Today’s suburbs, tomorrow’s slums?

‘Peak oil’ theorists say house prices outside cities will collapse as the cost of gas rises, forcing people to choose urban living According to some doomsday scenarios, spiking gas prices could turn the cul-de-sacs and two-car garages that surround North America’s cities – built over the past 60 years and designed for the convenience of […]

Oil prices surge to record heights near $144

LONDON (AFP) – Oil prices hit record high points close to 144 dollars per barrel on Monday as the dollar fell further and amid a conference and protests staged in response to soaring crude, analysts said. Brent North Sea crude reached a historic peak of 143.91 dollars a barrel and New York light sweet crude […]

Toward A New Cold War?

In this case the most important reaction is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an organization that embraces one quarter of the world’s population, from Eastern Europe to North Asia, from the Arctic to the vast steppes and mountain ranges of Central Asia. Formed in 2001, its members include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. […]

Former President Bush energy adviser says oil is running out

The era of globalisation is over and rocketing energy prices mean the world is poised for the re-emergence of regional economies based on locally produced goods and services, according to a former energy adviser to President Bush and the pioneer of the His controversial views, rejected by many mainstream experts, suggest that some of the […]

UK: ‘The Archers’ brings the idea of a self-sufficient community to the fore

The petrol pumps are dry, the supermarket shelves are bare and family cars sit uselessly in driveways. Faced with a national shortage of oil, the comfortable lifestyles of middle-class people are threatened by an austerity not seen since the post-war rationing of the early 1950s. This is Britain in 2012, according to 54-year-old Richard Hathway […]

Uganda: Miller’s tale brings home burden of high fuel prices

It is Wednesday afternoon and there is only one customer at Robert Elunyu’s mill in Katine: a young man who has brought a basinful of dried cassava tubers for grinding. Elunyu is grinding the tubers as quickly as he can because the mill is powered by a generator and the longer it runs, the more […]

costs are changing commutes

High gas prices cause workers to consider distances to jobs as well as salary offers when deciding on positions As the cost of filling the tank rises relentlessly, job seekers across the country increasingly are saying no to work sites that are too far from home, labor market experts report. In the Bay Area, long-distance […]

Geothermal-rich SE Asia struggles to tap earth’s power

JAKARTA/MANILA (Reuters) – Faced with looming energy crises in their developing economies, power-hungry Indonesia and the Philippines are looking deep into the earth for a solution. Both are in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area peppered with volcanoes and home to the world’s biggest reservoir of geothermal power. “When I think of Indonesia […]

G8 may invest $10 bln/year in technology to cut CO2

KYO (Reuters) – The Group of Eight wealthy nations are looking at investing more than $10 billion a year to support new technologies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, including carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), a Japanese daily reported on Sunday. A draft statement on economic issue is being considered for release at the July […]

End of cheap oil: Growing prices, demand raise uncomfortable questions

The world’s thirst for oil might soon outstrip its capacity to produce it … Americans depend heavily on petroleum to power their cars, grow their food and heat their homes. Price spikes in the past coincided with economic recessions, and record prices this spring led to worldwide protests and economic pressures in the United States. […]

Giant Saudi field is key to boosting oil output

KHURAIS OIL FIELD, Saudi Arabia – This massive oil field surrounded by the desolate sands of Saudi Arabia’s vast eastern desert feels like the middle of nowhere. But what happens over the next year at Khurais, one of Saudi Arabia’s last undeveloped giant oil fields, could hold the key to what drivers will pay at […]

For Iraq

From the first days that American-led forces took control of Iraq, the conquering army took pains to broadcast that it was there to liberate the country, not occupy it, and certainly not to cart off its riches. Nowhere were such words more carefully dispensed than on the subject of Iraq Many critics of the invasion […]

Nigerian conflicts tighten oil bottleneck

Amid surging demand for oil, a severe bottleneck has developed in production of high-quality West African crude, alarming world leaders and demonstrating a new vulnerability in fragile oil markets. With production declining elsewhere, consumer nations had been looking hopefully toward Nigeria. But rebels who have waged an increasingly bold campaign in the oil-rich Niger Delta […]

Home Heating Oil Expected To Hit Record Prices

Experts say Connecticut residents and other New Englanders struggling to pay summer gas prices will face even more bad news this winter. Home heating oil, which is widely used in homes and businesses throughout the region, is expected to hit record-high prices. Some dealers say the per-gallon price is likely to rise by at least […]

E. Asia fleets to suspend tuna fishing. Fuel costs hit Japan, China, ROK, Taiwan

Tuna-fishing boat operators’ organizations in Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan have agreed to suspend operations for several months in the face of soaring fuel costs, sources said Saturday. The economic conditions made it difficult for tuna fishermen to make ends meet, while the measure also is expected to help declining populations of the fish […]

Fuel costs take toll on farmers’ bottom lines

Ghiggeri & Stonebarger Farms used to spend $100 to $200 to grow an acre of the Brentwood sweet corn sold throughout Bay Area supermarkets and prized by chefs at some of the Bay Area’s top-rated eateries. But this year’s record fuel and fertilizer prices have driven those costs sky-high InsideBayArea

Ryanair and Aer Lingus ‘facing

RYANAIR and Aer Lingus face combined losses of up to IrishIndependent

Revenge of the Prius driver

Used to be, when you pulled up to the light next to one of those big, brawny, incredibly massive SUVs, you felt inadequate in your puttering little sedan. Admit it. You did. The sport-utility vehicle driver, perched high in leathered luxury, commanded the road in a vehicle so oversized that it often could just barely […]

Iraq invites oil investment but the majors stay away

Iraq is expected to invite bids to develop dozens of its oil fields this week, but the world’s oil majors are still shunning the country. It will unveil its first licensing round since the war ended over five years ago. The Iraqi oil ministry wants the big oil companies to contribute major investment, personnel and […]

Russia Could be Trigger for $200 Oil and Global Recession

Exacerbating the high oil prices are production problems in Russia, the world’s second largest oil exporter. Aging oil fields and a lack of infrastructure investment has led to the country’s first annual production decline in 10 years. Output fell 0.9% to 9.76 million barrels a day in the first five months 2008, Bloomberg reported. “Growth […]

Qatar Won’t Raise Crude Oil Output as Prices Soar

Qatar doesn’t plan to follow Saudi Arabia’s lead in increasing crude oil production because supplies are adequate, its oil minister said today. “I never heard any panic about a shortage of supply, just about the high price,” Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah told Bloomberg in an interview in Madrid. “We see in the market there are […]

Countdown to $200 oil: $140 oil and speculation

As you may have heard, oil prices have reached a new high above $140. I can already hear the outcry against speculators and their out-of-control games to enrich themselves at our expense. Never mind that speculators have been caught shortselling oil (ie betting on a fall in prices) more than a few times in recent […]

Oilfield thefts soar in Texas as prices boom

MIDLAND, Texas (AFP) – The wide open oilfields of West Texas are ripe pickings for thieves these days. Some drive up to one of the thousands of pump jacks that dot the countryside and siphon crude out of the storage tanks. Some pull up to a drill site after the crews have gone for the […]

The Nuclear Option

Decades of investment in civilian nuclear power puts france in the energy catbird seat. Being poor in oil and coal might once have been considered a disadvantage, but not for France. Forty years ago necessity led Charles de Gaulle to pursue nuclear power aggressively as a chief source of electricity. For years this strategy put […]

Energy crisis casts dark cloud over Massachusetts

125,000 homes fear Shut-offs Bay State electric and natural gas shut-offs are predicted to increase by at least 20 percent this summer as a staggering 125,000 low-income households face energy bill debts totaling about $100 million, the Herald has learned. The Boston-based National Consumer Law Center, which is predicting the exploding shut-off rate, said a […]

The era of oil wars

Growing competition for oil may escalate to something as hot and dangerous as nuclear proliferation Gordon Brown meeting Britain’s oil chiefs to discuss higher North Sea output to bring down prices is prompted by oil prices hitting a record high of $135 a barrel, twice as high as a year ago and a staggering 12 […]

The challenges of peak oil

We may not be doomed, but we also may not be ready for all of its effects Americans are feeling serious pain at the gasoline pump, and scratching their heads as to why. Part of the answer may be that we are approaching peak oil sooner than many people would have guessed. Peak oil refers […]

Report blows hole in wind power plan

Wind power would be too unreliable to meet Britain’s electricity needs, according to a new report. It says wind patterns around the country mean turbines will fail to produce enough power at times of high demand.Written by an independent consultancy and funded by the Renewable Energy Foundation, the report says backup electricity plants will be […]

NASA to Attempt Historic Solar Sail Deployment

NASA researchers, thinking “out of the box” (or maybe “out of the rocket”) have long dreamed of the possibility of sailing among the planets with sails propelled by sunlight instead of by wind. Except in works of fiction, though, no one has yet successfully deployed such a sail anywhere beyond Earth. “There’s a first time […]

Many killed in Niger clashes

At least 17 people have been killed in clashes between Niger’s army and Tuareg fighters who have been waging a sporadic insurgency for more than a year, according to statements issued by both sides. The Niger government said only Tuareg fighters were killed and no government soldiers died in the fighting on Friday. Both the […]

« Previous Page — Next Page »

LATEST NEWS HEADLINES

• Why the IEA is Wrong About Peak Oil Demand
• Did we inadvertently speed global warming?  
• Venezuela’s Oil Monopoly Eases
• Why Germany is Choosing Natural Gas Over Nuclear Power
• U.S. coal-fired electricity generation decreased in 2022 and 2023

• America Cracks Down on Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Facilities
• Meet America’s Newest Oil Trader Extraordinaire: Joe Biden
• Is It Time To Refill America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
• Oil prices set to end year 10% lower as demand concerns snap winning streak
• What’s Driving America’s New Oil and Gas Boom?
• China’s peak oil demand bombshell eviscerates Danielle Smith’s energy strategy