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Billions of Barrels Could Mean Trillions of Government Dollars; Media...

Oct 6, 4:27am    (1 review)  petroleum, us, oil, congress, gas  http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/...

Billions of Barrels Could Mean Trillions of Government Dollars; Media AWOL | NewsBusters.org From the page: "The government collects royalties on oil and natural gas when it is extracted. Peterson’s office obtained information from the Minerals Management Service and the Energy Information Agency showing that the average offshore royalty rate, which is based on market prices of the resources when extracted, is 15.17%. Earlier this summer, the Congressman's office prepared this summary (available in HTML format here) of how much royalty money is just sitting there offshore: Even if you adjust Peterson’s calculations to reflect current prices of roughly $100 a barrel for oil and $8/mcf for natural gas, the royalties locked up still amount to over $1.8 trillion (about $500 billion from natural gas, and $1.3 trillion from oil). But that’s only the beginning." . .

Pajamas Media » Iran's Oil Woes Threaten the Mullahs

Sep 26, 3:44am    (1 review)  oil, iran  http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/irans-oil-w...

Iran's Oil Woes Threaten the Mullahs From the page: "The Iranians see no hype in the danger which the falling price of oil entails for them. This concern was openly expressed by Iran's oil minister, who said that as far as his government is concerned, "$100 a barrel was the lowest appropriate price." Meanwhile, at the recent OPEC meeting, Iran failed to convince other members to cut production, in order to push oil prices up. Therefore, unless there is a serious event, the government of President Ahmadinejad may find itself facing the nightmare scenario of falling oil prices. With presidential elections 10 months away and sanctions hurting, this is the last thing Ahmadinejad needs. High oil prices have been like a morphine injection which has kept the sick Iranian economy alive. Despite oil and gas income for this year jumping to $81 billion, representing a whopping 31% increase from last year, Iranian people have seen no improvement in their economic welfare. If anything, the situation is getting worse. Inflation has reached the post-revolution record level of 27%. To make matters worse, the government of Ahmadinejad is coming up with new ways to reduce subsidies which Iran's citizens receive. First it introduced its controversial petrol-rationing scheme in June 2007. This scheme failed miserably in its plans to reduce traffic and pollution. Now the Ahmadinejad government wants to reduce government subsidies paid to Iranian families for their gas and electricity bill as well. The first part of this plan, which many Iranians find very annoying, involves each family filling out forms from the government, in which they have to declare their income and assets. Many rich people are openly saying that they are cheating, because declaring a high income could translate into a serious fall in the subsidies received. Others are withdrawing money from the banks in order to hide it from the government inspector's prying eyes, thus leading to a fall in savings levels." Iran is in a pinch. And it's economy continues to be fragile. .

Political Diary - WSJ.com

Aug 10, 4:15pm    (1 review)  politics, oil, obama, political-advertising, presidential-campaign  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12183171...

Exxon's Candidate From the page: "Democrats think they can gain some extra political mileage -- tires properly inflated, of course -- by linking John McCain to the oil-and-gas industry. This week, the Democratic National Committee debuted an advertising campaign that floats Exxon as the GOP running mate. Har, har. Barack Obama, meanwhile, is up with television spots that accuse Mr. McCain of being "in the pocket of Big Oil" before touting a plan for a windfall profits tax. But wait. According to FEC data examined by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics in a new report released this past week, Exxon executives and employees have broken in favor of Mr. Obama over Mr. McCain this election cycle -- by $41,100 to $35,166. Chevron's and BP's contribution margins also favor the Democrat -- by about $6,600 and $4,500, respectively. Guess those Democratic commercials now could use a footnote or two." It seems as though Obama's team has failed - one of many - at arithmetic. .

China warns ExxonMobil: Drop deal with Vietnam - MarketWatch

Jul 21, 8:30am    (2 reviews)  china, oil, viet-nam, south-china-sea, spratly-islands  http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ch...

China warns ExxonMobil: Drop deal with Vietnam - MarketWatch From the page: "China has warned U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM: 81.79, +0.25, +0.3%) to drop an exploration deal in the seas off Vietnam and said the project could threaten any future mainland contracts, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Sunday. ... Last year, China criticized a joint deal between Vietnam and U.K. energy giant BP PLC (BP: p.l.c. BP 62.29, -0.11, -0.2%) near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, saying the area has been an "indisputable part of Chinese territory since ancient times." The report quoted Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung saying it needed to be "clearly asserted" that Hanoi's dealings with foreign oil partners fell entirely within Vietnam's legal rights and sovereignty. China and Vietnam - who in 1979 fought a short border war after Vietnam expelled the Beijing-backed Khmer Rouge from Cambodia - also fought a brief naval battle in 1988 near the Spratly Islands." .

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 07/18/2008 | Power of one: Pelosi vows to...

Jul 20, 4:52pm    (1 review)  politics, us, oil, oil-drilling, pelosi, offshore-drilling  http://www.mcclatchydc.com/staff/rob_hot...

Power of one: Pelosi vows to block offshore drilling vote From the page: "A plan to lift the ban on coastal drilling is stalled on Capitol Hill, for one simple reason: A Californian who opposes President Bush's proposal is calling the shots in the House of Representatives. Despite growing public support for ending the ban, even in California, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she won't allow a vote. "I have no plans to do so," Pelosi said Thursday. It's an example of the vast power placed in the office of the speaker, who sets the agenda for the 435-member House. Members can force a vote if enough of them sign a petition, but that's a rarity because it requires rank-and-file Democrats to line up against their boss. In this case, Pelosi is going against a rising tide of public opinion. Faced with rapidly increasing gasoline prices, 73 percent of Americans now favor offshore drilling, according to a poll conducted by CNN/Opinion Research Corp. Support is even growing in California, where a majority of residents have long supported the ban. A new Field Poll survey shows that just 51 percent now favor the ban, compared with 56 percent in 2005. Pelosi made her remarks in a wide-ranging interview with CNN, in which she grabbed headlines for saying Bush was "a total failure" who had lost credibility with Americans on his handling of the war, the economy and energy issues. She said Congress has been forced "to sweep up after his mess over and over and over again."" The attractiveness of individual intelligence can be a matter of taste, and in the case of Pelosi I must say, or choke with a lie, that she is not an attractively intelligent person. But as they say in Eastern Europe, she would have made one hell of a fine Bolshevik. .

Iraqs Oil Surge - WSJ.com

Jul 6, 6:00pm    (1 review)  iraq, oil, congress  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12152098...

Iraq's Oil Surge - WSJ.com From the page: "Here's a thought experiment: Assume that Iraq's democratic government declared it was nationalizing its oil industry, a la Venezuela or Saudi Arabia, while excluding American companies from the country. How do you think U.S. politicians would react? With angry cries of "ingratitude" and "this is what Americans died for"? Of course they would, led no doubt by that critic for all reasons, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. So it is passing strange that Mr. Schumer and other Senators are now assailing Iraq precisely because it is opening up to foreign oil companies, especially to U.S. majors like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. For some American pols, everything that happens in Iraq is bad news, especially when it's good news for the U.S. Iraq announced this week that it is inviting global competition to develop its major oil reserves, with 35 oil companies invited to bid. By tapping outside capital and expertise, Iraq hopes to increase production by 60%, providing a much-needed boost to its own coffers and the world's tight oil supply." Schumer is the man who made certain hearings on the Mt Carmel massacre would never explore the truth. And Schumer has a certain zeal to promote a lie as a truth. When I read about him, my mind immediately associates him with the word 'pathological'.

FOXNews.com - Oil Making Overnight Millionaires in North Dakota - Local...

Jul 3, 1:00pm    (2 reviews)  petroleum, oil, millionaires  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,3742...

RIA Novosti - Russia - Russia prepares for future combat in the Arctic

Jun 28, 9:57am    (1 review)  russia, arctic, warfare, oil  http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080624/111915...

Russia prepares for future combat in the Arctic From the page: "Russia must be ready to fight wars in the Arctic to protect its national interests in a region that contains large and untapped deposits of natural resources, a high-ranking military official said in an interview published Tuesday. "After several countries contested Russia's rights for the resource-rich continental shelf in the Arctic, we have immediately started the revision of our combat training programs for military units that may be deployed in the Arctic in case of a potential conflict," Lt. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, who heads the Defense Ministry's combat training directorate, told the Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) newspaper. Under the Law of the Sea, coastal states can declare an Exclusive Economic Zone stretching 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the shore, but this area can be extended if it is a part of the country's continental shelf or shallower waters. Some Arctic shelves extend for hundreds of miles, creating the possibility of overlapping territorial claims. Last August, as part of a scientific expedition, two Russian mini-subs made a symbolic eight-hour dive beneath the North Pole to bolster the country's claim that the Arctic's Lomonosov Ridge lies in the country's economic zone. A titanium Russian flag was also planted on the seabed. Russia first claimed the territory in 2001, but the UN demanded more evidence. The expedition irritated a number of Western countries, particularly the U.S. and Canada. The general said wars "are won or lost long before they start" and combat training was crucial for the success of any future military operations." .

Washington Times - Enron loophole enables oil speculation

Jun 25, 3:30pm    (1 review)  oil, commodities  http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/jun/2...

Here's the reason oil is high priced. Oh, by the way, your congessional representatives know why, too. Remember this when they propose solutions. 'Enron loophole' enables oil speculation If From the page: "The speculative trading that has helped drive oil prices over $135 a barrel continues largely unchecked despite much talk and repeated attempts by Congress and regulators to rein it in this year, top analysts say. As much as 99 percent of the market for U.S. premium crude oil is dominated by big financial firms, hedge, pension and index funds seeking short-term profits from oil's rise. The speculative free-for-all is enabled by a regulatory exemption called the "Enron loophole," after the now-defunct Houston energy trading firm that successfully lobbied for its enactment in 2000. Charles Biderman, chief executive officer of TrimTabs Investment Research, which tracks the flow of money into oil investments, said the more than $2 billion a month flooding into commodity index funds and other oil investments has the potential to create a financial disaster. "At current oil prices, the U.S. is going broke, and the rest of the world is sure to follow," he said. "At $135 per barrel, the U.S. will spend $1 trillion per year on oil, which is equal to 15 percent of the $6.8 trillion in take-home pay of everyone who pays taxes." Mr. Biderman said regulators need to take aggressive action to burst the speculative bubble, but have not done so despite much talk at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission about investigating and pursuing illegal manipulation in the oil market." .

Saudi king lambasts speculators at oil price summit - Yahoo! News

Jun 22, 6:31pm    (1 review)  oil  http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080622/bs_...

Saudi king lambasts speculators at oil price summit From the page: "Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah condemned oil "speculators" on Sunday at a summit on the spiralling price of crude which called for greater transparency in market dealings. Saudi output has risen to 9.7 million barrels a day (bpd), the king said, vowing to further increase production if necessary to defuse market tensions which have sent the price of a barrel of oil up to almost 140 dollars -- sparking angry protests in several countries. The monarch, who said Saudi Arabia would give 1.5 billion dollars to efforts to ease energy shortages in poor nations, told the 36-nation summit his country was "very concerned" about consumers worldwide. He blamed increased oil consumption and taxes on fuel, but added: "Among other factors behind this unjust increase in oil prices is the abhorrent act of speculators acting for their own selfish interests."" Spot on.