About the Oil Depletion Protocol
The Oil Depletion Protocol is a historically significant agreement that promises to set a global precedent for dealing with resource scarcity through cooperation and voluntary moderation rather than competition and conflict. It is inherently simple, calling for a gradual reduction in petroleum consumption according to a transparent formula. And it can be implemented at any level-internationally, as well as by individual countries, municipalities, businesses, and individuals.

Problems in the pipeline
Not long ago BP was, simultaneously, the City's darling among the oil companies and earning plaudits from environmental groups for its stance on global warming. Master of such balancing acts, its chief executive, Lord Browne, had built a reputation as the uncrowned king of industrialists: a hero of his time profiled in every business magazine. Now the company is suddenly on the ropes: vilified in the US Congress, castigated by environmentalists, facing a lawsuit from investors, and posed with possible criminal charges for causing multiple deaths.

Australians guzzle oil while supplies dwindle
Some members of the Federal Coalition are urging the Government to start planning for the time when the world's supply of oil starts to run down. Sweden is planning to be oil free by 2020, and a multi-party Senate Committee has cited it as a good example. Their report raises recommendations reducing greenhouse gas emissions and car use, and investing in public transport, gas and biofuels. But new figures show that Australians are relying on their cars more than ever.

Gulf of Mexico saturated with oil?
Chevron's announcement this week that the Jack Field located in the Gulf of Mexico 270 miles southwest of New Orleans may have as much as 15 billion barrels of oil was not the only recent find of oil in the Gulf. In March, Mexico announced the discovery of a new huge oil find, the Noxal Field some 60 miles from the port of Coatzacoalcos on the coast of Veracruz state. Estimated to contain as much as 10 billion barrels of oil, the find could well be larger than Cantarell, Mexico's biggest oil field, near Yucatan. Like the Jack Field discovery, the Noxal Field is a deep-water find, relying on new drilling technology. Chevron is drilling the Jack Field under some 7,000 feet of water in a 28,175-foot well, in total nearly seven miles under the surface of the Gulf.

Oil Scene
On a sweltering (from European standards) Tuesday in mid-July, in the fields outside Pisa, Italy, a relatively good crowd had gathered to discuss and debate a geological theory, commonly referred to as peak oil. Many out there predicted the imminent end of the "Oil Age". The peak oil movement — an unlikely alliance of geologists, physicists, oil industry consultants and environmental activists — seems to be gaining momentum and winning new converts. For the first time, some say, peaksters have begun to grab the attention of Washington and Wall Street.