Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

International oil & gas

Stock markets and global oil interests (including war) would be included here, as would attempts to get oil out of high risk, low return areas from oil shale in Colorado, to natural gas and heavy oil in the high eastern Arctic. The tar sands are part of this trend and should be seen as such. What happens with the tar sands will have a tremendous impact on what kind of choices are made elsewhere, environmentally and socially.

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International Oil & Gas is a category for stories relating to tar sand production or climate change but not in any of the projects already listed geographically. This includes other regions of the planet with horrible environmental and high energy costs that, like the tar sands, are only a "choice" because of high prices and the global depletion of easily recoverable oil reserves. Such issues as the threat of war on Iran, "instability" in Iraq and Venezuela or disasters like Katrina will all drive up oil prices, which in turn doubly encourages tar sand production-- by price demand and energy demand. Stock markets and global oil interests (including war) would be included here, as would attempts to get oil out of high risk, low return areas from oil shale in Colorado, to natural gas and heavy oil in the high eastern Arctic. The tar sands are part of this trend and should be seen as such. What happens with the tar sands will have a tremendous impact on what kind of choices are made elsewhere, environmentally and socially.

French oil giant Total mulls exploiting Congo tar sands

French oil giant mulls exploiting Congo tar sands
October 28, 2008

BRAZZAVILLE (AFP) — French oil company Total said Tuesday that it was considering exploiting tar sands in the west central African country of Congo, where it is the chief oil and gas producer.

"In the future, there are things to do in oil and gas, and -- why not? -- tar sands," the company's director of sustainable development and the environment Jean Michel Gires told the 6th annual World Sustainable Development Forum (WSDF) meeting in Brazzaville.

World will struggle to meet oil demand

by Carola Hoyos and Javier Blas in London

Financial Times FT.com (October 28 2008)

Output from the world's oilfields is declining faster than previously
thought, the first authoritative public study of the biggest fields shows.

Without extra investment to raise production, the natural annual rate of
output decline is 9.1 per cent, the International Energy Agency says in
its annual report, the World Energy Outlook, a draft of which has been
obtained by the Financial Times.

The findings suggest the world will struggle to produce enough oil to

Deputy Premier of Alberta aims to increase trade with Middle East, esp Israel

Deputy Premier aims to increase trade with Middle East

Edmonton... Alberta Deputy Premier and Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations Ron Stevens will support a delegation of 30 Alberta companies to the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC), the largest oil and gas conference in the Middle East.

The four-day conference brings together more than 1,800 exhibitors from around the world, featuring 200 international speakers and is one of the highlights of the Oct. 30 to Nov. 14 mission.

World is facing a natural resources crisis worse than financial crunch

The Guardian October 29, 2008

Biocapacity

World is facing a natural resources crisis worse than financial crunch

Two planets need by 2030 at this rate, warns report
Humans using 30% more resources than sustainable

Juliette Jowit

The world is heading for an "ecological credit crunch" far worse than
the current financial crisis because humans are over-using the natural
resources of the planet, an international study warns today.

The Living Planet report calculates that humans are using 30% more

Energy, Mining Stocks Collapse on Late Day TSX Selloff

Late-day selloff sinks TSX
STEVE LADURANTAYE
Globe and Mail Update
October 27, 2008

A late-day selloff in financial, energy and mining stocks pushed the S&P/TSX to a deep loss Monday, even as commodities recovered from earlier losses.

The S&P/TSX tumbled 8.1 per cent, or 756.75 points, to 8,537.34 points, its lowest close in four years. Manulife Financial, which may need to raise capital to appease regulators, led the downward charge with a loss of 15.3 per cent.

Somebody local with a grudge targeting oilpatch?

Somebody local with a grudge targeting oilpatch?
Stephen Hume
Vancouver Sun
Monday, October 20, 2008

News of a second pipeline bombing in British Columbia's Peace River district splashed across headlines from New York to New Zealand.

Almost as quickly, anxious residents of Tomslake, about 700 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, speculated about al-Qaida, first nations militants and eco-extremists.

BP announces oil discovery in Gulf of Mexico

BP announces oil discovery in Gulf of Mexico
Tue Oct 14, 2008 12:15pm EDT

HOUSTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - BP America Inc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (BP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Tuesday announced that a well drilled in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico has found hydrocarbon-bearing sands.

The well, which BP calls Freedom and partner Noble Energy (NBL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has called Gunflint, was drilled in 6,100 feet (1,860 meters) of water to a depth of 29,280 feet (8,927 meters).

Dirty Fuels and the Bailout

As Dayo noted earlier, the final version of the bailout bill was sprinkled with goodies for renewable energy—including tax credits for solar investments and a one-year renewal of the production tax credit for wind power. Unfortunately, clean energy wasn't the only kind of energy to get a tax break. The bill also contains some sizeable tax giveaways intended to promote what may well be the dirtiest energy sources in existence: oil shale, tar sands, and liquefied coal.

Venezuela goes to natural gas cars

Venezuela goes to natural gas cars
Compiled from Herald News Services
Saturday, October 11, 2008

Venezuela, the biggest oil exporter in the Americas, will trade gas-
guzzlers for new vehicles that run on natural gas and provide drivers
with natural gas for their cars for a year in a bid to boost gasoline
exports.

The old cars will be recycled and the country will profit from
increased fuel exports, President Hugo Chavez said Friday.

"We're going to exchange these mobile squanderers with a beautiful
modern family vehicle that uses gas that doesn't cost anything,"