Beware the new world energy order

CALGARY – With crude oil prices strengthening and demand for oil continuing to rise, you’d expect three of the most powerful men in the global business to be thrilled with their good fortune. Instead, Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp., Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, and […]

Ethanol and Arkansas

Arkansas corn farmers have rarely had it so good. I should know. Due to surging corn prices, our family farm in Independence County has been reporting profits unseen for some time. So are Americans eating more corn? Well, no. The corn boom has been driven by demand for fuel, specifically ethanol. Problem is, it’s not […]

World likely to pass dangerous warming limits

LONDON (Reuters) – The world will probably exceed a global warming limit which the European Union calls dangerous, scientists at Britain’s MetOffice Hadley Centre said on Tuesday, presenting a new, 5-year research program. But not all scientists agree, demonstrating a shift in debate from whether climate change is happening — on which where there is […]

Biofuels may harm more than help

PARIS (Reuters) – Biofuels, championed for reducing energy reliance, boosting farm revenues and helping fight climate change, may in fact hurt the environment and push up food prices, a study suggested on Tuesday. In a report on the impact of biofuels, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said biofuels may “offer a cure […]

IBM’s Billion-Dollar Energy Pledge Highlights Data Explosion Danger

…IBM has vowed that its new green investments will help tackle this problem by doubling “the computing capacity of its data centers within the next three years without increasing power consumption or its carbon footprint.” Compared to simply doubling the size of its data center real estate IBM calculates that the initiative will save over […]

Netherlands has 200-year global warming plan

Amsterdam – With two-thirds of the Dutch population living below sea level, the country’s government sees the risk of rising seas caused by global warming as a matter of life and death. So it’s taking a long term view of the problem – a two hundred-year view, to be exact. The Cabinet announced plans on […]

The State of Green

Here’s a look at some alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, and ethanol, and the challenges companies in those areas face Talk to the pioneers of green technology and they’ll tell you these days they spend less time hard-selling the allure of renewable energy, and more hours managing shortages of materials, labor, and manufacturing […]

More refining needed to process Alberta output

U.S. refineries must be expanded to handle a rising tide of crude-oil imports from Alberta’s tar sands, the world’s second-biggest oil deposit, says John Hofmeister, Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s U.S. chair. Shell, Saudi Aramco, ConocoPhillips, BP PLC and Marathon Oil Corp. plan to spend a combined $15 billion (U.S.) to expand refineries from Michigan to […]

Expert says climate change will spread global disease

JEJU ISLAND, South Korea (AFP) – Climate change will have an overwhelmingly negative impact on health with possibly one billion more people at risk from dengue fever within 80 years, an expert said Tuesday. While there would be some positive effects, “the balance of health effects is on the negative side,” Alistair Woodward, a professor […]

Starving whales point to depleted oceans

Starvation may be impeding the recovery of the Pacific Gray whale population, say researchers. The Gray whale population was thought to have recovered from commercial whaling, but now a new genetic study suggests the marine mammals once numbered between three and five times the 22,000 population estimated today. If true, the findings could imply that […]

OPEC agrees to raise output by 500,000 barrels per day

VIENNA (AFP) – OPEC countries have agreed to pump an extra 500,000 barrels of oil a day from the beginning of November, ministers said on Tuesday. Ministers said the cartel’s output target would rise by 1.4 million barrels per day in total to 27.2 million bpd, from its current level of 25.8 million bpd. But […]

Robert L. Hirsch: Planning for the Mitigation of Maximum World Oil Production

A framework is needed for planning the mitigation of oil shortages created by world oil production reaching a maximum and going into decline. Some argue that normal market evolution will be adequate to avoid shortages. We assume that will not be the case. In dealing with such matters, the best that can be hoped for […]

The Disinformation Society – Kunstler

One question that readers ask me often is why the mainstream media is doing such a poor job of reporting the nexus of the global energy emergency and the turmoil in global finance. I maintain my “allergy” to conspiracy theories. There isn’t any clique of top-hatted Wall Street biggies with monocles joining with with gray-suited […]

Sabotage blamed as blasts rip Mexico pipelines

MEXICO CITY Fires raged at the sites, and authorities evacuated some 24,000 people from the areas near the explosions, but no deaths or injuries were reported. Pemex officials said natural gas supplies could be cut by 25 percent for several days while repairs were made to the pipelines. The Associated Press quoted an unnamed police […]

The Oil Drum: It’s That Time Again (or Refining 101: Winter Gasoline)

One of the things I really like about The Oil Drum is that I learn something new here almost every day. So, I thought I would return the favor by explaining in a bit more detail something you may not know. Gas stations sell a special, more expensive fuel blend during the summer to cut […]

Chile: Rate of melting glaciers has double in ten years

Scientists from the Center of Scientific Studies of Valdivia (CECS) said this week that ChileThe scientists made their arguments after participating in helicopter tours over areas of high glacier concentration. This initiative, which was carried out with the assistance of Chile

Matt Simmons: Force All Oil Producers to Give Transparent Data

At the next meeting of the leaders of the world To meet the challenge of securing the world

Matt Simmons: Look to The Oceans for New Sources of Oil

While the power of ocean waves and currents increasingly is being counted as a source of non-polluting electrical generation, Matthew Simmons says the sea Both of these biofuels are increasingly being produced in order to relieve the pressure on crude oil production in the face of ever stronger global demand fueled largely by economic growth […]

As Brazil’s rain forest burns down, planet heats up

…As vast tracts of rain forest are cleared, Brazil has become the world’s fourth-largest producer of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, after the United States , China and Indonesia , according to the most recent data from the U.S.-based World Resources Institute. And while about three-quarters of the greenhouse gases emitted around the […]

Oil and Corruption in Iraq Part II: Smuggling Thrives in Basra

BASRA, Iraq, September 11, 2007 (ENS) – Police and government officials are accused of taking a cut of the lucrative oil smuggling business run by clans and overseen by militia groups in the southern city of Basra. Rival Shia groups have divided up control of the city’s resources – including the country’s only seaport as […]

OPEC splits over output, previous mistakes haunt ministers

VIENNA (AFP) – The ghosts of Asia’s 1997 financial crisis haunted an OPEC meeting here on Tuesday as members of the oil cartel split about whether to raise output to help cool surging crude prices. OPEC ministers were locked in tense negotiations on whether the 12-member exporters’ club should pump more oil amid uncertainty about […]

Sinopec to import 60,000 tons of gasoline in September

BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) — Sinopec, China’s biggest oil refiner, is planning to import 60,000 tons of gasoline in September to help meet domestic demand, said an official of the company on Tuesday. Arrangements for the imports have been fixed, including the time and place of delivery, said the official in charge of sales with […]

Rosneft warns China over oil supply post 2010

MOSCOW (Reuters) – State-controlled Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil firm, said on Tuesday it will not renew its existing crude oil supply contract to China after 2010 unless China offers better terms. The comment came as Russia, the world’s second-largest crude exporter, is building its first pipeline to China. Rosneft is due to deliver the bulk […]

Petro-Canada Bets Big on Oil Sands

Long-suffering Petro-Canada (PCZ) investors may think their luck has turned this past year as the company starts to shake off a reputation for operational unreliability and its share price has risen. But its biggest challenge yet lies ahead: a massive C$26.2 billion oil sands project that has some analysts wondering whether it might halt the […]

Norway sees no reason to exploit Arctic’s gas and oil

Technological and logistical factors are likely to preserve the Arctic region’s huge reserves of oil and gas from exploitation for decades to come, said Norway’s deputy foreign minister Liv Monica Stubholt. “I think we would do well not to underestimate the difficulties” involved in any exploitation of the high north’s natural resources, Stubholt told. And […]

Iraq Oil Min: Hunt Oil Deal with Kurd Government Illegal

Hunt Oil Co.’s agreement with Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region to explore for oil is illegal, Iraq’s oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani said Monday, in his first public reaction to the deal announced over the weekend. “Any oil deal has no standing as far as the government of Iraq is concerned,” said al-Shahristani. “All these contracts have […]

The Oil Drum: But We Wasted a Day of Sunlight!

For the first time this year I have attempted to grow a meaningful amount of my own food, at least enough to store during the winter and supplement hopefully (fewer) trips to the grocery store. I planted 38(!) heirloom tomato plants, which has proven to be a few too many. I literally have had days […]

Peak Oil Now? Airing Saudi Arabia

Oil Supply Watchers Wait For Signs From OPEC Meeting When the OPEC cartel begins its meeting Sept. 11, some analysts expect Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, the line of reasoning goes, will refuse to increase oil production not because it doesn

Peak Oil: Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It

Three Peak Oil Consequences and Three Strategies For Avoiding the Worst Some analysts believe the world is at or near hitting peak oil ● Taking Your Lumps At The Pump: If crude is more expensive to extract, and the supply tight, the price to fill your tank goes up. Economics 101. ● Spawning A Tsunami […]

Crude Oil Nears Record on Signs OPEC Will Keep Output Quota

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil rose to within 50 cents of a record on speculation rising demand and restricted OPEC production may tighten fourth-quarter supplies. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries pumps 40 percent of the world’s oil and will set its output target for the rest of the year at a meeting in […]

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