Saying Goodbye to Peak Oil

As I continued reading, I found that he felt the only reason the peak oil theory was wrong was because CERA said so. Forget the hazy reserve data from the middle east, or even the declining production rates around the world.

After all, according to them, the world has well over three trillion barrels left--almost a century's worth of oil. Why should we worry now if we have enough in the ground to last that long?

Warning over Ireland's oil dependence

Ireland's over-dependence on supplies of oil poses a significant burden to the economy and a threat to future energy security, a major international report published today revealed.

UK's gadget-mania blamed for surge in emissions

The surging boom in new technology for home entertainment, from CD players and DAB radios to flat-screen televisions, is taking up huge amounts of energy and undermining the fight against climate change, a report claims today.

China's energy consumption grows faster than world's

China's primary energy consumption rose sharply by 8.4 per cent in 2006, six per cent more than the growth rate of global consumption as the economy boomed, a report released by BP said here.

China to impose tariff on energy-guzzling products

China will impose an export tariff on highly energy-consuming products as part of an effort to deflate the ballooning trade surplus and improve the safety of the nation's export products, Wei Jianguo, vice commerce minister, said yesterday.

Canada's oil sands a blessing and a burden

As demand for oil surges in Asia, companies are raising the stakes in their oil sands investments.

Old clean coal

FOR its supporters, the idea of growing single-celled algae on exhaust gas piped from power stations is the ultimate in recycling. For its detractors, it is a mere pipe dream. Whoever turns out to be right, though, it is an intriguing idea: instead of releasing the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels into the atmosphere, recapture it by photosynthesis. The result could then be turned into biodiesel (since many species of algae store their food reserves as oil), or even simply dried and fed back into the power station. Of course, if it were really that easy, someone would have done it already. But although no one has yet commercialised the technology, several groups are trying.

Congress stalks ethanol corn

Ethanol made from corn may be the sexy starlet of the nation's alternative energy policy but its cellulosic cousin is the young ingenue about to take center stage.

DOE Invests $125 Million in Synthetic Life to Develop Biofuels

Working at a central lab facility in the San Francisco Bay Area, researchers will create new forms of life that will produce ethanol with unprecedented efficiency. This field of science -- synthetic biology -- will be used to make crops that are extremely tough and productive. Optimized plants will push the limit of fuel production per acre of land. The same laboratory techniques will be used to design organisms that convert plant material into fuel in the most cost-effective manner possible.

Oil & Gas UK Says Government Reforms Needed

Whilst total spending on exploration, development and production of oil and gas reserves grew by 20% to £11.5 billion in 2006, production struggled to respond, and in 2007, continuing cost inflation and sustained low gas prices are putting the competitiveness of the UK continental shelf (UKCS) under severe pressure.

Oil Prices above $70, Big Ramifications for Currency Market

If you want to know why the Federal Reserve refuses to budge from their hawkish inflation bias, all you have to do is look at the price of oil. Since the beginning of the year, crude prices have increased over 40 percent with the price per barrel now back above $70. Oil prices have a big impact on inflationary pressures both here in the US as well as globally.

Oil markets keep wary eye on US hurricane season

Oil markets will keep a wary eye on the US hurricane season even after an uneventful first month, with the outlook complicated by unreliability of recent weather forecasting records.

You may not realize today but ten years from today you will acknowledge George Bush is America’s best President

Ten years from today when you drive the hydrogen fuel cell driven cars with zero emission, you start thanking this great American President.

Uganda: Will Gov't Nationalise Power Sector?

One way to look at this economic and political quagmire is to ask if the privatisation policy of the government, which led to the unbundling of Uganda Electricity Board, has succeeded. It would appear not and such is the view expressed by Hon Syda Bbumba, the long term Minister of Energy.

Venezuela's Oil Nationalization Tests Chinese Oil Companies

Will Chinese oil companies survive from Venezuela's move of nationalizing its oil industry? Or will they get more benefits from such kind of move? Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on May 1 announced the nationalization of his country's oil industry. The Venezuelan government has reclaimed oil resources of the Orinoco Belt, the world's biggest heavy oil deposit, from companies such as BP, ExxonMobil and Total.

India: Petroleum Ministry seeks oil bonds to compensate refiners

The Petroleum Ministry is seeking Rs 19,000 crore worth of oil bonds to partly compensate refiners who are selling fuel below the cost.

Biofuels to buoy farm prices in next decade: OECD/FAO

The rapid growth of the world's biofuel industry is likely to keep farm commodity prices at high levels in the next decade as it will boost demand for grains, oilseeds and sugar, a major study said on Wednesday.

High gas prices changing summer vacation plans

Over 60 per cent of drivers surveyed in a BCAA web poll last month say current high gas prices are causing them to rethink their summer vacation plans.

Officials investigate 'hot gas'

Maryland Department of Agriculture inspectors are adding thermometers to their calibration tools as they make their routine rounds at gas stations.

Oil may hit $100 a barrel

A leading Norwegian economist and one of the oil-producing country's major investors think oil prices will keep rising until alternative energy starts paying off. That can mean prices of more than USD 100 a barrel within a few years.

Analyst: Refinery Closure to Hike Prices

Midwestern states that depend on fuel supplies from a flooded refinery in southeast Kansas will see some of the highest prices in the nation for gasoline and diesel this summer, industry experts said.

"It is really bad timing, it is bad luck. ... For all intents and purposes it looks like that refinery is not going to be contributing any gasoline or diesel fuel for the rest of the summer," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.

Kansas Fuel Sellers Seek Waiver; Refinery Flood Tightens Supply

Kansas fuel marketers are seeking a temporary waiver from truck-driving regulations to boost supply in the region following the shutdown of Coffeyville Resources LLC's oil refinery.

Cost of gas may rise after flooding

The flooding in southeastern Kansas may mean higher prices at the gas pump for drivers in most Midwestern states.

But analysts disagree over how much prices will rise after floodwaters closed the Coffeyville Resources refinery.

Plains States Feel Supply Pinch Most After Refinery Flood

Fuel sellers north of Kansas are expecting to feel their supply pinched in the days ahead as the fallout from a flooded oil refinery reverberates throughout the regional market.

While the full effect of Coffeyville Resources LLC's refinery shutdown has yet come to pass, some states have more to worry about than others. The Plains states have seen the plants they traditionally rely on for fuel suffer repeated breakdowns this year, depleting the region's cushion of oil-product inventories. Officials in neighboring Oklahoma and Missouri, meanwhile, are more confident about getting gasoline and diesel.

North Dakota: Fuel shortages at pipeline terminals continue

The manager of a chain of gas stations in Fargo-Moorhead says he's never seen anything like it.

Kent Satrang with Petro-Serve is talking about fuel shortages at pipeline terminals in the region.

He says both wholesalers and retailers are scrambling to get what gasoline they can.

Gulf oil producers should keep dollar-peg, says IMF

The International Monetary Fund said Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, should keep their currencies fixed to the dollar and will not come under pressure to revalue.

“A fixed exchange rate is best for these oil producers,” Mohsin Khan, the IMF’s director for the Middle East and Central Asia, said in a telephone interview from Washington on Monday. “Their main export is priced in dollars, it makes it easier for them to hedge.”

Analysis: Oil-rich Nigeria short on fuel

Fuel shortages will persist in oil-rich Nigeria, with no end in sight, as long as gasoline lines form and refineries slow production.

Petrobras Makes Proposal to Workers to Avoid Strike

Brazil's state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras, Tuesday made a new proposal to unions aimed at avoiding a strike that could start Thursday, a company press official said.

A strike would affect oil production, as well as refining and distribution.

Kuwait seeks quick development of disputed gas field

State-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said a treaty with Saudi Arabia over a disputed gas field should be implemented quickly as the Gulf state struggles to meet demand for gas.

Ration-hit Argentina admits energy crisis

Argentina has at last admitted that the energy sector – the Achilles’ heel of its economic policy – is in trouble.

For the first time, President Néstor Kirchner used the word “crisis” to describe the severe shortages that have forced the government to ration gas for factories to guarantee enough energy for heating homes.

Government provides loan guarantee to NOC

With the aim of resolving the problem of petroleum shortage, the government has decided to provide guarantee for loans worth Rs 1.2 billion for Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).

Balance needed to relieve world food crisis

What we are seeing in Mexico and in central Africa and other parts of the world is that millions are undernourished and have little hope of improving their lives in the face of rising demands for resources that are being depleted. This is a precursor of what much of the world will look like in the future if radical changes are not made in the way that we organize our society and economic models.

Expanding our agricultural activity over more area has become counterproductive, and producing the energy that our societies require to maintain themselves in the present fashion is making things worse. Not only is energy production fouling the atmosphere and changing the climate, switching to food resources for energy production could starve millions.

Oregon group forms to discuss energy depletion topics

County citizens concerned with the issue of energy depletion are invited to the launch of a new citizens' group.

The group, Washington County Peak Oil, will kick off with a free screening of the film "A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash" at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 10, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 22785 NW Birch St., Hillsboro.

Climate deals turn up heat in Indonesia's dark peatlands

Investors around the world are dreaming of the billions the festering carbon-rich bogs could bring in as the world battles global warming. Peat bogs are the new black gold, some say.

Barack Obama’s Nuclear Ambitions

The Gore effect is like a bad hangover: all headache no buzz. The purported solution to the imminent warming crisis, nuclear technology, is just as hazardous as our current methods of energy procurement.

Carolyn Baker - Happy Independence Day: YOU HAVE NO GOVERNMENT

Many individuals love to debate whether collapse will be “fast or slow”. According to the “slow burners”, those who say it will be sudden are delusional, whereas those who insist on its suddenness reject the collapse as a gradual process. Even the issue of collapse is replete with the distractions of a conflict over “slow” or “sudden.” Western Civilization and Christianity in particular have left their mark on us in the polarization that we can’t seem to extricate ourselves from, even over the issue of collapse. It is, in some respects, that very duality that has created the end of civilization as we have known it, yet we cling to the polarization as if our lives depended on it.

Collapse, on a more metaphorical level, is a form of apocalypse, and apocalypse is simply a Greek word meaning, “the lifting of the veil.” When veils are lifted, reality is seen for what it is, and given that definition, apocalypse has been going on for a long time. Think of the veils that have been lifted just in the past seven years: The 2000 election, the crimes of 9/11 perpetrated by the U.S. government, Enron, Peak Oil, climate change, the incomprehensible levels of corruption in the U.S. government, the trillions of dollars of missing money, the deceptions of the Iraq War, the coverup of Pat Tillman's death — the list could go on and on. The biggest veil to be lifted is that humans are the superior life form on planet earth and that they have a right to conquer, rape, pillage, and own its resources. Collapse, which in my opinion has been going on for at least thirty years, is lifting the veil of that illusion and will reveal incontrovertibly the lie that it is, but for some, the lie cannot be allowed in their consciousness until there is nothing — and I mean nothing, left to lie about.

Why the U.S.' Oil Dependence is Bad for the U.S. Economy

Energy policy -- or more specifically U.S. oil dependence -- comes and goes in media focus. Its prominence usually increases in direct proportion to the current price of oil or gas. In addition, there has been a growing movement called the "peak oil" movement, which argues world supplies are actually at or near their highest and will continually decline from here on out. While I can't comment on the veracity of peak oil's claims, I can state without a doubt that the U.S.' national energy policy -- and specifically our oil dependence -- is economically disadvantageous.

Auto sales wobble in June, GM plunges

General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news) on Tuesday posted a steeper-than-expected 24 percent drop in U.S. sales in June as local automakers lost share to Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T) and other Japanese brands, and demand sputtered overall in the face of high gas prices and a weak housing market.

Shell Chairman Ollila Works to Recast Company

Western majors see their future in the high-tech prowess they say sets them apart from state-owned rivals: their proven expertise in managing big development projects and deploying advanced technology. In Shell's case, that includes exploiting "unconventional" plays, such as squeezing petroleum out of gooey oil sands or turning natural gas into diesel fuel.

George Monbiot: Stop doing the CBI's bidding, and we could be fossil fuel free in 20 years

Prospects for renewable power are promising. But it means nothing if the public interest is drowned by corporate power.

Schwarzenegger struggles with air board

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger moved Tuesday to quell the furor over the departure of two leaders overseeing implementation of the state's landmark global warming law, appointing a replacement for the chairman he ousted.

Merkel rejects call to moderate emissions cuts

Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected industry criticism of her plans to cut Germany's greenhouse gas emissions by a third by 2020 and dashed its hopes of a deal to prolong the use of nuclear power.

Nuclear expansion is a pipe dream, says report

The Oxford Research Group paper, funded by the Joseph Rowntree charitable trust, says that the worldwide nuclear "renaissance" planned by the industry to provide cheap, clean power is a myth. Although global electricity demand is expected to rise by 50% in the next 25 years, only 25 new nuclear reactors are currently being built, with 76 more planned and a further 162 proposed, many of which are unlikely to be built. This compares with 429 reactors in operation today, many of which are already near the end of their useful lives and need replacing soon.

For nuclear power to make any significant contribution to a reduction in global carbon emissions in the next two generations, the paper says, the industry would have to construct nearly 3,000 new reactors - or about one a week for 60 years.

'Free energy' device to be revealed

An Irish company will today reveal controversial technology that allegedly defies basic laws of physics to produce free power.

Steorn, which is based in Dublin, claims to have discovered a method of creating clean, constant energy, which it claims could end the global fuel crisis.

Called Orbo technology, it is based on the interaction of magnetic fields and has yet to be conclusively proven.

BP and Shell in Merger Talks

BP and Royal Dutch Shell are said to be in merger talks that would create a £250 billion oil giant, according to the Times of London.

Oil majors have bit more life in them yet

The bottom line is that the oil majors are struggling to replace their reserves at anything like the same rate as they are expending them. For the oil majors at least, the oil truly does seem to be running out. The sort of successes in far-off lands being reported by smaller players such as Cairn, though not to be sneezed at, would only amount to a few days' production for the big boys.

Oil reserves are drying up rapidly

A worldwide oil shortage is due in four years -- not 40 years.

Argentine Power Cuts Threaten Economy, Kirchner Image

Argentina's energy rationing may chill South America's second-largest economy -- along with President Nestor Kirchner's political popularity.

As the southern hemisphere's winter sets in, cutbacks in electricity and natural gas are leaving potatoes to rot at McCain Foods Ltd.'s French fry plant in Buenos Aires province and workers idled at Fiat SpA's car factory in Cordoba. Energy supplies in Argentina have failed to keep up with surging demand, exacerbating shortages to the point where there's no quick solution, analysts say.

World's Biggest Palm Oil Trader Shamed

Wilmar, the world’s biggest trader in palm oil, is illegally logging rainforests, setting forests on fire and violating the rights of local communities in Indonesia, according to a new report published today by Friends of the Earth Netherlands.

$70 a barrel keeps Faroes dreaming of oil wealth

Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands, dreams of becoming the Kuwait City of the North -- enjoying oil riches that would free these wind-swept North Atlantic volcanic rocks from depending on fish, sheep and ruler Denmark for survival.

Iraqi Kurdish, Sunni leaders complain not consulted about new oil law

Iraq's Kurdish and Sunni leaders today complained they had not been consulted over the amended oil bill which has been approved by the cabinet and is set to go before parliament.

Shell says Nigeria oil-exploration rig attacked, but output unaffected

A crude oil exploration rig located in the Soku Field, Nigeria, has been temporarily shut down and personnel evacuated following an attack by a militant group but output has not been affected, Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Wednesday.

Occidental Has Unplanned Maintenance at Plant in Sundown, Texas

Occidental Petroleum Corp. had unplanned maintenance and flared some gases at a plant in Sundown, Texas, according to a report on a state-administered Web site.

The flaring started yesterday at 9 a.m. local time as part of a process to regenerate catalysts at the Slaughter Gasoline Plant after a decline in its sulfur recovery efficiency, the report on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Web said.

Happy Independence Day! Or maybe that should be "Happy Dependence Day." July 4th is the day Americans drive the most. And they aren't letting high gas prices stop them.