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It isn’t very often that oil and gas exploration uncovers its own modern day mystery, but apparently one has developed this June in the Gulf of Mexico. It seems that “Isla Bermeja” is missing. It was a 31 square mile patch of wasteland but Mexico has vowed to keep looking for it since it could extend its 200-mile territorial limit for offshore oil claims.

Bermeja appears on ancient maps from the 17th and 18th centuries off the north coast of the Mexican state of Yucatan. However it can no longer be found on more recent maps. In fact, it does not appear on even the oldest satellite pictures of the area dating back to the late 1970’s and 1980’s. ...

Venture capitalists pump $1.2 billion into alternative energy in second quarter, with stimulus driving interest.

Investor interest in clean energy technology companies may be on the rebound after a dismal start to 2009. Venture capitalists invested $1.2 billion in 94 "cleantech" companies in the second quarter of the year, a 12% increase over the first quarter, when global investment bottomed due to the global banking crisis. Average round size for the quarter was $12.9 million, up from $12.3 million in the fist quarter. The data was compiled by accounting firm Deloitte and the consultancy Cleantech Group.

Investment in venture-stage cleantech companies was nevertheless down 44% from the same period in 2008, when global investment in technologies such as photovoltaics, advanced batteries and enzymes for the production of biofuels reached $2.7 billon.

The hardest-hit sector was solar, which attracted just $112 million in new investment during the quarter, a fraction of the $1.2 billion in investment during its peak in the third quarter of 2008. Last year venture capitalists made a total of at least 20 investments of $100 million or more in thin film photovoltaic companies like Silicon Valley's NanoSolar and concentrating solar power companies such as Brightsource, Esolar and Ausra.

"Last quarter, as investors faced liquidity problems they focused on capital efficient companies," said Brian Fan, head of research at the Cleantech Group. "Ausra and Esolar have gone from building large concentrating solar plants, which can cost over $1 billion, to licensing their technology to utilities and other players," said Fan. That strategy attracted money from VCs, which continued to put money into prior solar investments, but invested little in new businesses.

Two sectors benefitted from a rising focus on clean transportation, particularly in the United States. Vehicle manufacturers took in $236 million during the second quarter. San Diego start-up V-Vehicles raised $100 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and T. Boone Pickens to retrofit an idled General Motors ( GMGMQ.PK - news - people ) production line in Louisiana, while Fisker Automotive raised $85 million to produce its luxury plug-in hybrid from Kleiner Perkins and Eco-Drive Partners. General Electric ( GE - news - people ) led a $100 million round in lithium-ion battery developer A123, which is building a factory in Michigan to supply Chrysler and other automakers.

Biofuels also benefitted from the focus on transportation. Investors put $206 million into the sector. "A lot of the leading companies in the biotech space are partnering up with large refineries, oil companies," said Fan. "The big oil companies and refineries have the skill and resources to scale up a 100,000 facility to a billion gallon facility. We're going to see more activity in this area."

To oil executives, Iraq's first auction of energy contracts since the U.S. invasion was a giant flop. To Iraqis, basking in a renewed sense of sovereignty and nationalism, it may turn out looking like a victory.
Iraq's embattled Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani did not look particularly pleased on Tuesday after Iraq secured just one deal to develop an oilfield out of the eight massive oil and gas fields it had put out to tender.
Despite the lure of the world's third biggest and largely underexplored oil reserves, energy firms balked at the cheap price Iraq was willing to pay them for helping it boost lacklustre oil production so that it can raise the billions it needs to recover from six years of war.
But by standing up to global oil majors and refusing to give up Iraq's prized oil wealth at any cost, Shahristani may end up bolstering his position, some Iraqi politicians say.
"Yes, we set tough contractual terms with foreign oil firms, but all that is to make it clear to all Iraqis we are keen to safeguard Iraqi oil revenues," Shahristani told reporters after bidding for the oil and gas fields had concluded.
The auction coincided with the pullout of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities under a bilateral security agreement, the first step toward a full U.S. withdrawal by the end of 2011. That has fuelled a sense of national pride as Iraqis start to believe they can throw off the shackles of a foreign occupation.
Having staked his ambitions for increasing Iraq's oil output on successfully attracting foreign expertise and capital into the country, the lack of deals at the auction has prompted questions about Shahristani's future as oil minister.
Only a BP-led group managed to secure a contract, for Iraq's biggest oilfield, Rumaila.
TACIT BACKING
Yet Shahristani's stance won the tacit backing of some of his colleagues on Wednesday when the cabinet also rejected the proposals from energy firms for developing the seven oil and gas fields that were not awarded.
"If the cabinet rejected these offers, that means, the rejection was for technical reasons not personal reasons," said Kamal al-Saadi, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Dawa Party.
"I do not think that Shahristani will resign, because he knows that the prime minister was the person who invited him to encourage companies to invest in this country and develop the oil wealth."
Nabil Ismail, of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, which while partnered with Dawa in government is also its main rival for Shi'ite votes, said the cabinet and the minister were right to reject deals that failed to meet Iraq's needs.
"Shahristani will not resign," said Ismail, a member of parliament's finance committee.
"What he did was to preserve public funds. Shahristani proved that his policy is serving the people, not the reverse."
Political analyst Mazin al-Shammari said Shahristani's trump card was that he appeared to have the prime minister's support. To challenge Shahristani would be to challenge Maliki, and few would contemplate doing that at this moment in time.
"Maliki's attendance (at the bidding) is a blessing for Shahristani. I think he succeeded in his job," Shammari said.
Yet politics in Iraq is volatile and allegiances can be fleeting. The minister also faces vocal critics.
The Oil Ministry and the Shi'ite Arab-led government as a whole are embroiled in a dispute with semi-autonomous Kurds over land, power and Iraq's monumental oil wealth.
"It was definitely a failure," said Ali Balou, the Kurdish head of parliament's oil and gas committee.
"We advised Shahristani to work with parliament to provide legal cover for these contracts. Shahristani turned his back on parliament and then the oil firms turned their backs on him."

Oil prices rose to near $71 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as a drop in U.S. crude inventories suggested demand may be picking up.

Benchmark crude for August delivery rose $1.09 to $70.98 a barrel by late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, it dipped $1.60 to settle at $69.89.

U.S. inventories dropped by 6.8 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said Tuesday. Investors will be watching for inventory data from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration on Wednesday for more signs crude demand may be growing.

Analysts expect the EIA numbers to fall 2.2 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The API numbers are reported by refiners voluntarily while the EIA figures are mandatory.

Crude fell Tuesday after the New York-based Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped in June after gaining the last three months.

"You've got conflicting signals," said Mark Pervan, senior commodity strategist with ANZ Bank in Melbourne. "Right now oil a very short-term news sensitive market."

"The inventory data is giving people a reason to buy today."

Oil prices will likely fall between 10 percent and 15 percent during the third quarter as the global economy remains sluggish and the dollar strengthens, Pervan said. Prices will probably then rebound in the fourth quarter by about 20 percent, he said.

"I sense this quarter will be a breather," Pervan said. "It won't be a major pullback, but it will be a pullback."

Oil rose 41 percent in the second quarter and 57 percent in the first half on investor optimism that the worst of a severe U.S. recession was over. Commodities such as oil also rallied on a weaker U.S. dollar, as investors sought a hedge against inflation.

"The fundamentals in crude oil market look fragile," Bank of America Merrill Lynch said a report Wednesday. "Anyway you cut it, demand is extremely weak."

"We believe oil prices will struggle to push much higher from the current levels over the next three months, and we even see some downside."

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for August delivery rose 3.55 cents to $1.94 a gallon and heating oil gained 2.23 cents to $1.81. Natural gas for August delivery was steady at $3.84 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent prices rose 99 cents to $70.29 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.