News from June 2007

A pipeline into the heart of Europe

…Russia has used the energy card in breaking through the cordon sanitaire assembled by Washington. Three major developments in the past month have brought Russia back into the Balkans. First came what an alarmed American specialist called Moscow’s “Anschluss of Austria”. The reference was to Putin’s visit to Vienna on May 23-24, which has laid [...]

Americans must fuel their own destiny

…In today And that

$70 crude is one more holiday hassle

Despite falling pump prices, refinery outlook and oil futures could lift gasoline prices before season ends Hot dogs, hamburgers, $3 gas and now crude at $70 a barrel …Crude prices are rising on concerns that U.S. refineries, racked with outages this year, are not keeping pace with the nation’s gasoline habit. The point was brought [...]

The True Cost of Oil: $65 Trillion a Year?

Quick: What’s the most common criticism of renewable energy? Right: That it’s not economical. Too expensive compared to cheap oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear. And that’s true, if you have a calculator that can only add, and you don’t count a bunch of stuff. But that’s not the way we do math around here. [...]

Iran regime drowning in oil

THE HARD-LINE regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been frightening neighbors with its meddling-by-proxy in Iraq, Lebanon, and Gaza. The regime’s apparent pursuit of nuclear weapons has also prompted unusual solidarity among the United States, Europe, and Russia; together they have been ratcheting up United Nations Security Council sanctions on Iran, demanding that it [...]

Gas tax money not meeting road needs

…”The motor fuel tax has been a wonderful source of revenue since the ’50s,” said Lowell Clary, the DOT’s assistant secretary for finance and administration. But slow growth in the fuel tax – not just in Florida but also nationally – means there will likely be less road-building money available in a fast-growing state where [...]

Nuclear demand will outstrip supply: CEO

Uranium spot prices are unsustainable at current levels over the long term, the chief executive of miner Cameco Corp. CCO.TO said on Wednesday, but he also forecast global demand for the nuclear fuel outstripping production for the next eight or nine years. Jerry Grandey told reporters at the company’s head office that he expects uranium [...]

Ethanol boom squeezes biodiesel supply

With farmers planting more corn, the price of soybeans is growing prohibitive Farmers saw high prices for corn this spring and planted even more than expected. That may help hold down food prices, but it’s bad news for struggling biodiesel makers who depend on soybean oil. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Friday that farmers [...]

President: Fuel rationing huge move

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called the fuel rationing a huge and complex decision that would make Iran invulnerable. He was referring to the government’s measure last week, taken to curb the country’s growing fuel consumption based on which the fuel needed by the nation’s private and public vehicles will be offered only under a [...]

Mexico’s Calderon sees oil exports falling further

MEXICO CITY, June 29 (Reuters) – Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Friday he expected the country’s crude oil exports to slip further this year and next, continuing a decline seen in 2006. “Starting in 2006, the volume of our oil exports has been falling at an alarming rate and from what we have observed [...]