Oil producing countries have reduced their exposure to the dollar to the lowest level in two years and shifted oil income into euros, yen and sterling, according to new data from the Bank for International Settlements.

The revelation in the latest BIS quarterly review, published on Monday, confirms market speculation about a move out of dollars and could put new pressure on the ailing US currency.

Market liquidity is traditionally low in December, and many traders have locked in profits, potentially reinforcing volatility.

Russia and the members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the oil cartel, cut their dollar holdings from 67 per cent in the first quarter to 65 per cent in the second. (more…)

On Saturday, the panel on Cashin’ In discussed a startling prediction made by guest Todd Schoenberger, Chief Market Strategist for Taipan Financial News (TFN) and Executive Editor of that company’s Diligent Investor financial advice newsletter. Shoenberger said, ” … [Four] dollars-plus a gallon by January and here’s why. It’s based on geopolitical concerns coming out of the Middle East. The Iranians right now are talking about having this nuclear device by the end of March. If that’s the case - and also you have Hezbollah looking to take over the Lebanese government - if that’s the case the Israelis have to defend themselves. I’m looking for a violent conflict to break out by January, therefore higher oil prices. It’s gonna be bad. It’s gonna be bad.” (more…)

Influential think tank dismisses ‘peak oil’ theory, sees production rising

World oil production will not begin to fall for at least another 24 years, contrary to doomsday theories that supply is already in terminal decline, a prominent energy consulting group said Tuesday.

Cambridge Energy Research Associates said in a report that the world has some 3.74 trillion barrels of oil left — enough to last 122 years at current consumption rates and triple the amount estimated by “peak oil” theorists.

The world consumes nearly 85 million barrels of oil per day, with the United States using about a quarter of that, according to the Department of Energy. (more…)

Accidents and allegations of market fixing destroy environmentalist image

BP’s tie-up with its United States rival Amoco was supposed to create an ethical champion at the top of the global oil industry. Negotiated by Lord Browne over a bottle of Puligny-Montrachet in a London restaurant, it was one of the biggest mergers in history. But eight years on, BP’s US arm is becoming America’s most accident-prone business.

Federal regulators have accused BP of price gouging. Its corroded pipelines have been leaking in Alaska. A BP oil spill has polluted the coast of California. Civil rights activists are picketing its petrol stations. (more…)

Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday said its profit rose to $10.49 billion in the third quarter, making it the second-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company. The world’s biggest oil company said its net income amounted to $1.77 per share for the July-September period, up from $9.92 billion, or $1.58 per share, a year ago. The results surpassed the expectations of Wall Street analysts. On average, analysts expected the company to earn $1.59 per share in the quarter. (more…)

Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This pivotal documentary exposes how the foreign policy interests of American political elites–oil, and a need to have a secure military base in the region, among others–work in combination with Israeli public relations strategies to exercise a powerful influence over how news from the region is reported. Through the voices of scholars, media critics, peace activists, religious figures, and Middle East experts, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land carefully analyzes and explains how–through the use of language, framing and context–the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media, and Israeli colonization of the occupied terrorities appears to be a defensive move rather than an offensive one. The documentary also explores the ways that U.S. journalists, for reasons ranging from intimidation to a lack of thorough investigation, have become complicit in carrying out Israel’s PR campaign. At its core, the documentary raises questions about the ethics and role of journalism, and the relationship between media and politics. (more…)

A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted September 15-17 reveals that an astounding 42% of Americans believe that the current drop in prices at the pump are the direct result of manipulation by the Bush administration. Naturally FOX News could not let such a disturbing result go unchallenged. Consequently, on yesterday morning’s FOX & Friends they invited Bloomberg News columnist Amity Shlaes to rebut the poll results. (more…)

Some Americans are suspicious that recent steep declines in gasoline prices might be the result of political manipulation, since the savings at the gas pump come just weeks before critical midterm US elections.

Earlier this year, news of record oil profits led many US consumers to believe that energy companies had deliberately kept prices artificially high to improve their bottom line. (more…)

The American oil companies Chevron and ConocoPhillips could be shut out of a massive Arctic gas project in a sharp chilling of trade relations between Moscow and Washington.

This could really put a kink in Bush’s plan to lower prices at the pump to give a boost to the GOP in the midterm elections… (more…)

42 percent of Americans say Bush administration manipulated gas prices

WASHINGTON - There is no mystery or manipulation behind the recent fall in gasoline prices, analysts say. Try telling that to many U.S. motorists.

Almost half of all Americans believe the November elections have more influence than market forces. For them, the plunge at the pump is about politics, not economics.

Maybe Americans aren’t so gullible afterall… (more…)

TOKYO - Oil prices fell to a new six-month low below $60 a barrel on Monday as news of BP restoring output at Prudhoe Bay added to a sense of healthy supply.

The Oiligarchy is really coming through for Bush right now. If the American people fall for it, I hope they atleast enjoy the sodomy to their pocketbook at the gas pump after the midterm elections. Bush Petroleum & Co. is banking on Americans short memories. (more…)

US private equity group with links to leading Republicans in talks to buy state-controlled Tamoil, valued at €3bn

US private equity giant Carlyle is in talks to acquire Libya’s state-controlled oil refining and marketing operation, Tamoil. (more…)

British business mogul Richard Branson said Thursday he would invest about $3 billion to combat global warming over the next decade. (more…)

MOSCOW - Russia said on Friday it would snub claims by Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for a small field located near the U.S. oil major’s giant Sakhalin-1 project, as it will grant it to its state oil firm Rosneft.

Poor, poor $400-billion dollar conglomerate. Let Bush kiss it all better. (more…)

Iran could trigger a global terrorist campaign and choke the West’s oil supplies in the event of war with America, the top US commander in the region has warned.

They’ll cut us off if we invade, so we must invade? Gotta love circular logic… (more…)