New Year’s Dissolution: Surrender vs. Giving Up

It’s almost 2008, and in the final hours of 2007, I’m reflecting on the past twelve months and what may lie ahead of us in the coming year. It’s been a dreary year for planet earth-scientists telling us that climate change has passed the point of no return; the almost-daily blasting away of civil liberties […]

2008, a Year of Petroleum Exuberance

…We will witness the dawning of an era of exuberance regarding matters petroleum, a time of optimism comparable to the Roaring Twenties and the recently expired housing boom that was inflated by phony mortgages. Peak-oil theorists, those people foolish enough to believe that a nonrenewable resource is eventually exhaustible, will be vilified as alarmists. American […]

What the Fundamentals Say About Future Oil Prices

…I would bet that if prices do fall sometime soon, maybe after the peak winter demand season, exporters will cut back fairly quickly to try to keep the price above $80 or so. Further, when prices eventually begin to rise again, perhaps in the Spring or Fall of 2008, exporters will then be slow to […]

Bin Laden remarks make Gulf dollar peg likelier

DUBAI (Reuters) – Gulf Arab oil producers may be less likely to drop their currency pegs to the weak U.S. dollar after Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden criticized dollar pegs as “unjust and arbitrary”, economists said on Sunday. The Saudi-born militant leader urged Muslims in a video recording on Saturday to support militants so […]

UK: ‘Green fatigue’ leads to fear of backlash over climate change

British people are now convinced about the dangers of global warming but are either baffled about how to stop it or are ignoring the issue. Analysts say few people are taking action to deal with the threat of climate change, although over the past 12 months the vast majority have come to accept that it […]

China Nat. Petroleum subsidiaries to pay billions for Ctrl Asia gas pipeline

China’s biggest oil company, China National Petroleum Corp., will spend 16 billion yuan (US$2.2 billion, €1.5 billion) to help build a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan that will eventually supply energy for booming cities such as Shanghai, a state news agency reported. China’s energy demands have soared, driven by annual economic growth that has exceeded […]

A plea for population control to save the Earth

Do the roads and stores seem more crowded to you around Hampton Roads this year? Does it seem the weather is getting warmer? Are the two related? Yes. Last year the U.S. population topped 300 million, just 39 years after surpassing the 200 million mark. During those four decades Earth’s population doubled, increasing from 3 […]

The climate threat to Japanese rice

In Japan government scientists are trying to find ways to reduce the impact of global warming on the country’s rice crop. There are fears that the extremes of temperature that some researchers are predicting could affect both the yield and the quality of rice, a staple of the Japanese diet.Flowering grain crops like maize, wheat […]

Italy to Raise Power Rates 3.8%, Gas Prices 3.4% Next Month

Italy will raise electricity rates for households by an average 3.8 percent in the first quarter, following a surge in the price of oil. Oil sold in New York has risen almost 60 percent in the past year. Natural gas, the fuel used to produce more than half of Italy’s electricity, tracks the price paid […]

German Biodiesel Forced to Compete

Until a few months ago, the production of crop-based fuels was the best energy business imaginable in Germany, thanks to growing demand supported by the government. That’s no longer the case.But the basis for the once-positive outlook is beginning to disappear. As of Jan. 1, 2008, the German government will receive nine cents on the […]

Food security hobbles S-Afr biofuel strategy

Worried that it may be seen as insensitive to the food needs of Africa, the South African government, which is facing a general election in 2009, has chosen food security in framing a biofuel policy. After months of dilly-dallying, a strategy for the biofuel sector was accepted by the Cabinet at the start of December. […]

Uranium outlook remains strong

An Australian firm that tracks uranium trends worldwide expects a period characterized by relatively stable uranium spot market prices. But it’s likely to be a brief interlude. Resource Capital Research of Sydney says forward indicators suggest the price will range between $90 and $100 per pound for several months, then accelerate to $125 by September […]

Iran says its first atom plant to start in mid-2008

Iran’s first atomic power plant will start operating in mid-2008, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Sunday, two days after the country received a second delivery of nuclear fuel from Russia. Mottaki also told Iranian media that Tehran wants assurances that the United States will accept the results of the talks before holding a new […]

In Units of Action, Not Just Talk, Oil Is Still King

This year, there was plenty of talk about reducing oil consumption, but let’s face it: a lot of it was probably hot air. So it should come as no surprise that a new forecast of United States energy use through 2030 shows that energy consumption is expected to rise, and to be dominated by petroleum.Although […]

2007: year of recognition

…There are three things that keep me up nights: the threat of climate change, peak oil and the mountaintop removal strip mining that is destroying Appalachia. And I have reached the conclusion that, here in the United States, there are three major causes of these problems: Our homes are too big, our food travels too […]

Slow down, you drive too fast – got to make the oil last

Just for grins, let’s talk about lowering the speed limit on our interstate highways – say, to 65 mph on roads where it’s now 75 mph, and where most people drive 80 mph. Go ahead, roll your eyes. We’ve done this before, and I’ll admit it that it wasn’t much fun. That was in 1974, […]

Oil investing: 2007 a tough act to follow

It was a banner year for energy – the sector was up 30% and crude jumped 60%. But don’t count on a repeat performance in ‘08. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — It’s been a phenomenal time to invest in oil, but analysts say the huge gains of the last year are most likely a thing of […]

Is The UK Set To Be The Saudi Arabia of Europe?

Avoiding catastrophic climate change is an opportunity for the UK, according to a report from the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), but only if we adopt ambitious targets to reduce our carbon emissions from fossil fuels by 100% within the next 20 years. As Prime Minister Gordon Brown mentioned in a speech recently, reducing emissions […]

Mankind is on the brink..but I’m optimistic

…There are probably around 6.7billion of us now, peaking at around 9.2 billion in 2075, after which numbers will, according to the United Nations, begin to decline slowly. This is all theory, and guesswork, of course. It’s a middle point between far higher figures and lower ones. All we know is that as people get […]

Bush finally warms to warming

At end of term, in search of a greener legacy, president highlights warming People find all sorts of ways to lobby President Bush. Sometimes it comes in the form of a handwritten note slipped into his hand during a bill-signing ceremony. Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) tried that last week when Bush signed energy legislation […]

Crisis may make 1929 look a ‘walk in the park’

…Quietly, insiders are perusing an obscure paper by Fed staffers David Small and Jim Clouse. It explores what can be done under the Federal Reserve Act when all else fails. Section 13 (3) allows the Fed to take emergency action when banks become “unwilling or very reluctant to provide credit”. A vote by five governors […]

UK: Shell plans to outsource 3,600 jobs

Royal Dutch Shell is to shed thousands of jobs as Europe’s largest oil company joins rival BP in trying to cut costs and simplify its structure. Shell is looking to agree one of the largest ever outsourcing deals in the next couple of months, and plans to reorganise other departments, including finance operations. The company […]

Bin Laden says U.S. seeks to exploit Iraqi oil

DUBAI, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden accused Washington of plotting to take control of Iraq’s oil and urged Iraqis to reject efforts to rebuild a U.S.-backed national unity government there. The militant leader also vowed in a recording posted on an Islamist Web site on Saturday to expand jihad to […]

Peak Oil And Dunbar’s Number

Within modern capitalism there is no solution to the problem of oil depletion. Oil energy cannot be replaced with the equivalent amount of “alternative” energy in the required time, so the consequences of oil depletion will be disastrous. Those disastrous consequences are beyond the range of the normal or acceptable issues of political debate. No […]

Spokesman: BP’s Texas City refinery nears full capacity

TEXAS CITY Three of four major processing units at the plant have been repaired and put into operation, and a fourth, which processes sour crude oil, should be commissioned in January or February, BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell said. That will take the refinery to about 400,000 barrels a day, he said. BP has spent about […]

Pakistan: Petrol, CNG stations owners observe complete strike

LAHORE: Owners of filling stations observed a complete strike in the provincial metropolis on Friday to condemn brutal killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Petrol pumps and CNG stations were giving a deserted look throughout the day. Covered with tents, these filling stations were not selling petrol, diesel, gas and other oil products. However, […]

A Christmas Present – Something You Can Do For Your Kids

Christmas is for kids. Give your kids the present they really need this year: Promise them you will do whatever you can to help turn the corner on climate change. It’s life and death for your kids, for your grandchildren. Promise them you will work hard so that they will have a safe future. We […]

A Nuclear Site Is Breached

An underreported attack on a South African nuclear facility last month demonstrates the high risk of theft of nuclear materials by terrorists or criminals. Such a crime could have grave national security implications for the United States or any of the dozens of countries where nuclear materials are held in various states of security. Shortly […]

The Diminishing Demand For Dollars (Part I)

…The value of a currency How much? By my calculation (explained in

The trouble with shale gas

Huge reserves come with huge obstacles VANCOUVER -It was just five years ago that Basim Faraj began talking about something that had Calgary’s oil-and-gas crowd, in his words, “looking at me as if I just landed from Mars.” It didn’t take long for things to change. In those few short years, Mr. Faraj, an unconventional […]

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