Crisis spurs spike in 'suburban survivalists'

Recession prompts fear of economic collapse, spurs breed of ’suburban survivalists’ SAN DIEGO (AP) — Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn’t even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet. Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency […]

China's car-driven oil demand to soar

China’s oil demand will increase by up to one third by 2015 as car ownership grows fast from its current low base, an executive at a think-tank run by Asia’s top oil refiner, Sinopec Group, said on Saturday. Despite the current economic slowdown and government energy saving efforts, oil demand in the second-biggest oil consuming […]

PetroChina Purchase May Signal Global Expansion Plan

(Bloomberg) — PetroChina Co.

Mexico sees crude output recovering by 2011

Mexico’s faltering crude oil output should begin to recover next year or in 2011, Energy Minister Georgina Kessel told Reuters on Sunday. Mexico, whose oil exports plunged 18 percent in April to levels unseen since 1990 outside hurricane seasons hopes to see its crude oil output rise to 3 million barrels per day by 2015, […]

G8 urges oil industry to invest despite crisis

The financial crisis must not delay investments in the oil sector that are essential to an economic recovery, G8 energy ministers and top oil officials from four OPEC countries said on Monday after a two-day meeting. A statement signed by the 23 national delegations that attended the energy summit said governments and companies should plan […]

IEA may revise downward forecast of global energy investment.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) may revise downward its forecast of a 21% fall in global energy sector investment, its chief economist Fatih Birol, said on Monday. Oil producers may have cancelled or delayed $170 billion worth of investment in recent months.FinFacts

Is $100 oil coming soon?

It’s been a relief while it has lasted. Lower oil prices, that is. But the days of cheaper oil are numbered. The brief respite from last summer’s record-high crude prices, which aggravated the global economic slump, will soon give way to another oil-price spike that may be more painful than the last one. “The stage […]

Gazprom says Ukraine may fail to pay May gas bill

The chief of Russia’s Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said on Monday he is concerned Ukraine will not pay in full for this month’s gas supplies. “We see the payment situation regarding gas supplies in May as very, very grave,” Alexei Miller said. “If there is any disruption in payments for May supplies, Gazprom will have to move […]

Nigeria rebels say major oil pipelines destroyed

Nigeria’s main rebel group on Monday destroyed several major oil pipelines in the south in response to a military offensive, prompting a cut in production announced at 100,000 barrels a day. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it had put “out of operation” a major Chevron oil storage facility by […]

Wishes, Hopes, Fantasies (Kunstler)

Something like a week remains before General Motors is reduced to lunch meat on industrial-capital’s All-You-Can-Eat buffet spread. The wish is that its deconstructed pieces will re-organize into a “lean, mean machine” for producing “cars that Americans want to buy,” and that, by extension, the American Dream of a Happy Motoring economy may be extended […]

When will Russia re-engage Asia-Pacific?

Russia is a big country with a big “if”. If Russia’s development plan works, about 70 percent of Russia’s 142 million people will attain a middle class living standard by 2020 (see The Plan 2020 at www.kremlin.ru). Russia’s GDP per capita will increase from the current US$12,000 to $30,000. If this happens, Russia will likely […]

Is Iraq on collision course with OPEC?

OPEC has done a solid job of countering the global recession and resurrecting crude oil prices in recent months, but the successful implementation of Iraq’s oil development plan could complicate the cartel’s efforts for relatively high and stable prices in the coming years. Iraq has huge, low-cost oil potential. It has the world’s third-largest proven […]

Eni wants oil producer/consumer watchdog

A global oil agency representing all producers and consumers is vitally needed to combat price volatility and ensure that investments keep flowing into the oil sector, chief executive of Italy’s oil major Eni said on Monday. Oil prices bouncing from $50 per barrel to $150 and back within a couple of years hinder investments in […]

Saudi warns of new oil spike without investment

ROME – Oil prices could spike to beyond the near $150 record high of 2008 within two to three years unless the industry invests in new projects to expand capacity, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Monday. The influential minister of the world

Alberta forges ties with OPEC

Province will get voice in energy discussions For the first time, Alberta and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have established an official relationship. It’s a new strategy with big implications, including potential investment by OPEC members in Canada’s oil sands. The link was formalized by Ed Stelmach, Alberta’s Premier, during a visit to OPEC’s […]

Climate change summit hijacked by biggest polluters, critics claim

A vital meeting in Copenhagen this weekend that will help shape the agenda for the most important climate change talks since the Kyoto protocol has been hijacked by some of the biggest polluters in the world, critics claimed today. Among those attending the World There is concern that the big energy companies will be pushing […]

Coal gasification is gathering steam

IT IS a technology first developed in the 19th century and encouraged under Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union. Now a few Australian companies are attempting to prove that underground coal gasification (UCG) is more than just a promising idea but a technological and financial reality. Len Walker’s Cougar Energy is one of those companies. It is […]

Indonesia: Govt. unable to boost oil output next year

The government has set an oil lifting target of 960,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) for next year, unchanged from this year’s target. “We are still unable to set a higher target,” Director General for Oil and Gas Evita H. Legowo told lawmakers from Commission VII overseeing energy and mineral resources Monday.This year, the […]

G8 hears oil prices could again soar when crisis eases

Energy ministers from G8 countries on Sunday heard that oil prices could again soar when the global economic crisis eases and demand returns, requiring new investment to head off the possibility. Meeting in Rome along with representatives from 15 other emerging and oil-producing countries, ministers from the Group of Eight industrialised nations addressed decreased investment […]

IMF's Lipsky Says Rising Oil Reflects Confidence About Growth

International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said rising oil prices reflect expectations that the recession may be easing and that demand is poised to recover. The increase reflects “a general improvement in sentiment on signs that the sharpest period of decline in the global economy is over,” Lipsky said in the text […]

Wind turbines and migratory birds: A serious problem?

Wind turbines are responsible for the deaths of between 10,000 and 40,000 birds each year, according to the American Bird Conservancy. Debate over the significance of the threat turbine blades pose to migratory birds is about as old as the concept of wind farms themselves. It began in Altamont Pass, Calif., site of one of […]

Hydro Risks Make China's Three Gorges Look To Wind

The state-owned company behind China’s Three Gorges Dam is looking to expand its wind power portfolio as the risks associated with hydroelectric projects grow, a senior executive said on Saturday. “Previously we focused mainly on hydropower but recently we have been restructuring and are moving towards wind and nuclear,” said Bi Yaxiong, the vice-general manager […]

India: Mandatory use of solar heating system

The government intends to make mandatory the use of solar heating systems in all functional buildings under the first phase of the proposed National Solar Mission. To be implemented between 2009 and 2012, the Mission proposes to make it compulsory for all hospitals, guest houses, hotels and nursing homes to install solar water heaters. This […]

Indy 500 continues to waste fuel

Another car race with no awareness of recession or peak oil The Indy 500 happens at this time ever year regardless of the price or scarcity of gasoline. It’s pushing $3 per gallon, and it was near $5 per gallon last year. Still, these folks continue to blow off valuable energy as if there is […]

Russia Faces Uncertain Times Selling Natural Gas to Europe

The latest round of pipeline politics between Moscow and the European Union masks a new reality: Changes under way in Europe are likely to damp the Continent’s appetite for Russian gas, weakening Russia’s much-vaunted status as an energy superpower. Russian and EU leaders met Friday in the eastern Russian city of Khabarovsk to heal a […]

Rubin blames recession on oil

WHEN JEFF RUBIN said that oil was going to $50 a barrel, other economists thought he was on drugs. But it did. They scoffed again when he said it would go beyond $100. It went to $147 before dropping to $50. Don So the world

Unemployed seek training for green-collar jobs

“I think the opportunities in this field are going to be huge,” said Rudy Gastelo, a part-time handyman who left the construction industry two years ago. “I’m not getting that 9-to-5 paycheck, so I’m looking forward to maybe getting a job within a solar company.” To meet growing demand, two-year colleges are launching or expanding […]

US nuclear accord with a Persian Gulf state raises concerns about proliferation

Backers says the agreement with the United Arab Emirates is a model for other countries in the region. But critics worry about the UAE’s ties with Iran. Washington – The Obama administration, anxious to demonstrate America’s willingness to deepen relations with reliable partners in the Muslim world before the president’s much-heralded speech to that community […]

Getting Ethanol Right

Representative Collin Peterson is furious that the Environmental Protection Agency is doing its job. The Minnesota Democrat says the agency is trying to kill off the biofuels industry The E.P.A. was only doing what Congress ordered in the 2007 energy bill, which required a quadrupling of annual ethanol production to 36 billion gallons by 2022. […]

Less oil = smaller world = look out!

Your world is about to get a whole lot smaller, Canadian economist Jeff Rubin predicts, because the planet is running out of oil. The price at the gasoline pumps may spike up and then subside, but the overall trend will be up, along with all other energy costs. With the world economy based on the […]

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