Peak oil: Facts converge with theory

The theories for predicting timing of peak oil, despite using different methodologies, have arrived at remarkably similar conclusions. Whether peak oil occurred in 2006 or will occur in 2010, what is certain is a shoot-up in prices, given the enormous appetite for energy in China and India. Over the last couple of years, this column […]

The End Of The World?

We are all looking at the end of the world as we know it. Our attention is focused on the holes in the ozone layer, planet warming, peak oil, the spread of DU weapons, the collapse of the house of credit cards, and the prospect of the planetary financial elite quickly establishing fascist control of […]

Oil heading for $150 super-spike?

Johannesburg – Supply worries pushed oil to a record high of US$80 a barrel this week, adding fuel to Investec fund manager Tim Guinness’ predictions that a “supply crunch” could result in oil prices hitting $150/barrel by 2010. Crude oil prices leapt on Wednesday after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which controls […]

Earth’s ”vital signs” in bad shape: report

DALLAS (Reuters) – More wood was removed from forests in 2005 than ever before, one of many troubling environmental signs highlighted on Thursday in the Worldwatch Institute’s annual check of the planet’s health. The Washington-based think tank’s “Vital Signs 2007-2008″ report points to global patterns ranging from rising meat consumption to Asian economic growth it […]

Analysis: Nigeria to mimic Saudi Arabia?

Nigeria is keen on creating a state-owned petroleum firm modeled after Saudi Arabia Nigeria

Oil closes above $80 for first time

NEW YORK – Oil prices finished above $80 a barrel for the first time Thursday and gasoline prices rose as refiners reported production problems after Hurricane Humberto hit Texas. Oil first traded over $80 a barrel on Wednesday after the Energy Department reported declines in crude and gasoline inventories and a drop in refinery activity, […]

As We Stand on the Brink of Catastrophe, Bio-Fuels are no Magic Bullet

Having made ethanol into this magic elixir, politicians, financial investors, and the occasional environmental organization are masking the need for far deeper investigation and solutions. The burgeoning reality of global climate change, rooted in a century of over-consumption of fossil fuels, is merging with another crisis with the same basic root cause–the looming depletion of […]

Future Shock: The 9/11 anniversary rolls by like a drowning polar bear

For a century that began with such promise … This isn’t a rhetorical question, but a query about the planet’s future in a world dominated by an all-powerful species with a collective death wish. It seems to me that human beings, of all religions, races, creeds and economic systems, have a longing for the apocalypse […]

Wave of bad news drives up oil prices

Experts say the sting at the pumps could deal another blow to the sluggish economy. Supply worries helped push oil futures above $80 a barrel Wednesday, before the commodity closed at a record high of $79.91. That could pressure consumers and businesses already stung by sluggish housing prices and a credit crunch. With gasoline prices […]

Nigeria: Energy Expert Welcomes Oil Output Increase

A string of reactions have trailed the proposed plan by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) currently meeting in Vienna, Austria, to increase oil output to 500,000 barrels by November 1, 2007 and the U.S. Congress seeking to declare the organization illegal. Energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in […]

South Africa: Limited Supplies, Biofuel Demand Push Maize Prices Up

Johannesburg – Increased global demand for biofuel has pushed up the already buoyant price of maize in South Africa, forcing aid agencies to procure food from elsewhere to feed an expected more than six million food-insecure people in southern Africa. After a second consecutive poor maize harvest in South Africa, which usually meets food shortfalls […]

Carmakers Defeated On Emissions Rules

States Can Set Standards, Judge Says A federal judge in Vermont yesterday rejected an attempt by automakers to block individual states from adopting their own standards for limiting greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Judge William Sessions III of U.S. District Court in Burlington ruled that state action to limit greenhouse gas emissions from […]

Hopes Dim for Measures to Conserve Energy

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 Democratic leaders in both chambers have signaled that conference committee members are unlikely to be named until late October, at the earliest. Others suggested that leaders may try to resolve the differences in the bills without convening a conference, which would create other problems, including the threat of a Republican filibuster in […]

Oil at $80 pumps new life into loonie

If there’s really a looming slump in global demand, oil traders sure missed that memo. Crude oil prices defied the dire warnings about a U.S.-led slowdown and soared to a record yesterday, sending the Canadian dollar to nearly a three-decade high. The exuberance also spilled into other commodities, with wheat prices also hitting a record.Economic […]

Researcher finds lake boiling with methane

Last month, UAF researcher Katey Walter brought a National Public Radio crew to Alaska

The sea-ice is getting thinner

Bremerhaven, September 13, 2007. Large areas of the Arctic sea-ice are only one metre thick this year, equating to an approximate 50 percent thinning as compared to the year 2001…. The thickness of the arctic sea-ice has decreased since 1979, and at the moment measures about a metre in diameter in the central Arctic Basin. […]

Emissions targets for 2030 will only be reached by banning cars in London

London Authority (GLA) takes radical steps, one of which could be the removal of all cars from both inner and outer London, according to a report published today. The GLA is committed to reducing London They do, however, offer a radical vision which could achieve a 72% drop in emissions by 2030

Technology necessary for purely electric car remains elusive

Amid all the talk of replacing fossil fuels, there has been considerable misinformation about electric vehicles and batteries. Some think there is a conspiracy by the oil companies to trash the potential of electric cars. Others say it is the car companies in cahoots with the oil companies at work.Governments, in response to public pressure, […]

Has the Iraq War Been All About Oil?

For many intelligent and well-informed people I know the answer to this question is an obvious “yes.” However, I beg to differ. Certainly oil has been important. At a very high level the answer is “yes,” to the extent the Iraq war has been the extension/sequel of the (first) Persian Gulf War. That was clearly […]

OPEC Tosses Us A Few Crumbs While Oil Marches to $80. Why?

…Perhaps the more interesting question, though,is why oil went on to reach new highs after OPEC tossed us this crumb. Might the lack of transparency in commodity futures trading have something to do with it? How easy it would be for OPEC members to promise a supposedly price-easing quota boost just to fill a newspaper […]

Hurricane Humberto Hits Texas With Winds of 85 Mph

…In Port Arthur, about 16 miles southeast of Beaumont, Total SA, Europe’s third-largest oil company, said its refinery lost all power at 4:33 a.m. Crews are assessing damage and working to restore power, Total’s Petro Chemicals USA Port Arthur plant said today in a report to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Valero Energy Corp. […]

Chris Skrebowski on record high oil price

UK Petroleum Review editor Chris Skrebowski discusses today’s $80 per barrel record high oil price with GPM’s Julian Darley. Skrebowski also talks about his expectations for the rest of 2007. (Downloadable and streaming audio) Global Public Media

The Peak Oil Crisis: A Meeting to Remember

…As the increase is not supposed to start for another six weeks, it will be several months before we have much insight into what is actually happening. Most analysts believe that only the Saudis have the theoretical capacity to increase production by more than token amounts. Some are skeptical the cuts in Saudi production over […]

The world oil benchmark price briefly topped $80 a barrel

For U.S. now, $80 oil may be tough to bear… …”The idea of OPEC bringing on just 500,000 barrels a day, and not until November, is like Ben Bernanke saying maybe we should lower interest rates 1/10th of 1%: It has no relevance,” said Matt Simmons of Simmons & Co., an energy investment bank in […]

The Economics of Oil, Part II: Peak Oil and the Energy Supply Curve

The world Sceptics rightly point out that this bell has been rung before. In the mid 1980s, world oil reserves were forecast to last about 20 years; and yet here we are in 2007, with near record production levels. Historically, we have always found new sources of oil

Study: Rising sea endangers coastal cities

A chilling set of three-dimensional images of climate-triggered sea rise flooding into coastal U.S. cities was released this week by the environmental nonprofit group Architecture 2030. A sea level rise as little as 1 meter could have catastrophic impact along the country’s 12,000 miles of coastline, where 53 percent of Americans live, according to the […]

BP shrinking Gulf of Mexico operations; to focus on two platforms

BP PLC has pulled back on several big projects in the Gulf of Mexico and will focus on bringing two of its more important pro BP will be concentrating on the Atlantis and Thunder Horse regions – among the world’s biggest platforms and underwater structures. BP has been forced to delay both projects several times, […]

Thais suffer without subsidies as oil hits record

Thais are to suffer another economic blow as global oil prices rose to a record above $80 a barrel and the post-coup government ruled out resurrecting fuel subsidies that were dumped as too expensive.

Motorists in Thailand are more exposed to global oil rises than many in Asia, after the country freed fuel prices at the pump to market rates by 2005, unlike countries such as China and India that maintain government-capped prices.

“Everything has become more expensive and sellers blame it on rising oil prices,” said coffee vendor Atchara Jarinthong, who travels 50 km (30 miles) to and from work every day in a diesel truck.

Reuters

IEA predicts lower demand for oil

The International Energy Agency’s forecast yesterday of lower-than-expected demand for oil next year did not prevent further price rises on world oil markets. The price of a barrel of London Brent crude rose $1.30 to settle at $77.68 last night, despite the IEA’s decision to reduce its forecast for global oil demand in 2008 by […]

Officials: Pipeline will help N.D. oil producers

Increased pipeline capacity may help North Dakota oil producers avoid discounts as high as $30 a barrel when selling their crude, along with giving them more shipping options, two industry officials say. New pipelines designed to bring Canadian oil to Midwestern refineries also may ease pressure on an important east-west pipeline that many North Dakota […]

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