Carpooling numbers on the rise

(DenverPost.com) - Someplace between Kipling Street and the Mousetrap, somewhere between the driver’s seat where Brian Scarborough sipped hazelnut coffee and the shotgun seat where Brian McCall slurped regular, at some mark on the radio dial between Rush Limbaugh and NPR, a commuting insurgency began.

The three people riding from Arvada to Greenwood Village in Scarborough’s BMW station wagon concluded they had become committed carpoolers, rather than random employees thrown together by $4 gas. One month into their experiment, and the three road warriors have gladly given up their American birthright to drive to the office alone.

“You find out it’s easy. You don’t have to give up too much freedom,” McCall said on a recent workday as the BMW sped past Belleview Avenue at 6:42 a.m. “I used to feel guilty as the only person in the car. If gas went down to $2 a gallon, I’d still carpool.”

READ MORE HERE [ Source: DenverPost.com, Michael Booth ]

Good news, bad news

(EnergyBulletin.net) - I starting reading the news, and following links, and reading a backlog of articles I've been meaning to read, and lo and behold, I noticed a pattern. Our society is changing. We rely so much on oil, that as the price skyrockets, we have no choice but to change. Are you noticing a shift?

read more [ Source: EnergyBulletin.net ]

Peak caviar

(EnergyBulletin.net) - Once, black caviar from the Caspian Sea was ubiquitous in Russia in its typical blue cans. Now, it has disappeared. "Peak Caviar" has taken place around 1980 in Russia. ... "Peak Caviar" is another confirmation of how common the "Hubbert" behavior is. It doesn't matter if a resource is theoretically renewable, as sturgeons and whales are. If sturgeons or whales are killed much faster than they can reproduce, then they behave as a non renewable resource; just as crude oil.

read more [ Source: EnergyBulletin.net ]

Per capita US military energy consumption

(EnergyBulletin.net) - We all know that energy consumption per capita in the U.S. is amongst the highest in the world. How much is the per capita consumption in the Department of Defense? 25 per cent more than the U.S. average.

read more [ Source: EnergyBulletin.net ]

Russia takes control of Turkmen (world?) gas

(BuzzFlash.net) - From the details coming out of Ashgabat in Turkmenistan and Moscow over the weekend, it is apparent that the great game over Caspian energy has taken a dramatic turn. In the geopolitics of energy security, nothing like this has happened before. The United States has suffered a huge defeat in the race for Caspian gas. The question now is how much longer Washington could afford to keep Iran out of the energy market. Curiously, the agreements reached in Ashgabat on Friday are unlikely to enable Gazprom to make revenue from reselling Turkmen gas. Quite possibly, Gazprom may now have to concede similar terms to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the two other major gas producing countries in Central Asia. In other words, plain money-making was not the motivation for Gazprom. The Kremlin has a grand strategy. Russia and China have a heavy agenda to discuss in energy cooperation far beyond the price of Turkmen gas supplies. But suffice it to say that Gazprom's new stature as the sole buyer of Turkmen gas strengthens Russia's hands in setting the price in the world gas (and oil) market. And that has implications for China. Moscow would be keen to ensure that Russian and Chinese interests are harmonized in Central Asia. Besides, Russia is taking a renewed interest in the idea of a "gas cartel". Medvedev referred to the idea during the visit of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Moscow last week. Note: Continuation in the comments section.

» original news

Oil hits high near $146, then eases _ but not much

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices briefly soared to a new high near $146 a barrel Thursday, extending the previous day’s record-shattering rally before easing somewhat as the dollar gained ground against the euro.

Americans hitting the road for the July Fourth holiday were confronted with an unwelcome record of their own: The average retail price for regular gasoline jumped to within two-tenths of a penny of $4.10 a gallon, according to AAA, the Oil Prices Information Service and Wright Express.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: The Associated Press ]

Oil prices a speculative bubble? Not so fast!

The breathtaking run-up in oil prices is linked to the crisis of world financial institutions. What the U.S. Government should not do.

The quadrillion dollar question is, of course, “Why the breathtaking run-up in the price of oil?”

U.S. congressional hearings on the subject and the potentially controversial decision of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to inspect and scrutinize the U.S. financial sector (blamed in part for the price explosion) reflect grave and growing worldwide concerns.

Oil remains on the front burner this summer.

Analyses and commentaries, virtually in the millions, keep contrasting “market fundamentals” with “speculation” (“real” with “financial” factors). It may be argued that this is a false dichotomy. Much of what is treated as “speculation” ought to be considered among “fundamentals” once we extend this category to include some harsh and unchangeable realities in international monetary and financial affairs.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Energy Bulletin ]

Prices & speculators - June 28

Although some policy-makers have blamed producing countries for steadily rising oil prices, many experts say more fundamental factors are a growing demand-supply imbalance, a weak dollar, and market speculation.

"Most members of OPEC are already producing at peak capacity, and Saudi Arabia, which has the greatest spare capacity, has been incrementally increasing its production --with the result that its spare capacity has been plunging to relatively low levels," Dariush Zahedi, a research fellow at the Institute of International Studies in at UC Berkeley, told IPS.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Energy Bulletin ]