Cubans Sweating Out Summer of Power and Water Shortages

Several dozen government employees arriving home from work milled for hours outside their 20-story apartment building, waiting for power to be restored so they could take the elevator up and cook dinner. Across town in a tiny, dilapidated apartment, 76-year-old Angela Vargas gasped as the image of President Fidel Castro flickered out and back on […]

Peak Oil Day 2005: Peak Speak

PowerSwitch held a peak oil conference on the 16th of July at the BedZed zero emission urban development in Hackbridge, London. PowerSwitch was established in Autumn 2004 with the intention of raising awareness and discussion in the UK of the consequences of global oil depletion following the imminent peak in global oil production, and how […]

All Pumped Out

These are nail-biting times for the oil markets. With demand testing the limits of supply, each bit of threatening news — whether a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico or labor strife in Nigeria — stokes prices that already are at record levels. Now along comes a book, Twilight in the Desert, that aims to […]

Chevron, Oil, and China

A guest post by Shepherd Bliss reads:

Couple Does Its Part To Avoid Guzzling Resources

Even with a move toward alternative sources of energy, there wonThe Daily Astorian

Explosions Kill 20 in Egypt Resorts

Twenty people died and about 100 were wounded when four car bombs rocked the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and hotels at nearby Naama Bay on Saturday, officials said. A police source said four car bombs appeared to have exploded — one near the Sharm el-Sheikh bazaar, and three in Naama Bay, at […]

Protests fail to move Yemen ministers

The Yemeni government has vowed to maintain its oil price rise despite the deaths of at least 36 people during two days of protests across the country.

Aljazeera reported the toll rose to 36 after the second day of protests against the new fuel prices.

A cabinet statement, said the government had concluded that the continuation of subsidising fuel products would eventually lead to an increase in the budget deficit and put pressure on exchange rates and prices. Therefore, the government would maintain high oil prices.

Officials argued the budget deficit would plunge to 13% if fuel prices were cut.

Al Jazeera

Iran-India gas pipeline talks begin

Indian officials have begun negotiating a timetable for the construction of a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline running from Iran, through Pakistan, to India.

Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Aiyar, who visited Pakistan last month to help set up a joint working group for the $4.5 billion project, told reporters on Tuesday that the two-day talks in New Delhi will also focus on the financial, technical, legal and commercial aspects of the venture.

Al Jazeera

Chinese investments in countries of US concern

Countries shunned by the US are increasingly being wooed by China and India in a race for oil and influence that is challenging Washington on the energy and security fronts.

Iran, Sudan, Venezuela, Syria, deemed to be nuclear threats, insurgent havens or human rights violators by the US, are on the Asian giants’ list.

Beijing is also casting a wider oil net because the US presence in Iraq – thought to have the world’s second-largest oil reserves – has derailed Chinese attempts to establish a toehold there.

Chinese and Indian investments in countries and regions of US concern include:

Al Jazeera

California ISO Issues Stage 2 Alert for 2nd Day

The California ISO hereby issues a Southern CA Region STAGE 2 ELECTRICAL EMERGENCY Notice
effective 07/22/2005 13:54 through 07/22/2005 20:00.

Reason:

High loads and loss of resources

ISO

Dozens dead in Yemen fuel riots

At least 36 people have been killed in two days of violent clashes between protesters and police across Yemen, police and witnesses say. Tanks have been deployed on the streets of the capital, Saana.BBC

U.S. Oil Demand Growth ‘Softened Considerably’ in 1H – API

Growth in U.S. oil demand “softened considerably” in the first half of the year, as high prices weighed on all main fuel groups, the American Petroleum Institute said Wednesday. Total domestic deliveries of petroleum products, a proxy for oil demand, grew by just 0.3% from the first half of 2004, the weakest result for a […]

Researchers See Oil Demand Growth Slowing, But Market Skeptical

Oil market analysts have argued for two years that prices will continue to soar until demand slows significantly. Now, data released by the world’s main oil-market trackers in the past week is showing this year’s record prices may have already made a significant dent in the growth of oil consumption. While that would seem bearish […]

U.S. Senate Panel Begins Work on Greenhouse Gas Cuts

A senior Senate Republican said Thursday he will pursue legislation that may eventually require U.S. industry to cut gases linked to global warming, a view sharply at odds with the White House and many other Republicans.

However, crafting legislation that would reduce emissions without being too costly to the U.S. economy will not be easy, said Pete Domenici, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.

The United States is the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, one of several greenhouse gases blamed for melting glaciers and rising sea levels.

The New Mexico Republican said he believes temperatures are rising because of human activities. But Domenici faces an uphill battle with the White House and many fellow Republicans, who warn that mandatory caps on emissions could stunt U.S. economic growth.

ENN

California Adopts Emissions System for Big Trucks

Engine manufacturers must install computer systems on big-rig trucks operating in California to diagnose and warn drivers of emission problems, according to an order issued by state air quality regulators Thursday.

The order by the California Air Resources Board is the first such regulation in the United States for heavy-duty trucks.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to approve a similar rule to develop and install on-board diagnostic systems for diesel and gasoline engines, according to the California agency.

The Air Resources Board estimates the diagnostic system will cost $132 per truck.

ENN

MTBE and Possible Cancer Risk

Twenty-one senators asked the Environmental Protection Agency for more information Thursday about an internal paper that reportedly concludes that the gasoline additive MTBE may cause cancer.

Key elements of the document, which has not been made public, surfaced as lawmakers considered whether to shield the makers of MTBE from product liability lawsuits as a result drinking water contamination in at least 36 states.

MTBE, which was put into gasoline to cut air pollution, has been banned in several states because of complaints that it adds a foul smell and turpentine-like taste to drinking water when it leaks into water supplies.

ENN

Horse-and-Plow Farming Making a Comeback

SISTERS, Ore. – To some, the thought of a farmer patiently working the field behind a horse and plow might evoke pangs of nostalgia for the early days of agriculture. But in fact, the practice is making a comeback. Ol’ Dobbin hasn’t run the tractors out of the fields yet. But increasingly, small farmers are […]

Not Nearly As Good As It Sounds…

Heading Out writes: One of the difficulties that I believe that the general public have with the concept of peak oil, arises from announcements such as that just issued by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). In it the Association predicts significant growth in crude oil production…

…but while the numbers appear large, bear in mind that in a world market of 85 mbd an increase of 1.7 mbd is not a huge amount, and when spread over 10 years amounts to an increase of only 170,000 bd each year.

More after the jump at The Oil Drum.

China, The Yuan & Oil – Oilcast #19

In this Oilcast Adam Porter takes a look at the implications for oil over the currency revaluation by China.
Will it mean higher prices? Lower prices? Is it a simple straightforward conclusion or a complex one? How many factors are involved? And what is the most radical aspect of the revaluation?

http://www.oilcast.com/

Listen here

Crude gains on renminbi revaluation

Crude gained as the revaluation of China

Kyl, Franks worry about Chinese economic threats

Chinese efforts to acquire U.S. appliance maker Maytag and energy company Unocal appear to have been beaten back by rival bids, but that is not decreasing worries about China’s potential threat to U.S. economic and security interests. Two top members of Arizona’s congressional delegation — Republican Sen. Jon Kyl and West Valley Congressman Trent Franks […]

5,290 coal mines shut for safety checks. (China)

China yesterday ordered 5,290 coal mines across the mainland to suspend operation to undergo safety checks since the facilities hadn’t applied for a safety license. The central government will close down those mines that do not pass safety inspection before an unspecified deadline, Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, said yesterday. […]

Shortages aren’t over, Duncan says. (Canada)

Electricity shortages that have left Ontario on the verge of brownouts and blackouts during the recent heat wave will be a fact of life for the next few years, Dwight Duncan, the Energy Minister, warned yesterday. “Ontarians are going to have a couple more summers like this because unfortunately previous governments refused to deal with […]

Power bills to climb by 12% for winter. (UK)

TENS of thousands of Scottish householders will face higher gas and electricity bills after the German supplier Powergen yesterday announced a fresh round of price rises. The company said it would be putting up the price of gas by nearly 12 per cent in August, increasing average bills by

US Oil Drillers Fight for Right to Probe East Coast. (South Africa)

 US-based offshore oil exploration company is legally challenging a South African government agency’s decision not to award it a licence to investigate potential oil fields off the South African coast. Global Offshore Oil Exploration (South Africa) – whose holding company Global Energy Holdings is based in Colorado – wants the Cape High Court to review […]

Price hike enrages public

SANA

Warming Up to a New Task

A frigid Alaska village, formerly a Cold War listening post, is now a research hub on climate change. Here, the effects come ‘fastest and first.’

Inside the cramped, bustling terminal, experts coming and going hail one another and trade notes on their projects, which measure changing carbon levels, melting ice, rising temperatures and a host of other striking physical changes here.

Barrow, a onetime listening post during the Cold War, is now a crossroads for research on a warming planet. As scientists race to understand global warming, which they widely agree is due in part to human consumption of fossil fuels, the effects are most clearly discernible in the Earth’s polar regions.


LA Times

China Irrational to Create Strategic Oil Reserves – Academic

Strategic oil reserves will not solve the fuel problem in China in the event of a crisis, China University of Petroleum Professor Dong Xiucheng said at an energy conference organized by Anbang on Wednesday. “The strategic oil reserves China may buildup in the event of a crisis will not resolve the fuel problem, no matter […]

California ISO Calls Power Alert, Blackouts Possible

The California Independent System Operator on Thursday declared a power emergency in southern California and said rotating blackouts were “possible” later in the day. “Involuntary curtailments of service to customers including rotating blackouts are possible during this emergency declaration,” the state agency said. The California ISO, which controls most of the state’s power grid initially […]

Syria to Build New Refineries, Increase Oil Production

The minister pointed out to the oil and mines source importance in the national economy, concentrating on the importance of oil refining and increasing its production by establishing new refineries. “This is to get Syria a strategic role in light of its geographical location by producing oil derivatives even if that requires importing raw oil,” […]

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