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Gold/Mining/Energy : KERM'S KORNER -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (13352)	11/9/1998 9:32:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

IN THE NEWS / America's Cheap Energy Fuels Fears of a Shortage The Salt Lake Tribune WASHINGTON -- A generation after the first oil shock changed the world, America is awash in cheap energy, a fact beginning to worry some experts on energy, national security and the environment. Twenty-five years ago, Arab nations jolted the U.S. economy with an oil embargo to protest pro-Israeli policies. A second shock, in 1979, seemed to confirm America's energy vulnerability. The nation responded by dramatically reducing the amount of petroleum needed to power industrial, household and transportation equipment. Energy consumption by everything from giant manufacturing operations and utilities to home furnaces and washing machines all radically changed. Consequently, U.S. oil consumption has remained flat while the size of the economy -- measured in gross domestic product -- doubled. Nowhere was change greater than in the auto industry. [ General Motors Corp. ] 's plant in Lake Orion, Mich., for example, uses gas from rotting garbage in a nearby dump as a source of power. Highway fuel efficiency is nearly 50 percent better than a generation ago. The international scene has changed as well. The discovery of new oil fields and Middle East instability has loosened the grip Arab nations once had on the world's petroleum supply. And oil-importing nations have banded together to counteract the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries -- OPEC -- in the future. As a result, long lines at gas pumps have given way to instances of sales on premium gasoline. Where once oil supplied nearly a fifth of U.S. electricity needs, it now generates less power than renewable alternatives such as wind, solar and river dams combined. "Worries about another embargo are highly exaggerated," said John Lichtblau, a researcher at the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation in New York. "The situation is so different, it's unlikely you'd have the same disruptions again." Such bold sentiments are a far cry from the stark energy outlook Americans thought they faced in the years that followed the initial oil shock when presidents went on TV to urge people to lower thermostats, and the national Christmas Tree in Washington remained dark, as a reminder. Still, there are signs that trouble many environmentalists and national security experts who warn carefree attitudes about cheap energy could spell problems for the industrialized world in the near future. With gas close to $1 a gallon -- rather than the once-projected price of $2.50 a gallon -- motorists spend more time behind the wheel, raising pollution concerns. "Overconsumption of oil is a grave threat to our environment as well," said Daniel Lashof, a scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council. America's appetite for big trucks instead of small cars is a concern. Sport-utility vehicle sales jumped 15 percent last year alone. Meantime, petroleum imports are expected to rise to 70 percent of the oil Americans consume in 25 years. "U.S. leaders have forgotten the lessons of the oil embargo," said Howard Geller, executive director of the Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in Washington. "Today, imports represent 48 percent of oil consumption, compared to just 34 percent in 1973 -- we're more vulnerable than ever." Former CIA director James Woolsey calls upticks in American oil imports "unacceptable. We're asking for a crisis if we don't do something about it." But cries of alarm about America's dependence on exhaustible foreign oil have been made before. It now is 34 years since the Interior Department said oil wells would run dry, and the United States still produces 10 million barrels a day.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (13352)	11/9/1998 9:49:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

IN THE NEWS / Pump Prices Dip On Continuing Weakness Of Crude Oil Associated Press Pump prices dip on continuing weakness of crude oil CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) -- Low crude oil prices and less demand for gasoline pulled down pump prices, which dropped nearly a penny per gallon, an industry analyst said Sunday. The average price for gasoline, including all grades and taxes, was $1.0859 on Friday, down .86 cents from two weeks earlier, according to the Lundberg Survey of 10,000 stations nationwide. At self-service pumps, regular gasoline was $1.0273 per gallon, mid-grade was $1.1345 and premium was $1.2193. At full-service pumps, regular was $1.4632, mid-grade was $1.5502 and premium was $1.6239. Prices were down in all regions of the country, Trilby Lundberg said. "Crude oil logic prevails. The futures contract price for crude oil is under $14 a barrel right now. And driving has slacked off" compared to the peak summer season, she said. "It's tough in the oil business," Ms. Lundberg said. "The national average price is 171/2 cents under what it was a year ago. Challenges in the oil business are why we are seeing mergers and buyouts." Ms. Lundberg said OPEC members and other oil producers are waiting to see if the winter will be cold enough to increase demands for heating oil, which would bolster crude prices. "But meanwhile the glut continues for both crude oil and gasoline and pump prices are still falling," she said.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (13352)	11/9/1998 10:32:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

IN THE NEWS / Today In The Energy Markets - Nov 9th ENERGY MARKET EVENTS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 LONDON - IEA issues end-October Monthly Oil Report. LONDON - (AMENDED) Technical briefing before two-day Algeria, Libya and Egypt Oil and Gas conference organised by IBC conferences from November 10-11. LYON, France - UNCTAD Partners for Development Summit attended by government ministers, commodity exchange representatives, bankers, investment houses and trading companies. The summit will look at all aspects of global trade and there will be round tables and workshops focused on developing the infrastructures of emerging market countries (To November 12). TAOYUAN, Taiwan - U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson visits to discuss economic and commercial issues at the invitation of business groups, who have asked him to address them. He will also meet Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui. The United States has said the visit does not signal a change in U.S. policy towards Taipei, with which Washington broke off diplomatic relations two decades ago. Richardson will be the most senior member of the Clinton administration to visit Taiwan in nearly two years. CORK, Ireland - World's energy unions meet to discuss how to tackle industry change. Conference billed by organisers the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers's Union (ICEM) as the biggest ever world conference of organised labour in this sector (To November 11). DUBAI - Middle East Power Generation Summit (Second day). BUENOS AIRES - "Expominar" international mining industry seminar (Fourth day). BUENOS AIRES - International conference on climate change (Eighth day).

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (13352)	11/9/1998 11:23:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

NATURAL GAS PRICING & RELATED / North American In Scope N AMERICA SOUTHWEST (WSCC) ENERGY SUMMARY & 1-10 DAY TREND Mon, 9 Nov 1998 09:42 EST Omaha, Neb.- Strategic Weather Services INTERMOUNTAIN ROCKIES (WSCC) (NV, UT, CO) SUMMARY: Strengthening front pushing through Intermountain region produced scattered rain showers and higher elevation snow and snow showers. Heaviest amounts reported in CO where 1/2 to nearly 1 inch of precipitation fell. Highs reached upper 30s to mid 40s over mostof the region, with lows in the upper 20s to mid-30s. FORECAST: High pressure in Great Basin will keep cold temperatures and dry conditions in central Rockies. Highs in the upper 30s to mid-40s, with overnight lows dropping to teens in west and low 20s in eastern half. 1 TO 5 DAY TREND: Temperatures below normal; precipitation near normal. 6 TO 10 DAY TREND: Temperatures near normal; precipitation near to above normal. ARIZONA/NEW MEXICO (WSCC) SUMMARY: Deepening upper-level low produced significant rain in northern AZ, but elsewhere conditions were mostly dry. Highs in 40s in higher elevations of AZ, with 50s and low 60s most prevalent in northern AZ/NM. Highs in southern areas in low to upper 70s. Lows in 30s north and 40s and low 50s south. FORECAST: High pressure will move in over Great Basin. Highs today in 40s and 50s north to mid-60s south. Upper 60s to low 70s southwest AZ. Overnight lows will fall drastically to teens and 20s northern areas to upper 30s southern NM and mid-to upper 40s southern AZ. 1 TO 5 DAY TREND: Temperatures below normal; precipitation below normal. 6 TO 10 DAY TREND: Temperatures above normal; precipitation near to below normal. CALIFORNIA (WSCC) SUMMARY: Highs ranged from upper 50s to low 60s most of the state, with 70s and low 80s south. Colder mid-to upper 40s extreme northern CA. Lows generally in the 40s and 50s except for extreme northern areas where upper 30s and low 40s prevailed. Cold front passing through southern CA produced 1/4 to 1/2 inches of rain. FORECAST: Scattered showers and rain north Tuesday as Pacific front/trough strengthens. Highs today in the 50s and 60s north and central and upper 60s and low 70s south. NYMEX Hub natural gas called a little higher amid cold NEW YORK, Nov 9 - NYMEX Hub natural gas futures were called to open slightly higher Monday as colder-than-normal weather was expected to continue throughout most of the U.S. this week, industry sources said. December over-the-counter trade ranged from $2.555 to $2.57 per mmBtu after settling Friday at $2.553. ''The market is a little nervous. A lot of people can't take gas out of storage until November 15,'' one Midwest trader said, noting the vacillating weather forecasts have contributed to the market's nervousness. Early Henry Hub cash prices were quoted mostly steady at $2.23-2.28. Technically, resistance was seen at $2.58-2.59, and then at $2.62. Support was pegged at $2.49, and then in the mid-$2.30s. Forecasts are calling for mostly colder-than-normal weather this week, with the eastern part of the Southwest expected to be 10-20 degrees below normal today, Weather Services Corp. reported. Preliminary forecasts for late this week and into next week show below- to much-below-normal temperatures across most of the U.S., excluding the Southeast and some coastal areas.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (13352)	11/9/1998 11:30:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

CRUDE OIL PRICING & RELATED / International In Scope 11/08 12:59 Iran, Saudi talk on oil but say no decision TEHRAN, Nov 8 - The oil ministers of OPEC majors Iran and Saudi Arabia discussed sagging oil prices on Sunday but said they reached no decision on what to do. Asked if the two sides discussed ways to help lift the oil market, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told Reuters: "Yes. We discussed the oil markets without any resolution. We talked and we tried to close our opinions together." Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, who was accompanied by a delegation of energy officials, refused to comment on whether he discussed the possibility of further oil production cuts with his Iranian counterpart in their three-hour meeting. The talks took place ahead of a meeting of OPEC ministers to be held on November 25 in Vienna, where attention will be focused on the possibility of prolonging existing production cuts or imposing new ones. It was not clear if Naimi and his delegation would return to Saudi Arabia on Sunday after the meeting in a Tehran hotel. An Iranian official declined to comment on Naimi's plans. Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi returned to Iran on Sunday after discussing weak world oil prices with Saudi leaders including King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah in Riyadh. Kharrazi said during his talks with Abdullah that producers could not remain indifferent to the fall in prices, which have plunged to 10-year lows this year. The crown prince said the kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter, was ready to cooperate with Iran to help shore up prices. Members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers have cut back output twice this year by a total of about 3.1 million barrels per day. Abdullah has previously said other OPEC nations were to blame for continued low prices because they had failed to fully implement agreements on cutting supply from the glutted markets. Iranian Oil Ministry senior adviser Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, who accompanied Kharrazi to Saudi Arabia, said on Sunday that talks in Riyadh had covered an action plan on the oil market. He did not elaborate. "We discussed oil market conditions in Saudi Arabia and the endeavours and efforts which have to be rendered towards the enhancement and improvement of the world oil markets and conditions," he said on the sidelines of a Tehran oil conference. While OPEC members Kuwait and Algeria have called for further output cuts, key producers Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and non-OPEC Mexico have made it clear they do not want to make more reductions. Iran: Saudi oil minister discusses oil prices, market during Tehran visit BBC Monitoring Middle East - Economic Text of report by the Iranian news agency IRNA Tehran, 8th November: Saudi Arabia's minister of petroleum and mineral resources, Ibrahim al-Nu'aymi here Sunday {8th November} conferred with Iran's minister of oil, Bizhan Namdar- Zangeneh. At the meeting the two sides exchanged views on prevailing oil market condition, ways of helping improvement of oil prices and coordination for the upcoming session of the oil ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Nu'aymi arrived here Sunday for a short visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran and he left Tehran immediately after concluding his talks with his Iranian counterpart. 11/09 07:07 FOCUS-Oil struggles higher but IEA sees weak demand LONDON, Nov 9 - Oil prices inched higher on Monday despite warnings that economic slowdown is stunting world petroleum demand even more than previously thought. International marker Brent was five cents up at $12.40 a barrel by 1155 GMT, a third down on last year's $19.30 average and less than a $1 above August's 10-year lows. The latest blow for producers came as the International Energy Agency (IEA) said world oil consumption this year is proving even weaker than expected and cautioned that the chances of any significant recovery next year have receded. The energy watchdog's monthly oil market report sliced its fourth quarter global demand forecast by 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) out of a 74.3 million bpd total. It cut next year's demand estimates by 400,000 bpd. Recent low demand figures for the United States, Mexico, South Korea and China showed how wider economic problems were sapping oil demand, the IEA said. "The extended period of demand weakness is increasingly consistent with weakening underlying consumption in response to the deteriorating economic situation," it said. "The projection for global demand remains sensitive to further downward revision." Sunday's surprise meeting between Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi and Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh in Tehran highlighted producer concern at enfeebled prices. "We discussed the oil markets without any resolution. We talked and we tried to close our opinions together," said Iran's Zanganeh. The talks took place ahead of OPEC's next full ministerial meeting on November 25, which will focus on the possibility of prolonging existing production cuts or imposing new ones. OPEC has clubbed together with non-OPEC producers this year for two rounds of output cuts, pledging to shed a total of 3.1 million bpd. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah, making a second public statement on the oil price crisis in the last two weeks, reiterated his call for compliance with the pledged sacrifices. "Although there is a desire on the part of some nations to avert the negative effects of some present-day non-compliance, the oil market reveals the need for all nations to have a common will -- especially those which agreed to cut their production," Prince Abdullah said on Saturday. OPEC members Kuwait and Algeria have called for further output cuts to salvage prices. But key producers Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and non-OPEC Mexico have made it clear they do not want to make more reductions. PREOPENING N.Y. ENERGY COMMENTS Mon, 9 Nov 1998 09:36 EST - --Crude oil futures are called to open unchanged. --Heating oil and unleaded gas futures are called unchanged. Technically, December crude oil will find support at $13.75, $13.28, $13.00 and $12.56 with resistance seen at $14.24, $14.58, $14.81 and $15.11. December heating oil support is seen at 38.25, 37.50, 37.15 and 36.00 with resistance at 39.75, 40.75, 41.10, 41.85 and 43.30 cents. December unleaded gasoline support is at 41.00, 40.00 and 39.55 with resistance seen at 42.85, 43.55, 44.10, 44.80 and 45.20. In NYMEX ACCESS trading, December crude oil futures traded in a range of $14.12 to $13.85 and was last down 1 cent at $13.86. December heating oil was down 11 points at 38.40 in a range of 38.95 to 38.35. December unleaded gasoline was down 30 points at 41.80 on ACCESS after trading in a range of 41.85 to 41.80 cents overnight. Overseas this morning, December Brent oil futures are unchanged at $12.35 and December gas oil futures are down $2 at $112.75. 11/09 09:24 NYMEX oil open seen 5 cts off as demand seen down NEW YORK, Nov 9 - December crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were called to open five cents lower Monday amid warnings from the International Energy Agency that a spreading economic slowdown was hitting world demand for oil harder than expected. Refined products were expected to open 0.25 cent lower.