Energy prices 'threaten growth'

[lovuian]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4703984.stm

Finance ministers from the world's leading industrialised countries have warned volatile energy prices threaten world economic growth in 2006.
But officials from the Group of Eight (G8) nations said they still believed that growth would be good this year, in a statement issued after talks.

Finance chiefs have been meeting in Moscow this weekend with energy security at the top of their agenda.

Russia has taken the helm of G8 with its economic clout at an all-time high.

more...

That little fight with the Ukraine was brought up!!! The OIL MUST FLOW!!!

[Judi Lynn]

1. Energy Is Central Focus at G-8 Meeting

Energy Is Central Focus at G-8 Meeting
Finanace Ministers From World's Wealthiest Nations Focus on Energy's Effect on World Economy

ALEX NICHOLSON AP Business Writer

MOSCOW Feb 12, 2006 (AP)— Russia's energy clout took center stage as Moscow hosted finance ministers from the Group of Eight nations, its economy buoyed by high oil prices and its reputation battered by a gas dispute with Ukraine.

Despite storm clouds from the gas fight that had threatened to overshadow Saturday's discussions among the world's most industrialized nations, officials appeared to put in place a blueprint for a summit of the G-8 heads of states in July that will likely focus on energy security.

In their final communique, ministers warned of the effect of "high and volatile" energy prices on the world economy, though they said global growth was expected to grow in 2006. They also warned of the potential economic effects of a global bird flu pandemic and called for more financial help for affected countries.

"We are all concerned about the risks of rising energy prices and what they do to growth," U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said at a news conference after the meetings.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1608262

[4dsc]

2. The permanent energy crisis

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=58126

I see the world is getting closer to recognizing peak oil but cannot quite say it yet. The next few years are going to be interesting for sure as demand exceeds supply!!

("No combination of conservation measures, alternative energy sources and technological advances could realistically and economically provide a way to completely replace those imports in the short or medium term," said Exxon Mobil senior vice president Stuart McGill);

With looming energy shortages, the risk of conflict over energy access (and the wealth fossil fuels generate) is certain to grow. Throughout history, competition over the control of key supplies of vital raw materials has been a source of friction between major powers and there is every reason to assume that this will continue to be the case. "Just at it did when the Great Game was played out in the decades leading up to the First World War, ongoing industrialization is setting off a scramble for natural resources," John Gray of the London School of Economics observed in a recent article in the New York Review of Books. "The coming century could be marked by recurrent resource wars, as the great powers struggle for control of the world's hydrocarbons."

As in the Great Game, such conflicts most likely would not arise from head-on clashes between the great powers, but rather through the escalation of local conflicts sustained by great power involvement, as was the case in the Balkans prior to World War I. In their competitive pursuit of assured energy supplies, today's great powers -- led by the United States and China -- are developing or cementing close ties with favored suppliers in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. In many cases, this entails the delivery of large quantities of advanced weaponry, advisors, and military technology -- as the United States has long been doing with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, and China is now doing with Iran and Sudan.

[ochazuke]

3. Growth threatens energy prices

get it?

[Javaman]

4. Wars are always about resources...

resources are what drive a military.

the American military runs on oil.

the American military is the single largest user of oil.

no oil no giant ass military.

These wars are not about us, they are about getting oil for the military. Once that is understood, the rest is easy.

We can provide enough via alt energy for the people of the US. What can't be provide via alt energy is power for the military.

and this is why there will be a perpetual war.

It's circular logic. the military needs oil to fight wars, but oil is running out.

So in order to get oil, they have to go war to get it, but going to war uses more oil, so therefore, there will be a need for more oil.

And So the perpetual war for oil has begun.

It really will be interesting to see who has the last tank that has that last gallon of gas. Will they be declared the winner?

And here we are. Fasten your safety belts, we are in for a rough ride ahead.