On-going violence in Syria has sparked a ban on Syrian crude imports by the EU to put economic pressure on the oppressive regime. (image: washingtontimes.com)

The European Union has banned imports of crude oil from Syria in response to President Bashar al-Assad’s deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protestors, Bloomberg.com reported.

The oil embargo was approved Friday by EU governments in Brussels and expands existing sanctions against the Syrian regime.

The ban affects Syrian exports valued at $4.5 billion in 2010, according to the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm. Crude oil accounted for 88 percent of total EU imports from Syria last year, according to commission data.

“The prohibition concerns the purchase, import and transport of oil and other petroleum products from Syria,” the EU said in a statement. “No financial or insurance services may be provided for such transactions.”

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton announced the planned embargo two weeks ago, when she cited “intensifying large-scale use of indiscriminate military force” in Syria and joined leaders in Europe and the US in calling on Assad to step down. Assad rejected the demands and pledged to schedule parliamentary elections by February. The EU import ban follows a similar step by the US in mid-August.

A loading program obtained by Bloomberg shows about 160,000 barrels crude a day were due to be shipped from Syria this month by oil companies, refiners and traders.

It is unclear what the effect the embargo could have on global crude, gasoline and heating oil prices. The loss of Libya’s 1.3 million barrels due to civil war sent world oil prices skyrocketing earlier this year to 30-month highs.

HeatingOil.com reported in July accusations that the US had breached the Iran Sanctions Act by selling part of a 30-million-barrel draw-down of reserve oil stocks to an energy trading company with links to the Iranian regime.

The EU is widening sanctions against Syria that include an arms embargo as well as an asset freeze and a travel ban on 50 people and nine entities deemed “responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population.” The United Nations puts the death toll at more than 2200.

Assad has deployed tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and helicopters to crush an uprising that began in March after “Arab Spring” revolts ousted the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and sparked the Libyan conflict.

When Libya’s oil output slowed to a trickle several months go, OPEC’s Gulf members went far and beyond filling in the gaps, actually boosting production to its highest levels all years – around 30 million barrels per day in July. (image: electionsmeter.com)

Libyan rebels took control of Tripoli today, further solidifying beliefs that the country’s oil production will soon return to levels seen before the violent civil war began in February. However, OPEC’s Gulf members probably won’t reduce oil output for some time, since relying on Libya too early could be a mistake, Reuters reported.

Before political upheaval disrupted production, Libya pumped out more than 1.3 million barrels a day, nearly 2% of the world’s supply. Since that’s been out of commission, other Gulf members (mostly Saudi Arabia) have stepped in to make up the loss.

While strategists remain confident the Libyan rebels will successfully oust bizarre leader Moammar Gadhafi, restoring oil output and a more peaceful government, OPEC officials said there’s no reason to rush into anything.

“Let’s see when they completely come back with their output before the crisis. And then, OPEC will see whether it affects prices or stocks, and then it will take the right direction,” one Gulf delegate commented. “We can’t say now what OPEC will do. Are they going to take one month, three months, a year?”

In fact, the group likely won’t make a solid decision until their next meeting in December. The delegate noted any decision to slash output will depend on varying factors like oil prices and demand levels.

Shell has only recently taken responsibility for its last oil spill in 2008, which leaked 11 million gallons of crude into the Niger Delta, nearly wiping out entire communities in Nigeria. A class action lawsuit finally prompted Shell to admit they’d spilled approximately 275 times the amount of oil than they’d originally reported. The U.N. estimates the spill will likely take 30 years and $1 billion to clean up. (image: inhabitat.com)

Oil giant Shell has contaminated at least 48 square miles of ocean in the North Sea from its Gannet Alpha platform, DigitalJournal.com reported. The latest estimates put the leak around 100 metric tons or 730 barrels worth. Though Shell operates the Gannet Alpha platform, Exxon Mobil Corp. is also a partner.

Echoing the dishonest rhetoric surrounding the BP Gulf spill, Shell was aware of the spill since last Wednesday but didn’t report it publicly until Friday.

Yesterday BBC Breakfast news reported “a thin film” of oil now covers a “mere” 48 miles of seawater, prompting questions about what constitutes a thin film. Sadly, until now Scotland has been a leader in industries involving eco-conscious, renewable energy sources. Regional scientists recently wrote of their work attempting to change the shape of the world energy map, saying Scotland “can become a world leader in the field of renewable energy, just as Aberdeen has with oil.”

Shell tried to downplay the leak, stating in a press release it is “under control…the flowline on the seabed is now isolated and depressurized. Leakage of oil has been considerably reduced.”

“We have deployed a Remote-Operated Vehicle (ROV) to do inspection checks and monitor the subsea leak which is on a flow line on the sea bed,” Shell spokespeople wrote. “A stand-by vessel remains on station with oil spill response equipment and dispersant.”

However, dispersants themselves are controversial since they’re nonbiodegradable and often comprised of toxic chemicals. While they can effectively dissolve oil slicks, they don’t actually reduce the amount of oil entering the sea and only work when applied within 12-48 hours of an accident.  Dispersants also negatively affect marine life and ecosystems.

On Sunday evening, Shell spokesman Bill Tanner offered an update in an email, stating, “Our current expectation is it will be naturally dispersed through wave action and will not reach shore.”

Last year, a U.S. Geological Survey determined Venezuela’s Orinoco Oil Belt holds an estimated 513 billion barrels of recoverable heavy crude. (image: topnews.in)

Venezuela’s leading energy officials announced the government is hammering out long-term plans to drastically boost oil output while diversifying its struggling economy, according to an Associated Press report.

Last month, OPEC’s latest study revealed Venezuela had overtaken Saudi Arabia as the country with the most proven crude oil reserves – yet it doesn’t even rank on the list of the world’s top ten oil producing and exporting countries. However, according to Venezuela’s Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez, that may be about to change. Last Friday Ramirez announced the country’s new goal is to raise production from its current 3 million barrels a day to 4 million by 2015.

The government seeks to boost output from the Orinoco Oil Belt, a rapidly developing region with huge deposits of extra-heavy crude, from 1.1 million barrels a day to 3.9 million. In the next 10 years or so, Ramirez anticipates an influx of around 100,000 new workers to the region, and with that will come expanding infrastructure of schools and housing, and hopefully, a stronger, more stable economy.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez commented that OPEC quotas will probably be adjusted to account for the country’s growing reserves. Ramirez said it’s too early to gauge OPEC’s reaction, but he’ll be ready to discuss it when the group raises the subject.

“It’s an issue that we aren’t going to discuss for now, as long as there is no need to discuss it. Now isn’t the time to do it still, because we’re determined to keep the price of oil stable,” Ramirez said. “It’s a new frontier that’s opening up.”

Heating oil being shipped by barge before distribution! (image: ehow.co.uk)

A recent study from the Office for National Statistics found that households in the United Kingdom are using more heating oil, and energy use on the whole is rising as well, BoilerJuice.com reported this week.

The study was conducted as part of a Social Trends report looking into the environment and factors affecting it. Researchers found that households used approximately 44 million tons of oil in 2009, steadily increasing from the 37 million tons that were used annually in the early 1970s. Over half of that oil was used for home heating.

The study also estimated that greenhouse gas emissions in the UK had fallen 27% from 1990 to 2009. Their findings also showed air pollution in rural areas had fallen to levels not seen since 1987, a vast improvement on particulate pollution numbers seen over the years.

Obviously these figures don’t seem to match up with an increase in fossil fuel usage. However, lawmakers and energy officials worldwide have slowly begun launching efforts to ban use of the two dirtiest heating oils, no. 4 and no. 6. These two fuel grades create significantly more soot and carbon emissions, and should be phased out in favor of no. 2 heating oil, a cleaner option.

Venezuela's Angel Falls, considered one of the seven wonders of the world, is located not far from the country's biggest oil refineries. (image: vacationideas.me)

According to OPEC’s annual statistical bulletin, Venezuela has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the country with the most proven crude oil reserves, the Miami Herald reported this week. Between 2009 and 2010, Venezuela’s known reserves climbed by 40% to level out at 296.5 billion barrels of oil. OPEC estimated Saudi Arabia’s reserves weigh in around 264.5 billion barrels.

If Venezuela has so much oil, why isn’t it higher on the list of the world’s top oil producing and exporting countries? For starters, the South American country’s economy is weak – Venezuela’s annual inflation rate of 24% is the highest in its hemisphere. While neighboring countries Brazil and Colombia both saw substantial rises in crude production, Venezuela’s production rates have steadily declined in the past five years. One likely reason is that one-third of the country’s known reserves are extra heavy crude, which is difficult and expensive to extract.

“You can be sitting on the largest reserves in the world but if you do not have the capital and technology to recover them…they are worthless,” commented Jorge Pinon, former President of Amoco Latin America.

As of 2010, OPEC estimated its member nations hold about 81% of the planet’s 1.46 trillion barrels of total known oil reserves. OPEC’s full report will be published in November.