Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
Citing Oil Prices, Asia Starts Reducing Fuel Subsidies
Heather Timmons, New York Times
Consumers in Asia are feeling the heat of skyrocketing oil prices – which rose above $96 a barrel Thursday for the first time – as governments start rolling back subsidies that have kept costs for gasoline and other fuel artificially low.
China raised gasoline and diesel prices by up to 10 percent Wednesday in an effort to curb demand and ease pressure on refiners, who are being squeezed between the soaring value of crude oil and fixed prices for fuel.
In India on Thursday, the ministers of finance and petroleum met to discuss higher oil prices, and some economists and government officials there now think an increase in consumer prices is inevitable.
In Malaysia, the trade minister, Rafidah Aziz, told the local news agency Bermama that the country might have to raise prices soon.
Retail prices of petroleum-based products like gasoline, kerosene and diesel are highly subsidized in many Asian countries, in part to make them affordable to citizens who earn lower wages than in the developed world
(2 November 2007}
Energy Expert Sees Hazard in Costly Oil
James Kanter, New York Times
The rapidly growing appetite for fossil fuels in China and India is likely to help keep oil prices high for the foreseeable future, threatening a global economic slowdown, a top energy expert said on Wednesday.
The unusually stark warning by Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency, about the effect of Asia’s emerging giants comes as the agency prepares to issue its influential annual report next week, which will focus on China and India.
In preparing the report, Mr. Birol said he had experienced “an earthquake” in his thinking.
“China plus India are going to dominate growth in the oil markets,” Mr. Birol said during an interview at an oil industry conference. Over the last 18 months, he noted, more than two-thirds of the growth in global oil demand came from China and India alone.
(31 October 2007)
Oil Prices Spur Homes to Mull Gas Switch
Candice Choi, Associated Press
…With oil topping $90 per barrel, some homeowners are weighing whether the price tag for switching to a natural gas furnace makes sense. The decision may depend on a variety of factors, including the availability of natural gas lines, an issue in the Northeast, where gas pipelines have historically been less common.
… Since early 2006, heating oil has been more expensive than natural gas and is currently nearly double the cost, according to Tim Evans, an energy analyst with Citi Futures Perspective. On Thursday, the price of crude oil, which has surged 20 percent in one month, reached a record of $96 per barrel.
While natural gas prices are also rising, the Energy Department says those who rely on heating oil will face much higher prices this winter, while those who use natural gas should only see a moderate price increase.
(2 November 2007)
