tagged w/ Oil Supplies
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World oil reserves are far lower than officially reported, the situation far more serious than publicly admitted, and we're already past peak oil. That's the word from two anonymous IEA whistleblowers, The Guardian reports. To add insult to industry, the figures were deliberately massaged, at least in part, to appease the United States:
Apparently the IEA was concerned that reporting the true reserve numbers -- and keep in mind that determining oil reserves is as much art as science -- it would trigger a buying panic.
The US enters the picture encouraging the IEA to underplay the rate at which oil fields are being depleted -- something which the IEA has admitted in recent months is occurring more quickly than previously acknowledged -- while at the same time overplaying the possibility of new large discoveries.
Indeed, when one does the math on how much recent new oil finds, touted as 'huge', actually add to world reserves, the result is usually in days or weeks of additional world supply, not months, still less years.
more at link...
http://www.alternet.org/environment/143888/whistleblowers_say_oil_reserve_numbers_deliberately_inflated_to_avoid_panic%2C_appease_the_usWorld oil reserves are far lower than officially reported, the situation far more... more
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SOFIA (Reuters) – About 1,300 animals in a Bulgarian zoo were left without gas to heat their enclosures Thursday, the latest victims of the Russia-Ukraine supply row.
The zoo in the capital Sofia rushed to switch to electric heaters to keep its elephants, monkeys, parrots, rhinos and hippos warm in the sub-zero temperatures.
"About a third of the animals are vulnerable to cold," said the zoo's director Ivan Ivanov said. "Only the Siberian tigers feel comfortable in these temperatures."
All Russian gas supplies to Europe were halted over a price dispute a day earlier.
Heating was sharply reduced in snow-covered Sofia and hundreds of thousands of people across the Balkans were left in the cold as the impact on the hardest-hit region grew.
Bulgaria and the western Balkans rely almost entirely on Russian gas supplies which are crucial in the winter because utilities use gas to heat homes, offices and factories.SOFIA (Reuters) – About 1,300 animals in a Bulgarian zoo were left without gas... more
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Ever since the Monroe Doctrine, the United States has seen the Caribbean in the way that the Romans viewed the Mediterranean — Mare Nostrum, Our Sea. From the Spanish-American War through the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Central American dirty wars of the Reagan era, Washington was always quick to flex its muscle over the rum-soaked waters that stretch from Florida to Venezuela. The bad news: It ain't our sea anymore, gringos.
"The U.S. let its guard down in the Caribbean after the Berlin Wall fell," says Johanna Mendelson-Forman, a senior associate for the Americas at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "As a result we've gone from unipolarity in that region to multipolarity, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but we're in a real learning phase as to how to deal with it."
Chavez's visit to Moscow this week, not only to buy more than $1 billion worth of anti-aircraft missiles and submarines, but also to commune with growing anti-American resentment in Russia, resurrected old ghosts for some conservative yanqui lawmakers. Florida Congressman Connie Mack declared the Caracas-Moscow partnership "a stark reminder of the Cold War partnership between the Soviet Union and Cuba."Ever since the Monroe Doctrine, the United States has seen the Caribbean in the way... more
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Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is planning to increase its output next month by about a half-million barrels a day. The increase could bring Saudi output to a production level of 10 million barrels a day, which, if sustained, would be the kingdom’s highest ever.
Saudi Arabia is currently pumping 9.45 million barrels a day, which is an increase of about 300,000 barrels from last month.
While they are reaping record profits, the Saudis are concerned that today’s record prices might eventually damp economic growth and lead to lower oil demand, as is already happening in the United States and other developed countries. The current prices are also making alternative fuels more viable, threatening the long-term prospects of the oil-based economy.
Oil prices have gained 40 percent this year, rising to nearly $140 a barrel in recent days and driving gasoline costs above $4 a gallon. Some analysts have predicted that prices could reach $200 a barrel this year as oil consumption continues to rise rapidly while supplies lag.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is planning to increase its... more
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"Retail gas prices surged to a new record above $3.30 a gallon Friday and appear poised to rise further in coming weeks as gasoline supplies tighten.
Oil prices, meanwhile, supported the gas price rally by jumping more than $2 a barrel after a dismal employment report sent the dollar lower."
Apparently the Oil companies forget we might be headed for a recession. If gas is so expensive, why not put more research into alternative fuel sources?"Retail gas prices surged to a new record above $3.30 a gallon Friday and appear... more
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