Word: crude
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...religious war." On one side are devout environmentalists and icky Hollywood types, as well as reputable safety experts who say SUVs can be death machines. A lefty group called the Detroit Project has produced slick ads charging that because SUVs use so much gas, and because some of the crude oil for that gas comes from the Middle East, and because some oil-rich princes have funded Islamic extremists, SUV owners are supporting terrorists. (Got it?) Some of the anti-SUV people take their mischief very seriously: on New Year's Day, three Fords were set ablaze at a dealership...
...Bang. Hidden in that radiation are patterns of warmer and cooler spots, marking places where matter was a little more or less dense than average--spots that would eventually evolve into the clusters of galaxies and empty spaces that we see today. These patterns were first detected in crude form by the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite in 1992, but without enough detail for much to be said about them...
...amid a frenzy of war preparations that has helped drive oil prices above $35 per bbl., from $20 a year ago. A one-third cutback in petroleum production by Venezuela, beset by a political crisis, has contributed to the price increase, leaving the U.S. more dependent on Middle Eastern crude. Americans are also weathering an exceptionally cold winter, which is boosting demand for heating oil. At the gas pump, the average price of regular unleaded gasoline is $1.53 per gal., up 43¢ from the price 12 months ago and 11¢ just since Jan. 1. To make matters worse, U.S. commercial...
...within a few months, with the prospect that Iraqi crude will start to flow again, prices might fall to about $25. By summer, the market could face a glut--and $20 crude. Moreover, says the Institute of Directors, a British employers group, a short war would actually be better for the global economy than the uncertainty and higher oil prices that would hang over it if war continues to be merely a possibility. For the U.S. economy, the study says, a war that resulted in lower oil prices would generate 2003 growth of nearly 3%, compared with the 2% currently...
Saddam has tried it before. During the Gulf War, Iraqi soldiers set fire to 700 of Kuwait's wells using plastic explosives. Dense smoke caused health and environmental problems, as crude gushing from damaged facilities contaminated underground drinking water. Damage amounted to at least $20 billion, and more than a decade later, some of it still isn't repaired...