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Tracking the Energy Industry |
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Spiro, Spero
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Tracking the Energy Industry |
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September 2004
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Pricing / Supply |
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Business / Policy |
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Alternatives |
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September 29, 2004
Oil
prices push past US$50 mark
AP: Traders bid oil to new highs in after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in a reaction to the slow recovery of US oil production that was damaged by Hurricane Ivan and unrest in key producers Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Nigeria... September 28, 2004
OPEC
president says cartel can still raise output
AFP: OPEC is capable of increasing oil output levels by a further 1.5 million barrels per day to help ease pressure on the market but new supplies may not lower prices, the organization's president said yesterday... September 27, 2004
Bush
Set to Open Oil Reserve Spigot
Reuters: With oil near $50 a barrel, the Bush administration is set to allow oil refineries to borrow from the government's emergency petroleum stockpile to make up for supplies disrupted by Hurricane Ivan... one of the loans would be for 100,000 to 200,000 barrels, and the other for 1 million to 2 million barrels... September 27, 2004
Iran:
Gasoline is imported to end worries
IranMania: A huge gasoline consignment weighing 30,000 tons is imported by National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in order to avert fuel shortages across the country, Mehr News Agency (MNA) reported... September 27, 2004
Wild
oil ride rewrites trading rules
Reuters: Oil's startling price surge this year has actually driven many traders to the sidelines as wild intra-day swings magnified by powerful speculative funds confound traditional trading strategies, market sources say... September 27, 2004
Qatar:
oil price jump market-manipulated
Khaleej Times: "I do not think there is any kind of oil shortage, there are no long queues at gas stations," said Al Attiy. "Further talks in this regard will take place in Cairo in December when Opec will be having an extra ordinary meeting to discuss the issue..." September 26, 2004
Price
of oil up 73 percent compared with a year ago
AP: The amount of excess oil production available worldwide is about 1 percent of total demand of about 82 million barrels a day, leaving the industry little breathing room in the event of a prolonged supply interruption, according to many analysts... September 24, 2004
Crude
Oil May Rise as US Supplies Near 29-Year Low
Bloomberg: US crude-oil stockpiles fell 9.1 million barrels to 269.5 million in the week ended Sept. 17, the US Energy Department said. Supplies are 5.8 million barrels from being the lowest since September 1975. It was the first time since 1988 that inventories had dropped for eight straight weeks... September 24, 2004
NZ:
Electricity demand reaches record levels
Scoop: National demand growth this year, however, has surged higher again following the conservation campaigns of 2001 and 2003 and is running at 5% year-on-year. Weekly demand peaked at a record 842 GWh during the week ended 31 August... September 23, 2004
Oil's
'fear premium' pegged at $10-$15
CBS Marketwatch: "Around $5 of the estimated $15 premium is due to the weak U.S. dollar," Sieminski said. He then tacked on $2 to $3 for each of several factors: Hurricane Ivan, the situation with Yukos in Russia, the kidnappings and insurgency in Iraq, worries over oil supplies and the threat of terrorists destabilizing Saudi Arabia... September 21, 2004
Bad
finances force Yukos to reduce its oil exports to China
NY Times: It appears to be the first time that Yukos' ability to transport oil has been affected by its tax dispute with the Russian government, which has frozen most of its bank accounts... September 20, 2004
Arguments
erupt over petroleum capacity
AFP: At a seminar in Vienna last week, organised by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the oil world's principal players - producer and consuming countries, oil companies and analysts - discussed the contentious issue at length... September 19, 2004
Supply
fears drive crude oil futures up 3.9 percent
NYT: Even as the deadly weather system sputtered over North Carolina, turning into a tropical storm, traders said they expected supply snags in the aftermath due to import disruptions and damage to a natural gas pipeline... September 9, 2004
Heat
is off the oil market: IEA
AFP: The heat has gone out of the underlying forces in the oil market and only short-term factors are keeping the oil price at about 40 dollars per barrel, the International Energy Agency (IEA) concluded... September 9, 2004
World
oil inventories seen building
Reuters: The IEA, which advises 26 industrialised nations on energy policy, assessed likely demand for crude oil from the OPEC cartel in the fourth quarter at 28.3 million barrels per day, compared to August production of 29.3 million barrels per day... September 9, 2004
Energy
Bills Soar in Europe as Wholesale Costs Bite
Reuters: Millions of consumers face higher prices this winter as utilities pass on gains in wholesale costs, which have shot to record levels on the back of rampant oil and coal prices, and tightening environmental laws... |
September 30, 2004
Oil
price surge menacing Asian growth
AFP: ADB's Ali said higher oil prices would cause cost-push inflation, which in turn will result in "high interest rates in all the countries in the region." This will undercut household consumption which has been fuelling growth in many Asian countries... (and) "snuff out" the recovery in business investment that has taken place in Southeast Asia this year... September 30, 2004
US'
ConocoPhilipps wins auction for 7.6% Lukoil stake
AP: Coming on the heels of French company Total's reported US$1 billion acquisition of a 25 percent plus one share stake in gas producer Novatek, a successful bid by ConocoPhilipps provides a much sought after reassurance after the government's crackdown on Yukos... September 29, 2004
Shanghai
faces winter power shortages
AFP: Electricity shortages this winter and next spring in the eastern city will amount to about 1.35 million kilowatts and 1.55 million kilowatts, the Shanghai Morning Post reported citing municipal officials... September 26, 2004
Energy
cost woes grip Wall Street
AP: Still, some analysts are skeptical about the true impact oil will have on earnings. While the cost of crude is uncomfortably high, the prices of refined products used by consumers and businesses, such as gasoline and natural gas, have not surged at the same pace. That's because their costs are generally tied to inventory levels, rather than crude prices... September 26, 2004
Shell
to expand exploration position in Alaska
Petroleum News: Bichsel told Oil Daily, "You have a bit of a theme there - Sakhalin, West Siberia and Alaska - which is the Arctic, which requires big funds, which requires technology, tenacity, staying power, which I think companies like ours are very well suited to..." September 25, 2004
Putin
and Wen to discuss oil, trade
AP, AFP: ... the head of Russia's state-owned railway network announced that a Chinese oil company would pay for oil deliveries by rail from the embattled oil company Yukos for next month. The company's announcement earlier this week that it would cut crude oil supplies to China's National Petroleum Corp by 100,000 barrels a day alarmed China, which has sharply increased its oil imports from Russia... September 24, 2004
Talks
heat up for EnCana oil business in Ecuador
Globe and Mail: "Negotiations are in progress," Subir Raha, chairman of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), told Reuters at a conference in New Delhi yesterday, confirming speculation from last week. "There are other bidders. It is a big property..." September 20, 2004
Kuwaiti
oil sector witnesses a leap in its projects
Arabic News: Sources at the Kuwaiti ministry of oil said that the fourth refinery is expected to save 420,000 barrels of which 250,000 to meet the requirements of electricity generation stations in the country, while the remaining amount would be used to enhance exports needs... September 17, 2004
Gazprom to Invite ChevronTexaco to Join $10 Bln LNG Venture Bloomberg: The offshore Shtokman field has enough reserves to supply the US for about four years. The US, which expects gas demand to grow 50 percent over the next 20 years, has been urging Gazprom to accelerate plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in Russia's northwest that could supply the fuel to the US... September 9, 2004
Rising oil prices fuel German inflation RTE: 'The higher annual rate of inflation in August is largely attributable to the fact that prices of petroleum products rose again,' the statisticians explained. The price of light heating oil, for example, was up by 24.6% on a 12-month basis and fuel prices rose by 8.1% year-on-year... September 9, 2004
Experts warn of oil and inflation link Western Mail: The Bank of England would have to tighten monetary policy to keep inflation under control, according to the National Institute of Economic & Social Research (NIESR)... September 9, 2004
Canada May Boost Oil-Sands Production Fivefold, Official Says Bloomberg: Suncor Energy Inc. and other companies in Canada produce more than 1 million barrels of such oil daily and the target is to raise that to 2 million barrels by 2008, Anderson... September 9, 2004
Norway Oil Minister Does Not Rule Out Tax Cut Talks Reuters: The industry had hoped for a hefty cut in the so-called special tax of 50 percent on oil and gas earnings, which - combined with a basic tax of 28 percent on profits - gives a nominal tax rate of 78 percent ... September 9, 2004
China wants stronger energy cooperation with GCC: FM AFP: China and Saudi Arabia agreed Tuesday to hold regular political consultations. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Chinese official and Saudi foreign ministry undersecretary Nizar Madani in the Red Sea city of Jeddah... September 8, 2004
Israel: Oil Refineries privatization hits the road Haaretz: Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is spearheading the move, with the blessing of the cabinet. Acting via the Government Companies Authority, Netanyahu is in discussions with two foreign investment banks... September 8, 2004
US threatens sanctions on Sudan's oil Reuters: Sudan is now producing about 320,000 barrels per day from its southern oil fields, and from September 15 an extra 12,000 bpd will reach the refinery in Khartoum from another southern field, Oil Minister Awad Ahmed al-Jaz said last month. It exports oil to China and Pakistan, two Security Council members who oppose sanctions... |
September 30, 2004
Penny-pinching
Filipinos turn to compatriot's device
DPA: The Khaos is a small air-regulating cylindrical device made of stainless steel that feeds the correct mixture of fuel and air into the engine while it runs on idle, resulting in better combustion and minimizing emissions, Planas said. Planas said that with his device, the engine always runs on an efficient air-fuel ratio of 15 to one, lowering fuel consumption by as much as 50 percent... September 27, 2004
Rival
Technologies Vie for 'Green' Car of Tomorrow
Reuters: Carmakers presented new-age automobiles at the Paris car show that could give much-hyped fuel cells a run for their money in the coming market for vehicles that do less damage to the environment... September 27, 2004
Congress
Extends Wind Energy Tax Credit
Reuters: Congress extended through 2005 a popular tax credit for companies that produce electricity from wind, enabling what an industry group said was about $2 billion worth of wind energy projects to proceed. The projects would add more than 2,000 megawatts in capacity that could provide power to half a million homes... September 26, 2004
Ford
Parks Its Natural Gas Bandwagon
NY Times: The company produced its final natural gas vehicles last month. Once those cars and trucks are delivered to customers, Ford says it will turn its full attention to the development of other types of green cars, including those that would run on hydrogen fuel cells. But existing customers and natural gas proponents say the move will have serious consequences, since Ford was the sole supplier of several types of vehicles... September 9, 2004
Gasoline-Electric
Hybrid Vehicles Create Stir
Reuters: On Internet auction site eBay Inc., sellers are advertising Toyota Motor Corp.'s 2004 model year Prius at thousands of dollars above the list price... |
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Energy Overworld
Copyright 2003-2004, Energy Overworld
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