OPEC producer Venezuela has joined fellow member Nigeria in making a token cut in supply to stem falling oil prices.
OPEC spokesman Omar Farouk Ibrahim said that "Venezuela has formally informed the OPEC secretariat of its voluntary decision to cut production by 50,000 barrels per day" from its 2.5 million bpd output and an overall OPEC quota of 28 million bpd.
Nigeria said it will cut exports by 120,000 bpd. Analysts question whether Nigeria will make good on its supply cuts. They cite strong demand for the country's light, sweet crude that is rich in gasoline and heating oil.
Despite the news oil fell more than $1. This is because there is plenty of oil around at the moment and investors are waiting for evidence that actual cuts are being instigated.
"There is definitely no agreement -- whether formal or informal -- within OPEC to cut current production," an OPEC official said.
OPEC officials say that there are no plans for an emergency meeting but there are plans to meet face-to-face on December 14.
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With oil falling toward $61 on robust US inventories ahead of the winter heating season, OPEC said that the price slide from summer peaks had gone as far as it should go.
An editorial in the Chronicle last September warned of peaking global oil production in this decade followed by an inevitable decline. If that were to happen, the US needs to invest heavily in developing alternative energy sources or be prepared to endure steep increases in the price of energy.
Crude oil dipped to below $60 a barrel at $59.80 after Iranian President Ahmadinejad said that Iran is open to discussing "everything" if the US stops its threats against the country.
A day after Venezuelan President Chavez called President Bush "the devil" in a speech to the UN General Assembly, he visited a Harlem church and pledged to double the amount of discounted heating oil his country ships to poor Americans.
BP and its minority partner, ExxonMobil in the Thunder Horse project in the Gulf of Mexico, are at odds over how to deal with increasing problems at the deepsea oil project.
World oil prices dropped to further lows below $61 a barrel after data showed a surge in US stockpiles of distillates, used for heating oil and diesel fuel. The inventories of distillates have gone up by 4.1 million barrels to 148.7 million in the week to September 15.
Expectations of rising fuel stockpiles and long drawn out negotiations with Iran caused crude oil to trade near a 6 month low of $61.66 a barrel in New York.
Notwithstanding the $10 drop in the price of oil over the last few weeks, the government predicts that crude will still average near $70 for the rest of 2006.
Gas prices have been falling over the last month with a drop of 42 cents from the summer high of $3.04 a gallon.
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh of Iraq said that Iraq's emergence as a "secure petro democracy" could suppress sectarian violence and called for partnerships with international companies to boost the country's oil industry.
With the OPEC keeping current production quotas steady and maintaining spare capacities of 2 million barrels a day added to US inventories hitting their highest levels since 1998, oil prices have dropped to below $66 a barrel.
Oil giant BP testifying before a Congressional committee said that its Prudhoe Bay Field facility could be up and running to full capacity by the end of October resulting in oil prices falling back near $67 a barrel.
Crude oil rebounded from a 5 month low to prices above $67 a barrel as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association confirmed that they will carry out a three day "warning strike" beginning Sept. 13.
Oil prices firmed at under $70 after sliding nearly 5 percent last week due to reduced hurricane concerns with dealers braced for situational rises over the Iran-West nuclear dispute.
A recent bill enacted by the Venezuelan government hikes the income tax rate from 34 percent to 50 percent for 6 foreign oil giants working in heavy oil ventures in the Orinoco basin. 
A semiannual survey of 195 economists conducted by the National Association for Business Economics said that the US economy would go into recession only if oil prices hit $100 a barrel but predicted that oil would not ultimately move that high.
Speaking at an oil and natural gas conference in Norway, ExxonMobil's CEO said that new technological advances that have pushed the frontier of oil exploration and increased production from oil wells will help quench the world's thirst for oil for decades.
As part of a plan to boost Venezuela's oil output, China will invest around $5 billion in energy projects in the country by 2012.
A storm brewing in the Caribbean weakened and took concerns over US oil supply and prices down with it.
BP has put plans for a 320 million pound liquefied natural gas terminal in Texas on hold. 
After unprecedented highs, crude oil futures in New York fell to the lowest price in 2 months of $70.44 a barrel.
With the UN effected Lebanon truce resulting in a drop in crude oil prices, investor concerns about riskier assets reduced and US stocks gained.
BP PLC has bought US wind energy firm Greenlight Energy Inc. for about $98 million to supplement its wind power business in North America.
It is welcome news that after the shut down on all operations in the Prudhoe Bay Field last Monday due to pipeline corrosion, BP has gained permission from pipeline regulators to keep oil flowing from a section of the oil field.
PG & E Corps.'s Pacific Gas and Electric utility has signed a contract with Luz II LLC to buy at least 500 megawatts of solar energy that will power up to 350,000 customers, beginning in the spring of 2010.
Alternative Energy Sources Inc. has signed a letter of intent to acquire all of Flex Fuels USA Inc.'s outstanding capital stock and expects to sign a merger agreement by Sept. 15 that will given Alternative Energy access to Flex Fuel's proprietary ethanol production technology.
Modine Manufacturing Co., a Racine-based thermal management products form, announced that it is entering the second phase of a project with Chevron Corp. to develop a way of generating hydrogen on-site for use in automotive fuel cells.
US oil fell by as much as $1.05 to $75.30 after Britain said that it had foiled a plan to blow up an aircraft in trans-Atlantic flight. Security in Britain and the United States has been stepped up.
A lawsuit, filed in 2004, that accuses energy companies of reporting false information to publishers of price indices to manipulate the market during the state's energy crisis of 2000-2001, has reached an interesting place with a San Diego court ruling that 27 energy companies must hand over taped conversations of natural gas traders.
In April, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had suggested strengthening the OPEC fund to decrease the pressure of rising oil prices on poorer countries while ensuring that rich nations paid the full price.
With the corrosion of pipelines in Prudhoe Bay Field, the nation's largest oil field and the subsequent halting of oil shipments from BP PLc, the world's second largest petroleum company, oil prices have risen by $2.22 a barrel.
OPEC President Edmund Daukory says that oil prices will probably remain $70 a barrel till the end of 2006.
Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell PLC have come together to launch an integrated Pearl Gas-to-Liquids project in Qatar. 
With the unveiling of the Tesla Roadster which is to hit the market in a year for the price of a Porsche 911, the lies of the oil lobbyists come to the fore.
Oil prices rose to new highs of 76 usd as traders watched tropical storm Chris in fear of it developing into a hurricane and damaging rings and refineries on the oil-rich Gulf Coast.
Soaring prices, better refining margins annd higher oil and gas production all combined to yield ExxonMobil Corp a profit of more than U.S. $10 billion. 
