Mexico becoming one of world’s more dangerous countries

…EPR’s coordinated bombings of natural gas pipelines, first in July and then in September, have exposed government intelligence failures and the vulnerability of the petroleum infrastructure in Mexico, the second largest oil exporter to the United States. “The reality is the government has been pursuing the top EPR leaders for at least five years, and […]

The Dutch government takes a stand – against cars, for bikes

The Dutch government has taken a trend to promote eco-friendly cities a step further than its European neighbors by announcing firm measures to discourage cars and driving. The plan was outlined in the 2008 budget presented this week, and the capital Amsterdam — a leader in the drive — and other Dutch cities will use […]

Opec intervention seen as fading force

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has stepped in with 500,000 extra barrels of oil a day to calm global markets but the cartel may not have the power it used to have to provide respite for investors. The increase will begin on 1 November but analysts believe that the oil export growth from […]

Ecuador seeks oil ‘compensation’

The Yasuni National Park in Ecuador is reckoned to be one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Beneath it, though, lie an estimated one billion barrels of oil. The Ecuadorean government has begun negotiating with oil companies interested in bringing that oil to the surface, although President Rafael Correa says his preferred option […]

‘Too cheap’ electricity must surge in price to meet greenhouse gas targets

Electricity is “too cheap” and prices will have to rise if Britain is to meet tough targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Scottish and Southern Energy has warned. Brian Smith, the utility group’s head of projects, said the price of electricity gave consumers little incentive to cut down their usage, for example by switching off […]

NZ: Harsh reality hits optimism on renewable energy target

Renewable energy sources will have to produce nearly twice as much electricity as they do now if the government’s target of 90 per cent renewables is to be met by 2025. Despite enthusiasm from some industry participants, others are sceptical that such a goal can be met.Renewables will have to increase capacity by 87 per […]

Agriculture In A Post-Oil Economy

The decline in the world’s oil supply offers no sudden dramatic event that would appeal to the writer of “apocalyptic” science fiction: no mushroom clouds, no flying saucers, no giant meteorites. The future will be just like today, only tougher. Oil depletion is basically just a matter of overpopulation — too many people and not […]

Information technology could play significant role in producing oil and gas

Pulling crude and natural gas out of the earth requires bits and brawn, but it is increasingly requiring bytes as well. “The energy industry is seeing significant challenges in terms of capacity,” said Kumar Bashyam, chairman and chief executive officer of SGT Global, a Houston-based information technology consulting company. “With $80 oil and demand for […]

Blackwater, Oil and the Colonial Enterprise

Blackwater USA’s mercenary mission in Iraq is very much in the news this week, and rightly so. The private military contractor’s war-for-profit program, which has been so brilliantly exposed by Jeremy Scahill, may finally get a measure of the official scrutiny it merits as the corporation scrambles to undo the revocation by the Iraqi government […]

Iran oil bourse ‘won’t undermine US instruments’

Plans for a commodity exchange for oil trading in Iran won’t undermine the dollar How is the Iran Oil Bourse (IOB) practically going to work? What pool are you planning to start out with? We aim to start with creating a

AUS: Group has plan if oil crisis starts to bite here

Items in a typical supermarket trolley full of food in Victoria will have collectively travelled 70,000km to come together. “That’s nearly twice round the globe,” said Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre coordinator Sonya Wallace, who is part of a Coast-based group researching and compiling an action plan should the much-vaunted peak oil crisis arrive. The […]

ACCESS TO OIL IS BEDROCK OF OUR MIDDLE EAST POLICY

Should the United States invade a foreign country for its oil? If that question were posed in a poll, the vast majority of Americans would no doubt answer with a resounding “no.” We’re the good guys in the world, spreading democracy, freeing the oppressed, opposing tyrants. We wouldn’t invade a sovereign country strictly out of […]

Within 5 Years, Oil Will be $120 a barrel, Gas in U.S. Will sell for $5.50 a gal

Phil Flynn strongly believes the world can meet its energy challenge by allowing commodity markets to do their job without government interference. Yes, prices will rise sharply over the next few years, and consumers will feel the pain, but the overall economy should be okay, according to Flynn. In the long run, Flynn says, it […]

Saudi riyal hits 21-year high

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s dollar-pegged riyal surged to a 21-year high against the US currency last week after the world’s largest oil exporter said it would hold back from matching a US interest rate cut. Speculation the kingdom may ditch its peg to the dollar has fuelled a frenzy of riyal buying which has pushed the […]

Let the East Bloom Again

THE United States faces two major security challenges this century. Both involve water. The increasing demand for water in the Western United States in an era of diminishing supply has put AmericaThere is, however, a sustainable solution: a return to using the land and water of the East, which dominated agriculture in the United States […]

The rising cost of nature

A fundamental global trend nowadays is growing natural resource scarcity. Oil and natural gas prices have soared in recent years. This past year, food prices have also skyrocketed, causing hardships among the poor and large shifts in income between countries and between rural and urban areas. The most basic reason for the rise in natural […]

A slide into oily stagflation, three decades on

THIS weekend marks the 34th anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur war. In case you have forgotten, it triggered the world’s first OPEC oil price shock and the awful era of stagflation. And oil prices are at it again. They set a new record every day for the past week, briefly rising over […]

Meeting of minds sought on climate change

The climate change debate will be torn between two important meetings in the US next week, reports Anne Davies. Susan Taylor of Oregon is facing possible legal action for hanging out her clothes in her backyard as part of her small effort to reduce her carbon footprint. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that […]

Corn Plays Catchup

Corn Prices Play Catchup to Surging Wheat, Soybean Prices, As U.S. Dollar Tumbles

Energy pinch can be good news

Stockmarkets hate uncertainty and richly reward the few investors who correctly see the future of an industry, an idea or a technology. One of the biggest question marks facing the global economy today is how we can increase energy supplies by the additional 50 per cent forecast to be needed in the next 25 years […]

The new British empire? UK plans to annex south Atlantic

Britain is preparing territorial claims on tens of thousands of square miles of the Atlantic Ocean floor around the Falklands, Ascension Island and Rockall in the hope of annexing potentially lucrative gas, mineral and oil fields, the Guardian has learned. The UK claims, to be lodged at the UN Commission on the Limits of the […]

$80 oil price no fluke to analysts

Supply, demand still rule, they say, even as other factors move price This week’s record push past $80 for a barrel of oil had plenty of variables, including the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut, the weakened dollar and a pesky tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico. But analysts say the basics still rule: Demand […]

OPEC sees oil prices offsetting weak dollar

RIYADH: The surge in oil prices to record highs will shield OPEC nations, some of which peg their currencies to the US dollar, from current dollar weakness, a Saudi newspaper quoted OPEC sources as saying on Saturday. OPEC members have no immediate plans to hold consultations on a rise in oil prices to record peaks […]

Matt Simmons: Fix Energy Infrastructure before the

Much as the world was riveted by the recent collapse of a highway bridge in the U.S. state of Minnesota, Matthew Simmons fears it may soon be riveted by an energy pipeline or refinery disaster. Simmons, one of the critical thinkers whose innovative ideas form the basis of EnergyTechStocks.com The Houston investment banker said he […]

Businesses flip-flop on electricity deregulation

Companies say state plan they once extolled as a way to exact fairer pricing doesn It wasn’t supposed to be this way. In the 1990s, industrial energy customers such as Allegheny Technologies were among the first and most forceful advocates of ending the state’s traditional regulatory control over the electric industry. They wanted prices to […]

Taking Cues From Fed, Speculators Bid Up Oil

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may have cooled off the credit crisis by cutting interest rates, but he may also have heated up oil prices this week. For seven consecutive business days, crude oil prices have hit new highs. Even after dropping slightly yesterday, crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange finished the […]

Iran warns West against attack, displays missiles

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran told Western powers on Saturday they would regret any attack over Tehran’s nuclear activities and it rolled out a display of missiles and other military hardware to back the warning. “Our message to the enemies is: Do not do it,” the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said, […]

CANADA: Losing Water Through NAFTA

…Under NAFTA rules, Canada cannot reduce its energy exports to the United States, according to Gordon Laxer, director of the Parkland Institute, a research network at the University of Alberta. “The U.S. is the most energy wasteful nation on Earth. And Canada is sacrificing its environment to feed America’s addiction to oil,” Laxer said in […]

Green Dreams

Producing fuel from corn and other crops could be good for the planet Indy’s switch back to the old bootlegger’s friend is just one indicator of the mad rush to biofuels, homegrown gasoline and diesel substitutes made from crops like corn, soybeans, and sugarcane. Proponents say such renewable fuels could light a fire under our […]

Iran Gets Iraqi Oil; U.S. Creates Korea-like Demilitarized Zone to Protect Saudi

As U.S. Gen. David Patraeus makes the rounds of Washington reporting on the status of the Iraq war, here If Friedman

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