Klare: Anatomy of a Price Surge

As the pain induced by higher oil prices spreads to an ever growing share of the American (and world) population, pundits and politicians have been quick to blame assorted villains–greedy oil companies, heartless commodity speculators and OPEC. It’s true that each of these parties has contributed to and benefited from the steep run-up. But the […]

The future of energy

A fundamental change is coming sooner than you might think SINCE the industrial revolution 200 years ago, mankind has depended on fossil fuel. The notion that this might change is hard to contemplate. Greens may hector. Consciences may nag. The central heating’s thermostat may turn down a notch or two. A less thirsty car may […]

Pickens: Oil production has peaked

…By saying that oil has Most analysts agree the slide down the other side of the peak will not be smooth. In 2005, the Department of Energy commissioned a report to examine the impact of peak oil. The Hirsch Report (PDF) named for its lead author, energy adviser Robert Hirsch, puts the problem in stark […]

Ban on hedge fund oil investments considered

Senators Large investors have been pumping money into contracts for oil and other commodities as a hedge against inflation when the dollar falls. But a growing number in Congress are convinced this “excessive speculation” is responsible for record food and gas prices. After weeks of hearings on the issue, lawmakers are rolling out proposals to […]

Rate Hikes? Not bloody likely, Ben

The economy is in tatters. Consumer confidence has plummeted, food and energy prices are soaring, and the housing market is experiencing its biggest crash since the Great Depression. Manufacturing is down, unemployment is up, gasoline is topping $4 per gallon, and tent cities are sprouting up throughout the Southwest. If there’s a silver lining to […]

Back to the garden: A new generation of Johnny Appleseeds

Enough man-made negativity circles the globe at any given time to make us wonder if our species is doomed to self-destruct and leave it all to the cockroaches, horseshoe crabs and the kudzu. From Robert Mugabe thwarting the democratic process in Zimbabwe and the Burmese military junta doing the same in Myanmar to the Chinese […]

Big Bad Boom: Radioactive Deja Vu in the American West

In the American West, we take global warming personally. Like those polar bears desperately hunting for dwindling ice flows, we feel we’re on the frontlines of the new weather regime. The West is drying up. For example, canyon-hugging conservationists and jet-boating gear-heads have argued for several years about whether to “drain” Lake Powell, the 200 […]

Patterns of Violence in Rural Communities

… Lee found that three major factors play a significant role in determining the level of violence in a rural setting: The stability of the local population and the extent to which community members are

Egyptian Population Concerns: More of What Men Want

Some people think policies aimed at slowing population growth are foisted on the developing world by heavy-handed industrialized countries. Actually, most population policies are home grown, and sometimes none the better for this. I have a hunch there’s not much gender diversity in the circles that develop them. And those who write about them often […]

Garrison Keillor: Eulogy for the Winnebago

Eighty-six percent of the American people believe the price of gasoline will climb to five bucks a gallon this year, a big shift in public opinion from a year ago when most people felt that oil prices were spiking high and would soon return to normal Nonetheless it’s sad to see the motor home fade […]

Saudi Arabia: The puzzle of oil production

WITH oil prices nudging $140 a barrel, Saudi Arabia stands to receive a windfall this year of up to $400 billion, double what it earned from selling oil last year. Gloom at the world’s petrol pumps, it may be assumed, can only mean hand-rubbing glee for their biggest supplier. Such is the case with some […]

Asian Region Faces Political Pressures from Rising Inflation

India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea – just a few countries in Asia where residents angry at surging fuel and food costs say they have had enough. Protests have gained steam in the past month, with demonstrators blocking traffic and in some cases disrupting the flow of fuel and food supplies. Politicians in many of […]

Soaring petrol prices spark oil hunt Down Under

The price of petrol has nudged past $1.70 in some Australia cities, prompting people to question whether there are any untapped oil reserves in our own backyard. And the president of the Geosciences Council, Dr Trevor Powell, has been singled out by the oil exploration industry to identify potential sites. “The areas that appear to […]

Toyota Motor to cut truck, SUV output in U.S.

Japan’s biggest automaker Toyota Motor Corp. said on Thursday it will cut production at three North American large-vehicle plants to deal with falling sales in the United States due to a slowing economy and higher gasoline prices. Under a tentative plan, the automaker will suspend production for 14 days at its Texas assembly plant, which […]

Coalminers’ slaughter: in US, they blow up mountains for coal

The traditional lifestyle of the Appalachian peaks of West Virginia is under threat from mining companies who blow the summits off mountains to reach the coal deposits that lie beneath the surface. … Anti-MTR groups say at least 470 mountains in several states have been decapitated by companies practising the controversial mining method, and show […]

If crude races to $200 per barrel

Alarming predictions are being made that crude oil may even touch $200 a barrel in the foreseeable future. Well, truthfully speaking, itNDTV

Europe airlines hedge against soaring fuel

European airlines are hedging their fuel needs to protect against surging oil prices but their bets could go wrong if Chinese demand starts to slow after this summer’s Olympics, pulling crude lower, analysts say. Fuel accounts for more than a third of airlines’ operating costs and companies fear even higher oil prices due to falling […]

Oil majors returning to Iraq after 36 years

Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Total SA are getting ready to formally announce historic contracts to return to Iraq some 36 years after the country’s government took control of its giant oil reserves, The New York Times reported on Thursday. The oil majors, and a host of smaller companies, are in talks […]

China to raise energy prices; oil future drop

China will raise prices of refined oil products and electricity beginning Friday, state media reported. The announcement, issued after local financial markets were closed, said prices of gasoline and diesel would rise by 1,000 yuan ($145) per ton. Aviation kerosene would rise by 1,500 yuan ($218) per ton, it said, citing the National Development and […]

Iran criticises unilateral Saudi crude production hike

Iran has called Saudi Arabia’s two moves to increase production by 500,000 b/d announced in the last month “wrong”, laying bare what could develop into an OPEC-wide crack in the organisation’s carefully maintained unity. Petroleumworld

Oil output outside OPEC at risk of no growth in 2008

Oil supply from countries outside OPEC, source of three in every five barrels, is stalling this year and may even decline, keeping the heat under record-high oil prices. The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the U.S. government have cut forecasts for supply growth in 2008, in part due to delays at new fields and declining […]

Catch-22: Feds cut climate research to save fuel

(AP) — They haven’t rechristened a ship the Irony, but federal researchers are canceling and cutting back on voyages aimed at studying climate change and ocean ecosystems so they can save money on boat fuel. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has scrapped at least four trips nationwide and is shortening others “because of the […]

Will More Drilling Mean Cheaper Gas?

even if tomorrow we opened up every square mile of the outer Continental Shelf to offshore rigs, even if we drilled the entire state of Alaska and pulled new refineries out of thin air, the impact on gas prices would be minimal and delayed at best…..

The reason is simple: the U.S. has an estimated 3% of global petroleum reserves, but consumes 24% of the world’s oil. Offshore territories and public lands like ANWR that don’t allow drilling may contain up to 75 billion barrels of oil, according to the EIA. That may sound like a lot, but it’s not enough to make a significant difference in a world where global oil demand is expected to rise 30% by 2030, to nearly 120 million barrels a day….

Time.com

Premium gas sales tank as fuel prices rise

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Ernesto Evangelista prefers to pump premium gas into his seven-month-old Nissan Titan, thinking it makes the truck run better. But at a BP station just a few blocks from the sand of Miami Beach, the 33-year-old painter grabbed the handle for the regular, 87-octane gas to fill his tank on a […]

Nigerian oil field shut after U.S. worker seized

Royal Dutch Shell halts production following attack 65 miles offshore LAGOS, Nigeria – An offshore oil field that produces about 200,000 barrels per day was shut down Thursday after Nigeria’s most powerful militant group attacked an installation. The group also said it captured an American worker on a supply vessel in the area of the […]

Drivers cut back by 30B miles

Americans drove 30 billion fewer miles from November through April than during the same period in 2006-07, the biggest such drop since the Iranian revolution led to gasoline supply shortages in 1979-80. The numbers released Wednesday may reflect more than a temporary attitude change in consumers toward high gas prices, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said. […]

We cannot drill our way out of this oil crisis. Since 2000, oil companies working in the U.S. have doubled the number of wells drilled per year. Although increased drilling has added new oil to the nation’s supply, it has not done so fast enough to offset the terminal decline of existing fields. We are […]

Arctic sea ice melt ‘even faster’

Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than last year, despite a cold winter. Data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) shows that the year began with ice covering a larger area than at the beginning of 2007. But now it is down to levels seen last June, at the beginning […]

Research Fuels Future, Natural Gas Experts Say

Jun. 18–The federal government is “woefully” underinvested in research and development of energy resources. That’s the message one speaker brought Tuesday to the Mid-America Regulatory Conference on the future of natural gas, which was under way at the Cox Convention Center. The federal government needs to do a better job of funding research and development […]

Sector Wrap: Analyst sees further hike for coal

NEW YORK – Coal stocks rose amid a battered broader market Wednesday, after a Stifel Nicolaus analyst raised his price expectations for the commodity next year as supplies are expected to dwindle. The analyst predicted that coal prices – already driven by soaring international demand for steel production in China and India and electricity in […]

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