News from July 2004

Response to ”Paying the Pumper” by J. Robinson West

I read with interest J. Robinson WestOn the surface, at least, it is comforting to someone in the business of improving energy efficiency that there are members of the oil industry willing to go on record as recognizing the need for greater energy conservation. However, I was disappointed that Mr. West

5 FARMERS GET DEATH FOR STEALING OIL

BEIJING – A Chinese court has sentenced five farmers to death for stealing crude oil from a pipeline that ran through their county, state media said yesterday.

Natural resources funds surge

“We’re seeing a collision between supply and demand that will be good for investors,” says Charles Ober, manager of the $1.5 billion T. Rowe Price New Era Fund. “I think this is the beginning of a multiyear run.”

Chron

Iraq Pipeline Watch

Attacks on Iraqi pipelines, oil installations, and oil personnel:

IPW

Crude oil price may reach record high

Crude oil may reach a record high this week amid concerns the Russian Government’s dispute with OAO Yukos, the nation’s biggest exporter of the fuel, will disrupt shipments, a Bloomberg survey of traders and analysts shows.

China’s power crisis

The Straits Times reports that :

In the first half of this year alone, 24 out of the China’s 31 provinces and municipalities have suffered from blackouts because Chinese power companies just cannot generate enough electricity for all of the country’s factories and smelters.

This summer, China’s power companies are expected to fall short by 30 million kilowatts, more than half of which will be needed in Shanghai and the eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

… as the frequency of power outages shows no sign of abating as the weather heats up, the local authorities have resorted to more drastic measures, including offering subsidies for factories to buy their own power generators and asking some companies to give their employees paid vacations this summer. All these measures helped prevent the 757,000 brownouts that plagued China in the first half of this year from being more than it was, said industry experts.

http://www.jroller.com/page/lowem/20040726#china_s_power_crisis

Some hybrids not as reliable as gas-powered models

Owners of 2001-model Toyota and Honda hybrids reported twice as many engine problems as owners of gas-engine Toyotas and Hondas. Owners of Volkswagen diesels reported up to twice as many engine problems as owners of VWs burning gas.

USA Today

How Long Will the Oil Age Last?

John Felmy, chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute, argues that peak oil- production estimates are so far off that for all practical purposes we might as well act as if oil will flow forever. “Ever since oil was first harvested in the 1800s, people have said we’d run out of the stuff,”

Popular Science

Gas Prices Rising, Again

Retail gasoline prices dropped slightly in Los Angeles but stubbornly high prices in the wholesale market could bring an end to the decline in pump prices, which have gradually ease in the past two months, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California’s Weekend Gas Watch.

The average price of self-serve regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area was $2.196 a gallon, which is 2.1 cents lower than last week, 10 cents lower than last month and 49 cents higher than last year.

The Car Connection

Saudis hint at production rise

He said there were areas which the Saudi government had not yet allowed to be intensively explored, including potential fields in the Red Sea and the “empty quarter”.

Nuaimi also reiterated Riyahd