August 31 2008

Bolivia: Se normaliza el abastecimiento de gasolina pero el diesel aún escasea

After more than 15 days of suffering a shortage of fuel, yesterday was seen the normalizing of the distribution of gasoline in different suppliers of the city, however diesel is not yet sufficient to supply the demand that has increased by strong agricultural season, or to transport, announcing measures as from Monday if no supply normalizes.

Bolivia: Tensión entre las petroleras y YPFB agrava crisis energética

Meanwhile, the lack of diesel in the capital Cruceños caused long queues of buses, trucks and fleets in hopes of getting fuel.
The national marketing manager, Rodrigo Carrasco, said that while the blockades continue, for the disposal of some civic organizations, it will be difficult for the diesel reaches Santa Cruz. While the commercial manager of YPFB Refining, Ramiro Rocabado, said that despite the increased production at plants in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, the issue involves more investment by oil companies.

Dominican Republic: Daily blackouts last up to 18 hours in the Dominican Republic - World Watch

Daily blackouts lasting as long as 18 hours have put the Dominican Republic on edge. The government claims power output is at 85 percent of capacity but residents don't believe it. Businesses without generators are running into serious problems, and those with generators are suffering because of the high cost of fuel. The main tourist resort areas of Punta Cana and Puerto Plata have been largely unaffected because tourist businesses there have generators or buy electricity from private power companies.

India: Govt announces 90-min power cut for Chennai

Brace yourself for more power cuts. As the state reels under an acute electricity crisis, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) on Saturday announced a punishing increase in the duration of the scheduled daily power cuts from Monday.

Chennai residents will have to bear a 90-minute power cut each day at the very least, while those in the suburbs will have to go without power for two hours in the morning and one in the night. The mofussil areas will not have power for nearly five hours a day. In addition, the TNEB has announced a ban on the use of welding sets during peak hours and appealed to farmers not to run pump sets between 6 and 10 pm. The public and commercial establishments have also been asked to avoid use of decorative and neon lights.

Kyrgyzstan: No electricity lead to stress in Kyrgyz community

It has been several days since rotating blackouts began in Kyrgyzstan, but it was enough to cause citizens a major stress. And this kind of situation with electricity shortage promises to last minimum till April 2009, specialists say. In order to find out ordinary people's opinions on these blackouts, the news agency "24.kg" interviewed Valentina Ivanova, a candidate of psychological science, psychology department associate professor of Russian Slavic University.

Nepal: Dealers Call PM to End Shortage of Cooking Gas

Gas dealers on Saturday called on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to take initiatives to ensure a smooth supply of cooking gas.
Representatives of the Gas Dealers Association of Nepal (GDAN) handed over a memorandum to the PM, asking the latter to facilitate the import of cooking gas as per the demand. The gas dealers also asked the government to defer the privatisation of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
Pointing that the country had been reeling under the shortage of cooking gas for two years, the gas dealers asked the PM to take initiatives to save their business from going ashtray. The delegates said there were 10,000 gas dealers in the country. They said they were finding it difficult to carry on with their business due to a perennial shortage of gas.

Pakistan: No letup during Ramazan, increase in duration expected

Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has no plan to relax loadshedding even during Ramazan and it is likely that the schedule of power outage could further increase from 8 to 10 hours, said Ghayoor Ahmad, a senior Iesco official.

Pakistan: Shahdara ’ s area without power for 19 days

Shahdara Factory Area is without electricity for the last 19 days and residents of the area are considering taking the law into their hands to get the attention of the authorities concerned, The News has learnt.

Two educational institutions namely CDGL Girls Middle School Shahdara and Government Weaving and Finishing Institute, a private weaving factory, and around two dozen residential quarters within the factory premises are without electricity.

UAE: GCC in $217bn power capacity expansion drive

GCC countries are in a serious drive to expand their power capacity and have already earmarked $217 billion (Dh797bn) on power projects to date.

Majority of the new projects are in Saudi Arabia, where power-starved mega projects are expected to go on stream from this year up to 2012, according to data from projects information specialist ProLeads.