Venture Capital: Oil in the Sand

Who controls Libya's oil industry: is it the government or regional tribal warlords? With crude exports accounting for 95% of the country's earnings, ongoing strikes are now threatening the nation's lifeline. Moscow is gearing up for the MAKS international air show -- as the latest jets take to the skies we'll tell you about the billion-dollar deals to be struck on the ground. Greece's state TV has been switched on, but is the government switched off when it comes to the country's finances? RT's in-house trader Sean Thomas manages to keep his shirt and even his pants this week as he battles with the bulls and bears on the Russian stock market.

US Oil Boom: Boon or Bane?
North Dakota is on track to become the second biggest oil producing state in the US. But with many of the oil fields located on a native American reservation, tribal members are wondering how the sudden boom will affect their way of life. 
Al Jazeera's Cath Turner has more

Trouble for Libya's Oil Industry
As the battle for Libya intensifies, oil production in the country has plummeted. In the rebel-held east it's down by as much as 90 percent. Now OPEC is considering boosting output for the first time in two years. Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher reports

Oil Industry Protest Campaign Adds to Summer Heat on President Barack Obama
THE TELEGRAPH: Protests against Barack Obama are spreading across America like wildfire on a summer prairie, fuelled by an angry and fearful oil industry.

Still grappling on one front with opponents of his healthcare reforms, the President now faces a separate battle against an equally powerful foe: America's oil companies.

As the Mr Obama begins his summer family holiday on the island retreat of Martha's Vineyard, a raucous new group of protesters has begun venting its anger about his plans to tackle climate change - and has made clear that it will not allow his 10 day break to get in its way.

This time the strings are being pulled by the oil industry - known to its detractors as "Big Oil" - which is moving quickly and aggressively to block America's first climate change legislation.

The protests moved into a higher gear when the White House last week signalled a sudden retreat over a key aspect of the President's health care reform proposals: the plan for the US government itself to provide health insurance coverage for those who do not already have it.

It was a sign of weakness on which the oil industry has pounced. "Big Oil smells blood in the water," said Frank O'Donnell, who advises Democrats on the environment. "The stakes are very high." >>> Leonard Doyle in Washington | Saturday, August 22, 2009