WTI oil fell more than 5 per cent to $63 per barrel on Wednesday after US inventory data showed a much higher than expected build in c
Wind power in 1909: The more things change…
yes, Okay so we’ve been a little wind-tastic today, but The Times has pointed out this 1909 piece by ‘An engineering correspondent’ from its archives that makes us rather wistful for a more hopeful era for energy (and a more peaceful pace of journalism):
In view of our diminishing returns of coal and petroleum, the utilization of wind-power deserves careful attention. The available water power in this country is very limited, and the development of it generally requires so great a capital outlay that the standing charges more than equal the cost of the coal required to produce the same results by means of gas or steam.
The Source: CFTC and speculators; Khurais and Ghawar; Nimby-ism and renewables
On Energy Source:
Will the boost to Khurais affect Copenhagen talks?
Markets: Oil slides ahead of US inventories
Getting over the nimby-ism hurdle
BP hearts Iraq, even at $2 a barrel
The murky task of curbing speculation
The US-China-diplomacy guessing game
Further reading:
Oil may have a $50 – $60 floor, says IEA analyst (Reuters/UpstreamOnline)
Nigeria loses $6bn in revenue to Shell output shut-ins
CFTC is not, repeat, not blaming speculators for $147 oil. Mostly (Houston Chronicle)
James Hamilton’s favourite definition of a green job (his own, admittedly) (North County Times)
China and the US sign an MoU on climate change essentially agreeing to reach agreement (China Daily, Department of State)
Does criticism of Japan’s climate change initiatives reflect a policy disconnect? (Yale 360)
China to dramatically boost its wind capacity, again (Greenlaw)
On FT.com:
Crude oil prices dropped by more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday ahead of the latest US weekly inventories data while base metals moved lower and gold dipped as a recovery in the dollar and weakness in Asian stock markets weighed on sentiment towards commodities.
Nymex September West Texas Intermediate fell $1.65 to $65.58 a barrel, while ICE September Brent retreated $1.24 to $68.64 a barrel.
US inventories data due out later in the session was expected to show a fall of 1.3m barrels in crude stocks last week, according to a poll of analysts by Reuters. Demand from US refineries has been weak. Refinery utilisation was expected to decline 0.1 percentage points to 85.7 per cent after a larger-than-expected drop of 2.1 percentage points in the previous week.
Saudi Arabia’s oil capacity and Copenhagen
Saudi Aramco has reached its target of increasing its oil production capacity to 12m barrels per day, which means it could produce record levels of oil. But it’s not going to, just yet anyway.
The 100,000 b/d expansion of the Nuayyim field and the 250,000 Shaybah expansion are already thought to have been completed, but Aramco’s chief executive Khlalid al Falih told the Saudi Newspaper Al Hayat that the 1.2m b/d expansion of Khurais had also been completed in June.
Saudi Arabia matters not just because it is the world’s biggest oil producer but because it is the key ‘swing producer’ – often contributing more than its share of Opec quota reductions. But how significant might this capacity increase be for the debate over the future of fossil fuels?
Spot News
US and China remain at odds over climate change
Bilateral meeting fails to produce new agreements (FT)
China cuts gasoline and diesel prices on public concern
Beijing cuts prices by at least 3.3% (Bloomberg)
Nigeria needs radical action to end its oil crisis
Aims to regain control of its most important resource (FT)
BP chief expects slow recovery
Little sign of upturn in energy demand (FT)
BP banks on reward for pioneer spirit
Group targets difficult territory in search of new reserves (FT)
Lex: BP’s dividend
Oil company’s challenge: balancing books while prices are low (FT)
Valero warns it may cut production after quarterly loss
Company loses $254m in second quarter (Reuters)
BG profits tumble and debt doubles to £2bn
Warns production to increase less than expected (FT)
Anil Ambani rounds on Indian oil minister
Younger brother accuses petroleum minister of taking sibling’s side (FT)
Exchange rivalry spills into oil trading debate
CFTC mulls how to curb speculators’ influence in energy markets (FT)
Lex: USEC’s meltdown
Shares in US nuclear fuel processor plunge (FT)
Power group tests Indian IPO waters
State-run company seeks to raise up to Rs60bn (FT)
Energy Source is no longer updated but it remains open as an archive.
Insight into the financial, economic and policy aspects of energy and the environment.
