Is Arabia in decline?

This article reforce the Simmons Theory.

Almost a century after becoming the site of China's first land-based oil well in 1907, northwest China's Yan'an city is facing a water crisis caused by the booming oil industry.

The city on the Loess Plateau was the base of Mao Zedong and the People's Liberation Army for 13 years, but now it battles to keep its water reserves uncontaminated by the thousands of nearby oil wells and pipelines.

A more serious problem exists in the Yan River basin, which has 26,000 wells and more than 800 kilometers of pipelines. Its water quality once dropped below class V, unsuitable even for agricultural irrigation.

Now that's a water problem.

-C.

Makes one wonder about several points.  Oil exporters are taking steps to reduce reliance on oil,  They can build, from contract award to in service, in just 30 months.
======
Alstom chosen to supply Algiers' first tramway
(14/06/06 17:40 CET)

A 225 million euros project

ALSTOM CHOSEN TO SUPPLY ALGIERS' FIRST TRAMWAY

The operator Entreprise du Métro d'Alger (EMA) has just announced that it has chosen an international consortium led by ALSTOM Transport to supply a turnkey system for the first tramway line of the Algerian capital. The total value of this project is 225 million euros. Options may be added.

This project is part of the Algerian Government's development programme to meet the increasing demand for public transport and reduce traffic congestion in the Algerian capital. Algiers' first tramway line, which will link the city centre to the Eastern part of the capital, will be 16.3 km long with 30 stations. It was designed to transport 150,000 passengers daily. The first train sets will enter into service 30 months after the contract takes effect.

As a supplier of global solutions, ALSTOM will provide a turnkey system comprising the rolling stock, the tracks, the power supply system, the traction electrification, the signalling system and control equipment, part of the civil works and a workshop. ALSTOM has long experience in this field with references including the Barcelona tram and the KTX high-speed train for Korea.

Since the development of the first CITADIS in 1996, ALSTOM has sold 778 CITADIS cars to more than 20 cities around the world including Paris, Strasbourg, Lyon, Madrid, Rotterdam, Dublin, Melbourne, Tenerife and Tunis.

Strapped States Try New Route, Lease Toll Roads to Foreign Firms

Half a century after President Dwight D. Eisenhower persuaded the nation to build the interstate highway system, the allure of privatization is a rethinking of the relationship between the government and its roads. It reverses the view of highways as a public responsibility, ingrained since the first half of the 19th century, when states took over roads, bridges and canals that had gone bankrupt in private hands.

Sounds like the libertarian dream.  But seen in the light of peak oil...a step toward a world where only the wealthy can drive?

Energy group Royal Dutch/Shell has been conducting field research in Colorado's Rio Blanco County for 10 years.

It is drilling holes and inserting electric heaters to gradually heat the rock to a temperature of 650-700 degrees Fahrenheit over a number of years.

The resulting product is one third natural gas and two thirds light oil.

Surface processing can then turn the oil into products such as diesel, jet fuel or petrol.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5071966.stm

"Everything's so difficult. Prices keep going up, and there's too little fuel and electricity."

::Snip::

"But the problems that the Burmese face go much deeper than just a lack of money. There is a huge disparity between those allied to the ruling elite and the rest of the population - a distinction which permeates every aspect of day-to-day life."

::Snip::

"Petrol is another commodity where the black market reigns supreme. An ordinary citizen is only allowed two gallons (nine litres) per day at the government price - and even then, queuing can sometimes take hours."

::Snip::

"Despite living under one of the most draconian regimes in the world, some Burmese people still manage to find time for life's pleasures.

I spoke to a man in his early 20s who, over the last few months, has been using the rare moments of electricity to charge batteries so he can watch the World Cup.

I can imagine him now, glued to a television screen, escaping for a few precious hours from the chaos around him."

cherry picking quotes galore: read article for one's self

     Yesterday, on two financial TV shows, there were two comments that the ethanol market was nearing saturation in the USA and to expect a collapse in the price of both ethanol and the stock of companies like Ande and the new one VSE.

And they say a picture is worth a thousand words...

China ramped up its role as a global player on Thursday by hosting a summit of states encompassing almost half the world's population and some of Washington's most prominent opponents.

Da Da Da...people are strange...when you're a stranger...

-C.

An earlier veto threat by Bush forced senators to strip some things out:

• More than $14 billion for such things as aid to farmers outside the hurricane zone and for the Gulf Coast seafood industry.

• Democratic initiatives to beef up port security and veterans medical services.

• A controversial plan backed by Mississippi GOP Gov. Haley Barbour and the state's powerful Senate delegation to pay CSX Transportation $700 million for a recently rebuilt freight rail line along the coast so the state could use its path for a new highway.

First, higher oil costs are directly feeding into the higher costs of building and maintaining our road system: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=434330

Second, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in Wisconsin actually decreased last year for the first time in nearly a quarter century: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=421717

Third, Wisconsin's transportation fund is shrinking. This is partly due to the first drop in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the state in nearly a quarter century. A drop in VMT generally equates to a drop in gasoline taxes paid into the transportation fund. It is also partly due to Wisconsin's elected leaders repealing the automatic gas tax increase last year (previously Wisconsin's gas tax increased automatically each year to keep up with inflation). You can argue that Wisconsin won't need to spend money on expanding road infrastructure in the future, but the gas tax is also Wisconsin's primary funding mechanism for state public transportation assistance.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WI_BUDGET_WOES_WIOL-?SITE=WIFON&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE =DEFAULT

The conclusion is that Wisconsin's transportation system is starting to feel the pinch of high oil prices.

Husky, CNOOC find huge China gas field

"Like winning first prize"

HONG KONG/CALGARY (Reuters) - Top Chinese offshore oil producer CNOOC and Husky Energy have found a giant gas field in the nation's first deep-water discovery, boosting CNOOC shares nearly 6 percent.

If its potential is confirmed and it is commercially viable, the field in the South China Sea would add as much as 7 percent to China's gas reserves, as it strives to bolster natural gas consumption to diversify its energy base and curb pollution.

Husky, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, said the field could contain 4-6 trillion cubic feet of recoverable resources, ranking it among the country's biggest.

Not really related to present discussions but related more to the way the web site is functionning.  I want to make a small advice.

I'm currently a Usability Professional mainly for websites.  Altough I dont have the time to do much because I'm involved getting my town prepared for PO, I do have a good background for this.

I think that each time I click on the more... or comments link in the front page of The Oil Drum, it always link to a named anchor (a name or a number with # in front) and the page load and the position itself at the begining of thoses comments or rest of articles.

This way of linking is not very good because of many things.  Because there is lots of information the page is almost always long to load and the graphics and small side boxes are the last to appear.  You can scroll down to start to read or find the comments you want to read but then it position itself back at the begining, wich I think is leathal.

Also to regain the power of the mouse wheel, visitors have to click on the page and if the click is done where there is no link but just a fraction of seconds before repositioning, it may go trough that link, thus loading a diferent page and  getting the time used to read less available.

That repositionnement interfere with the current job done by the visitor and alievates part of your visitor base.  

I dont know what can be done to fix that problem but doing it will have a definite effect on daily visits.  

For a second advice, I dont know what you can do to lower the loading time but if you can find a way (not a better server but less graphic on each page and leaner graphics when needed.  Leaner pages will help reduce the bandwith cost and the number of servers needed.  

Other good advices from other readers?

NYMEX natgas futures rally on concerns that another active hurricane season could disrupt Gulf Coast output as well as above normal temperatures and a weaker-than-expected build in inventories.

And oil is back up above $70, too...

Anyone read this over at Prudentbear.com?

It presents a very interesting analysis of household sector spending in the US (apparently now 20% of GLOBAL GDP!).

We might see some of the awaited demand suppression/destruction in the near term.

Our national electricity production-distribution company "EDF" (électricité de France) with help from EURO-RSG is currently running a commercial about its research commitment. In the commercial they feature easter island and recount briefly it's controversial history in a purely hansonian style. Their conclusion is " the energies which have helped to build a civilisation can also undo it". Of course the last seconds are used to tell us that EDF invests 366 million Euros per year in research for alternative energy sources.

Total, whose CEO Thierry Demarest has acknowledged the concept of peak-oil since Feb 2006, runs also a commercial whithout any text in most of the devloppment showing different situations where we use energy (for work but also for personnal developpment and even for anxiolytic applications), says in the end "for you our energy is endless".

"we have enough conventional oil to last the world for 4 decades at current consumption rates"

"the days of cheap oil and gas are behind us"

"natural gas prices are unlikely to return to prior levels"

If you want another reason to be bullish about silver, then Ted Butler's essay at Investment Rarities.com is what you should read. He first starts of with the snide remark, "CFTC doesn't even bother to analyze the data it monitors and publishes", and then seamlessly goes on to say "According to the COT, for positions as of May 30, 2006, the 4 or less large traders in COMEX silver have a net short position that is more concentrated than at any time in history." I can sense that you are salivating at the potent of a short squeeze. Me, too! I make a note to myself on my saliva-soaked notebook, "Buy more silver!"

Mr. Butler is obviously repelled at all this salivating, what with dribbling down my chin and all. So he quickly goes on "It is far more lopsided in concentrated shorts compared to concentrated longs than any other major market. This short position is not only 3.5 times greater than the concentrated net position of the 4 or less largest long traders, it is also more concentrated and larger than any position held by the Hunt Brothers in the great silver manipulation of 1980. In the silver market, the concentrated short position towers over the concentrated long position to an extent not found anywhere."

"An extent not found anywhere."  Oops! More salivating!  I wipe my chin with my sleeve and underline my "Buy more silver!" note as Mr. Butler goes on to say "The actual numbers state that the 4 or less largest traders are net short the equivalent of 181,584,000 ounces, while the 4 or less largest traders are net long 52,506,000 ounces. To put this short amount into perspective, it is more than is produced annually on the largest silver producing continent, North America (Mexico, US and Canada). It's larger than the combined total holdings in the COMEX warehouses and the silver ETF (SLV)."

How to sum up? He does it easily when he says "The concentrated net short position is staggering in size."

http://news.goldseek.com/RichardDaughty/1150297680.php

Thoughts?

The following data is all from icasualties.org. They've done a great job of keeping track of US casualties since the war began, and have kept fair data on reported Iraqi security force and civilian deaths since 2005. Make of them what you will.

President Bush bestowed monument status on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which span 1,200 nautical miles, on Thursday.

http://tinyurl.com/mbv4t

It just sounds - great. But then I also saw:

Baltimore police make tens of thousands of illegal arrests each year, subjecting innocent people to the humiliation of being hauled away in handcuffs and the degradation of strip searches, according to a suit filed today by the NAACP and the ACLU.

The suit names the mayor, present and past police officials and state corrections officials, as well as individual officers. It claims the department in effect has a quota system -- rewarding officers based on the quantity, rather than the quality, of arrests and punishing those who fall behind.

http://tinyurl.com/ph24h

Really makes you want to hang out in "Charm City" doesn't it?  But staying home won't keep you safe from Big Brother, either:

Prosecutors can use evidence seized by police during a home search even though officers violated the Constitution by failing to knock or announce their presence before entering, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled.

http://tinyurl.com/gv8uc

I am more pessimistic about freedom than I am about energy.  I think we in the US will stave off the doom scenarios for quite a while, but many seem willing to sacrifice our freedoms as long as their comfort level isn't challenged.

Would appreciate their postings cleaned up when Super G reads this thread, tks.