A HALF-TRUTH IS STILL A LIE

by Michael C. Ruppert Look, you have no idea how hard so many people have worked to get Peak Oil into the mainstream media; or for how many years; or at what price. I am a newcomer. I’ve only been at it for about four years. M. King Hubbert started in 1956. Ken Deffeyes, Colin […]

Dateline Iraq Part 1 — An Update on Oil Production and Pipelines

It sometimes seems that we have forgotten all about Iraq. After all, this country has the 3rd largest reserves in the world (the standard figure is 115 bbo) after Saudi Arabia and Canada. There is an additional 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That’s a lot of fossil fuels. Astonishingly, Iraqi Oil Minister Ghadban stated that Iraq had “unconfirmed or potential reserves” of 214 billion barrels in August 2004 — but see below. Many in the oil patch believe that America’s hidden motive for the war was to secure that oil & gas supply and establish a permanent military foothold in the Middle East outside the Saudi Kingdom. Whether you believe that or not, it behooves all those in the peak oil community to know what’s happening there.

A lot more on the current situation after the jump to The Oil Drum.

Oil shock simulation shows US losing 2m jobs, the largest drop since 1945

A simulation of an oil shock, engineered by the National Commission on Energy Policy and the advocacy group Securing America’s Future Energy, looked at a scenario where 3.5 million barrels of oil were suddenly removed from a global market of more than 83 million barrels. Top former US government officials including >two former directors of […]

Oil Prices Rise on Supply Shortage Fears

Markets were unsettled by an array of concerns, ranging from breakdowns in U.S. refineries in the past two weeks to ongoing worries that crude oil and distillates production will not meet peak global demand in the fourth quarter. “Looking at the overall refinery situation, I think people are still having jitters from all the recent […]

Bankruptcies hit another record

The number of individual insolvencies in England and Wales soared by an annual 36.8% in the second quarter, official figures show. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said total individual insolvencies reached 15,394, the highest level since records began. BBC

There’s a $500 energy-conservation prize waiting for you in new fed energy bill

WASHINGTON – Making energy-efficient improvements to your home could net you a $500 rebate from the government. The offer’s buried in the 1,724-page energy bill that Bush has said he’ll sign next week. It gives consumers a credit off the bottom line of their 2006 or 2007 taxes equal to 10 percent of their energy-saving […]

Irresponsible development to blame for Mumbai flood woes: experts

MUMBAI (AFP) – As work crews across India’s financial hub clean up damage from the city’s worst-recorded monsoon rains, Mumbai residents and urban planners say the flooding was a disaster waiting to happen. Normally, land absorbs more than 50 percent of rainwater but in Mumbai, there are few green spaces left. As Mumbai’s population grew, […]

U.S. Make Drilling Compensation Voluntary

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. – With drilling rigs sprouting across the Rockies, federal land managers have quietly made it voluntary for companies to compensate for oil and gas development by improving the environment. Environmentalists are concerned that the policy lets companies off the hook when it comes to fixing up areas near drilling sites, a process […]

Refiner’s change could raise gas prices

Motorists could face even higher gasoline prices USA Today via Yahoo!

Retail Sales, Oil Worries Push Stocks Lower

Many of the nation’s retailers had a disappointing July, blaming the hot weather for a drop in clothing sales, particularly fall fashions. Other retailers also had lower-than-expected sales, however, leading investors to wonder whether consumers might finally be feeling the pinch from high gasoline and energy prices. “Investors have been getting too enthusiastic here and […]

One ‘cure all’ flu jab for life

Scientists are making a vaccine that could give lifelong protection against all types of flu in a single jab. Currently, at risk people in the UK – the elderly and ill – need annual flu jabs, and there is no jab available yet guaranteed to beat bird flu. Biotechnology firm Acambis, in Cambridge, the UK, […]

China to look to energy areas closed to U.S.

4 August WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The Chinese National Overseas Oil Company’s blundered bid for California-based Unocal Corp. is likely to refocus China’s attention on promising energy assets in countries in which the U.S. is unable or unwilling to compete.Since U.S. lawmakers have made it clear to CNOOC Ltd. (CEO: news, chart, profile) that American oil […]

John Deere plows for profits from wind

Tractor maker to invest $60 million in projects this year

NEW YORK – Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. thinks America

Supply worries move market

Natural gas futures rose to a nine-month high Thursday after a U.S. report showed supplies gained less than analysts expected amid hot weather and a coal shortage that raised demand for gas-generated electricity. Inventories of the heating and power-plant fuel rose by 37 billion cubic feet last week to 2.42 trillion cubic feet, the U.S. Energy Department said. Analysts had expected a gain of 49 billion, the median of 21 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. “You’re starting to see the injections fall far short of what people expect, and it’s a dangerous trend, especially since the forecasts for temperatures continue to be very, very hot,” Phil Flynn, vice president of risk management at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago, said.

Houston Chronicle

Airport expansion ‘harms economy’

Airport expansion could result in the loss of billions of pounds from the economy as UK travellers spend money abroad, an environmental group says. Friends of the Earth said visitors flying in spent BBC

Hybrid Cars Coming Soon to Carpool Lanes

Hybrid car owners are fast approaching the day when they will be allowed to drive solo in California’s car pool lanes. State lawmakers passed a bill last year that gave some types of the high-mileage, low-emission vehicles access to the coveted lanes — a privilege meant to encourage drivers to buy the environmentally friendly cars. […]

Fuel surcharge lifts BA profits

British Airways (BA) saw earnings rise 36% in the first quarter as first and business class passenger numbers rose. The airline said operating profit for the three months to July was BBC

The crystal ball, though murky, is not empty

As one sees that one of the optimists is willing, shall we say, to gild the lily, in regard to future supply, then concern grows. When Saudi Arabia promises the world enhanced production, yet the number of tankers from that region are reported as not being as high as they should be, then that concern […]

Australia’s Santos Expands into Kyrgyz Republic

Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd. (STOSY) said Friday it has expanded its exploration interests into the Kyrgyz Republic in central Asia. Under a a conditional agreement with Caspian Oil & Gas Ltd. (CIG.AU), Santos will have an 80% interest in ten exploration licenses in the republic, Santos said in a statement. “This is […]

China vulnerable to shocks, says Nobel laureate

China’s breakneck pace of growth may not last and the world’s seventh largest economy could be vulnerable to external shocks, said Edward Prescott, the Nobel 2004 economics prize laureate. Prescott, who teaches at the Arizona State University and also works for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, compared China’s growth with that of Brazil’s from […]

South Korean know-how for Iraq oil sector

South Korea, the world’s fourth-biggest crude oil buyer, will provide Iraq with oil development technology to boost its chances of getting a slice of lucrative oil projects, the state-run oil firm said yesterday. Energy-deficient South Korea, which has to import all of its crude needs, is keen to boost its foreign energy assets to secure […]

Fuel rationing to cope with shortage

Rationing has been imposed on petrol and diesel in Guangzhou, which is suffering a shortage. The capital of South China’s Guangdong Province has a reported monthly shortfall of about 50,000 tons of refined oil, Xie Zhaowei, secretary of Guangzhou Petrol Industry Association, said yesterday. Xie added that the shortage has begun to affect people’s lives. […]

Hurricane caused ‘tallest wave’

Hurricane Ivan generated a wave more than 90 foot (27 metres) high – thought to be the tallest and most intense ever measured – scientists have revealed. It would have dwarfed a 10-storey building and had the power to snap a ship in half – but never reached land. The wave was recorded by sensors […]

Shell to answer Venezuela tax charges

Royal Dutch Shell must on Friday answer allegations by Venezuela that it has failed to pay $130m in back taxes, a response that could have critical implications for several oil companies operating in the country. The tax claim on Shell forms part of a campaign led by President Hugo Ch Financial Times

Australia set to cash in on uranium

The Howard Government has seized control of the Northern Territory’s rich uranium deposits in an attempt to exploit huge world demand for the booming resource. The move came after the NT Labor Government, which is strongly opposed to new uranium mines, walked away from any responsibility for them during a 15-minute meeting in Darwin between […]

Ice Melt

The loss of the great Antarctic ice shelf Larsen B is firming as a milestone sign that human activity is warming the world. Scientists disclosed yesterday that the shelf had existed for at least 10,000 years before disintegrating. Its rate of melting had accelerated in recent decades. It is almost certainly a response to human-induced […]

Peak Oil Jobs No.3 The eBay Seller

Ask somebody about pawnbrokers and they may think you were talking about dodgy dealers in sex movies. Ask them again about eBay and the look of familiarity will become apparent. The phenomenon of online auctions is one of the big success stories of the Internet era. Well, at least if you are a user or […]

Gulf Hurricanes Are Latest Kink in the Oil Chain

Standing 60 feet above sea level on this oil platform 130 miles southeast of New Orleans, Rab Bruce pointed to where the huge wave slammed into a tangle of grated steel and multicolor pipes. “I was just in shock at the damage,” said Mr. Bruce, a longtime field coordinator on Chevron’s Petronius deepwater platform, which […]

Tehran Defiance Spells Collapse of Nuclear Talks

Nearly two years of delicate negotiations between Iran and the European Union over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme could be on the point of collapse on Friday, setting the scene for a confrontation at the UN. Senior Iranian officials told the Financial Times that talks with France, Germany and the UK Financial Times via MSN […]

Exxon Mobil CEO Raymond to Retire

Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday that Lee Raymond, its chairman and chief executive for the past 12 years, will retire at the end of this year. The board of directors of the world’s largest publicly traded oil company is expected to name company President Rex W. Tillerson, 53, as Raymond’s successor in both posts. No […]

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