James Stafford
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Articles by James Stafford
August 06, 2010
The lingering impact of August 3, 2010, clash on the Israeli-Lebanese border lies in the greater context of, and wider strategic dynamics in, the Middle East. These aspects were highlighted by HizbAllah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in his speech later that day.
June 22, 2010
President Obama and Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were informed that BP would drill an unprecedented 35,000 feet well bore at the Macondo site off the coast of Louisiana. In September 2009, the Deepwater Horizon successfully sunk a well bore at a depth of 35,055 below sea level at the Tiber Prospect in the Keathley Canyon block 102 in the Gulf of Mexico, southeast of Houston.
During the September drilling operations, the Deepwater Horizon drill penetrated a massive undersea oil deposit but BP's priorities changed when the Macondo site in the Mississippi Canyon off the coast of Louisiana was found to contain some 3-4 billion barrels of oil in an underground cavern estimated to be about the size of Mount Everest. It was as a result of another 35,000 feet well bore sank by the Deepwater Horizon at the Macondo site that the catastrophic explosion occurred on April 20.
May 19, 2010
We have learned from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sources that U.S. Navy submarines deployed to the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast have detected what amounts to a frozen oil blob from the oil geyser at the destroyed Deep Horizon off-shore oil rig south of Louisiana. The Navy submarines have trained video cameras on the moving blob, which remains frozen at depths of between 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Because the oil blob is heavier than water, it remains frozen at current depths.
March 05, 2010
The elections in Iraq on March 7, 2010, are likely to serve as an important indicator of the prospects for a resolution of the long-running dispute over the administration of the ethnically mixed and resource-rich province of Kirkuk in the north of the country.
Yemen´s Push Into the Gas Sector Fails to Stimulate Great Excitement and Raises Disturbing Questions
March 03, 2010
With Yemen´s oil revenues plunging, the government´s push into the gas market seemed like an economic saving grace for a state wracked by poverty and terrorism, but analysts warn more thought should be given to carving out the country's post-petroleum era.
March 02, 2010
The artificially-engendered revival of the dispute, which began in February 2010 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, has been portrayed as a posturing by embattled Argentine Pres. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, taking advantage of both the start of exploratory oil and gas drilling by British company Desire Petroleum in the Falklands waters, and the talks by Latin American and Caribbean leaders of the Rio Group in the Mexican resort of Playa del Carmen, beginning on February 22, 2010. But the crisis may well play into the political posturing of equally embattled United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who faces a general election by June 2010 at the latest.
February 26, 2010
Crude oil broke through the $80 a barrel ceiling repeatedly during the week but kept falling back as hedge funds placed big bets on the Euro´s decline.
February 24, 2010
For a long time, the northern Kurdistan region was seen as the most attractive oil market in the country but the latest bid rounds in December and subsequent contract signings in the south have made it suddenly "less clear that Baghdad actually needs an oil law with Kurdistan, because they´re actually doing pretty well on their own,"
February 18, 2010
Once an international outcast for its penchant for terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, Libya now wants foreigners to take a greater stake in the oil market and in turn encourage local firms to play a larger role as well.
February 12, 2010
Blizzard conditions in the U.S. Northeast had propelled West Texas Intermediate prices back up above $75 earlier in the week. But a decline of some 1.5% on Friday pushed prices down near $74 a barrel again. Still, oil was ahead about 4% on the week.
February 10, 2010
U.S. lawmakers are toughening their stance on Iran´s energy industry with new economic penalties, but experts doubt the Islamic regime will pay much attention and is more likely to open the doors even wider to other players eager to replace fleeing investors.
February 06, 2010
After starting the week on a firmer note, oil prices fell sharply toward the end of the week in a general market sell-off as investors sought the dollar as a safe haven amid worries about European Union economies.
January 30, 2010
A look at the current worldwide political and Economic climate and 10 strategic predictions covering Oil & Gas, Health, Afghanistan, Asset Values, Iran & Israel & others. A great - and still growing - divergence appeared in 2009 between public statements by leaders and their public performance. The politicized, romanticized theater of increasingly populist "democratic" leaders and media seemed to be of a different planet from activities taking place in the real world.
January 30, 2010
Crude oil futures slipped below $73 a barrel for West Texas Intermediate late Friday as a temporary boost from strong GDP figures failed to last and let prices sink to a one-month low.
January 29, 2010
Gazprom is a behemoth: it is Russia's largest company, state-controlled and the world´s largest gas producer. Engaged in gas exploration, processing, and transportation, it operates an extensive pipeline network stretching thousands of kilometers across Central Asia and Europe. Gazprom ranks #22 in the 2009 annual ranking of the world largest corporations published by Fortune magazine and has 456,000 employees. With close ties to the Kremlin - President Dmitry Medvedev used to be chairman of Gazprom´s board of directors - and accounting for about 25% of Russia´s federal tax revenues according to pre-crisis data, Gazprom has a unique leverage and has no qualm about flexing its muscles.
January 11, 2010
For most of us, including lawmakers on Capitol Hill, it seems obvious that when hedge funds buy and sell billions of dollars worth of oil and gas futures, it must be having an impact on energy prices. While hedge funds and other speculative traders would never dream of taking delivery of a barrel of oil, their trading activity affects the prices for actual consumers of oil and gas and their downstream customers – or so it would seem.
January 04, 2010
Construction of the 56-inch, 2,050-mile pipeline, first proposed in 2002, is tentatively slated to begin next year and scheduled for completion by 2014. At a cost initially estimated at $11.4 billion and rising, Nabucco will be the most expensive pipeline ever built, more than three times the cost of the 1,092-mile Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline. Raising such a significant sum in a time of global recession would be an article of faith at best.
Even assuming that Nabucco´s boosters manage to assemble a coterie of deep-pocketed suckers – er, investors, the only promised current volume for Nabucco's proposed 31 billion cubic meters (bcm) annual throughput is Azerbaijan's future offshore Caspian Shah Deniz production, estimated at 8 bcm.
December 29, 2009
It is often assumed that what preoccupies military planners is their attempts to define the shape of future warfare so that they can adequately prepare equipment and doctrine ideal to meet the threat. Evidence, however, shows that what most occupies their attention is how to adapt existing force structures and systems to react to emerging conditions.
December 28, 2009
After decades of dictatorship, war and international sanctions, Iraq´s massive oil reserves are set to be tapped proper. If the seven oil projects awarded to foreign oil companies this weekend, and the three from an auction earlier this year, develop as planned, within eight years, Iraq will see its oil production capacity leap to more than 12 million barrels per day (bpd).
December 23, 2009
A look at the Central Asia–China gas pipeline that links Turkmenistan´s natural gas fields on the Caspian Sea to the Western Chinese border in the Xinjiang province.
It also analyses the impact this has on Russia, China, Turkmenistan and what this means for Gazprom.
December 14, 2009
As the major powers gather energy resources worldwide political tensions are on the rise. China, Russia and America are now seeing the strategic importance Africa can play in their nations energy security and all three are courting resource rich countries in the region.
December 08, 2009
As multinational military forces have left Iraq, international petroleum companies have eagerly descended -- seduced by the long-term potential of vast oil reserves off-limits to foreigners for decades. Yet lingering violence, legal questions and political uncertainty make doing business in this country a gamble.
November 30, 2009
Following Iran´s announcement today that they plan to build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities, nuclear power once again finds itself in the headlines. But although Iran´s plans are being vilified by the media, governments and environmentalists have both admitted that Nuclear power is the only viable alternative to Oil and gas and also essential to averting further damage from Global warming.
This is why the Uranium market is set for rapid expansion and the country investors should be looking to is Kazakhstan, as not only do they contain the world´s second largest Uranium reserves and are the world´s third largest producer – they are also looking to rapidly increase their output and inviting foreign firms to help with their expansion program.
November 25, 2009
After years of over promising and under delivering, the solar Industry is finally starting to show some interesting developments which have the potential to make solar power as cheap as fossil fuel on a cost-per-watt basis within five years.
We take a look at some of the latest technical and product developments in the Solar Industry and the companies behind them.
November 23, 2009
Did the EIA deliberately put out distorted key Oil projections under intense pressure from the Bush Administration. What does this mean for the Oil Industry and what opportunities does it create, especially in the Biofuels arena.
November 18, 2009
An extraordinary game of Geo-strategy is underway to lock in long term agreements in the energy sector. At a global level, the transit routes of future oil & gas pipelines become the object of a power struggle involving not only the suppliers and end-users but also the transit countries.
November 16, 2009
Gold outperformed every major equity index in 2008 and it's returns in 2009 have been phenomenal. Silver and Platinum have also posted some tremendous gains and bullish sentiment for precious metals is still on the increase. Can they continue their incredible run, or will something derail them in the process.
November 11, 2009
An in depth look by one of Washington's top energy advisors at the central Asian region and the resources currently up for grabs. Uzbekistan is one of the world's largest producers of Natural Gas, but it's landlocked location makes it difficult for Oil Companies and countries to access the resources. Could the pacification of Afghanistan be the best chance they have of fully utilizing the Natural gas?
October 31, 2009
We love to vilify Oil and heap responsibility for a great many of the world's ill upon it. But the fact of the matter is Oil is one of the most useful and used commodities know to us and without it we would be in a very sorry state. Here's what Oil has actually done for us.