Gas busting budgets across USA

Soaring gas prices are slamming cities, school districts and sheriff’s departments across the USA, forcing local governments to scrimp, save and borrow to pay the price at the pump. School buses, snowplows and squad cars, which burn millions of gallons of gas a year, can burn million-dollar holes in budgets.“It’s really wreaking havoc,” says Jeff […]

A mountain of coal waits for a ride

…Today, the economic pileup stretches from federally leased mines in remote northeastern Wyoming to population centers throughout the East, Midwest and South, revealing how dependent the USA has become on its newly emerging Western coal belt. Spot-market prices for the basin’s coal are up nearly 70% year to date. That has contributed to the feverish […]

Is no gas tank safe? Rising prices prompt increased theft

Sky-high fuel prices are spawning an uptick in sales of locking gas caps amid scattered reports of siphoning thefts around the nation. AutoZone, the nation’s largest auto parts chain, sold more than 10,000 locking gas caps last week, up more than 60% over a typical week. “That was a pretty big spike,” says AutoZone spokesman […]

Oil at record $68 as demand soars (again)

Oil prices have hit a record $68 a barrel after the US reported a fall in gasoline stocks, while China said its crude imports had risen sharply. Fears that tropical storm Katrina might hit production in the Gulf of Mexico also pushed the cost of oil higher. US light crude touched $68 a barrel in […]

Good News and Bad News

A good place to start is understanding why crude oil inventories have grown relative to normal patterns. Over the most recent 4-week period, crude oil inputs to refineries (refinery runs) are down over 300,000 barrels per day from the same period a year ago. This, while crude oil imports over the same 4-week period are […]

IMF Says, Oil Prices to Stay High for Medium Term

Global economic expansion remains intact but the likelihood of continuing high oil prices poses a risk, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday. Speaking to reporters in Singapore via videoconference, IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato said it is likely oil prices will remain high in the medium term. “We expect that oil prices will not […]

Nigerian plan brings threat of petrol price rise

Nigeria, the world’s eighth-largest oil exporter, was on Wednesday braced for a possible 60 per cent increase in petrol prices after the authorities signalled their intention to press ahead with badly needed but deeply unpopular liberalisation. A growing gap between fixed pump prices and soaring fuel import bills has threatened to bankrupt the country’s state-run […]

Oil price surges despite US crude stocks rise

The looming possibility of further oil disruptions in the US and Latin America on Wednesday saw oil prices break new ground as it moved above $67 a barrel despite growing inventories of crude reserves in the US. US strategic reserves, held by the government in salt caverns on the coast of Louisiana, last week reached […]

”Intelligence Brief: French Energy Policy”

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin held an important speech on August 16, 2005. Apart from addressing his projects to tackle unemployment, he explained to citizens why the present oil crisis is destined to last and, more importantly, he briefly illustrated the new French energy policy. The importance of this speech is two-fold. First, de […]

Italy Eyes Concept of Selling Sun’s Energy

Italy is blessed with some of Europe’s most brilliant sun and cursed with some of its highest electricity rates, but the nation has long lagged behind its more inclement neighbors in harnessing energy from the sun’s rays. But the government, hoping to cash in on Italy’s most abundant natural resource, is trying to change that. […]

President Arroyo to visit Saudi Arabia, US for more oil supply

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to begin her oil supply-generated trip to Saudi Arabia and the United States next month, a local newspaper reported Thursday. President Arroyo, according to Manila Bulletin, will appeal oil-producing countries to increase oil supply at affordable prices to the Philippines, which is facing the looming oil crisis, when she […]

Republicans Eye Offshore Drilling in U.S. Budget Bill

Republicans next month may try to open new U.S. offshore areas to oil and gas drilling in a move that would bring in billions of dollars in new revenue and let politicians claim progress in boosting domestic energy supplies at a time of record prices. Such a plan would face stiff opposition from environmental groups […]

Panel Sees Growing Threat in Melting Arctic

The rate of ice melting in the Arctic is increasing and a panel of researchers says it sees no natural process that is likely to change that trend. Within a century the melting could lead to summertime ice-free ocean conditions not seen in the area in a million years, the group said Tuesday. Melting of […]

The Oil Drum: Racking up the credit card debt on gas

According to this article, last year, about 54% of all gas purchases were made with credit cards. This year, it’s 70%. Wow… that’s a big jump.More talk on how credit’s going to affect the coming mess after the trip over to The Oil Drum.

GM, Ford Motor Debt Ratings Cut to Junk by Moody’s

General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the two biggest U.S. automakers, were lowered to junk by Moody’s Investors Service following two quarters of losses at both companies’ North American auto operations. …. GM and Ford’s market share slipped for much of this year as Asian automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. attracted customers and […]

Maintaining the Petro Dollar

Sanders Research (UK) posted August 15th an essay on the implications of the Iranian Petroleum Bourse and possible consequences to the US power.  There is a nice link to upcoming elections in Japan and Germany as getting things out of the way before things get worse and a segue into the possibility that a desperate […]

Surge in oil prices irks Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: The world

Dock’s rail freight line reopens

Rail freight services have returned to Ridham Dock in north Kent for the first time in more than three years.Spokesman Graham Meiklejohn claimed their customer was making more use of rail transportation because of rising fuel costs.BBC

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JEDDAH, 24 August 2005 Prince Sultan also disclosed plans for creating more job opportunities for Saudi women by allowing them to work two shifts. In a wide-ranging interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper Assyasah, Prince Sultan highlighted Saudi Arabia

Oil Surges to Record, Gas Rises as Storm Threatens U.S. Output

Crude oil rose to a record $67.40 a barrel in New York and natural gas reached $10 for the first time in 30 months on concern that a storm heading for Florida may threaten production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm Katrina, the 11th named storm of the year, is forecast to reach […]

The Oil Drum: Wherein Lies the Military?

Where does the military fit into the picture of overall oil consumption? In answering this, I linked to something that had old data, but which suggests that some of the military’s consumption is actually folded into the general US numbers reported by the EIA. For example, bases and operations in the US are reported as […]

Gas gripes: readers speak up

Readers weigh in on how rising prices at the pump have taken a toll on their lives. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – To cope with rising gas prices, some are changing driving habits. Some are cutting back elsewhere in their budgets. Some are taking more drastic measures. CNN/Money invited readers to write in and share stories […]

Rising Crude Stocks May Blunt Oil Price Rise This Winter -EIA

The failure of oil prices to fall much despite an unusual build in crude oil inventories this month is bad news for consumers, pointing to the resilience of the oil markets, the federal Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. But the fuller stocks could pay off this winter, by keeping prices from rising as high as […]

21.9m Barrels of Crude Lost to Oil Thieves

BETWEEN 14.6 million and 21.9 million barrels of crude oil out of the over 3.6 billion barrels that was produced in 2004 was stolen by oil thieves in the Niger Delta region going by the revelation by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigeria that crude oil theft by armed gangs peaked at 60,000 barrels […]

Russia and U.S. discuss energy cooperation

Russia and the United States discussed cooperation in the energy sector Wednesday, a Russian Industry and Energy Ministry news release said. Russian Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko and U.S. Ambassador to Moscow William Burns discussed issues of cooperation, including a visit by a Russian delegation to the U.S. in October 2005, ahead of the G8 Summit […]

Aren’t there alternatives to oil?

The relentless rise of gasoline prices has readers asking about a variety of solutions to the problem — including alternative energy sources. Michael in Virginia thinks it’s time for a crash program to convert to a “hydrogen economy.” Marian in Arkansas thinks tax breaks for hybrids will help. And Jerry in Washington says it’s time […]

Oil platform fire pulls down production

The devastating fire at an oil facility at ONGC’s Mumbai High fields has led to a four per cent drop in India’s crude oil production in July, even as refinery output was robust at 3.6 per cent.Crude oil production at 2.75 million tonnes in July was four per cent lower than 2.864 million tonnes produced […]

Major finds boost CNPC oil reserves

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the nation’s biggest oil and gas producer, discovered oil reserves of 300 million tons, or 2.19 billion barrels, in the first half of this year, a senior company official who did not want to be identified said yesterday.     Gas reserves also increased by at least 150 billion cubic metres from […]

New PEARL in SE Asian oil business

High oil prices have stimulated new investor enthusiasm for petroleum development in Southeast Asia, judging by the stock market success of start-up exploration and production company, PEARL Energy…. Lorentz, PEARL’s Business Development Manager, says the company believes there is great opportunity for independent oil companies to build a good business in Southeast Asia. “There is […]

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