That could trigger a vicious circle of falling income and investment, as production gets more expensive in Russia's aging fields.

The era of record profits from oil and gas is over - that's according to Russia's Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin. 2008 is likely to be the year of peak oil and gas production in the country.

The big oil companies are cutting investment in new projects. Russia has received up to $1 Billion a day in oil revenues in recent years, and the country's budget and economy remain highly dependent on hydrocarbon earnings.

The world financial crisis and recession has triggered big falls in the world's oil price. That will significantly affect the Russian budget, according to Mikhail Kroutikhin, partner at Rusenergy.

Want to win the new cold war? CARPOOL! Show you patriotism! Drive less!

How about DRILL YOUR OWN oil resources AND carpool! Better yet.

that would be a LOT of carpooling going on since we use 25% of the world's production but could at maximum capacity produce 3% in about 10 years, not to mention destruction of our environnment. Have you seen the landscape near refineries, offshore oil sites, and Alaskan drilling areas? Shudder. America the Beautiful will become America the Blighted. It's time for a new paradigm.