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Market carve-up underway? It would be only natural if Gazprom sought to agree with its rivals in North Africa and the Middle East to a set of commercial terms that facilitate the carving up of markets, ensuring everyone gets a share of the pie, the article added.

Crude price starting to damage majors: Among the West’s big oil companies, the price of crude has gone beyond a mere embarrassment of riches to the point where it is damaging business plans. So hot is the market that companies struggle to staff projects and acquire materials and equipment.

Their costs are soaring: BP recently suffered a tripling in the day rate of its drillship in the Gulf of Mexico. In Qatar, they are no longer worrying about tender prices but about a lack of bids. There are simply not enough equipment procurement contractors to service the profusion of projects.

Their market dominance is eroding: The surging price is doing damage in other areas for the major oil companies, causing political problems at home and abroad. Oil producing nations no longer need the oil majors to provide either cash or technology. The latter they can buy from oil service companies, which have picked up the staff and skills abandoned by the majors during the price collapse of the 1990s. Flush with funds from high prices, the oil producing nations also no longer need the oil majors’ capital.

The Australian, 27/4/2006, p. 25

Source: Erisk Net  

Call to invest in renewable energy, particularly solar power: Gorbachev, who chairs an environmental think tank, Green Cross International, called on leaders of the G8 nations to invest in renewable energy sources, in a statement marking the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

4000 deaths caused by Chernobyl: As leader of the Soviet Union in 1986, Gorbachev led the immediate response to the world’s worst nuclear disaster, which led to at least 4000 deaths and sent a radioactive cloud over parts of Europe.

G8 leaders due to meet in Russia in July: The Green Cross proposals were contained in a letter sent to the leaders of the G8 who are due to meet in Russia in July.

Way of helping the energy-impoverished: Gorbachev said the proposals reflected the Green Cross vision of a way of helping the energy-impoverished in the developing world, while creating concentrations of solar energy in cities that could be used to prevent blackouts.

Lower electricity bills: He said solar energy would also lower electricity bills, and would provide a source in the future for generating renewable hydrogen fuels.

Cut subsidies to fossil fuels: "The fund could easily be raised by cutting subsidies for fossil fuels like oil and coal," Gorbachev said.

Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework on Climate Change Control (UNFCCC). 26 April 2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153 Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999. Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int

Erisk Net, 29/4/2006

Petrol prices are soaring but one Australian scientist believes the cost of filling a fuel tank could be cut to peanuts. Or soyabeans. Both, says Peter Gresshoff, are rich in oil that can be harvested to produce an efficient biodiesel. … SMH article

No water by 2020 without planned targets: Mr Thwaites warned that Melbourne would run out of water by 2020 unless the proposed action was taken. The plan covers Melbourne and central southern Victoria including Geelong, Ballarat and parts of Gippsland.

30pc saving target by 2020: In Melbourne, a water saving target of 15 per cent for each person by 2010 will be doubled to 30 per cent by 2020.

250bn litres shortfall by 2055: According to government projections, demand will outstrip supply in some urban areas by as early as 2013. "If we don’t take action, by 2055 we would have a shortfall of approximately 250 billion litres of water in the central region," Mr Thwaites said.

Pollution still plagues Yarra: Opposition environment spokesman David Davis said extra flows proposed for the Yarra failed to address the long-standing problem of pollution. As recently as last week, eight of 12 measurement sites along the river were recording bacteria levels over the acceptable limit, he said.

The Canberra Times, 21/4/2006, p. 11

NIMBY lobbies "should be heeded": Senator Campbell – who last month blocked a similar Victorian project allegedly to protect a rare parrot – has frozen federal funds for a wind farm at Denmark on the State’s south coast, saying the State Government should not override community opposition to such projects.

Chosen site "unique": Denying he was "anti wind farms", Senator Campbell said wind turbine projects needed to address the concerns of local residents before they were supported. “Denmark’s pretty unique,” he said.

Greens say Canberra misreading community concerns: WA Greens MP Paul Llewellyn, who had a financial stake in the project, called on Senator Campbell to fix the dispute. "Communities are crying out for positive action on climate change, Minister Campbell does not appear to be listening," Mr Llewellyn said.

The Australian, 26/4/2006, p. 2

Top official quoted: The UN News Centre reported Alexander Müller, the new assistant director-general for FAO Sustainable Development Department, as saying at the agency’s Rome headquarters: “The gradual move away from oil has begun.

25 per cent share predicted: “Over the next 15 to 20 years we may see bio-fuels providing a full 25 per cent of the world’s energy needs.”

Positive impact on rural economies: FAO’s interest in bio-energy stems from the positive impact which energy crops were expected to have on rural economies and the opportunity offered countries to diversify their energy sources.

Risks seen in depending on oil: Muller said factors pushing for a momentous change in the world energy market included environmental constraints such as increased global warming and the Kyoto Protocol’s curbs on emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases as well as a growing perception by governments of the risks of dependence on oil.

Bio-energy more competitive: “Oil at more than $70 a barrel makes bio-energy potentially more competitive,” Müller said. “Also, in the last decade global environmental concerns and energy consumption patterns have built up pressure to introduce more renewable energy into national energy plans and to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.”

One million Brazilian cars use “flex fuel”: FAO highlighted Brazil as an example for the rest of the world. Latin America’s largest country was the world’s biggest producer of bio-ethanol and one million Brazilian cars already run on fuel made from sugar cane, with most new cars powered by “flex fuel” engines. Introduced three years ago they use either petrol or bioethanol, or any mix of the two.

Europe lagging: Europe lagged well behind Brazil in bio-ethanol production and consumption, but the European Union (EU) had set a target of increasing the share of bio-fuels in transport to 8 per cent by 2015. FAO officials said that if oil prices stayed high, things could move even faster.

Focus on small farmers: FAO official stressed that the focus of the organisation was on the likely benefits for small farmers. One hazard was that large-scale promotion of bio-energy relying on intensive cash-crop monocultures could see the sector dominated by a few agri-energy giants, without any significant gains for small farmers.

Reference: Digest of latest news reported on website of Climate Change Secretariat of United Nations Framework on Climate Change Control (UNFCCC). 26 April 2006. Address: PO Box 260 124, D-53153 Bonn. Germany. Phone: : (49-228) 815-1005, Fax: (49-228) 815-1999. Email: press@unfccc.int
http://www.unfccc.int

Erisk Net, 27/4/2006