Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Crude oil futures on New York’s NYMEX have jumped 36 cents in electronic trading to the psychological $50 a barrel level, the highest in the 21 years oil futures have traded on the exchange, as Nigerian rebels decided an “all-out” war against the government starting October 1.
‘It looks like 2007-2008 will be about the latest before world oil supplies get into trouble, and if Saudi Arabia gets into trouble before then, very likely we will move into decline before then.’
Given the current supply climate, even a small nation can become important in helping provide new reserves of crude. Some of the world’s biggest oil companies have set their sights on Mauritania.
We live in a time in which several “storms” are colliding: resource depletion, continued population growth, declining per-capita food production, global climate change and other signs of environmental degradation, unsustainable levels of US debt and a potential dollar collapse and international political instability. Powerdown, the path of cooperation, conserving and sharing, seems the most sane response.
Asian stocks dropped on concern record oil prices will slow global economic growth and corporate profits. Exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp. and airlines including Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. led declines.
The continuing surge in oil prices is proving Opec’s limited influence on the market despite the organisation committing to increasing its production ceiling, analysts said.
Industry will lose between $3 billion and $4 billion as soaring oil prices increase pressure.
Well, no. 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.
Russia and China agreed to terms for Russia’s membership in the World Trade Organization during top-level talks in Moscow on Friday, but both sides left unanswered questions about whether Russia was ready to guarantee stable oil supplies and boost oil and gas deliveries in the future to its energy-hungry neighbor.
India’s crude oil imports jumped by 23.3 % in July this year on increased demand for oil products, a senior Petroleum Ministry official said.
George W. Bush, oilman that he is, has done everything in his power to help the energy industry. He’s trashed environmental regulations, given cushy tax breaks to oil companies, and gotten his Saudi pals to promise lower oil prices by the election. So why are oil prices higher than ever? None other than the Wall Street Journal is suggesting that “peak oil” may be upon us.
Natural gas is a more difficult subject to address than petroleum, because the data is much less complete and reliable, and because the USA situation appears much more precarious than the world situation.
