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| Has Peak Oil gone Mainstream? |
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 Of course, geologists and oil industry insiders have been familiar with it. Whiskey & Gunpowder readers are certainly familiar with it. And so is a subset of Lexus liberals who like Peak Oil because it dovetails nicely with their Malthusian and anti-capitalist worldview.
But all of a sudden, awareness of Peak Oil is spreading exponentially. It started today, and will only grow from here.
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| Nigeria: Niger Delta - Financial Crisis Hits Shell |
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| Production looses arising from the protracted Niger Delta crisis and alleged inability of the Nigerian Government to properly fund its own share of the Joint venture has put the Shell Petroleum Development Com-pany of Nigeria (SPDC) in a financial crisis.
THISDAY checks revealed that the Royal Dutch Company is cash-strapped and has been finding it difficult to meet some of its financial obligations.
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| Nothing can rise exponentially, even if it is crude Oil. The asset's exponential rise is more an indication of an ending trend and not vice versa.
There aren't any chilly warnings of Oil heading to $200, like many in OPEC believe. Does OPEC really know? The axiom linked with $40 plus Oil, as harbinger of recession has been long trashed and now not only we are waiting for recession but also for $200 Oil. It all seems a bit strange.
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| Surging food prices bite across Asia |
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| From the rice paddies of Asia to the wheat fields of Australia, the soaring price of food is breaking the budgets of the poor and raising the specters of hunger and unrest, experts warn.
A billion people in Asia are seriously affected by the surging costs of daily staples such as rice and bread, the director general of the Asian Development Bank, Rajat Nag, has said.
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| Why high oil prices are not squeezing us more |
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| Indeed, why isn’t the rise in prices we have seen already having more of an effect? For those who were brought up on the rule of thumb that every 10% rise in oil prices led to a 1% drop in global growth, the resilience of economic activity in response to sky-high oil is surprising.
Those rules of thumb are, however, no longer relevant, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. In January 2007, oil dipped briefly below $50, and futures markets pointed to a price over the next six to seven years in the $50s and low $60s. When the institute did its latest assessment, oil was above $100 and the curve suggested it would stay around that level.
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| Is ExxonMobil's future running dry? |
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| The petroleum giant is shying from risky exploration and spending money on buying back stock. Over the long haul, those moves could lead the company to go private or disappear.
Are we witnessing the death of ExxonMobil?
Strange question to ask with oil above $120 a barrel and ExxonMobil reporting $11 billion in first-quarter profits?
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| Mystery Indian analyst spooks world economy |
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| They are calling him Arjun "Spike" Murti, but his real middle name is Narayana, the supreme manifestation of the Hindu God Vishnu.
Supreme he is, in the oil world. The little known Indian analyst at Goldman Sachs has become a cause celebre -- or a doomsday prophet -- for his forecasts about oil prices, based on what he calls the "super-spike" theory, predicated on rising demand for crude and limitations in refining capacity.
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| Vietnam starts construction on 6 billion dollar oil-refinery |
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| Energy-hungry Vietnam started building its second oil refinery on Saturday, a 6.2 billion dollar complex, in a bid to feed the nation's booming economy, the State Oil company announced.
Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation (PetroVietnam), the oil monopoly in the communist nation, set up a joint-venture with its counterparts from Japan and Kuwait to build Nghi Son refinery in the north of the country.
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| Oil price surge threatens airlines |
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| Guest writes: Almost all the world's airlines are heading for significant losses if oil prices stay at their current level, experts have warned as crude touched a record high.
City analysts said the price rise - up to $126 a barrel in New York - could also trigger a decline in air travel.
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| Stop whining, Schwarzenegger tells carmakers |
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| coyote writes: Create technologies to meet tougher Calif. emissions, governor says
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger met privately with seven auto executives over California's attempt to impose strict emission rules, but let it be known publicly that he told the carmakers to stop whining and start producing.
The Republican governor met Thursday with the executives, who requested the get-together. In an interview afterward, he said he told them "the train has left the station" and that they should stop challenging California rules that are intended to help slow the rate of global warming.
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| Japan Airlines says back in profit, but sees drop ahead |
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| Japan Airlines Corp. said Friday that it had returned to profit in the year to March after two straight annual losses, but forecast a 23 percent drop in earnings this year amid high fuel costs.
Asia's largest carrier has moved to restore its financial health by slashing thousands of jobs, scrapping unprofitable routes and stepping up lucrative business class services.
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| Ensuring the Future of the Oil and Gas Industry |
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| The energy industry needs no crystal ball to get a glimpse into the future. In addition to upcoming projects, discoveries and technologies, oil and gas companies clearly see the immediate and long-term need for employees. A major topic of discussion at OTC 2008, the industry is undertaking a number of initiatives to encourage and ensure future generations of oil and gas employees.
Despite the rising price of oil, experts predict that the oil and gas industry will experience a void in employees in the coming years. In addition to the "Graying Workforce" phenomenon, there simply are not as many young people joining the industry.
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| Toyota's so-called tumble |
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| Guest writes: NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Flag-waving American loyalists were heartened to see the announcement that Toyota's January-to-March profit sank 28%. It provided evidence that even mighty Toyota can't escape the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - the deadly combination of high fuel prices, surging raw material costs, the global credit crunch and a strong yen.
...But what came after that should have drained the smiles from their faces faster than a run-in with Tony Soprano. Toyota made a forecast for the next 12 months that is just as grim as its results over the last three. Toyota sees hard times. And if Toyota - the industry's biggest, strongest player - catches a cold, most of the rest will likely develop pneumonia.
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| Stocks tumble as oil nears $124 a barrel |
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| Guest writes: NEW YORK — Wall Street tumbled today as the price of a barrel of oil soared to a record near $124 and touched off concerns that the stock market's recent gains might have been premature while consumers grapple with rising energy and food costs. The major stock market indexes each lost more than 1.5 percent, with the Dow Jones industrial average declining by more than 200 points.
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| Squeezed airlines clip wings |
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| Several US airlines, roiled by unrelenting fuel costs, disclosed this week that they are winnowing daily flights to certain destinations, eliminating entire routes, and in some cases withdrawing from airports - and this is just the beginning.
A Goldman Sachs report issued yesterday indicated such cuts will not be enough to compensate for the cost of fuel.
"We expect carriers to explore any and all options - capital raises, foreign capital infusions, strategic transitions, asset sales, alliances - in an attempt to bolster their positions financially and strategically in this quickly deteriorating environment," wrote analyst Christopher Cuomo. "But in a world of sustained $100-plus oil, we are not convinced these actions can provide enough relief to offset the challenges that lie ahead."
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