Oil deal reveals China’s new role

By the time it was resolved Tuesday, the battle to buy Unocal Corp. had become more than a takeover tussle pitting Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company, against CNOOC Ltd., China’s third-largest oil concern.    The showdown also underscored the stewing tensions between the United States and China, a pair of international powers, countries whose […]

ASPO USA

Homepage of Aspo in USA launched – via Energyresources: ASPO USA

A letter to Senator Schumer…

Ianqui writes: Chuck Schumer is one of my senators from New York. He thinks that the government should use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to offer “relief” from high gas prices when necessary. In fact, he tried to tack on an amendment to the energy bill (which may or may not make very much sense, but I think I get it):

“To express the sense of the Senate regarding management of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower the burden of gasoline prices on the economy of the United States and circumvent the efforts of OPEC to reap windfall profits.”

Fortunately, this amendment was tabled before it actually made it into the bill.

In my opinion, it is to George Bush’s credit that he is not going to open the SPR to manipulate prices, even if his main reason for doing so is because he thinks that we should drill the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge instead…

More after the jump at The Oil Drum.

Don’t rock the boat with fuel rise, please

Hundreds of West Midlands marine firms believe they will struggle to stay afloat if the European Union sticks to a plan to more than double the cost of boat fuel. Boat builders, waterside holiday businesses, and marinas fear the EU’s plan to increase the price of their fuel from 40p to icBirmingham

Origin unknown

The term “food miles” has quietly entered the food language. Two colleagues and I came up with it 14 years ago for a Channel 4 documentary because we wanted to capture the hidden distance that food travels before it miraculously pops up on the supermarket shelf. It is now featured on The Archers, dropped into […]

California Air Is Cleaner, but Troubles Remain

On many days, a hiker on the Temescal Ridge trail above the Pacific Ocean, 30 to 50 miles west of the San Gabriel Mountains, can trace the snowy ridges and the thin, brown lines of canyons with the naked eye. Three decades ago, an entire summer could pass before homeowners just five miles from the […]

U.S. oil prices settle higher

Oil prices rose Tuesday in the United States, settling at a new high on the heels of a rally in gasoline futures and concerns about refinery outages and hurricanes. … Oil broker Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas Commodity Futures said the market continues to show concerns about recent refinery snags and weather forecasters’ expectations of […]

EU warns Iran on nuclear plans

The EU has threatened to break off its nuclear talks with Iran if the country goes ahead and resumes its uranium enrichment activities. Acting on behalf of the 25-nation bloc, France, Germany and the UK, sent a letter on Tuesday (2 August) to Hassan Rowhani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warning that […]

An end to a 39-year battle

The longest and deadliest conflict in the country’s post World War II history finally came to an end in late July. Northern Ireland? No, I’m talking about the conflict that surrounded Narita International Airport, Japan’s main gateway to the world. This really was Japan’s longest and deadliest post-war conflict. It lasted 39 years and claimed […]

India wants S Korea as oil investor

India on Monday invited South Korean oil companies to invest in the country’s upstream and refining sector and also work jointly to explore opportunities in other countries as well. “We have invited them to invest in India both in upstream and refining and especially in export-oriented refining. I have suggested that working together in India […]

‘Indian oil firms no longer in healthy state’

Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday said oil companies had incurred losses of Rs 12.27 billion ($282 million) in the first quarter of 2005-06 fiscal due to the freeze in retail prices despite rising global prices. “I would be failing in my duty if I were not to draw the attention of the House […]

BSP strikes oil & gas

Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) has discovered more oil and gas following a successful exploration expected to yield “good reservoir quality” in a new structure in the Seria North Flank. This is the second successful finding in the mature Seria field, following the first discovery made at S-829 last September in the same area but in […]

U.S. Opposition to Unocal Bid May Push China Toward Iran, Sudan

An outcry by U.S. lawmakers that forced Cnooc Ltd., the third-largest Chinese oil company, to drop its bid for Unocal Corp. may encourage China to do more deals in countries such as Iran or Sudan, energy policy analysts said. “If the U.S. cuts off China from trading with and buying Western companies, it’s going to […]

Oil depletions are not created equal

The problem with discussing historical truths in today’s world, is that they are changing. One can no longer, for example, say that it is a wasted effort to take coals to Newcastle. Similarly the historic reliance on fuel from Iran and Venezuela is going to change as their oil supplies deplete, in Iran’s case at […]

Total to Buy Canada’s Deer Creek for C$1.35 Billion

Total SA, the world’s fourth-largest publicly traded oil company, agreed to buy Canada’s Deer Creek Energy Ltd. for C$1.35 billion ($1.11 billion) to tap growing output in northern Alberta’s oil sands. The buyer will pay C$25 a share in cash, Calgary-based Deer Creek said today in a statement. Deer Creek shares jumped 39 percent to […]

Iran Is Judged 10 Years From Nuclear Bomb

A major U.S. intelligence review has projected that Iran is about a decade away from manufacturing the key ingredient for a nuclear weapon, roughly doubling the previous estimate of five years, according to government sources with firsthand knowledge of the new analysis. The carefully hedged assessments, which represent consensus among U.S. intelligence agencies, contrast with […]

Saudi Arabia and Oil – Simmons on CBC Radio

CBC Radio, Canada’s national broadcaster, interviewed Mathew Simmons and others for 20 minutes on the in-depth news show The Current.

Listen to it from the program’s archives page for August 2 2005.

EIA’s Cook Sees Stronger Oil Demand Than Data Show

Oil market analysts would be wise not to read too much into data that appear to show demand from the world’s two largest consumers is stagnating, the U.S. Department of Energy’s top oil statistician said Monday. John Cook, the head of the oil division of the federal Energy Information Administration, said though recent data, including […]

Weather Service Boosts Hurricane Forecast

Note to the millions of people living near the Atlantic and Gulf coasts: Be prepared to batten down the hatches, it’ll be a rougher than normal season for tropical storms. With seven storms, including two hurricanes, already recorded Yahoo! News

Violent Mobs Surge Through Sudan Capital

Violent mobs surged again into the streets of Sudan’s capital Tuesday, a day after 36 people died in riots sparked by the death of Sudanese vice president and former southern rebel leader John Garang. The initial violence Monday was blamed on Garang supporters from the Christian and animist south who blamed his death in a […]

All eyes are now on King Abdullah

People here are deeply skeptical over just how much Abdullah will change the status quo, or even what reform means in a land so firmly entrenched in strict interpretations of the Koran.

China and Russia Joint Exercises to Strengthen Ties

Nearly 10,000 troops are to take part in unprecedented joint military exercises by China and Russia this month aimed at strengthening ties between the armed forces of two powers that were once bitter foes. Chinese state media said yesterday the Financial Times

Plane Skids Off Runway in Toronto, Burns

A passenger jetliner carrying about 200 people erupted in flames Tuesday after skidding off a runway while landing in a fierce thunderstorm at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. Black smoke billowed into the air as the wreck burned. Police said the plane was an Air France A340 from Paris that was trying to land when it […]

Will Biofuels Be The Next Petroleum?

A couple of years ago, when the cost of oil started to soar, Joel Rosado didn’t think twice. The owner of an air-taxi service in Mineiros, Brazil, with a fleet of 12 planes, he needed to do what he could to contain fuel costsNewsweek

Iraqis Accuse Kuwait of Stealing Oil

Iraqi legislators accused Kuwait of stealing their oil as well as chipping away at their national territory on the border (continued at)Yahoo! News

Overseas direct investment by Koreans up 2.3% in 1st half

Hit by weak consumer sentiment and high-flying crude oil prices, Koreans were less eager to invest overseas during the first six months of this year, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said yesterday. Large companies were also less avid investors compared to individuals and small and mid-sized companies that accounted for over half of the […]

If You Could Have Written the Energy Bill…

Here is a question for you: Wouldn’t you think that the $14.5 billion dollar energy bill passed by congress would have these three objectives: A reduction in our dependency on foreign oil (currently at 60% up from 30% 30 years ago), an increase in diversifying our energy sources with an emphasis on renewables (only about […]

Survey Finds Gulf ‘Dead Zone’ Much Larger

The dead zone off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas is nearly the size of Connecticut and much larger than federal researchers had predicted earlier this year, according to a new survey. An annual weeklong cruise led by researchers with the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium found an area of low-oxygen measuring 4,564 square miles and […]

Oil firms near record on supply fears

Oil prices firmed on Tuesday within a dollar of record highs as fears over the stability of world supplies persisted following the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd. A spate of refinery problems in the United States, the world’s largest energy consumer, also supported the market by reviving worries about fuel supplies heading into peak […]

Drought to Leave Mark on Global Grain Flows

Drought around the world threatens to leave its mark on global grain trade flows this season, offering welcome new opportunities for some countries expecting large harvests, analysts said on Friday. Against a backdrop of declining world wheat stocks, bad weather has hit world production this year and will raise trading volumes as countries increase their […]

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