G-8 Energy Chiefs Discuss Oil Prices

Deep Doubts That Their Actions Can Alleviate Markets

(AP)  Energy chiefs from the world's industrial powers huddled for talks on soaring oil prices Sunday amid deep doubts that their actions can quell markets - or stave off damage to their economies - anytime soon.

Ministers from the Group of Eight nations met in northern Japan in the morning to discuss energy security. They are to be joined later in the day by China, India and South Korea for talks on oil and gas markets, energy investment and climate change.

Five top energy consumers - the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and India - urged oil producers Saturday to boost output to meet growing demand, while pledging to develop clean energy alternatives and increase efficiency.

But U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman warned against hopes for a quick fix.

"We have been three decades without really working on this issue, and it's only been the past three or four years that we have really focused on it," he told reporters Saturday. "This has been a long time coming, and it's not going to be something we're going to work our way out of in a matter of months or even a year or two."

Oil prices made their biggest single-day surge on Friday, soaring $11 to $138.54 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, an 8 percent increase. That followed a $5.50 increase the day before, taking oil futures more than 13 percent higher in just two days.

World oil production has stalled at about 85 million barrels a day since 2005, while global economic growth - boosted by spectacular surges in China and India - has pushed demand to unprecedented levels.

Analysts have also cited the decline of the U.S. dollar, fears about the long-term supply of oil and aggressive speculation as factors in rising prices.

Despite calls for some market relief, the current president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Chakib Khelil, has said that the cartel will make no new decision on production levels until its Sept. 9 meeting in Vienna.

The five nations meeting in Japan on Saturday, which account for more than half the world's consumption of energy, agreed that the sharp surge in oil prices was a menace to the world economy and more petroleum should be produced to meet rising demand.

They argued that the unprecedented prices were against the interests of both producers and consumers, and imposed a "heavy burden" on developing countries.

The ministers also vowed to diversify their sources of energy, invest in alternative and renewable fuels, ramp up cooperation in strategic oil stocks in case of a supply shortage, and improve the quality of data on production and inventories available to markets.

The group diverged somewhat over oil subsidies. The International Energy Agency has estimated that oil subsidies in China, India and the Middle East totaled about $55 billion in 2007.

The United States, which has its own energy subsidies, urged countries such as China to lower its oil supports, which enable domestic consumers to enjoy cheaper gasoline. Subsidies shield consumers from higher prices, meaning consumption does not decline despite rising expenses.

But China and India, while signing on to a statement recognizing the need to eventually phase out such subsidies, argued that removing such supports quickly could trigger political and economic instability.

India is already facing such effects. The government on Wednesday hiked gasoline and diesel prices, triggering protests by angry consumers who blocked rail tracks and roads and shut down businesses.

[frankbowers]

How stange that one speaks of oil for Al. 90% of all the oil produced in Alaska goes to Japan, and the citizens of Alaska then get a bout 10,000 bonus each year fromthis production. As for as this old boy from Tx is concerned it can stay in the ground the citizens of Alaska have robbed us enough.
The best of good byes Frank Bowers of Austin,TX

[gmcnally2]

EESTOR oh EESTOR, wherefore art thou?

[fiberglass3]

AaaBee thanks. That quote is so true!

"If the U.S. switched to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the country would save 3.8 million barrels of oil a day - roughly twice what new drilling would provide - according to the Natural Resources Defense Council."


Electric vehicles are here. So is the future generation of new automobiles. At even $ 3.00 per gallon we just can%u2019t afford to be using gasoline any longer. The higher prices are bringing about the changes that we needed. For now, the high prices are hurting us however the many electric options becoming available are both interesting and inexpensive.

Wonder how long before we start trading Electric Futures?

[patriot12436]

AaaBeee
I agree, but every time a new invention comes on the market it is bought up by the oil industries. Also they haven''t made the hybrids that are affordable yet. I talked to a Honda dealer last year and was told the battery system would have to be replaced every 36k, at the owners expense. Inida came out with a car last month that runs on compressed air, sold for 15k with air conditioning, was on the market for two weeks and disappeared. I bought a ford f-150 pickup 6 cylinder engine before the gas prices went out of sight. I get 25 mpg on highway. I am looking at ways to increase mileage. Only viable option i have found so far is a system called water4gas.com, cost about $200 to install. I am stil checking into seeing if it really works or not.

[patriot12436]

inventagod2
Retirement is great. No rush hour traffic, no companies that don''t appreciate loyal workers, doing what you want when you want.

[feelfree4u]

Hmmmmm....

I wonder why there is no ad here from the petro-terrorists of Exxon-Mobil or Chevron-Texaco?

[shanev137]

The FED made most of this mess happen. They should have been raising interest rates all along, NOT lowering them. That''s why our currency is so weak and why we don''t have any buying power in the global commodities market.

[inventagod2]

High-fives all around the room!
Retirement is looking GOOD!

[usbrit-2009]

Drilling in the Alaska refuge would produce between 1 and 1.5% of the US''s need for oil daily, less given the number of years it would take to begin production. An amount of oil equal to the total ever extracted from all the wells in the US is available by an operation called Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). EOR is more expensive than drilling a new well ($40 per barrel vs. ~$15 per barrel) but with prices closing in on $150, EOR becomes a highly attractive alternative. Why are the oil companies not more interested in EOR?

[noloyalisti]

How many evil war-profiteering sponsors of state terrorism and corporate world domination can you fit in one room? Eight?

Even liberals are rallying for drilling here in addition to finding oil alternative fuel supplies like hydrogen, natural gas, water, air, veggie oil, etc. I say we drill here, become self sufficient, create jobs here with new refineries and drilling, etc. all while developing technologies for several alternative fuels and motors. That technology can be sold to the other countries (like Saudi Arabia) after the world''s oil supply runs out, and after we have pocketed money from our own oil. It''s a win/win for the US.

Even liberals are rallying for drilling here in addition to finding oil alternative fuel supplies like hydrogen, natural gas, water, air, veggie oil, etc. I say we drill here, become self sufficient, create jobs here with new refineries and drilling, etc. all while developing technologies for several alternative fuels and motors. That technology can be sold to the other countries (like Saudi Arabia) after the world''s oil supply runs out, and after we have pocketed money from our own oil. It''s a win/win for the US.

[acolton1]

G-8 Energy Chiefs Discuss Oil Prices here were the minutes to the meeting

1. Oil Prices are hitting new records
2. Poor and Middle class people are upset that they cant afford gas for their 16mpg SUV''s
3. Gas prices are high and people are mad.
4. Why are gas prices high

5. Meeting over now its time for drinks and cocktils and $100 lap dances.

Do you really think that the people meeting and talking about high oil prices actually want them to go down in price.

[forthepeopl1]

The two majority Shi''ite Muslim countries fought an eight-year war in the 1980s, in which 1 million people were killed, but ties have improved since Sunni Arab strongman Saddam Hussein was ousted in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"The two parties, stressing the importance of defense cooperation in the balanced expansion of ties ... called for development of this sort of cooperation with the aim of strengthening peace and stability in the region," IRNA said.

Earlier on Monday, Iran''s supreme leader told Maliki that the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq was the biggest obstacle to its development as a united country.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hit out at the "occupiers" in Iraq at a time when Baghdad is negotiating with the United States on a new agreement aimed at giving a legal basis for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after December 31, when their U.N. mandate expires.

Iran blames the presence of U.S. troops for the violence that followed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq five years ago.

[lochlan-2009]

Are they popping the bubble yet?

[aaabee-2009]

"Kolton said more and cheaper oil will only foster the same culture of big cars and sprawling houses we''ve become accustomed to, and leave us even more dependent on OPEC 20 or 30 years out.

"This is just more of the failed policies of the past," he said.


If the U.S. switched to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the country would save 3.8 million barrels of oil a day - roughly twice what new drilling would provide - according to the Natural Resources Defense Council."

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/3
0/news/economy/oil_drilling/index.htm

[aaabee-2009]

Arctic Drilling Wouldn''t Cool High Oil Prices
Federal energy analysts say it would take 10 years for production to begin, and its impact could be very modest
By Marianne Lavelle
Posted May 23, 2008


Drilling for oil beneath the pristine tundra of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would do little to ease world oil prices, the federal government''s energy forecasters said in a new report issued in a week that saw oil surpass $130 per barrel for the first time.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/05/23/arctic-drilling-wouldnt-cool-high-oil-prices.html

[aaabee-2009]

But given the amount of time it would take to get new drilling projects up and running, and the relatively small amount of oil they''d likely yield, most analysts say more drilling in the U.S. would do little to help solve the world''s dual energy challenge of meeting rising demand while cutting greenhouse gasses.

But the projects would take a long time to come online. Places like the Atlantic coast, thought to be rich in natural gas, lack drilling platforms, pipelines, terminals, storage facilities, and other energy infrastructure. EIA estimates that if Alaska''s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge were opened for drilling tomorrow, oil wouldn''t flow at full tilt until 2025.

Plus, oil is a global market. It''s true that oil pumped in the U.S. could stay in the U.S. But prices will be determined by international, not national, supply and demand.

By 2025, world consumption, currently at about 85 million barrels a day, is expected to swell to well over 100 million barrels a day. That makes 2 million barrels a day look pretty small.

"I wouldn''t say it''s a drop in the bucket," said Greg Priddy, a global energy analyst at the Eurasia group. "But it changes things only marginally over the long term."

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/30/news/economy/oil_drilling/index.htm

[aaabee-2009]

How much money exchanges hands to open up the Alaskan Preserve to oil companies anyway...

"The latest moves to ease restrictions on offshore drilling off the US coast is being pushed by 17 Republican senators who have received $3 million total in campaign contributions from individuals and political action committees affiliated with the oil and gas industry since January 1, 2007."

http://priceofoil.org/2008/05/13/oil-backed-senators-push-coastal-drilling/

[aaabee-2009]

Is the Arctic Reserve the ONLY PLACE TO DRILL??????????

Is that the last bastion of oil there is under ground?

No, it isn''t. Not by a long shot.

Several extremely rich developers and land owners have hundred thousand acre preserves all over the the US. We could drill some of them but no, they don''t want the oil dereks and the big trucks and the ground pollition on their properties. They want it in someone elses back yard.

The Alaskan Preserve is a national treasure kept for everyone. How many drillable places in the US that are being protected by single owners for themselves? We have other drilling choices that are also being blocked by rich land owners that John Q. Public aren''t hearing about.

Pictures of oil drilling pollution:
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/peril_oil_pollution.html