Petroleum

By Nafis Alam | (The Conversation) | – – Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s two most powerful oil producers, have reached a tentative agreement to freeze oil production at its current levels. As the first deal between an OPEC and non-OPEC member in 15 years, it marks a significant declaration of intent. But it […]

Arab World

Mideast Arms Purchases Continue Despite Falling Oil Prices, Austerity

contributors

By Thalif Deen | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS, Feb 22 2016 (IPS) – The continued decline in oil prices is threatening to have a direct and indirect impact on several fronts, including development aid, migrant workers and remittances, voluntary contributions to UN agencies, humanitarian assistance to refugees and infrastructure-building in the […]

Climate Change

Koch Brothers Declare War On Electric Cars

contributors

Cenk Uygur, John Iadarola, Ana Kasparian & Ben Mankiewicz | (The Young Turks Video) | – – “This is the election where we’re finally focusing on the corrosive affect of money in politics, we now have one more issue that we can add to that list and once again it involves the Koch brothers. A […]

Denialism

Exxon-Mobil’s past Crimes against the Earth are nothing Compared to its Present Ones

contributors

By Bill McKibben | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Here’s the story so far. We have the chief legal representatives of the eighth and 16th largest economies on Earth (California and New York) probing the biggest fossil fuel company on Earth (ExxonMobil), while both Democratic presidential candidates are demanding that the federal Department of […]

Fossil Fuels

Oil Dictator Dominos

contributors

By Bill Emmott | Project Syndicate | – – LONDON – Price movements as large and rapid as those that have upended oil markets since June 2014 are sure to cause pain to some and benefit others. Though the pain tends to capture the most attention, the benefit is just as important – if not […]

Economy

The Surprising Reasons Oil Prices Keep Falling

contributors

By Marcelle Arak and Sheila Tschinkel | (The Conversation) | – – Global stock markets have been in a tailspin this week. And the sinking price of oil received at least some of the blame. Just this week, the cost of a barrel of crude reached a 12-year-low of US$27, down from more than $100 […]

Petroleum

The Oil Pricequake: From Russia to Saudi Arabia & Iran, a suddenly Perilous World

contributors

By Michael T. Klare | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – As 2015 drew to a close, many in the global energy industry were praying that the price of oil would bounce back from the abyss, restoring the petroleum-centric world of the past half-century. All evidence, however, points to a continuing depression in oil prices in […]

Democratic Party

With Oil at $36/barrel, Have Democrats just Won the Presidency?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The price of petroleum fell Monday to levels not seen since the crash of 2008, at one point hitting $35 a barrel in New York. There is every reason to expect prices to remain low for a few years, and they could easily go lower as […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

ISIL/ Daesh can be Starved of Oil Revenue: Here’s How

contributors

By David Stupples | (The Conversation) | – – The high costs of running the Islamic State’s “caliphate” and fighting a ground war are largely met from selling oil, supplemented with donations and money extorted from Christians and hostages. Preventing the jihadists from profiting from oilfields under its control should be a priority for the […]