"A Truthout investigation has confirmed that federal regulators approved at least two hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," operations on oil rigs in the Santa Barbara Channel off the coast of California since 2009 without an updated environmental review that critics say may be required by federal law." 07-13
"The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia to become the world's biggest oil producer before 2020, and will be energy independent 10 years later, according to a new forecast by the International Energy Agency." 11-12
"Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Thursday as winds drove a massive oil spill toward the state's coast and authorities scrambled to mitigate its environmental effects." 04-10
"The oil industry is, of course, hoping that the current price plunge will soon reverse itself and that its now-crumbling maximizing-output model will make a comeback along with $100-per-barrel price levels. But these hopes for the return of 'normality' are likely energy pipe dreams. As van der Hoeven suggests, the world has changed in significant ways, in the process obliterating the very foundations on which Big Oil’s production-maximizing strategy rested. The oil giants will either have to adapt to new circumstances, while scaling back their operations, or face takeover challenges from more nimble and aggressive firms." 03-15
"Drillers in Utah and Colorado are poking into a massive shale deposit trying to find a way to unlock oil reserves that are so vast they would swamp OPEC."
"Both the GAO and private industry estimate the amount of oil recoverable to be 3 trillion barrels."
" "In the past 100 years — in all of human history -- we have consumed 1 trillion barrels of oil. There are several times that much here,' said Roger Day, vice president for operations for American Shale Oil (AMSO)." 11-12
"U.S. oil output is surging so fast that the U.S. could soon overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest producer."
"Driven by high prices and new drilling methods, U.S. production of crude and other liquid hydrocarbons is on track to rise 7 percent this year to an average of 10.9 million barrels per day. This will be the fourth straight year of crude increases and the biggest single-year gain since 1951." 10-12
"Climate change is affecting Europe faster than the rest of the world and rising temperatures could transform the Mediterranean into a salty and stagnant sea, Italian experts said Wednesday. Warmer waters and increased salinity could doom many of the sea's plant and animal species and ravage the fishing industry, warned participants at a two-day climate change conference that brought together some 2,000 scientists and officials in Rome." 04-10
"A vast tract of the Atlantic seabed more than 200 miles off shore is being claimed by a coalition of four European countries eager to expand their oil and gas prospecting rights."
"No country may claim any part of the seabed more than 350 miles from its shore. Once rights are established, states may extract the minerals and natural gas or oil discovered in the annexed seabed." 06-06
"And an astounding 40 percent of the transportation fuel used in Brazil is ethanol. Brazilians say within the next year, they won't need to import a drop of oil. Independence. One official who was in on the ethanol program in its earliest days 30 years ago smiled impishly and told me, 'We won.' "
"In the U.S., ethanol represents only 3 percent of the fuel we burn." 03-06
"Despite today's obsession with the idea of 'peak oil', what really matters to the world economy is not when conventional oil production peaks, but whether we have enough affordable and convenient fuel from any source to power our current fleet of cars, buses and aeroplanes. With that in mind, the global oil industry is on the verge of a dramatic transformation from a risky exploration business into a technology-intensive manufacturing business. And the product that big oil companies will soon be manufacturing, argues Shell's Mr Van der Veer, is 'greener fossil fuels'." 03-06
"Several environmental groups have recently raised concerns about the ties between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the lead lobbyist for the international oil services company TransCanada." Provides a chart showing the proposed route of the pipeline. 12-13
"Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company — $39.5 billion — even as earnings for the last quarter of 2006 declined 4 percent." 01-07
"In 1956, M. King Hubbert predicted that U.S. oil production would peak in the early 1970's. Although Hubbert was widely criticized by some oil experts and economists, in 1971 Hubbert's prediction came true. The 100 year period when most of the world's oil is being discovered became known as 'Hubbert's Peak'. The peak stands in contrast to the hundreds of millions of years the oil deposits took to form. Hubbert's methods predict a peak in world oil production less than five years away." Kenneth S. Deffeyes is author of "Beyond Oil : The View from Hubbert's Peak." 02-06
"Mexican President Vicente Fox has announced the discovery of a new deep-water oil field, which is believed to contain 10bn barrels of crude."
"With at least 3.4m barrels per day, Mexico is Latin America's largest crude producer ahead of Venezuela and Brazil, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA)."
"The oil industry provides one third of the Mexican state income. More than half the crude extracted is exported, mainly to the United States." 03-06
"The technological breakthrough pioneered by George P. Mitchell, the billionaire Texas oilman and philanthropist who died Friday at age 94, reversed the fortunes of the U.S. energy industry and reshaped the global energy landscape."
"As Mitchell was doggedly pursuing the natural gas he and others knew was trapped in thin layers of sedimentary rock under several U.S. states, it appeared to most that the world was running out of oil and gas and what was left was found mostly in the Middle East."
"But after 20 years of trying, Mitchell finally learned how to combine horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing, a process together known now generally as fracking, to release natural gas at a rate fast enough to turn a profit. But the practice has also sparked powerful antagonism, especially in the Northeast, from residents and environmentalists opposed to increased industrial activity in rural areas and concerned that the fracking process or the wastewater it generates can contaminate drinking water." 07-13
"Oil-sand, oil-shale, and coal-to-oil projects – alternative fuel sources that could enhance US energy security – have always faced one hurdle. They look good only when oil prices are high. Now, they have another challenge: global warming."
"California has enacted new climate-change policies that make energy companies responsible for the carbon emissions not just of their refineries but all phases of oil production, including extraction and transportation. If that notion catches on – at least two Canadian provinces have already signed on to California's plan – then the futures of oil-sand, shale, and coal-to-oil projects may look less attractive." 07-07
Provides information on the microbe, Azoarcus tolulyticus, an Anaerobic Toluene Degrader. This microbe can help clean up (bioremediate) pollution, such as oil spills. It needs nitrates, rather than oxygen, to live. 2-01
"With the second-biggest reserves in the world, Iraq's underdeveloped oilfields have become a key negotiating chip and a backdrop to talks between the US and the other permanent members of the UN Security Council – all of which have major economic stakes in regime change in Iraq." 9-02
"The refining portion of a gallon of gasoline has, on average, accounted for about 11 percent of the price in 2011, according to the EIA data through December. That means a little less than 40 cents per gallon would be due to refiners’ costs – wages, equipment, financing and others – plus their profits." 04-13
"The United States will knock off Saudi Arabia as the world's top energy producer by 2015, but its power as a global energy force will fade over the next decade, according to a report from the International Energy Agency."
"But limited reserves will cap the surge in shale oil output within the next 10 years."
"As a major exporter, top producer Saudi Arabia is critical to future energy supplies. By contrast, the United States relies on its newfound energy wealth to power domestic consumption." 11-13
"That’s the net amount of petroleum products that the U.S. exported in 2011, marking the first time since 1949 that the country exported more petroleum products than it imported, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Imports fell to 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd)—the lowest level in 11 years—while exports rose to 2.9 million bpd, largely on the back of strong global demand for diesel fuel. (Diesel has a larger profit margin than gasoline—attractive to refiners—and is used in much greater levels by European countries, where cars as well as trucks often run on diesel.) But this doesn’t mean the U.S. is anywhere near close to being energy independent, at least when it comes to crude oil. The U.S. imported $331.6 billion worth of crude oil in 2011—by far the largest U.S. import of any good. Thanks in part to rising oil prices, that represented a 32% increase from 2010. Translation: while the growth of the U.S. petroleum industry is good for oil companies, the people who work for them and the overall U.S. trade deficit, it’s not likely to relieve the pain at the pump. Trying buying a hybrid instead." 03-12
"Petroleum outlook U.S. oil production is booming. Government projections show domestic oil production will grow by 1 million barrels per day by 2020, though some say those estimates are too conservative. Still, that growth combined with increased use of biofuels and more fuel-efficient cars, will significantly cut the nation’s need for oil imports."br>"The United States' rapidly declining crude oil supply has made a stunning about-face, shredding federal projections and putting energy independence in sight of some analyst forecasts."br>"After declining to levels not seen since the 1940s, U.S. crude production began rising again in 2009. Drilling rigs have rushed into the nation's oil fields, suggesting that a surge in domestic crude is on the horizon." 02-12