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Analysis: Is Syria now a direct threat to the U.S.?

Over the last two weeks, Obama administration officials have signaled – sometimes intentionally, sometimes not – that a worst-case scenario is emerging in Syria. Peace talks are at a virtual standstill. An emboldened President Bashar al-Assad has missed two deadlines to turn over his deadliest chemical weapons. And radical extremists who have fought in Syria are carrying out attacks in Egypt and allegedly aspire to strike the United States as well. Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper told members of Congress last week that Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda aligned group in Syria, "does have aspirations for attacks on the homeland." American and Egyptian officials expressed alarm this week at signs that Egyptians who fought in Syria have returned home to mount an insurgency. Critics of Obama administration policy in Syria argue that none of this should come as a surprise. For years, they have predicted that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Battle of the Nile: Egypt, Ethiopia clash over mega-dam

Egypt and Ethiopia remain at loggerheads over Addis Ababa’s plan to build a $4.2 billion, 6,000-megawatt dam on a major tributary of the Nile River that Cairo says will greatly reduce the flow of water that is Egypt’s lifeline. Tension between the two African states rose sharply in January after Ethiopia rejected Egypt’s demand it suspend construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the 4,130-mile river, the world’s longest. Egypt has vowed to protect its "historical rights" to the Nile "at any cost" and says it could lose 20 percent of its water if the giant dam in northwestern Ethiopia, one of several hydroelectric projects planned by Addis Ababa, is completed. "It would be a disaster for Egypt," Mohamed Nasr Allam, a former Egyptian water minister, lamented to the Guardian daily of London in 2013. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Energy Rigs Decline by 14, Baker Hughes Reports

Rigs targeting oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by 14 this week to 1,771, according to Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) Oil rigs fell by six to 1,416, data posted on the company’s website show. The gas count dropped by seven to 351, the Houston-based field services company said. Miscellaneous rigs slipped by one to four. The total U.S. rig count slid amid frosty weather and storms that swept across the U.S. this week, freezing gas wells and sending spot prices of the fuel in some regions to record-highs. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) , the second-largest natural gas producer in the U.S., said yesterday that output has dropped due to “winter weather challenges” since December. “We anticipate that the fourth-quarter 2013 and first-quarter 2014 timeframe will mark our production low point and that we will see a significant quarter-to-quarter ramp up beginning in the second quarter,” Doug Lawler, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Propane lack fuels crisis at Dakotas reservation

A nationwide propane shortage is hitting an American Indian reservation that straddles the border of North and South Dakota particularly hard, causing tribal officials to warn that the thousands of low-income residents who live there are running out of ways to heat their ramshackle homes. The Standing Rock Reservation is on the wind-swept Northern Plains where there is little to block the icy gales that whip in from the northwest and create wind chills as low as 50 below. Many residents live in mobile homes, some with ill-fitting doors, others with boards tacked up where the windows should be, or deteriorating roofs that leak much-needed warmth. The propane crisis escalated this week when Debbie Dogskin, a healthy 61-year-old woman, died while house-sitting for a friend in a rundown mobile home with an empty propane tank. "We think she just fell asleep and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Study: Fracking, agriculture are on water demand 'collision course'

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the most water-stressed and drought-ridden U.S. regions, a study indicated. Fracking involves massive amounts of water, sand and chemicals injected at high pressure to fracture rock and release stored gas. The technique has unleashed a U.S. oil and gas boom. The study by Ceres — an investor group based in Boston that focuses on sustainability issues — is based on water use data from 39,294 oil and gas wells reported to FracFocus.org from January 2011 through May 2013 and water stress indicator maps developed by the World Resources Institute. More than 55 percent of the wells were in areas experiencing drought and more than 36 percent overlay regions experiencing groundwater depletion, Ceres said in a news release Wednesday announcing its "Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Stress: Water Demand by the Numbers" report. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Study: Fracking, agriculture are on water demand ‘collision course’

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the most water-stressed and drought-ridden U.S. regions, a study indicated. Fracking involves massive amounts of water, sand and chemicals injected at high pressure to fracture rock and release stored gas. The technique has unleashed a U.S. oil and gas boom. The study by Ceres — an investor group based in Boston that focuses on sustainability issues — is based on water use data from 39,294 oil and gas wells reported to FracFocus.org from January 2011 through May 2013 and water stress indicator maps developed by the World Resources Institute. More than 55 percent of the wells were in areas experiencing drought and more than 36 percent overlay regions experiencing groundwater depletion, Ceres said in a news release Wednesday announcing its "Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Stress: Water Demand by the Numbers" report. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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AAR: Oil cargo sent by rail up for year, down from previous week

U.S. rail delivery of petroleum and petroleum products was up 0.8 percent last week from the same period in 2013, the American Association of Railroads said. The AAR said Thursday 13,255 carloads of petroleum and petroleum products, or about 9.3 million barrels of oil, were delivered on the rail system for the week ending Feb. 1. While slightly up from a year earlier, it was a 12.8 percent decline from the previous week. John Gray, senior vice president for the AAR, said Thursday grain and petroleum products were the only commodity groups reporting increased shipments for last week. Gray said it was likely that severe winter conditions affected shipments. "We can’t quantify it precisely but the extreme cold probably held down rail traffic to some extent," he said. Since Jan. 1, the AAR said, 72,022 carloads, or about 50 million barrels of oil, were […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Think tank warns against U.S. energy 'hoarding'

Hoarding U.S. energy resources leaves the country less secure than if it moves into the global market, the Center for a New American Security finds. U.S. policymakers are mulling the prospects for more oil and natural gas exports. CNAS published a 44-page report Thursday that said the issue is "more complex" than some policymakers assert. "Hoarding energy at home, neglecting bilateral relationships with major global energy players and forfeiting economic opportunities to export energy would leave the United States less secure," the report states. "Moreover, policymakers would then be unable to use energy as a tool of economic statecraft to coerce or benefit other countries." U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez , D-N.J., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to President Obama in December saying domestic energy reserves should be kept in the U.S. market to keep consumers prices low. "As the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Think tank warns against U.S. energy ‘hoarding’

Hoarding U.S. energy resources leaves the country less secure than if it moves into the global market, the Center for a New American Security finds. U.S. policymakers are mulling the prospects for more oil and natural gas exports. CNAS published a 44-page report Thursday that said the issue is "more complex" than some policymakers assert. "Hoarding energy at home, neglecting bilateral relationships with major global energy players and forfeiting economic opportunities to export energy would leave the United States less secure," the report states. "Moreover, policymakers would then be unable to use energy as a tool of economic statecraft to coerce or benefit other countries." U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez , D-N.J., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to President Obama in December saying domestic energy reserves should be kept in the U.S. market to keep consumers prices low. "As the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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AAA president: 2014 gasoline prices may be lower but won't be cheap

AAA President Bob Darbelnet said average gasoline prices in 2014 could be less than last year but drivers should expect increases in the spring. "There is a good chance that average gasoline prices this year will cost less than in 2013 but it is not going to be cheap," Darbelnet said Thursday. "Driving to the gas station could be a lot more frustrating as prices increase this spring," he said. The AAA reported a national average price Friday of $3.26 per gallon, about 5 cents less than one month ago. During the spring, refineries start curbing production to conduct seasonal maintenance and that usually leads to an increase in gasoline prices, but by late June the national average price could be around $3.35, the auto club said. It should taper off as refiners switch back to a winter blend of gasoline in October, which […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple