Nepal: Low on fuel again
A sharp rise in import prices and the government's slow action towards addressing oil losses have brought on another fuel shortage. This time it is diesel that is running low, not petrol.
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China's coal imports surge 34% in 2007
An official statement issued in China, the world's biggest user and producer of coal, said that the nation has increased purchases of the fuel from overseas by 34 percent
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Southern China Shuts Power Capacity on Coal Shortage
China has shut down more than 6 percent of the power generating capacity in its southern provinces because of a coal shortage, with the region bracing for the worst electricity shortage in at least five years.
...China burns coal to generate about 78 percent of its electricity. The nation became a net importer of coal for the first time in January last year and consumption has outpaced gains in output from Australia and Indonesia. Rising coal prices and domestic transportation bottlenecks have contributed to a lack of the fuel, Xiao said.
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Argentina cuts local energy supply, bans exports
Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has blamed global warming for current energy cuts and export controls her government is imposing following a heat wave last week.
"These major changes in temperature haven't come out of nowhere, they have a direct link to the environment" said Fernandez, whose husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, has been blamed by critics for his failure to address the problem of supply.
Bush to OPEC: Increase oil output
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Bush urged OPEC nations on Tuesday to put more oil on the world market and warned that soaring prices could cause an economic slowdown in the United States.
"High energy prices can damage consuming economies," the president told a small group of reporters traveling with him in the Mideast.
"It's affected our families. Paying more for gasoline hurts some of the American families, and I'll make that clear to him," said Bush, heading into more talks with Saudi King Abdullah.
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Saudi oil minister rebuffs White House
Saudi Arabia will raise oil production only when the market justifies it, the kingdom's oil minister said Tuesday, in response to President Bush's request that OPEC nations increase output to reduce world oil prices.
"Our interest is to keep oil supplies matching demand with minimum volatility in the oil market," Oil Minister Ali Naimi Naimi told reporters. "We will raise production when the market justifies it. This is our policy."
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If it's broken, blame Musharraf; most do
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - For much of the last month, making a successful withdrawal at the National Savings bank has required a certain amount of luck.
For half an hour at a time, four random times a day, the bank's power is cut off as part of a series of rolling blackouts spurred by a countrywide electricity shortage. When the power dies, so do the lights and access to computerized banking records.
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