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Fuel Your Frustration Over the Ongoing Energy Crisis

California Energy Crisis FAQ

By Emily Yoffe

Posted Friday, Jan. 19, 2001, at 4:04 p.m. PT

How did the current crisis start?

Californians were sick of having some of the highest energy prices in the country. That is, about 10 cents per kilowatt hour, while neighboring Oregonians paid less than 5 cents per kilowatt hour. Although use varies widely, on average a home uses about 860 kilowatt hours of energy a month, which for Californians translates into monthly bills of $80 to $90. They wanted to pay less, and their elected officials wanted to help.

Visit Oil and Gas Online for the latest news and analysis on the industry. A VerticalNet Community.

Could Energy Destroy Civilization?

By Emily Yoffe

Posted Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2000, at 10:33 a.m. PT

In the new Fox television series Dark Angel, America in 2019 is in a decade-long collapse because terrorists exploded a nuclear weapon high in our atmosphere, unleashing an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that annihilated our communications systems. Could such an explosion destroy modern life?

The Energy Group is a valuable resource for employees in the power and electric communities. Find information on energy services, gas processing, deep water drilling, gas exploration, and more. A VerticalNet Community.

Who’s Enjoying the Energy Crisis? Hint: It’s Not OPEC

By Anne Applebaum

Posted Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2000, at 4:00 p.m. PT

In Wales, a 62-year-old man died early this week while waiting in a long line for gasoline. Doctors said afterward that he had expired from “stress and heat.” Elsewhere in Britain, more than a quarter of the nation’s “petrol stations” ran dry after panic-buying Monday; truck drivers blockaded most of the country’s major refineries Tuesday; protesters banged on Tony Blair’s Jaguar shouting “shame on you”; a rogue Texaco station in Derby was found to be selling gas at more than $16 a gallon.

Visit Oil and Gas Online for the latest news and analysis on the industry. A VerticalNet Community.

Dick Cheney: Cheerleader for OPEC

By Mickey Kaus

Posted Friday, July 28, 2000, at 8:40 a.m. PT

“I am impressed by the extent to which OPEC seems to have got its act together. For the first time in a long time there is optimism.” Who said that? The Venezuelan oil minister? A high-ranking Saudi official? No. It was Dick Cheney, the GOP’s expected vice-presidential candidate, speaking at an oil-drillers’ conference in May 1999. What was he optimistic about? He was optimistic that the oil cartel would succeed in carrying out an agreement to cut world oil production, causing a rise in prices, which would benefit the oil services company of which Cheney was chairman and CEO. Cheney had said the same thing about a month earlier at an energy conference in New Orleans. (“There is a changed attitude inside OPEC. They might not get to 100 percent, but a certain amount of short-term optimism is justified.”)

Oil and Gas Online. Your resource for professionals in the upstream oil and gas exploration and production industry. Information on deepwater drilling, oil, gas exploration, drilling platforms, offshore production, mobile rigs and more. A VerticalNet Community.

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