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Global population growth threatens to outstrip fresh water supply

ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Global demand for fresh water is set to outstrip supply as a result of population growth by the middle of this century if current levels of consumption continue, a study said. Fears of water shortages could intensify although this is not the first time in history that demand is poised to outpace supply, Tony Parolari, the study’s lead author, said on Wednesday. “Global water consumption per capita has been declining since 1980 which means efficiency is increasing,” Parolari, a researcher at Duke University, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “But if population growth trends continue, water use will have to decline more substantially.” The world’s population is expected to hit 9.6 billion by 2050 from more than 7 billion now, according to U.N. estimates. Whether humans can adapt to declining water supplies depends on what new technologies for finding water are developed, and whether population […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brent falls towards $53 after U.S. crude stocks rise; weaker dollar limits fall

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Brent crude fell towards $53 a barrel on Wednesday as U.S. crude stocks were forecast to have surged for the tenth straight week to a new record high, fuelling supply concerns of a global oil glut, although a weaker dollar kept a floor under prices. Brent for May delivery LCOc1 fell 50 cents to $53.01 a barrel by 0644 GMT (0244 ET) after ending the previous session 7 cents up at $53.51. U.S. crude for April delivery CLC1 fell 92 cents to $42.54 a barrel, falling more than $1 a barrel in early Asian trade on Wednesday after crude inventories rose by 10.5 million barrels to 450 million in the week to March 13, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday. Analysts had expected a 3.8 million barrel increase. Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 3 million barrels, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Oil Prices Fall to Fresh Six-Year Lows

Dow Jones Newswires By Eric Yep Oil prices fell further in Asian trade Wednesday with U.S. crude posting fresh six-year lows on mounting worries over rising supplies. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at $42.62 a barrel at 0306 GMT, down $0.84 in the Globex electronic session, extending losses from the previous trading session. Brent crude for May delivery on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.21 to $53.30 a barrel, after falling 0.80% on Tuesday. Oil prices have been falling since mid-2014 but the decline had stalled in February, raising expectations that prices had bottomed out. But oil started tumbling again this month on the back of surging U.S. production. U.S. oil prices have now fallen to their lowest since early 2009, erasing February’s gains as surplus crude in storage touches record highs. Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an […]

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Iran and U.S. Differ on Optimism About Nuclear Talks

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Iran and the United States issued contrasting assessments Tuesday on their progress toward an agreement to limit Iran ’s nuclear program as Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz met here with his Iranian counterpart. In comments to the Iranian news media, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that 90 percent of the technical issues had been worked out. Mr. Salehi said he hoped to resolve a remaining “point of difference” in a meeting Tuesday afternoon with Mr. Moniz. A senior American official was far more cautious in comments to reporters Tuesday morning. “We have definitely made progress in terms of identifying technical options for each of the major areas,” said the official, who declined to be identified by name under the protocol for briefing reporters. “There is no way around it: We still have a ways to go,” the official […]

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NYMEX crude sinks to fresh six-year low on glut worries

New York (Platts)–17Mar2015/414 pm EDT/2014 GMT Oil futures were lower across-the-board Tuesday, with front-month NYMEX crude setting a fresh six-year low as persistent concerns over surplus inventories weigh on prices. The April contract’s discount to May decreased 52 cents to $1.73/b. The April contract’s coming expiration Friday could have prompted traders to begin rolling their positions into the May contract, Tradition Energy senior analyst Gene McGillian said. Traders with short positions would need to buy April futures and sell May futures, explaining why the price gap would narrow, he said. "It took some of the contango out of market," McGillian said. ICE May Brent settled 43 cents lower at $54.31/b. In refined products, NYMEX April ULSD ended 47 points softer at $1.6939/gal; April RBOB closed up 15 points at $1.7301/gal. The Federal Open Market Committee began its two-day meeting Tuesday, with market participants looking for any clues regarding possible […]

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U.S. Oil Prices Fall to New Six-Year Low

U.S. oil prices slid to a fresh six-year low Tuesday on expectations that domestic crude stockpiles have risen to a record high. Light, sweet oil for April delivery settled down 42 cents, or 1%, at $43.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since March 11, 2009. Stored supplies of crude oil in the U.S. are at the highest level in about 80 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and production continues to grow. Demand is typically restrained at this time of year as refiners process less crude while performing seasonal maintenance. The EIA is set to release inventory data for the week ended March 13 on Wednesday, and traders expect the report to show another build in crude stocks. Concerns are mounting that oil inventories could reach maximum storage capacity in some locations, which could push down crude prices by limiting the […]

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Natural Gas Rebounds on Cold Start to Spring

Dow Jones Newswires By Timothy Puko Natural gas prices surged to nearly a three-week high after forecasts grew colder, ramping expectations for heating demand coming in the first week of spring. Natural gas for March delivery settled up 13.9 cents, or 5.1%, at $2.855 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It is the highest settlement since Feb. 25 and the largest percentage gains in one day since Jan. 14. A high pressure front from Canada is likely to send an unseasonably cold burst of air into the Great Lakes and Northeast, including some of the country’s biggest heating markets, according to WSI in Andover, Mass. Half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heating fuel, and they may need more of it in the last two weeks of March than previously expected. "Everyone was telling you that the weather is getting warmer, warmer, warmer, […]

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Oil traders hope to win big when Cushing fills, with bet on April-May spread

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil traders are increasing bets on a blowout in crude oil price spreads as U.S. storage capacity dwindles, with unknown speculators taking unusually large positions in calendar-spread options (CSO). In this high-risk derivative play, traders are placing bets on how much prices between two months for U.S. crude oil futures – in this case April and May – are expected to move. In particular, traders are using the vehicle to bet that once Cushing fills, April’s prices will plummet relative to those of May. On Friday, 4,500 put contracts for the April/May spread traded at negative $3.50 a barrel at a premium of 10 cents, data from the CME Group showed on Monday. As a result, open interest in that contract leapt to 4,500 from 200. The trades are valued at nearly half a million dollars. The signs of a blowout may be increasing. On […]

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U.S. Is Awash in Oil, But What About the Rest of the World?

Newly constructed oil-storage tanks in Cushing, Okla., in 2012. Despite a boom in tank construction since 2009, U.S. facilities are running out of room for more crude. AP Is the world awash in crude, or just the U.S.? Record-high crude-oil supplies in the U.S. pushed the benchmark U.S. crude-oil contract, known as West Texas Intermediate, to fresh six-year lows Monday. But Brent crude, the global benchmark, is still about $7 a barrel above its own recent lows. Much of the world’s excess oil has ended up in the U.S., which has the most available on-land storage , weighing on domestic prices. At the same time, Brent prices have been boosted in recent weeks by bad weather, which hampered Iraqi exports, and concerns that violence in Libya could interrupt the country’s oil output. The two contracts are trading about $10 a barrel apart, up from zero in mid-January but down […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudi oil: Peak conspiracy

The oil world’s been full of speculation about the shift of strategy last year by Saudi Arabia which saw it keep the pumps running even as the price fell, turning an initial drop into a plunge. There may be a simpler explanation for Saudi’s willingness to see prices slide than an attack on US shale or a “ political plot ” against regional rival Iran, though: a change in the Saudi view on peak oil. The Saudis have two choices with their oil: sell it now, or sell it later. If they think oil is running out, it is reasonable to think prices will keep rising in future – perhaps rising much faster than the returns they could earn by deploying the money elsewhere, particularly since they invest a lot of their excess foreign exchange in US Treasury bonds paying almost nothing. The logical thing to do is to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple