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(clips from recent Peak Oil News dailies are indicated by date and item #)

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A new worldwide poll shows that most people believe oil is running out and that governments need to find another fuel. Americans are alone in thinking their leaders are out of touch with reality on this issue. On average, 70 percent of respondents in 15 countries and the Palestinian territories said they thought o peaked. (4/21, #4)

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Reports of actual or potential electricity shortages continue to pour in from around the world. In addition to the ongoing rolling blackouts in South Africa and South Asia, we now have reports of problems in New Zealand, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Viet Nam, the Marianas, Chile, Argentina, and Poland. In Pakistan this week many were injured during riots protesting the electricity shortage. There is increasing discussion of the economic damage these blackouts are causing and of diesel generators being installed to keep facilities operating. (4/15, #6)

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The government of Ecuador is seeking to increase state control of oil under its new constitution. The government will seek temporary, six-month contracts with foreign oil companies with which it is currently renegotiating agreements. Following that, the current participation contracts would be changed into service contracts. Last year Ecuador increased its share of windfall profits to 99% from 50% under a presidential decree. (4/15, #15)

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UK Chancellor Darling has demanded an urgent review of international biofuels programs as part of a plan to tackle the world's mounting food crisis. The Chancellor said he had asked the World Bank to produce an analysis - for June's G7 meeting of global leaders - of the impact of green policies, including American and European biofuel programs, on global food shortages. (4/14, #20)

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Rice prices hit the $1,000-a-ton level for the first time last week as importers scrambled to secure supplies, exacerbating the tightness provoked by export restrictions by Vietnam, India, Egypt, China and Cambodia. The jump came as the Philippines, the largest rice importer, failed for the fourth time to secure as much rice as it wanted. Kazakhstan, one of the worlds biggest wheat exporters, halted foreign sales. A big food company in Japan said high corn prices had forced it to buy cheaper genetically-modified corn for the first time, breaking a social, though not legal, taboo and signaling that opposition to GM foods could weaken. (4/18, #18; 4/16, #2)

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