Saudi Arabia’s Bond With U.S. Goes Beyond Energy

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have a close relationship with a bond “that goes far beyond energy,” Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said. The minister told graduates during his commencement speech at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, that “We seek together a world of greater understanding, mutual tolerance, and respect for human dignity and personal […]

If We Only Had an Energy Policy

I often hear the comment — “If we only had an energy policy” — but what does that really mean? In this column I will provide three examples — originating with both Democrats and Republicans and impacting both renewable energy and fossil fuels — of how constantly shifting legislation makes it very difficult to plan […]

G8 to call on IEA for “action” on oil

Group of Eight leaders agreed on Saturday to call on the International Energy Agency to take “appropriate action” if there are further disruptions to the oil market in the coming months, sources familiar with the G8 draft communique said. “There have been increasing disruptions in the supply of oil to the global market over the […]

Iran Wants Sanctions Lifted

Iran on Saturday said sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme should be lifted in talks with world powers next week in Baghdad, but maintained the punitive measures would not compel it to abandon its atomic “rights.” Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told the government daily Iran that the lifting of sanctions would display “the first […]

Obama may tap Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Despite the recent fall in oil prices, analysts say President Obama may tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as sanctions on Iran take hold. While oil prices have fallen from over $110 a barrel to near $90 in recent weeks, tougher sanctions on Iran begin to take effect at the end of June. That could mean […]

How The U.S. Dollar Will Be Replaced

After being immersed in the world of alternative economic analysis for several years, it sometimes becomes easy to forget that most people do not track forex markets, or debt to GDP ratio, or true unemployment, or hunch over IMF white-papers highlighting subsections which expose the trappings of the globalist ideology.  Sometimes, you just assume the […]

John Michael Greer: The Twilight of Protest

Over the last four months or so, as this blog has sketched out the trajectory of empires in general, and then traced the intricate history of America’s empire in particular, I’ve been avoiding a specific issue.  That avoidance hasn’t come from any lack of awareness on my part, and if it had been, comments and […]

Peak Oil Denial: The Liberal’s Dilemma (Pt 6)

[NOTE: This is the sixth and final installment of a subset of my ongoing series entitled Looking Left and Right (which began here; see Category sidebar for all links). This is about Peak Oil, but addresses the considerations and potential solutions from a different perspective than purely fact-based and/or he-said—she-said ones which too often dominate […]

U.S. Ambassador to Israel: Plan to Attack Iran “Ready”

The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shaprio, told a closed conference in Tel Aviv that the United States has completed preparations for a military strike on Iran. His comments were recorded by a reporter and aired on Israel’s Channel 2 TV on Wednesday night. “It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically, and through the […]

US Leads Largest military exercises in Middle East in 10 years

The United States is leading what it described as the “largest military exercises in the Middle East in 10 years” in Jordan on Tuesday. Eager Lion 2012 “is the largest exercise held in the region in the past ten years,” Major General Ken Tovo, head of the US Special Operations Forces, told reporters in Amman. […]

Acknowledging The Arrival Of Peak Government

Most informed people are familiar with the concept of Peak Oil, but fewer are aware that we’re also entering the era of Peak Government. The central misconception of Peak Oil — that it’s not about “running out of oil,” it’s about running out of cheap, easy-to-access oil — can also be applied to Peak Government: It’s […]

India will cut oil imports from Iran by 11%

A week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged New Delhi to reduce its engagement with Tehran, India said it would cut Iranian oil imports by 11 percent in the coming year. The promised cut could constitute a significant step for India toward securing a waiver from U.S. sanctions before a June deadline — although […]

Professor Azadgan on “Peak Oil Theory”

International Political Economy Class

Former U.S. Official Calls for Arming South Sudan Army

The United States should move in to provide ant-aircraft defense systems to South Sudan in order to discourage Khartoum from launching aerial attacks and persuade it into returning to negotiations, former special envoy to Sudan said. Since South Sudan gained its independence from the north in July 2011, it has accused its northern neighbor of […]

Arab Spring not over, oil to stay volatile

Oil prices have found a long-term floor at $90-95 per barrel and nearby spot oil prices could rise sharply if Middle East tensions increase again, the co-heads of trading company Mercuria said on Monday. Marco Dunand and Daniel Jaeggi, who together founded and run the Swiss-based energy and commodities trader, said prompt oil prices would […]

PetroDollars: South Korea tries to tame gasoline prices

Irresistible force is meeting immovable object in South Korea. Rising crude prices–or at least, rising until recently–is running up against the country’s regulation of gasoline prices and its desire to keep them as low as possible. Mriganka Jaipuriyar discusses the dilemma in this week’s Oilgram News column, PetroDollars. ———————————————————————————————————— The South Korean government can’t be […]

Potential China link to cyberattacks on gas pipeline companies

Investigators hot on the trail of cyberspies trying to infiltrate the computer networks of US natural-gas pipeline companies say that the same spies were very likely involved in a major cyberespionage attack a year ago on RSA Inc., a cybersecurity company. And the RSA attack, testified the chief of the National Security Agency (NSA) before […]

Oil will bring downfall of Sudan government: Turabi

Sudan’s loss of billions of dollars of oil revenues will bring down the government as inflation soars, the economy buckles and people grow hungrier, opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi said in an interview. Oil once accounted for 90 percent of exports, but Sudan’s economy took a beating when South Sudan gained independence in July and took […]

Japan to Nationalize Fukushima Utility

Japanis ready to nationalize Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, under a 1 trillion yen ($12.5 billion) bailout plan that was approved on Wednesday. The Japanese government has been scrambling to keep the utility company from collapsing so it can meet the billions of dollars in compensation claims […]

Michael Klare: Oil Wars On The Horizon

Conflict and intrigue over valuable energy supplies have been features of the international landscape for a long time.  Major wars over oil have been fought every decade or so since World War I, and smaller engagements have erupted every few years; a flare-up or two in 2012, then, would be part of the normal scheme […]

Peak Oil Denial: The Liberal’s Dilemma (Pt 5)

Individuals can be expected to give dispositive empirical information the weight that it is due in a rational decision-making calculus only if they recognize sound information when they see it. The phenomenon of cultural cognition suggests they won’t. The same psychological and social processes that induce individuals to form factual beliefs consistent with their cultural […]

Vermont to be first state to outlaw fracking

Vermont will be the first state to outlaw a controversial oil and gas drilling method known as fracking when Governor Peter Shumlin signs a bill banning the practice, a largely symbolic move given the state’s apparent lack of energy reserves. Hydraulic fracturing has helped companies tap potentially decades of gas supply and huge amounts of […]

Peak Oil for Policy Makers by Richard Heinberg

An intro to Peak Oil for policy makers, and what they should do to start dealing with this crisis now.

KEYSTONE reapplies for pipeline permit

The Canadian company seeking to build the massive Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline through the U.S. reapplied for a permit on Friday, pushing the politically sensitive issue back onto President Obama’s plate six months before the election. TransCanada announced it has asked for permits to build the pipeline into Nebraska, and will eventually submit a new […]

Encircling Iran: US claims would win in 3 weeks

The war rhetoric from Washington towards Iran is again being ramped up – just ahead of the second round of high-level international talks on the country’s nuclear program. US military top brass claim they would need just three weeks to defeat Iran’s armed forces. RT’s Gayane Chichakyan looks at whether it’s just more tough talk […]

US sets new rules for fracking on federal lands

The Obama administration unveiled long-awaited rules on Friday to bolster oversight on public lands of oil and natural gas drilling using fracking technology that has ushered in a boom in drilling but also triggered environmental protests. Interior’s proposal would update its decades-old fracking regulations with new reporting standards and a requirement that companies get approval […]

Mexico Sets Legally Binding Carbon Reduction Targets

Since Mexico’s legislative body passed sweeping climate change legislation on April 19, Mexico joins the UK as the only two countries in the world with legally binding emissions goals to combat climate change. The new law will reduce the country’s carbon emissions, end fossil fuel subsidies, and establish a voluntary carbon trading market. This law […]

Israel Prepares for War

Israel’s IDF has called up six reserve battalions as the situation on the Syrian and Egyptian borders deteriorates. The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, has given permission to call up an additional 16 reserve battalions if necessary, the Times of Israel reported on May 2. “This signifies that the IDF regards the Egyptian and Syrian borders […]

Judge allows Gulf oil spill settlement to proceed

A federal judge on Wednesday preliminarily approved a proposed class-action settlement that would resolve billions of dollars in claims against BP over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier’s ruling allows the settlement process to proceed, but he will hold a “fairness hearing” on Nov. 8 before deciding […]

Saudi Arabia warns Iran over Gulf islands, Bahrain

Saudi Arabia repeated on Wednesday that it would not tolerate threats to the Gulf Arab states’ sovereignty, the latest warning to Iran after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to an island claimed by both Tehran and the United Arab Emirates. The warning, the third in as many weeks by a member of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation […]

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