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October 31, 2008 | Falling Oil Prices - Key to Negotiations with Iran

The dramatic fall in oil prices could be the key to Iranian willingness to negotiate about their nuclear program. ++ Despite economic sanctions, Iran has managed to compensate for this financial hindrance via high oil prices, but current trends will intensify sanctions. ++ “30 percent inflation and 11 percent unemployment” will contribute to the oil price crisis – threatening

October 27, 2008 | Production Cuts Send World Economy into a Slump

OPEC’s decision to cut output by 1.5 million barrels has not stopped oil’s slide. ++ Production cuts could result in an even worse crisis. ++ The energy sector is facing a mini crisis with analysts expecting “global demand for crude to fall this year for the first time in a quarter-century,” as consumption slows in the world’s biggest consumer areas like Asia and the

June 24, 2008 | No Easing of Global Oil Prices

The global energy summit meeting in Jidda (Saudi Arabia) had no easing effect on skyrocketing oil prices. ++ The oil exporting countries did not promise to increase oil output as only Saudi Arabia disposes of free capacities. ++ Yet the major consuming countries fear that oil price will lead to global economic recession. ++ A feeling of helplessness becomes evident as each party tries to pass the

June 11, 2008 | Bush Helps Saudis Go Nuclear, Who are we Securing?

Bush is moving toward helping the Saudis develop a nuclear program under the guise of energy security. ++ Considering that Saudi Arabia bathes in oil and basks in sunlight, something is missing. ++ Adding a counterweight to Iran’s nuclear aspirations is what this is actually about. ++ The US should heed the lessons of history, that its addiction to oil spreads extremism and that adding nuclear

June 10, 2008 | "The New World Energy Order"

The future world energy order will have China, India, and Middle Eastern countries rather than OECD countries at its helm. ++ Conventional oil is likely to peak soon, and unconventional oil will then play an important role. ++ Since global oil resources are limited, it is only a matter of time before all oil will peak. ++ Though biofuels have received much criticism recently, without them fuel

June 5, 2008 | High Oil Prices Increase Consumption

When “greenies” sing the praise of high oil prices, perhaps they are praying to a false god. ++ Science is yet to produce hard evidence for climate change. ++ Emissions reduction lobbyists are ridden with corruption, and left leaning politicians overlook the efficiency of carbon taxes. ++ In fact, higher prices have led to higher investments, which logically lead to more consumption.

May 27, 2008 | A Love/Hate Relationship: US Dollar and Oil Prices

High oil prices are tied to a weak US dollar. ++ The single-currency pricing of the oil market means that in the long run, a weak dollar reduces production while simultaneously increasing consumption. ++ This increase in demand and decrease in supply correlates with higher prices, and unless US fuel consumption patterns change or the dollar rebounds, the US, rather than the world as a whole, will

May 19, 2008 | Americans Will Live Like Europeans

Oil prices keep setting records and many believe global oil production will soon peak. ++ American dependence on oil and the habit of driving large, gas-guzzling cars and living in suburbs without public transportation access will develop into a severe problem. ++ The solution is driving smaller, more efficient cars; investing in public transportation; and changing the structure of metropolitan

May 8, 2008 | Freedom and Democracy No Longer on the March

With high oil prices allowing authoritarian regimes to consolidate power, and US influence and moral authority in decline, the global trend towards democratization appears to be reversing. ++ This is particularly apparent in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe clings to power by all means and attempts to subvert elections. ++ More than ever a proactive approach by the US is needed to work

May 5, 2008 | Can Medvedev Sustain Russia's Growth?

President-elect Dmitry Medvedev realizes that high economic growth cannot be sustained as long as Russia relies primarily on macroeconomic policy and rising oil prices, and inequality and corruption remain widespread. ++ His rhetoric suggests that he will seek to encourage entrepreneurship, empower civil society, and create an independent judiciary in order to diversify the economy and combat

March 13, 2008 | The Threat of OPEC Acting Like a True Cartel

Soaring oil prices are the result of underestimation of demand, overestimation of supply, depressed production outside OPEC, and the latter’s recent regulation of supply. ++ OPEC’s actions are preventing using oil prices to correct economic slowdown and the drop in purchasing power. ++ Without curbing imports and diversifying its sources of supply, the US
will not be free of the grip of this

March 7, 2008 | Lower Oil Prices with Brazil in OPEC

The fear of several analysts that oil prices will rise if Brazil joins OPEC is not justified. ++ This would only happen if all OPEC states cut production by more than the amount Brazil would produce. ++ This is unlikely as OPEC states’ wealth mainly depends on oil revenues. ++ Examples are Venezuela and Saudi-Arabia. ++ History shows that lower prices are the more probable consequence.

January 15, 2008 | Gasoline Made Out of Carbon Dioxide

Chuck Squatriglia of Wired News reports that researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico have found a way of using sunlight to recycle carbon dioxide and produce fuels like methanol or gasoline. The technology, which could help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, already works, although large-scale implementation could be a decade or more away.
Previously, the idea of recycling carbon

January 14, 2008 | Free Markets For Real Energy Security

On both sides of the Atlantic, foreign policy analysts have convinced politicians that the West faces a severe energy security challenge, stating that energy policy has become high politics, turning energy security into hard security. But, as Pierre Noël of Cambridge University argues, dreams about energy independence lead to expensive policies with no real energy security benefits. He argues

January 8, 2008 | Dealing With the Dragon

Paul Krugman, Professor of Economics at Princeton, argues in the NY Times that the biggest foreign policy issues for the next president will not be related to 9/11 or the war in Iraq. Rather, they will involve the consequences of China’s rapid economic growth.

The $100 a barrel oil price is a “made-in-China phenomenon,” given that China has been responsible for about a third of the