iran most important source of oil: Aiyar (India)

Iran will remain India

Now That Gazprom Is Ours (Russia)

There used to be a popular joke about a scientist who, after years of research, finally succeeds in breeding an elephant that fits in the palm of your hand. “We finally did it!” he exclaims to his colleague. “Now if I could only remember what we needed a miniature elephant for. Last Friday, the government […]

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