Europe

ItWhile E.U. nations like Austria remain determined to retain their staunch anti-nuclear credentials, at least for the moment, others are embracing nuclear. Finland is building the first nuclear generating plant in western Europe since 1991. Sweden and the Netherlands are re-thinking their plans to abandon or phase out old nuclear plants. Lithuania, already more dependent […]

Trouble anew in southern Sudan

Khartoum’s unwillingness to budge over oil fields in southern Sudan, despite the 2005 peace deal, is causing concerns of a possible renewed north-south war that could also doom Darfur. Khartoum’s refusal to honor a landmark peace accord that helped to end two decades of war with southern rebels is breeding fresh anxiety in the troubled […]

Report: Average driver wastes 38 hours per year in traffic

WASHINGTON (AP) — Drivers waste nearly an entire work week each year sitting in traffic on the way to and from their jobs, according to a national study released Tuesday. The nation’s drivers languished in traffic delays for a total of 4.2 billion hours in 2005, up from 4 billion the year before, according to […]

Mexico Risks Joining Colombia As Regular Oil Sabotage Target

As Petroleos Mexicanos resumes natural gas supplies this week after repairing pipelines damaged by a rebel group, uncertainty remains over when the next shutdown might happen. In July, optimists saw two pipeline attacks as isolated cases of sabotage. Last week, the People`s Revolutionary Army, or EPR, buried that thesis with its third and most costly […]

Why $80 oil won’t mean $3 gas

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Despite oil prices recently hitting a record high of over $80 a barrel, experts say it’s unlikely retail gasoline prices will move much higher than the current national average of just below $2.80 a gallon. To be sure, retail gas prices have risen a bit along with crude’s record ascent. “Gasoline […]

Attack on Kirkuk-Bayji pipeline – 26 killed in Iraq

An explosion along an oil pipeline extending from the northern Kirkuk oilfields to Bayji refineries caused damage to both the line and another parallel pipeline between Iraq and Turkey, on Tuesday. Twenty-six people including three militants were killed and 59 wounded in separate attacks and military operations across Iraq, according to local authorities. The ensuing […]

The Oil Drum: A Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Products: Environmental Impact?

In connection with the worsening scarcity of fossil fuels and climate change the idea of using renewable energy is attracting interest both in the Swiss public eye and in industry. Fuels made from biomass – so-called biofuels – are currently the most important form of renewable energy in road transportation and could at least over […]

Not so Corny: Fuel Shortages May Hurt Corn Harvesting

NEW YORK But farmers said supplies of the ultra low sulfur diesel needed for harvesting equipment are running low, particularly in the corn-growing regions of Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa. In Iowa, fuel shortages are anticipated as retailers report having only about 80 percent of their normal supply, said John Scott, a corn and soy farmer […]

French-kissing the war on Iran

The white man’s oil burden …Meanwhile, it seems clear that Sarkozy’s game is playing messenger to big (energy) business. He is well known in Paris as the man of the CAC 40 – the French equivalent of the Dow Jones index. The French rapprochement with the Bush administration – in both Iraq and Iran – […]

Oil rises to new intraday record

Oil prices climbed to a new high, above $81 a barrel, on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut a key interest rate later Tuesday, a measure that has the potential to bolster the economy and strengthen petroleum demand in the world’s largest energy consumer. Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose as high […]

Only threat to Alberta is onset of world peace

An outbreak of world peace and respect for human rights would be disastrous for Alberta. Global happiness would bankrupt this province. It’s not obvious how Alberta prospers by the world’s misery. Let’s connect the dots. Alberta has earned the dubious distinction of being one of the most expensive places to develop and produce oil and […]

New Yorkers turning to biodiesel for heat

New York – Manhattan’s Lower East Side is famous for its pastrami and pickles as well as its rich Jewish heritage. Now, a small cooperative building in the area is one of the first places in the city to use a blend of heating oil and biodiesel to keep residents warm this winter. In the […]

OPEC would discuss output hike if $80 oil lasts

OPEC would likely hold consultations about boosting supply again if the price of oil stayed above $80 a barrel for more than 15-20 days, an OPEC source said on Tuesday.“But is too early to say,” the source added, when asked if OPEC needed to pump more oil.The high price would not last long as concerns […]

Increased ethanol interest fuels risk of Gulf dead zone spreading

U.S. farmers planted the largest corn crop since 1944 this year after growing demand for corn-based ethanol helped propel corn prices to their highest level in more than a decade. But the expansion of corn production in America’s Heartland is fueling concerns farther south where agriculture-related runoff funneled into the Gulf of Mexico via the […]

Japanese consumers feel pinch of biofuel demand

TOKYO (September 17 2007): Japanese consumers hoping to reduce their dependence on petrol at the pump are getting a surprise as they feel the pinch elsewhere-when they sip orange juice, slurp noodles or bite into a sandwich. As more people embrace ethanol and other biofuels as eco-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels in curbing global warming, […]

Iran and global gas markets

According to studies carried out thus far, annual growth rate for gas consumption in the world has been predicted at an average of about 3.1 percent between 1997 and 2020. The figure will stand at 5.5 percent in developing countries and at 1.2 percent in developed states. Therefore, European countries will be at their best […]

Zimbabwe: Energy Crisis Threatens Environment

Always anticipated, as demand outstripped supply in Southern Africa due to growth and expansion of urban areas as well as reduced water levels due to successive seasons of drought, the question is as we focus on the energy crisis, who is minding the environment? Needless to say, the negative effects of the energy crisis are […]

Caspian Sea energy and big powers

The newly independent states of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan are located in Central Asia and Caucasus and enjoy rich oil and gas reserves. After implosion of the former Soviet Union, efforts made by the said countries to promote their international standing, has paved the way for extraction of oil and gas resources of the Caspian […]

Behind high oil prices

Due to the destruction of refining capabilities by hurricanes, and an expectedly large decline in commercial oil reserves in recent days, the New York market, for the first time, closed on a price above 80 US dollars per barrel on September 13; and hit a new record in the history of nominal prices. As a […]

OPEC predicts fall in demand for oil

OPEC forecasts demand for its crude oil will fall by 216,000 barrels a day next year and said the rising cost of credit may slow global economic growth. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose members produce more than 40 per cent of the world’s oil, next year will need to supply an average 30.8 […]

IEA urges Asian countries to lift strategic oil reserves

The International Energy Agency is urging East Asian and Asean countries to beef up oil reserves to ease the impact of oil price volatility, deputy director William Ramsay told a seminar in Bangkok yesterday. Since oil prices fluctuate with supply, unexpected disruptions can cause prices to quickly shoot up, he said.Oil reserves in East and […]

Oil price concerns airlines

The head of the International Air Transport Association says the continuing high price of oil and the turmoil in credit markets are causes for concern in 2008. Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director-general, said yesterday airlines are expected to post a net profit of US$5.6 billion in 2007. “It’s one per cent, it’s not much,” he added.In […]

We are all peakists now – Schlesinger

Former US Energy Secretary Dr James Schlesinger today claimed that the intellectual arguments over peak oil had been won, and that in effect DavidStrahan.com (podcast)

Kunstler: Shocked, shocked!

Alan Greenspan’s memoirs are being flogged across the airwaves, bandwidths and printing presses, and the cohort of those who comment on public affairs in these media are shocked by the Maestro’s confessions — first, that a housing bubble emerged out of his leadership in the banking sector, and second that the Iraq war is about […]

Export declines in the era of waning oil abundance

As the era of oil abundance starts to wane, geopolitical relations between consuming countries and producing countries will grow increasingly important. Consumer countries are going to be forced to pursue substitutes and alternative ways of living. Paramount for them is the speed and manner with which their imports will decline. If the decline proceeds too […]

”The 11th Hour” and Generation Z

Reportedly, Leonardo DiCaprio’s documentary film, “The 11th Hour,” has yet to take the box office by storm. That is a shame because it is a valuable film and everyone who can get to a theater should go and see it. However, it is not terribly surprising that it hasn’t really caught on yet, because despite […]

Can US Bully OPEC Into Submission?

The United States Senate, in a move obviously targeted at OPEC, frightened about the effects of spiralling world crude prices and the consequences for the greatest gas guzzling nation on earth, is currently pushing through a Bill to outlaw oil cartels. YEMI AKISANYA says they It is reported that the proposed Bill makes it illegal […]

UK urged to ban petrol cars by 2040

Britain’s third largest political party backed a series of radical proposals Monday to tackle climate change, including a ban on petrol powered cars by 2040. Setting out plans to make Britain carbon neutral by 2050, Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Chris Huhne said that tackling global warming would need an “enormous economic change”. Climate change meant […]

The Oil Drum: The ASPO Conference -First Morning

Cork, so the Deputy Lord Mayor told us, is the port that the Titanic sailed from. It is also the place that took delivery of 57 Steinways for its new school of music, and so it was appropriate that we were entertained with song and dance this evening. It should have been a celebration. As […]

Why oil’s all-time high is just the start

When Goldman Sachs analyst Arjun Murti wrote a note to clients two years ago predicting a superspike in oil, most of the analyst community were sceptical. Murti was one of the first to forecast an oil price above $100 a barrel. However, I suspect Mr Murti is now laughing at his detractors He argued that […]

« Previous Page — Next Page »

LATEST NEWS HEADLINES

• Why the IEA is Wrong About Peak Oil Demand
• Did we inadvertently speed global warming?  
• Venezuela’s Oil Monopoly Eases
• Why Germany is Choosing Natural Gas Over Nuclear Power
• U.S. coal-fired electricity generation decreased in 2022 and 2023

• America Cracks Down on Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Facilities
• Meet America’s Newest Oil Trader Extraordinaire: Joe Biden
• Is It Time To Refill America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
• Oil prices set to end year 10% lower as demand concerns snap winning streak
• What’s Driving America’s New Oil and Gas Boom?
• China’s peak oil demand bombshell eviscerates Danielle Smith’s energy strategy