Taken from the same website as the previous statements on preceding post.
If these are truly the belief of OPEC nations then how much will they manipulate current oil prices if they believe their sales of oil are doomed. Interesting idea. Anyone remember the manipulation of Lysine prices by ADM?
How the fuel cell will affect OPEC:
DWV, 00-07-18: In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph of 25. June the former Saudi Arabian oil minister Ahmed Jamani made some comments about the effect which the trend towards renewable energies, fuel cells, and hydrogen will have on the oil producing countries. Jamani held his office from 1962 to 1986; from 1973 onwards he was the driving force in the OPEC price policy which fundamentally changed the global economy.
While he sees no decrease of the oil price for the near future, he expects that in about five years there will be a sharp drop and some time in the future a crash of it. This will be due to important new discoveries and technical progress in the production on the one hand, but also due to demand decreasing new technologies on the other hand. Among these he mentioned hybrid engines and other methods for lower consumption, but in particular the fuel cell, which he expects to have a dramatic impact. "This is coming before the end of the decade and will cut gasoline consumption by almost 100 %. Imagine a country like the United States, the largest consuming nation, where more than 50 % of their consumption is gasoline. If you eliminate that, what will happen?" Saudi Arabia, he says, "will have serious economic difficulties". "Thirty years from now there will be a huge amount of oil - and no buyers. Thirty years from now, there is no problem with oil. Oil will be left in the ground. The Stone Age came to an end not because we had lack of stones, and the oil age will come to an end not because we have lack of oil."
Various countries whose economy is today dominated by oil export invest considerable funds in renewable energies, and not just since recently. The reason for this was mainly the foreseeable depletion of the ressources. While Saudi Arabia is the country with the greatest reserves, there was under the name "Hysolar" a project with German partners which investigated the use of solar energy and hydrogen. Russia, particularly affected as far as oil is concerned, investigates the introduction of hydrogen or natural gas, respectively, as fuel for aviation in a joint work with German and other European partners (project "Cryoplane"). The developments mentioned by Jamani may accelerate the trend.
Today in England.....
telegraph.co.uk
EMERGENCY powers making it a legal duty for oil companies to maintain supplies will be proposed by the Government today to try to prevent another paralysing protest.
Gordon Brown: no action likely on fuel tax until the next budget in March
The decision was made as ministers attempted to contain a growing Labour backlash against Gordon Brown's high fuel duty policy. In future, oil companies will be under a statutory obligation similar to gas, electricity and water companies to maintain supplies or face financial sanctions. With weekend opinion polls showing that the fuel crisis had dealt a blow to the Government's reputation, pressure was mounting on the Chancellor to freeze or cut duty in the next Budget.
One survey showed the Tories in the lead for the first time in eight years. Legislation will be needed to introduce the legal obligation on oil companies. The Government has yet to decide whether to try to rush it through Parliament before the 60-day deadline set by the protesters runs out. MPs do not return from recess for five weeks.
William Hague infuriated the Government and union leaders yesterday by describing the protesters as "fine upstanding citizens". He accused ministers of exaggerating reports of violence and intimidation. The Tory leader confirms today that he intends to make high taxation, including fuel duties, a central issue at the next election.
Writing in The Telegraph, he says that tax is now "the hottest domestic political issue" and that the Conservatives would go into the election offering "significant cuts in tax". Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, made clear the concern in Labour ranks that public opinion could be further alienated by Mr Brown's refusal to make concessions. He said on GMTV that if the polls were "still as dreadful" in a month's time, "we will have a problem and we will have to address it".
Another senior minister blamed the Chancellor for pushing fuel duty too high and now appearing less sympathetic than Tony Blair to protesters' concerns. He said: "This is a problem made at No 11 not No 10 Downing Street." But Mr Brown was digging his heels in against any early cut in duty to appease the protesters, who have threatened to reimpose their blockades if there are no concessions.
His aides stressed that he would not make long-term decisions on future finances on the basis of short-term volatility in fuel prices. Andrew Smith, the Treasury Chief Secretary, said that Mr Brown would make his first response to the demands for lower duty in his pre-Budget statement, expected in late October or early November.
No action was likely before the Budget in March. He told the BBC that a 5p cut in duty would cost the Treasury £3.5 billion next year and £4.5 billion the year after. Mr Smith said: "We will not be dictated to by blockades and the people of this country would not respect us if we were." The polls giving the public's verdict on the Government's worst week sent shockwaves through Labour.
According to a Mori poll in the News of the World, the Tories have taken a two-point lead over Labour, the first time they have been ahead in any national opinion polls since the Conservative government's Black Wednesday crisis in 1992. An NOP poll in The Sunday Times showed Labour and the Conservatives tied on 37 per cent of the vote.
Although the polls are likely to be seen to reflect immediate discontent with the Government's handling of the dispute, rather than longer-term voting intentions, they will add to the pressure on Mr Brown to reduce tax on fuel before the next election. The Tories saw the poll results as confirmation that their long-running campaign against Mr Brown's "stealth taxes" was beginning to tell with the voters.
The Government will seek to demonstrate that it is giving priority to emergency measures to avert a repetition of last week's blockades by convening a task force in Whitehall today. The force, to be headed by Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, will include the police and oil company officials.
Labour's proposal to bind oil companies legally will be seen as a further attempt to pin much of the blame on them. Ministers believe that in many cases the oil companies effectively colluded with the protesters by not ordering their tanker drivers to go past the pickets. The Government has already acknowledged that it was shocked by the speed at which a few thousand demonstrators could bring the country to a halt.
The new law would mean that in a future dispute oil companies would have to require tanker drivers - many of whom are self-employed and sympathised with the protesters - to maintain deliveries. If the drivers refused, others would have to be brought in. The Government plans to train troops to drive fuel tankers. Although many drive heavy goods vehicles, they do not have the licence required for fuel deliveries.
Today the Conservative shadow cabinet will start a two-day meeting in Aylesbury, Bucks, to plan its tax strategy and capitalise on last week's events. Mr Hague and Michael Portillo, the shadow chancellor, will identify areas for savings on public spending to finance tax cuts. But Mr Portillo has persuaded Mr Hague not to pledge a specific cut in petrol duty, insisting that detailed cuts must be held back until the run-up to the election.
Motorists still faced lengthy queues for petrol yesterday, especially in the South East, although more than half of the main outlets were stocked.
Esso said that more than 850 of its 1,500 stations were open. Nearly 500 of Shell's 1,100 forecourts were selling petrol and BP, Jet and TotalFinalElf said that more than half of theirs were open. |
