The Panama Canal expansion project is now 85% complete, following the installation Monday of the first lock gate at the waterway’s Pacific entrance, the Panama Canal Authority said. The gate, Continue Reading
PSO fuel imports declined 80 per cent, but ministry claims stocks will be enough. STOCK IMAGE ISLAMABAD: In yet another sign of a lack of coordination within the government, the water and power ministry on Wednesday denied that there was a fuel shortage at power plants, claiming that power generation companies had 10 days’ worth of fuel inventory. A spokesperson for the ministry said that there was little possibility of the power crisis worsening, adding that the ministry was prepared to handle all contingencies. The statement from the water and power ministry appears to be a response to allegations leveled against them by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at his press conference on Monday. Dar had placed the responsibility for the recent petrol shortages squarely on the petroleum ministry and water and power ministry. The statement from the ministry also contradicts the account that Finance Secretary Waqar Masood gave in […]
Politicians are arguing over the cause of the petrol shortages Related Stories Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has pulled out of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Switzerland to tackle nationwide fuel shortages. Petrol stations in most major cities closed temporarily last week, and drivers elsewhere face huge queues. Ministers blame a huge spike in demand for the shortage, but critics say it was caused by government incompetence. Mr Sharif held a crisis meeting earlier and promised to punish those causing the problems. It is the second year running that the prime minister has pulled out of the WEF in Davos. Last year he was forced to cancel the trip because of a Taliban attack. Opposition demonstrations Pakistan has faced intermittent fuel crises for years, and Mr Sharif promised during the 2013 election to resolve the issues. Opposition supporters say government incompetence is the real cause But last […]
BEIJING/SEOUL (Reuters) – Chinese factories were forced to cut prices for the sixth straight month in January to sell their products, while economic growth in South Korea slowed sharply, raising the prospect of more policy easing from major central banks in Asia. The weak manufacturing reading from China added to expectations that Beijing will have to announce fresh stimulus measures soon, and came a day after the European Central Bank took the ultimate leap and launched a huge bond-buying program as it tries to stave off deflation and kick-start growth. China’s manufacturing growth stalled for the second month in a row, the HSBC/Markit Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey showed on Friday, while the sub-index for input prices fell to the lowest since the global financial crisis, reflecting a tumble in oil prices that is spreading disinflationary pressure throughout the globe. Chinese companies again cut output prices, but […]
China bought a record volume of crude from Russia last year while shipments from Saudi Arabia shrank for a second year as the Asian nation took steps to diversify its sources of oil supply. China’s imports from its northern neighbor increased by 36 percent in 2014, the fastest pace ever, to 33.1 million metric tons, according to General Administration of Customs data e-mailed on Jan. 23. That’s about 665,000 barrels a day. Exports from Saudi Arabia, which remains the biggest supplier, totaled 49.67 million tons in 2014 or 997,000 barrels a day, the least since 2010. The kingdom’s share of China’s crude purchases dropped to 16 percent from 19 percent in 2013. China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, is benefiting from a wider choice of suppliers amid a global glut fueled by the highest U.S. production in more than three decades. The country’s 2013 agreement with OAO Rosneft could […]
China’s President Xi Jinping and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. ENLARGE Photo: Itar-Tass/Zuma Press BEIJING—Warming ties between China and Russia are giving a big boost to Chinese imports of Russian oil, to the chagrin of OPEC nations jockeying for a slice of China’s market. Faced with falling prices and lower demand from the U.S., oil-exporting nations are increasingly putting their hopes in China’s still-robust demand for crude. But Saudi Arabia and other big producers like Venezuela have seen such sales drop as Moscow’s isolation from the West over Ukraine prompts it to turn to Beijing. The death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah adds a measure of uncertainty to OPEC’s oil policies, which boosted prices in global oil markets after the news early Friday, though analysts say the kingdom is unlikely to change its strategy and reduce production. That is despite a global glut of crude that is fueling new rivalry […]
ENLARGE BELOW $2: Although the nationwide average for a gallon of regular gasoline remains above $2, it’s fairly well below that level in some parts of the country—such as at this station in Dellwood, Mo., earlier this week. Photo: Getty Images Gas prices appear headed below a nationwide average of $2 a gallon in coming days, extending one of the swiftest declines in decades and delivering a growing windfall to American consumers. The plunge is rippling through the U.S. economy in ways both familiar and unpredictable. Restaurants and bars are seeing their best sales growth in years. Americans are driving more—and buying bigger cars and trucks . Consumer confidence is sitting at an 11-year high , with lower-income households showing the biggest improvement. And some households are using the savings at the pump to get caught up on debts. But the drop in oil prices is also testing the […]
Little is going right for California ’s oil industry. Turns out the state’s shale formation holds less promise than producers expected. Aging conventional wells are drying up. And a rebound in output that cost drillers as much as $3 billion annually to create has been overshadowed by shale oil gushing from wells in North Dakota and Texas . Then, of course, came the collapse in oil prices — a seven-month, 57 percent drop that was exacerbated by OPEC’s refusal to cut output in order to squeeze the U.S. shale drillers. No state is feeling that pressure more than California. Drillers there have idled more rigs — on a proportional basis — than those in any other part of the country. “We spent a lot of money to go out and drill and use new technologies just to stop production from depleting in our mature fields,” Rock Zierman, chief executive […]
Produced water release in North Dakota among the state’s largest. UPI/Shutterstock/Calin Tatu WILLISTON, N.D., Jan. 22 (UPI) — A produced water release from a North Dakota oil site presents no public health risk, a company said, though the 70,000 barrels spilled is among the largest. Summit Midstream confirmed a release from a four-inch pipeline in Williston, N.D., at the heart of the state’s oil boom. The company said Wednesday around 70,000 barrels of produced water were released. Since remediation efforts began, as much as 65,000 barrels of water were pulled from the region’s Blacktail Creek, though most of that was in the form of freshwater. "We will continue to work tirelessly to see that the cleanup is completed and any issues in the surrounding environment are properly addressed, and will provide stakeholders with updates as developments warrant," Chief Operating Officer Rene Casabadan said in a statement emailed to UPI. […]
Low gas prices translates to savings for American consumers to the tune of $125 billion for full-year 2015. hxdbzxy/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (UPI) — If gasoline price forecasts for 2015 are accurate, U.S. consumers should save an aggregate $125 billion in fuel costs, analysis published Thursday finds. Motor club AAA reports a national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at $2.04, only a very modest decline from Wednesday, but $1.24 less per gallon than this date in 2014. An increased rate of U.S. oil production, coupled with a weakened global economy, is pushing crude oil prices to record lows. That means less pain at the pump for U.S. consumers. The Oil Price Information Service said it expects the national average retail price per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline for 2015 will fall somewhere between $2.35 and $2.45 per gallon. If forecasts are accurate, OPIS said the […]
