Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) says the world's reliance on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for crude oil will increase in the future.

“Global dependence on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for crude oil will rise in the next five to 10 years as output by non-OPEC nations falls,” IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka told AFP on the sidelines of a conference on the launch of the organization's Energy Technology Perspectives 2010 report in New Delhi on Friday.

On this episode of Counting the Cost, we look at the threat of a double-dip recession, Pakistani cricket and the world of sports betting.

Trade in global currency markets has increased by 20 percentage points over the past three years to a daily amount of $4 trillion a day, a major survey has shown.

The triennial report by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) showed rapid growth in trading by hedge funds, insurance firms, central banks and other non-bank financial institutions, with the majority of business happening in London.

Toyota Motor Corp says it wants to nearly double sales of its gasoline-electric vehicles to reach cumulative sales of 5 million units by the middle of this decade.

The Japanese company, already the biggest player in the hybrid market, has a goal to sell one million hybrids annually in the first half of this decade, Reuters reported.

The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes has dropped by more than $1 to reach below $70 a barrel, the OPEC Secretariat has announced.

OPEC basket crude prices on Tuesday fell by $1.24 to $69.69 a barrel on Tuesday.

In the 71st episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, look at death spirals and vanity trades in the global financial markets. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Richard Buchanan about his attempts to form a Facebook union.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has sharply slashed its forecast for 2010-11 world wheat production after revising its crop outlook for Russia.

On Thursday, the USDA cut its forecast for global wheat output by 2.3% to 645.73 million tons. That is below recent estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which saw the crop at 651 million tons, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Oil prices have sharply plunged for the third straight day amid fears on retuning global economic downturn and a decline in crude demand.

New York's light sweet oil for September delivery fell by $2.28 dollars to $75.74, while London's Brent North Sea crude slumped $2.12 to $75.52.

The stock markets across the world have sharply fallen over growing fears about the slowing of global economic recovery and troubling financial news.

Europe's main stock markets tumbled as bourses in London, Frankfurt and Paris opened quite depressed.