Venezuela Currency Controls Tightened as Economic Clouds Gather

The government has tightened up hard currency controls amid a flock of signals that Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy is running into hard times in the wake of the global financial crisis and its subsequent impact on world oil prices and demand. The Foreign Exchange Administration Commission (Cadivi) did not announce any of this. But industry figures […]

Russian oil production to rise by 13.25%/year

Russia will account for 50.77% of Central and Eastern European (CEE) regional oil demand by 2013, while providing 70.96% of supply, according to the latest Russia oil and gas report from analyst BMI. The analyst is forecasting Russian oil production during 2007-18 to increase 13.25%, with output rising steadily to 11.3 million b/d by 2018 […]

Blessing or a Burden: Population, Reproduction and the Demographic Imagination

I have been troubled for a long time about the ways in which we commodify children in our society – everything from the sense that parents have a SharonAstyk

Report says UK needs more electric cars

The government must do much more to promote electric cars if it wants rapid and deep cuts in transport emissions, according to a report published today by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). The finding is part of an in-depth review of policies aimed at reducing transport carbon dioxide emissions. It comes just a day […]

Electricity – No Easy Answers

Electricity is something we are coming to depend more and more on as liquid fuels become less certain. At the same time, big changes are planned for electricity, both in terms of fuel mix and in terms carbon treatment. In this post, I show a few graphs relating to US Electricity, and offer some comments […]

Energy Journal Roundup: April 2009

Oil and Energy Trends – China looks for more oil The growing share of imports in China’s oil balance is a source of increasing concern to policy-makers in Peking. The government’s response has been to try and secure as much crude oil as possible from foreign suppliers under long-term contract arrangements. To this end, it […]

Climate change means shortfalls in Colorado River water deliveries

The Colorado River system supplies water to tens of millions of people and millions of acres of farmland, and has never experienced a delivery shortage. But if human-caused climate change continues to make the region drier, scheduled deliveries will be missed 60-90 percent of the time by the middle of this century, according to a […]

Airports to host hydrogen-powered vehicle project

Airports in Montreal and Vancouver will take part in a $14-million pilot project involving hydrogen-powered vehicles that will be used to ferry passengers and move luggage and equipment. Air travellers using Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Vancouver International airports will have a chance to ride hydrogen-powered shuttle buses. Canoe

Petrobras won't swap crude for China cash

Brazilian giant Petrobras will not provide crude as collateral for loans from China worth as much as $10 billion, company boss Jose Sergio Gabrielli has declared. Chinese companies will instead receive right of first refusal on some future output as part of a deal being finalised between Brazil and ChinaUpstreamonline

Iraqi Kurds say their region holds up to 45 billion barrels of oil

The Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq sleeps on nearly 45 billion barrel of oil reserves, the regionAzzaman

The Mexican Oil Dilemma: Refining Pemex

Mexico is running out of gas. The world’s sixth largest producer of oil and America’s third largest source of crude imports faces declining production at its primary oil fields, and the well may be dry in less than a decade. Meanwhile, the structure and management of Pemex (PetrWharton

Iran wants oil barrel to cost $80

The drop in oil prices in the global market has been causing heavy damage to the Iranian economy in the past few months. According to Iranian Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari, this ongoing trend may badly damage the local oil industry. In an interview to television network al-Alam, the minister stated that his country’s goal was […]

Russia, China finalise $25 bln oil-for-loan deal

Moscow and Beijing finalised on Tuesday a $25 billion deal under which Russia will supply China with oil for 20 years in exchange for loans to Russian state firms, a Russian Energy Ministry official told Reuters. The official said an intergovernmental deal was signed on Tuesday in Beijing by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, […]

High oil stocks, falling demand add to OPEC challenge

LONDON – Oil inventories are at the highest in nearly two decades and global fuel demand is falling more than expected, increasing the challenge for OPEC in seeking to balance supply with demand. Physical oil markets are looking more bearish than a month ago as the International Energy Agency and other forecasters cut global demand […]

Use Energy, Get Rich and Save the Planet

When the first Earth Day took place in 1970, American environmentalists had good reason to feel guilty. The nation But among researchers who analyze environmental data, a lot has changed since the 1970s. With the benefit of their hindsight and improved equations, I

The Inevitable Future: Peak Oil and Socialism

…Today The result is not just a move toward socialism. It is a loss of opportunity for those who are not already wealthy. It is a different kind of America. Texas energy specialist Matthew Simmons, has predicted that Saudi Arabia, which is by far the number one oil supplier to the world, is already experiencing […]

Kjell Aleklett: Newsweek and

Newsweek That higher prices affect consumption can be seen most clearly in the USA where consumption of oil was highest at the beginning of 2007 after which it began to decline. But the decline was not sufficient so that, ultimately, the doubling of the price to the consumer was too much for our unstable economic […]

Climate-change disasters to affect millions: Oxfam

LONDON (AFP) In a new report, it warned that humanitarian aid spending and the way it was allocated was far from prepared to meet the challenge. “The response is often fickle — too little, too late and not good enough,” said Oxfam chief executive Barbara Stocking. “The system can barely cope with the current levels […]

Schwarzenegger blames auto woes on empty US policy

DETROIT, Michigan (AFP) “We need a vision for energy, a vision for our cars, a vision for greenhouse gases and a vision for tailpipe emissions. In all this time we have not had those visions.” The lack of a coherent energy policy dating back to the late 1980s has hurt carmakers, he said, alleging that […]

US Congress to begin new debate on clean energy

WASHINGTON (AFP) On Friday, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a health risk, a landmark turnaround that could impact climate change regulation. The move came as Congress examines a draft bill for clean energy development that aims to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent from their 2005 […]

Shell still plans Chukchi drilling despite ruling

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell still plans to start exploration drilling next year in Alaska’s potentially oil-rich Chukchi Sea in spite of a new legal setback, a company manager in Alaska said on Monday. Pete Slaiby, Shell’s general manager for Alaska, said the company remains committed to drilling in Arctic waters off Alaska […]

U.S. to give Chrysler, GM new aid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration will make about $500 million available to Chrysler LLC through the end of this month as it seeks to reach an alliance with Fiat, and up to $5 billion through May to help General Motors Corp restructure outside of bankruptcy, an independent oversight report on the Treasury Department’s corporate […]

Spare capacity to weigh on oil for years: BP economist

DUBAI (Reuters) – Spare capacity in oil markets could weigh on the price for years to come, the chief economist at oil major BP (BP.L) said on Monday. Lower inventories later this year would support the oil price, but the supply cushion would prevent a sharp rally even if the world economy returns to growth, […]

Oil at $50 will help economy, hinder investment: UAE

DUBAI (Reuters) – An oil price of $50 a barrel may help the global economy recover faster, the UAE oil minister said, but could deter investment in capacity among non-OPEC producers according to International Energy Agency estimates. “$50 will hopefully help the economy to recover more quickly,” United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Mohamed al-Hamli told […]

Electric cars "overhyped"

The technology that will power a new generation of electric cars has been overhyped, leading industry sources said at the Shanghai Auto Show yesterday. “From what we have seen so far the technology is not that advanced in terms of battery life, range, and recharging,” said Nick Reilly, the head of General Motors in the […]

Kurt Cobb: Does Rick Perry see the future?

…Many of my acquaintances kept telling me during the Bush Administration that America was on the verge of becoming a fascist state and that (according to a few) President George W. Bush would not step down when his term ended. I, on the other hand, have long feared the anarchical tendencies in American life: the […]

T. Boone Pickens sees oil at $75 at end-year

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens on Monday reiterated his prediction that crude oil prices would hit $75 a barrel this year as producers scale back production. Pickens said about OPEC producers: “They told you they want $75 by the end of the year, I would count on that, I believe […]

Chesapeake Further Trims Natural Gas Production in Current Low Price Environment

Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced it has elected to curtail approximately 400 million cubic feet (mmcf) per day of its gross natural gas production due to continued low wellhead prices. …The company’s 400 mmcf per day curtailment represents approximately 13 percent of Chesapeake’s current gross operated natural gas production capacity. The wells that have been curtailed […]

Global agricultural market trends revisited: Roles of energy prices and biofuel

(pg 9) The results of our analysis suggest that the price of important agricultural commodities will rise by between about 50 to 100 per cent between 2003/05 and 2015/17. The single most important determinant of price increases turned out to be the price of energy. Price increases in the order of magnitude suggested by the […]

Commodities to return: Rogers

The global commodities market is about to make a comeback after years of price declines, which have devastated the food and metal markets around the world, according to billionaire American investor Jim Rogers. Rogers, in an e-mail interview with the JoongAng Ilbo from Singapore, where he has recently moved to teach his children Chinese, stressed […]

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