Dangerous Curves Ahead

Decline curves graphically depict the rates at which oil and gas well production levels fall -- or plummet -- over time. They may also illustrate how unlikely it is that the world's oil producers will be able to meet the expected increases in global demand. Energy giant ExxonMobil and the Energy Information Administration arm of the U.S. Department of Energy are just two of the many entities that have studied this important question.

TXU seeks to build biggest U.S. nuclear plants

Utility company TXU, which scrapped plans to build eight coal-fired plants when it agreed to be acquired by two private equity firms, is now hoping to build the biggest nuclear power plants in the United States, said the Wall Street Journal.

Company of the year: Chevron Corp.

The key to Chevron's success in 2006? Crude oil prices. They rose as high as $77 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, averaged $66 for the year and never fell below $55. Just five years ago, people worried if the price topped $35.

Sinopec in Talks on Iran's Oil Field

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., best known as Sinopec, said Tuesday it does not plan to buy liquified natural gas from Iran because the price is too high, but that it is in talks on cooperating on oil production.

Japan May Propose Specific Areas for Joint Gas Production

Japan has begun considering the possibility of proposing to China that the two nations specify areas in the East China Sea where they should jointly produce natural gas after first confirming a broad 2006 agreement on joint production, Japanese government officials said Saturday.

UAE to increase oil output up to 5mbpd

The UAE is set to increase its oil production to over five million barrel per day within the next seven years, UAE Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced here yesterday.

Russia: Searching for alternative sources of energy

The development of unconventional and renewable energy sources is a major challenge facing humankind in the twenty-first century. Technologies such as nuclear fusion and biofuels will prove vital if humankind is to find an alternative to hydrocarbons.

The Oil Crisis leads to gold and silver

On the surface we see that responsible forecasters have forecast oil to drop to $50, but already at the early stage of the oil year it has climbed to the mid-$60 level.

On the surface we have media attention focused on the symptoms of these problems separately and without bringing them together as one would see tributaries of a river come together to make a more powerful and major force overwhelming the ‘big’ picture.

India: Edible oil crisis

An edible oil crisis is around the corner though policy planners do not seem to realise this. The oilseed production has dropped this year by a whopping 17 per cent to 23.26 million tonnes, falling below 24.38 million tonne harvested a decade ago in 1996-97. The dependence on imports for meeting the needs, which was a mere 3 per cent in the early 1990s, has shot up to over 40 per cent. What adds to the worry is that the edible oil availability in the international market is likely to dwindle due to the large scale diversion of these oils to bio-fuel production. This may make it difficult even to import enough edible oils.

India to depend on renewable sources to meet energy needs

India will be dependent on renewable sources such as solar, hydro and biofuels to meet 50 per cent of its energy requirements by 2050.

Through the use efficiency measures the country will also be able to reduce 50 per cent of its energy consumption.

Prodding car makers to sell plug-in electric vehicles

Here's an ad we'd like to see: "Car for sale. Late model PHEV. Zippy acceleration, 100 miles per gallon of gasoline, zero tailpipe emissions for typical daily operation. Matches the driving range of any car on the road today at half the operating cost. Fun to drive, helps secure our nation's energy supply, greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Batteries included."

Nigeria: Crude Oil Attracts US, EU to Gulf of Guinea

Osita Chukwuemeka Eze, an erudite professor and seasoned administrator, is renowned in the research community both in Nigeria and outside. His experience in the fields of Law, International Relations and Strategic Studies is as vast as the face of Atlantic Oceans. Currently Director General of Nigerian Institutite of International Affairs (NIIA), Eze in interview with Gboyega Akinsanmi fields questions on Nigeria's big brother roles in Africa, increasing militant activities in the Niger Delta, US presence in the Gulf of Guinea among others issues.

George Monbiot: There is climate change censorship - and it's the deniers who dish it out

Global warming scientists are under intense pressure to water down findings, and are then accused of silencing their critics.

Michael J. Economides: For the Oil Companies, Public Rhetoric = Big Profits

Al Gore is a darling of the oil companies. They also really love peak-oil Cassandras and are enamored with energy alternatives like biofuels, wind, and solar. The myths du jour, preposterous and transparently idiotic as they may be, are not opposed by the presumed bogeymen in the oil industry, the supposed culprits of the situation. In fact, it is in the oil companies’ interest to promote the myths and even prolong them.

Kurt Cobb: A peak by any other name is still a peak

Just how much violence, war or state coercion Yergin might be willing to accept to solve these problems is unclear, especially since Yergin styles himself as a free market advocate. But he may not quality for inclusion in the reality-based community if he believes that rational problem-solving will somehow allow us to overcome all of the hurdles he enumerates.

India: Centre eyes Gulf, Africa for fertiliser JVs

The Centre has asked the department of fertilisers to explore options of procurement from the Gulf, sub-Saharan Africa and north Africa. It has also asked the department to look into the possibilities of establishing joint ventures in these countries to cater to the growing Indian market.

Detroit Should Thank the Supremes

In the long run, automakers would be better off if they would embrace strong regulation now, because it might be the only thing that can save them from themselves.

New Hampshire: Bill's backers want more plants like Schiller

The incentives in House Bill 873, co-sponsored by Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, and Rep. David Borden, D-New Castle, would also help dozens of existing hydroelectric dams and wood-fired power plants. It might even build wind farms to capture the sea breeze off Portsmouth and Rye.

"I personally have no problem with a wind farm off the coast," Clark said. "We're facing an energy crisis and climate change. We have some hard choices."

Healthy Planet, Hefty Wallets

As one speaker at the conference put it, “a perfect storm is brewing.” I know--cliché. But he’s right.

We’re looking straight at triple-digit oil.

Love in the apocalypse - Conor Oberst has turned his Bright Eyes on the future and it's not looking good

Does he sense an apocalypse now? "I do. But I think a more plausible apocalypse than, say, the end of the Mayan calendar would be. Something that's down to climate change or when we reach the peak oil stage. Throughout history there have been times when people thought 'this is it', but I think there are currently more immediate threats to humans than ever before.

Engineer: Offshore Platforms Need More Height

Offshore oil and natural gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico need to be built as much as 10 feet higher than had been thought, an engineer told the National Hurricane Conference on Thursday.

Research prompted by hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 indicates that new platforms should have decks as high as 50 to 60 feet above the surface -- 5 to 10 feet higher than current standards call for, said Frank J. Puskar, president of Houston-based Energy Engineering Inc.

"This is a big, big change for our industry," Puskar said at a session about hurricanes and offshore petroleum.

New Hampshire: Gas-fired facilities up for sale

Both plants took a financial beating when the price of natural gas spiked two- and three-fold soon after they went on line. A wave of similar gas-fired projects drove up the price of their fuel and caused a short-term 8,000-megawatt oversupply of power in New England. But no new projects have come on line in the last several years, and ISO-New England power grid is projecting a 4,300-megawatt shortage by 2015.

Ghana - Energy crisis: Nigeria has its own share

The Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) announced it was shutting down its pipeline by Saturday for 10 days to enable it effect maintenance on the lines feeding Lagos Thermal Station in Egbin near Lagos.

This means that the worsening power supply c

IMEF seeks to strengthen Pemex

The report said: "A strategic vision and the implementation of a Corporate Government are necessary to visualize Pemex as an energy sector company and not just a producer and exporter of crude oil and gas."

Mexico slow to embrace ethanol on funding issues

Mexico is not expected to introduce ethanol into its gasoline mix any time soon despite the strong push in the United States to use green fuels produced from renewable resources, an oil consultant said on Monday.

Gas Forum to Set Up Commission to Study Pricing Policy

The Gas Exporting Countries Forum has decided to set up a high-level commission to study the issues facing the gas market, such as the pricing mechanism, infrastructure and relations with customers, Russia's oil minister said Monday.

Two Turkish Engineers Kidnapped in Nigeria

Two Turkish engineers were kidnapped in southern Nigeria, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported on Saturday.

...Turkish diplomatic sources were quoted by Anatolia as saying that the kidnapping occurred in a region where oil companies were densely located and these kinds of incidents are common

India eyes oil, gas in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan

Indian state-run firms will scout for oil and gas assets in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan during a weeklong visit by junior commerce minister Jairam Ramesh from Tuesday, the government said.

Japan gives $850m to develop Iraq's oil sector

An official at the Iraqi government said that the Japanese government has lent Iraq $850 million repayable over forty years at an interest rate of 0.75 percent yearly, AFP reported.

Chavez, oil companies on collision course

With President Hugo Chavez setting a May 1 deadline for an ambitious plan to wrest control of several major oil projects from American and European companies, a showdown is looming here over access to some of the most coveted energy resources outside the Middle East.

Moving beyond empty threats to cut off all oil exports to the U.S., officials have recently stepped up pressure on the oil companies operating here, warning that they might sell American refineries meant to process Venezuelan crude oil.

"Chavez is playing a game of chicken with the largest oil companies in the world," said Pietro Pitts, an oil analyst who publishes LatinPetroleum, an industry magazine based here. "And for the moment he is winning."

The fundamental and cyclical position of the GCC business cycle

The problem is that cyclical downturns always have to be played through the cycle. That means the US slowdown becomes something near or actually a recession, and that will certainly put a damper on oil and gas prices as demand will fall both from the US and from the nations exporting to the US.

Whether this slowdown in hydrocarbon demand lasts for long is another issue. It could be that supply side constraints, vis-a-vis peak oil are now so critical that the world is facing a fundamental up shift in oil and gas prices. But that will not stop the cycle turning through a phase of lower prices as cyclical demand falls due to a US slowdown or recession.

Brazil buying more Malyasian palm oil

BRAZIL, a major global producer of soyaoil, is buying more palm oil from Malaysia in an effort to meet its government's mandate on the use of 2 per cent biodiesel (B2) content in diesel next year.

Automakers challenge Vermont emissions law

The U.S. auto industry challenges Vermont in court on Tuesday, trying to block efforts by 10 states adopting stricter limits on vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide, a main greenhouse gas.

Millions face hunger from climate change

Warming temperatures could result in food shortages for 130 million people by 2050 and threaten to cause drought and higher seas in Australia and New Zealand by 2030, according to a U.N. report released Tuesday.

Megastars to rock the world in giant Live Earth concerts

Madonna, Genesis and the re-formed Police will top a galaxy of stars rocking the world against climate change in seven mammoth concerts around the globe on July 7, organizers said Tuesday.

More than 100 acts will perform in the giant 24-hour Live Earth concert relay -- the brainchild of former US vice-president Al Gore -- spanning Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and New York.

Scientists Detail Climate Changes, Poles to Tropics

From the poles to the tropics, the earth’s climate and ecosystems are already being shaped by the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases and face inevitable, possibly profound, alteration, the world’s leading scientific panel on climate change said Friday.

BBC Special Report: Climate change around the world

'No April power cuts' in Mumbai

There will be no power cuts in India's financial capital, Mumbai (Bombay), in April, power companies say.

...But it gave no guarantee of continuous electricity for residents in the peak summer months of May and June.

Study: Price gouging gas bill costly

With Congress potentially moving forward on a law to penalize oil and gas companies for price gouging, a new study says doing so would cost the economy about $1.9 billion during a national emergency on the scale of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The study, to be released Tuesday by the American Council for Capital Formation, argues that such legislation would cause long lines at service stations and fuel shortages reminiscent of the 1970s energy crisis. Oil companies, worried about being penalized for gouging, would shy away from paying higher prices to bring in more supplies, the study said.

Environmentalists cheer pipeline vote

An energy company was dealt a serious blow to its efforts to build a floating liquefied natural gas terminal off the Southern California coast when a state panel refused to grant a lease for pipelines essential to the project.

Exxon to Boost Output a Million Barrels a Day

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) said it plans on boosting oil output a million barrels a day as the world's No. 1 oil company begins a three-year strategy to take on 20 new projects thanks to the windfall profits earned in 2006.

Exxon Mobil chief executive Rex Tillerson said the company plans on spending $20 billion per year to boost production by 1 million barrels per day. Tillerson's sitting on close to $40 billion in cash from earnings last year alone and Exxon is going to spend the money to boost its production rate.

China March crude imports rise 9% to near record

China's imports of crude oil jumped 8.9 per cent in March from a year earlier to a near record, official data showed, as refiners took advantage of low prices to build up their stockpiles ahead of a spring demand surge.

The ethanol food crisis

The latest "science" report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change landed Friday, but it contains not a word on the latest climate-science fiasco. Somewhere there should have been a typical IPCC alarm-riddled sentence to alert us to a very real and immediate climate crisis: the ethanol-food disaster.

Problems Brewing as EU Farmers Switch to Biofuels

European beer brewers may face increasingly tight malt supplies later this year as farmers switch to grains for biofuel production, the head of a leading German malt marketing company said on Thursday.