T. Boone Pickens: Natural gas is the key to winning the war on terror
More than ever, we need to move our heavy-duty trucks from diesel to natural gas.
Former Shell Oil chief: U.S. must become more oil independent
Just in time for the Fourth of July weekend: Our very own John Hofmeister speaking words of wisdom about the need for the United States to wean itself off oil as its dominant transportation fuel.
“It’s incumbent upon the United States of America to become more oil independent,” Hofmeister said at a security conference in Israel in June. “Because it still relies on nearly 7 million barrels a day of imports, and in a nation that uses 18 and a half to 19 million barrels of oil per day, the loss or the risk of 7 million barrels a day of imports puts that nation at about two-thirds of independence, and that’s not enough for the world’s largest economy.
“So there remains an interdependence, until the U.S. can find independence, and it has every right and every responsibility to pursue independence. As does every other nation.”
Watch Hofmeister’s full talk at the Herzliya Conference in Tel Aviv:
Hofmeister knows of what he speaks: He was the president of Shell Oil Co., the American subsidiary of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, from 2005 to 2008. The author of “Why We Hate the Oil Companies” now travels the world talking about the need for alternatives to oil. He’s not only on the board of directors and advisors at Fuel Freedom, he founded a nonprofit called Citizens for Affordable Energy.
U.S. crude prices closed at $56.96 a barrel Wednesday, down $2.51 or 4 percent, the biggest one-day drop since April 8. Compare that to last summer, when the price was above $100. But the market remains volatile, and Hofmeister said having oil at an affordable price long-term is necessary for national security.
“If you’re not taking care of yourself, no one else will,” Hofmeister said. “And so nations should look to their security — not just to their defense forces, but to their energy supplies — which in the United States, is why I’m almost entirely focused now on transitioning natural gas to transportation fuels, as well as biofuels, as well as electricity for transportation. Because the future of oil is simply limited. We’re not running out. It won’t disappear. But it simply won’t be available at this price for an indefinite future.”
Hofmeister expanded on another of his major themes: that natural gas, which is cheap and plentiful in the United States, could help the U.S. and other nations reduce oil consumption. Natural gas is used as a fuel in its gaseous, compressed form — as CNG and LNG — and it can also be processed into liquid alcohol fuel, ethanol or methanol.
“Over the next decade, nations like the United States, or like Israel, or like much of Europe if not the whole of Europe, that are not transitioning at least a third of their oil demand away from oil and toward natural gas will only look back in regret.”
(Photo credit: Poet Biorefining plant in Macon, Missouri. From FarmProgress.com)
Al Qaeda’s next target: American oil tankers
The group’s newest publication talks about attacking U.S. supertankers and screwing up the oil supply chain.
Big Oil getting cozy with Iran as talks near end
Big Western oil companies are beginning to forge business relationships with Iran during the final days of international talks that could lift sanctions against the oil-rich nation.
ISIS is using oil as a weapon against Syrians
ISIS has begun to use oil in an attempt to spread its influence and counter rival Syrian opposition groups, Erika Solomon reports for the Financial Times.
Iraq to form special ‘oil army’ to fend off ISIS threat
Iraq is mobilizing a 27,000 strong army of security personnel to protect its oil and energy facilities from attacks by Islamic State insurgents.
The Oil-Export Ban Harms National Security
The United States faces a startling array of global security threats, demanding national resolve and the resolve of our closest allies in Europe and Asia. The pathway to achieving U.S. goals is as simple as ensuring that allies and friends have access to secure supplies of energy.
U.S. says ISIS’s head of oil operations killed in U.S. raid in Syria
In a rare ground attack deep into Syria, U.S. Army commandos killed a man described as the Islamic State’s head of oil operations, captured his wife and rescued a woman whom American officials said was enslaved.
Iranian official: U.S. oil delegation to visit Iran this week
A U.S. delegation will visit Iran to review energy investment opportunities while Tehran negotiates a final deal with world powers on its nuclear programme, a senior oil ministry official told Mehr news agency on Monday.
Iran’s dire Strait
U.S. officials are still trying to interpret Iran’s actions and intentions in one of the world’s most important waterways.
