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Bush will end executive ban on offshore drilling
Jon Ward, Washington Times
President Bush is upping the ante Monday in the debate with the Democratic Congress over offshore domestic drilling, announcing he will lift the executive branch ban, to increase pressure on legislators to follow suit.
Almost a month ago, Mr. Bush called on Congress to lift their ban on offshore drilling and said he would lift the presidential ban, instituted by his father in 1990, whenever Democrats did the same.
Today, however, he is doing what many said he should have done then acting unilaterally and leading by example to put maximum stress on Democrats opposition to offshore drilling.
(14 July 2008)
12mn barrels per day ‘is Saudi Arabia’s oil limit’
Jonathan Leff – Reuters, also in ArabianBusiness.com
Saudi Arabia won’t be able to pump more than 12 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2010, and its sustainable production level will be only 10.4 million bpd, it was reported on Monday.
BusinessWeek magazine cited a field-by-field breakdown of output it obtained from an oil industry executive.
Saudi, the world’s biggest exporter, says it is on track to boost capacity to 12.5 million bpd by the end of next year and said last month it was ready to add another 2.5 million bpd in the coming years in a bid to tame roaring prices fuelled in part by growing fears over limited global supplies.
“The detailed document, obtained from a person with access to Saudi oil officials, suggests that Saudi Aramco will be limited to sustained production of just 12 million barrels a day in 2010, and will be able to maintain that volume only for short, temporary periods such as emergencies,” BusinessWeek reported.
(14 July 2008)
Peak oil media guide
Chris Nelder, The Oil Drum
Recent media coverage of peak oil, and the energy options for the future, has been fraught with misinformation. In such an environment, the average person has little chance of knowing whether oil from ANWR or the Arctic can save the day, or whether there are 1.2 or 12 trillion barrels of recoverable oil out there. But confusion breeds apathy, and that’s not something we can afford anymore. I believe that the impending energy crisis is too urgent to allow misinformation about peak oil to go unanswered. We need to bring the public up to speed on the realities of energy before we can have any sort of intelligent conversation about reforming energy policy.
It is my hope that the Guide will be a “living document” which can be updated and enhanced as time goes on by knowledgeable experts such as those on TOD, and I welcome their input. I’d like it to be as short and to the point as possible, but also as bulletproof as possible in presenting solid information.
This is a short summary of important concepts about peak oil and world oil production, prepared for the benefit of the media. Last revised: July 9, 2008
(13 July 2008)
Le Québec doit conquérir son indépendance énergétique d’ici 2030
Patrick Déry, Ecolo Novo
Le Groupe de recherche écologique de la Baie (GREB) tente de combiner l’écologique, le social et l’économique depuis 1990. Les chercheurs de ce groupe élaborent des solutions et les mettent à l’épreuve de la réalité. Ses interventions ne sont pas que régionales. Ainsi le 14 juin dernier, un des chercheurs du groupe, Patrick Déry, a fait une présentation sur la disponibilité du pétrole pour le Québec jusqu’en 2030 et ses implications, dans le cadre du Forum Perspectives économiques et financières du Québec «Quel avenir pour le Québec ?» organisé par l’Institut sur la recherche du Québec (IRQ). Déry a d’abord détruit trois mythes à propos de l’énergie.
Premier mythe: la principale source d’énergie utilisée au Québec est l’hydroélectricité.
C’est faux. La première source d’énergie au Québec est le pétrole. Celui-ci compte pour tout près de 40% de l’énergie, contre 38% pour l’hydroélectricité.
Dans le domaine du transport, le pétrole domine comme un dictateur de régime de bananes avec plus de 99% de l’énergie consommée! L’éolien? 0,08% de l’énergie; un souffle minuscule sur un pétrolier.
Deuxième mythe: l’exportation d’électricité enrichit le Québec.
Le problème avec cette croyance, c’est qu’elle s’alimente de notre ignorance. Au lieu de diminuer notre dépendance énergétique en consommant davantage d’électricité ici, on la vend à l’étranger et on achète du pétrole.
(11 July 2008)
Related video: La fin du pétrole et l’enrichissement du Québec
