May 9 2008

India: Growing panic over diesel supplies

A top BPCL official confirmed a supply shortage in north India.

Demand has been rising as a result of more vehicles running on diesel (almost 50 to70 per cent of mid-sized passenger cars; it was minuscule last year) and many industries using cheaper diesel as fuel rather than naphtha and fuel oil.

India: Coal situation worsens at thermal stations

Nearly a third of the country’s thermal stations are now reported to be facing “critical stocks”, where coal stocks are expected to last less than seven days.

Nigeria: ANALYSIS-Despite price, future of Nigeria oil sector cloudy

Record oil prices should mean boom times for Nigeria's oil industry, but rising militant violence, labour unrest and years of government neglect cast a shadow over its future.

Northern Marianas: 'Change lifestyle to cope with high power rates'

The newly appointed utility chief says many customers may have been shocked by the recent power rate hike, but they will just have to deal with it for now.

“The new rates might come as a shock for the residential customers, but the only solution to it for now is some modification to their lifestyle,” Antonio Muna, executive director of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp., said Wednesday.

Pakistan: Electricity cannot be generated just by orders

AS the country is plunging deep into the power crisis with each passing day Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has directed the Minister for Water and Power to add 2200 MW of electricity in the system this year. It appears to be just a political statement without doing any groundwork to hoodwink the angry masses who have been suffering at least eight hours of power breakdowns daily.

Philippines: DOE Secretary admits shortage of power in Negros, urges investors to invest on new power plants

Reyes, in his presentation admits a 159-MW gap in Negros island by 2010. This year, a 59-MW gap is being experienced in the island with 23 days of brownouts in April this year, the highest since November last year. Negros at present is sharing the 360-MW surplus from Leyte-Samar-Bohol power plants with two other provinces - Cebu and Panay.

Philippines: Governor Zayco seeks power barges for Negros Occidental

In his letter to the President, Zayco stressed the inconvenience and losses among businesses by the intermittent brownouts in the province, which needs “immediate intervention by sending a power barge to Negros Occidental to address the power shortage within the shortest possible time.”

South Africa: No load shedding for the seat of power

While upgrading security remains a perennial favourite, Bryntirion - the vast property in Pretoria that includes the presidential residence Mhlambandlopfu, the presidential guesthouse and homes for cabinet ministers - will soon be free of load shedding and blackouts.

Tanzania: Kerosene prices skyrocket

Skyrocketing kerosene prices, which are now amazingly almost at level with those of petrol and diesel, have placed the country on the verge of a domestic energy crisis, The Guardian can report today.