July 21 2008

Global: IEA warns non-Opec oil could peak in two years

Oil production in non-Opec countries is set to peak within the next two years, leaving the world increasingly dependent on supplies from the cartel of exporting nations, according to one of the world's leading energy experts.

Fatih Birol, chief economist of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said that falling production from key regions such as the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico would leave international oil companies such as Shell and BP increasingly sidelined at the expense of national oil companies, such as Saudi Aramco.

Argentina: No hay perspectiva de solución en el corto plazo

The shortage of fuel and diesel in particular, is a problem that threatens to become part of everyday life. There is no prospect of a solution in the short term, unless the government intervenes subsidizing the importation of fuel needed to supply the growing demand.

Argentina: Casi no hay combustibles en Mendoza por el bloqueo a la destilería de YPF

The former employees of YPF returned to block the entry and exit of trucks in the Lujan refinery, over a claim for payment of a debt by selling shares of oil during the decade of '90's.

The pickets once again prevented the distribution of fuel to stations in the province, which further aggravated the problems of supplying gasoline and diesel that have taken place for months in Mendoza and throughout the country.

Bangladesh: Plan to Shut Power Plants Using More Gas, Producing Less

It is learnt that the country is now facing 250 mmcfd of gas and 1500 MW of power shortage and due to gas shortage the PDB failed to product 500-600 MW of electricity everyday. For the last two months the energy ministry is planning to go for gas rationing for its consumers as Petrobangla failed to supply gas as per demand due to production limitation and transmission constraint, sources added.

Energy experts say, one MMCF (million cubic feet of gas) can produce four MW of electricity.
The prevailing gas crisis has halted the industrial growth of the country. A total of 600 factories in Chittagong has became inoperative due to gas shortage or low pressure.

Canada (Alberta): Left in the dark

Spotty blackouts in some areas of the city today preview what will strike as the province’s aging electricity grid struggles to keep up with soaring power demands, warns the Liberal’s infrastructure critic.

“We’ve had a lot of mini-blackouts and it’s a sign that our transmission system and the supply of our electricity has become unstable, and this goes back to electricity deregulation,” said Edmonton Gold Bar MLA Hugh MacDonald.

China: China's State Grid Says Coal Stockpiles Fall 8%, Worsening Power Shortage

State Grid Corp. of China, the country's biggest power distributor, said thermal-coal stockpiles fell 8 percent over two weeks, potentially worsening a nationwide electricity shortage.

Coal stocks at power plants from which State Grid buys electricity dropped to 31.83 million metric tons as of yesterday from 34.64 million tons two weeks ago, Liu Xinfang, a public relations official at State Grid, said by phone from Beijing.

China: How Coal Shortages in China Will Spark More Foreign Takeovers of U.S. Assets

The recent buyout of Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (ANR) by Cleveland Cliffs Inc. (CLF) could ignite more than $50 billion worth of M&A deals in the U.S. coal industry over the next few years as Mainland China rushes to solve a major energy shortfall.

"In the next 12 months there will be an unprecedented amount of both domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions," Wilbur Ross, chairman of International Coal Group Inc. (ICO), told Bloomberg News. "U.S. reserves are undervalued relative to those in the rest of the world."

Dominican Republic: Blackouts will end today, Dominican energy chief says

The vice president of the Dominican State power companies CDEEE yesterday said as of today the blackouts will discontinue with the entry into the system of around 400 megawatts.

Radhamés Segura attributed the energy crisis that affected the country for more than 15 days to technical failures and financial problems he said have been already corrected

Ecuador: Refinería paralizada hasta agosto

With the cessation of the Fluid Catalytic Cracking unit, which accounts for 18% of the refinery's output, the refinery is no longer producing daily 390 metric tons of LPG. That means that during the down, the country does not have some 6 630 metric tons of the product.

Fiji: Fuel shortage stops water supply in Rotuma

ROTUMA is again plagued with shortage of water because there is no fuel to operate pumps.

Speaking from the island yesterday, Samuela Kafoa said the last ship to visit to the island arrived there two weeks ago but since last week there had been no piped water on the island.

India: Diesel shortage hits Nagpur

In what is being termed as a fallout of rising crude prices, the city is facing an acute shortage of diesel.

Except a handful, all major filling stations within city limits ran out of diesel on Sunday. Customers were being directed to outlets outside city limits, but there is no guarantee one would find diesel there, said pump owners.

India: Power deficit up in June

The growth in demand for power coupled with the lag in capacity addition has led to a worsening power deficit in June, according to the data released by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), an apex power planning and advisory of the central government.

Kenya: Domestic flights hit by fuel shortage

A shortage of aviation fuel that hit the country over the weekend is threatening to paralyse domestic flight operations. Domestic aircraft operators using Jet A-1 fuel who are based at the Wilson airport are the most affected.

Pakistan: Outages, muggy weather test people’s patience

POOR electricity distribution has added to the miseries of the people in humid weather when the Wapda already said that it was unable to meet the power shortage due to limited generation capacity against the demand.

People get very miserable especially at midnight when unscheduled loadshedding takes place. People get further aggravated when no official of the Regional Control Centre (RCC) Islamabad, Power Distribution Centre (PDC) Lahore and Lesco are available to address their miseries.