For the chartists: luck or not, this video predicted $135 oil and seems to say that this $135 oil is still only completing or completed wave iii of a wave 5, so if they are right, then there is still to come a small correction, wave iv, that might now have started, followed by wave v that is another move up to $1xx, to make a larger wave 5 top and then a bigger correction? To give this some perspective the video starts the wave 1 to 5 count at the beginning of the year with oil around $80........ Note: the Elliot wave guys like to promote their successful assessments and leave you to pay to find out more, but still what they do freely say, as in the case above can be intriguing....... Elliot wave theory has it that markets moves in fractal wave patterns 1,2,3,4,5, ABC that can be seen in many natural systems. I’ll try and summerise the gobbledygook: From some form of a bottom of a market, you start a move up with a smaller wave 1 up then a 2nd wave down some of 1, then a 3 rd wave up a fair bit more, then a 4th wave down some of 3 and finally a 5th wave up to a top before a bigger correction proportional to the overall 1 to 5 move up. The correction waves are A wave down a fair bit , B wave up some, and C down a fair bit more and then it starts all over again but proportionally bigger. Each wave is itself made up of this wave structure on a smaller scale i.e. smaller wave series i, ii, iii, iv, v, a, b, c.......... The proportion of size of the movements are said to follow the Fibonacci natural number sequence seen often in natural growth first identified with rabbits being 1 rabbit, then 2 then 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 and so on– each number is the addition of the previous 2 numbers and as the number become larger their division by the previous one is the same at 1.62 or inversely .618 which are the golden ratios. Movements up and retractions are said to follow often be proportional to these ratios. Some other significant Fibonacci ratios are .382, .5 and .786......... That is my understanding of the basics, but it's application is often more technically complex and open to interpretation. Join discussion...

Never have so many oil and gas companies spent so much to produce so little. Join discussion...

Oil hoarders causing plane fares to rise. Will Qantas cut fares when the hoarders are flushed out? Join discussion...

Interesting research result: "Clean-energy research firm New Energy Finance has waded into the "food versus fuel" debate and finds that oil is a bigger factor in rising food prices than biofuels." Join discussion...

It's clear China needs energy, lots of them. Russia may be a source of what the Chinese wants, but... Join discussion...

Let's hope this promising start can turn into an enterprise that will make a difference. Join discussion...

One of our readers, Pete, gave us this news tip (in "Can rising oil prices undermine the benefits of globalisation?" @ http://cij.inspiriting.com/?p=465). This looks like an interesting technology for alternative energy- using sunlight to obtain hydrogen from water. The hydrogen can then be used as fuel. Since hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and its output after combustion is only water and it can be used in combustion engine, it may be a promising alternative energy technology. Join discussion...

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned of the potential for the Varanus Island gas plant explosion to impact on the national economy. Join discussion...

Well, even if this is true, it will still take many years for the capital investments to turn this into an oil tap. Which by then could be too late. Join discussion...

Investment in Australia's oil and gas industry could decline as companies that provide drilling, engineering and construction services reallocate their skills to work with national oil companies, a survey says. Join discussion...