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Maduro Bets 6-Day Holiday Will Diffuse Venezuela Protests

s Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is betting that an unexpected six-day holiday starting today will help defuse two weeks of demonstrations that have left 14 people dead. Maduro this week expanded the annual Carnival festivities by decreeing today and tomorrow national holidays, in addition to previously scheduled days off on March 3-4. Antonio Iskandar, an eye doctor in western Caracas who has taken part in protests, said that while Maduro’s strategy may offer the government a respite, it won’t keep people off the streets. “Six days of holidays is a very tempting opportunity for people to see their families,” Iskandar, 25, said in a telephone interview. “This is our best chance and we can’t stop now. We aren’t leaving the streets until Maduro is out.” Maduro has argued that his government is gaining support as daily demonstrations begin to alienate voters. The 51-year-old president heard from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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What’s the context of Venezuela’s street uprising?

Hugo Chavez’ Bolivarian Revolution had leveraged Venezuela’s enormous oil wealth by selling oil cheaply to Caribbean neighbors, and heavily subsidizing consumer goods for the masses at home. But recently, the Venezuelan economy has not been performing. At the time of Chavez’ death last March, it was predicted that the country would have to devalue its currency, cut back on subsidies, and back off from many of the policies that had won the loyalty of lower-income Venezuelans and the disdain of wealthier citizens. Many airline carriers have suspended their flights to Caracas, and others won’t accept payment for tickets in the Venezuelan currency, the bolivar. Nicolas Maduro, a vice president who had gradually taken power during Chavez’ long battle with cancer, was elected in his own right after Chavez died. Now, after less than a year in charge, Maduro is facing rising opposition from his people. In recent weeks the conflict has turned more violent […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China's official PMI seen hitting eight-month low

China’s factory activity likely expanded only slightly in February, a Reuters poll showed, dropping to an eight-month low that would indicate a modest slowdown is continuing. China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) may slip to 50.1, down from January’s 50.5, according to the median forecast of 12 economists in the poll. A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity while one below that level points to a contraction. If February’s reading is below 50.5, it will be the third straight month of decline since November’s 51.4. The last time the index was below 50 was in September 2012, when it was 49.8. A preliminary survey released last week by HSBC and Markit Economics showed that the factory sector activity hit a seven-month low of 48.3, from 49.5 in January. The index for new orders dropped below 50, and employment reached its lowest point since the global […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s official PMI seen hitting eight-month low

China’s factory activity likely expanded only slightly in February, a Reuters poll showed, dropping to an eight-month low that would indicate a modest slowdown is continuing. China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) may slip to 50.1, down from January’s 50.5, according to the median forecast of 12 economists in the poll. A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity while one below that level points to a contraction. If February’s reading is below 50.5, it will be the third straight month of decline since November’s 51.4. The last time the index was below 50 was in September 2012, when it was 49.8. A preliminary survey released last week by HSBC and Markit Economics showed that the factory sector activity hit a seven-month low of 48.3, from 49.5 in January. The index for new orders dropped below 50, and employment reached its lowest point since the global […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Electric Cars Get a Needed Jolt in China

China and global companies are taking new steps to fulfill the country’s ambitions for electric cars, which so far have exceeded Beijing’s grasp. Chinese auto makers BYD Co. and BAIC Motor Co. on Wednesday won approval from Beijing’s municipal government to sell electric cars in the city. Shares of BYD, which is partially backed by Warren Buffett , jumped 9.6% in Hong Kong. BYD’s all-electric e6 crossover has been sold mainly in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, where the company is based. Most of the vehicles operate as taxicabs and buses. Meanwhile, Switzerland’s ABB Ltd. said it would make and market home, wall-mounted, electric-car chargers in China, part of an effort to address a lack of charging stations and other infrastructure necessary if electric cars are to hit China’s roads in serious numbers. Chunyuan Gu, ABB’s China chairman and president, said he believed demand for cars and charging […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US Northeast 2014 oil-fired power generation at 9.9 GWh/day: ISO New England

US Northeast oil-fired electric generation has accounted for about 2.8% of total generation in 2014, up from less than 1% during the same time last year, according to data from regional grid operator ISO New England. ISO New England, which handles electric markets for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, showed generation from oil-fired units has averaged 9.893 GWh/day in 2014 through February 23, according to data released Wednesday. That compares with about 3.022 GWh/day, or 0.94%, during the same 54-day period last year. ISO New England’s oil-fired generation has been particularly high this winter because of several cold snaps and also a winter reliability program initiated by the grid operator that provided a number of incentives for oil use in power generation. The data for oil-fired generation only considers power plants that burn exclusively petroleum products. Dual-fuel units that can […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Chesapeake Energy Swings to Loss

Chesapeake Energy Corp . posted a surprise fourth-quarter net loss on asset-sales and other one-time items that masked the oil and natural-gas producer’s production and revenue growth. The unexpected loss of $116 million, or 24 cents a share, spooked investors, sending its shares down 4.9% to $25.61 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange trading on Wednesday. The company’s one-time items included an impairment charge of $120 million related to the ending of property obligations in Texas, $37 million to end drilling-rig leases and $43 million related to job-cutting and restructuring costs. Excluding asset-sale write-downs and other items, adjusted fourth-quarter earnings rose to 27 cents a share from 26 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting Chesapeake to report a per-share profit of 41 cents excluding items. Revenue increased 28% to $4.54 billion. The company has struggled to reduce its spending while boosting oil and natural-gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Talk About Natural Gas: Cow Belches Top Methane List

There’s a new methane champ, says the Environmental Protection Agency ,  which found in a new draft report on greenhouse gases that cattle passed the natural-gas industry as the biggest source of U.S. methane emissions in 2012. The EPA also revised some of its 2011 findings, again turning to cows as the culprit—specifically, enteric fermentation in cattle—in methane emissions, according to the EPA. The multiple-compartment stomachs in cattle create the methane, resulting in bovine belches. Despite better digestibility in cattle feed over the years, methane emissions from cattle has risen more than 2% since 1990,  said the EPA, because of upward trends in cattle populations. The conclusions are part of the EPA’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Surge in U.S. Natural Gas Prices Deflates Hopes in Asia

The near doubling of U.S. natural gas prices this winter has damped Asian hopes of buying American gas on the cheap when exports begin in a couple of years. Winter storms and bitter cold in recent weeks boosted demand in the U.S. Prices have eased recently , but had surged to more than $6 per million British thermal units this month from around $3.70 per mBtu in late November. Although seasonal, this price surge has confirmed worries by some Asian gas buyers that much-hyped U.S. gas exports, when they begin, won’t be available at prices as low as previously expected. Asian power producers may now be reassessing the share of U.S. gas in their future energy mix, and reconsidering calls for the benchmarking of regional gas prices against the volatile U.S. gas market. "I think a lot of people were thinking that U.S. LNG export volumes were a no-brainer, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Dream of U.S. Oil Independence Slams Against Shale Costs

The path toward U.S. energy independence, made possible by a boom in shale oil, will be much harder than it seems. Just a few of the roadblocks: Independent producers will spend $1.50 drilling this year for every dollar they get back. Shale output drops faster than production from conventional methods. It will take 2,500 new wells a year just to sustain output of 1 million barrels a day in North Dakota’s Bakken shale, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency . Iraq could do the same with 60. Consider Sanchez Energy Corp. (SN) The Houston-based company plans to spend as much as $600 million this year, almost double its estimated 2013 revenue, on the Eagle Ford shale formation in south Texas, which along with North Dakota is one of the hotbeds of a drilling frenzy that’s pushed U.S. crude output to the highest in almost 26 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple