Prices & supplies – Apr 28

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Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage

Oil May Hit $200 as Refiners Buy Costlier Crude, Verleger Says
Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg
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.

Ultra-low-sulfur diesel powers most U.S. trucks and diesel- burning cars. To make the fuel, refiners are buying more-costly low-sulfur oils such as the West Texas Intermediate crude traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, said Verleger, president of PKVerleger LLC, in an interview.
(25 April 2008)

Brazil Oil Trapped in 500-Degree Heat, Metal-Crushing Pressure
Joe Carroll, Bloomberg
Brazil’s plan to become one of the world’s biggest oil exporters hinges on exploiting crude six miles below the ocean surface in deposits so hot they can melt the metal used to carry uranium to nuclear plants.

Tapping what may be the biggest oil finds in the Western Hemisphere in three decades will require equipment that can withstand 18,000 pounds per square inch of pressure, enough to crush a pickup truck, 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.
(28 April 2008)
UPDATE (Apr 29) Contributor Adam Shaun Nealis writes:
The high level of speculation in this story borders on science fiction.

No mention of EROI to produce this stuff from 6 miles down. And 33 billion barrels is only about 2% of the estimated total of producible oil remaining on the planet.