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a community peak oil portal
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| Airlines on edge even as crude falls |
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 vox_mundi writes: Outside the energy sector, no other industry is as vulnerable to high oil prices as airlines. Soaring fuel prices, by far their biggest operating cost, diverted billions of dollars this year that otherwise would have flowed to their bottom line.
So finally, some welcome relief. Crude-oil futures fell as low as $75 a barrel in New York trading Wednesday, down by nearly half from the record-high $147 they hit back in July. Typically, this would give airline stocks a huge lift. So why is the benchmark Amex Airline Index still down 47% this year?
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| Oil slips below $75 for first time since last year |
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 Crude oil fell below $75 a barrel for the first time in more than a year on skepticism that a rescue of the world's banks will be enough to avoid a recession and stem a decline in global fuel demand.
Oil, which has followed movements in equity markets this month as the credit crisis deepened, fell as stocks dropped today. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its 2009 demand forecast for a second month because of "dramatically worsening" conditions in financial markets.
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| Memos tell wildlife officials to ignore global-warming impact |
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 vox_mundi writes: WASHINGTON — New legal memos by top Bush administration officials say that the Endangered Species Act can't be used to protect animals and their habitats from climate change by regulating specific sources of greenhouse gas emissions, the cause of global warming.
One of the memos, from the Interior Department's top lawyer, concluded that emissions of greenhouse gases from any proposed project can't be proved to have an impact on species or habitat, so it isn't necessary for federal agencies to consult with government wildlife experts about the impact of such gases on species as stipulated under the Endangered Species Act.
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| ...Similarly, it was the “Peak Oil” theorists who warned of spiking oil prices and strains on the refinery system, only to be dismissed as amateur nerds and tinfoil-hat chiliasts—until $4-a-gallon gas and winter heating bills brought the new reality home. It was James Howard Kunstler, the author of The End of Suburbia and The Long Emergency, who warned with scourging wit and rococo imagery in his weekly online column that high gas prices, suburban sprawl, decaying infrastructure, the machinations of hedge-fund greedheads, and Wall Street necromancy were converging into a Hurricane Katrina–size “cluster****” that would deform the social and political landscape. In his August 25 column, Kunstler wrote, “I’m rather convinced that the carnage on the money scene will be so extreme this fall that the nation will seem to have been transformed from a superpower to a basketcase before November 4th, and that the blame for this state of affairs will be blindingly obvious: the people in charge for the past eight years looted the treasury, destroyed the currency, and left the machinery of capital a smoking wreckage.” Within a month, the carnage Kunstler envisioned not only got worse but gained velocity as mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae required an emergency federal bailout, fabled Merrill Lynch disappeared into the maw of Bank of America, Lehman Brothers went belly-up, A.I.G. was rescued, and the Dow lost 500 points in one day, the worst loss since 2001. Billions of dollars of bad loans devoured by boll weevils, thousands of well-paying jobs liquidated in a single stroke, stock portfolios turning into scarecrows before one’s eyes, and who knew what awaited over the next hill?
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| National Priorities Project: The real cost of oil |
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| A new report shows US spends billions to defend access to global energy reserves
NORTHHAMPTION, Mass. - According to a new report from National Priorities Project (NPP), the United States is spending between $97 and $215 billion dollars annually on military action to defend access to oil and natural gas reserves around the globe. The Military Cost of Securing Energy provides a critical analysis of the military cost of defending U.S. energy concerns overseas. The report estimates that the military spends up to 30 percent of its annual budget to secure access to energy resources internationally.
Along with the report, NPP has released corollary fact sheets on energy consumption and renewable alternatives (nationally and by state) and published a web-based quiz to help translate and disseminate these complex findings. These materials contain information about the various options for taking action and moving forward with more sustainable energy planning. The report, facts sheets and quiz can be accessed online here.
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 The 13 members of OPEC pumped an average of 32.47 million barrels per day in September according to a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials. This is down -330,000 bpd from August and reflects output declines in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Angola. That is still 507,000 bpd over their current production quotas. It looks like they are still trying to squeeze out that last buck on falling prices.
Saudi production fell by -170,000 bpd, and 100,000 bpd from Iraq and Angola. Iran and Ecuador also fell slightly. Libya increased production by 50,000 bpd. OPEC will meet again on Nov 18th to lower production targets again. It won't make any difference if they don't honor the new quotas any better than they honored the current quota.
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| Iraq underwater oil pipelines need urgent repair: FT |
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| DUBAI - Vital Iraqi oil pipelines are in such dire condition they could burst at any time, which would disrupt regional supply, harm Iraq's economy and could cause an environmental disaster, the Financial Times newspaper reported.
The underwater pipelines that connect storage tanks near the southern Basra oil terminal to offshore tanker fuelling terminals need urgent replacement or repair, the newspaper said on Wednesday, citing a previously undisclosed notification to the US Congress.
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| Candidates disagree on oil companies' tax rate |
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| ExxonMobil earned after-tax profits of $41 billion and paid $14.5 billion in worldwide income taxes in 2007 — the highest in corporate history in both categories. The world's largest oil company is on track to smash both records in 2008, despite a recent decline in oil prices.
Should it pay higher taxes?
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| Political Momentum Grows For US National Transmission Grid |
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 Graeme writes: Momentum is growing in Washington for a federal high- voltage power grid to spark growth of U.S. renewable energy supplies and decrease the country's dependence on energy imports.
Lobbyists and regulators are urging lawmakers to create a national high voltage transmission system that they say would allow renewable projects such as wind and solar farms to flourish.
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| George Soros on the Clean-Energy Economy |
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| Graeme writes: Last Friday, in an interview with Bill Moyers on PBS, George Soros, who has made billions of dollars based on his ability to read the ebb and flow of markets, suggested that investing in alternative energy technologies, refurbishing aging electricity grids and pursuing household energy efficiency, among other green strategies, could yet save the global economy.
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| Charging ahead on batteries |
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| Graeme writes: The global effort to bring low-emission battery-powered vehicles to the masses could find oil giant Exxon Mobil playing a supporting role.
On Monday, the world's largest oil company announced it is working with U.S. battery maker EnerDel to develop lithium-ion battery technologies for hybrid and electric vehicles.
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| More Flexible Method Floated To Produce Biofuels, Electricity |
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ScienceDaily (Oct. 14, 2008) — Researchers are proposing a new "flexible" approach to producing alternative fuels, hydrogen and electricity from municipal solid wastes, agricultural wastes, forest residues and sewage sludge that could supply up to 20 percent of transportation fuels in the United States annually.
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| Don't let crisis push climate off agenda: Barroso |
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 BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The head of the European Commission appealed to EU leaders on Tuesday not to sacrifice the fight against climate change to the urgent economic problems thrown up by the global financial crisis.
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the credit crunch was no reason to go back on ambitious EU plans to combat global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, cutting energy consumption and promoting alternative energy sources.
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1. Oil and the crash
2. OPEC
3. Bidding for Iraqi oil
4. Investment in oil production
5. Briefs
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| Wave and tidal power looks for its footing |
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--The fledgling ocean energy industry is awash in ideas for making electricity from moving water but it is still reaching for a toehold in the commercial world.
Greentech Media last week released a summary of an ocean energy report that forecasts great potential for wave and tidal energy.
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