News from July 2006

Analysis: $100 Oil No Reason Yet to Panic

(UPI) — It`s been just over a year since Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs released a report stating that oil prices could spike to more than $100 per barrel in the near future, which caused more than a few eyebrows to be raised and created mild panic in the energy markets. Since then, however, the [...]

Southern Basin’s riches lure global giants

Global oil giants are showing “unprecedented” interest in exploring the Great South Basin, which the Government has now opened for business after a legal stoush. Associate Energy Minister Harry Duynhoven announced yesterday the start of the bidding process for 40 offshore blocks containing oil and gas south of the South Island. The 360,000sqkm area is [...]

Dark as a Dungeon

Dark as a Dungeon by Dale Allen Pfeiffer Introduction In the wake of the recent mining tragedies in West Virginia, letThen natural gas prices surged upward as supplies became difficult to obtain. Overnight, the power companies awoke to the truth: natural gas may be abundant in the world, but in North America, production is already [...]

The Oil Drum: A Conversation with Vinod Khosla, Part 2

In my recent essay Vinod Khosla Debunked, I challenged Mr. Khosla to a written debate on his recent ethanol claims. Mr. Khosla e-mailed me shortly after that essay appeared, and offered to discuss the matter by phone. I wanted to first make sure he understood my objections, so we exchanged several e-mails in which I [...]

The Three Energy Wars

“We are practically in an energy war. The price of a barrel of petrol has multiplied threefold” (in the last two years), the French Finance Minister Thierry Breton told Europe 1 radio station on July 25. Contrary to the contention of the French minister, the world in fact is locked in three energy wars, not [...]

The dirty secret behind Kyoto

The U.S. chose economic growth over reducing emissions – but so have many of the countries who actually signed on to the Kyoto treaty. NEW YORK (Fortune) — The green fundamentalists have never been shy about casting the first stone. If the world fries because of climate change, they thunder, it will be America’s fault. [...]

Earth may not survive our denial

What will happen to civilization as we know it when we run out of oil? I’ve probably spent too much time lately reading books with depressing titles like Our Final Hour by Martin Rees, The End of Oil by Paul Roberts or The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler. These are writers who aren’t afraid [...]

While Lebanon burns, the Saudis feign impotence

“For the Saudis, the Lebanese and Palestinians are It

Trading in housing futures

…Gemma and Sam currently rent a home in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. There is no way they could afford to buy a house anywhere near as close to the city as they now live. They will have to choose between staying close to work and continuing to rent, buying a flat or unit in [...]

Converging Ecological Crises: Are We Up To The Challenges?

There is a very substantial volume of highly credible writing, for anyone that wants to see it, that warns us that humankind has only a few decades left in which to I urge that readers do not escape by