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VK2AAB > FUEL 06.05.08 05:19l 134 Lines 6713 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Energy News items
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Sent: 080506/0249Z @:VK2AAB.#SYD.NSW.AUS.OC #:2582 [Sydney] $:2582_VK2AAB
From: VK2AAB@VK2AAB.#SYD.NSW.AUS.OC
To : FUEL@WW
The following news items are from the weekly bulletin from the
Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas USA.
73 Barry VK2AAB
5. Briefs (clips from recent Peak Oil News dailies are indicated by date and
item #)
China's consumption of gasoline, diesel and kerosene increased 16.5% over the
previous year, hitting new record highs. China's production of oil only
increased 2.2% while imports increased 14.9%. China imported just under 50% of
the oil they consumed. Reuters suggests that the current surge in gasoline and
diesel imports is related to the Olympics and that imports will subside in the
autumn. (4/29, #10; 5/1, #8))
Russia, the world's second-largest oil supplier, produced the least crude oil
in 18 months in April as aging fields and rising costs threaten the country
with the first annual decline in oil output in a decade. April production was
0.8% less than April 2007 and 0.4% less than March 2008. Last month Russia's
two largest independent oil companies said that the country's oil production
may have peaked. (5/2, #2)
Mexico will reduce its crude oil exports to the US by an average of 184,000
b/d throughout 2008, a situation that could continue for 2 years longer,
reported a Mexican media outlet. (4/30, #9)
Some kinds of fertilizer have nearly tripled in price in the last year. That
is one of many factors that threaten to push tens of millions of poor people
into malnutrition. Without nitrogen fertilizer, there would not be enough food
for 40 percent of the world's population, at least based on today's diets.
(4/30, #20)
ExxonMobil is beginning to show signs of weakness as it struggles to increase
oil production and to squeeze profit out of its refining business. Overall oil
and gas production fell 5.6 per cent from the year-earlier quarter. (5/2, #4)
Market observers say Venezuela's oil output is below official figures and that
Venezuela's total output is around 2.5 million bpd compared with government
figures above 3.0 million bpd. The government deems that as political
mischief. (5/3, #9)
Early last week thousands of demonstrators marched in Mexico City to protest a
government bill to partly privatize state-run Pemex, as lawmakers blocked the
measure from reaching a vote. (4/28, #8)
Chevron announced that they are drilling more follow-up wells near their Jack
and St. Malo discoveries. They also announced the delay of 70,000 b/day
production from their Blind Faith project. (5/3, #18; Note--the Jack, a highly
publicized discovery announced in September 2006, won't enter production for
five or more years.)
At a huge tailings pond serving Syncrude's Alberta tar sands, 500 water fowl
were killed last week when the noisemaker cannon wasn't turned on as the pond
melted. Industry now
faces a new struggle to convince the world they are not just paying lip
service to cleaning up operations. (5/3, #20)
OPEC won't consider increasing crude output before it meets in September
because the market is well supplied, Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah
said. (5/2, #3)
Royal Dutch Shell provoked a storm of anger among its partners in the world's
largest offshore wind proposal last week when it revealed plans to sell its
stake. Their pullout has plunged the 341-turbine, 1000-MW project into crisis.
(5/1, #13)
Indonesian coal is expected to reach $150/ton soon, up from $50/ton last year.
(5/1, #18)
OPEC President Chakib Khelil does not rule out oil prices reaching $200 a
barrel, even though supply is adequate, because the market is driven by the
dollar's slide, Algerian government newspaper El Moudjahid reported on Monday.
(4/28, #3)
there is a ``huge risk'' that oil prices will continue to rise until demand
collapses because additional supplies are limited and alternative fuels
decades away from replacing crude, Deutsche Bank AG said. (4/28, #4)
Crude oil may rise to $200 a barrel by the end of the year as refiners
increase purchases of low- sulfur oil to make diesel fuel, economist Philip
Verleger said. (4/28, #5)
In April Chinese motorists waited in half-mile lines to buy rationed diesel at
subsidized prices near $3 a gallon from state-run gas stations, rather than go
to Exxon- and Shell-owned outlets, which set their own prices. (5/2, #16)
Analysts say airline ticket prices have to rise 15 to 20 percent just to cover
fuel costs and that the increases will price some leisure travelers out of the
market. The ripple effect could affect every part of the economy that depends
on air service. Resorts, hotels, cruise lines and convention destinations
could suffer. (5/2, #18)
Pakistan increased state-subsidized gasoline and diesel prices for the fourth
time in two months after record crude oil prices increased import costs for
refiners. Pakistan imports about 85 percent of the oil it uses domestically.
(5/1, #3)
Brazil's plan to become one of the world's biggest oil exporters hinges on
exploiting crude six miles below the ocean surface. Tapping this oil will
require equipment that can withstand 18,000 pounds per square inch of
pressure, pipes that can carry oil at temperatures above 500 degrees
Fahrenheit (260 Celsius) and drill bits that can penetrate layers of salt more
than one mile thick. Until the tools needed to exploit the reservoirs are
invented, the crude will remain locked under the sea. (4/29, #9)
India's three state-owned refining companies say they are nearing the brink of
collapse. The high price of oil has badly affected their liquidity, and they
are losing an estimated $125 million/day on domestic sales of gasoline,
diesel, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas.(4/16, #12)
The boom in the use of diesel for electric generators in parts of Asia,
Africa, the Middle East and Latin is helping to propel crude oil above $100 a
barrel even as energy demand wanes in the United States and Europe. Demand for
distillates to fuel diesel generators has increased 250,000 bpd in China,
South Africa and Latin America since the beginning of the year, according to
Goldman Sachs. (4/30, #3)
Japan's government restored an unpopular tax on gasoline despite scuffles in
Parliament as opposition lawmakers tried to stop a vote on the issue. The
restored tax is 24 US cents a liter or nearly a dollar a gallon. (5\1, #12)
South Africa's power utility Eskom said it will suspend scheduled load
shedding as energy savings have eased a severe power shortage. Recent
explosions and fires at older power
sub-stations that were unable to cope with frequent blackouts is more likely
the reason for the suspension. (5/2, #7)
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