Queensland Resources Lobby: Open Up Uranium, Nuclear Industries
Source: Dow Jones Newswires��(7/1/08)
Mr Roche, chief executive of the Queensland Resource Council, said that with nuclear power expanding in 30 countries and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighting its role in combating climate change, Queensland's ban on uranium has been overtaken by global developments. More >

Europe's Nuclear Energy Woes
Source: Business Week��(6/30/08)
Global interest in nuclear energy (over 200 projects currently are pending) has tripled the construction costs for plants over the last five years, according to figures from Lehman Brothers. That’s come just as many workers in Europe’s nuclear industry are thinking about retiring (consultancy Capgemini reckons the average age of employees now is around 45 years old) and energy companies are finding it hard to fill this knowledge-gap with graduates. More >

Solar and Wind Will Drive Natural Gas
Source: Jim Kingsdale, Seeking Alpha��(6/29/08)
The price of natural gas in the U.S. has about doubled in a bit less than a year despite the fact that U.S. production has actually increased by about 5%. This is due in part to new horizontal drilling techniques being applied to recently developed vast “unconventional” gas fields in the U.S. and Canada. So it might seem like the price of gas has gotten ahead of fundamentals. But there are good reasons to be bullish about gas prices longer term. More >

Resource Mergers Set to Continue
Source: theaustralian.news.com��(6/28/08)
Deutsche Bank said in a note to clients that the "world is on the verge of a uranium renaissance" and that the "financial markets continue to underestimate the potential for a rapid increase in uranium demand going forward". More >

Uranium Sector Cheers Panel's Call for Liberalization
Source: Peter Koven, Canwest News Service��(6/27/08)
The two dominant players in Canada's uranium sector are cheering the Competition Policy Review Panel's call for liberalization of the industry. More >

ETF Allure in Coal, Oil
Source: forbes.com��(6/26/08)
...commodity-based ETFs have seen a substantial increase in investment. They grew +17% from a small base during the past six-week period. Oil and natural gas funds played an important, but not dominant, part of the growth. More >

Uranium Stocks Well Positioned
Source: www.MoneyMorning.com��(6/26/08)
Of all the commodities to ride the volatile global roller coaster in 2007, uranium had the wildest ride. Overall, it gained 28% for the year. But that seemingly simple statistic masks a much-more-complex story. More >

Solution to the Global Petroleum Crisis
Source: Raju Agarwal, Seeking Alpha��(6/26/08)
...at the end of the day, we must recognize that petroleum has become an essential asset class for institutional investors. And, given the unabated growth of institutional capital from pension funds, insurance companies, university endowments and sovereign wealth funds, petroleum prices are likely to continue their upward trajectory. More >

Emergency House Resolution Bans Uranium Mining, Exploration Near Grand Canyon
Source: Mineweb.com��(6/26/08)
As Republican members boycotted the vote in protest, the Democrats of the House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday adopted an emergency resolution that requires the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to withdraw perhaps as much 1,068,908 acres of federal land near the Grand Canyon National Park from any new uranium mining for up to the next three years. More >

Oil Price Implications of a Strike on Iran
Source: Jason Kelly, Seeking Alpha��(6/25/08)
Today, a stagflationary shock may result from an Israeli attack against Iran's nuclear facilities. This geopolitical risk mounted in recent weeks as Israel has grown alarmed about Iran's intentions. Such an attack would trigger sharp increases in oil prices -- to well above $200 a barrel. The consequences of such a spike would be a major global recession, such as those of 1973, 1979, and 1990. Indeed, the most recent rise in oil prices is partly due to the increase in this fear premium. More >

Energy Crisis' Nuclear Answer
Source: Nuclear Energy Institute��(6/24/08)
Meeting future U.S. electricity demand while protecting the environment calls for greater use of nuclear energy. Democrats and Republicans alike have embraced that simple idea, says Frank L. Bowman, President and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute. More >

The Energy Crises' Nuclear Answer
Source: Frank L. Bowman, CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, nypost.com��(6/24/08)
There is a growing consensus that any credible program to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions must rely on a variety of technologies and approaches. And nuclear energy, which produces one-fifth of US electricity at 104 commercial reactors, is indispensable in that effort. More >

Alternative Energy ETFs Respond to an Increase in Demand
Source: Gary Gordon, Seeking Alpha��(6/24/08)
...even if you do not believe that oil will go down in dramatic fashion, do you really want to be part of the herd betting on rising oil prices? What about an area where a small group of qualified suppliers are responding to a genuine increase in demand - the demand for alternative energy?... More >

Uranium Poised for Rebound as Reactor Construction Booms
Source: Yuriy Humber, Bloomberg��(6/23/08)
The uranium industry's worst year is about to collide with a nuclear construction program in India and China that rivals those undertaken during the oil crises of the 1970s.The result is likely to be a 58 percent rebound in uranium to $90 a pound from $57 now, according to Goldman Sachs JBWere and Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest mining companies. More >

Mining Explosive Costs Detonate
Source: Mineweb.com��(6/22/08)
These are boom times for mining companies but the big profits are being eaten into not only by spiraling energy costs but suddenly rising prices for the explosives used to blast into the rocks. More >

Energy Bombshell: China Raises Oil and Diesel Prices
Source: Seeking Alpha��(6/20/08)
Prior to this price increase, the Chinese refiners [such as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP), and PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PTR)] took a loss on each liter of gasoline and diesel they sold. Although they receive a subsidy from the government, it has not kept up with the rising price of crude. More >

'Idle' Oil Field Fallacy
Source: The Wall Street Journal��(6/20/08)
Because a lease is not producing, critics tag it as "idle" when, in reality, it is typically being actively explored and developed. Multiply these real-world circumstances by hundreds or thousands of leases, and you end up with the seemingly damning but inaccurate figures our critics cite. More >

Political Stupidity
Source: David Galland, Casey Research��(6/19/08)
...Put more directly, the current reserves are a fantasy, and the ability of OPEC to actually raise production is greatly constrained... More >

U.S. Gas Prices May Rise on Asian Demand
Source: Bloomberg��(6/19/08)
We believe U.S. natural gas prices will likely remain in the $12.70-to-$13.20 per million British thermal units range, in line with international prices,'' Goldman's analysts, Samantha Dart and Jeffrey Currie, said in their report to Bloomberg today." However the observed tightness in the LNG market suggests that risks to our price forecasts remain skewed to the upside.'' More >

Solar Investing: Where Politics and Finance Come Together
Source: Charles Morand, Seeking Alpha��(6/19/08)
...One good example of policy-induced volatility is the infamous US Production Tax Credit [PTC] for renewable power. The volatile "on again-off again" nature of this policy, and the fact that the situation was allowed to endure for years, is the principal reason why a healthy wind turbine manufacturing sector never emerged in the US as it did in Europe...

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Spot Uranium Falls Again
Source: Mineweb.com��(6/18/08)
...RBC Capital Markets analysts believe that "the demand side of the uranium spot market continues to be the weak link, but buyers continue to exercise discretion and seem happy to buy at ever decreasing prices. Surprisingly, spot volumes are on track to reach the 30m pound mark for 2008 - a level not seen since 2006 - and may do most of that volume at falling prices..." More >

RBC Analyst: Lower Uranium Prices Could Turn Away Investors
Source: Seeking Alpha��(6/18/08)
Over at Canaccord Adams, analyst Scott Finlay said lower-than-expected prices in Q1 and Q2 have wreaked havoc on his U308 forecasts, forcing him to reduce price assumptions through 2011. Still, Mr. Finlay's new $69 price assumption for 2008 remains 16% higher than the current spot price and his 2009 forecast of $80 is 35% higher. More >

Reasons to Love 3-Digit Oil
Source: Marc Courtenay, Seeking Alpha��(6/18/08)
Outrageous energy prices will make us seek "green solutions" and help motivate us to be better stewards of the most beautiful planet in our solar system. It might also embolden us to force our elected officials to stop squabbling and start funding alternative sources of clean energy. More >

China Looks to Foreign Uranium to Meet Future Demand
Source: resourceinvestor.com��(6/17/08)
China is still standing firm by its statement that it will be able to meet its own domestic uranium demand until 2020, although some Chinese companies are scuttling to develop overseas uranium supplies as a result of the country's ambitious nuclear power development plan, released last year. More >

Coal Mine Expansions in U.S. Can't Match Global Shortfall
Source: Reuters��(6/17/08)
U.S. coal production has room to grow, but expansion is unlikely to meet surging world demand because miners fear a boom-bust cycle, key reserves are declining, and regulation has tightened. More >