Better Fill up today

[Diane Amberg]

Ah, that mountain home sounds delightful.
I don't understand why American can't get themselves straightened out.  Did you have any problems with security?  Were they rude or anything?  We've been lucky I guess and have never had a problem.  They wand check Al and wipe down his leg braces for explosives residue and all, but have been very polite about it.

[frawin]

Myrna and I both have to be had patted down, Myrna has a pacemaker, I have one metal knee joint, have had 2 back surgeries and have a Titanium plate 2 12inch steel rods and a bunch of screws in my back. Most of the time the security people are very good. I generally tell them I would prefer to be patted down by a female TSA worker and that starts the mood off good. There were lots of wild turkeys in the mountains and also Bears but we didn't see any Bears.

[frawin]

Crude Advances a Second Day as Rising Equities Signal Recovery


By Grant Smith and Christian Schmollinger

Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil gained for a second day, rising above $72 a barrel as advancing equity indexes boosted confidence that the global economy will rebound and revive fuel demand.

Oil rose in New York as the MSCI World Index of stocks headed for a seventh weekly gain, while a weaker dollar spurred demand for crude as a currency hedge. Oil is nonetheless poised for a weekly decline after the Energy Department two days ago reported an unexpected gain in U.S. crude stockpiles.

"It's only a question of time before the economic situation gets better and demand grows again," said Gerrit Zambo, an oil trader at Bayerische Landesbank in Munich. "I don't think oil is overvalued. Around $70 is a fair price for the time being."

Crude oil for October delivery climbed as much as 58 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $73.07 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $72.93 as of 9:48 a.m. London time. So far this week, futures have fallen 1.4 percent this week.

October Brent crude was up 44 cents at $72.93 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent and Nymex crude prices both gained yesterday.

U.S. gross domestic product shrank at a 1 percent annual rate from April to June, less than the 1.5 percent decline projected by economists in a Bloomberg News survey, a Commerce Department report showed yesterday. Corporate earnings rose by the most in four years, the department said.

Recovering Economies

The total number of people collecting unemployment insurance in the U.S. fell to the lowest level since April, adding to signs that the economy is emerging from recession. In Europe, the economies of Germany and France returned to growth last quarter, government reports showed earlier this month.

The MSCI World Index of 23 developed countries gained 0.6 percent at 8:10 a.m. in London, bringing its weekly advance to 1.1 percent. The euro rose to $1.4352 as of 7:30 a.m. in London from $1.4341 in New York yesterday.

U.S. crude inventories rose 128,000 barrels last week to 343.8 million, the Energy Department said Aug. 26. Supplies were forecast to drop by 1.15 million barrels, according to the median of 14 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey.

U.S. total daily fuel use averaged 19.2 million barrels in the past four weeks, down 0.9 percent from a year earlier, the Energy Department said.

Crude oil reached a 10-month intraday high of $75 a barrel on Aug. 25 and has fallen 3.3 percent since then.

"The market found very good resistance at $75 and it will be very difficult to get past that level at the moment," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives sales manager at Newedge brokerage in Tokyo. "There are a lot inventories at the moment that no one can use. There is still a lot of oversupply."

OPEC Shipments

OPEC will reduce shipments by 0.6 percent in the month to Sept. 12, according to consultant Oil Movements, as the group prepares to discuss the impact of record production cuts announced last year.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will export 22.53 million barrels a day by sea in the four-week period, down from an average of 22.67 million barrels a day in the month to Aug. 15, Oil Movements said in a report e-mailed yesterday.

OPEC members, due to meet on Sept. 9, have implemented about 72 percent of a promised 4.2 million barrel-a-day supply cut they agreed on last year, according to Bloomberg data.

Crude oil futures may fall next week on speculation that demand will be slow to rebound and the dollar will strengthen, a survey of analysts showed.

Twenty-three of 39 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, or 59 percent, said futures will decline through Sept. 4. Six respondents, or 15 percent, forecast that the market will rise, and 10 said prices will be little changed. Last week, 55 percent of analysts said oil would drop.


Last Updated: August 28, 2009 04:50 EDT

[frawin]

Oil Falls Below $72 as Chinese Stocks Slump, Dollar Strengthens



By Ayesha Daya and Yee Kai Pin

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell for the first time in three days in New York as the dollar strengthened and equities in China plunged on concern a slowdown in lending growth may derail a recovery in the world's second-largest oil consumer.

China's benchmark index fell 6.7 percent, the most since June 2008, after the Beijing-based Caijing magazine reported mainland banks' new lending this month may be almost half that of July. The dollar gained against the pound and the euro.

"As the unusually strong reaction of the Chinese economy to that government's stimulus earlier this year has driven commodities up, the fall in equities there today may be lending weakness to the oil markets," said Ronald Smith, chief strategist with Alfa Bank. "Oil market weakness also coincides with a stronger dollar versus the euro and the pound."

Crude oil for October delivery fell as much as $1.65, or 2.3 percent, to $71.09 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $71.23 at 10:40 a.m. in London. Oil is down 0.8 percent in August, poised for the second consecutive drop in seven months.

China's Shanghai Composite Index, which has dropped 23 percent from its 15-month high on Aug. 4, reversed a rally that boosted the index up 103 percent from a November low on prospects the government's 4 trillion-yuan ($586 billion) stimulus program and a record amount of new loans will ensure the economy grows at least 8 percent this year.

Stronger Dollar

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.9 percent, led by China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., which fell 3.9 percent on concern the government will keep fuel prices unchanged to support the economy as crude climbs, squeezing margins.

The pound declined 0.4 percent against the dollar to $1.6219, the lowest since July 12, while the euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.429 against the U.S. currency.

Oil also fell amid signs a recovery in Japan, Asia's second-largest oil consumer, may be fading. Japanese manufacturers increased output in July at the slowest pace in four months as the effects of the global stimulus and inventory restocking started to dissipate. Production climbed 1.9 percent from June, when it rose 2.3 percent, the Trade Ministry said.

"A lot of countries used stimulus to help their economies rebound, but those campaigns are almost ended," said Hasegawa at Newedge. "After that, I think consumption all over the world will decrease again and demand for oil will also decrease."

Brent crude for October fell as much as $1.79, or 2.5 percent, to $71 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange and traded at $71.15 at 10:39 a.m. local time.


Last Updated: August 31, 2009 05:42 EDT

[frawin]

October Crude settled at $69.96 down $2.78 on the day, the back months are  in the $72.00 t0 $73.00 range. October Natural Gas settled at $2.977, down $0.056 on the day, Jan,Feb,March gas is in the $5.19 range.

[frawin]

Crude Oil Rises Above $70 as China's Manufacturing Quickens



By Grant Smith

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose above $70 a barrel after a report showed that Chinese manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in more than a year.

Oil rebounded from the biggest decline in two weeks yesterday after China's Purchasing Manager's Index for July rose at the fastest rate in 16 months. U.S. crude inventories probably declined last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before a government report tomorrow.

"The market's been saved by the Chinese PMI data after yesterday's collapse," said Robert Montefusco, a broker at Sucden Financial in London. "Demand is there and will offer support for the time being, but until we see recovery in the rest of the world the markets will stay fragile."

Crude oil for October delivery rose as much as 68 cents, or 1 percent, to $70.64 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $70.35 at 10:54 a.m. in London.

Yesterday, crude declined 3.8 percent to $69.96 a barrel, the biggest drop since Aug. 14. Prices have increased 58 percent this year.

Algeria will call upon OPEC members to comply more strictly with oil production quotas as global stockpiles climb, Oil Minister Chakib Khelil told El Watan. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, due to meet in Vienna on Sept. 9, has faltered in implementing record supply cuts announced last year.

Crude inventories are above the normal level of 61 days' worth of demand, which may drag prices down, the Algiers-based newspaper said, citing Khelil.

'Picking Up'

The U.S. Institute for Supply Management may report at 10 a.m. New York time its manufacturing index climbed to 50.5 in August, according to a Bloomberg News survey median. Readings above 50 signal expansion.

Orders placed at factories likely jumped 2.2 percent in July, the most in two years, economists said before a U.S. Commerce Department report due tomorrow.

"The European Union and the U.S. are past the worst point and their economies are picking up," said Daniel Liu, an energy strategist at brokers MF Global Ltd. in Singapore. "So the export economy of China will be reviving to supply these markets and that's good for oil demand."

An Energy Department report tomorrow will probably show U.S. crude oil stockpiles declined last week, another Bloomberg survey showed. Supplies likely dropped 500,000 barrels from 343.8 million the prior week, according to the median of responses from eight analysts.

Gasoline inventories probably fell 1.05 million barrels, a sixth weekly drawdown. Stockpiles of distillate fuel, including heating oil and diesel, probably increased 675,000 barrels, according to the survey. Inventories are near their highest since 1983.

South Korea, Asia's third-largest oil buyer, imported more crude in August for the first in four months as drivers used more gasoline amid signs of an economic recovery.

Imports rose 2.4 percent to 72 million barrels last month from 70.2 million barrels a year earlier, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in an e-mailed statement.

Brent crude oil for October settlement rose as much as 79 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $70.44 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It traded at $70.29 at 10:56 a.m. London time. Yesterday, the contract declined 4.3 percent to end the session at $69.65.


Last Updated: September 1, 2009 06:21 EDT

[frawin]

I thought this article was very interesting and worth posting. This type of project is encouraging, the World needs to be working on every possible source of renewable energy for the future.


Mitsubishi, IHI to Join $21 Bln Space Solar Project (Update1)



By Shigeru Sato and Yuji Okada

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and IHI Corp. will join a 2 trillion yen ($21 billion) Japanese project intending to build a giant solar-power generator in space within three decades and beam electricity to earth.

A research group representing 16 companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., will spend four years developing technology to send electricity without cables in the form of microwaves, according to a statement on the trade ministry's Web site today.

"It sounds like a science-fiction cartoon, but solar power generation in space may be a significant alternative energy source in the century ahead as fossil fuel disappears," said Kensuke Kanekiyo, managing director of the Institute of Energy Economics, a government research body.

Japan is developing the technology for the 1-gigawatt solar station, fitted with four square kilometers of solar panels, and hopes to have it running in three decades, according to a 15- page background document prepared by the trade ministry in August. Being in space it will generate power from the sun regardless of weather conditions, unlike earth-based solar generators, according to the document. One gigawatt is enough to supply about 294,000 average Tokyo homes.

Takashi Imai, a spokesman for the Institute of Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer, which represents the 16 companies, confirmed the selection when reached by phone in Tokyo.

Mitsubishi Electric gained 0.1 percent to 693 yen at the morning break in Tokyo trading, while IHI fell 0.5 percent to 189 yen and Mitsubishi Heavy slipped 0.3 percent to 384 yen. The benchmark Topix index rose 0.3 percent.

Far, Far Away

Transporting panels to the solar station 36,000 kilometers above the earth's surface will be prohibitively costly, so Japan has to figure out a way to slash expenses to make the solar station commercially viable, said Hiroshi Yoshida, Chief Executive Officer of Excalibur KK, a Tokyo-based space and defense-policy consulting company.

"These expenses need to be lowered to a hundredth of current estimates," Yoshida said by phone from Tokyo.

The project to generate electricity in space and transmit it to earth may cost at least 2 trillion yen, said Koji Umehara, deputy director of space development and utilization at the science ministry. Launching a single rocket costs about 10 billion yen, he said.

"Humankind will some day need this technology, but it will take a long time before we use it," Yoshida said.

The trade ministry and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which are leading the project, plan to launch a small satellite fitted with solar panels in 2015, and test beaming the electricity from space through the ionosphere, the outermost layer of the earth's atmosphere, according to the trade ministry document. The government hopes to have the solar station fully operational in the 2030s, it said.

In the U.S., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the energy department have spent $80 million over three decades in sporadic efforts to study solar generation in space, according to a 2007 report by the U.S. National Security Space Office.


Last Updated: August 31, 2009 23:19 EDT

[larryJ]

You are right.  That is a very interesting article.  My curiosity gets to me sometimes, however.  I am pretty sure this idea of generating electricity from space is not new.  I think it hasn't been done because the technology wasn't there to make it worthwhile.  Even as mentioned in the article, the costs could be prohibitive.  But, I can understand that as the technology changes and improves, those costs could come down enough to make it happen.  Then again, four square kilometers seems big for electricity for 294,000 homes. 

On a second curiosity note, how come the crude oil stockpile goes up and down?  I guess I think of it as something you just keep adding into and not withdrawing from unless there is a national emergency of sorts.  Is it because there is a certain amount of storage space or does the government take some out to supplement the imports and help regulate the price? 

Thanks again for your posts and especially the one today about solar power from space.

Larryj

[dnalexander]

PG&E makes deal for space solar power
Utility to buy orbit-generated electricity from Solaren in 2016, at no risk.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30198977/

By Alan Boyle
Science editor
msnbc.com
updated 7:41 p.m. PT, Mon., April 13, 2009
   

California's biggest energy utility announced a deal Monday to purchase 200 megawatts of electricity from a startup company that plans to beam the power down to Earth from outer space, beginning in 2016.

San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric said it was seeking approval from state regulators for an agreement to purchase power over a 15-year period from Solaren Corp., an 8-year-old company based in Manhattan Beach, Calif. The agreement was first reported in a posting to Next100, a Weblog produced by PG&E.

Solaren would generate the power using solar panels in Earth orbit and convert it to radio-frequency transmissions that would be beamed down to a receiving station in Fresno, PG&E said. From there, the energy would be converted into electricity and fed into PG&E's power grid.

[frawin]

Larry , the reference to crude inventories in the article does not refer to the SPR "Stategic Petroleum Reserve", it refers to crude oil working inventories, i.e, pipelines tankage, etc and goes up and down daily. Every Wednesday the DOE/EIA reports what the working crude inventories and product supplies are. The working inventories go up and down based on refinerey runs, crude/product imports and product usage.