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.

warning: Creating default object from empty value in /var/www/drupal-6.28/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc on line 33.

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.

Big Oil Strike in Brazil has Tongues Wagging, but We Continue Towards Peak Oil

By Pedro Prieto, Tlaxcala. Posted May 7, 2008.

Since the 1980's, the world has discovered less oil than it has consumed every year.

note: This was translated from the Spanish original by Miss Machetera, proprietor of the Machetera blog.

The world press, especially the Western press and specifically the financial press, has jumped all over the headlines of the discovery of a huge oil field in Brazil's continental shelf.

Oil hits record near $127 as Iran mulls output cut

Oil hits record near $127 as Iran mulls output cut
Reuters
May 13 2008

NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters) - Oil surged to a record peak near $127 on Tuesday after OPEC producer Iran said it was studying a plan to cut output despite signs record-high prices are hurting consumer nations.
U.S. crude jumped $2.00 to $126.23 a barrel by 1:45 p.m. EDT (1745 GMT), after striking a record $126.98 earlier. London Brent crude rose $1.61 to $124.52 a barrel.

Native People Warn U.N. of Biofuels Disaster

From the article below: "Experts on agro-economics say biofuels production is
largely responsible for the current food shortages and soaring prices. The crisis,
according to them, is not going to end unless the rich countries change their energy
consumption patterns.

If rich nations stopped biofuels production this year, it would lead to a price
decline in corn by about 20 percent and wheat by about 10 percent within the next
two years, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, a think
tank in Washington."

________________________

International Energy Agency admits to 12.5 million barrel per day oil supply shortage

Update: IEA Warning 12.5 MBD Supply Shortage
News Type: Event — Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:47 AM EDT
world-news, energy, peak-oil, iea, ele, energy-scarcity
Gumwars

I have retrieved the entire document translated to english by Cappella, a member of the Life After the Oil Crash blog forum. Please read it carefully as it portends significant difficulties for all of us.

"The Sirens Shrill"

The International Energy Agency (IEA) gives alarm: The world could run out of oil faster than expected - the danger of a supply shortage is rising

Exxon oil production struggles for growth

Exxon oil production struggles for growth
By Sheila McNulty in Houston and Carola Hoyos in London

Published: May 1 2008 14:55 | Last updated: May 1 2008 23:09

ExxonMobil, long regarded by its peers and investors as the most
successful interational oil company, is beginning to show signs of
weakness, revealing on Thursday that it is struggling to increase oil
production and to squeeze profit out of its refining business.

The world's biggest energy group announced a first-quarter record
profit of $10.9bn but its oil production fell almost 10 per cent in

Uncomfortable truths about global oil depletion

Uncomfortable truths about global oil depletion
By David Strahan
Telegraph UK

Polishing the portholes on the Titanic hardly does it justice. This week saw ministers giving an uncanny impersonation of Corporal Jones urging calm over the Grangemouth refinery strike; lorry drivers protesting in Park Lane over a two pence rise in fuel duty; and much righteous indignation over the level of profits reported by Shell and BP. All of which entirely misses the point.

Bolivian president proposes radical measures to save planet

Bolivian president proposes radical measures to save planet
Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The Political Economics of Greenwashing

April 22, 2008
The Political Economics of Greenwashing
Green as a Blackjack Table
By STAN COX

Hard times are looming. And in their desperation to keep the American economy afloat, government and business will be tossing overboard any proposals for real environmental protection. No time for such romantic foolishness when there are investments to be protected. Get those tax refunds back into retailers' registers, quick!

Oil soars to record above $117

Oil soars to record above $117
Ikuko Kao, Reuters
Published: 48 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - Crude oil prices surged above $117, setting a new record high on Monday because of worries of supply disruptions from major producers and comments by OPEC reiterating there is no need to raise output.

U.S. light crude struck a record high of $117.40 a barrel. It was trading 27 cents higher at $116.96 by 1155 GMT (7:55 a.m. EDT).

London Brent crude also struck its all time peak of $114.65. It was trading at $114.20, up by 28 cents.

U.S. on 'monorail with a cliff at the end,' UA prof warns

The Arizona Republic
Apr. 13, 2008 10:37 PM
Guy R. McPherson is professor of conservation biology at the University of Arizona.

McPherson was the guest last week on Live Talk Wednesday, discussing dwindling oil supplies and what awaits the American Empire. Here are excerpts from the interview, which can be found in its entirety at aztalk.azcentral.com.