Some Oil News

[Jo Clute]

A couple of items have been happening with my new -vague- awareness of energy and its implications.




1)  I went to the EAA convention on Saturday.  It was amazing the new information and technology coming out with alternate vehicles.  Although, most of these guys are pro electric vehicles, they really seem to be pro any type of alternate energy besides our addiction to oil.  Members of the Sierra Club were also there discussing what the Arizona Corporation Commission is trying to accomplish with one of the zealots on the commission- who is pro new nuclear plants at all costs claiming that creating nuclear energy is only .03 cents to produce but somehow glosses over the fact that actually building the plant is so exorbitant its beyond comprehension.  Then there is this small fact that the water needed is 50 million gallons a day (forgive me if some of my numbers are off, I am just now able to even retain the concepts of all of some of this stuff)  water which is un-cleanable?  So yeah, the cost of the energy may be cheap but the externalities (the hidden incidental costs that get moved to the public-and the environment unknowingly) are incalculable

They joked that the title of the movie, "Who Killed the Electric Car" should actually be who killed GM and Ford because the Electric Car is thriving and these companies are near bankruptcy.   Toyota and Honda, however are flourishing due to their supplying  the market with what it is screaming for.

The moral of the story of this meeting?   Is that its not the oil companies, its not the government, its not the auto manufacturers that are creating our world wide problem lead by the US, its our very own apathy.  Our buying decisions,  in spite of their known consequences,  has created and maintained what is now a "global crisis"  One other thing I thought was pertinant ithat was brought up by one of the Sierra Club members, is that we should vote by splitting the ticket if necessary.  Vote the candidate that is going to take these global issues seriously whether they are Green, Democrats, Republicans, or the like.  

2)  I never understood what 'peak oil' was, what it meant and what it caused and is going to cause but I am starting to.....Basically 
.Peak Oil is where the production of Crude Oil fails to keep increasing and starts to decline.  This happened in the US in 1971.   Most everyone by now has heard of global warming in some capacity.  But what I am starting to understand and actually hear from the ones who -I believe- have a fact based knowledge of what is occurring, is that even though Global Warming is putting our planet in eminent danger, it is the economy which will erode first and by 2012 is the number that all these research junkies, energy hobbysts, economy geeks  (and I say this with true admiration),keep putting forth.  It took us 125 years to use the first trillion barrels yet we will use the next trillion in just 30.  (and at what climate costs???)Some say that what we are seeing now is the economic "flutter" which will preceed a dramatic recession based on the current oil economy

I believe, as most of these experts do, that it can be minimized if we-Americans-drastically reduce our demand and do so with absolute urgency.  Also, we need to shift our economy towards alternate energy.  the demand for energy will forever increase, but we can change the type of energy.  Oil doesn't HAVE to mandate our lives, our economy, forever.....  And my favorite simple thought:  Its easier to save energy than to create it...

I am most certain that there are plenty of people with specifics and better recall and knowledge than I have but a few months ago, none of this was something I wanted to even know about it, I blew it off like everyone else.  None of my building decision or buying decision were based on energy.  But my thinking has shifted and now instead of just being familiar with it, I want to know what the heck is going on

The articles attached below this email is the kind of information that I am being sent from the different folks that I have been running across in my plight for knowledge on a multitude of issues.  I hope it is informative even though I admit, I am still struggling to understand most of it.  Some of them came with a disclaimer to just read them with scrutiny and take them for face value. 

Chevron has an interesting websight www.willyoujoinus.com.  The have an oil counter at the top showing our oil consumption second by second

Clute   


----- Original Message ----- 
From:  
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; 
Sent: Sunday, August 06, 2006 11:36 PM



To much news out there this weekend, what happened to a quiet summer.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060806/COLUMNS03/608060309/1238/business
Compounding this problem, energy experts now believe that the Cantarell Oil complex, which had reached 2.1 million barrels a day two years ago, is now in sharp decline. It could be as low as 520,000 barrels a day by the end of 2008, with further downturns after that.



http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060806/oil_field_shutdown.html?.v=10
AP
Major Alaskan Oil Field Shutting Down
Sunday August 6, 11:45 pm ET 
By Mary Pemberton, Associated Press Writer  
Corrosion, Spill Prompt Shutdown of Alaska Oil Field in a Sudden Blow to Nation's Supply 



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13936129/

BP closes some Alaska wells after allegations
Whistleblowers claim leaks, company cites 'abundance of caution'

http://www.niagara-gazette.com/feeds/apcontent/apstories/apstorysection/D8JB9AH80.xml.txt/resources_apstoryview

  
Dubai to Control Offshore Oil Fields 


The Associated Press


HOUSTON - 

The government of Dubai will assume control of its offshore oilfield operations next year under a deal announced Sunday.

ConocoPhillips said its Middle East unit Dubai Petroleum Co. will cede control of the fields to the government's Dubai Petroleum Establishment effective April 2, 2007. The state will then be in charge of all offshore oil and natural gas production.



and a copy of interesting articles, remember they are op ed type things so take what is read not at face value.

Cheers

Geoff

DEFYING TERROR 
By RALPH PETERS 

August 6, 2006 -- They sunned themselves on the beach where Richard the Lionheart fought. Rockets fell 30 miles up the coast. But these Israelis played volleyball. 

They weren't callous. They simply refused to let terror control their lives. 

Some of the swimmers had been displaced by the rocket attacks (although most Israelis refused to leave their homes). Others had relatives fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

Even the children knew war. Their country had been under siege every day of their lives. Genocidal neighbors dreamed of butchering them. Safe in Malaysia, Iran's president preached that the "elimination" of Israel would solve the Middle East's problems. 

But on the beach at Tel Aviv, the kids yelled and splashed, watched over by parents determined to frustrate those who wanted their blood for a vicious god. 

Eight hundred years after a blood-spattered English king swung his sword by Jaffa's walls, kids ate dripping ice cream bars in the sun. The scene had changed profoundly over the centuries. 

But the enemy remained the same: Those who believe Islam is destined to subjugate all other faiths and races. 

The struggle may never end. In the meantime, one of the many ways to defy the Islamo-fascist enemies of joy is to go to the beach - no chadors, thanks - and laugh. 

Of course, there's a war on. It's harsh, and it's hard. The worst fighting is only a few hours up the highway. Behind the front, Israelis argue about the government's errors, failed strategy and dubious tactics. 

But even those debates, in a cafe or in Israel's tough-minded media, are another act of defiance. The terrorists would like to put an end to all of the world's debates forever. 

The Israeli genius for argument, which can seem comical to an outsider, is one more source of the nation's strength. And all debates aside, Israelis overwhelmingly support their troops and the battle with Hezbollah. 

Terrorist rockets may kill Israelis, but they can't even make a dent in Israel's spirit. 

We Americans do not know what it's like to live surrounded by those who long to see our children lying dead, who cannot accept the fact of our survival. Even in this Age of Terror, we live in remarkable safety. And I pray that we will never be threatened by such hateful foes as Israel must face. 

But Israel must live with hatred and jealousy on its borders. Its many successes humiliate its neighbors - just as its freedom alarms them. 

It's long been a cliche to note that Israel "made the desert bloom" after long centuries of Arab abuse of the soil itself and the destruction of the Biblical landscape of "milk and honey." But the settlers and their children who built Israel did more than irrigate orange groves. They built a civilization where there had been only neglect, decay and oppression. 

Above all, the Israelis planted democracy and the rule of law in fields that had been hostile to elementary human decency and dignity for thousands of years. 

And on the seventh day, they went to the beach. 



The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil? 
Publication time: Today at 12:51 Djokhar time 


Is there a relationship between the bombing of Lebanon and the inauguration of the World's largest strategic pipeline, which will channel more than a million barrels of oil a day to Western markets? 

Virtually unnoticed, the inauguration of the Ceyhan-Tblisi-Baku (BTC) oil pipeline, which links the Caspian sea to the Eastern Mediterranean, took place on the 13th of July, at the very outset of the Israeli sponsored bombings of Lebanon. 

One day before the Israeli air strikes, the main partners and shareholders of the BTC pipeline project, including several heads of State and oil company executives were in attendance at the port of Ceyhan. They were then rushed off for an inauguration reception in Istanbul, hosted by Turkey's President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in the plush surroundings of the Çýraðan Palace. 

Also in attendance was British Petroleum's (BP) CEO, Lord Browne together with senior government officials from Britain, the US and Israel. BP leads the BTC pipeline consortium. Other major Western shareholders include Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, France's Total and Italy's ENI. (see Annex) 

Israel's Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer was present at the venue together with a delegation of top Israeli oil officials. 

The BTC pipeline totally bypasses the territory of the Russian Federation. It transits through the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Georgia, both of which have become US "protectorates", firmly integrated into a military alliance with the US and NATO. Moreover, both Azerbaijan and Georgia have longstanding military cooperation agreements with Israel. 

Israel has a stake in the Azeri oil fields, from which it imports some twenty percent of its oil. The opening of the pipeline will substantially enhance Israeli oil imports from the Caspian sea basin. 

But there is another dimension which directly relates to the war on Lebanon. Whereas Russia has been weakened, Israel is slated to play a major strategic role in "protecting" the Eastern Mediterranean transport and pipeline corridors out of Ceyhan. 


Militarization of the Eastern Mediterranean 

The bombing of Lebanon is part of a carefully planned and coordinated military road map. The extension of the war into Syria and Iran has already been contemplated by US and Israeli military planners. This broader military agenda is intimately related to strategic oil and oil pipelines. It is supported by the Western oil giants which control the pipeline corridors. In the context of the war on Lebanon, it seeks Israeli territorial control over the East Mediterranean coastline. 

In this context, the BTC pipeline dominated by British Petroleum, has dramatically changed the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean, which is now linked , through an energy corridor, to the Caspian sea basin: 

"[The BTC pipeline] considerably changes the status of the region's countries and cements a new pro-West alliance. Having taken the pipeline to the Mediterranean, Washington has practically set up a new bloc with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Israel, " (Komerzant, Moscow, 14 July 2006) 

Israel is now part of the Anglo-American military axis, which serves the interests of the Western oil giants in the Middle East and Central Asia. 

While the official reports state that the BTC pipeline will "channel oil to Western markets", what is rarely acknowledged is that part of the oil from the Caspian sea would be directly channeled towards Israel. In this regard, an underwater Israeli-Turkish pipeline project has been envisaged which would link Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon and from there through Israel's main pipeline system, to the Red Sea. 

The objective of Israel is not only to acquire Caspian sea oil for its own consumption needs but also to play a key role in re-exporting Caspian sea oil back to the Asian markets through the Red Sea port of Eilat. The strategic implications of this re-routing of Caspian sea oil are farreaching. 

What is envisaged is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel's Tipline, from Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon. In April 2006, Israel and Turkey announced plans for four underwater pipelines, which would bypass Syrian and Lebanese territory. 

"Turkey and Israel are negotiating the construction of a multi-million-dollar energy and water project that will transport water, electricity, natural gas and oil by pipelines to Israel, with the oil to be sent onward from Israel to the Far East, 

The new Turkish-Israeli proposal under discussion would see the transfer of water, electricity, natural gas and oil to Israel via four underwater pipelines. 

"Baku oil can be transported to Ashkelon via this new pipeline and to India and the Far East.[via the Red sea]" 

"Ceyhan and the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon are situated only 400 km apart. Oil can be transported to the city in tankers or via specially constructed under-water pipeline. From Ashkelon the oil can be pumped through already existing pipeline to the port of Eilat at the Red Sea; and from there it can be transported to India and other Asian countries in tankers. (REGNUM ) 


Water for Israel 

Also involved in this project is a pipeline to bring water to Israel, pumping water from upstream resources of the Tigris and Euphrates river system in Anatolia. This has been a long-run strategic objective of Israel to the detriment of Syria and Iraq. Israel's agenda with regard to water is supported by the military cooperation agreement between Tel Aviv and Ankara. 


The Strategic Re-routing of Central Asian Oil 

Diverting Central Asian oil and gas to the Eastern Mediterranean (under Israeli military protection), for re-export back to Asia, serves to undermine the inter-Asian energy market, which is based on the development of direct pipeline corridors linking Central Asia and Russia to South Asia, China and the Far East. 

Ultimately, this design is intended to weaken Russia's role in Central Asia and cut off China from Central Asian oil resources. It is also intended to isolate Iran. 

Meanwhile, Israel has emerged as a new powerful player in the global energy market. 


Russia's Military Presence in the Middle East 

Meanwhile, Moscow has responded to the US-Israeli-Turkish design to militarize the East Mediterranean coastline with plans to establish a Russian naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus: 

"Defense Ministry sources point out that a naval base in Tartus will enable Russia to solidify its positions in the Middle East and ensure security of Syria. Moscow intends to deploy an air defense system around the base - to provide air cover for the base itself and a substantial part of Syrian territory. (S-300PMU-2 Favorit systems will not be turned over to the Syrians. They will be manned and serviced by Russian personnel.) 

Tartus is strategically located within 30 km. of the Lebanese border. 

Moreover, Moscow and Damascus have reached an agreement on the modernization of Syria's air defenses as well as a program in support to its ground forces, the modernization of its MIG-29 fighters as well as its submarines. (Kommerzant, 2 June 2006). In the context of an escalating conflict, these developments have farreaching implications. 


War and Oil Pipelines 

Prior to the bombing of Lebanon, Israel and Turkey had announced the underwater pipeline routes, which bypassed Syria and Lebanon. These underwater pipeline routes do not overtly encroach on the territorial sovereignty of Lebanon and Syria. 

On the other hand, the development of alternative land based corridors (for oil and water) through Lebanon and Syria would require Israeli-Turkish territorial control over the Eastern Mediterranean coastline through Lebanon and Syria. 

The implementation of a land-based corridor, as opposed to the underwater pipeline project, would require the militarisation of the East Mediterranean coastline, extending from the port of Ceyhan across Syria and Lebanon to the Lebanese-Israeli border. 

Is this not one of the hidden objectives of the war on Lebanon? Open up a space which enables Israel to control a vast territory extending from the Lebanese border through Syria to Turkey. 


"The Long War" 

Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert has stated that the Israeli offensive against Lebanon would "last a very long time". Meanwhile, the US has speeded up weapons shipments to Israel. 

There are strategic objectives underlying the "Long War" which are tied to oil and oil pipelines. 

The air campaign against Lebanon is inextricably related to US-Israeli strategic objectives in the broader Middle East including Syria and Iran. In recent developments, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice stated that the main purpose of her mission to the Middle East was not to push for a ceasefire in Lebanon, but rather to isolate Syria and Iran. (Daily Telegraph, 22 July 2006) 

At this particular juncture, the replenishing of Israeli stockpiles of US produced WMDs points to an escalation of the war both within and beyond the borders of Lebanon. 



Michel Chossudovsky is the author of the international best seller "The Globalization of Poverty " published in eleven languages. He is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Center for Research on Globalization, at www.globalresearch.ca . He is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His most recent book is entitled: America's "War on Terrorism", Global Research, 2005. To order Chossudovsky's book America's "War on Terrorism", click here. 

kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2006/08/05/5202.shtml 
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