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Three reasons why America is using less oil

Page added on November 12, 2013 The United States is the largest consumer of oil in the world by a wide margin. In 2012, we used around 18.5 million barrels of oil per day (that’s nearly 800 million gallons !). That represents around 20% of global oil consumption, and is still nearly twice as much oil as China uses. Until the mid-2000s, U.S. oil consumption was rising steadily. However, a sharp uptick in oil prices caused demand growth to stagnate after 2004. The Great Recession then led to a steep drop in demand as people found ways to make do with less oil. In 2010, oil consumption looked like it might rebound, but since then, it has started to decline again. This is likely the beginning of a long-term trend. Here are three big reasons why U.S. oil consumption will continue shrinking. Natural gas hits the road The biggest […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Rosneft discloses new $6 billion oil supply deals with BP

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s top crude oil producer Rosneft said on Tuesday its board had approved deals to sell oil product cargoes to BP worth over $6 billion, on top of a previous deal to sell oil worth $5.3 billion. The Russian state-owned company said in a filing that it would sell up to 3.2 million metric tons of fuel oil to BP Singapore worth as much as $2.6 billion from the Far East ports of Nakhodka or Vanino between November 2013 and December 2014 with a possibility to lift it in 2015. Rosneft has not disclosed the timeframe for other deals, but a source familiar with the agreements, said the deliveries should be fulfilled over the next 12 or 13 months. Rosneft declined to comment further. Rosneft will also sell up to 1.44 million metric tons of diesel to BP worth as much as $1.77 billion from the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Future Requires (Better) Batteries

George Crabtree has a familiar problem. His phone is charged in the morning, but by 4 p.m. it’s out of juice. “I find it really annoying to see that it’s off and wonder how many calls I’ve missed,” he says. Unlike most of us, though, Mr. Crabtree might be able to do something about it. He directs the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research at Argonne National Laboratory. Argonne is part of a group of labs, universities and companies tasked by a Department of Energy program to design a battery that lasts five times as long and costs one-fifth as much as current batteries—in five years or less. In truth, few people give the Argonne program—or similar quests by other researchers and startups around the world—much chance of succeeding within a few years. Electric-car makers, to cite one example, take four or five years just to evaluate a new […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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LA 2013: Volkswagen Announces 256 MPG Diesel Hybrid

Hybrid Cars VW Diesel Hybrid Gets 260 MPG Published on November 9th, 2013 | by Jo Borrás 7 VW Diesel Hybrid Gets 260 MPG Volkswagen knocked one out of the park with its genre-defying, extreme MGP XL1 supercar- with orders exceeding the company’s XL1 production plans for the slinky exotic car , despite its six-figure price tag. Don’t think that the XL1 is done because VW doesn’t plan on building more XL1s, though. Meet the Volkswagen’s XL1 follow-up act: the 250+ MPG Volkswagen Twin Up! diesel hybrid set to debut later this month at the LA Auto Show . The Twin Up! uses a modified version of the XL1′s 47 hp, 800 cc diesel engine and electric hybrid drivetrain to return a claimed fuel consumption of more than 256 MPG and CO2 emissions of just 27 g/km on the European cycles (if that g/km measurement didn’t give it away). […]

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Brent Rises Second Day After Iran Talks Fall Short of Agreement

Brent crude rose for a second day after Iran and six world powers failed to agree on curbs to the Persian Gulf nation’s nuclear program, tempering expectations of an end to the decade-long stalemate. Futures increased as much as 0.6 percent in London while West Texas Intermediate gained 0.3 percent. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano is leading inspectors to Tehran for negotiations after Iran’s talks in Geneva with the United Nations Security Council and Germany ended without a deal. Prices also climbed as Chinese government data showed an expansion in industrial production in October. “The market may have been too optimistic about this current process leading to an actual change like a wind-down of the sanctions,” said Ric Spooner, a chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. “That was enough to remind the market about risk in the Middle East .” Brent for December settlement rose […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Amid dire climate warnings, Warsaw summit to begin

Climate envoys from developed countries, emerging economies and low-lying nations at risk of being swamped by rising seas will meet in Poland for the next two weeks to lay the groundwork for a new climate change pact. The meeting comes as the Philippines reels from a massive typhoon that reportedly killed as many as 10,000 people , and recent reports saying climate change will exacerbate  problems , such as poverty and extreme weather, that already exist. Despite the seeming urgency of the issue, stubborn sticking points remain and no major decisions are expected at the conference starting Monday in Warsaw’s National Stadium. The level of progress could be an indicator of the world’s chances of reaching a deal in 2015. That’s the new watershed year in the U.N.-led process after a 2009 summit in Copenhagen ended in discord. Climate change is “very, very scary stuff. And evidence is accumulating weekly, […]

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Kerry says U.S. not in race to complete Iran talks

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday Washington was not engaged in a race to complete talks with Iran on its nuclear program and vowed to defend Washington’s regional allies against any threats. Speaking at a news conference with United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan in Abu Dhabi, Kerry also praised the Syrian opposition’s decision to participate in a proposed peace conference as "a big step forward". "This is not a race to complete just any agreement," Kerry said, adding: "Through diplomacy we have an absolute responsibility to pursue an agreement." Marathon talks between six major world powers – the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France – and Iran on Saturday ended without agreement and the sides arranged to meet again on November 20. While saying that an agreement with Iran was expected within months, Kerry […]

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Sunni-Shi'ite tension biggest threat to world security, Iran says

DUBAI (Reuters) – Tension between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims is the biggest threat to world security, Iran’s foreign minister said in comments published on Monday, accusing Sunni Arab countries of "fanning the flames" of sectarian conflict. The increasingly sectarian civil war in Syria has drawn in regional powers with Shi’ite Iran backing President Bashar al-Assad and Sunni Gulf Arab states and mainly Sunni Turkey helping the rebels. The conflict threatens to spill over into countries split between Sunnis and Shi’ites such as Lebanon and Iraq. The sectarian tension is "the most serious security threat not only to the region but to the world at large", Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the BBC. "I think we need to come to understand that a sectarian divide in the Islamic world is a threat to all of us." Zarif, a U.S.-educated former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, called for regional […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Sunni-Shi’ite tension biggest threat to world security, Iran says

DUBAI (Reuters) – Tension between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims is the biggest threat to world security, Iran’s foreign minister said in comments published on Monday, accusing Sunni Arab countries of "fanning the flames" of sectarian conflict. The increasingly sectarian civil war in Syria has drawn in regional powers with Shi’ite Iran backing President Bashar al-Assad and Sunni Gulf Arab states and mainly Sunni Turkey helping the rebels. The conflict threatens to spill over into countries split between Sunnis and Shi’ites such as Lebanon and Iraq. The sectarian tension is "the most serious security threat not only to the region but to the world at large", Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the BBC. "I think we need to come to understand that a sectarian divide in the Islamic world is a threat to all of us." Zarif, a U.S.-educated former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, called for regional […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple