Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bailout, Brussels, CH4, Cyprus, ECB, energy, EU, euro, Gazprom, Israel, Lebanon, Levant, Levant Basin, Leviathan, Natural gas, Russia, Syria
Cyprus has known from the beginning that its bailout is tied to its potential petrol dollars, while the EU has attempted to couch this in all manner of moral-high-ground rhetoric.
What will the EU do now? Will it bail Cyprus out on kinder terms to keep Russia from getting hold of the island’s gas? Monday is D-Day: This is the deadline the European Central Bank has set for Cyprus to come up with $6 billion in order to “qualify” for a bailout package.
Cyprus is playing Russia and the EU offer each other right now, hoping to bring the specter of a deal with Russia close enough to make Brussels blink and give Cyprus more negotiating power.
Watch the deals in progress with this in mind: Not only is Cyprus’ financial collapse at stake here. Also at stake is Russia’s monopoly on the European gas market and the Europe’s entire gas future.
via Oilprice.com: EU Caught Playing Dirty and it’s all about Russian Gas.
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: Arafat, British Gas, Cast Lead, Egypt, energy, energy exploration, gas reserves, Gaza, Gaza Strip, Israel, Israeli invasion, Koury, Levantine Corridor, Natural gas, offshore gas production, oil and gas, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Polonium, polonium Francois Bochud, Sabbagh, TIP line
click to sharpen
British Gas (BG Group) and its partner, the Athens based Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCC) owned by Lebanon’s Sabbagh and Koury families, were granted oil and gas exploration rights in a 25 year agreement signed in November 1999 with the Palestinian Authority.
Filed under: maps, Uncategorized | Tags: Anbar, energy, Israel, Kirkuk, kurdistan, Mosul, oil, oil production, pipelines, supply lines, Turkey
…may be impossible.
From a very interesting article on the potential of oil production from Iraqi Kurdistan at the Oil Drum.
There’s a lot to consider on this map.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bike lanes, infrastructure, Israel, Shai Agassi, Tel Aviv
Municipal Director General Menahem Leibe stresses that the city’s investment in bike paths is part of a clearly defined policy of putting bicyclists and pedestrians first. “It can come at the expense of private cars. There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” Leibe said, although he adds that the ultimate goal is striking the right balance among pedestrians, bicycles and cars.
On Bloch Street, one end of which faces the municipality, dozens of parking spaces are being sacrificed for bike lanes, to the outrage of people who live or work in the area. “It’s insignificant,” Leibe said, promising to build more parking lots. He said it’s all part of the worldview of the municipality and the man who heads it.
“Our idea is for vehicles to park underground and for pedestrians and bicyclists to be on the ground. It’s the right thing, especially in a city as densely populated as Tel Aviv,” Leibe said.
via Coming to Tel Aviv? Better bring your bicycle – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.
Two years ago everybody was talking about Shai Agassi’s idea for electric car charging stations and battery exchange in Israel. Haven’t heard much about that lately.
Industrialized Cyclist Notepad 