Saudis Adjust Long-Term Oil Strategy

Saudi Arabia’s growing fear of Iranian hegemony in the Middle East may be driving the world’s largest crude oil exporter to prepare a more aggressive long-term political oil strategy that could subvert an Iranian ascendancy, insiders and analysts say. Under a new, accelerated production program, the kingdom could increase its spare oil drilling capacity to […]

Uganda: Power Cuts Increase City Infernos

A new report has revealed that power shortages and lit candles remain the major causes of infernos in the city. The report suggests that there is a link between the prevailing power shortage and the ravaging fire outbreaks. It is a compilation of the emergencies handled by the Fire Brigade last year explaining the regular […]

Exploring Coal-Based Jet Fuel

A radical new source of jet fuel that’s comparable to jet-A and military JP-8 may become a marketplace realityUniversity researchers have successfully powered a helicopter jet engine with fuel derived from at least 50 percent bituminous coal, a percentage that could go half again as high. “We have shown in tests that the mix can […]

India deregulates coal sector

India has decided to deregulate its coal industry to encourage private investment and solve the coal production problem, which is not keeping pace with country’s rising energy demands. India heavily relies on coal — it’s most plentiful energy source — to power the country and is a major global producer. But as the economy of […]

Experiment With Biofuel Production in Senegal Raises Concerns

A Senegalese experiment with biofuel production will start within the coming weeks, as part of President Wade’s plan to reduce oil imports and to revive the rural economy. Where biofuel supporters see a green solution to their growing energy crisis, critics worry about the problematic – and possibly dangerous – tradeoffs in the rush to […]

Germany Wary About EU Energy Policy

Germany reacted cautiously Wednesday to an EU plan to diversify energy sources, raising concerns about the new EU president’s ability to tackle the issue in the 27-member bloc.While German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel is in favor of the Commission’s quotas on greenhouse gases, Economy Minister Michael Glos told reporters on Wednesday he could not rule […]

Dreamy and timid: is it anything more than hot air?

The Energy Policy for Europe drawn up by the European Commission is an extraordinary document: dreamily ambitious where it should be cautious; timid where it should have been bold; and evasive in confronting countries’ reluctance to allow competition.The timing at least is perfect: the fight that Russia has picked a fight with Belarus has reminded […]

Russia to diversify oil export routes

Russia will diversify its oil supply routes in order to avoid incidents similar to that with Belarus, Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Sharonov said. “This event once again showed that Russia is heavily dependent on transit schemes for oil supplies to Europe,” Sharonov said on Wednesday. To diversify its oil export routes, Russia […]

Russia resumes pumping oil to Europe via Belarus

Russia on Thursday resumed pumping oil to Europe via Belarus, ending a three-day suspension of supplies, the Russian state pipeline operator said. “Russian oil is flowing through the Druzhba pipeline to Europe,‘‘ OAO Transneft Vice President Sergei Grigoriyev told The Associated Press. Belarus late Wednesday began delivering oil through the pipeline, to compensate Russia for […]

The Plan for Economic Strangulation of Iran

The existing major oil fields in Iran are: Ahwaz (1958), Aghajari (1936), Gacchsaran (1937) and Marun (1963). These four fields together, during their highest output, produced almost 4.5 million barrel of oil per day. All four reached their peak in late 60s to mid 70s. According to Mathew R. Simmons by 2003, these 4 oilfields’ […]

Montreal woman seeks to sue gas companies over price hike

A Montreal woman has asked a Quebec court for permission to launch a class action lawsuit targeting oil companies that increase gas prices in the province. The plaintiff, Catherine Savoie, asked the court on Wednesday to give her the go-ahead to pursue the lawsuit on behalf of all Quebec motorists, who faced a 1.3 cent […]

Venezuela’s Chavez seeks control of gas projects

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday recommended the state take control of natural gas projects as part of his intensified program of nationalization. Venezuelan law currently allows foreign firms to own gas projects in the Caribbean state but Chavez proposed a legislative change. Speaking at his swearing-in ceremony, Chavez said the constitution […]

Belarus climbs down, Russian oil may flow soon

MOSCOW/MINSK – Russia and Belarus neared a deal on Wednesday to resume oil supplies via a key export pipeline, as Minsk claimed a compromise with Moscow and European customers said crude could start flowing within hours. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko reached an understanding to resolve the three-day-old halt to the Druzhba (‘Friendship’) pipeline during a […]

The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilization

Thomas Homer-Dixon has written an interdisciplinary tour-de-force integrating the many challenges facing industrial civilization into an elegant conceptual framework. That framework The Thermodynamics of Empire The thermodynamics of empire is an underlying theme in Homer-Dixon

9 South Korean workers kidnapped in Nigeria

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria – Gunmen stormed a compound housing expatriate pipeline workers in the oil-rich southern region Wednesday, kidnapping nine South Koreans and a Nigerian, officials said. Dozens of soldiers and security guards at the complex failed to foil the latest in a series of kidnappings in the area, said Ekiyor Wilson, a local government […]

Bulgaria’s Cut Export Triggers Energy Crisis in Albania

The Albanian power corporation announced it is urgently looking to increase imports of electricity to avoid a shutdown of its main hydropower stations. The country is gasping to meet energy demands suffering from lack of rain and buing no more electricity from Bulgaria after the closure of nukes 3 and 4. Andi Beli, head of […]

China

BEIJING – Sha Heping was a proud husband on New Year …According to Chinese policy researcher Zheng Xinli, by 2020 China could well topple the United States as the world

EU: Days of secure, cheap energy over

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Energy-dependent Europe is moving to wean itself off oil imports and slash the carbon emissions blamed for global warming. With world demand for limited stocks of oil and gas surging, top EU officials have embraced a new energy strategy that emphasizes diverse and renewable sources of fuel. The plan is due out […]

Next Schwarzenegger target: fuel emissions

SACRAMENTO The order could also usher in a new generation of alternative fuels in California, experts say, as refiners consider adding ethanol or other biofuels into gasoline blends. It could also mean a shift of part of the state’s auto fleet to hydrogen or electric power. Experts have said the changes could mean an increase […]

How richest fuel global warming – but poorest suffer most from it

By the end of tomorrow the average Briton will have caused as much global warning as the typical Kenyan will over the whole of this year, according to a report. The findings highlight the glaring imbalance between the rich countries that produce most of the pollution and the poor countries that suffer the consequences in […]

Russia Becoming ‘Frighteningly Arrogant’ Over Oil

The latest energy spat between Russia and one of its former Soviet neighbors has cut off oil supplies to western Europe and led to fresh concerns over the west’s dependence on Russian oil. It highlights how ruthless and arrogant Russia has become with its energy policy, and forces Europe to step up its search for […]

How low can oil prices go from here?

Keep an eye on OPEC, hedge funds, the global economy and the weather Call it the energy dividend. After 2006 tore a big hole in consumer After peaking at just under $77 a barrel in late August, crude oil futures have plummeted to about $55 a barrel

China braces for rising gas prices

When Belarus reluctantly accepted a sharp rise in the price of Russian gas in the dying minutes of 2006, China started preparing for higher natural-gas prices in the middle and long terms. A last-minute natural-gas pricing deal between Russia and Belarus was inked on December 31 under which Belarus would have to buy Russian gas […]

Deepwater oil drilling is not for faint-hearted

As easier-to-reach oil deposits run dry, energy companies are venturing farther out into the frontier for new reserves to quench the growing thirst for oil.Costs are high, as much as $100 million per well and $2 billion to develop a field, but production rates — and expectations — are high. Some deepwater platforms produce 200,000 […]

Bush Lifts Alaska Oil, Gas Drilling Ban

President Bush lifted a ban Tuesday on oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, an area known for its endangered whales and the world’s largest run of sockeye salmon. The action clears the way for the Interior Department to open 5.6 million acres of the fish-rich waters northwest of the Alaska Peninsula as part […]

China misses efficiency, pollution goals in ”grim” 2006

China last year missed its goals of making a 4 percent cut in the amount of energy it uses to generate each dollar of national income and of reducing emissions of major pollutants, a top official said on Wednesday. The failure to curb the country’s appetite for energy will be a blow to top officials, […]

Critics Say New EU Energy Policy Lacks Bite

The European Commission launches an overhaul of EU environment and energy policy on Wednesday with new proposals that critics already say are too weak to fight climate change and secure future energy supplies.“The Commission looks set to water down its proposals on both ownership unbundling and renewables, revealing Commission President Barroso’s bluster about a new […]

‘50 Percent of Nigerians Use Wood for Energy’

About 50 percent of Nigerians are using wood to generate energy for household activities, the Council for Renewable Energy in Nigeria has said. This constitutes a health hazards particularly to women and children the council said. “Renewable energy is part of the solution to conserving far more than just oil. Currently, 50% of Nigeria ’s […]

OPEC wary on tumbling oil prices

The organization may meet ahead of scheduled meeting as prices fall below suggested target price per barrel.“The fast and deep drop in the oil market in the last week is worrying oil producers,” a senior OPEC delegate told Reuters. “There are consultations and discussions among some OPEC ministers,” he said. “Consultations are on different opinions […]

The EU wants to build an energy strategy in the Caspian region

Energy security has come back again to the forefront of the European Union’s international political agenda. The EU is trying to deepen its energy relations with the former Soviet republics in the Caspian region through the so called “Baku Initiative”, aimed at creating a Black Sea/Caspian regional energy community shaped on Brussels’ energy rules. Even […]

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