The U.S. Government Intends to Win the War in Iraq

For the U.S. to cut and run in the age of Peak Oil would mean the death knell for the U.S. economy, and the sad truth is that Peak Oil will ultimately bring down the U.S. economy even with U.S. control of Iraqi oil and strategic petroleum distribution.  But if China, Russia, India, or other nations are able to siphon ultimate control of Iraqi and Persian Gulf oil for themselves as the international competition for remaining petroleum escalates, the U.S. will not only be a very sore loser, but a very, very dangerous one. 



Gasoline prices likely to go higher

A drop in prices from earlier this year appears to be propping up demand for gasoline.  In the four weeks ended Dec. 1, average gasoline demand was up 1.6% from a year ago.  Gas demand is up 1% in 2006 from 2005.  That's "pretty incredible demand considering half the roads (in the USA) are icy," [analyst Phil] Flynn says. 



Report Says Oil Royalties Go Unpaid

An eight-month investigation by the Interior Department’s chief watchdog has found pervasive problems in the government’s program for ensuring that companies pay the royalties they owe on billions of dollars of oil and gas pumped on federal land and in coastal waters. 



Congress urged to close oil royalty loophole

House Democratic lawmakers on Thursday urged the Republican-controlled Congress to punish oil companies that won't renegotiate faulty drilling leases issued by the government almost a decade ago that have allowed companies to avoid paying billions in oil and gas royalties. 



MMS Issues $32 Million Royalty Bill to BP



Rising sea level big concern along S.C.

The rising ocean is "going to shave off a ton of landscape along the coast," which could drown marshes that act as buffers for storm surge, raising the likelihood of major flooding when the next hurricane hits, said Jim Morris, marine studies professor at the University of South Carolina and director of its Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences. 



Rising Interest in Nuclear Power Brings New Life to Uranium Mining



Review of ISA's nuclear energy balance report

Australia's review of the nuclear industry has been published in draft form for feedback.  The report takes its energy balance and GHG emissions data from a report it commissioned from ISA at University of Sydney.  This article looks at the ISA report. 



U.S. economic forecast for 2007: cooling off but no recession

Still, oil prices are unlikely to do anything but rise in the long term as demand increases and easily pumped oilfields are drained, a phenomenon known as "Peak Oil." " Expected growth rates in emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil would indicate that oil prices should continue to rise," [JP Morgan Chase's chief investment officer Peter] Wall said. " These countries and many other emerging economies are still well below their projected peak energy consumption levels -- based on the consumption levels of developed economies -- so growth in energy demand is expected to outpace growth in supply.  That doesn't mean we won't see intermittent declines in oil prices." 



Memories of 1929 - Part III - "Confidence!" 

A soft housing market, soft manufacturing, a falling dollar, rising inflation, recession on the way, negative savings rate, increasing debts, an aging baby boom population, peak oil and, the granddaddy of them all, global warming?  Clearly, none of this matters or the Dow wouldn't be at a record high. 



Security firms flock to rich, risky Mideast

MANAMA: From the makers of bullet-proof glass to counter-terrorism experts, stall-holders at a security fair in Bahrain say booming economies and growing instability have made the Middle East their biggest earner. 



Ecological Violations Halt Sakhalin-2 Work

Work was stopped at Royal Dutch Shell's US$20-billion oil and gas project off Russia's Pacific coast after ecological authorities on Thursday said they had revoked 12 licenses for the project. 



U.K.: North Sea Tax Exemption to Boost Oil, Gas Exploration

The UK government has exempted abandoned North Sea gas fields which have undergone redevelopment and became productive again from the petroleum revenue tax. 



Weekly Offshore Rig Review: Jackups Locked In

As 2006 draws to a close, we are going to be looking forward at the prospects for the major segments of the offshore rig fleet in the coming years.  We will start by examining the current level of future contracted time for the competitive jackup fleet and then comparing those numbers across the leading offshore drilling contractors' fleets. 



Exxon Spends Millions to Cast Doubt on Warming

The world's largest energy company is still spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund European organisations that seek to cast doubt on the scientific consensus on global warming and undermine support for legislation to curb emission of greenhouse gases. 



U.K.: Dependence on foreign oil to rise 'eightfold' by 2030



UK Teenagers' Gadgets are Big Energy Wasters - Survey

LONDON - Teenagers in Britain who leave computer games and other gadgets on standby mode are wasting over 100 million pounds worth of energy a year, enough to power London's underground train system for 12 months, according to a survey commissioned by British Gas. 



South Africa to develop biofuel

The country's Cabinet has approved a draft industrial strategy for biofuel, which will focus on using excess crop production and expanding the use of underutilized arable land, the government spokesman Themba Maseko said on Thursday. 



Pakistan: With edible oil sources going in fuel tanks, what would people consume? 

“The competition between supermarket and corner filling stations is increasing in the world particularly in western countries, and farms can not feed people and their vehicles at a time which ultimately make more to go hungry,” Professor Ishaq Head of Economics Department at local university said. 



Canada's oil sands industry: Made in China? 

This raises the convoluted possibility that, in order to satisfy China's energy needs, China plans to build oil sands extraction rigs and ship them to Canada, where they will produce oil which in turn will be sent back to China, where it will no doubt power the further expansion of China's industrial infrastructure. 



Russia's East Siberia: from Gulag to oil frontier

VANKOR FIELD, Russia - Half a century ago, Josef Stalin banished his foes to labor camps in East Siberia.  Now volunteers are lining up to drill the frozen wastelands for their vast reserves of oil. 



Nigerian militants claim oil attack, threaten more

ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has claimed responsibility for a raid on an oil export terminal on Thursday in which four expatriate workers were kidnapped.  MEND, which staged a series of attacks on the oil industry in February that shut down a fifth of Nigeria's production capacity, threatened to launch more attacks within days. 



Oil analysts say deregulation will increase players

As China deregulates oil products and crude oil wholesaling in line with its WTO commitments, analysts foresee an accelerated opening-up of the local oil market. 



John Michael Greer: Solstice 2100: Q&A

I think it was in ’59 that Bonney had all the solar engines moved to army bases and government factories, and not long after that the little bit of power we got from the dams down in Tennessee got requisitioned too.  All the coal was going to the military by then, too, turned into fuel for tanks and planes, and during the Mexican war everything that could be made into fuel was requisitioned and used up.  I haven’t seen coal for sale here in twenty years — not that any decent person would use it, mind you.  Earth Mother deserves better from us than that. 



The 12 Step Programme for Breaking Oil Dependency - a useful tool for powerdown groups



Al Gore on DVD: The Truth Will Set You Free



Can we grow our way out of an energy crisis?