No table test

=Global focus=

The Barrel
Background/Affiliation: Platts, a major energy market information provider, runs 'The Barrel' blog, with posts running from hard-figure analysis to first-person essays on energy and commodity issues. The blog has a central “news desk” that links to other resources, such as reports from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), but also posts stories at-large from independent contributors. At-large blog are considered at the email address webeditor@platts.com.

Focus: Topics ranging from supply/demand, derivatives, regulation, renewable fuels, electricity and gas production to carbon trading and the environment.

Geographical coverage: Global.

Target audience: As a resource for journalists, The Barrel bridges the gap between light and heavy energy reporting, with hard facts wrapped in a somewhat easier-to-digest narrative style.

Web address: http://www.platts.com/weblog/oilblog/

The Oil Drum
Background/Affiliation: Published by the Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future, a non-profit corporation in the United States. The blog is loosely affiliated with some leading "peak oil" blogs.

Focus: The blog takes a forward-looking, big-picture approach to energy issues, looking at global trends in both the upstream and downstream sectors, such as oil and gas production and demand and the development of alternative energy sources. According to the blog's mission, it seeks to "facilitate civil, evidence-based discussions about energy and its impacts on the future of humanity".

Geographical coverage: Global.

Target audience: The Oil Drum is a resource well-suited to journalists and others seeking hard figures to back up their claims. Managed and written a group of lifelong scientists and Ph.Ds, the material is scientifically rigorous and gets "geeky" in the best sense of the word, but tries to stay digestible for all the lay readers out there. Case in point - the handy "acronym guide" that helps decipher some of the more esoteric industry jargon.

Web address: http://www.theoildrum.com/

Energy, Security, and Climate
Background/Affiliation: The brainchild of three fellows at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) - Michael A. Levi, Blake Clayton, and Daniel P. Ahn – the blog provides a space for three think tankers to cut loose from the institutional PDF-paper mold.

Focus: Policy challenges surrounding energy, security, and climate change.

Geographical coverage: Coming from a think tank in the United States, the blog's coverage is global but from a US point-of-view.

Target audience: Anyone interested in the broader geopolitical and economic implications of the global energy industry.

Web address: http://blogs.cfr.org/levi/

Crude Oil Trader
Background/Affiliation: Produced by a team of four hawk-eyed independent market watchers. The writing is dry, to say the least, but impeccably detailed and a useful resource for anyone looking for an in-depth look at energy and commodity markets.

Focus: Oil and gas prices and commodity markets.

Geographical coverage: Global energy markets from a US perspective.

Target audience: Readers in the blog's niche audience - mostly finance journalists, traders or market watchers - generally will need a basic understanding of, and high enthusiasm for, markets and other financial mechanisms.

Web address: http://crudeoiltrader.blogspot.de/

The Wildcat Blog
Background/Affiliation: Affiliated with Interfax Energy, an information and analysis provider on global energy markets. Every Monday, the blog has a handy "Pick of the Week" which gives readers a head start on global goings-on for the coming week, as well as a round-up of the previous week's energy highlights. Their daily posts on assorted topics are informative and smoothly written.

Focus: The Wildcat Blog doesn't have any single focus - according to the blog's "About" section, it provides "insight, analysis and wit on the gas industry from Interfax Energy reporters in every corner of the world." A trawl through its archives shows an emphasis on some of the more prominent currents of energy reporting, including China, the emergence of shale gas, commodity prices, major international companies and, as ever, global hot spots such as Kurdistan, Syria, Central Asia and others.

Geographical coverage: Global.

Target audience: Journalists scouring the web for story ideas, and other readers pressed for time more generally, will find the "Pick of the Week" series an outstanding resource for weekly synopses of happenings in the industry.

Web address: http://interfaxenergy.com/opinion/