Energy security and America

by Tony Hayward , Group Chief Executive, BP, London Energy security is a front-of-mind issue for the people of the world. We face the difficult fact that the current market environment is a tough one, and the energy industry is working hard to keep the energy flowing. The oil price is close to the real-term […]

Increasing global demand for energy: Challenges and opportunities

The energy crisis has started and the world is about to go through a profound and wrenching change. We face an energy crisis never before confronted in human history . Energy for transportation , manufacturing and everyday living will have to come from other sources than the one we use now , most likely less […]

U.S. consumers’ wallets hit by weak greenback

NEW YORK A further drop in the U.S. dollar in 2008 could spell more trouble. Dave Minucci listens to the chatter on Wall Street about the flagging dollar but doesn’t have to look far to cast his own assessment. A recent home-heating bill was $120 (U.S.) higher than at the same time last year. But […]

Shell completes repairs at Scotford upgrader

CALGARY, Alberta, Dec 31 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc completed repairs to its fire-damaged Scotford oil sands upgrader and is now producing in excess of half its 155,000 barrel per day capacity of synthetic oil, with full output expected next month. Shell spokesman Randy Provencal said on Monday that repairs were complete on both […]

Oil’s wild ride

Crude looks set to finish a volatile year with the biggest yearly price gain since 1999. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Oil prices look set to end 2007 with the biggest gain this decade, climbing nearly 60 percent since the start of the year. But the ascent has been anything but steady. Crude prices are on […]

Kunstler: Forecast for 2008

For the tiny fraction of people who actually pay attention to real events — those, for instance, who know the difference between Narnia and Kandahar — the final hours of 2007 leading into the fog-shrouded abyss of 2008 must induce great racking shudders of nausea. Has there ever been a society so exquisitely rigged for […]

Shanghai’s first fuel store to cost $71 mln

BEIJING, Dec. 31 — Shanghai’s first emergency fuel storage facility will cost 520 million yuan (71.2 million U.S. dollars) to build, nearly double the original budget, the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park said at the weekend. A foundation-laying ceremony was held on Saturday at the chemical park, about 50 kilometers southwest of the city proper. Construction […]

A Question of Blame When Societies Fall

…Dragoon is also home to an archaeological research center, the Amerind Foundation, where a group of archaeologists, cultural anthropologists and historians converged in the fall for a seminar,

Coal-to-Chemicals Projects Boom in China

For years China has been a magnet for the chemicals industry, attracting European and American companies with its cheap production costs and growing market. Now China has another attraction for the energy-intense chemical industry: vast supplies of coal that can replace oil and natural gas as raw materials for chemical production. In the last two […]

The new energy crisis

The year 2007 surged ahead on a number of levels and set many new records. The Dow blasted through 13,000 and drove on to 14,000. Natural gas remained more or less flat relative to its volatility in 2006, but crude continued to remain historically high with recent trade orders in the high $90s/bbl. Oil may […]

What the Tar Sands Need

Processing requires massive inputs of water, energy, land, labour For each barrel of oil produced from the tar sands, between two and 4.5 barrels of water is needed. The water is used in the process of extracting bitumen from the naturally occurring the tar sand. The bitumen is later “upgraded” into synthetic crude oil. In […]

Does the Future Need a Legal Guardian?

Given the human tendency to favor current needs over future risks, some environmental and legal scholars are proposing that governments at various levels appoint a She is proposing that such a guardianship begin with the next presidency. Below you

New England can lead the new energy boom

AMERICA NEEDS to shake its dependence on foreign oil. Our entire economic infrastructure is built on cheap energy, and with oil prices touching $100 a barrel, it is clear how vulnerable we have become. The global oil extraction rate is approaching an all-time peak, and global warming is at the top of the international agenda. […]

Oil above $96, eyes biggest gain this decade

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil rose above $96 a barrel on Monday, heading for its biggest annual gain this decade as dwindling fuel stocks and growing concern over political turmoil offset the impact of a softening U.S. economy. …With prices starting the year at around $61, oil is now up almost 58 percent. It hit an […]

For car sales, this year may mark worst in 10

High gas prices, housing slump, weakening economy discourage shoppers DETROIT – Industry analysts are predicting a lackluster end to an already dismal year for automakers, likely the worst in nearly a decade. Holiday discounts failed to bring consumers out of their funk, and December sales are expected to fall around 4 percent, which would bring […]

Hypercar – A great innovation and prospect for America.

The car of the future is not only going to come standard with a hybrid powered engine; rather, the whole concept of a car from the ground up will be an entirely redeveloped mobility machine. A fine example is the Hypercar, a vehicle designed in reverse; featuring ultra light construction, hybrid-electric drive, low-drag design and […]

Sudan: ‘Contractors Have the Freedom to Do What They Want’

An oil-fuelled construction boom is giving Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, an ever shinier veneer. However, some fear that this building spree is taking place at environmental cost. “The construction industry is changing land use. They’re cutting the green areas in Khartoum and creating residential areas. It’s not very well planned, and is already having a negative […]

Emissions control: A challenge for financial sector

The financial services industry is one of the groups most heavily affected by adaptation to climate change. Insurance companies are being hit by the increase in extreme climate events and by the resulting costs. Global reinsurers in particular will incur substantial additional costs in the coming decades. The damage caused in recent years gives an […]

Breakthrough on mystery of vanishing bees

Over the past year, honey bees have been dying across North America in unprecedented numbers and, until this month, no one seemed to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt what the cause may have been. What has been dubbed “colony collapse disorder” can work through a honey bee colony in a matter of […]

Vietnam: Ministry mulls fund to hedge spikes in petroleum prices

Importers of refined petroleum products would be required to contribute to a fund to hedge against volatility in global prices, under a draft regulation being circulated by the Ministry of Finance. The director of the ministry’s Pricing Management Department, Nguyen Tien Thoa, said the regulation would mandate importers contribute a part of their profits to […]

Peak Oil: A Crude Awakening

Ask most people, and they’ll probably tell you global warming is our greatest global obstacle. Some will even say something like terrorism or illegal immigration. Frankly, I thought I was pretty damn clever spotting the global credit bubble, and believed it to be the greatest global crisis we’d face in our lifetimes (i.e., something on […]

Fears for jobs at oil giant Shell

There are fears that oil giant Shell is preparing to shed around 3,200 jobs in the latest cost-cutting move by the industry. The company has told staff it is planning to outsource “a substantial part” of its IT infrastructure services division, believed to comprise a total of 3,600 staff.Detailed consultations with workers affected begin early […]

Brazil’s oil ‘blessing’ is no energy panacea

The discovery by state-controlled oil company Petrobras had Brazilians giddy with excitement. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called Petrobras “a blessing from God,” and his chief of staff declared Brazil could now proudly rub shoulders with the world’s major oil producers. It was a landmark moment for a nation already blessed with more than […]

Indonesia making headway on higher oil and gas production

Upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas says it is upbeat about achieving next year’s oil production target, although this year’s output expectations will not be achieved. BPMigas deputy chairman Abdul Muin said recently that next year’s target of 1.034 million barrels of oil per day was achievable on the back of an expected increase in […]

Grim Brown warns of a bleak year for Britain

Gordon Brown today issues a bleak assessment of the world economy as he braces Britain for a year of belt tightening in the wake of the credit crunch. In a strong warning, which sets the backdrop for a campaign to revive his premiership, Brown tells Britain to prepare for ‘global financial turbulence’ in 2008. ‘Our […]

Oil Exploration Conflict With Iraq Corners SK Energy

SK Energy is still mulling over a tough call between discontinuing oil exploration in the Kurdish region and losing Iraqi oil imports. The nation’s top oil refiner has been cornered to make this decision after a conflict that surfaced last week when an angered Iraqi government threatened to cut off crude exports should the Korea-Kurds […]

2007 a year of weather records in U.S.

WASHINGTON – When the calendar turned to 2007, the heat went on and the weather just got weirder. January was the warmest first month on record worldwide U.S. weather stations broke or tied 263 all-time high temperature records, according to an Associated Press analysis of U.S. weather data. England had the warmest April in 348 […]

Pakistan: Oil stocks deplete as economic shutdown continues

Electricity generation may halt for Punjab, NWFP and Balochistan ISLAMABAD: The crippling effect of the complete economic shutdown following Benazir Bhutto’s tragic assassination is likely to impact oil refining soon if supplies of crude and furnace oil are not restored, further complicating the overall supply situation and the worsening law and order, experts and officials […]

Alarm at Gazprom’s Serbia move

Gazprom’s offer to take control of Serbia’s state-owned petroleum monopoly has divided the Serbian government and sounded alarm bells about the cost of Moscow’s political support. The Russian state-run gas group aims to pay The terms of the offer, which the government has confirmed is under negotiation, would be sweetened by Gazprom’s promise of a […]

Mexico Police Arrest Drunken Group Vandalizing Pemex Plant

(Bloomberg) — Mexican authorities arrested at least 10 people vandalizing a Petroleos Mexicanos facility last week, the state-owned oil company said. The men were drunk and caused minor damage to a pipeline at the El Salitre plant in the central state of Guanajuato, said Carlos Ramirez, spokesman for the company, in a telephone interview. Ramirez […]

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