U.S. official: little sign of crime-oil price link

NF Reporter · 04-28-2008, 07:02 AM

Reuters - There is little sign organized crime is helping drive up energy prices, a senior Justice Department official said on Friday, despite assertions that such groups were strongly present in world oil markets.

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waltky · 04-29-2008, 02:11 AM

Granny says they should take a closer look - the price of oil is a crime...

Oil Prices Hit New High, OPEC Chief Says $200 a Barrel Possible
28 April 2008 - Crude oil prices edged closer to 120 dollars a barrel and hit a new, record high, fueled by the shutdown of a key pipeline and concerns about violence in Nigeria.

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Crude oil for June delivery hit $119.93 cents a barrel in New York Monday, before easing downward slightly in later trading. Oil prices surged after Britain closed a North Sea oil pipeline, which carries about 40 percent of the country's oil, due to a worker strike. There are also concerns about new attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries says oil prices could go as high as $200 a barrel.

According to the Reuters news agency, OPEC chief Chakib Khelil told Algeria's government newspaper, El Moudjahid, the high prices are a result of the dollar's slide, and have little to do with oil supplies. The record oil prices come as some economists expect two of the world's biggest oil companies, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, to announce record first-quarter profits.

In Britain, officials have arranged to bring in extra fuel supplies to make up for shortages caused by the strike. Seven tankers carrying about 65,000 tons of fuel are due to arrive in the next few days. Britain has seen prices at gas stations rise as consumers have ignored pleas from the government and rushed to buy gasoline before supplies run out.

In Nigeria, attacks on oil facilities are just part of the problem. The Nigerian government is trying to mediate a worker's strike at the Exxon Mobil affiliate. The facility normally produces 800,000 barrels a day, but workers walked off the job, demanding better pay and working conditions. Also today, the anti-corruption group Transparency International issued a report criticizing oil and gas companies for failing to fight corruption. The report rated 42 companies, saying most do not disclose enough information on their dealings with resource-rich countries, hampering efforts to eliminate poverty.

VOA News - Oil Prices Hit New High, OPEC Chief Says $200 a Barrel Possible

waltky · 05-09-2008, 10:39 PM

Granny says deys all in cahoots with each other...

Oil's Broken Record, Surges Above $126
May 9, 2008 - Traders Fear a Fight with Venezuela Could Stop the Flow of Oil

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Oil rose above $126 a barrel for the first time Friday, bringing its advance this week to nearly $10, as investors questioned whether a possible confrontation between the U.S. and Venezuela could cut exports from the OPEC member. On Friday, The Wall Street Journal published a report that suggested closer ties between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and rebels attempting to overthrow Colombia's government. Chavez has been linked to Colombian rebels previously, but the paper reported it had reviewed computer files indicating concrete offers by Venezuela's leader to arm guerillas. That appears to heighten the chances that the U.S. could impose sanctions on one of its biggest oil suppliers.

"If we put on sanctions, I'm sure Chavez would threaten to cut off our oil supply," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. "Obviously that would have a major impact on oil prices." Light, sweet crude for June delivery vaulted to a new record of $126.20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before retreating to settle up $2.27 at a record $125.96.

Oil prices also were boosted Friday by the dollar, which declined against the euro. The European Central Bank said it was unlikely to consider interest rate cuts to cool the strong euro against the slumping dollar. Investors often buy commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation when the greenback falls. A weaker dollar also makes oil less expensive to overseas investors. Many analysts believe the dollar's protracted decline has much to do with the doubling in oil prices since this time last year. Another school of thought thinks tight global supplies of oil, driven by growing demand in countries such as China, Brazil and India, is the primary factor driving oil higher.

More ABC News: Oil's Broken Record, Surges Above $126

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World begins to smart from oil's too rapid rise
Fri May 9, 2008 - From the poorest of Africa to the United States and big business, a breakneck rally that could take oil to $200 a barrel is likely to inflict pain on everyone.

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The world was remarkably resilient to a series of record prices in 2007, but a roughly 30 percent rise since the end of last year, with predictions of more to come, is harder to absorb. "The key issue is the rate of change. The recent exponential rise is unhealthy for everyone," a senior executive from a major oil company said. He declined to be named.

On the first trading day of 2008, oil prices hit the $100 a barrel level, which once seemed unimaginable. The price topped $125 a barrel on Friday, making a rise to $150 probable and to $200 possible, according to OPEC ministers and investment bankers alike.

"If current conditions continue, reaching a period when oil is supplied at $200 a barrel is not out of reach," Iran's Oil Minister Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said this week. Investment bank Goldman Sachs said the possibility of $150-$200 a barrel over the next six-to-24 months was "increasingly likely." The bank was one of the first to point to a triple-digit oil price more than two years ago.

More World begins to smart from oil's too rapid rise | Special Coverage | Reuters

waltky · 06-04-2008, 10:42 PM

139 Billion Barrels of Untapped Oil in USA...

Our Own Oil Cartel
June 04, 2008 - The U.S. government knows where it can get its hands on more untapped petroleum than exists in the proven reserves of Iran or Iraq. So why aren't we pumping it?

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Contemplate this the next time you spend $60 or more filling up your tinny little car with gasoline made from imported oil: The U.S. government knows where it can get its hands on more untapped petroleum than exists in the proven reserves of Iran or Iraq, which have 136 billion barrels and 115 billion barrels, respectively. This unexploited stock of crude is greater than what the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports is in the proven reserves of Russia (60 billion barrels), Libya (41.5 billion barrels) and Nigeria (36.2 billion barrels) combined.

It is more than Hugo Chavez's Venezuela has (80 billion barrels). It is more than is now known to sit beneath the waters and sands of Kuwait (101.5 billion barrels) or the United Arab Emirates (97.6 billion barrels). So, where is all this oil? And why aren't they pumping it? What cartel is holding it off the market, to drive up prices at American gas stations and American supermarkets? What insidious power is stifling the free market for this vital commodity and thus threatening the vitality of our economy?

It is us, of course. We are the culprits. We are responsible for artificially increasing oil prices. It is our oil that sits untapped beneath our deserts, our forests, our swamps and our oceans. It is our politicians -- the ones we freely elected, and re-elected, and re-elected -- who are not allowing our oil to be drilled by us and sold to us. In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, requiring the Department of Interior to inventory the oil resources that could be found both onshore and offshore in U.S. territory. In February 2006, Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) published the report on offshore oil resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). It determined there were 85.9 billion barrels of "undiscovered technically recoverable" oil sitting off our beaches.

Just this offshore portion of our undiscovered oil is more than all the proven oil in Venezuela, and more than all the proven oil in Russia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain combined. What does the government mean when it says this oil is "undiscovered technically recoverable" oil? It means we can go get it with off-the-shelf technology, but the government makes no judgment about the profitability of doing so. This oil, the government says, is "in undiscovered accumulations analogous to those in existing fields producible with current recovery technology and efficiency, but without any consideration of economic viability."

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waltky · 06-08-2008, 01:52 AM

Why we don't use more of our own oil to be energy independent...

U.S. Policies Put Most U.S. Oil Off-Limits to Drilling
June 06, 2008 - Huge basins of untapped oil can be found on federal lands throughout the United States, according to a new report from the federal government.

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But much of it cannot -- and may never be -- recovered, because it lies under national parks and national monuments, or it is subject to environmental laws and restrictions that make drilling prohibitive. The report, which was produced at the request of Congress by the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), said there are 279 million acres under federal management where oil and gas could potentially could be extracted. More than half of it is totally off-limits to drillers.

"The total onshore resource is 31 billion barrels," said BLM's lead scientist Richard Watson, who authored the report. "Of that, 19 billion barrels are currently inaccessible or 62 percent. A little over 2 billion barrels, or 8 percent, is accessible under what we call standard lease terms." If you add in the 85.9 billion barrels of oil that lie offshore, as determined by the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, there are 117 billion barrels of oil on lands owned or managed by the U.S. government. But all expansion of offshore oil recovery is currently off-limits.

Adding in what's available on privately held land, the figure rises to 139 billion barrels of oil, according to the government - more than the known oil reserves of Iran, Iraq, Russia, Nigeria or Venezuela, respectively. The biggest untapped land-based oil deposit in the United States lies within ANWR, the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, which is currently off-limits.

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Lawmakers Split on Drilling for Vast Amounts of Oil in USA
June 06, 2008 - Members of Congress interviewed by Cybercast News Service on Thursday were split on what to do about huge amounts of oil within U.S. territory that remains untapped because of U.S. laws and regulations.

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A report released by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) last month estimates there are 139 billion barrels of untapped, recoverable oil onshore and offshore in the United States. Two Republican congressmen say they support removing regulations in order to drill for the oil, while two Democrats say they oppose immediate action.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) told Cybercast News Service he was aware of the BLM report . "You've got that right," he said. "We can't get it (the oil) because the environmental elitists are preventing that with moratoria saying it would take ten years to get it developed," he said. Rep Mike Pence (R-Ind.) also said Congress ought to deregulate to allow more drilling. "I am more concerned about global warming and the impact of fossil fuel," he said.

House Ways And Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y) told Cybercast News Service he needs to study the issue more before deciding if regulations should be removed to allow more drilling. "I haven't studied enough to make that decision," Rangel said. When pressed on whether he thinks some of the oil resources estimated by BLM ought to be available for American consumption, Wrangel replied: "Yes, but there are other issues that could cause damage. That's what hearings are for. We have to have hearings and have experts and study the pros and cons."

The 139 billion barrels of undiscovered oil that the Interior Department estimates the U.S. possesses is more oil than is reported by U.S. Energy Information Administration to exist in the proven reserves of all countries except Saudi Arabia and Canada.

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