 | Modeling Oil Production to Estimate URR - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and World | The Oil Drum | DrumBeat: September 30, 2007 |  |
DrumBeat: September 29, 2007
Posted by Leanan on September 29, 2007 - 9:13am
Topic: Miscellaneous
Private industry conference finds much less oil (podcast)
A secretive gathering some of the world’s biggest oil companies has concluded the industry will discover far less oil than officially forecast, meaning global oil production may peak much sooner than many expect.The Hedberg Research Conference on Understanding World Oil Resources was held by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in Colorado Springs last November to try to reconcile widely divergent estimates of likely future reserves additions. In an interview with Lastoilshock.com, oil executive Ray Leonard said the majority view was that future oil discovery would amount to some 250 billion barrels, rather than the 650 billion barrels suggested by the United States Geological Survey.
Got $100 to burn? Here are your energy options
During the panic buying triggered by the Arab oil embargo and supply disruptions of the early 197Os, oil still cost less than $50 a barrel in today's money and you could get a pair of them for under $100. Fifty dollars doesn't even buy two-thirds of a barrel at the moment and supplies are relatively healthy.
Heating oil prices soar, elderly panic
And, they have reason to panic, say fuel oil dealers who are paying record-high prices and therefore charging record-high prices even before the winter cold sets in. The problem is even worse for those who rely on government fuel assistance programs, administrators say.“Never in my lifetime,” veteran oil dealer Charlie Dyer of Raynham said about today's prices. “It's going to be a very difficult winter for customers, no doubt about it.”
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc) has notified more Asian term lifters it will sharply cut November exports of its three offshore crudes due to oilfield maintenance, trading sources said.
Nigeria's Leader Says Oil Production Up
Nigeria's president said that oil production has been increasing in his country and attacks on oil workers in its crude-rich southern delta region have been decreasing as a result of the dialogue his government initiated with militants.
‘Go local,’ author McKibben urges, to stop global warming
Just say “no” to globalism? Cities that make more of their own food, energy and other goods are better off, and do less harm to the environment.So argues Bill McKibben, an author and environmentalist whose best-selling books have helped shape the debate on climate change.
Myanmar: Gas reserves prop up economy
According to the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, an independent administrative body, Myanmar's natural gas reserves were estimated to be about 538 billion cubic meters as of the end of 2006.The figure represents the third-largest reserves in Southeast Asia, following Indonesia and Malaysia.
A massive wrench thrown in Putin's works
It almost seemed since the month of May that in the battles of the Caspian energy war, Russian President Vladimir Putin was destined to glide serenely from victory to victory until next March when he leaves office in the Kremlin.But a backlash was bound to happen. Putin's standing as the ace player in the Great Game of our times had surely become an eyesore for Western capitals.
Russia warns of retaliation on EU energy plan
Russia sees EU plans to limit foreign investment in its energy sector as violating free market principles and will respond if the measures are enacted, a top Russian official warned Friday.
Among the world’s national oil companies, the three Chinese NOCs – CNPC, Sinopec, and CNOOC – may be the oddest. Over the past half decade or so, they have certainly been among the most financially successful. Although they are an integral part of the Communist Chinese system, which comes with a heavy dose of central government control, the three NOCs are also engaged in serious capitalism. Their top executives are semi-independent businessmen controlling operations worth hundreds of billions of dollars, at the same time working closely with the government to form China’s national energy policies. The industry provides 12.5 percent of the government’s total tax revenues.
Recasting Big Oil's Battered Image
Despite past ad campaigns aimed at dousing consumers' ire over high oil prices or dissuading lawmakers set on new taxes or regulations, the oil industry remains more disliked than any other business in the United States other than the tobacco industry. A poll of 1,500 adults conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in August found that 45 percent had "very unfavorable" and another 21 percent "somewhat unfavorable" views of oil companies.
Big Oil's Big Stall On Ethanol
Even as it pockets billions in subsidies, it's trying to keep E85 out of drivers' tanks.
Everyone seems to think that ethanol is a good way to make cars greener. Everyone is wrong.
They are far from perfect, but the new sources of energy have an important role to play. Lula is right to defend them.
In the next 15 months, US regulators expect applications for up to 28 new plants.
Country Split Over Global Warming Widens Among Evangelicals
Christians have a biblical mandate to be "good stewards of God's creation," Ms. Paynter says she told the Rev. Frank Brown, pastor of the Bellmead First Baptist Church here in the county where President Bush has his ranch. So, Texas Baptists should demand that controversial plans to build a slew of coal-fired power plants be put on hold.Mr. Brown was not impressed. God, the pastor said, is "sovereign over his creation" and no amount of coal-burning will alter by a "millisecond" his divine plan for the world. Fighting environmental damage is "like chasing rabbits," he recalls telling her. It just distracts from core Christian duties to spread the faith and protect the unborn.
Clean, green power - but at what price?
On the surface, harnessing the power of the pristine Albany River to generate clean electricity sounds like a good idea. But it raises the question: Who should decide what happens in the far north: Queen's Park or the locals?
Green IT strategies stifled by inertia
Almost half of IT executives--42 percent--admit their company does not monitor IT-related energy spending.A further 9 percent don't know if their company has such a monitoring program in place, and of those that do monitor it, a quarter have seen their energy consumption increase over the past two years.
Former CIA Chief looks to future
Crude oil and salt have a lot in common, in R. James Woolsey’s mind.The former CIA director, who has become an authoritative voice on energy security, sees oil headed down the same path as salt, previously the only means of preserving meat.
“Wars were fought and national strategies driven, in part, by salt. Today, we haven’t stopped using salt, but no part of our national behavior is driven by the need for it,” he said in congressional testimony in April.
Rising gas prices likely to linger
Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service, said crude oil prices may well set more records in the coming weeks. Then he foresees a slow, gradual fall in prices as the end of the year approaches.That doesn't mean gasoline will get cheap, however. Kloza's predicting this winter's low price for gasoline could easily be the "highest low" consumers have ever seen.
Rising Oil Prices Seen Pushing Costs Higher For Coal Miners
Coal miners consume millions of gallons of diesel annually to run their mining equipment. If the price of oil and petroleum products rises significantly, companies will face millions of dollars in added costs.
Argentine energy shortage repeat for Chilean mines
In recent months the major mining firms have stepped up preparations to compensate for expected electricity rationing, which they estimate could affect up to 20% of their current energy consumption. The precarious energy situation is largely due to reductions in the supply of natural gas from Argentina.
Argentine energy crunch looms over next government
Argentina's next government will have to consider raising natural gas and electricity prices soon after it takes office in December as a way to avoid a repeat of the energy crisis of recent months.
UK: Fuel duty rise ‘will hit hard’
A SMALL business leader in North Wales is warning that next week’s automatic 2p rise in fuel duty, which is set to send some diesel prices past the £1 a litre mark, will hit firms hard.
'123' will allow India to buy fuel outside US: Sibal
he Indo-US civil nuclear deal would give India the flexibility to buy nuclear fuel not only from the US, but also from countries like France, Russia or even Australia.Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said today the bilateral agreement, also called "123 agreement", would not make it binding on India to buy nuclear fuel from just the US.
Shedding a little light on consumption
As society rushes to go “green” in creating new energy supplies, such as developing wind and solar farms and adding tidal generators to our oceans to help us keep our lights and air conditioners on, it can be easy to overlook another option to combat climate change and any potential future energy crisis.In fact, it is down right disturbing to think just how easily and often we forget about the one little word that could mean as much to our future as “green” energy. The word is conservation. Simply put, cutting energy use is as good as coming up with new sources of it.
A global approach to low energy consumption and CO2 emission reduction
There can be a significant energy savings in industries like cement, pulp and paper, ammonia, ethylene, iron and steel, and a number of other chemical, petro-chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
EU Commissioner Says New Investments Can Solve Chronic Energy Crisis in Balkans
The European commissioner for energy said Friday that southeastern Europe could solve its chronic energy shortages by cutting down waste in consumption and cross-border connections rather than by generating new supplies.But Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said that doing so required major investments in efficiency-boosting projects like upgrading power plants and promoting household insulation.
The end of Las Vegas: Why alternative energy sources won't save us in the post-oil age
They talked about all the usual, obvious solutions. We should harness the power of the sun; use soybeans and fry grease to run the cars; create a hydrogen economy; and all the other stuff Americans have been hearing about of late to lower those nasty emissions destroying Mother Earth. Best part is: We'll get to continue living the same way -- tooling around in our cars, relaxing in our air-conditioned homes. Only now we'll finally be treating our old Momma with some respect while we do it.Many energy experts say this a dangerous myth, one that will prevent us from adapting to a monumental change with no historical parallels. While it's surely imperative we clean up our act in the name of preserving our planet, a potentially even bigger issue than that of global climate change is staring us down: an oil shortage.
'Murderer's row' of fund managers targets little firms that can
"If the U.S. can scrape by for a couple of years and everybody else keeps growing at the same rate, oil will go to $90 or $100. Oil in particular is telling you that the world isn't slowing down as much as people think it is, or that there's a supply problem and we're at peak oil already."
Iran to sign gas deal with Pakistan in October
"It was agreed that the price be calculated according to the current gas market standards," Ghanimi-Fard was quoted as saying by the state IRNA news agency."Pakistan asked for 60 million cubic metres per day, 30 million of which was approved," he said.
Stelmach insists he wants the right balance
Premier Ed Stelmach urged calm but appeared unmoved Friday after energy giant EnCana threatened to cancel $1 billion of proposed projects in Alberta next year if the province fully accepts a review panel's recommendations to hike royalties.
Shipbuilding: China to build deep water oil exploration fleet
China will build its own deep water oil exploration fleet in three to four years. The fleet will be able to work in deep waters all over the world, except for the north pole.
BP says halts shipments of Azeri crude to Turkey
Baku-Ceyhan pipeline has halted shipments of crude oil due to techincal problems, a company spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday. "Shipments of oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli fields have stopped for several days. Output will fall to 160,000 barrels per day," Tamam Bayatly, spokeswoman for BP's Azeri operations said.
Japan''s crude oil imports from Kuwait jump 20.2 percent
Japan's crude oil imports from Kuwait soared 20.2 percent in August from a year earlier to 9.97 million barrels but fell 19.1 percent from the previous month, according to the latest government report.
Global food shock real, says former Nats leader
"We talk about oil shocks. We have gone on assuming that the supermarket shelves will always be loaded."
New fuels vie for place in the market
Grass-roots businesses are thriving, but experts don't know if any will beat out the oil industry.
PUNDITS are calling it “climate week”. On Monday the United Nations held a special summit in New York to discuss climate change. Not to be outdone, George Bush has convened a two-day conference of his own on the subject, which will conclude on Friday September 28th in Washington, DC. In theory, both summits are working towards the same goal: a new international agreement on climate change, to replace the UN’s existing treaty, the Kyoto protocol, which will expire in 2012. But America, long a laggard in its response to climate change, is struggling to convince the rest of the world that its pow-wow is anything more than a distraction.
Peak Oil Passnotes: Neo-Peak Oil
The basics of peak oil are in fact quite simple. Under the present, failing, economic system scarcity breeds profits. Thus peak oil presents opportunities for those who control resources and powerful people, powerful nations and institutions rarely give away their golden goose. That the consequences may be painful for weaker people like you and me matters not.
Firms seek access to Myanmar oil fields
Just last Sunday — when marches led by Buddhist monks drew thousands in Myanmar's biggest cities — Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora was in the country's capital for the signing of oil and gas exploration contracts between state-controlled ONGC Videsh Ltd. and Myanmar's military rulers.The signing ceremony was an example of how important Myanmar's oil and gas resources have become in an energy-hungry world. Even as Myanmar's military junta intensifies its crackdown on pro-democracy protests, oil companies are jostling for access to the country's largely untapped natural gas and oil fields that activists say are funding a repressive regime.
Oil income boosts Gulf producers’ foreign buying power
Gulf Arab states’ oil revenues this year are likely to be near last year’s record $336 billion, giving them an edge in buying foreign assets as credit dries up for competing investors.
Even though the UK is gradually running out of oil, to Scotland’s great loss, London’s fortunes are increasingly positively correlated to the price of oil. Crude hit a record high of $83.90 a barrel on 20 September on a combination of factors: a weak dollar; falling US inventories; buoyant demand from booming Asian economies led by China and India; storm-related disruption in the Gulf of Mexico; tension between the West and Iran; and nervousness following an Israeli air raid on Syria.Though oil prices have fallen back a little in recent days as oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico began restoring production, high oil prices are here to stay and could yet reach $100 a barrel within the next two years.
Jordan receives first shipment of Iraqi oil
Eight tankers carrying the first shipment of Iraqi oil since the two countries reached an agreement last year arrived at the Jordanian-Iraqi border on Friday, Energy Ministry spokesman Maher Shawabkeh said.
Toyota denies battery woes delay next Prius
Introduction of the next version of Toyota's hit Prius gas-electric hybrid won't hinge on the development of a more efficient battery called lithium-ion, a senior Toyota executive said Friday.The executive brushed off a recent Wall Street Journal report that said Toyota Motor Corp. was delaying the launch of the next-generation Prius by as much as two years because of problems in developing the lithium-ion battery. Hybrids on sale now use nickel-metal-hydride batteries.
Little-known Indian tribe spotted in Peru's Amazon
Ecologists have photographed a little-known nomadic tribe deep in Peru's Amazon, a sighting that could intensify debate about the presence of isolated Indians as oil firms line up to explore the jungle.
With Legacy in Mind, Bush Reassesses His Agenda
As he addresses a conference on climate change this morning, President Bush will face not only a crowd of skeptics but the press of time. For nearly seven years, he invested little personal energy in the challenge of global warming. Now, with the end in sight, he has called the biggest nations of the world together to press for a plan by the end of next year.
Europeans angry after Bush climate speech 'charade'
George Bush was castigated by European diplomats and found himself isolated yesterday after a special conference on climate change ended without any progress.European ministers, diplomats and officials attending the Washington conference were scathing, particularly in private, over Mr Bush's failure once again to commit to binding action on climate change.
Climate 'shift' no cause for panic: Howard
THE Prime Minister, John Howard, said yesterday he believed the continuing drought was an example of "climate shift", not climate change."We are seeing what the experts call a climate shift and I do think we should keep our heads about it. I don't think we should write off farming," Mr Howard told Southern Cross broadcasting.
Bush's Climate Meeting: Talk, But No Action
For President George W. Bush, climate change is one of those pesky issues that he would love to see just go away. International diplomats say that when the topic of global warming comes up, Bush appears annoyed and has expressed exasperation that the issue still garners so much attention. After all, the White House position has been consistent from the very start of Bush's tenure: The U.S. will not require mandatory reductions in emissions of the so-called greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, that scientists say are warming the Earth. Bush, the self-proclaimed decider, has decided.
A new Energy and Environment Round-Up has been posted at TOD:Canada.
The Alberta royalty review continues to generate a predictable response from an industry which has seen costs rise more rapidly than prices in recent years. Even though Alberta’s take is comparatively low, Encana has announced it will withdraw $1 billion in investment if the new royalty recommendations are accepted by the province.
Elsewhere on the energy scene, Alberta looks to expand both wind and nuclear power, while Ontario reactors’ inability to deal with an unexpected spell of warm weather during maintenance outage season made electricity imports necessary.
Globally, questions are increasingly raised over the global warming effects of both ethanol production and hydro-power dams.
In environmental news the drought in Australia and the Ukraine has led to record wheat prices and concerns over feeding the world's poor. The Arctic warms ever more rapidly, for some an opportunity to exploit new resources, rather than a problem. If warming continues to accelerate, it just might become an 'insurmountable opportunity'.
'All bets are off'
Two weeks ago, Greenspan said: "I really didn't get it until very late in 2005 and 2006."
Now he admits he did know, but attempts to claim that hedge funds are more powerful than the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England, which have no control over 'real' interest rates?! Huh?
In other words, "If they lost their shirts they knew why and for how much they'd loss them, why bother telling them not to do something like that." What that does not say is that These guys got others to invest and those others knew nothing about the bad methods of the Original Players. Greenspan is washing his hands of the pain his actions caused, by saying his actions only would have hurt those willing to get hurt.
Which in a way says that anyone willing to put money in the markets must be willing to get hurt by that action.
"Honest officer, Just because I killed all those people walking on the sidewalk, does not mean that all those people on the sidewalk did not make themselves prone to death because there are drivers like me living in their city willing to use the sidewalk as a road. You should let me go and get back to driving. "
I’m starting to feel pity for this weekend-president GW Bush
Has all his advisors left him? Is he all on his own now?
Europeans angry after Bush climate speech 'charade'
It must be hard to sit all alone in that big White House and produce politics over a bottle of zero alcohol beer..
In a way it is funny that some Europeans were "angered". I mean, what did they expect? Sense?!
Childrens do learn
Caption:
After discovering these things called "books", ah has begun to read and was amazed to learn -cause childrens do learn- that the Earth is round and it's only this big --in the picture.
The Earth from 4 billion miles away. This picture was taken by Voyager 1 in 1991
No.
That's a CT scan of the Shrub's brain.
Lots of European leaders are terrible hypocrites. In many ways they are 'americans' many of them owe their entire careers to there closeness to the United States. They were identified at university as having 'potential' as future leaders and a hand was stretched out to them. An American hand that said come to the US on this scholarship and see how we do things. It's the same all over Europe. Hundreds of professional politicians basically owe 'alligence' to the US. In reality Western Europe has been an American protectorate since the second world war, similar to how Russian dominated the East.
Yet Bush makes things so difficult because he's just so 'dumb' and too much like a cowboy. He doesn't know how to stroke European sensibilities like Bill Clinton did. Bush makes sucking up to Washington so much like hard work. They are all praying for someone like Clinton to be elected President so we can get back to business as usual!
I have always thought Angela Merkel was especially hypocritical - 'They were identified at university as having 'potential' as future leaders and a hand was stretched out to them. An American hand that said come to the US on this scholarship and see how we do things.'
Oh wait - Angela Merkel grew up in East Germany. Silly me.
And how about José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero - seems as if growing up in a left wing family under Franco certainly provided him all sorts of opportunities to have an American hand stretched out to him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Luis_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Zapatero#Orig...
And he couldn't even be bothered to stand up when 'a U.S. Marine Corps honor guard carrying the American flag walked past' him (further on in the wikipedia article.)
Nonetheless, certainly there are different power centers, and different factions jockeying for power. And if you think Europeans really found the choice at the end of WWII between the U.S. of Roosevelt and Truman and the Soviet Union of Stalin hard to make, I think you might need a bit more historical clarity.
What I will certainly grant is that the U.S. was generally in a dominant position in its relations with various Western European nations in the five decades following WWII. I don't think that will be the case for the next five decades. To put it in your terms - Clinton was the end of one era, and Bush the start of another. One was a Rhodes scholar (ah, the days when imperialism truly knew no shame - nothing like naming a nation after yourself), and the other seems to be an idiot. Oh wait - an American president went to Europe to receive a helping hand? Maybe Clinton is the start of a new era, and Bush the ending of an old one.
And if Mr. Barack becomes president, we can talk about Asia, seeing as how he has some slight experience in his past in the world's largest Muslim country.
'President claims he can lead world on emissions'
Someone needs to explain to him that leading the world on emissions does not mean endlessly spewing mindless drivel.
He should be flaring those emissions.
"climate shift" must really comfort those farmers .
Having just cycled over 500kms pass field after field of wheat where the crops would barely touch your knees , it only started to dawn on me the impact it was having on the communities.A couple of farmers stated that if no rain falls within two weeks they would use it as feed instead of letting it mature at risk of it failing.How typical that many wont care till it effects them directly ,myself prone to this.Out of sight ,out of mind , just like many issues discussed here.
Take care.
Is it necessary to eat grain to live. Grain plants die in 4-6 months (leaving behind grain seed) - but need extensive harvesting and repreparation of the soil and replanting. And IMO a much higher incidence (mass/area) of fertilizer application.
Plus most grain in the rich countries (America, Europe, Russia and China) is fed to farm animals. Perhaps perennials e.g. apple, mango trees .. and grass fed animals for meat.
Holy crap.
NetBank shut down by federal regulators
This is my bank.
A notice on their web site says I'll regain access to my accounts by 5pm Sunday.
Leanan, you might want to read the full FDIC announcement:
Failed Bank Information - NetBank, Alpharetta, GA, Closing Information
It's quite confusing. It says all accounts will be transferred to ING Direct. I already have an ING Direct account, and so far as I know, they don't do checking. It's just savings. So what happens to my checking account?
Too bad the deal with Everbank didn't go through. I was thinking of opening an account there anyway. They let you put your funds in foreign currencies.
I am in the same boat. I have an account with NetBank and also ING Direct. Luckily, I am well under FDIC limit. I hope the same is true for you.
LOL! Yes, "luckily" I am well under the FDIC limit, too. :-D
It's still a little unnerving to be cut off my accounts. Netbank was my main bank. My paycheck is direct-deposited there, and all my bills are paid through my Netbank checking account. And I wouldn't even have known, except for an article I came across while trawling for news this morning. Nice of them to warn us.
The way I interpret it (http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/netbank.html), all of your funds should be safe, all deposits and withdrawals (checks) should function as normal, except for some feature called "BillPay" which apparently will be shut off for a couple of days(I assume any bills to be paid within those days will not be paid by this feature).
This seems to say that your accounts will be kept separate for a while...
It sounds like NetBank is a puppet and the strings will be handed over to ING, so it may look and seem the same to you, but ING will actually be in control.
Leanan, I hope you get your money back from this online bank. The story about the Feds closing that bank was in the local paper this morning but I didnt know anyone that had an account there.
This is going to sound a bit off center but last Monday I went to two local banks and removed quite a bit of cash. I have little faith left in our banking system at this time...I hope that my faith is renewed in the future. The tellers had to go into the vault to get hundred dollar bills, they didnt have a single hundred in their cash drawers, which struck me as a bit strange. Anyway, I put the cash in Mason Jars and literally burried them! I dont care about the interest that I will be losing...At least I will have some cash available if the banks sieze up. I have to think of quarterly income taxes, real estate taxes, insurance payments, food, fuel, etc, and none of these folks, including the IRS, want to hear that I cant pay because my money is behind locked bank doors!
Trust you say?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_con...
Shouldn't you be converting some of that worthless paper into old silver coins?
SCT, Thanks for your advice. I have been saving silver coins since the 1960s so I have that covered. I also started buying Krugerands in the late 60s...and, I did not say that I buried the cash in my back yard... :) The cash is for a 'bank freeze' on funds withdrawal, nothing more.
We are heavy into GE and a few other large caps. We have been holding them for years with a few minor adjustments along the way but I figure they will be good kindling to get a fire going someday soon.
Right now, I would say that precious metals are the only safe bet and I am not a 'gold bug.'...just a Boy Scout...'Be Prepared.'
river
i read where ge has some morgage exposure. how much? they are an ok bet otherwise i read. bought an oil service co. recently.
River;
After watching what happened at Northern Rock last week (and Countrywide Bank a few weeks before) I would have to say I also share your concerns about banking system. Now, 2 widely reported bank failures (Oops, Netbank makes 3)...3 bank failures don't make a depression, but from where I sit, after all the bad news of late regarding MBS/CDO/Derivative/Hedge Fund badness, to paraphrase Shakespeare, something is rotten in the banking industry. Perhaps it is crazy to bury a large sum of cash in mason jars in the back yard, but at least you know where you money is. Matter of fact, I've been doing some of the same thing of late (pulling out large amounts of cash from my bank and locking it in a 'safe place' where some desperate bank executive can't loot my savings). Perhaps it is a paranoid and crazy thing to do, but having just read Galbreath's "1929; The Great Crash," I can't ignore what I see going on.
Your most humble servant,
SubKommander Dred
>Anyway, I put the cash in Mason Jars and literally burried them!
Where did you say you live? All jokes aside, thats a bad idea. You can put your money in short term US treasuries that are safe. I believe you can invest money directly with the US Treasury dept (avoiding a bank middle man). While the interest isn't great is better than nothing. If the US treasury goes under, those paper bills will be worthless anyway.
>I dont care about the interest that I will be losing...At least I will have some cash available if the banks sieze up
Your losing money, since the dollar is tanking and prices of real goods are rising. A quick guestimate of real inflation is probably between 7% and 9% (depending where you live). Its likly that inflation will continue to rise for the next few quarters. At least with Treasuries your losing less, than keeping money in mason jars.
Another ideal is to have multiple accounts at different banks. If one goes on Bank holiday its likely the other will be open. All stick with the big banks since they are simple too big to fail. The Fed will pour unlimited liquity to keep the big banks solvent. The Fed will let little banks (aka NetBank, local, and small regional banks) go under.
FWIW: I know some one will advise you to invest oversea, but this is a bad idea since your money is even further away. It looks like a lot of European and Asian banks have a lot of exposure to Subprime debt. I doubt they are any better off then US banks. ECB also has measures in place incase of serious credit crunch to prevent foriegners from repatriating their capital during a crisis.
For the IRS, you can reduce your tax deductions so that you end up with a surplus (You recieve a refund), so there is little risk of getting a nasty IRS penalty. Generally the IRS goes after employeers that fall to meet contributions than individuals. Of course thats a different matter if you are self-employeed.
Hope this was useful. Best of luck
Interesting in itself: ING are a banking and insurance group from Holland, and as such not allowed to provide full domestic banking services here, such as checking. Becoming the assuming institution for NetBank might be their way in the door for just that. They have expanded quite a bit in recent years in both Canada and the US, by finding little loopholes in the banking systems, perhaps they found another one.
It doesn't look great for deposit accounts above the FDIC limit, though:
Yes, people who are over the FDIC limit are usually out of luck in this situation. Some just don't know any better. Some started out with their deposits under the limit, and ended up over it through the interest paid.
I wonder how fiscally sound ING Direct is? Since the mortgage boom went bust, the number of mortgage offers I've gotten has dropped off sharply...except from ING Direct. They are still swamping me with offers of a quick and easy mortgage. E-mail and snail-mail.
How sound is any bank these days?
ING are large, but it's hard to oversee how they've structured their international branches, what degrees of separation etc.
Still, all banks, and certainly those in Europe, as we've seen the past weeks, are in danger because of their investments in short-term derivative paper. One down in England, two in Germany, and it's probably inevitable that many more will follow. Can't bail them all out.
Every now and then, a small window opens in the opaqueness. In Canada, $40 billion in non-bank ABCP has been "frozen" since Aug 16, and there's a plan to leave it there for up to 7 years. The Canadian issuers might like that, but the European buyers, the banks, do not. All parties have expressed worries over the "real" value of the paper. Unfreezing it may lead to government intervention: the issuers would probably have to pay full price for what is worth maybe pennies on the dollar. And that's just Canada's non-bank ABCP.
[Some just don't know any better]
But the rules can be a typical bureaucratic mess. I think they aggregate all accounts in a given institution under any given taxpayer id number (i.e. including any trust accounts and possibly a business account for a sole proprietorship under the owner's taxpayer id) so if you have two checking accounts (one a trust account with $30K in it and the other your individual checking account with $10K in it) and a savings account with $75K in it, you are uninsured for the $15K that the total exceeds $100K. That's probably why the article above talks about the accounts with ING being insured separately for 6 months or whatever: at the end of that grace period, if all accounts combined, both the original ING account(s) and the transferred account(s) exceed $100K, the excess is uninsured.
Hope everything works out with your accounts.
Rick
ING is pretty big and solvent, but many think that the subprime situation in Spain and the UK will actually fully blow before the US.
In view of the much more ethical behavior of the ECB up to now this would make sense and it would put all Euro banks at risk. On the other hand if you don't exceed the FDIC limit in any one institution as mentioned in the other post there would be no concern.