(Taken from CubaDebate)

ANYONE might think that after the Americas Summit, coming just 13 days after the G-20 one and after President Obama’s exhausting tour of France, Germany, Prague and Turkey, the world would have the right to rest for a few days.

But that is not the case. Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary, is to meet in Washington on April 24 with the ministers of finance of the G-7, the super-rich, to be immediately followed by a ministerial meeting of the G-20 on that same day.

The two meetings will take place before the Spring assemblies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, governors of the world’s finances.

The interesting thing is that yesterday the Financial Times of London, the most important British newspaper in economic matters, detailed Europe’s complications in the field of energy.

The EFE news agency, quoting the abovementioned organ, noted the following: "The remaining lifespan of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas production risks being halved as the economic crisis has prompted a plunge in exploration in one of the western world’s most important deposits…

"The number of exploration wells being drilled in the North Sea has collapsed by 78 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the same period last year, according to the most recent industry data from Deloitte…

"In total, only 18 exploration and appraisal wells were drilled in the UK during the first quarter, marking a 41 per cent drop in total drilling activity compared with the same period last year.

"UK Oil and Gas, the industry group, is even more pessimistic, forecasting that total drilling could drop 66% this year.

"The North Sea’s situation is significantly worse than elsewhere because new discoveries tend to be smaller and rarer and old fields are becoming less productive but more expensive to maintain."

During the London Summit on April 4, presided over by Gordon Brown as host of the event, according to totally creditable sources, the British prime minister conducted himself in a visibly disparaging manner with participants from the Third World. He related to Obama himself in a prejudiced way, given the latter’s condition as an African American.

How much oil is going to be consumed in the world, at what cost and at what price? Who are the ones responsible for the tragedy? What limits will be imposed in Copenhagen on the developing countries? It is a really complicated problem.

The world is not resting. Neither is Obama.