News from December 2008

California’s OriginOil seeks better way to grow algae

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – One could say they are working on the green slime that could change the world. In an unassuming converted warehouse in Los Angeles, the 10 employees of OriginOil are working to perfect the way microscopic algae is grown and refined. They hope that within a few years the methods they use [...]

Roller coaster petroleum

Lots of people have asked me — and pretty nearly every other geologist in the nation — what The reality is, there

Alternative energy companies stung by tight credit

Alternative energy stocks were battered on Wall Street in 2008 as volatile commodity prices, a continuing global recession and tightening credit markets drove one ethanol company into bankruptcy protection and sent shares of others down more than 90 percent. Wind and solar companies fared slightly better, but the worldwide economic downturn overshadowed $17 billion in [...]

Oil out with a bang with 14% spike

Crude prices rally near the close of trade as Russia moves to cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The price of oil jumped Wednesday, capping a volatile year with a swing of $7 from the session low to the close, as investors responded to news of a possible supply disruption [...]

Gazprom: Russia to cut gas supplies to Ukraine

MOSCOW (AP) But Miller said Gazprom would continue full shipments to the European Union, which gets about a quarter of its gas from the Russian company, most of it through pipelines that cross Ukraine. The Ukrainian president’s energy adviser, Bohdan Sokolovsky, also said Ukraine would guarantee the delivery of gas to Europe. “Whatever Russia ships [...]

Obama’s big oil decision

Despite his hopes for renewable energy, Barack Obama faces tough choices early in his term on whether to extract more oil within the US. Americans are still years, maybe decades, from kicking the oil habit. One reserve The certainty stops there, however, as several oil firms such as Shell and Chevron test ways to extract [...]

Feds approve gas drilling plan for Montana

Drilling has boomed over the past decade in neighboring Wyoming BILLINGS, Mont. – The Bush administration has approved a plan that could allow more than 18,000 natural gas wells to be drilled in southeastern Montana over the next two decades. The decision by C. Stephen Allred, assistant secretary for land and minerals management at the [...]

Oil palm fruits left to rot in Indonesia as prices fall

PETALING JAYA: Low crude palm oil (CPO) prices and poor transportation have led to fresh fruit bunches (FFB) being left to rot in Indonesia and the situation has been a near miss for Malaysia. Smallholders in Indonesia had been facing this problem since October when the CPO price hit a low of RM1,390 a tonne [...]

Saudi Arabia oil taps to be tightened again

LONDON – Top exporter Saudi Arabia is set to cut oil supplies further in the new year, potentially taking output below its agreed OPEC target, as it strives to shore up a collapsing market, oil market sources said on Tuesday. It lowered supply to 8.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in December as the oil [...]

The Peak Oil Crisis: Civil Unrest

Before grappling with 2009, it might be useful to remind ourselves that there is a dark side to what lies ahead. There was a little flurry in the news last week when it was discovered that the Army War College had released a report talking about preparing for civil unrest in the U.S. When you [...]