Petroleum

Why We Need Electric Cars: Climate-driven Hurricane Ida Knocked out Gulf Oil Production, 1/5 of US Refinery Capacity

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Louisiana’s petroleum refineries are out of action in the wake of Hurricane Ida. Refineries run on electricity, and electricity has been knocked out in New Orleans and environs, perhaps for another couple of weeks. Here’s the kicker: Louisiana refineries account for nearly 1/5 of America’s refining capacity. Raw crude oil […]

Featured

Trump’s Tehran Poison Pill: US Trade Embargo provokes Iranian Attacks in Gulf, Making Return to Nuclear Deal Harder

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The BBC reports that a bitumen tanker, the MV Asphalt Princess, was boarded by nine men on Tuesday and hijacked. It cites unnamed “analysts,” presumably MI6, to the effect that the hijacking was the work of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. The MV Asphalt Princess, owned by the United Arab […]

Climate Crisis

How food prices are affected by oil, trade agreements and climate change

The Conversation

By Wyn Morgan | – ( The Conversation) – Concerns about inflation rates have risen as the UK economy begins its much-needed recovery from the effects of the pandemic. The Consumer Prices Index, the measure most commonly used to measure inflation, rose by 2.5% in June 2021, the highest level for three years. That headline […]

Featured

Iran opens new Oil Port on Gulf of Oman to avoid narrow Straits of Hormuz and to Avoid US Sanctions

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – According to Al Jazeera, on Thursday, Iran announced the opening of a new petroleum export terminal near the port of Jask on the Gulf of Oman, which will allow its vessels to avoid what Iranians refer to as the Persian Gulf and its narrow outlet, the Strait of Hormuz. Although […]

Iraq

Waiting for US withdrawal, is Russia eyeing Iraq’s oil?

Nikola Mikovic

Belgrade (Special to Informed Comment) – When the George W. Bush administration launched the invasion of Iraq in 2003, many believed the campaign’s main goal was to gain control of the country’s oil. Almost two decades later, most U.S. oil corporations have exited Iraq and the last major, ExxonMobil, appears to be on the way […]

Petroleum

Does the end of Bromance between Saudi’s Bin Salman and UAE’s Bin Zayed mean Breakup of OPEC?

Omar Ahmed

( Middle East Monitor ) – The disagreement between the UAE and Saudi Arabia over a proposed deal by OPEC+ to increase oil production is the latest sign that the close relations between the two Gulf states, and in particular those of their respective de facto rulers, are turning into a bitter rivalry. The Saudi-led […]

European Union

The Int’l Community at Berlin II wants Oil and a Stop to Emigration from Libya; What Libya needs is Strong Institutions and Peace

John Hickman

Mt. Berry, Ga. (Special to Informed Comment) – A lazy international press corps is missing the big story on Libya. English language news coverage of the June 23rd Berlin II International Conference on Libya has been focused almost exclusively on the presence of foreign mercenaries while eliding information crucial to understanding the negotiations and the […]

Climate Crisis

We Don’t Need Another Oil Pipeline

Sonali Kolhatkar

By Sonali Kolhatkar | – ( Otherwords.org ) – A decades-old pipeline called Line 3, run by the Canadian company Enbridge, is in the midst of a controversial upgrade. That has sparked fierce resistance from Indigenous communities living along the route. Line 3 is being replaced to transport nearly 800,000 barrels of dirty tar sands […]

Climate Crisis

German climate activists prepare wave of court cases in wake of Dutch Court ruling that Big Oil must slash Emissions

Clean Energy Wire

By Edgar Meza | – Die Welt ( Clean Energy Wire ) – German climate protection NGOs are gearing up for full-scale legal attack on what they describe as climate offenders in the wake of a court ruling in the Netherlands last month ordering Royal Dutch Shell to make greater reductions in its CO2 emissions, […]