Weekly Petroleum Data

[frawin]

Summary of Weekly Petroleum Data for the Week Ending April 4, 2008

U.S. crude oil refinery inputs averaged 14.3 million barrels per day during the
week ending April 4, up 142,000 barrels per day from the previous week's
average. Refineries operated at 83.0 percent of their operable capacity last
week. Gasoline production moved higher compared to the previous week,
averaging nearly 8.9 million barrels per day. Distillate fuel production rose
last week, averaging nearly 4.0 million barrels per day.

U.S. crude oil imports averaged 8.9 million barrels per day last week, down
nearly 1.4 million barrels per day from the previous week. Over the last four
weeks, crude oil imports have averaged nearly 9.4 million barrels per day,
925,000 barrels per day below the same four-week period last year. Total motor
gasoline imports (including both finished gasoline and gasoline blending
components) last week averaged 907,000 barrels per day. Distillate fuel imports
averaged 161,000 barrels per day last week.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve) decreased by 3.2 million barrels from the previous week. At
316.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are in the middle of the
average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories decreased
by 3.4 million barrels last week, and are above the upper limit of the average
range. Both finished gasoline inventories and gasoline blending components
inventories decreased last week. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 3.7
million barrels, and are in the lower half of the average range for this time
of year. Propane/propylene inventories increased by 0.4 million barrels last
week. Total commercial petroleum inventories decreased by 8.6 million barrels
last week, and are in the middle of the average range for this time of year.

Total products supplied over the last four-week period has averaged nearly 20.5
million barrels per day, down by 0.4 percent compared to the similar period last
year. Over the last four weeks, motor gasoline demand has averaged 9.2 million
barrels per day, up by 0.3 percent from the same period last year. Distillate
fuel demand has averaged 4.3 million barrels per day over the last four weeks,
unchanged from the same period last year. Jet fuel demand is 0.4 percent lower
over the last four weeks compared to the same four-week period last year.

The tables that follow display the latest U.S. Petroleum Balance Sheet and the
most recent 4 weeks of Weekly Petroleum Status Report data. 






Table 1.  U.S. Petroleum Balance Sheet, 4 Weeks Ending 04/04/2008
                                                                     Cumulative
                                    Four Week Averages             Daily Averages
Petroleum Supply                          Ending            %          94 Days       %
(Thousand Barrels per Day)           04/04/08  04/04/07    Change     2008    2007    Chg
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crude Oil Supply
Domestic Production (1)                  5,097     5,182      -1.6   5,080   5,176    -1.9
Net Imports (Incl SPR) (2)               9,364    10,283      -8.9   9,781   9,871    -0.9
   Gross Imports (Excl SPR)              9,390    10,315      -9.0   9,802   9,894    -0.9
   SPR Imports                               0         0       --        0       0     --
   Exports                                  26        33     -21.2      21      22    -4.5
SPR Stocks W/D or Added                    -55        -3       --      -38      -1     --
Other Stocks W/D or Added                 -157      -418       --     -283    -217     --
Product Supplied and Losses                  0         0       --        0       0     --
Unaccounted-for Crude Oil (3)               31      -179       --       40     -63     --

Crude Oil Input to Refineries           14,280    14,865      -3.9  14,581  14,766    -1.3

Other Supply
Natural Gas Liquids Prod. (4)            2,459     2,428       1.3   2,408   2,306     4.4
Other Liquids New Supply                    99      -100     199.0     103     -43   339.5
Crude Oil Product Supplied                   0         0       0.0       0       0     0.0
Processing Gain                            948       945       0.3     991     987     0.4
Net Product Imports (5)                  1,921     2,331     -17.6   1,967   2,039    -3.5
   Gross Product Imports (5)             3,194     3,564     -10.4   3,364   3,385    -0.6
   Product Exports (5)                   1,273     1,233       3.2   1,397   1,346     3.8
Prod Stocks W/D or Added (6)(7)            748        65       --      295     709     --

[Tobina+1]

Not sure what all that means... except that I have seen lower gas prices at the pump the last few days.  $3.09 in Andover/Augusta.

[frawin]

They will probably be up tomorrow, Crude Oil touched new highs today at $112.20 and closed at $110.87 for the front month.
Frank

[frawin]

Tobina, I juast wanted to give people an idea of the volume of crude oil and resulting products that Americans are consuming. We are the most wasteful nation on Earth when it comes to energy and the coming energy shocks will be very hard on the US.
Frank

[greatguns]

Augusta this evening was $3.25 unleaded, $3.45 unleaded plus, $3.65 premium.  Kistler's at Leon was $3.25, 3.35, and 3.45 accordingly.  At Caseys in Augusta unleaded was $3.20 and unleaded plus was $3.10.  All makes perfect sense to me.  NOT!!!!!!
  The gas I waste is getting to and from work to pay other bills.  May be the answer is to give up my job and go on welfare so I could sit in the Bar all day.  If only I liked to drink.

[frawin]

Sally, the waste and overconsumption I referred to is the people driving Hummers that get 6-7 MPG, 10 cylinder SUVs and Pickups as a means of travel and everyday transportaion. We have more v-8 engines in America than all of the rest of the world combined. Many countries now have 2 cylinder engines and we are still manufacturing and selling V-8s, v-10s and gas guzzling motorhomes. We have 4.6 percent of the world population and we consume almost 25% of the worlds daily oil production. We are consuming 7.7 Billion barrels of oil annually in this country.
Frank

[greatguns]

Frank, you are so right about that!  But the well to do's are not going to slow down I'm sure.  And the lowly working stiff is going to pay the price.  It is the American way!  They might have to raise the price of gas, but I just can't figure out why yesterday there was a dime difference in the grades of gas and today it is 20 cents.  But, there is alot in this old world I don't understand.

[Tobina+1]

I can't remember the exact number, but last night on the news they were talking about when the price of jet fuel raises $0.01, it costs an airline a few million dollars.  But interestingly, I booked a flight from ICT to DEN yesterday for the cheapest price yet; $190 round-trip.

[flo]

Sally, you are just what this country needs.  Quit your job and save all that fuel consumption and spend your days in the bar and I'm sure you'll only drink budweiser then that money you spend that you get from welfare will stay in this country.  We all like to do what we can, right?  Now all that's left to do is figure out how you can pay those bills.  Oh, yeah, let Steve keep working. 

[momof 2boys]

My son found this article while looking up an article for a school project. 



By Marsha Walton
CNN
     
ANTHONY, Texas (CNN) -- Texas may be best known for "Big Oil." But the oil that could some day make a dent in the country's use of fossil fuels is small. Microscopic, in fact: algae. Literally and figuratively, this is green fuel.


Plant physiologist Glen Kertz believes algae can some day be competitive as a source for biofuel.

1 of 3 "Algae is the ultimate in renewable energy," Glen Kertz, president and CEO of Valcent Products, told CNN while conducting a tour of his algae greenhouse on the outskirts of El Paso.

Kertz, a plant physiologist and entrepreneur, holds about 20 patents. And he is psyched about the potential algae holds, both as an energy source and as a way to deal with global warming.

"We are a giant solar collecting system. We get the bulk of our energy from the sunshine," said Kertz.

Algae are among the fastest growing plants in the world, and about 50 percent of their weight is oil. That lipid oil can be used to make biodiesel for cars, trucks, and airplanes.  Watch how pond scum can be turned into fuel »

Most people know algae as "pond scum." And until recently, most energy research and development projects used ponds to grow it.

But instead of ponds, Valcent uses a closed, vertical system, growing the algae in long rows of moving plastic bags. The patented system is called Vertigro, a joint venture with Canadian alternative energy company Global Green Solutions. The companies have invested about $5 million in the Texas facility.

"A pond has a limited amount of surface area for solar absorption," said Kertz.

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"By going vertical, you can get a lot more surface area to expose cells to the sunlight. It keeps the algae hanging in the sunlight just long enough to pick up the solar energy they need to produce, to go through photosynthesis," he said.

Kertz said he can produce about 100,000 gallons of algae oil a year per acre, compared to about 30 gallons per acre from corn; 50 gallons from soybeans.

Using algae as an alternative fuel is not a new idea. The U.S. Department of Energy studied it for about 18 years, from 1978 to 1996. But according to Al Darzins of the DOE's National Renewable Energy Lab, in 1996 the feds decided that algae oil could never compete economically with fossil fuels.

The price of a barrel of oil in 1996? About 20 bucks!

Government scientists experimented with algae in open ponds in California, Hawaii, and in Roswell, New Mexico.

But that involved a lot of land area, with inherent problems of evaporation and contamination from other plant species and various flying and swimming critters. Darzins said NREL switched from algae research to focus on cellulosic ethanol. That's ethanol made from plants like switchgrass and plant stover -- the leaves and stalks left after a harvest -- but not edible crops such as corn and soybeans.

Valcent research scientist Aga Pinowska said there are about 65,000 known algae species, with perhaps hundreds of thousands more still to be identified.

A big part of the research at the west Texas facility involves determining what type of algae produces what type of fuel. One species may be best suited for jet fuel, while the oil content of another may be more efficient for truck diesel.

In the Vertigro lab, Pinowska studies the care and feeding of algae for just such specifics. She said even small changes in the nutrients that certain algae get can help create a more efficient oil content.

And she said a knowledge of algae's virtues goes way back.

"Even the Aztecs knew it was beneficial; they used it as a high protein food," said Pinowska.

The other common commercial use of algae today is as a health food drink, usually sold as "Spirulina."

I'm too sexy for my pond

And who knew that single celled plants could be such "hotties" when it comes to sex? Kertz said it's a real "algae orgy" under the microscope.

Some algae reproduce sexually, some asexually, while many combine both modes. In some green algae the type of reproduction may be altered if there are changes in environmental conditions, such as lack of moisture or nutrients.

Intriguing details like that keep Kertz and other scientists searching for more and different algae. While dusty west Texas may not be the best hunting grounds, he said he is always on the lookout for samples in puddles, streams or ponds.

Locating algae processing plants intelligently can add to their efficiency. Locating algae facilities next to carbon producing power plants, or manufacturing plants, for instance, the plants could sequester the C02 they create and use those emissions to help grow the algae, which need the C02 for photosynthesis.

And after more than a decade hiatus, the U.S. government is back in the algae game. The 2007 Energy Security and Independence Act includes language promoting the use of algae for biofuels. From the Pentagon to Minnesota to New Zealand, both governments and private companies are exploring the use of algae to produce fuel.


But Al Darzins of the National Renewable Energy Lab said the world is still probably 5 to 10 years away from any substantial use of biofuels.

"There's not any one system that anyone has chosen yet. Whatever it is has to be dirt, dirt cheap," said Darzins. E-mail to a friend

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Thought it was interesting.