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Paris imposes partial motoring ban in battle to control pollution

France has enforced a partial motoring ban in Paris and surrounding areas from Monday morning as it battles to control dangerously high pollution levels. The move, the first of its kind since 1997, comes as a spell of unusually warm and windless weather has exacerbated the level of pollution in the French capital – now at its highest in 16 years, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA). More than 30 departments in France have been hit by maximum-level pollution alerts since Thursday. The ban from Monday will be enforced on private vehicles with petrol or diesel engines whose number plates end in an even number. It will then apply to vehicles with number plates ending in an odd number on Tuesday. Cars carrying three passengers or more will be exempt, as will taxis, buses, emergency vehicles and refrigerated lorries. All other lorries will be banned. “Our primary goal […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Paris takes drastic measures to fight toxic smog

PARIS (AP) — Paris is taking drastic measures to combat its worst air pollution in years, banning around half of the city’s cars and trucks from its streets in an attempt to reduce the toxic smog that’s shrouded the City of Light for more than a week. Cars with even-numbered license plates are prohibited from driving in Paris and its suburbs Monday, following a government decision over the weekend. Around 700 police were patrolling the morning rush hour handing out tickets to offenders. Taxis and commercial vehicles aren’t covered by the ban. It was the first time since 1997 that the emergency measure was taken. If the pollution persists, odd-numbered vehicles will be banned on Tuesday. Public transport has been made free for a fourth day to help deal with the pollution.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shale gas and oil boom not sustainable – Peak Oil

How much faith can we put in our ability to decipher all the numbers out there telling us the US is closing in on its cornering of the global oil market? There’s another side to the story of the relentless US shale boom, one that says that some of the numbers are misunderstood, while others are simply preposterous. The truth of the matter is that the industry has to make such a big deal out of shale because it’s all that’s left. There are some good things happening behind the fairy tale numbers, though—it’s just a matter of deciphering them from a sober perspective.   In a second exclusive interview with James Stafford of  Oilprice.com , energy expert Arthur Berman discusses:   Why US gas supply growth rests solely on Marcellus When Bakken and Eagle Ford will peak The eyebrow-raising predictions for the Permian Basin Why outrageous claims should have […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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Net vs. gross energy: Is it wise to be complacent?

Everyone knows that when a potential employer makes a job offer, the salary or wage he or she proposes isn’t what you’ll be taking home. What you’ll take home is your net pay. The number the employer offers you is your gross pay, and that’s just what it says on your pay stub. It’s not quite a perfect analogy with net energy versus gross energy. But it’s an everyday analogy that most people can understand. Net pay is what you have to pay your bills today. And, net energy is what society has in order to conduct its business (and its fun) on any given day. Net energy is what’s left after the energy sectors of the economy–oil and gas, coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, renewable energy industries, and farming which provides food for human and animal energy and crops for biofuels–expend the energy they must to extract energy from the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Futures Rise as U.S.-Russia Talks Break Down

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at $98.18 a barrel at 0536 GMT, down $0.02 in the Globex electronic session. April Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.18 to $107.57 a barrel. Worries over an economic slowdown in China have pressured industrial commodity prices and wider financial markets this week but the impact on oil has been limited by tensions in Ukraine and Libya. "While a weaker macro outlook would certainly reverberate in the oil market, Chinese demand is still supported by steady activity and a rise of new refining capacity," analyst Sijin Cheng at Barclays said in a note. She said China’s implied oil demand contracted 3.1% on-year in the first two months of 2014 to 9.97 million barrels a day, but imports also surged on stockpiling for new refineries and strategic reserves. Meanwhile, the U.S. is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brent Advances With WTI as IEA Foresees Rising Demand

Brent crude rebounded from a one-month low as the International Energy Agency boosted its demand forecast and as tensions grew in Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate climbed for a second day. Brent rose for the first time in three days. The IEA increased its forecast for 2014 global consumption by 95,000 barrels a day, citing economic growth. The U.S. and the European Union are threatening sanctions against Russia if it doesn’t back down from annexing Crimea, which is holding a referendum this weekend on whether to join Russia. “The IEA report certainly helps the market,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts . “It makes people more comfortable about demand. People are worried about the situation in Crimea.” Brent for April settlement, which expires today, rose $1.18, or 1.1 percent, to end at $108.57 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Advances But Down 4.2% for the Week

–April futures gain 1% to settle at $4.425/mmBtu –Prices still down 4.2% on week as traders look ahead to spring –Forecasting models disagree about late-March temperatures By Nicole Friedman NEW YORK–Natural gas snapped a three-day losing streak Friday as weather forecasts posted conflicting views on how much longer colder-than-average temperatures would last. Natural gas for April delivery settled up 4.2 cents, or 1%, at $4.425 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Frigid weather this winter has led to robust demand for gas-powered heating in homes and offices, eating away at natural-gas stockpiles. About half of U.S. households use natural gas as their primary heating fuel, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. As of March 7, inventories stood at their lowest level since 2003. The EIA said Tuesday that it expects stocks to fall from 1.001 trillion cubic feet as of March 7 to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil Price Pressure to Ease Despite Global Tension-IEA

A surge in supply from Iraq and other oil producers should be more than sufficient to meet growing demand this year, reducing pressure on markets despite rising international tensions, the West’s energy watchdog said on Friday. "While international tensions may be on the rise, pressure on oil markets … seems set to ease," the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly oil market report. Oil prices briefly spiked at the beginning of March after Russia took control of Ukraine’s Crimea region. The United States announced a small 5 million barrel test release of its Strategic Petroleum Reserve this week as Washington and the European Union threaten sanctions against Russia. The Paris-based agency, which advises most of the largest energy-consuming countries on energy policy, said Iraq’s oil production surged by 530,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February to 3.62 million bpd, the highest since […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Gunmen kill 5 Egyptian soldiers north of Cairo

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s state news agency says gunmen have attacked a checkpoint manned by the military police in a suburb north of Cairo, killing five soldiers. Major General Mahmoud Yousri, chief of security of Qalubiya province, told MENA that the attackers stormed the checkpoint early Saturday in Shubra al-Kheima. Yousri said explosive disposal experts managed to defuse two bombs left behind by the attackers. Egypt has seen a spike in attacks on police and the military since the toppling of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last year. Many of the deadliest attacks have been claimed by Sinai-based militants.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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UN: 9 million Syrians now displaced as conflict ticks into fourth year

On the eve of the third anniversary of unrest that led to the  Syrian civil war , the  United Nation’s refugee agency (UNHCR) said Friday  that the country now leads the world in forced displacement, with more than 9 million people uprootedas a result of the conflict. The total number of displaced people is comprised of over  2.5 million refugees  who are living in neighboring countries and 6.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) within  Syria , according to the UNHCR. The number of people uprooted — half of which are children — equals 40 percent of the country’s pre-war population. In crossing the 9 million mark, experts believe that Syria has overtaken Afghanistan as the world’s leader in forcibly displaced persons. “It is unconscionable that a humanitarian catastrophe of this scale is unfolding before our eyes with no meaningful progress to stop the bloodshed," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple