Grease IS the Skids

The oil price debacle is becoming more farcical every day. We really need kabuki theatre actors to keep the tenor of the different poseurs' daily pronouncements. "Playing to the gallery", (外連) was never such an apt description of the performance.

Daily announcements are coming about the fall in taxes from oil revenue as consumers cut their use of gasoline. Public transport systems are overwhelmed in many places. Supply has not diminished. Yet we hear it blamed by the occupied white house on 'supply and demand', and a fiction of the need to increase laying down protected land for oil exploration is insisted on. This from the worst administration ever, that has busily been opening land for oil company degrading as fast as it could for nearly eight years. As I have said previously, accommodation of oil industry demands is the problem, not the solution.

In Congress, the debate is joined daily between the right wing wanting ANWR and the coastal shelf laid open to drilling, and the rational element that keeps hammering home the facts, that prices go up because of bidding wars in commodities, and now by hoarding. The "appreciating asset" is being treasured and kept for price increases, as the dollar goes down.

In the Saudi Arabian summit of oil producing nations, the same conflicts are being played out.

Saudi Arabia may raise its oil production beyond a planned 200,000 barrel-a-day increase in July if the oil market requires extra supply, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told consumers at a summit in Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia's commitment to government and business leaders to pump 9.7 million barrels a day next month came after crude rose to a record $139.89 in New York on June 16. Saudi King Abdullah said at today's summit that his country, the world's biggest oil exporter, seeks ``reasonable'' prices. OPEC President Chakib Khelil said a Saudi boost is ``illogical'' because refiners don't need more crude.

The International Energy Agency estimates that world oil use this year will climb 800,000 barrels a day, or 1 percent, as demand climbs in emerging markets. Stagnating production from Russia and the North Sea and disruption in Nigeria are also contributing to higher prices, which have touched off strikes, riots and accelerating inflation in nations around the world.

``Saudi Arabia is prepared and willing to produce additional barrels of crude above and beyond the 9.7 million barrels per day, which we plan to produce during the month of July, if demand for such quantities materializes and our customers tell us they are needed,'' Naimi said.

Saudi Arabia's capacity will be 12.5 million barrels a day by the end of 2009 and may rise to 15 million after that if necessary, he said.

Speculators Blamed

The president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Khelil, blamed $135 oil on speculative investors, the subprime credit crisis and geopolitics, rather than a shortage of supply. Khelil, who is also Algeria's oil minister, today dismissed the argument voiced by consuming nations that possible supply shortages are driving up prices.

``The concern over future oil supply is not a new phenomenon,'' he told reporters in Jeddah. Asked if oil prices would fall after the meeting, he replied: ``I don't think so.''
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OPEC itself is divided. While Saudi Arabia is boosting output, other OPEC members including Libya, Algeria, Iran, Venezuela and Qatar are opposed to higher production, saying refiners aren't asking for more crude.

Libya's top oil official, Shokri Ghanem, said after the meeting ended that the Saudi output boost wouldn't affect the oil price, and yesterday said his country may have to cut its own production in response to the Saudi move.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez, also asked whether the oil price was likely to fall after the Saudi move, said: ``I don't think so because it's not a problem of supply.''

The differing demands and answers show not a disagreement on facts, but on alliances, of course. Those with strong ties to oil companies are playing the price drive-up for all they can get from the elements of conservation.

Development of alternate energy sources which Ronnie Reagan ended, delivering the west into the hands of oil producers, has never been so urgently needed. While high prices have shown many European countries that they could escape a whole bevy of nasty influences by alternative sources we in the U.S. have been herded into that economic disaster that we have now.

Oil industries are showing the usual greed, and hastening their own collapse. No one but the deepest investors in their stocks will be sorry to see them go.

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And growing a well planned garden has a lovely touch today.

What's a companion? The origin of the word is Gothic, 13th century, and translated as "messmate" (pan or pain for bread). It's been modified over the years to specify certain scientific relationships, but broadly the term means "partner" or, as I like to say, "someone you hang with."

Applying that to the garden, we find that just like humans, there are certain plants that make better companions. And likewise there are some that are less successful. You're wondering, what does that mean — they don't talk to each other? Plants attract different predators, and poor companions may be detrimental to the growth of certain neighbors.
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I noticed how close the pea pods grew beside the long rows of lettuce, just one example of pairing. More lettuce was planted along a line of tomatoes, with basil planted between the mounds of lettuce. One benefit is shade, as the taller crops will keep the lettuce cool. Basil is also believed to help tomatoes overcome both insects and disease, also improving growth and flavor.

I have heard that marigolds are an insect repellent, as is garlic, as well. Recently a friend with family that are native tribal members told me that they always grew corn, peas and tomatoes together as they cross-fertilized and the twiners grew up the stalks.

What a lot we have to learn. The earth is teaching us, hopefully before we are mutually destructive.