Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
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.
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.
Industry will lose between $3 billion and $4 billion as soaring oil prices increase pressure.
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.
Terrorists and insurgents are stepping up attacks on oil and gas operations overseas in an effort to disrupt jittery energy markets, destabilize governments and scare off foreign workers, analysts said.
Nigerian rebels fighting for sovereignty of the oil-producing Niger delta told oil companies in the world’s seventh largest exporter to shut production before they begin an “all-out war” on Oct. 1.
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.
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.
The price of crude nearly doubled this year, but for Indonesians that meant nothing. A fuel subsidy scheme means the Government, not consumers, picks up the bill for the increased cost of petrol, diesel and kerosene used everywhere for cooking.
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, a congressional source briefed on the pending decision told Reuters last week.
I’m glad to see the surge of interest in the coming peak of world oil production, even though the prospect is grim. Once again, people are willing to think about non-renewable resources and the consequences of an economy based on them. ….Most of the new information stems from the work of two little-known scientists, both deceased: petroleum geologist M. King Hubbert and systems ecologist Howard Odum.
