It is been more than 10 years since Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez came into power and in spite of an almost constant stream of anti U.S. rhetoric the walls of the nation may finally be lowering as market tendencies force Chávez to look northward.

Yesterday Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens gave an extended account of his plan to break America's dependency on foreign oil. With a combination of domestic natural gas and renewable alternative, T. Boone Pickens offers an action plan to save America's energy future. The campaign website, Pickensplan.Com, went live today and has already gained much popularity being the number one searched topic in Google.

Faced with ever-rising gasoline prices, more and more Americans are cutting back on driving. We're taking shorter vacations and turning to buses, subways, light-rail trains, motorcycles – even bicycles – to get around town.

I have been thinking that increasing world-wide demand was causing oil prices to rise, but I was wrong. The main reason that oil prices have been rising is the constriction of oil supply.

According to Bloomberg, crude oil prices rose near record levels again because the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned of a more severe hurricane season than originally forecast.

Crude oil prices rised past USD $135 a barrel for the first time on Wednesday, continuing its astonishing rise following unexpected drops in US crude and gasoline stocks in a tight market, dealers said.

Oil Ministers from the 12 Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) join chief executives of major producers in Rome for an International Energy Forum that begins on Sunday.

The national security of the United States of America is tied first and foremost to our energy requirements. These requirements MUST be independent of all foreign entanglements, they must be purely American. There is no legitimate reason why Americans should be paying $3.00 to $3.50 at the pump for regular gasoline while Corporate Oil giants are reaping billions of dollars in pure profits. This simply should not be. It is tantamount to an economic rape of the American consumer and our role in the national economy.

North Dakota's Bakken Formation Oil Field may hold ten times more oil than all U.S. oil fields together, according to censor.net.ua. If this is confirmed will Bakken Oil Formation make OPEC irrelevant?

Crude oil fell below 100 dollar a barrel after a US government report showed demand dropped and investors sold commodities on concern an economic slowdown will lower consumption.

Oil prices fell below USD 105 per barrel in Asian trade today, off last week's record levels amid fresh concerns over the US economy, the world's biggest energy user, dealers said.

Opening address to the 148th Meeting of the OPEC Conference by HE Dr. Chakib Khelil, Minister of Energy and Mines of Algeria and President of the Conference.