Energy Blast – Aug 9, 2010

The Guardian is running a piece on the environmental hazards caused by burning peat, whether unintentionally or for agricultural clearing: ‘burning a ton of peat releases more CO2 into the atmosphere than a ton of coal‘.  The Houston firm running the cafeteria at ExxonMobil’s Sakhalin-1 oil and gas field could face criminal charges over an incident of food poisoning that affected 70 people. Bloomberg suggests that sanctions on Iran are ‘handing Russia opportunities to sell more gasoline while hurting suppliers in Europe and India‘.  Consumer gas prices in Ukraine could rise by 50% as of April 2011, apparently in an attempt to bring them in line with import prices.  Serbia and Bulgaria have agreed on a route for the Russia’s South Stream pipeline. ‘I am happy we were able to satisfy and help our neighbors,‘ said the Bulgarian Prime Minister.  Americans want tighter regulation for oil companies in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill, which BP says has so far cost it $6.1 billion.