The Barrel

As expected, the Saudis were unfailingly polite hosts when President Bush visited King Abdullah's horse farm May 16 and asked the Saudis to increase their oil production, and didn't give him what he wanted (more oil to help lower US gasoline prices); or needed (the same).

The Saudis want to be responsive to their customers, US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley told reporters. But they were not prepared to respond to the president's entreaties.

Continue reading: Bush visit to Saudi Arabia goes as expected: hospitality but little additional oil

Posted by Gerry Karey on May 17, 2008
Permalink | Comments (0) | Category: Saudi Arabia

Several speakers at this week's Platts conference in Vienna were questioning whether gasoline and diesel subsidies--primarily in Asia and the Mideast--are distorting the industry's notion of global oil demand.

Leo Drollas, Chief Economist for the Center for Global Energy Studies, argued that oil demand is being artificially lifted by price subsidies, helping to drive prices higher, the implication being that lifting subsidies would raise pump prices to the point at which consumers in those countries will change their driving patterns, pulling demand lower. Drollas said that during the 1985-2006 period, global oil demand grew by 1.6% per year, while economic growth climbed by an average 3.6% a year.

Continue reading: The trouble with subsidies

Posted by Jeff Mower on May 16, 2008
Permalink | Comments (1) | Category: China | Category: Oil fundamentals

The meteoric rise of crude prices past $120/barrel has hogged the limelight, but some parts of the oil complex have seen even more dramatic movements, causing heartache to consumers both large and small.

Take jet fuel for example. While Dated Brent crude has risen by 85% in the last 12 months to sail past $120, jet prices have soared even higher, nearly doubling to current levels of around $165/barrel in Europe.

Continue reading: Survival of the fittest, as air traffic falls, jet prices rise

Posted by Rob Sheridan on May 15, 2008
Permalink | Comments (0) | Category: Prices

It's simply a matter of the US presidential election and United Nations climate change talks being on different timetables, but when the Bush administration officials take their places at the December UN climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland, it will be three weeks after a new president is elected.

Moreover, whoever is elected will support climate change policies whose key elements represent a dramatic reversal of Bush administration policy.

Continue reading: New face in the White House will give a new look to US climate policy

Posted by Gerry Karey on May 14, 2008
Permalink | Comments (0) | Category: Global Warming

Some of the latest statistics from the International Energy Agency give a very clear indication of the current state of the world oil market, but some leave a lot more room for interpretation.

Continue reading: OECD oil demand feels the pinch

Posted by Richard Swann on May 13, 2008
Permalink | Comments (2) | Category: Oil fundamentals