Republicans urge Obama to OK offshore oil drilling

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – House Republicans on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama not to close areas off the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coastlines to oil and natural gas drilling. The Republican lawmakers asked Obama to allow a 5-year plan proposed at the very end of the Bush administration that would expand offshore drilling to go forward. […]

Oil demand shrinkage hits slowest pace since Q3

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The pace at which U.S. energy demand is shrinking is showing signs of slowing down, according to U.S. government data released Wednesday. U.S. petroleum product demand in the four weeks ending January 30 ran at 20.31 million barrels — about 1.07 million barrels per day below the same four weeks a […]

Government cancels leases for Utah oil, gas drilling

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Reversing Bush administration policy, the U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday canceled energy leases that would have opened lands near national parks in Utah to oil and natural gas drilling. “I have directed (the department’s) Bureau of Land Management not to accept the bids,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters on a conference […]

BP, Husky put oil sands plans on hold

CALGARY — British oil major BP PLC said it

Downturn ends boom in solar and wind power

NEW YORK: Wind and solar power grew at a blistering pace in recent years, and that growth seemed likely to accelerate, especially in the United States under the green-minded administration of the new president, Barack Obama. But because of the credit crisis and the broader economic downturn, the opposite is happening: Except in isolated markets, […]

$100 billion jolt of ‘green stimulus’

A big chunk of the nearly $900 billion economic rescue package may go to alternative energy and environmental projects. Who will benefit, and is it enough? NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A short-term booster shot for the economy? Or a complete rethinking of the way businesses and individuals consume energy? Those are the crucial questions as […]

IEA May Cut Oil Demand Forecast Again, Newedge Says

(Bloomberg) — The International Energy Agency, an energy policy adviser to 28 nations, is likely to reduce its 2009 oil demand forecast again, following changes to International Monetary Fund economic predictions, Newedge USA LLC said. The Paris-based IEA calculates consumption using economic estimates from the IMF, which on Jan. 28 lowered its outlook for 2009 […]

White House role in slashing stimulus bill transit funding questioned

Who’s responsible for allocations in the stimulus package? Who decided that roads would get $30 billion, transit would get $9 billion, and that the “smart grid” would get $11 billion? According to transit advocates who’ve talked with House transportation committee chair James Oberstar, D-Minn., it was Lawrence Summers, director of the White House’s National Economic […]

DISASTER IN THE SENATE

After today Meanwhile, Senator Boxer is also coming close to endorsing a plan by Kit Bond (R-MO) to transfer $5.5 billion that would be for any type of surface transportation to highways alone. Hello? Perhaps the cherry on the cake was the passage by voice vote an amendment by Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) that will allow […]

Debate Flares Over Solar Panels Measure

LOS ANGELES — A proposal to generate 400 megawatts of power by 2014 through the installation of solar panels on the rooftops of Los Angeles buildings was placed on the March ballot to encourage public debate, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Tuesday. Measure B is part of the mayor’s plan to meet 10 percent of the […]

Arctic storms seen worsening; threat to oil, ships

OSLO (Reuters) – Arctic storms could worsen because of global warming in a threat to possible new businesses such as oil and gas exploration, fisheries or shipping, a study showed on Wednesday. “Large increases in the potential for extreme weather events were found along the entire southern rim of the Arctic Ocean, including the Barents, […]

Unwinding Complexity and the Collapse of Societies

…New York knows something about dealing with disasters. After all, we were about three blocks from the site of the former World Trade Center. Still, it takes years to hire and train all of these experts. And more years to acquire all this sophisticated gear. It That is, as societies become more complex, the costs […]

Russia’s debt rating downgraded by Fitch

Russia’s debt rating was cut by Fitch Ratings for the first time in more than a decade because of falling oil prices, dwindling foreign currency reserves and record capital flight. The rating was lowered to BBB, the second-lowest investment grade, from BBB+, Fitch said in a statement on Wednesday. Fitch maintained its negative outlook. Standard […]

California farms, vineyards in peril from warming, U.S. energy secretary warns

‘We’re looking at a scenario where there’s no more agriculture in California,’ Steven Chu says. California’s farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global warming, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said Tuesday. In […]

China auto sales seen surpassing US in January

China likely overtook the U.S. in vehicle sales for the first time last month, a trend that could make China into the world’s largest auto market this year. Official data for China’s auto sales in January will not be out until next week. But they are expected to show sales at about 790,000 units for […]

Peak Oil Review – Feb 2

1. Production and Prices 2. Obama 1. Production and Prices Oil prices climbed as high as $48 on Monday, collapsed to the low $40s on Tuesday and remained there for the rest of the week. The fall was precipitated by another round of bad economic news which once again outweighed the prospects of OPEC production […]

Merrill Lynch: Non-OPEC oil production may have peaked

Merrill Lynch on Tuesday said that crude oil production from non-OPEC nations may have already peaked, nothing that oil production decline rates were a function of investment rates, as well as the size and age of oil fields. ‘All these factors point to steeper oil output declines going forward,’ the firm wrote. The International Energy […]

Return of the electric car

At the recent Detroit motor show, one word raised a buzz amid the current doom and gloom of the global car industry: “electrification”. Two key factors have put zero-emission vehicles such as all-electric cars back on the car industry’s agenda. Firstly, the US Government and European Union have recently introduced regulations forcing makers to lower […]

Peak Lithium: Will Supply Fears Drive Alternative Batteries?

Saudis like to say that the stone age didn Concerns about global supplies of lithium are a lot like the debate over peak oil. Some experts believe the huge increase in electric cars will actually strain the world

Bat-killing syndrome spreads in Northeast

Scientists are trying to keep the disorder from decimating bat populations ROSENDALE, N.Y. – A mysterious and deadly bat disorder discovered just two winters ago in a few New York caves has now spread to at least six northeastern states, and scientists are scrambling to find solutions before it spreads across the country. White-nose syndrome […]

Drought in Australia food bowl continues

CANBERRA (Reuters) – Drought in Australia’s main food growing region of the Murray-Darling river system continues, with water stores near record lows despite recent rains, the head of the government’s oversight body for the system said on Wednesday. The long-running drought has hit irrigated crops such as rice, grapes and horticulture hardest, but has had […]

Oil majors to keep investing to avoid past mistakes

Many oil companies are slashing investment in the face of a $100/barrel collapse in crude prices but, keen to avoid past mistakes and emerge as winners from the downturn, the very biggest are holding spending steady.

Reuters UK

Alaska lowers oil price forecast, expects deficit

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Alaska revenue officials said on Tuesday they have lowered their expectations for North Slope crude oil prices and are expecting a much bigger budget deficit than earlier estimated. Prices for Alaska North Slope crude are expected to average $63.28 a barrel for the current fiscal year, according to the new forecast […]

Drivers seek mileage boost despite cheaper fuel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The sharp drop in gasoline prices since last summer has not erased concern about pump prices or U.S. dependence on foreign oil, and most American drivers list fuel economy as important in future vehicle purchases, a consumer group said on Tuesday. “The persistence of great concern about gas prices and dependence on […]

Refinery strike averted as contract reached

HOUSTON (Reuters) – About 30,000 unionized workers at U.S. refineries, chemical plants and pipelines reached a deal with industry on a new basic contract on Tuesday, averting a nationwide strike that could have boosted pump prices. The United Steelworkers union and Shell Oil Co – representing U.S. refiners – agreed to a terms of a […]

BP’s unhappy marriage to the Russian oligarchy

The BP chief executive, Tony Hayward, is a man who knows exactly what his business needs to survive during difficult times: stability. He must also be only too well aware that, in this most volatile of businesses in a volatile world, he is likely to encounter mixed fortunes. First, he makes no secret of his […]

ADM ethanol production sinks 21%

Oil’s price crash and the general down economy sends overextended ethanol producers reeling. CHICAGO (Reuters) — U.S. ethanol producer and grain processor Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Tuesday nearly 21% of U.S. ethanol production capacity has been shut due to weak demand and poor margins. U.S. ethanol plants with a production capacity of 10.2 billion […]

Predicting a Different Kind of Oil Deal

Tony Hayward, BP That notion is bound to shock many in the energy industry. The thought that France

Alternative energy’s banner year ends with a clang

DENVER (AP) — As the United States became the world leader in wind power, venture capitalists poured money into alternative energy projects until the recession hit in October, drying up investments and stalling projects. The quick turnaround shows how rapidly the global economy deteriorated and how fast money for alternative energy dried up. Fourth-quarter venture […]

The Myth of the Efficient Car

Let We

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