NZ Herald- Oil: Price surge sours demand forecasts

The Australian - Woodside shares fall after downgrade

SHARES in oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum fell as much as 5.2 per cent today after it downgraded its production forecast for 2008 on the back of project delays and asset divestments. Woodside as forecast production of between 80 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) to 86 mmboe in 2008, down from the previous forecast a year ago of about 100 mmboe.

The Australian - CNOOC offered Shell oil interests

NZ Herald - Gull extends biofuel roll-out

SMH - Babcock & Brown to bail out its struggling biofuel fund

At the heart of the problems are soaring palm oil prices, the feedstock for the biofuel the Darwin plant produces, which have increased from about $US425 a tonne to $US900 a tonne in the past 18 months. Similarly, the fund's ethanol production investments have been hit by a rise in the price of corn from $2 a bushel to above $4 a bushel over the same period.

In an unrelated biofuel car crash, the listed biofuel producer Australian Renewable Fuels has shut two plants, blaming a surging price for tallow feedstock and a lack of Government support. The problems arise from drought, prices being driven up by competition between fuel and food producers, and increased demand for food from China. "Those factors made the economics completely different to the businesses we invested in," the fund's managing director, Gary Levin, said yesterday. "I guess where we made a mistake was not recognising the potential volatility of those commodities," Mr Levin said.

SMH - Rudd commits $15 million for sugar cane ethanol

SMH - Business urges emissions trading clarity

SMH - Selling the green message at all costs

SMH - Climate change to take just years

SMH - Greenhouse gases: proof we are up with the worst polluters

SMH - Activists seize coal plant

SMH - Howard harrassed by three bears

SMH - Combination of cost cuts and high fertiliser prices delivers Incitec record profit

SMH - Brad and Angelina buy Dubai island. I didn't exactly have the impression that creating these islands was a particularly green activity.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have bought a man-made island in the shape of Ethiopia that is part of an ambitious luxury development off the coast of Dubai, a newspaper reported today. The Hollywood power couple intend to use the reclaimed piece of land to showcase environmental issues and encourage people to live a greener life, the Emirates Today newspaper said.

SMH - Bikes and Sydney. Go and vote for more bike transport.

SMH - Moore peddles cheap city bike service

YOU are stuck at Broadway and you need to be at a meeting at Circular Quay in 10 minutes. You hire a bike, hop on and drop it off at your destination.

The Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney, Clover Moore, has flagged plans for a rental system under which low-cost bicycles can be hired from a "bike station" and returned to a station in another part of the city.

A recent survey commissioned by the City of Sydney showed that more than 80 per cent of inner city people supported such a scheme, and 71 per cent said an hourly fee of $3 or more was reasonable.

Cr Moore said the scheme was popular in Paris, where it was introduced this year. "It's a most inspirational program," she said. "I hope that as soon as possible it will be operational in Sydney. I believe bike traffic jumped to 75 per cent in Lyon after the system was introduced there."

Peak Energy - Use Your Vote Wisely

I'm off for the next week - if you have any interesting links, please email them to Phil who will be taking over blowing into the Bullroarer, or post them in the comments - particularly you NZ readers.

(Hat Tip Dave B)