U.S. Oil Policy

EIA Annual Energy Outlook

2005-07-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/

World Energy Outlook

2005-07-18T17:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/media.asp

This is the executive summary of the IEA world energy investment outlook:
http://www.iea.org/Textbase/npsum/WEIOsum.pdf

White House Energy Policy

2005-07-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

President Bush's Energy Speech June 15, 2005

Energy Adviser Who Solicited Enron to Help Write Nat’l Energy Policy to Be Named Chair of FERC
(Wednesday 6th July 2005, bellaciao.org)
By Jason Leopold
http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=6818

This is a link to the whitehouse energy policy.

And here is some more whitehouse energy stuff.

Saudi Oil Capacity

2005-07-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Matt Simmons' Bombshell: The Impending Decline of Saudi Oil Output
ZNet Ecology
by Michael T. Klare; TomDispatch; June 26, 2005
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=56&ItemID=8170

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050609/D8AJUUQ82.html
(June 9, 2005, AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Saudi Arabia has plenty of oil - more than the world is likely to need - along with an increasing ability to refine crude oil into gasoline and other products before selling it overseas, a top Saudi official says.

Federal Energy Bills

2005-06-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

*** FEDERAL ENERGY BILL ***
WESTERN SKIES -
(July 2, 2005, KRCC 91.5 FM, Colorodo Springs)

Ocean Included in Senate Energy Bill
Senate Passes Energy Bill 85-12
(www.oceanrenewable.com, June 28, 2005)

U.S. Senate's energy bill pushes grants for biofuels
Measure would open new markets in state, Cantwell says
(Wednesday, June 29, 2005, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER)
By CHARLES POPE, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/230525_biofuel29.html

NEWS UPDATE: Lynch decries LNG provision in federal energy bill
By Robbie Corey-Boulet
Brown Daily Herald (Providence, RI) - Issue: 5/28/05
Web Update Posted: Monday, June 27, 2005

Key provisions of U.S. Senate energy bill
27 Jun 2005 20:14:55 GMTSource: Reuters

Michigan Senators win additions to massive energy bill
(Wood TV News 8, Grand Rapids, MI, June 27, 2005)

Senate Wraps Up Energy Bill Talks
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
(Yahoo! News, Thu Jun 23, 5:55 PM ET)

ANWR battle shapes up in budget bill
by Seth Linden
(Friday, June 24, 2005, Alaska KTUU.com, Ch 2)

Senate version of federal energy bill includes coastal money for La.
(KATC3 TV, June 25, 2005)
BATON ROUGE, La. Louisiana stands to gain 540 (m) million dollars over the next five years to help its fight against coastal erosion. The money will come from an amendment added to the U-S Senate's version of the federal energy bill.The money is not included in the House version of the bill. Its supporters will try to preserve the funding when a House-Senate conference committee works on a compromise.
The allocation is based on the amount Outer Continental Shelf energy leases within 200 miles of each state's coast. Louisiana stands to receive about 135 (m) million dollars per year.

Energy bill seen as big boost for NebraskaGrand Island Independent - Grand Island,NE,USAAs the Senate completes its version of an energy bill, Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said the legislation will provide some major benefits for Nebraska. ...

Energy bill could bring offshore drilling to Virginia's coastal areas
Shannon Brennan
(Lynchburg, VA, The News & Advance, Thursday, June 23, 2005)

ENERGY BILL DEBATE
(PBS Online News Hour, June 22, 2005)

Senate energy bill escapes House trap
With the leadership of several key Western senators, the Senate is crafting legislation that addresses both production and environmental concerns.
(editorial, DenverPost.com, 6/20/2005 07:36 PM)

Energy bill near passage in Senate
(Brownfield, Monday, June 20, 2005, 2:32 PM)
by Gary Truitt

Schumer faults Bush energy plan
Associated Press
(Buffalo News, 6/19/2005)

Farmers wait for energy bill Amendment would produce several ethanol plants in state
By DORI MEINERT
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
(State Journal-Register(Springfield, IL), June 20?, 2005)

Bush's energy bill headed for passage
Key amendments survive Senate votes, but some critical issues remain
By Ann McFeatters
(Sunday, June 19, 2005 , Pittsburgh Post-Gazette National Bureau)

Oil, corn states square off on energy bill
By Bill Lambrecht
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau, 06/18/2005)

Johanns: CAFTA approval ‘the right thing to do’ Friday
(FarmWeek (ILFB), June 17, 2005)

Renewable energy bill clears Senate
Items compiled from Tribune news services
(Chicago Tribune, June 17, 2005)

Senate goes green with its energy bill
Focus on efficiency and renewable fuels puts legislation at odds with House, president.
By Carl Hulse, New York Time
(Indianapolis Star, June 17, 2005)

Bush: Beware public wrath
President warns Congress to agree on an energy bill
By JULIE MASON
(June 15, 2005, 9:03PM, Houston Chronicle)

Bush Admin may help end MTBE fight in Energy Bill
(june 16, 2005, Reuters)

Senate fashioning 'greener' energy bill
H. Josef Hebert, The Associated Press
(June 17, 2005, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

HR 6 Energy Policy Act of 2005 passed the House
HR 2419 2006 Energy and Water Development Appropriations passed the House

Competition with China

2005-06-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Chinese company CNOOC wages public relations, lobbying battle for Unocal
Gary Gentile
Canadian Press
(June 28, 2005, Canada.com)

With Bid for Unocal, U.S. Struggles on China Policies
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
(June 26, 2005, New York Times)

Backlash to Chinese bid for Unocal
Bush urged to block takeover because of energy, security fears
Robert Collier, Chronicle Staff Writer
(San Franciso Chronicle, Friday, June 24, 2005)

Energy Company Sued for Genocide

2005-06-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

Law.com
Sudanese Lose Bid to Establish Class as Victims of Genocide
(New York Law Journal, Monday April 4, 3:00 am ET)
Mark Hamblett

Fueling Genocide
Talisman Energy and the Sudanese Slaughter
By Gabriel Katsh
(Multinational Monitor, October 2000 - VOLUME 21 - NUMBER 10)

Hubbert's Peak in the News

2005-06-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

Slippery Slope: Oil after the Global Peak (Peak Oil, Part I)
Special Report
By Ryan McGreal
(RaiseTheHammer.org, June 16, 2005)

Halliburton

2005-06-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

More Halliburton Abuses, Special Treatment Revealed
Chris Shumway, The NewStandard

Halliburton given $30m to expand Guantanamo Bay
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
(The Independent (UK), June 18, 2005)

Cheney oil firm accused of overcharging $61m in Iraq
Julian Borger in Washington
(Guardian, December 13, 2003)

Energy & Environment

2005-06-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Global warming gains momentum in Senate
But possible amendments to energy bill to face fight
By Miguel BustilloLos Angeles Times
(Baltimore Sun, June 20, 2005)

Published on Friday, June 17, 2005 by CommonDreams.org
Oil, CO2, Environment, Climate, War
by Caroline Arnold
This column will appear in the Kent-Ravenna Record Courier on Sunday June 19, 2005

Bush Says `What, Me Worry?' on Global Warming: Margaret Carlson
June 16 (Bloomberg)

Aide who doctored global warming report joins Exxon
From Roland Watson in Washington
(London Times, June 16, 2005)

Emissions Regulations Could Stall Energy Bill
(NYT, June 16)

on Ethanol

2005-06-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Energy piracy
Alan Reynolds
(June 30, 2005, townhall.com)

Senate Keeps Ethanol Provision in Energy Bill
(NYT June 15, 2005)
By CARL HULSE
WASHINGTON, June 15

US farm, oil groups spar over ethanol in bill
(Rueters, June 12, 2005, http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/s/nm/energy_ethanol_dc)
By Chris Baltimore
Sun Jun 12, 2:06 PM ET

U.S. Senate backs ethanol plan
(Reuters, June 15, 2005)

Oil and Campaign finance

2005-06-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

Enzi: Oil refineries, tribes would benefit from energy bill
(Associated Press, June 20, 2005)

WASHINGTON OUTLOOK
Lobbyists Are Gushing Over This Energy Bill
(Business Week Onlins, JUNE 27, 2005 )

Vectren Renews Call for Senate to Pass Energy Bill
Press release, Thursday June 16, 3:28 pm ET

from http://www.publicintegrity.org/oil/overview.aspx
By the Numbers: Campaign Finance
These figures represent the amount oil and natural gas companies, interest groups, their employees and political action committees spent on federal elections during each two-year election cycle. Totals for 2004 are through June.
Overall Campaign Contributions: $67,877,039 (I think this is since 1998)
Companies
Amount
ChevronTexaco Corp $4,559,621
El Paso Corp $4,223,592
Enron Corp $3,938,448
Koch Industries Inc $3,892,905
BP plc $3,833,140
ExxonMobil Corp $3,827,591
Dominion Resources Inc $3,494,832
Marathon Oil Corp $2,673,540
Entergy Corp $2,608,216
ConocoPhillips $2,064,475

Big Oil Wields Ultra Deep Influence
Legislators push for energy industry tax breaks, regulatory changes to hunt for oil at the bottom of the sea
By Laura Peterson

2005-06-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

(Richmond Times-Dispatch, 6/12/05)
As EPA chief, Whitman faced hostile environment
JOHN HALL
POINT OF VIEW

2005-06-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

from Not waving, drowning by Stephen Ellis
(The Austrialian 6/9/05)
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15554205%255E643,00.html)
About the only bright spots for the corporate sector are two huge barrels of pork slowly making their way through Congress - an energy bill which will dole out concessions to the oil industry and open more offshore areas up for drilling, and a highway bill which has something for everyone.
Both represent politics as usual and richly benefit certain firms. The administration continues as firmly pro-business in its willingness to splash around handouts.

from Selling Washington by Elizabeth Drew
(NY Review of Books, Volume 52, Number 11 · June 23, 2005)
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18075
The energy bill passed by the House in April is a striking case in point. The oil-and-gas industry, a top contributor of campaign money—80 percent of it to Republicans—benefited from several of its new provisions. A study by the staff of Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, shows that perhaps the most indefensible provision gave a waiver against lawsuits to manufacturers of MTBE, or methyl tertiary-butyl ether, a gasoline additive that's a pollutant and suspected carcinogen. According to Waxman's staff, this waiver is worth billions to energy companies; the major beneficiaries would be Exxon, which, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, contributed $942,717 to candidates in the last election cycle; Valero Energy, $841,375; Lyondell Chemical, $342,775; and Halliburton, $243,946. The bill also exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act the practice of hydraulic fracturing, which is used to make natural gas wells more productive and can also have an adverse effect on drinking water. Halliburton would benefit from this provision as well.
Another provision provided compensation to oil companies that bought leases, supposedly a speculative venture, on offshore sites where there is a moratorium on drilling. The compensation is worth billions of dollars to the oil industry. The bill also provided for the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR) to oil drilling—an invasion of the refuge that environmental groups have long tried to prevent. (Now that it contains more Republicans, the Senate passed a similar provision as part of its budget bill earlier this year.) The Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee were effectively shut out of the drafting of the energy bill. House Democrat Edward Markey, a member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, told me, "The energy companies got everything they wanted. Eight billion dollars in subsidies go to the energy companies, but to say that the conservation measures in it are modest would be a generous description."

DNC on Bush's energy plan
http://www.democrats.org/specialreports/energyrecord/
The Bush Record on Energy: Big Oil, Big Profits
The Bush energy policy is crafted by the energy industry, for the energy industry. It has profits in mind, not consumers or the environment. And by continuing to rely on fossil fuel and foreign oil -- and only paying lip service to renewable energy and conservation -- it fails to address the real problems.
Bush Energy Policy Prioritized Industry's Needs
Energy Industry Enjoyed Special Access to Bush Task Force. Vice President Dick Cheney has gone all the way to the Supreme Court to block efforts to find out details of the energy task force he headed. But some general information on its proceedings has become public. Nine days before Bush's inauguration, energy industry lobbyists gathered in the American Petroleum Institute's offices to make a "wish list" for the Bush energy plan. The list was forwarded to the Bush energy transition team and eventually to the energy task force. Task force officials met with 118 energy groups, and only 13 environmental groups, five academics and one consumer group. The Washington Post reported: "A first review of the 11,000 pages of documents bolsters the contention...that the Bush administration relied almost exclusively on the advice of executives from utilities and producers of oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy while a White House task force drafted recommendations that would vastly increase energy production." [Newsweek, 5/10/01; New York Times, 5/10/01; 5/20/01; USA Today, 5/14/01; Washington Post, 3/26/02]
Bush Supports Energy Subsidies That Benefit Industry. The Bush Administration supports the House energy bill, which includes energy industry tax breaks and subsidies costing $23 billion over the next 10 years. The energy bill provides billions of dollars in benefits to companies run by at least 22 executives who have qualified as either "Pioneers" or "Rangers," individuals who raised $100,000 or $200,000 each for Bush's re-election campaign. [Washington Post, 11/24/03]
Bush Energy Policy Fails to Solve America's Problems
U.S. Dependence on Foreign Oil is Rising. The Energy Department projects that the U.S. will increase its dependence on foreign oil to 68 percent by the year 2025 -- up from 55 percent currently. Bush's response -- proposing drilling in delicate lands in Alaska as well as various national monuments and public lands -- is woefully inadequate. [Energy Information Administration, "Annual Energy Outlook 2003 With Projections to 2025," 1/9/03; Denver Post, 3/15/01; Washington Post, 4/18/02; Associated Press, 3/29/01]
Cheney Dismissed Conservation as a Solution. Cheney said the only solution to the reliance on foreign oil is a government-backed push to find new domestic sources of oil and gas, including in protected areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and an all-out drive to build power plants. He predicted the U.S. will need "one new electricity-generating plant a week for 20 years." The New York Times reported: "Cheney dismissed as 1970's-era thinking the notion that 'we could simply conserve or ration our way out' of what he called an energy crisis." Said Cheney: "To speak exclusively of conservation is to duck the tough issues. Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy." [ New York Times, 5/1/01; Washington Post, 5/1/01]
Bush Energy Policy Fails to Fund Renewable Energy
Bush's Budgets Consistently Slash Renewable Energy Programs. Bush's 2002 budget cut funds for renewable energy resources by $190 million. Bush's 2003 budget reduced funding for renewable energy programs by $35.8 million. Bush's 2004 budget slashed funding to renewable energy programs by $137 million. Bush's 2005 budget cut overall energy efficiency and conservation by more than $2 million. [Budget for FY 2002, Energy Programs; LCV Budget Analysis, www.lcv.org; Congressional Research Service, "Renewable Energy: Tax Credit, Budget, and Electricity Production Issues," 2/6/02]