Judy Siegel-Itzkovich, THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 26, 2006

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An ambitious multidisciplinary research initiative into alternative, sustainable energy resources is being launched by the Weizmann Institute of Science, with the goal of significantly advancing the search for solutions to the world's most pressing energy problems. The Rehovot institute plans to raise significant funds for its Initiative for Research in Sustainable and Alternative Energy, which will support innovative scientific projects in the field.

"Developing alternative means of producing energy is a necessary step for dealing with the continuing energy crisis," says institute president Prof. Ilan Chet. "Creating fresh, sustainable methods of producing energy in the required amounts will only be possible if we can gain the knowledge to invent completely new technologies.

by Tom Whipple
This week the UN is to come up with a sanctions resolution that will keep Iran's two million barrels a day of exports flowing and at the same time convince Tehran to give up on uninspected nuclear enrichment.

Crafting such a resolution is likely to take some doing as the Chinese, who are more concerned about losing oil imports than whether or not Tehran comes up with an atomic bomb, have to sign off on any sanctions plan.

By ALISON MUTLER,
BUCHAREST, Romania - Romania said Iranian troops opened fire from a warship and seized a Romanian oil rig Tuesday off the coast of
Iran, holding its workers in an incident stemming from a commercial dispute

Sergiu Medar, a national security adviser to Romanian President Traian Basescu, said the seizure resulted from a commercial dispute Iran is treating "in an extreme way." He gave no details.

By Alex Lawler

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose to almost $72 a barrel on Monday as
Iran's supreme leader said the Islamic Republic would press on with its nuclear work, implying it will not heed a U.N. demand to stop enriching uranium.

The row over Iran's nuclear program has raised concern of disruption to oil flows from the world's fourth-largest exporter. Iran had said it would respond formally by Tuesday to Western incentives to halt enrichment.

Mariam Karouny, The Washington Post
Iraq's new government risks being held to ransom by a dissident Shi'ite faction using its local clout in Basra to hobble vital oil exports, Iraqi officials and senior political sources said on Friday.

They warned that the locally powerful Fadhila party was threatening to have members in the oil industry stage a go-slow to halt exports through the key southern oil port if it did not win the concessions it wanted from Baghdad.

Japan Times
The contract Japanese oil developers signed in 2004 to tap Iran's giant Azadegan oil field could be terminated in September with no major progress in the project, and Iran may strike a new deal with energy-hungry China.

Full Article:
Iran plays China card with Japan on oil deal

TradeArabia
Saudi Arabia cut output in April and May to its lowest level in a year due to a seasonal dip in global refinery demand, tanker tracking consultancy Petrologistics said.

Refiners in the western hemisphere typically shut plants for seasonal maintenance in spring as they prepare to crank up gasoline output ahead of the summer driving season.

Full Article:
Saudi oil output ‘dips to lowest in year’