Campesinos Vs Oil Industry: Bolivia Takes On Goliath Of Globalization

Olivera — a shoe factory worker by trade — says oil and gas are vital to the sort of country the people are creating. “We want a different country,” he says, “and for that we need an economic base.” He sees Bolivia’s oil and gas reserves — second only to Venezuela on the continent — as the obvious economic foundation.

Britain’s energy time bomb

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned that Britain’s growing need for energy over the next decades has to be seen in a “changing context” due to declining production from the North Sea.
“By 2020, we will probably be importing three-quarters of our primary energy needs — and we will need to adapt to that,” he warned when launching his government’s first-ever International Energy Strategy.

Iran’s nuclear politics

Tehran’s sense of strategic encirclement, allied to Washington’s hostile rhetoric, could make Iran the epicentre of the next regional crisis….Once more, the politics of energy, especially oil, emerges as the most potent hidden factor in regional political insecurity.

China-Iran tango threatens US leverage

After a week of intense bargaining, Iran has again agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment program to avert United Nations sanctions, further undermining US-led international efforts to curb Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. And with the emergence of an ever-stronger partnership between China and Iran, Washington’s woes are far from over.