NPR 2008-06-22

Representatives from the US and other nations are gathering 1 in Saudi Arabia for an energy summit aimed at easing high oil costs. Saudi officials say there is no shortage of supplies, so speculators must be behind the run-up in prices. But Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, who is representing the US, has reportedly said insufficient 2 production, not speculators, is the problem. That  thought was echoed today by President Bush. "The fundamental problem behind high gas prices is that the supply of oil has not kept up with the rising demand across the world. One obvious solution is, for America, to increase our domestic oil production." Mr. Bush, speaking in his weekly radio address today, blamed Congressional Democrats 3 for failing to approve legislation to boost domestic oil production. But the Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee Nick Rahall of West Virginia said Mr. Bush's proposal for off-shore drilling is not the answer. "This proposal will not bring the type of relief Americans deserve at the pump. " In the Democrats’ radio address, Rahall said a substantial amount of federal land is already available for drilling, but sits unused by the oil industry.

Chevron 4 says the company is shutting down its on-shore oil production in Nigeria. The move comes after an attack on a Chevron pipeline 5 there, the second such attack this week. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports.

The latest attack in a matter of days in Nigeria's restive 6 oil-producing region has caused major disruption to crude oil output. The Chevron pipeline, which normally handles about 100, 000 barrels a day, was blown up near Escravos in the Niger Delta 7. This is the region where armed militants 8 launched a campaign two years ago, vowing 9 to sabotage 10 the oil industry and demanding more local control of Nigeria's considerable petroleum 11 revenues. The government has tightened 12 security at oil installations after an audacious attack on Shell's main off-shore oil field Thursday. A wave of sabotage raids in Nigeria, the world's eighth largest exporter, has cut production by a fifth since early 2006. This has helped to push world crude prices to record highs. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, NPR News, Johannesburg.

A deal has been reached to reopen the import of American beef to South Korea. NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing.

Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon returned to Seoul today and told reporters that he'd reached a deal with US chief trade negotiator, Susan Schwab. Kim said that the US also gave his government the right to inspect US slaughterhouses. The US Meat Export Federation 13 agreed that its members would not export beef from older cattle. South Korea will also not import beef brains, eyes, spinal 14 cords or other beef parts considered at risk of carrying mad cow disease. The political impact of the deal is not yet clear. The main coalition 15 of civic 16 groups behind massive recent street protests is apparently 17 not satisfied with the deal. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Beijing.

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The weather is cooperating for a change in the Midwest where work crews have been fortifying 18 levees and sandbag walls until the flood crest 19 on the rain-swollen Mississippi River dissipates. The flooding and severe weather in the region are being blamed for at least two dozen deaths and billions of dollars in damage to farmland. The flooding is already pushing corn and other food commodity prices to record highs. Barge 20 traffic remains 21 halted on a 200-mile stretch of the Mississippi.

Five western soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan today and a half dozen others were wounded. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports from Kabul.

NATO says four US coalition-led soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb this morning in Zhari district outside Kandahar City in southern Afghanistan. The site is near Arghandab district, from which Afghan and Canadian troops drove out Taliban fighters earlier in the week. The militants had taken over several villages after freeing hundreds of their comrades in a jail break in nearby Kandahar City. The fifth NATO soldier who was killed today was Polish. He was killed in a roadside bombing in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan. It's been a particularly bloody 22 week for coalition troops. Bombs, rockets and gunfire over the past few days killed at least four Americans, as well as four British soldiers. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Kabul.

The heat wave gripping much of the California coastline is showing no sign of relenting. Triple-digit temperatures are being reported in several areas of the state today. The hot weather is creating peak demand for electricity. A spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power says the system there is under, what he said was, “tremendous strain”.