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Hints of a Shift at OPEC About a Rise in Oil Output
Jad Mouawad, New York Times
As prices jumped to another record, a member of OPEC signaled on Friday for the first time in months that the oil cartel might increase its output to prick the price bubble.

The comments, from Libya’s senior oil official, Shokri Ghanem, suggested a possible shift in OPEC’s position. Since the cartel’s last meeting in March, OPEC has argued that the market was not lacking in oil supplies and blamed speculators for driving up prices.
(10 May 2008)

Bush prepares to press Saudis on skyrocketing price of oil
AFP
As he travels to the Middle East this week, President George W. Bush is expected to press US ally Saudi Arabia to do more to contain runaway oil prices which threaten to depress both the US and world economies.

... Analysts said it was unclear that the Saudis have any more power to control the ratcheting prices than the Americans.

"If it came down to answering the question: If Saudi Arabia was able to lower prices would they, I think the answer is yes," said James Williams of West Texas Research Group Economics.

"The real question is, in this environment, are they able to do it? And the answer is, I don't know," he added.
(13 May 2008)

European Gas Security
Euan Mearns, The Oil Drum: Europe
This is the talk I was honored to deliver to ASPO Italy on 3rd May 2008 at their annual conference in Turin. 24 slides below the fold plus narrative of what I said on the day.

.. . Natural gas provides 29% of OECD Europe’s primary fossil fuel energy. It is used for:

• Home heating

• Heat and power for industry and commerce
• Electrical power generation
• Feedstock for chemicals and fertilizer

For the last 25 years fossil fuel consumption has been more or less flat in Europe. But as the use of coal has declined, the use of natural gas has increased.

... In the last 40 years, Europe’s consumption of natural gas has increased 19 fold. I think this is really quite an astonishing chart showing how our use of and reliance upon natural gas for fuel has grown.

As we shall see later, this was made possible by rapid growth of natural gas production in the North Sea. This bounty whilst not yet exhausted is getting tired and is about to go into decline causing major problems for European gas and energy security.
(13 May 2008)

These 9 Companies’ New Nanotechnologies Could Help World Stave Off Peak Oil
Energy Tech Stocks
It would be momentous news if a giant new oilfield was suddenly discovered, one that raised global output by perhaps 1% to 3%, roughly around one to 2.5 million barrels a day. Such an oilfield would not prevent global oil production from “peaking,” but it would stave off the day when “peak oil” arrived, if it hasn’t already, giving the world more time to get off its oil addiction.

According to Max Bunger, a nanotechnology expert and research director at Lux Research in San Francisco, if you add up all the additional oil that should be recoverable using new nanotechnologies, it approximates a big new oil discovery. According to Bunger, there are a number of nanotechnologies that have been developed by tech firms over the last five years that the oil industry, which has always been slow to adopt new technology, needs to embrace more quickly - for its own sake as well as the world’s. To be sure, none are silver bullets in terms of getting more oil out of the ground, but each can make a small but significant contribution. Bunger highlighted nine companies that investors may want to keep their eyes on ...
(13 May 2008)
Part 1 of 2.