| Oil Futures Bidding To Heat Up As Energy Crisis Looms
Oil ended 2006 roughly where it began, at just over $60 a barrel. This reassured the public that all talk about Peak Oil was hysterical blather from a lunatic fringe. It was reinforced by the publication of the mendacious Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) report issued this fall - a tragic document put out by a giant public relations firm representing the oil industry - with the mission of staving off windfall profits taxes and other regulatory moves that a true resource emergency might recommend. But beyond this debate, in the background, another ominous trend can account for the stalling of oil prices in 2006 - totally unrecognized by the public and ignored by the news media: Prices on the oil futures market leveled off because the Third World has effectively dropped out of bidding for it - and using it.
Bid Live Online for Quality Antique and Vintage Dresses; Dresses ...
Proxibid, a premier provider of live auction broadcasting services, today announced that quality vintage dresses and wedding dresses will be available for online bidding during an April 29 auction. The live auction event will take place at The Three Rivers Auction Company in Washington, PA. This two-day auction begins Saturday April 28th with 500 uncataloged lots, including costume jewelry, purses, shoes, hats and clothing (PRWEB) April 18, 2007 -- Proxibid, a premier provider of live auction broadcasting services, today announced that quality vintage dresses and wedding dresses will be available for online bidding during an April 29 auction. The live auction event will take place at The Three Rivers Auction Company in Washington, PA. This two-day auction begins Saturday April 28th with 500 uncataloged lots, including costume jewelry, purses, shoes, hats and clothing.
Slew of flaws cited in RCMP contracts
OTTAWA–An independent audit found multiple violations in contracting practices in the Mounties' beleaguered pension outsourcing scheme, three months after the RCMP dropped its own investigation, the Toronto Star has learned. The KPMG forensic audit, obtained by the Star, looked at 45 consulting contracts valued at more than $7.3 million, mostly tied to the RCMP's pension and insurance division, and many of which appeared to have broken Treasury Board rules and federal contracting guidelines. The audit was completed in December 2005, three months after the RCMP quietly concluded that no criminal charges were warranted against the outside companies and consultants. But violations cited by KPMG include practices that did an end-run around the rules, such as: contracts funnelled toward selected individuals; splitting a contract into two parts thereby reducing the initial price tag in order to avoid a competitive bidding process; and contract back-dating or awarding contracts for work either already done or begun before a contract was signed.
Bidding barrage spurs market highs
THE sharemarket surged to new highs yesterday thanks to corporate activity, generally strong prices for commodities and belief that the United States economy is in reasonable shape. Austock senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said takeover activity involving retailer Coles, construction materials firm Rinker Group, Qantas Airways and various mining companies was firing the local market. "There's a fair bit of excitement about the place now you've got the Coles business going on there's a bit of infectiousness going on there," Mr Heffernan said. "When you couple that with resources stocks galloping along, that's the ingredients for a market starting to catch on fire." Recent strong jobs data in the US had also alleviated some concerns that the US economy was going into recession.
BP and Shell submit bids for major sour gas project in UAE
Dubai: Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell have submitted bids for a sour gas project in the UAE that could be have a price tag as high as $10 billion. The UAE holds the world's fifth largest gas reserves, and needs to develop them to meet soaring domestic demand. It and neighbouring Gulf countries are facing rising energy needs as their populations grow and economies expand, fuelled by record oil revenues. "We have made a submission," a BP company spokesman said yesterday. Bids for the project were due in to state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). A Shell company source also confirmed that it made a bid. Industry sources said that France's Total and US Occidental Petroleum Corp had also submitted bids. Adnoc invited bids from several other companies including BG Group, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Japan Oil Development Co.
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