Peak Oil – An Agenda for New Zealand

At present, world conventional light crude oil production is barely keeping up with rising demand. At some point, conventional light crude oil production will peak, and then decline – a phenomenon commonly known as “Peak Oil”. This will lead to a sharp, sustained rise in world oil prices, at which point the world will have entered the post-cheap-oil age. …
Because the implications of Peak Oil are so serious for New Zealand, SEF recommends that the Government, and individuals, start planning for “the Peak Oil crisis” now.

US and China Slipping Into a Conflict Over Oil

Occasionally, there are tipping-point moments and we are witnessing one at the moment. Seismic change is afoot. As oil prices breach $60 a barrel and pessimists warn that the world could be as little as 10 years away from a first-order resources crisis, China’s largest oil company, CNOOC, has launched a $18.5 billion bid for one of the US’s juiciest medium-sized oil companies, Unocal.

Making the World Sustainable

Decades of an “environmental bubble economy” built on the over-exploitation of natural resources has accelerated global warming, environmental degradation, depletion of water and oil, and brought falling crop yields, precipitating a crisis in world food security with no prospects for improvement under the business as usual scenario.

Fossil Fuel Headlines – 11 July, 2005

Staff, Energy Bulletin

Pasadena Conference to focus on peak oil / Peak Oil: the next big thing / Green energy will never meet needs, says Exxon / Oil to Play for As North Sea’s Future Looks Bright / Should we invest in nuclear power? / Singapore Airlines CEO urges consolidation / Snow Visits U.S.’s Biggest Oil Supplier: It’s Not Saudi Arabia / Samuel Bodman – A whole new world of oil price increases / As Energy Shortage Looms, Hu Revisits Russia for Oil / Power Crunch Deepens as Heatwave Bakes China / Asia seeks alternatives to oil power as prices soar / Life of Chinese people under soaring oil price

Sustainability and Environment Headlines – 12 July, 2005

Staff, Energy Bulletin

‘BioWillie’ emerges as energy alternative to fuel costs / Interview with Jules Dervaes of Path to Freedom / Cheap and clean Emission-neutral vehicle getting rave reviews / Nanotechnology could turn rooftops into a sea of power-generating stations / Emissions: It’s Time to Go on a Low-Carbon Diet / China: The good life means more greenhouse gas / China: Where coal is king, everything else is sacrificed / Planet getting into hot water, says report / North Atlantic Ocean Temps Hit Record High

Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling in California

Shepherd Bliss, Energy Bulletin

Expanded efforts to drill for oil and natural gas off the California coast and elsewhere in the US will be among the direct impacts of the growing demands for oil and natural gas as their supplies diminish.

Fossil Fuel Headlines – 8 July, 2005

Staff, Energy Bulletin

The Peak Oil Crisis: Mid-Year 2005 / Oilcast #15: Bank Of Montreal – Saudi & Mexico fields “in decline” / Bush Urges Less Global Oil Use, as US Guzzles It / Oil and Economic Crash Possible This Winter / Oil’s not well, so let’s find alternative / Leadership on energy use ‘will curb high oil prices’ SCO wants date for US withdrawal from Central Asia / Gas pipeline talks: Iran, Pakistan to invite India / Chinese rigs, crews arriving in western Colorado / Left, right: Iran and Venezuela in lockstep / Hu Jintao makes further advances in Kazakhstan / Asian govts face protests as oil subsidies cut while prices hit records / As oil prices rise, shrugs at the gas pump

Sustainability and Environment Headlines – 8 July, 2005

Staff, Energy Bulletin

Portland (USA) proves climate action profitable / Producing ethanol and biodiesel from corn and other crops is not worth the energy / Canada awards $46 million to ethanol plants / Climate Change Solutions Focus of New KLD Index / Wind Power Has A Head Of Steam / UK summer turning to a drought / Earth getting darker as sunlight decreases / Experts Predict Polar Bear Decline – Global Warming Is Melting Their Ice Pack Habitat / Water Shortage May up Japan Utilities’ Oil Demand / Urban sprawl produces rich pickings for farmland owners

Energy-Rich Nations Are Raising Price of Foreign Admittance

LA PAZ, Bolivia – For centuries, this country made it easy for prospectors to mine – from the Spaniards who plundered gold to the tin barons of the 19th century to the multinational energy companies that flocked here in the 1990’s to develop Latin America’s second-largest natural gas deposits. B like many energy-producing countries these days, Bolivia has pulled back the welcome mat. With an angry population demanding a larger share of the benefits, and some groups even calling for expropriation, the government recently raised royalties and taxes to among the highest levels in Latin America.

US lawmakers meddle in CNOOC’s Unocal bid

Washington lawmakers who have expressed opposition to CNOOC’s US$18.5 billion bid for Unocal Corp have received more than US$100,000 in campaign contributions from rival bidder Chevron since 2002, the Financial Times reported, citing publicly available filings in the US.

SA: OPEC wont meet demand in 10 to 15 years

… But private warnings also point to a worsening long-term outlook, with Saudi officials saying that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will be unable to meet projected western demand in 10 to 15 years. …
Saudi Arabia pumps 9.5m b/d and has assured consumer countries that it could reach 12.5m b/d in 2009 and probably 15m b/d eventually. But a senior western energy official said: “They said it would be extremely difficult to move above that figure”.