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Gold/Mining/Energy : Big Dog's Boom Boom Room -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (94871)	12/19/2007 9:22:13 AM
From: ChanceIs	Respond to of 206085

>>>ChanceIs, I expect diesel to continue to sell a hefty premium to R.U.G<<< You are no doubt correct. I think part of the price is due to the somewhat new low sulfur diesel. Diesel has been higher, and higher than RUG in the winter for the last 4-5 years. Certainly competition from heating oil and jet fuel. I think we get a lot of gasoline from European refineries. They are heavily into diesel over there. So they keep the wheat and send us the chaff. I also suspect that the retail stores can demand a higher price simply because gasoline is higher due to all of EPA requirements. Its all transportation fuel after all, so if gasoline goes up, they may be able to get away with charging more for diesel. OTOH, there is no shortage of reports about truckers getting squeezed hard on diesel leading to lower margins for them and higher produce prices for the country as a whole.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (94871)	12/19/2007 10:24:34 AM
From: Paul Senior	Respond to of 206085

re: "A surge in China's diesel imports to new records" Fwiw, I like and have CYD for that. "China Yuchai International Limited (NYSE: CYD) the leading manufacturer and distributor of diesel engines in China, announced...it has sold 315,000 diesel engines from January to October in 2007, representing a 33.8 percent increase over the same period of 2006."

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (94871)	12/19/2007 11:19:13 AM
From: ChanceIs	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206085

RE Diesel - Union Pacific Cuts Outlook As Fuel Costs Hurt Profit >>>I have slowly gotten short transportation - more the dropping demand than rising fuel, but both apply. Also a good hedge against the potential for oily equities to pull back on a broad market decline.<<< By ANDREW EDWARDS December 19, 2007 9:43 a.m. Union Pacific Corp. cut its fourth-quarter earnings outlook, saying this fall's record fuel prices and declining December traffic have taken a toll on its bottom line. The Omaha, Neb., railroad company now expects per-share earnings of $1.70 to $1.80, down from its October forecast of $1.90 to $2. The mean per-share earnings estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial was $1.98. Costs for the diesel fuel that powers Union Pacific's trains have jumped 34% to $2.60 a gallon on average, surging from $2.43 in October to over $2.70 this month. Chief Financial Officer Rob Knight noted Wednesday that the company cautioned investors two months ago "that if fuel costs continued to rise, our financial guidance targets would be at risk. Fourth-quarter earnings will clearly be impacted by the combination of steep fuel cost increases and the recovery delay inherent in the surcharge programs." The company uses surcharges on its rates to recover some of the fuel costs, but there is usually a two-month lag in between paying for the fuel and booking the surcharges. The company said severe winter storms have cut carloadings over the past two weeks by 3% compared with a year earlier. The first two months of the fourth quarter had shown a 2% increase. "Given the ongoing economic uncertainty, lingering weather challenges and the year-end holidays, it's difficult to estimate volume growth in these last few weeks of the year," said Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Young.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (94871)	3/24/2008 9:25:21 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206085

China's fuel queues get longer March 24, 2008 edition.cnn.com SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- China's leaders are facing renewed pressure over shortfalls in diesel and gasoline, with lines growing at filling stations in major cities Monday as the gap widens between international crude oil values and centrally controlled fuel prices. The shortages, first reported in southern and inland China, appeared to be spreading to the wealthier coastal areas as filling stations struggled to get shipments from refiners. Four stations contacted Monday in Shanghai said their daily diesel shipments had not yet arrived. "You could try your luck later in the day. Now, we have no diesel available at all," said a staffer at a filling station in the city's eastern Pudong district. "I can't promise you anything, though, for once it comes, it will soon run out," said the station attendant, who would not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Staff at another filling station said they were on duty round the clock, waiting for diesel shipments. Authorities downplayed the shortages and urged drivers to remain calm and not hoard fuel. Shanghai, China's commercial center and a key trade transport hub, has enough diesel to last more than 10 days, the city's Economic Commission said in a statement seen Monday on its Web site. "Prices are set by the government, so consumers should not panic over fears of surging prices or try to stockpile fuel," it said. It appealed to city residents to "show understanding regarding the temporary shortages and to please preserve traffic order around filling stations" -- alluding to troubles with frustrated drivers unable to fill their tanks. Shortages in the second half of last year briefly affected Shanghai and other major cities. But those shortfalls soon disappeared after the government ordered oil companies to ensure supplies, and then raised fuel prices by about 10 percent. Now, with inflation at its highest level in a dozen years, China's economic planners are resisting pressure from refiners for price hikes. The consumer price index saw an 8.7 percent jump in February over a year earlier, prompting Premier Wen Jiabao to vow more stringent controls to help rein in inflation. China supplied its own energy needs for decades from domestic oil fields but became a net importer in the 1990s as its economy boomed. Imports, which now supply nearly half of demand, rose 12.3 percent last year to 1.1 billion barrels. With crude oil prices at over US$100 a barrel, independent refiners have cut back or stopped production. Major state-owned suppliers Sinopec and PetroChina, ordered by the government to ensure supplies to major cities and key sectors such as farming and public transport, were limiting sales to independent gas stations in some regions, state media reports said. The severe diesel shortages last year prompted authorities to order PetroChina's parent company, China National Petroleum Corporation, and Sinopec, the country's biggest refiner, to import thousands of gallons (liters) of diesel and to expand refining capacity. ==== The Chinese government is still setting prices at a level that keeps independent refiners shut down so they import the difference and drive up diesel prices world wide.