Jesse,
Re: Ray Duray is another regular that I haven't talked to in a bit. A great guy and also involved in awareness/activism.
Oh golly, I do love those 'attaboys'! ;')
Here's some grist for the mill:
projectcensored.org
***
And here's a typical Bushie bully-boy approach to oil:
news.ft.com
[RGD: The arrogance of the Bushies knows no bounds. These guys are bloody madmen, both literally and figuratively.]
US warns of need for more Opec production
By Javier Blas in London
Published: April 7 2005
Opec oil - The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will need to increase production further to balance the oil market in the second half of the year,the US government said on Thursday.
The warning, from Gay Caruso, head of the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy, is one of the most vocal since George W. Bush was elected president in 2000.
Under US pressure the oil cartel last month increased its official production ceiling, or quota, by 500,000 barrels a day to 27.5m b/d.
Mr Caruso, who is considered the number two in the department, said Opec would need to pump an average of 30.2m b/d this year. Its production last month was 400,000 b/d below that level, at 29.8m b/d.
He also warned that the world's spare output capacity would fall further next year from the current 1m b/d equivalent to 1 per cent of global demand. Traditionally, a cushion of less than 5 per cent is seen as risky.
The US comments come as Gulf oil producers increase their production and cut sharply their official selling prices. This is the clearest signal yet that the 11 members of Opec want oil inventories to build in order to cool the market.
The surge has put production by the 10 members of Opec subject to quota at close to 28m b/d, or about 500,000 above its official production ceiling of 27.5m b/d. Opec-10 pumped 27.7m b/d in February.
Oil industry sources estimate Saudi Arabia last month increased its production by between 100,000 b/d and 200,000 b/d to close to 9.4m b/d, well above its Opec quota but far below its full capacity of 11m b/d.
Other Gulf producers such as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iran also pumped extra barrels, according to traders. Nigeria, too, raised volumes.
“Saudi production is coming strong. They are also sacrificing prices in order to pump more,” said a senior trader in a big US refinery with a long-term contract with Saudi Aramco. “The first indications point to even higher volumes in May,” he added.
The cartel, which controls 40 per cent of global oil production, approved at its meeting in Isfahan last month a rise in its official production target of 500,000 b/d and is now considering a second increase of the same amount. A second increase could bring Opec's real production in line with its officially stated level.
The recent surge in production would amplify the cooling effect sought by the cartel as Saudi Arabia two days ago cut its official selling price by $1-$2 to clients in the US and Europe.
Saudi prices set a guide for Kuwaiti, Iranian and Iraqi prices.
The increased pumping from the Gulf has put US oil imports in the last four weeks at 10.2m b/d, or 330,000 barrels higher than the same time last year. That volume, in turn, has increased US oil inventories to 317m b/d, their highest level since June 2002. |
