Supply side to blame for high oil prices

Oil prices careened toward $117 this week, providing further, painful evidence of the virtual “perfect storm” of things gone wrong in global oil markets. Unfortunately, the long list of problems driving high oil prices shows few signs of letting up anytime soon. A number of factors are at work in this latest run-up in prices, […]

Shell Examines Carbon Capture Project at Its Canadian Refinery

(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, said it’s examining a carbon capture project at its Scotford refinery and upgrader in the Canadian province of Alberta. The company is studying a plan nicknamed “Quest,” which would capture carbon at the 155,000-barrel-a-day upgrader and “transport it to a mature field for sequestration,” Chief […]

IEA chief economist says oil prices unlikely to fall soon

WARSAW (Thomson Financial) – The International Energy Agency’s chief economist said on Tuesday it would be ‘very optimistic’ to expect prices of oil to fall within the next few months. ‘I cannot make official forecasts about oil prices but I can tell you that it would be very optimistic to expect that prices will go […]

Rising energy costs and the future of hospital work

…My intent is to give you a realistic take on the future of your profession by explaining why healthcare and nursing will be transformed by rising energy costs. Is there danger ahead? You bet. It So let

Rockefeller family call for ExxonMobil shake-up

One of America Last night the family group issued a statement saying that the company

Scottish oil refinery strike ends

LONDON – Workers returned to the Grangemouth refinery in central Scotland on Tuesday after a 48-hour strike that forced the closure of a major North Sea pipeline system. UNITE, Britain’s largest union, said further industrial action is possible unless refinery owner Ineos backs down in a dispute over pensions. Business Secretary John Hutton, who was […]

UK tabloids contribute to climate complacency

The effect of human behaviour on climate change is misrepresented in the most widely-read UK tabloid newspapers, according to the latest research at Oxford University The researchers found that about a quarter of coverage in the four UK tabloids from 2000 through 2006 misrepresented wide scientific agreement that man-made GHG emissions have

National Level Exercise 2-08 (NLE 2-08).

The Department of Homeland Security’s National Exercise Program (NEP), the nation’s overarching homeland security exercise program, will conduct a combined exercise in May 2008 that will test hurricane preparedness planning, assess federal interagency Continuity of Operations (COOP) procedures, exercise a response to terrorist attacks in Washington State and test Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA). […]

Nigeria: MEND attacks cut oil export by 500,000 bpd

South-South based militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has claimed that its Operation Cyclone meant to cripple Nigerian oil exports is recording success with the shutdown of 500,000 barrels per day in the combined attacks oil installations. The group had in a statement last week announced the commencement of Operation […]

A Real Time Example of Energy Quality- How Wind Turbines are Subsidized by Fossi

Global oil depletion is not immune to the Law of Receding Horizons, the Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns, nor it seems to the Law of Unintended Consequences. The Grangemouth refinery shutdown has apparently caused work on a new wind farm in Scotland to shut down for lack of diesel fuel. This is a real time […]

Opec chief warns of $200 a barrel oil price

The president of Opec, the cartel of oil-producing countries, has given warning that the price of crude could hit $200 a barrel, sparking fears that rising fuel costs will force more businesses into bankruptcy. Chakib Khelil, the Algerian Energy Minister and president of Opec, said that the falling value of the US dollar would continue […]

Ryanair hikes bag and check-in charges

Ryanair today raised the cost of putting bags in the hold and checking in at airports as the high cost of oil forced airlines to scrabble for extra revenues. Passengers on Europe’s largest budget carrier will have to pay The cost of fuelling aircraft has soared this year as the global oil price has climbed […]

White House undermines EPA on cancer risks, GAO says

(AP) — The Bush administration is undermining the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to determine health dangers of toxic chemicals by letting nonscientists have a bigger – often secret – say, congressional investigators say in a report obtained by The Associated Press. The administration’s decision to give the Defense Department and other agencies an early role […]

Even Amid High Oil Prices, Troubling Signs in Production

As oil prices soared to record levels in recent years, basic economics suggested that consumption would fall and supply would rise as producers opened the taps to pump more. But as prices flirt with $120 a barrel, many energy specialists are becoming worried that neither seems to be happening. Higher prices have done little to […]

High fuel prices force Californians into hybrids, or off the road

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Faced with surging gasoline prices, a growing number of car-crazy Californians are ditching gas-guzzlers for hybrids and avoiding the road in a state known for its traffic jams and scenic routes. Like many Americans, Jorge Montijo and his wife once had two cars in their Los Angeles garage. But with gas […]

Inflation Dominates the Age of Peak Finance

Different week, same three “Fs”. Food, fuel, and finance. We mentioned a few weeks ago that these three investment themes intersect, interconnect, and generally get all tangled up. Expect more tangling this week. Let’s try to untangle them a bit for you today. First, fuel. Crude oil reached US$119.41 on the NYMEX. That’s a nominal […]

Glenn Beck: U.S. is a suicidal superpower

NEW YORK (CNN) — If you’re a poor sap who needs to eat or drive in the near future, then you might want to consider taking out a second mortgage (assuming you could even get one) pretty soon. Food and gas prices have been all over the news lately, and even a big dumb rodeo […]

Curious About Oil Prices? Watch The Fed

LONDON – Although supply worries pushed oil prices close to a record of $120 per barrel on Monday, the real guide to crude for the rest of the week could be the United States Federal Reserve. The American central bank is due to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to decide its next move on monetary […]

ANALYSIS – Nigeria may lose top Africa oil exporter status

LONDON (Reuters) – Nigeria, which has been forced to shut in more than half of its oil output following rebel attacks and a workers’ strike, could lose its position as Africa’s top oil exporter, analysts and trading sources said. Nigeria’s lifeblood industry, besieged by insurgents fighting to gain control of oil pumped in their backyard […]

Russia says has no plans to cap carbon emissions

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will not accept binding caps on its greenhouse gas emissions under a new climate regime, currently being negotiated to succeed the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, top officials said on Monday. Kyoto puts a cap on the average, annual greenhouse gas emissions from 2008-12 for some 37 industrialised countries, including Russia. But […]

Photos in Oberlin illustrate our consumption numbers

The Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College is having a Malthusian moment. Thomas Malthus was the early 19th-century English economist who theorized that human populations always outgrow their food supplies, which leads to shortages followed by the four horsemen of war, pestilence, famine and plague. With oil prices hitting $117 a barrel and riots […]

Human warming hobbles ancient climate cycle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Before humans began burning fossil fuels, there was an eons-long balance between carbon dioxide emissions and Earth’s ability to absorb them, but now the planet can’t keep up, scientists said on Sunday. The finding, reported in the journal Nature Geoscience, relies on ancient Antarctic ice bubbles that contain air samples going back […]

Forties Oil Shipments Delayed 3 Days on Shut Pipe

(Bloomberg) — Forties oil shipments will be delayed by as much as three days in May as the closure of the pipeline that pumps the crude from about 70 fields in the North Sea cuts production, oil traders said. Cargoes loading in May are delayed from two to three days, according to three shippers of […]

Brazil Oil Trapped by 500-Degree Heat, Salt Barrier

(Bloomberg) — Brazil’s plan to become one of the world’s biggest oil exporters hinges on exploiting crude six miles below the ocean surface in deposits so hot they can melt the metal used to carry uranium to nuclear plants. Tapping what may be the biggest oil finds in the Western Hemisphere in three decades will […]

Thoughts on Demand Destruction: Where Is It?

Oil is close to $120/barrel, so whereAdmittedly, historical demand growth has been near 1.5%, and the per capita gasoline use is slightly lower since the US grew roughly 0.883% last year. At best, this is not significant “demand destruction.” Take a look for yourselves: here are the EIA

Surefire gas cost-cutter: Drive slower

While gas prices at or near $4 a gallon have persuaded some Bay Area motorists to take public transit, join carpools or curse the oil companies, the high cost of fuel has moved few drivers to practice a proven gas-saver – driving slower. A Chronicle reporter circumnavigated the bay last week – with the cruise […]

ANALYSIS – China fuel import surge may vanish after Olympics

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The surge in China’s gasoline and diesel imports this year has given an unexpected fillip to world oil prices, but that extra demand may vanish this autumn as Beijing unwinds a series of pre-Olympic measures. To ensure its summer Olympics in August run smoothly, China has invoked national duty to spur its […]

The dangers of ethanol

Rising gas and food prices show the risk in economic miracles. (Fortune Magazine) — Now that milk and gasoline can cost $3.50 each, filling up your grocery cart or SUV has become an exercise in pain. Most people just wince, pay, and get along as best they can. But someone like me can’t help but […]

Rebels say cut 350,000 bpd of Shell Nigeria output

LAGOS (Reuters) – Niger Delta rebels said on Monday that an April 24 pipeline attack had shut down a further 350,000 barrels a day of production by Royal Dutch Shell in Nigeria, the world’s eighth-biggest oil exporter. A Shell spokesman was unavailable for comment. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said […]

Iraq may have 350 bln barrels of oil – Deputy PM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq may have oil reserves of 350 billion barrels, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said on Monday, a massive figure that is triple the country’s proven reserves and which even exceeds the oil in Saudi Arabia. Salih said he had seen estimates from “reputable sources, reputable companies” that put Iraq’s reserves at […]

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