The Oil Drum: The Future is Solar

I have done a lot of research lately into various alternative diesel technologies as I was working on my renewable diesel chapter. One thing that became very clear to me is that the world will not be able to displace more than a fraction of our petroleum usage with biofuels. I already knew that this […]

Venezuela US Envoy:We Must Be Ready For Gas Nationalization

Venezuela must be prepared for the possibility of nationalization of its natural gas sector, the country’s ambassador to the U.S. said Wednesday. Bernard Alvarez Herrera told Dow Jones Newswires he had not heard of any specific measures in the new constitution the government was drafting that would call for nationalization of the gas sector, but […]

Listen to Earth, Pope Says in Environmental Plea

Pope Benedict said the human race must listen to “the voice of the Earth” or risk destroying its very existence. The Pope, speaking as he was concluding his holiday in northern Italy, also said that while there is much scientific proof to support evolution, the theory could not exclude a role by God.The Pope, leader […]

Biofuel: Power from the poor

The stage is now set for direct competition for grain between the 800 million people who own automobiles, and the world’s 2 billion poorest people who need food for survival. For some, this (biofuel) could mean a change of lifestyle but for many it could cost lives. As interest increases in the use of biofuels […]

World Energy: A Slippery Bet

We’re gambling on positive hearsay about energy issues, just as it did on global warmingNobody knows what is really going on under the Earth’s surface. There are mathematical models, there are on site personnel, geologists, but no one in the world can say for sure exactly where we stand on oil supply. Because this is […]

Exxon Profit Falls Unexpectedly as Oil Output Drops

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s biggest oil company, reported its first profit decline in more than three years after oil prices fell and production dropped.“We’re starting to see a crack in the production side,” said Barry James, who manages $2 billion, including Exxon Mobil shares, as chief equity strategist at James Investment Research in Alpha, […]

Scramble for oil catches up with Exxon

This is not the first time Exxon’s output has dropped. And it certainly won’t be the last as global demand for energy continues to push the hunt for oil ever farther into hostile environments, politically unstable or downright dangerous corners of the world. Add to this the rise of national oil companies, many of which […]

Regulators fine natgas market manipulaters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two market regulators on Thursday fined two large natural gas players – defunct hedge fund Amaranth Advisors and pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners LP – alleging widespread market manipulation. In its first enforcement action using new authority provided by Congress, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says it will seek $458 million in […]

Hansen: Huge sea level rises are coming

I find it almost inconceivable that “business as usual” climate change will not result in a rise in sea level measured in metres within a century. Am I the only scientist who thinks so? Last year I testified in a case brought by car manufacturers to challenge California’s new laws on vehicle emissions. Under questioning […]

Bolivia says to look for Amazon oil with Venezuela

The state oil firms of Venezuela and Bolivia hope to start exploration in an Amazon national park next year as part of joint projects involving an investment of more than $1 billion, Bolivia’s government said on Wednesday. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is a close ideological ally of Bolivia’s leftist leader, Evo Morales, and state-run PDVSA […]

Flying windmills could harness the jet stream

Flying windmills tapping jet stream wind currents may sound far fetched, but groups in the US, Netherlands and Canada say such devices may soon be within reach. If successfully developed, they could harness an enormous amount of reliable, renewable energy. “If we were able to tap 1% of the wind energy at high altitude, that […]

Renewable energy could ‘rape’ nature

Ramping up the use of renewable energy would lead to the “rape of nature”, meaning nuclear power should be developed instead. So argues noted conservation biologist and climate change researcher Jesse Ausubel in an opinion piece based on his and others’ research. Ausubel says the key renewable energy sources, including sun, wind, and biomass, would […]

Oil, gas agency has new leader

The Minerals Management Service, the federal agency responsible for collecting royalty payments for oil and gas exploration, has a new director. Randall Luthi, who has been deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since February, replaces Johnnie Burton, who resigned this year after questions about whether the service was aggressive enough in collecting […]

Salazar blocks BLM director over Roan Plateau

Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar on Wednesday officially blocked the confirmation of President Bush’s nominee to head the Bureau of Land Management. He vowed to relent only when Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne pledges that the department’s conflict with the state of Colorado over energy development won’t end in a “train wreck.” Salazar, a Democrat, said he […]

Governor takes heat for stand on drilling

When Gov. Bill Ritter asked the helicopter pilot to make an impromptu landing on a mountain in northwest Colorado, little did he know he would anger Moffat County commissioners and stir up his choppy relationship with the oil and gas industry. Last week, the county’s three commissioners, all Republicans, fired off a scathing letter to […]

The day the drilling stopped

“There is a deafening silence from the world of dentistry on the subject of Peak Oil.” Some sentences are so great, they need no context or elaboration. They can just be appreciated, like a great blue heron rising from a forest pond. But that is not how we do things around here. Rob Hopkins, the […]

Royal Dutch Shell’s profit leaps 20%

LONDON (Reuters) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc bucked an industry-wide trend of falling earnings on Thursday, posting a 20 percent rise in second-quarter profits as fat refining margins helped outweigh lower output. Shell said its current cost of supply profit, which strips out changes in the value of inventories, rose to $7.556 billion. Excluding a […]

GE issues credit card aimed to cut emissions

NEW YORK (Reuters) – General Electric Co. issued a credit card on Wednesday it says will be the first to cut help U.S. cardholders voluntarily cut emissions linked to global warming. The card, called GE Money Earth Rewards Platinum Mastercard, allows users the option of automatically contributing up to one percent of their card purchases […]

State environment official assists Shell with federal plea

Drilling: DEC commissionerThe letter seems to indicate the state is aligned with industry on the drilling, which the North Slope Borough, environmental groups and Native whalers are opposing. DEC spokeswoman Lynda Giguere confirmed that Shell requested the letter, but stressed it was written by the commissioner

Rockhopper completes volumetric work in North Falklands

Rockhopper Exploration plc, the North Falkland Islands explorer, announced that volumetric work has been completed on the CompanyRockhopper has now completed volumetric work using the 2D seismic data collected in 2006 on a number of targets in licences PL023 and PL024 which suggests un-risked P50 recoverable reserves of in aggregate 2.5 billion barrels. All of […]

Are We Running On Empty?

The oil age is coming to an end. A growing body of analysts believes we How will cars change as oil runs out? With California

Ozone cuts plant growth, spurs global warming: study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The affects of greenhouse gas ozone, which has been increasing near Earth’s surface since 1850, could seriously cut into crop yields and spur global warming this century, scientists reported on Wednesday. Ozone in the troposphere — the lowest level of the atmosphere — damages plants and affects their ability to absorb carbon […]

The Oil Drum: UK Energy Security

In 2006, 92% of the primary energy consumed in the UK was derived from fossil solar fuels – oil, natural gas and coal. Not so long ago the UK was self sufficient in these energy resources but now we are importing increasing amounts of all three. Dependency upon imported energy undermines UK national security and […]

The time is now

…So we come to the question of when and how to act. And I’m going to suggest that everyone who reads this take 10 basic actions to provide for their security right now – this year, whenever possible. I could be absolutely off base, but it seems like the combination of peak oil, financial instability […]

If Iran Provokes an Energy Crisis: Modeling the Problem in a War Game

From December 2006 to March 2007, Heritage Foundation scholars conducted a computer simula The game began with a series of economic results based on a scenario in which Iran began blockading the Strait of Hormuz in January 2007. The assump

The Dollar Collapse’s Oil Ramifications

Oil is a commodity traded almost universally in U.S. dollars, but for how long? For decades, the motley band of petrostates that comprises the Middle East has, with few exceptions, dined out on dollar revenues from the sale of the black stuff. With the run-up in the oil price, times have been better than ever […]

Oil giant’s earnings plunge expected

ConocoPhillips took a bruising punch to its second-quarter results Wednesday, but the world’s fifth-largest oil major braced Wall Street for it after pulling out of Venezuela last month. Investors knew the company would write off the $4.5 billion value of its three Venezuelan oil projects in second-quarter results, so analysts shrugged at $310 million in […]

About the NPC report

When I started working on oil depletion in 2003, there were a handful of lone voices in the wilderness sounding the alarm. Since then, the IEA, EIA, multiple government agencies in several nations, and several oil industry executives have determined oil shortages are possible. Multiple reports and books have been written. Congress has taken testimony. […]

Time Will Tell For Global Oil Demand

For many situations, time will provide the answer, if we are willing to wait long enough. By the end of the year, we will know whether the Boston Red Sox will retain their big lead in the standings, whether the U.S. womenCattleNetwork

Big Oil drills for vote of approval

When ConocoMSNBC

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