$4 gas at a pump near you ?

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States granted right to set higher mileage standards...

Vermont Judge Backs Stricter Fuel Economy Standards
September 14, 2007 - A Vermont court ruled Wednesday that states can set their own emissions standards to be more stringent than federal levels, despite opposition from the auto industry.

U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions ruled that the auto manufacturers had not proved their claim that compliance with the rules in Vermont, which are identical to standards adopted in California, was not feasible. Sessions added that the industry had also not "demonstrated that it will limit consumer choice, create economic hardship for the automobile industry, cause significant job loss or undermine safety."

The Clean Air Act requires the federal government - through the Environmental Protection Agency - to set limits on air pollutants emitted by motor vehicles. California was the only state allowed to deviate from the standards set by the federal government, and it is only allowed to do so if it obtains a waiver from the EPA. California is awaiting approval for the waiver, and 13 other states, including Vermont, have said they will move to follow the California standards instead of those set by the Clean Air Act.

Phyllis Cuttino, director of the Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency, said the ruling shows that "the only ones who don't believe in the U.S. auto industry are the U.S. auto industry." She added that it is "more proof that auto industry arguments opposing meaningful fuel efficiency increases are no longer credible. Greater fuel efficiency is achievable without sacrificing vehicle size or power."

But Myron Ebell, director for energy and global warming policy at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, said he was "disappointed" in the ruling. Sessions "took testimony from the auto industry about why it isn't feasible and he is now claiming to be more of an expert on what the auto industry can do than the engineers and the owners of the auto companies," said Ebell.

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Ya win some, ya lose some...

Calif. Global Warming Suit Vs. Carmakers Dismissed
September 17, 2007 - A federal judge on Monday tossed out a lawsuit filed by the state of California that sought to hold the world's six largest automakers accountable for their contribution to global warming.

In its lawsuit filed last year, California blamed the auto industry for millions of dollars it expects to spend on repairing damage from global-warming induced floods and other natural disasters.

But District Judge Martin Jenkins in San Francisco handed California Attorney General Jerry Brown's environmental crusade a stinging rebuke when he ruled that it was impossible to determine to what extent automakers are responsible for global-warming damages in California.

The judge also ruled that keeping the lawsuit alive would threaten the country's foreign policy position. Jenkins said it is up to lawmakers -- not judges -- to determine how responsible automakers are for global warming problems.

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Getting closer to $3/gal. here, and that's with the cheaper winter blend...

Here comes $100 oil, and $3 gas
October 26 2007: With crude setting new highs every day, experts say there's no way motorists won't see a spike at the pump.

With oil prices setting records over $90 a barrel - and $100 looking ever more likely - experts say there's a good chance drivers will see $3 gasoline before the end of the year. "Three dollar gasoline in this market is unavoidable," said Stephen Schork, publisher of the industry newsletter the Schork Report. "At this rate, we're going to see $4 a gallon."

Crude oil prices have soared nearly 30 percent over the last month, mainly over fears that supply won't meet demand, a falling U.S. dollar, and what some say is a high degree of speculative investment money. But so far drivers have been lucky. The national average price for gasoline has risen barely one cent, going from $2.81 last month to $2.82 this month, according to the motorist organization AAA, although in many areas of the country gasoline is already over $3.

Analysts have said the relatively stable gasoline price is due to slack demand following the high-demand summer driving season. But the relatively cheap gas prices are causing profit margins to slip for refiners, who have to pay top dollar for crude but aren't passing along the extra costs for consumers, yet.

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Oil price hits $92, analyst predicts 50% fall
Saturday 27th October, 2007 - The price of a barrel of oil reached another record high in New York Friday, rising $1.40 to $91.80.

VOA's Barry Wood reports that analysts are puzzled as to why the quadrupling of oil over the past four years has not pushed the U.S. and world economies into recession. Before falling back slightly, oil reached a peak of more than $92. Crude has risen more than ten percent over the past four weeks. It has doubled in price in the past two years.

Analysts say the world economy has absorbed these increases because, unlike the 1970s, oil prices have risen steadily, without an external shock to trigger a sudden unexpected increase. Also, the world economy is much bigger and less dependent on petroleum than during the two price shocks of the 1970s. When adjusted for inflation, the then record price of $40 a barrel in 1979 would be $102 today.

Jim Smith, an oil economist and forecaster in North Carolina, says that as the 2008 Chinese Olympics approach, China will temporarily shut down factories to ease pollution, easing demand for oil. He predicts that as global economic growth decelerates oil prices will come down. 'Dramatically! Chinese demand growth will slow significantly the closer we get to the Olympics and especially after the Olympics. So, you could see a real collapse in world oil prices even without any conflict,' he said. Smith expects the oil price will fall 50 percent.

More Oil price hits $92, analyst predicts 50% fall

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Huge oil find off Brazil's coast...

Oil discovery rocks Brazil
November 9, 2007 -- Petrobras president: Oil found would give Brazil the world's eighth largest reserves; Petrobras: Tupi field has equivalent to 40 percent of all oil ever discovered in Brazil; Brazil became a net oil exporter only last year; Presidential chief of staff: Oil find will put Brazil on level of Venezuela, Arab nations

A huge offshore oil discovery could raise Brazil's petroleum reserves by a whopping 40 percent and boost this country into the ranks of the world's major exporters, officials said. The government-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, said the new "ultra-deep" Tupi field could hold as much as 8 billion barrels of recoverable light crude, sending Petrobras shares soaring and prompting predictions that Brazil could join the world's "top 10" oil producers.

Petrobras President Sergio Gabrielli said Thursday the oil from ultradeep areas, including the Tupi field, would give Brazil the world's eighth-largest oil and gas reserves. "Brazil's reserves will lie somewhere between those of Nigeria and those of Venezuela," Gabrielli said at a news conference. Petrobras says the Tupi field, off Brazil's southeastern Atlantic coast, has between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels -- equivalent to 40 percent of all the oil ever discovered in Brazil.

Brazil's total oil reserves currently rank 17th in the world, with 14.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent, Gabrielli said. Thursday's news of the discovery rocked a country that became a net oil exporter only last year but must still import light crude oil for the refined products it needs. Brazil produces -- and exports -- mostly heavy crude oil, which has to be mixed with the light oil in refineries.

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Venezuela's Chavez invites Brazil to join oil initiative
10 Nov 2007, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez invited Brazil to join his ``Petroamericas'' initiative that aims to strengthen alliances in the region on the back of surging energy prices.

The initiative is seen as a rival to the US economic influence, and it would integrate previous oil projects Petrosur, Petrocaribe and Petroandina, under which Venezuela agreed to sell fuel to other countries in the region on preferential terms. Chavez has said the energy alliances will challenge US economic domination in the region, and distribute fuel directly to avoid costly intermediaries.

Addressing the Ibero-American Summit for leaders from Latin American, Spain and Portugal, Chavez said the initiative is moving forward _ and he invited Brazil to participate as an oil provider. Addressing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country on Thursday announced a huge oil find, Chavez said, ``We propose a Petroandina with Andean nations, and you, Lula, now that you have so much oil, you can have a Patroamazonia.''

Brazil's new offshore oil discovery and promising nearby fields could help Brazil join the ranks of the world's major exporters, although full-scale extraction is unlikely until 2013 and will be very expensive. Chavez has made ambitious regional proposals in the past for the creation of a regional bank and a regional television news network and the construction of a natural gas pipeline stretching across South America that would be one of the longest gas pipelines ever built.

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Speculators must be making more profit than OPEC...

Oil prices too high, Saudi minister says
November 14, 2007 - Blames pessimists, gurus and speculators; points to Alberta oil sands as benchmark for $60 target

The world's biggest oil producer thinks the price of crude should be closer to $60 (U.S.) a barrel than $100, pointing specifically to the cost of production in Alberta's oil sands as a likely long-term benchmark for the commodity. "The price today really has no relation whatsoever with the fundamentals. The fundamentals do not support the current price," Ali al-Naimi, Saudi's Arabia's powerful Oil Minister, said yesterday. Mr. al-Naimi's expansive thoughts on the volatile oil market - for which he blamed "pessimists," "gurus" and "experts" preaching Peak Oil that are "agitating the speculators" - were one of several factors that sent oil tumbling $3.45 or 3.6 per cent to $91.17 yesterday after nearly hitting $100 last week.

He spoke during an hour-long press conference ahead of the third summit of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries this weekend in Riyadh. Mr. al-Naimi said a potential OPEC production increase won't be on the table this weekend, but will be on Dec. 5 at a meeting of oil ministers in Abu Dhabi - a major point traders seized on. Traders further focused on the latest report from the International Energy Agency, which represents developed countries. For the second month, it slashed its predicted increase in oil demand, citing the "shock effect" of high prices.

In Mr. al-Naimi's view, oil supplies are adequate and in the middle of a five-year range. He further said the cost of the so-called marginal barrel in the world - that is, the most expensive and most recent addition to the global production pool - is likely an important factor that will set the longer-term price. He pointed specifically to the high-cost Alberta oil sands, where he cited costs of as much as $60 a barrel - roughly what new projects in the oil sands at current construction costs need to make money in the long term. The $60 figure was also used by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in a 27-page report on Monday.

That report concluded that "there is considerable evidence to suggest [oil prices] are still fundamentally linked to the marginal cost of supply." In times of tight supply, prices will be higher, and when the situation is loose, they would be lower, analyst Ben Dell said in the report. "Today, the relationship would suggest that the 'right' price for crude should be ... in the $66-$72 barrel range," he said, adding that given limited spare global production capacity this quarter, "one could justify pricing" as high as $78 a barrel. Mr. al-Naimi said OPEC in fact has very little direct control over the price of oil and gave up trying to manipulate the market when oil crashed in the mid-1980s, saying that the commodity is governed by myriad market forces. Of course, one of those forces is OPEC supply.

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With prices hovering around $100/bbl., just in the nick of time...

Iraqi Oil Output Rises
Dec. 14, 2007 - Iraqi Oil Output Hits Highest Level In More Than 3 Years

Iraqi oil output has risen in a "dramatic" way in recent months, hitting its highest monthly level in about 3 1/2 years in November, the International Energy Agency said Friday. The Paris-based agency, in its monthly oil market report, cited improving security as it reported that Iraqi production rose to 2.32 million barrels per month in November, a slight increase from October and up from 1.9 million barrels per month in January. The increase in output resulted largely from "more regular" pipeline crude shipments from fields around the northern city of Kirkuk to Ceyhan in Turkey, the IEA said.

Iraq's oil industry has come under repeated attack since the war began, primarily through bombings of key pipelines. Other obstacles include the failure of political leaders to agree on a formula for sharing Iraq's oil wealth among its divided communities and conflict over control of oil-rich territory. Iraq's underperforming oil industry has been an additional headache for its fledgling government. The agency said Iraqi output had reached its highest level since the spring of 2004, when the anti-U.S. insurgency started to intensify following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein a year earlier.

"While few would have predicted such an improvement in Iraqi security and output since September, the additional oil has been as welcome for the international market as it has been for Iraqi finances," the report said. "But though the increase has been dramatic, the market continues to recognize the propensity for ongoing security issues and output volatility," it added. Iraqi output increased by 330,000 barrels per day from August to November alone, the agency said. Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that removed Saddam from power, Iraqi production has mostly hovered between 1.7 million and 2 million barrels per day, the IEA said.

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Iraq making the most of oil price spike...

High oil prices help Iraq repay IMF debt early
Saturday 15th December, 2007 - High oil prices allowed Iraq to repay its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) more than a year early as it prepares to negotiate a fresh loan, the IMF said.

Iraq paid back some $471 million in post-war aid approved by the IMF in September 2004, 18 months after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Iraq's government had until 2009 to repay.

Iraq made the final payment Wednesday, a week before Iraqi officials were slated to open talks with the IMF on the next aid injection.

IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn praised Iraqi authorities for post-war economic reforms and said 'its early repayment reflected the government's strong international reserve position against a background of high oil prices'.

High oil prices help Iraq repay IMF debt early

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Kuwait wantin' to rival Dubai City, guess where the money's gonna come from while we fight their war for `em?...

$85bn 'City of Silk' for Kuwait
February 06, 2008 - THE oil-rich Gulf state of Kuwait plans to build a major new city inspired by the Silk Road that it hopes will become a global trade and tourist attraction.

The $US77 billion ($85.5 billion) dollar "City of Silk" aims to revive the ancient trade route by becoming a major free trade zone linking central Asia with Europe. "It is the largest single real estate development in the Middle East," Eric Kuhne, managing director of Eric R Kuhne and Associates, which provided designs for the seaside city, told a conference overnight organised by MEED magazine.

The city, located in Subbiya on the northernmost tip of Kuwait Bay hard by the Iraqi border, will be home to 750,000 people when completed in 2030, said Mr Kuhne, a renowned international architect. The City of Silk will be linked to the capital Kuwait City by a 26km causeway, greatly reducing the current road distance of some 120km. Two artificial islands will be built alongside the causeway.

Built on an area of 200 square kilometres, the city would consist of four major zones - a city of commerce, a city of leisure and recreation, a city of ecology and a city of diplomacy and education, Mr Kuhne said. The commerce city would sit in the middle of a canal system and aims to boost Kuwait's efforts to become a regional trade and financial centre, he said.

More $85bn 'City of Silk' for Kuwait | NEWS.com.au

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Turk-Kurd spat affecting gas prices...

Energy Watch: Turkish attacks part of the oil price hikes
Feb. 25, 2008 - Crude oil prices have recently jumped again as Turkey's military assaulted rebel bases in northern Iraq.

Iraq is the sixth-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and analysts say the attacks in Kurdish Iraq that began last week have affected prices on world markets, Australian newspaper The Age reported. But OPEC may still cut its output next month, due to rising inventories and an expected drop in demand, according to President Chakib Khelil.

"I'm not terribly concerned about the geopolitical concerns there," Rowan Menzies, head of research at Commodity Warrants Australia, told the paper. "You can get a kind of knee-jerk reaction to these things but I don't really think that's going to be a major influence over the next two or three weeks."

Crude oil for April delivery has risen more than 58 cents after the Turkish incursion. OPEC produces about 40 percent of the world's oil. The group has a meeting scheduled for March 5 and will reportedly decide on changes to its production then. It meets on March 5 to review the group's production levels. The group is forecasting a 1.6 million-barrel drop in demand in the second quarter.

"If OPEC did cut output that would change everything, but I just don't see OPEC cutting output," Menzies said. ''The global economy just looks a little too fragile to be cutting output.'' The recent surge in oil prices is because of ''speculation and geopolitical problems'' and the expectation that OPEC will cut production," Khelil said.

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Oil production to stay at current levels...

OPEC won’t change production, official says
Sun., March. 2, 2008 - Libya oil executive predicts no action after Wednesday meeting of cartel

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is set to hold current production levels unchanged at a meeting this week as it continues to gauge the state of the global economy, the head of Libya's oil industry said Sunday. "It seems as though things are going to be as is," said Shokri Ghanem, head of Libyan oil policy and Chief Executive of Libya's National Oil Co. Ghanem also said OPEC will discuss the ongoing dispute between Venezuela and oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp., saying it was possible there could be an official pronouncement from the cartel on the issue. "We will discuss it," he told reporters in the Austrian capital.

Exxon and Petroleos de Venezuela, or PdVSA, are entangled in a legal dispute over President Hugo Chavez's move to nationalize a multibillion dollar oil project in the Orinoco basin last summer, which prompted the Irving, Texas, oil giant to leave the country. As it pursues twin arbitration cases internationally, Exxon has secured court orders freezing more than $12 billion in PdVSA assets worldwide to ensure payment, a move Chavez calls a political affront. Venezuela has responded by cutting off spot market oil sales to Exxon.

Oil ministers from the 13-member oil-producer group, which supplies four out of 10 barrels of world oil consumption, meet March 5 to discuss output policy against the contrasting factors of scorching record high prices and weakening demand. OPEC ministers have made clear in recent days that they aren't likely to respond to bullish prices by boosting supplies. "We're going to see...about the economic performance" but so far it seems there will be no change, Ghanem said.

OPEC won?t change production, official says - Oil & energy - MSNBC.com