Iran has Defied a UN Call to Freeze Uranium Enrichment

Iran has defied a UN call to freeze uranium enrichment and is stonewalling efforts to determine if it is developing nuclear arms, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Friday in a report that strengthened Western calls for sanctions.

The United States and its allies reacted quickly, with Britain pledging to introduce a resolution next week for the council to issue a mandatory order for Iran to abandon uranium enrichment. Russia and China, however, have sought to avoid a showdown and opposed escalating pressures on Tehran.

Pain at the Ottawa Gas Pumps

As Canadians brace for a summer of pain at the pumps, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made it clear he has NO plans to offer relief from soaring fuel prices.

Mr. Harper told: "I think that the truth of the matter is that higher gas prices - that's going to be something that we're going to have to get used to,".

Aside from a planned reduction of the GST, which will provide only minimal relief from gas prices that have soared above $1 a litre, Mr. Harper is turning a blind eye to the impact higher fuel prices will have on the Canadian economy.

And it's a stance that is curiously different from what Mr. Harper and the Conservatives said in Opposition.

Consider these positions put forth by Mr. Harper prior to his party's election on January 23, 2006:

• May 2004 - Mr. Harper said he wouldn't apply the GST to the portion of gas prices that exceeds 85 cents a litre. A Conservative government would also eliminate the tax-on-tax that drives many motorists crazy, he said. The federal excise tax currently rolled into pre-GST fuel prices would be made GST-exempt.
• August 2005 - Mr. Harper said Ottawa could easily reduce the price of gasoline by two to five cents a litre. He renewed his call for the federal government to stop double-taxing gasoline through the GST. Mr. Harper said Ottawa could also reduce its surtax on gasoline, introduced in the mid-1990s, as a deficit-fighting measure.
• September 2005 - Mr. Harper reminded the government that taxes make up an average of 37 per cent of the price for a litre of gas in Canada. In the U.S., tax accounts for just 18 per cent of the price of gasoline. "Rather than continue to rake in record high revenue from record-high oil prices, will the government simply cut gas taxes for consumers?" Mr. Harper demanded.

Now in power, it appears Mr. Harper's cries from the Opposition benches were nothing more than empty rhetoric.

This reality is especially troubling considering it comes from a party that promised to bring integrity and accountability back to Parliament Hill.

Inflated gas taxes were first introduced in the 1970s as a means to curb consumption. However, despite best intentions, Canadians continue to be among the world's top consumers of gasoline, with sales increasing on average one per cent per year.

According to the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation, the federal government collected $4.25 billion in direct federal gasoline taxes in 2004, an 18 per cent increase over what was collected 10 years earlier. One explanation for the increase is the steady increase in gasoline tax rates. The federal gasoline tax rate increased 567 per cent between 1985 and 1995 - from 1.5 cents per litre to 10 cents per litre.

As a deficit reduction measure in 1995, Ottawa increased the federal gasoline tax from 8.5 to 10 cents per litre. The deficit was vanquished eight years ago, but the tax remains and the federal government's gouging at the pumps continues even with multi-year, multi-billion dollar surpluses. With crude prices and consumption predicted to climb, it is past time the federal government gave motorists a break at the pump. Ottawa should eliminate the 1.5 cent deficit reduction tax.

Another contributor to growing federal gas tax revenue is the seven per cent GST charged on the full pump price, gasoline taxes included. It is a tax paid on other taxes. As pump prices climb, Ottawa rakes in more GST revenues.

With Mr. Harper now in power, taxpayers await the 2006 budget with some measure of hope. The Conservative Party repeatedly said - in opposition - it would stop Ottawa from applying the GST on the federal and provincial levies. In addition it would implement a process to bring down gas taxes by not charging the GST if and when gas prices exceed a certain price point. In the 2004 election, the threshold was set at 85 cents a litre, but last year the Conservatives said it could be lower still. Rather than create unnecessary work for bureaucrats and additional red tape for retailers, the new government should simply cut the federal levy to 8.5 cents and be done with it.

However, it seems Mr. Harper and the Conservatives are just as addicted to gas tax revenues as their Liberal predecessors.

PS:

Update on the Speech from the Throne and the Accountability Act:
On April 3rd, Canada’s New Government presented an agenda for change in its Speech from the Throne; a focused plan with Five Priorities that will bring accountability back to Ottawa, deliver real results to ordinary working people and their families and make Canada stronger.

Irving R. Gerstein, the Chair of Conservative Fund Canada e-mailed you at that time to ask for your help in mobilizing Canadians in support of this agenda and the five priorities of our new Conservative government.

Thanks to thousands of Conservative supporters we are making our voices heard. Canadians support our plan. And they most definitely support our Prime Minister. However, the same cannot be said for the opposition Liberals. They’re picking away at the Federal Accountability Act and threatening to vote against our upcoming budget which will cut the GST and provide choice in child care.

The Liberals do not want Canada’s New Government to succeed because we are cleaning up the mess they left behind. They don’t want Canadians to see a real leader at work. They don’t want Canadians to know that politics can be done differently in Canada.

All the Liberals need to do to defeat our budget – and Government – is convince one of the other opposition parties to support them. This will give the Liberals the numbers they need to block change and turn back the clock.

We cannot let that happen. We’ve come too far to let petty partisanship win the day.

Your past and continued support for our Party is both appreciated and is vital to our success.

Sincerely,

Michael D. Donison
Executive Director
Conservative Party of Canada

Crude-Oil Prices Rise to $71.88 as Iran Found in Defiance of UN

Crude-Oil prices rose 91 cents to settle at $71.88 US a barrel Friday, on oil supply worries after the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran defied the United Nation Security Council by enriching uranium.

Iran has said it seeks the technology only to generate power, but some other countries, including the United States, believe it aims to create weapons.

Iran has also said it does not intend to halt oil exports as a political tactic, but some traders fear it's a possibility if the dispute escalates. That bullishness has been aggravated by tight U.S. gasoline supplies, strong global demand and supply disruptions by separatist rebels in Nigeria, the fifth-largest source of U.S. oil imports.

Prices began rising earlier Friday as the United Nations' deadline approached and Iran's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, offered no hints of conciliation, vowing that "no one" could make his country give up nuclear technology and that the country "won't give a damn" about any UN resolutions concerning its nuclear program.

The UN Security Council is expected to meet next week to start a process that could result in punitive measures against Iran. The possibility of that inciting the Islamic republic to cut their oil exports is what traders are bracing for.

As an oil market participant, it's hard to know. The Iran situation has added about $10 a barrel to crude futures.

An agreement with Iran, as well as an agreement between the Nigerian government and separatists, could push crude prices down back towards the $60-a-barrel mark. But if the tension keeps mounting, they will likely rise above $80 a barrel, surpassing the all-time peak of $75.35 reached briefly last Friday.

Too Many Cars But Too Few Passengers in Ottawa

More Ottawa commuters are driving to work alone but the City of Ottawa plans to stop it.

Ottawa is considering car pool lanes, preferential parking for vehicles with more than one person and ride-sharing programs, along with a proposal to charge a fee to drive downtown.

In the early 1980s, there was an average of 1.5 people in each car during rush hours in Ottawa, according to studies. This steadily declined to an average of fewer than 1.2 people in each car in 2004. Only a quarter of all cars had more than one person in them.

The city needs to bring in measures to stop and reverse this, that's certain.

Ottawa's numbers roughly reflect the overall picture in North America. However, the city's transportation plan aims to bring the average number of people in each car up to 1.3 people by 2021.

A number of things have contributed to the city's one-commuter-one-car phenomenon, including a rise in relative wealth: More households have multiple cars; gas prices, although increasing, are still relatively low; commuting times are acceptable, and parking for an acceptable fee can still be found in Ottawa.

The conditions for this kind of commuting are really quite ideal in Ottawa.

According to the city report, Ottawa gets a "poor" rating for the decreasing number of people in each car and for fewer commuters who cycle to work.

The city was making "good" progress in increasing transit use and walking; road safety for vehicles and increasing public transit available for disabled people.

The report found the city was doing a "fair" job at optimizing the use of the existing road and transit system and trying to spread peak travel hours over the course of the day.

A number of things have to change if Ottawa wants to see more people in each car.

In some U.S. cities, municipal governments run ride-sharing programs where people can sign up and be matched with partners. Owners of large buildings often do the same. Carpool lanes, preferred parking, fees for travelling downtown and other incentives also play a role bumping up ride sharing.

People have to see a benefit to do it. So if the goal is to be achieved, the incentives must be there.

A complicating matter in Ottawa's case is that the main goal of the city's long-range transportation plan is to increase the use of public transit. However, improved public transit systems generally result in less carpooling because commuters take transit instead of partnering up for rides. And increasing incentives for carpooling tend to take commuters away from public transit use.

So it's a balance. We don't want to be competing with public transit, but we also don't want people travelling by themselves in vehicles, and we will be developing policy to encourage ride sharing.

Oil Prices Fall Below $71US a Barrel

Oil prices fell for the fourth straight day on Thursday, dipping below $71 US a barrel after China sought to cool its economic growth by raising a key interest rate and the World Bank tentatively resolved a dispute with Chad, which had threatened to shut off an oil pipeline.

The most serious geopolitical concern out there is the West's diplomatic standoff with Iran, OPEC's second largest oil producer, over its nuclear ambitions.

Oil analyst Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago said the move by China "may slow demand a little bit" but that Beijing's energy consumption would continue to rise at a rapid rate.

In other news that seemed to help cool prices, Chad and the World Bank have reached an agreement resolving a four-month dispute over how the central African country uses its revenues from a World Bank-backed oil program. The World Bank had frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in oil royalties banked in London and aid to Chad, which retaliated by threatening to shut off an oil pipeline carrying more than 100,000 barrels of crude per day.

But there is still plenty of unease on world oil markets about supply disruptions in Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico, and fears of possible supply problems in Iran if its dispute with the West boils over.

The leaders of Russia and Germany urged Iran to fulfill its international nuclear obligations Thursday, a day before a UN Security Council deadline for Iran to stop enriching uranium. But Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said no one could make Tehran give up its nuclear technology, warning that the United States and its European allies will regret their decision if they "violate the rights of the Iranian nation."

If this close-to-stagnation in gasoline consumption becomes a new trend - potentially related to retail prices of close to $3 a gallon - summer shortages would become more unlikely.

President Bush Orders Probe Into Gas Price Cheating

President Bush is trying to calm Americans' outrage over soaring gas prices by ordering an investigation into whether the price of gasoline has been illegally manipulated. During the last few days, Bush asked his Energy and Justice departments to open inquiries into possible cheating in the gasoline markets. Bush planned to announce the action Tuesday during a speech in Washington.

Bush is under pressure to do something about gas prices that have reached nearly $3 a gallon.

Bush has consistently said that gas prices are high because global demand is rising faster than global supply and that the problem cannot be solved overnight.

Bush's actions are part of a four-part plan to address gas prices in the short- and long-term. The steps Bush outlined are:

• Making sure consumers and taxpayers are treated fairly;
• Promoting greater fuel efficiency;
• Boosting gasoline supply at home;
• Aggressive long-term investment in alternative fuels.

OPEC Powerless to Drive Down US$75 Oil

There was nothing OPEC could do to halt surging oil prices that threaten consumer nations' economies and could trigger a collapse in demand disastrous to producer states.

OPEC already pumping as much as refiners can handle.

The market determines the oil price. You know that the reason the price is where it is is not from a shortage of crude oil supply.

Crude Oil raced to an all-time high above US$75 last week as Iran continued to defy world pressure to halt its nuclear programme, a quarter of Nigeria's output lay idle after rebel attacks and Iraq's once considerable oil industry was mired in crisis.
OPEC can't do anything about the upside o the market. They don't have much scope left for managing.

Consumers want greater access to oil and gas in the Middle East, Russia and Africa. Producers want to be sure investing in new fields will pay off. Both sides criticise major oil firms for failing to build new refineries.

Self-Cooling Beer, 30 Degrees Cooler in Three Minutes?

Tempera Technology has figured out how to automagically lower the temperature of beer in a can by 30-degrees Fahrenheit in three minutes, using a combination of vacuum heat pump technology and insulation that’s safe and environmentally friendly. The I. C. Can is about the same size as a 16-ounce beer can, yet its small cooling mechanism still leaves enough room for 12 ounces of brewski. There’s no info yet on how expensive this self-cooling container will be or when we’ll see it on store shelves, but how on earth is this magic done? To hear the company tell it, it’s all done with proprietary engineering:

When activated, the all natural desiccant contained within a vacuum draws the heat from the beverage through the evaporator into an insulated heat-sink container. It is this patented vacuum-power which lowers the temperature so dramatically and quickly, leaving the beverage inside cool and refreshing.

Don't drink and drive!

VIA Passenger Train Operations to Return to Normal Saturday Morning

Track blockage near Belleville, Ontario, removed.

VIA passenger train operations to return to normal Saturday morning.

VIA Rail Canada has been informed by Canadian National that the track blockage in the Marysville area, near Belleville, Ontario, has now been removed and the tracks cleared for rail traffic resumption. As a result, starting Saturday morning, all passenger trains operating between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal are expected to be back on their normal schedule as of Saturday morning.

CN Track Blockage Near Belleville, Ontario

Due to a blockage of Canadian National tracks in the Marysville area, near Belleville, Ontario, most VIA Rail Canada passenger trains operating today on the Montreal-Toronto and Ottawa-Toronto routes were replaced by chartered buses, in both directions. In all, 24 departures and some 3,500 passengers were affected.

These alternative arrangements were put in place for passengers with existing reservations. VIA is not accepting new bookings for travel today or through the weekend on the affected routes, at this time.

Local service between Montreal and Ottawa, in both directions, is not affected.

Should the track still not be passable on Saturday, VIA will continue to offer the alternative chartered bus service for passengers with existing reservations. Those buses will make all regularly scheduled stops at enroute VIA stations. VIA will attempt to respect its scheduled departure and arrival times, but delays are nonetheless expected. No decision has been taken at this time with respect to passenger train operations on Sunday or beyond. A further update will be issued once more information is available.

Oil Prices Jumped Past $75 a Barrel Friday

Crude-oil prices broke through $75 a barrel to hit a new record Friday, rising to a record price on fears of political instability in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Some economists said $100-a-barrel oil is possible, as demand remains strong and the world has almost no excess production capacity.

Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela are major petroleum producers, and interruption of exports from any one of those countries would send oil prices soaring.

The benchmark price of petroleum closed the week at $75.17, up $1.48

Traders also worry that U.S. gasoline supplies may not meet summer demand after seven straight weeks of drops in domestic gasoline stocks, which are now at their lowest level since November.

Ottawa Fools On OPP TV Shows

By July, the Ottawa OPP detachment will have cameras installed in eight of its 12 cruisers, as part of a pilot project that has also been rolled out in the Toronto and Kenora areas.

The Ottawa detachment was chosen as a test site because of a high number of traffic calls. The detachment is responsible for policing the provincial highways that pass through the city, and has 45 constables who work out of an office on Teron Rd. in Kanata near the Queensway.

With the new technology, Ottawa OPP Staff Sgt. Tim Pierce expects his officers will be able to capture evidence that could bolster their cases in court. The video will also help uncover details when citizens lodge complaints about an officer, Pierce said.

Each camera unit is worth $15,000. The camera is mounted beside the rear-view mirror and can capture images in front of the cruiser and in the backseat.

Officers will also wear wireless microphones to record conversations.

All the data is recorded onto a DVD stored in the cruiser's trunk. The information can then be downloaded onto a hard drive at the detachment.

The pilot program, halfway through its three-year course, was sparked after police services came under fire for alleged racial-profiling practices.

Rising Crude Oil Prices Temper Pump Pain

If you have filled up your gas tank in the past week in Ottawa, you know just how much prices have jumped at the pump.

For the third day in a row, crude oil prices have reached a new all time high. They jumped above $72.49 a barrel U.S. Wednesday. International tensions are partly to blame. But even if you ride a bike or take a bus, there's not much you can do to escape the pump pain. Eventually, the rising cost of crude is going to affect everyone.

Get Used to Higher Gas Prices in Ottawa

PM Stephen Harper quashed speculation that his spring budget might offer consumers targeted tax relief from soaring fuel prices, saying only that motorists would get a break on gas costs when the Conservatives trim the GST.

He also warned that Canadians are going to have to learn to live with sticker shock at the gas pump.

"I think that the truth of the matter is that higher gas prices -- that's going to be something that we're going to have to get used to," Mr. Harper told.

April 20 - Ottawa Gas Prices - Bells Corners

Tax Relief From Soaring Gas Prices May Be On The Way

There may be some relief from soaring gasoline prices when Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government unveils its first budget later this month or early May.

The federal cabinet will discuss fuel prices next week. The Conservatives are looking at tax relief

Crude Oil Prices Jumped to a Record High of $72.20

Crude oil prices jumped to a record high of $72.20 on growing tensions between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program.

Light sweet crude May delivery rose 35 cents to $70.74 a barrel.

London Brent climbed 42 cents to reach $71.88.

Petro Canada Gas Station on April 17, 2006

Petro Canada Gas Station on April 17, 2006

Oil Prices Soar Above $71 A Barrel

Oil prices rose sharply Monday, April 17 on concerns about the supply of crude oil in the key US market, and worries that political problems may crimp supplies from Iran and other oil producers.

Prices for London's benchmark Brent crude hit a record $71.40-a-barrel before easing slightly. Prices of US crude for future delivery briefly touched $70 a barrel in Asian trading.

Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and investors worry the dispute might lead Tehran to cut exports at a time when there is little spare capacity among other oil producers.

Crude prices also are getting a boost from unrest in Nigeria, where rebel attacks have forced oil companies to cut exports.

Gas Prices Jump 14 cents Overnight in Ottawa

Gas prices jumped 14 cents overnight and that's causing a stir as drivers now face up to 106.5 cents per litre.

"The prices make me ill because I use my car for business and my expenses are going up, and I pay my own expenses big-time," one driver told on Monday, April 17.

Travellers can expect to pay more for gasoline this summer as oil prices appear to be set to rise and stay high.

The rising costs are a reflection of growing demand in the summer.

While demand goes up in the summertime because we all drive more, demand is substantially less in the wintertime when the days are short and it's cold and we don't want to be out.

And so the industry suffers, on average, low profit margins during the fall-winter months. In the summertime is when they have the opportunity, if you wish, to increase that price.

Gasoline prices have been rising in recent weeks.

GasPricesInOttawa.com reported an average pump price of 103.6 cents per litre today.

In Vancouver, the average was about 109.3, and in Montreal it was about 107.4 cents, while in Calgary it was 96.2 and Toronto it was 102.2.

Motorists in Labrador City are paying 119.2 cents per litre while in Lethbridge, Alta. gas prices averaged only 93.8.

One small break could come in the federal budget if the Conservatives cut the GST by one point. That could save motorists about 30 to 40 cents on every tank of gas.

The Oil Prices and Nuclear Case of Iran

Oil Transportation Map

The main reason for the major increase of the oil prices from less than thirty dollars a barrel to over sixty dollars a barrel during the last couple of years has nothing to do with the nuclear crisis of Iran, the insurgency in Nigeria, the political developments of Nicaragua, the hurricanes in the USA, the decline in construction of the oil refineries due to low incomes, the US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the policies of the OPEC.

The single major reason for the sharp increase of the oil prices is development. The economy of the world has witnessed progress in the last couple of years. US, China and India, Latin America, and others are thirsty for oil due to the rapid development. The great scope of development in the world has changed the balance of the demand and supply for oil. The wave of industrialization in many countries all over the world has created huge demand for oil and this has resulted in the fundamental increase in the oil prices.

However, the elements that were mentioned in the beginning of this piece, including the nuclear case of Iran, are not innocent. They have some effect on the increase of the oil prices. Although they are not the reason for a major part of the increase in oil prices, they keep the market volatile, and keep the tension high.

It seems that the oil market is too sensitive these days. First of all it reacts to almost any political and economic event in any part of the world. Secondly, it always looks at the events in the worst possible way. The countries like Iran have always been in crisis. The OPEC is full of the countries with unstable, undemocratic and even backward and reactionary countries. They have always been full of various important problems and no one cared in the past to increase the prices of oil due to them.

But last year, the news of a small explosion, almost a hundred miles away from the construction site of the Iranian Nuclear Power plant in Bushehr, which is not complete yet and due to the Russian policy it does have any nuclear fuel, gave rise almost one dollar to the oil prices. The sensitive oil market had guessed that perhaps it was the explosion of the Iranian power plant due to the attack of Israel or the USA, or both of them. Later it turned out clear that some construction workers had made the explosion for construction of a road.

At the same time, the oil market does not show much patience for the long-term results of the international events. The oil market, as soon as it gets the news of something, takes the most extreme and negative option. If there is a quarrel between Iran and the West on the nuclear issue, each time that Iran takes a step in the direction that the West doest not like, the oil market starts thinking of the American missiles hitting targets in Iran and Iranians firing missiles to the oil facilities of the Persian Gulf states and even the start of the third world war.

The way that the oil market is reacting to the events of the world these days creates a notion that perhaps the oil market knows something that many people don't see them. Perhaps this is due to the connection of the oil with important persons who have access to important information.

Another important and interesting issue regarding the oil prices is that many experts predicted the oil prices over 60 dollars will devastate the economy of the world and a recession will take over all over the world. It is almost a year that the oil prices have not gone under sixty dollars and it seems that the international economy has not made much complaint.

The reality is that many things can happen in future to make the balance of the supply and demand more disturbed. For example, if the news of the possible sanctions against Iran sends the price a couple of dollars higher, then the real cutting of the Iranian oil from the make will possibly make the prices to go up in the range of 80 to 120 dollars.

The tension of the oil market is rooted in the prospect of terrible incidents that makes the prices get out of control. Under such circumstances, the prices will not know any range. This is a recipe for war of oil. The countries of the world "addicted" to oil and their industries thirsty for oil will engage in a cutthroat competition for access to oil resources.

Iranian

Crude Oil Price Hits $70 a Barrel

Crude oil futures hit $70 a barrel for the first time in seven-and-a-half months Monday, lifted by concerns over declining gasoline stocks in the U.S., supply disruptions in Nigeria and tension over Iran's nuclear program.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose to $70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before slipping slightly to $69.92 a barrel, up 47 cents from Friday's close.

The last time crude futures surpassed $70 a barrel was on Aug. 30 when they reached a record $70.85 a barrel, after Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf coast.

"Gasoline inventories in the U.S. continue to be an issue in the market because last week's inventory report showed a stock decline as we approach the summer driving season," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst at Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

According to a weekly report from the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday, gasoline inventories dropped 3.9 million barrels in the week ending April 7 to 207.9 million barrels - down nearly 2 percent from year-ago levels.

"But perhaps the concern over gasoline's stock drawdown is a little overdone as it's largely a result of the refinery maintenance season," Shum said. "When the refineries come back from maintenance, gasoline supplies may build, and then we could see the market go through a correction."

Heating oil prices rose 1.09 cents to $1.9985 a gallon while gasoline futures jumped 1.28 cents to $2.1198 a gallon - a level not reached since early September.

The market was also driven by the disruption of Nigerian crude supplies by rebels, the possibility of Iranian oil exports being halted due to political tension.

In Nigeria, the world's 12th-largest oil producer, more than half a million barrels of crude a day are being blocked due to militant violence, and rebels have said they will target more supplies.

In Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, no oil exports have been disrupted, but some market participants are worried they might be, depending on the U.N. Security Council's response to the Iran's defiance of council resolutions concerning the country's nuclear program.

Meanwhile, natural gas gained a cent to $7.188 per 1,000 cubic feet on Monday after the U.S. Department of Energy reported that natural gas inventories grew by 19 billion cubic feet in the week ending April 7 to 1.7 trillion cubic feet - less than most analysts had expected.

Forbes

Russian Oligarchs Buy 35 Percent Stake in NY Fuel-Cell Company

Russia has developed an efficient mechanism of interaction between the state and business, head of the Interros Holding Vladimir Potanin said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

According to the Interros head, the company’s attempts to enter in the middle of the 1990s the markets of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan failed. "The experience has shown that one element was missing – a smoothly running mechanism of interaction between the state and business. Mechanisms of the state support and promotion of our international projects were not developed," Potanin pointed out.

The Interros head states that at present these mechanisms have been developed. "On your instructions the presidential and governmental administrations have been very efficiently working on these projects," said Potanin asking Putin not to leave these projects without his attention, because they are "in the middle of the road."

The president noted for his part that he has just "the necessity to talk both with President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov and Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev."

"During these conversations there will be a reason for discussing your problems as well, in any case to express gratitude for the support they are giving you," said the Russian president.

In the course of the conversation with Putin Potanin also pointed out that the group "is going through a new stage of development owing to favourable conditions regarding various raw materials – in which we are specialising - which will make it possible to expand the company activities."

Potanin also told President Putin that the holding has completed transaction on the purchase of a major American hydrogen energy company.

"Yesterday we completed a transaction on the purchase of a major American company engaged in this sphere,” said Potanin stressing that it is the first step towards entering the North American and therefore international market of this industry products by Interros. “It will make it possible to accelerate the introduction in Russia of the existing research and we will bring it closer to the international market," the Interros head pointed out.

Potanin stressed that Interros hopes in two-three years to promote high technology products on the Russian market as well.

Asked by the president if specialists of the Russian Academy of Sciences(RAN) are taking part in the related research Potanin confirmed that all the research is made with their participation. "The Americans have a very high opinion about our research work and they are extremely interested in exchanges," the Interros head noted. "I'm happy to say that cooperation between Russian and American scientific-technical units is equal – it is an absolutely equal cooperation," Potanin stressed.

The president asked about the prospects in this sphere and recalled that it was unclear last year when these projects would pay back. Potanin replied that "The payback is not expected soon also today, because it is s long-term project, but we are getting more and more convinced that it is a right and promising sphere that is beneficial for the Russian economy."

Bye-Bye, OPEC or Hello, Sugar

Do you know from where a growing proportion of your car's fuel comes? Did you say Brazilian sugar cane and gooey Canadian oil sands? Spot on.

And what about energy to heat homes, run factories, and light cities? It increasingly is supplied by those bad boys who run nuclear power plants. They are making a hell of a comeback, if not in politically correct - and security-conscious - America, then in India, China, and Russia.

Thanks to $60-a-barrel oil, new energy paradigms are here. The extraction of ethanol from agricultural crops and oil from oil sands - both deemed overly pricey processes for consumer use just 20 years ago - now make economic sense. Indeed, the goods are already here. Projected over the next few years, their impact blows the mind.

Consider this. Brazil, with a population 186 million, this year will achieve the miracle of energy self-sufficiency. The world's fifth-largest country by population (after Indonesia and before Russia) will do so by producing ethanol from its vast sugar cane plantations. Ethanol is already powering a huge percentage of Brazilian motor pools. Gas stations from Rio to Salvador de Bahia display two sets of pumps: one marked "A," for sugar cane-derived ethanol, and the other labeled "G," for old-fashioned gasoline.

Brazil is exporting the ethanol technology to eager copycats, including China and India, which each have substantial agricultural sectors and quickly growing demands for energy.

Up north, Canada is noisily emerging as the world's uncontested oil giant. Endowed with a natural resource known as oil sands, which is, as it sounds, gooey sand laced with oil, Canada stands to become the richest oil-producing country in history. That sea change is known but its impact has yet to be appreciated.

In the province of Alberta, earthmoving equipment is churning away day and night, scooping up mountains of the country's estimated reserves of 1.7 trillion to 2.5 trillion barrels of oil (yes, that's trillion with a "t") that are trapped in the complex mixture of sand, water, and clay.

Compared to Saudi Arabia's estimated reserves of 500 billion barrels of extractable crude, Canada ranks as the world's oil power. The reason why only a little of this oil wealth was tapped in the last 50 years was again, simply, price. Times have changed. As this column is read, scores of multinational oil companies are pouring money into Canadian oil sands, refining the technology to reduce the costs of transforming it into gasoline.

What does it all mean?

For one thing, oil prices will come down. The cascade will begin as these new sources of oil come onto the markets in increasing quantities.

Just as important, the political influence of today's big oil producers will evaporate. Bye-bye Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, Venezuela, and - most important - bye-bye Saudi Arabia.

That image of camels gliding across the desert with oil rigs shimmering in the distance will be replaced by one of sugar cane fields ablaze in the sun and monster bulldozers shifting sand.

Finally the world will not face an energy crisis as it has been defined classically. What we are looking at is a redefinition of political clout and options. Another triumph of the West over its adversaries thanks to technology, innovation, and greed? Indeed.

Meanwhile, that long-neglected product of innovation, nuclear energy, is making a glorious comeback. Of all countries on earth, a much-maligned but quite charming European state, France, is thumbing its nose at everybody as it sits on a huge grid of nuclear power.

Back in the 1970s, as various Green parties, environmentalists, and leftists progressive governments put the clamp on construction of nuclear plants, France made a strategic decision to build a whole lot of them. Today, the country is self-sufficient and also exports electricity to its neighbors. The setup is called energy independence. Sometimes, big government matters.

As long as the price of oil remains high, these alternatives will become more viable and more popular. Once anchored, these new fuel technologies will keep on giving, regardless of petroleum prices.

TheNewYorkSun

Oil Prices Slid to Hover Above $68 US

Oil prices fall Thursday. Gas prices also fell as traders took profits from a run-up a day earlier. But the drop was small, and analysts say gasoline futures may rebound in coming days because U.S. supplies are relatively tight, and peak summer demand is approaching.

Many analysts are predicting that crude futures will soon surpass their trading record of $70.85 a barrel, reached Aug. 30 after hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

As the summer approaches, not only are refineries still undergoing seasonal maintenance and recovering from last fall's hurricanes, they are also struggling with the prospect of tight ethanol supplies.

D arn Geopolitical Concerns!

Consumers should really be looking a little farther afield and at far more complex issues for the source of their most recent gas pains.

Prices at Ottawa pumps have popped over the $1 a litre mark in the past few days. Motorists better get used to that sight, at least for the better part of the summer.

Analysts are predicting a number of factors will conspire to keep prices in the triple digits as we get into the busy driving season.

One is the price of crude oil, which nosed past $69 US a barrel yesterday, uncomfortably close to the record high of $70.85 last year, when Hurricane Katrina damaged refineries and sent pump prices skyrocketing.

Save On Gas Up to 10¢ a Litre

Now you can save up to 10¢ per litre with Canadian Tire Gas Bars Advantage Master Card in Ontario.

You can visit canadiantire.ca/gasadvantage for more information.

There is only one problem, you must spend $1000 in month for next month saving of 10¢/litre

Brace for High Gas Prices All Summer

The summer driving season stands to be an expensive one for motorists in Canada and the US as gas prices look to remain high.

The average price of gas at Canadian gas pumps jumped to just over 104¢ a litre this week.

With crude prices forecast to remain strong for the remainder of this year, consumers can expect higher pump prices than last year.

But unless there's another serious supply disruption like the one caused by hurricane Katrina last year, prices aren't likely to hit the record 126¢ a litre recorded in the September 6, 2005.

Ottawa Web Site Points Motorists to the Cheapest Fuel

Summer is approaching and gas prices are rising in Ottawa.

The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the Ottawa-Gatineau area reached 97.2¢ a litre today, 9 percent higher than last week.

While higher than a week ago, the region's average gas price is still lower than the national average of 106.5¢.

So how do local motorists find the lowest price when they pull up to the pump?

Usually word of mouth, because everyone is talking about it. But there hasn't been much talk about good prices lately.

A growing number of people in Ottawa are turning to the Internet not only to find the lowest gas prices, but to help their fellow motorists do so too.

At GasPricesInOttawa.com, one of a number of gas price Web sites that have cropped up in recent years, motorists can find and report gas prices throughout the Ottawa region, from Carleton Place to Carp to Aylmer to Gatineau.

The Web site has many of volunteers to log on daily and list the prices they've seen at local stations.

They want to be able to buy from the cheapest station in town. People take their gas prices very seriously.

Users can search prices for regular unleaded gas by price or by Ottawa Google Map, get tips on improving fuel economy and read gas price-related news and stories in our blog from media outlets across the country.

Prices on the site are only as accurate as what users provide. Volunteers do monitor the site to see that postings are logical, and the site has software, which automatically removes prices that are obviously false.

GasPricesInOttawa.com is operated privately, an Ottawa based company that started in 2005 and now runs gas price Web site in Ottawa-Gatineau area in the Canada.

Even though supply concerns have sent oil prices higher in recent weeks, retail gas prices are rising because refineries are switching to the summer blend, which contains additional additives that prevent it from evaporating quickly in hot weather. Those additives bring additional costs.

No matter what is going on at a national or international level, gas does go up this time of year.

Gas Prices Rise on Falling Supplies, Political Turmoil in Nigeria, Iran

Gas Prices rose Wednesday after the US reported a large drop in gasoline inventories, adding to supply worries that are already heightened by political turmoil in Nigeria and Iran, two of the world's biggest oil producers.

Crude-oil futures slipped from near-record highs as lowered refinery use has caused a backup in crude inventories.

Oil Prices Rise Near $68 a Barrel on Iran

Crude oil prices rose Monday as market participants fretted over supply threats posed by Iran's nuclear standoff with the international community and shrinking U.S. gasoline inventories.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose 34 cents to $67.73 US a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange mid-afternoon in Singapore. The contract fell 55 cents to settle at $67.39 a barrel on Friday. May Brent crude on London's ICE electronic exchange rose 41 cents to $67.70 a barrel.

Gasoline futures rose 1.22 cents to $1.9890 a gallon, while heating oil prices rose 0.89 cent to $1.8915 a gallon. Natural gas futures lost 5.5 cents to $6.688 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Oil prices were rising Monday partly in reaction to the possibility of a U.S. military strike on the oil-rich Iran. If the U.S. attacks Iran at some stage, it would impact crude oil prices in the future, so they don't want to sell.

Also pushing prices up were concerns that U.S. refineries would have difficulty meeting peak gasoline demand during the Northern Hemisphere summer.

U.S. refineries don't have enough capacity for gasoline production ahead of the summer driving season.

Expect $3 a Gallon by US Memorial Day With Demand Increasing

Gas prices often begin to spike this time of year. Some experts believe that gas could approach $3 a gallon between Easter and US Memorial Day, the traditional start of the summer driving season.
Prices could tumble 75 cents a gallon to $1 a gallon by Labor Day if no hurricanes hit the Gulf of Mexico and nothing goes wrong in oil-producing nations.

Some price increase this time of year is expected as refiners partially shut down and retool to switch from winter gasoline formulas to summer formulas to meet evaporation standards. But an unusual confluence of events is driving the large difference between last year's price and this year's.

The outlook on Nigerian oil output remains uncertain, and Royal Dutch Shell, the largest foreign oil company operating in that country, has shut down nearly half of its Nigerian production, contributing to higher crude prices and wont resume operations until the country is safe enough for its workers.

Iran, the No. 2 oil producer in OPEC, also remains a potential source of concern. It has been referred to the U.N. Security Council over fears it may want to misuse its nuclear program to make weapons, but the council has been at odds over U.S.-led efforts to increase pressure on Iran.

The implementation of new fuel specifications by the U.S. Department of Energy could mean further volatility, and those specifications could keep prices elevated and inventories tight.

Gas Prices Shot Up Another 17 Cents Per Gallon Over the Past Two Weeks

Gas prices shot up another 17 cents per gallon over the past two weeks. Since Feb. 24, the average price of a gallon of self-serve unleaded has risen 42 cents. Some of the pump price surge comes from higher crude-oil prices, but most is the new fuel specifications resulting from energy-bill provisions and EPA regulations.

Assuming no further crude-oil price jumps or any emergency affecting refining capacity, gasoline supplies should swell and prices should drop soon

The Bush Administration Planning for a possible Major Nuclear Air Attack

One of the military’s initial option plans, as presented to the White House by the Pentagon this winter, calls for the use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, against underground nuclear sites. One target is Iran’s main centrifuge plant, at Natanz, nearly two hundred miles south of Tehran. Natanz, which is no longer under I.A.E.A. safeguards, reportedly has underground floor space to hold fifty thousand centrifuges, and laboratories and workspaces buried approximately seventy-five feet beneath the surface. That number of centrifuges could provide enough enriched uranium for about twenty nuclear warheads a year. (Iran has acknowledged that it initially kept the existence of its enrichment program hidden from I.A.E.A. inspectors, but claims that none of its current activity is barred by the Non-Proliferation Treaty.) The elimination of Natanz would be a major setback for Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but the conventional weapons in the American arsenal could not insure the destruction of facilities under seventy-five feet of earth and rock, especially if they are reinforced with concrete.

Full Story: TheNewYorker

Steady Growth Seen for Ottawa-Gatineau Region in 2007

The bigger growth in Ottawa-Gatineau will take place in 2007, when the huge O-Train project, one of the biggest construction projects ever in this region, ramps up. The $675-million project should be a big economic driver.

Gasoline Price Regulation Earns Bad Reviews

Coming to a theatre near you (if it’s not already playing in your neighbourhood) – the film they said would never be made. The worst story ever told. It is the Bad Idea that Will Not Die: gasoline price regulation.

You can always tell a government in political trouble by the bad policy ideas it embraces. So when Bernard Lord touts a scheme to have bureaucrats fix the price of gas, you know he is desperate.

Superficially, price regulation sounds so … reasonable. Let’s have a "made in New Brunswick" or "made in Nova Scotia" price for our gas. Why should we be in thrall to Arab sheiks and American capitalists when we can just snap our fingers and tell those people exactly what we’re prepared to pay for their oil?

But such calls are not really for "locally made" prices. They are, in reality, calls for "consumer made" prices. In other words, consumers should be able to decide unilaterally what they want to pay for gas, or electricity, or milk, or whatever it is that is to be regulated.

In the real world, though, prices are set by willing buyers and sellers. In the case of gasoline, for example, if consumers use government to seize the power to set prices, but don’t control the resource itself, oil companies simply won’t supply enough. Owners of oil in Saudi Arabia or Texas or Alberta have lots of people who want their product. The thought that tiny New Brunswick or P.E.I. or Nova Scotia could beat up the oil companies and make them accept our local price – or else! – would be hilarious if it weren’t so pathetic.

So regulation cannot lower prices for gasoline. The price to get gasoline into our local markets is set internationally and we have no control over it whatsoever. We either pay the going rate or we don’t get what we need.

That is one of the reasons why there is a broad consensus among those who study these matters that regulation does not, and cannot, lower the price of gasoline. But it sure can raise it. And we’ve got the proof right here in the Maritimes.

Prince Edward Island regulates gasoline prices. Nova Scotia does not. Once you take account of the fact that gasoline is taxed more lightly on the Island, and you compare underlying prices with taxes taken out, several studies have shown that, over time, Nova Scotians pay somewhere between one and one and a half cents less per litre. Spread over billions of litres a year, that’s a lot of money. Premier Lord himself has even recognized that regulation will not save the consumer money.

Yet there must be a reason the canard of gasoline regulation still finds a willing audience among the electorate. After all, what politician would promise regulation if it didn’t hold out the prospect of more votes?

Consumers hate the way gas prices jump all over the place with no apparent rhyme or reason. In fact, the price is constantly reacting to thousands of factors: winter temperatures, refining capacity, transport costs, wars and civil unrest in oil-producing regions, pipeline capacity and more. But these factors are not obvious to the consumer in Moncton or Mahone Bay, who buys the same gas at the same station from the same cashier week after week. The only thing that seems unaccountably different each time is the price.

The simmering anger of these consumers is what makes them an attractive target for politicians wanting to mark cheap points against oil companies.

All they have to do is promise regulation. It sounds decisive and consumer-friendly. And above all, it makes the price appear stable. Retailers have to get permission to raise prices, and bureaucrats always act more slowly than markets. But prices are just as slow to come down as they are to rise. And those long, slow regulated adjustments are precisely what cost consumers more in the long run.

The federal government’s Competition Bureau has studied the behaviour of gasoline markets more than anyone in the country. When Nova Scotia was holding legislative committee hearings on retail price regulation, Richard Taylor of the bureau testified, "Free markets that rely on competitive forces provide the best mechanism for competitive prices."

Politicians who genuinely have the interests of consumers at heart do not, therefore, propose price regulation. However attractive the price stability it creates, that stability comes with a stiff price tag. Politicians on the way up do not succumb to the short-term allure of regulation.

But those whose popularity is flagging always find it a handy stand-by. That’s why it was brought in during the dying days of the last Liberal regime in Newfoundland, and why a committee in Nova Scotia’s minority legislature recommended it (although no party leader endorses it). Premier Lord has consistently dismissed calls for regulation. Until now. I wonder what that means.

HronicleHerald

Ethanol Stocks to Get Revved Up About

A century ago, Henry Ford planned to make ethanol -- a form of alcohol derived from sugar or grains such as corn -- the primary fuel for his Model T.

The Model T that was first produced in 1908 would, in fact, run on either ethanol or gas. But gas was cheaper and became the dominant fuel, then and now. Ford's vision of widespread ethanol use, though, is getting closer to reality.

Starting in May, Americans will be putting a lot more ethanol in their tanks as refiners drop the additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), which is used to make gasoline burn cleaner. The additive may cause cancer, and Congress has declined to offer refiners protection from legal liabilities that may arise from MTBE use. MTBE -- which makes up about 1.5% of the country’s gasoline supply, or around 2 billion gallons -- will be replaced with ethanol.

Long term, there are even bigger forces at work that should spur greater ethanol use. Americans are getting fed up with dependence on oil from the Middle East and high gasoline prices, and they are telling their politicians to do something about it.

MSN

US Gasoline Prices Up Sharply Ahead of Peak Driving Season

U.S. gasoline prices have surged by more than 30 cents over the past month with the beginning of the peak driving season less than two months away, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The paper quoted the AAA auto club as saying that the national average price for regular unleaded gasoline reached 2.58 dollars a gallon on Monday, 31 cents higher than a month ago when the prices averaged at 2.27 dollars a gallon.

The average gasoline price in the Washington metropolitan area hit 2.63 dollars a gallon, compared with 2.27 dollars a month ago and 2.17 dollars a year ago.

However, high gasoline prices have had only a modest impact on the driving habits of American motorists, who have done relatively little to moderate their gasoline consumption.

Some analysts estimated that it take a 20 percent increase in price to trim gas consumption by 1 percent today while a 10 percent increase of gasoline prices in the 1970s would have an identical effect.

People

People Displeased at Pumps

Locals at the pumps Tuesday gave dozens of different reasons for the recent increase in unleaded prices, but one thing was clear: No one was happy about the price spike.

According to statistics from AAA, the average price of unleaded, regular gasoline in Grand Junction was $2.45 per gallon on March 29. A drive around the city found gas prices now floating around $2.54 per gallon.

Mike Blickenstaff, who topped off his motorcycle’s tank at the Diamond Shamrock gas station at 10th Street and North Avenue, said he thought fuel prices were rising because of trouble abroad, specifically in the Middle East.

“Anytime any problem or negative thing happens, people get into a panic and gas ends up spiking,” Blickenstaff said.

Although he declined to call the price increase “gouging,” he said he had been forced to shop around this week looking for deals.

Senja Jacobson, who filled up at the Conoco station at Orchard Avenue and 12th Street, said she thought prices had risen because of the looming holidays.

She said gas stations were probably hoping to cash in on an increase in the number of people traveling to friends’ and family members’ homes.

Rosa Zambrano, who gassed up at the Philips 66 station at 21st Street and North Avenue, said she thought the increase in the fuel prices stemmed mainly from “everything” being more expensive in Grand Junction.

“It’s outrageous!” Zambrano said. “There is no reason why (gas) has to be so expensive.”

She said compared with residents in Denver, Colorado Springs and Montrose, Grand Junction residents were getting ripped off.

But Roy Turner, executive vice president of the Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association, said the increase in fuel prices was actually because of two factors consumers did not know about: Increases in gasoline speculation and the increased use of an increasingly expensive additive, ethanol.

Because lawmakers are looking to use ethanol instead of MTBE, another gasoline additive, Turner said the price of ethanol has risen significantly lately.

That, combined with increased speculation on gasoline prices, Turner said, has spiked gas prices for consumers at the pumps.

He said it was “ill-responsible” for lawmakers to consider mandating the use of ethanol now, especially when there is a shortage, and that could continue to drive up prices at the pumps.

Although he said crude prices, looming holidays, conflict abroad and other factors could impact fuel prices somewhat, right now ethanol and market speculation were driving up prices.

GJSentinel

Gas Prices Likely to Be High This Summer in US

Spring has sprung, but predictions for gasoline prices during the summer driving season are already out. And based on the prices here in Los Angeles, it’s not looking good.

Gas prices are already 37 cents higher on average per gallon than they were a year ago, according to AAA, the not-for-profit automobile lobby and service organization.

On top of that, next month oil companies have to replace the additive MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether) because of groundwater pollution concerns associated with the chemical compound, which was added to gas at low levels to increase its octane rating and help prevent engine knocking.

The most likely replacement will be ethanol, and while the ethanol industry says its ready, the shift could create some shortages and price volatility. A lot of changes in a short time could cause some disruptions the U.S. Energy and Information Administration says. Some traders and gas station owners are very nervous. But in the short term, AAA says we are taking a breather.

“We are just coming off a week when gas prices jumped almost 15 cents in one week,” said Mantill Williams of AAA. “They have leveled off this past week, but it looks like we are going to be headed for possibly another record high. We may break that $3.05 that we hit last summer.”

And that would be without a destructive hurricane.

Where are we now? According to GasPriceWatch.com, which tracks gas prices and heating oil prices throughout the U.S. and Canada, the most expensive gas is, naturally, in Hawaii — more than $3.25 a gallon. The cheapest gas is in Salt Lake City, where it’s $2.05, while the national average at slightly more than $2.50.

GasBuddy.com, which offers local real-time gas price information, has a chart showing where the prices have heated up the most, with hot spots in places like the Navajo Nation, Humboldt County in northern California. The most expensive county I could find was tiny El Dorado County in California, with $3.01 a gallon on average.

But you have supplies falling even before the summer driving season starts, and you also have concerns about Iran and Nigeria on the supply side. Put those factors together, along with the transition to ethanol instead of MTBE, and there’s little wonder that oil is trading near $67 a barrel.

MSNBC

Oil Rises On Gasoline Supply Dip

Oil prices rose Wednesday after a government report revealed a bigger-than-expected increase in crude stockpiles but a bigger-than-expected drop in inventories of gasoline and distillates used for heating oil.

U.S. light sweet crude for May delivery gained 84 cents to $67.07 a barrel after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its report.

Crude oil inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels for the week ended March 31, the government said, versus forecasts for a rise of 1.1 million barrels, according to a survey of analysts conducted by Reuters.

Crude oil inventories remain well above the upper end of the average range for this time of year, and are at the highest level since the week ending April 9, 1999.

"Refinery utilization was lower than everyone expected, which caused (gas and distillate) inventories to drop," Brian Kuzma, energy analyst at RBC told CNNMoney.com.

But Kuzma said he didn't expect the report to "have much impact on the future impact on crude or related products."

Several oil refineries are still not fully operational due to damage from last year's hurricanes, but other refineries are expected to be down for maintenance in April after running full throttle longer than normal to make up for petroleum product output disrupted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

These shutdowns are expected to dip into gasoline inventories as motor fuel demand picks up during the busy driving season.

"With gasoline inventories typically increasing by about 3 million barrels in April, a significant draw this month could represent a dramatic drop compared to average levels," the EIA said in its weekly review of the oil market.

Gasoline inventories fell by 4.4 million barrels last week, and are just above the upper end of the average range. Gasoline inventories were expected to fall by 1.6 million barrels, according to a Reuters survey.

U.S. gasoline stocks have declined for five weeks in a row, shrinking 14.1 million barrels during the period.

Falling gasoline inventories put upward pressure on pump prices, which soared 9 cents over the last week to a national average of $2.59 a gallon, the agency said.

The EIA said if the hurricane-damaged refineries come back online fully this month, then gasoline inventories might not be drawn down as much.

Inventories of distillate fuel used for heating fell 2.6 million barrels last week, but remain well above the upper end of the average range for this time of year. Reuters reported that distillates were expected by analysts to drop by 1.6 million barrels.

CNN

Global Warming is Here. Now, What to Do About It?

Forgive the bad pun, but global warming has become a hot topic in the mass media.

ABC News spent two days focusing on climate change last month. Time ran a cover story headlined, "Be Worried. Be Very Worried." HBO will show a documentary called "Too Hot Not to Handle" on Earth Day. Next month, Paramount plans to release "An Inconvenient Truth," a theatrical film about former vice president Al Gore's crusade to protect the earth from global warming.

These programs strike similar themes. They assert that the scientific debate over global warming is over, and they argue that action must be taken sooner rather than later to protect the Earth from catastrophe.

Global warming is "no longer a controversy," said Terry Moran, an anchor on ABC's "Nightline." "Science tells us it's a fact."

Time writes: "The debate is over. Global Warming is upon us -- with a vengeance,"

"All our lives will be affected and most of those effects will be very unpleasant," says Michael Oppenheimer, a Princeton professor who gets plenty of airtime on HBO.

And, of course, Al Gore declares, "It is now clear that we face a deepening global climate crisis that requires us to act boldly, quickly and wisely."

Some global warming skeptics, of course, will differ. There's an alarmist tone to some of this coverage, particularly HBO's show, which is produced by Hollywood activist Laurie David.

Then again, maybe it's time to sound alarms. The truth is, it's hard, if not impossible, for those of us who are not climate scientists to assess the scientific evidence.

The media shift

What's significant here is the media shift. A growing consensus has emerged in the media around global warming. That's new -- in an effort to provide balance, much media coverage of global warming has until relatively recently given something close to equal time to the shrinking minority of scientists who challenge the majority view that the problem is real, caused by human action and worth worrying about. The new consensus (which threatens to become a drumbeat) will only step up pressure on government and business to act.

Put another way, the political climate and the business climate are changing as fast, if not faster, than the global climate.

States and localities are already acting. They are promoting green buildings, mass transit and the use of alternative fuels. Even on Capitol Hill, there's gathering momentum for legislation to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

"Washington is the last holdout," says James Gustave Speth, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, on HBO.

Business opportunities

Regulation would deliver competitive advantages to the growing number of companies that have decided to take climate change seriously. They include General Electric with its ecomagination initiative, Toyota and Honda with their hybrid cars, Florida Power & Light with its investment in wind power, UPS and FedEx with their purchases of vehicles driven by alternative fuels, and many others.

"This could be the biggest business opportunity of all time -- to move away from a carbon-based economy to a new economy that doesn't hurt the Earth's climate," says Jonathan Foley, director for the Center for Sustainability at the University of Wisconsin.

Big institutional investors are also pushing companies to act. A global coalition of investors, called the Carbon Disclosure Project, has urged companies to report on their exposure to climate change risks. You can read more by clicking here.

And, at the very least, corporate reputations are at stake.

Norm Thompson, a mail order company with outdoorsy roots, wins praise from the media for operating out of a green building, investing in wind power and printing catalogs on paper containing a minimum of 10 percent recycled content. By contrast, Victoria's Secret is bashed by activists and the press for mailing 390 million catalogs a year.

Even some small companies are getting into the act. HBO spotlights Hot Lips Pizza, a chain of four pizza parlors in Portland, Oregon, that purchases locally grown ingredients, uses waste heat from its pizza ovens to heat water and delivers its pizzas in electric cars.

Portland, of course, is not America, and Hot Lips is not Domino's. But when a local pizza joint gets national exposure for trying to curb global warming, you can see which way the wind is blowing.

Crude Futures Fall to Just Above $66 US a Barrel on Profit-Taking

Oil prices dipped Tuesday as traders continued to pocket gains after a recent rally, although analysts said that concerns about petroleum supply out of Iran and Nigeria kept a high floor under prices.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell 38 cents to $66.36 US a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Monday settled 11 cents higher at $66.74 a barrel.

May Brent at London's ICE Futures exchange fell 24 cents to $66.60 a barrel.

Gasoline futures fell 0.82 cent to $1.8550 a gallon, while heating oil prices dipped 0.72 cent to $1.8550 a gallon. Natural gas lost 6.4 cents to $7.180 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Last week, prices made solid gains on supply concerns linked to U.S. gasoline inventories, which have been falling ahead of the U.S. summer driving season, when demand peaks.

"The profit taking is still continuing today," said Ken Hasegawa of brokerage Himarawi CX in Tokyo, who predicted the front-month crude contract would stay within the $66.00-US$66.80 a barrel range.

The uncertain outlook for supplies out of Iran and Nigeria was bolstering oil prices, analysts said.

"With less than 2.0 million barrels of spare production capacity, even with higher than average supply of oil, the margin of error in the world oil market has never been thinner," said Phil Flynn, an Alaron Trading Corp. analyst, in a research note.

"And with worries about possible supply disruptions in Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela and another hurricane season ahead of us, traders are betting that it's likely something is going to go wrong."

The UN Security Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to demand that Iran suspend nuclear enrichment but Iran has remained defiant, saying enrichment is "irreversible." The standoff has ratcheted up tensions over Iran's nuclear program.

Iran said Monday it successfully tested its second new torpedo in as many days, the latest weapon to be unveiled during war games in the Gulf that the military said are aimed at preparing the country's defences against the United States.

Around 27 per cent of Nigeria's output has been knocked out by ethnic rebel attacks in the Niger Delta region. Militants have pledged more attacks to get a bigger cut for southerners of the oil revenues held by the federal government. The country usually produces 2.4 million barrels a day.

OttawaCitizen

Russia Seeks to Rebuild Reputation as Reliable Energy Supplier

Participants at the Global Resource Dialogue seminar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies say Russia's brief cutoff of gas exports to Ukraine in January was a shock to western Europe. The use of gas as a tool used against Ukraine also affected Europe, as the same pipelines are used to bring Russian gas to countries as far west as Germany and France.

Last January, Russia, unhappy with Kiev's shift to a western oriented foreign policy, threatened to quadruple gas prices for Ukraine and triggered supply disruption. Robert Cutler, an energy specialist at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada says Moscow's action called into question its reputation as a reliable supplier. "The current presidential administration did something that no Soviet leadership ever did during the cold war. They cut off gas," he said.

Cutler and other speakers say the Russian leadership miscalculated in assuming that Europe would agree with Russia that Ukraine caused the disruption by refusing to pay western prices for Russian gas. "Even the fact that this [action] was taken against Ukraine was felt by western Europe. It was a little heavy handed for some political leaders in Moscow to try to blame Ukraine for any shortfalls in Europe. That was taken very badly," he said.

Russia is hoping that a proposed gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea from Russia to western Europe, bypassing Ukraine and Belarus, will restore its reputation as a reliable supplier. Western Europe, with declining energy resources, is trying to diversify its imports but that is proving to be difficult. Alternative suppliers are located at greater distances than Russia or have limited supplies for export.

VOANews

Canadian Stocks May Advance With Crude Oil Prices, Takeovers

Canadian stocks may rise, led by energy producers such as Petro-Canada, as oil prices climbed.

The market may also get a boost from the expectation of more takeovers after Vincor International Inc. agreed to be bought by Constellation Brands Inc.

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index on March 31 lost 96.34, or 0.8 percent, to 12,110.61. The gauge, unchanged for the week, gained 7.4 percent in the first quarter, the best January-to-March performance since 2000.

Crude oil for May delivery rose as much as 0.9 percent to $67.23 a barrel in New York amid concern Iran would cut oil exports as a dispute with the U.S. over its nuclear-research escalated. Prices were also propped up by rising demand for gasoline in the U.S.

Petro-Canada, the country's third-biggest oil and gas company, was shown gaining 87 cents to C$56.25, according to bids on the Toronto Stock Exchange. EnCana Corp., Canada's biggest natural-gas producer, may advance 71 cents to C$55.21.

Shares of Vincor were shown jumping C$4.50 to C$36.01, according to bids. Constellation Brands Inc., the world's largest winemaker, agreed to buy Vincor, Canada's biggest, for C$1.27 billion ($1.09 billion) or C$36.50 a share.

U.S. Stock Futures

U.S. stock-index futures climbed amid speculation earnings growth and the pace of takeover activity will help push the equities market higher.

S&P 500 futures expiring in June added 6.50 to 1309.80 at 9:12 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 35 to 11,230 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures rose 9.75 to 1729.75.

Bloomberg

Real Cost of Oil Equates to $10 Gallon Gasoline

"A set of oil supply disruptions similar in scope to those of the 1970 could carry a price tag as high as $8 Trillion - a figure equal to 62.5% of our annual GDP or nearly $27,000 for every man, woman and child living in America," warned Milton Copulos, president of the National Defense Council Foundation and Senior Fellow at the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS).

Copulos, a founding member of the Set America Free Coalition, presented these figures yesterday at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "The Hidden Cost of Oil." In his testimony he released newly updated figures of his 2003 study "America's Achilles Heel: The Hidden Costs of Imported Oil," a comprehensive analysis of the external costs of imported oil. The study computed the externalities of imported oil and divided them into three basic categories: Direct and Indirect economic costs, Oil Supply Disruption Impacts and Military Expenditures in a non-war year.

Adding up the above, the hidden cost of oil imports skyrocketed to $779.5 billion in 2005. That would be equivalent to adding $4.10 to the price of a gallon of gasoline if amortized over the total volume of imports. For Persian Gulf imports, because of the enormous military costs associated with the region, the "hidden cost" was equal to adding $7.41 cents to the price of a gallon of gasoline. When the nominal cost is combined with this figure it yields a "true" cost of $9.53 per gallon.

This year, Copulos said, will present an even higher cost. "Because the price of crude oil is expected to remain in the $60 range this year, expenditures for imports are expected to be at least $320 billion. That amounts to an increase of $70 billion in spending for foreign oil in just one year. That increase would raise the total import premium or "hidden cost" to $825.1 billion, or almost twice the President's $419.3 billion defense budget request for fiscal year 2006. If all costs are amortized over the total volume of imports, that would be equivalent to adding $5.04 to the price of a gallon of gasoline. For Persian Gulf imports, the premium would be $8.35. This would bring the "real" price of a gallon of gasoline refined from Persian Gulf oil to $10.86. At these prices the "real" cost of filling up a family sedan is $217.20, and filling up a large SUV $325.80."

"It is important to understand that even though external costs are not be reflected in the price at the pump, they are very real and we pay for many of them through our income tax," said Anne Korin, chair of the Set America Free Coalition. "Copulos' study is a disturbing reminder that the U.S. economy is bleeding and that hundreds of billions of dollars that could have stayed in the U.S., producing jobs and investment opportunities, are finding their way to the coffers of those who wish us harm."

EVWorld

Crude Rises, But Inventories are High

rude-oil futures climbed Monday as investors remained concerned about energy production before the hurricane and summer driving seasons.
However, prices closed well below the session's high as U.S. crude inventories remained at a lofty level.
The gains reflected a range of factors like "fears from Iranian missile testing over the weekend, to ongoing Nigerian supply constraints, to a Norwegian oil workers strike, to increased investment in oil futures from traders and investors looking to get out of treasuries due to rising inflationary concerns," said Rakesh Shankar, an economist at Moody's Economy.com.
Crude for May delivery closed up 11 cents at $66.74 a barrel. Earlier, it climbed as high as $67.90 for the first time since Feb. 1, when the contract touched $70.10.
Despite the pullback from the session's high, futures prices are trading near the record of $70.85 for a front-month contract, reached Aug. 30. The May contract, however, climbed as high as $70.29 on Sept. 1.
On Friday, the May contract closed out the first quarter with a more than 9% gain, pushed higher by concern about Iran's nuclear program and Nigerian production shutdowns.
Traders "will continue to fret over the approaching hurricane and driving seasons," John Kilduff, an analyst at Fimat USA, wrote in a note to clients.
Still, U.S. inventories of crude oil stood at almost 341 million barrels for the week ended March 24, their highest level since April 1999, the Energy Department reported last week.
Meanwhile, prices for oil-derived products lost ground, which added pressure to the late-session weakness in crude.
Unleaded gasoline weakened on "optimism that refineries will be getting back to normal, and hope that they will be able to make the switch to ethanol from MTBE," said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst at Alaron Trading. MTBE is short for methyl tertiary-butyl ether and because of environmental concerns, the U.S. must completely phase out gasoline with MTBE by May.
Also pressuring product prices was "the daily confusion about the fate of the existing [gasoline] Nymex contracts," Flynn said.
The Nymex plans to terminate the New York Harbor gasoline futures contract at the end of the year. The alternative contract -- New York Harbor reformulated gasoline blend for oxygenate blending was introduced in October of last year. See a related story.
On Monday, May unleaded gasoline futures finished down 2.11 cents at $1.8632 a gallon, and May heating oil shed 0.11 cent to close at $1.8622 a gallon.
Iran, Nigeria feed output risk
"The uncertainty over Iranian supplies remains the key support for the market at the moment after the U.N. Security Council last week gave Iran 30 days to halt enrichment, even though Tehran pledged not to cut off oil supplies," said analysts at research firm Action Economics.
A weekend test by Iran of a new underwater missile during war games in the Persian Gulf, coupled with comments from military commanders that Iran is ready to react to any attack, is "likely to keep geopolitics at the forefront of oil market concerns," said Kevin Norrish, analyst at Barclays Capital.
"Iran not only seems more intransigent with every passing day, but also calls into question the sincerity of its peaceful intent with the display of new weaponry," said Kilduff.
Moreover, Iraq remains a worry. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made a surprise weekend visit to Baghdad in an effort to end a stalemate over the formation of a new government.
Since the country went to the polls in December, Iraq's political parties have struggled to reach agreement. Pressure has grown for acting Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, part of the majority Shia alliance, to step down.
"Iraq is slipping further towards civil war," said Kilduff.
Money flow
At the same time, the futures market's experiencing a sharp increase in money flowing into commodity funds as investors seek asset classes that offer the potential for a higher rate of return.
Data released Friday showed "a significant increase in speculative exposure to the energy and precious metals markets, especially in crude oil, which saw net non-commercial positions move from short to long last week," said Norrish.
Elsewhere, Edmund Daukoru, Nigerian oil minister and current head of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said oil prices around $60 a barrel won't harm world economic growth.
Daukoru made the comments on the sidelines of an oil conference in Nigeria. See full story.
There are also news reports of further clashes between militants and the Nigerian army at Royal Dutch Shell's abandoned oil operations in the country, said Barclays' Norrish.
Natural gas at over one-week high
Natural-gas prices rose, gaining support from strength among its energy peers as well as expectations for higher demand in the wake of nuclear facility shutdowns.
But after touching a more than one-week high, prices managed to close only modestly higher for the session.
The market saw "psychological push" from the shutdown of four nuclear reactors, reported by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Monday, said Tim Evans, a senior analyst at IFR Markets.
"While this will certainly make room for more gas-fired generation, it still isn't clear this will fully compensate for warmer-than-normal temperatures," he said.
Natural gas for May delivery gained 3.4 cents to close at $7.244 per million British thermal units on the heels of an almost 36% drop in futures prices for the first quarter.
"Prices fell off markedly from last weeks highs, so clearly there is a significant amount of spillover from the rest of the complex," said Fimat's Kilduff.
However, "with the weather negative towards natural gas and nothing more than a minor narrowing of the annual supply surplus, there is more than ample justification for a slide in prices," he said.

MarketWatch

Oil Edges Up Back Near $67

Oil prices rose but ended off their highs Monday as investment funds poured fresh cash into commodities and production woes in Nigeria reignited supply concerns.

U.S. light crude for May delivery rose 11 cents at $66.74 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after climbing over $1 to $67.80 a barrel earlier in the session, the highest trading price since Feb. 1.

Commodities prices rose across the board, with copper and zinc hitting record highs and gold at a 25-year high as new institutional money flowed in at the start of the new quarter.

"Another surge of new money is coming into the commodity markets," said Mike Wittner of Calyon.

The loss of 550,000 barrels per day of Nigerian oil in rebel attacks also helped support prices. The reduced output has coincided with growing demand from refiners in the United States, consumer of 40 percent of the world's gasoline.

"The loss of critical Nigerian barrels just as U.S. refiners are returning from maintenance has established a $60 floor (for U.S. crude) and threatens to re-test the all time high of $70.85," analysts at PFC Energy wrote in a note.

Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Edmund Daukoru said the biggest foreign operator Royal Dutch Shell would restart its offshore EA field in days. Shell declined comment.

Reuters reported on Sunday that Shell was reluctant to send its staff back into the violent southern delta region despite more naval patrols there.

Deutsche Bank noted many analysts expected attacks on Nigeria's oil industry to continue in the run-up to the presidential election early next year.

U.S. oil hit a $70.85 record high last September after hurricanes knocked out a big chunk of Gulf of Mexico refining and oil and gas production.

Analysts say another active U.S. hurricane this year could further strain the oil market.
OPEC set to meet

OPEC ministers will meet informally during talks between oil consumers and producers in Qatar starting April 22, OPEC's acting secretary general Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo said in Abuja. OPEC's next full ministerial meeting is in June in Venezuela.

The group, which accounts for over half the world's oil exports, appears powerless to bring prices down. Daukoru, who is also the OPEC president, said he expects OPEC to keep official output at near-maximum levels.

Asked if he expected OPEC to cut its output ceiling, Daukoru said: "Not at this price level. Honestly I don't see it."

That fell in line with comments by Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah. "We are doing all that we can do... to stabilize the oil market," he said Sunday.

PFC Energy analysts agreed. "Unless the Nigerian outages can be fixed, OPEC will be in a bind again," they wrote.

Attiyah said he believed the global economy could absorb $60 a barrel crude, the latest indication that OPEC was unlikely to allow prices to fall back sharply.

The head of Algerian state oil firm Sonatrach said prices were likely to remain high for the time being.

"There is a consensus based on market fundamentals that a sustained price will be maintained in the short term," Sonatrach Chief Executive Mohamed Meziane said in Algiers.

CNN

Gas Prices Up Sharply Ahead of Peak Season

Gasoline prices have surged by 36 cents a gallon in the Washington area over the past month, according to the AAA auto club, with the beginning of the peak driving season less than two months away.

The average price in the metropolitan area reached $2.63 a gallon for regular unleaded gasoline yesterday, up a penny from the day before and a nickel more than the national average. The price is up from $2.27 a gallon a month earlier and $2.17 a year ago.

With political tensions propping up crude oil prices and oil demand running strong in the United States and rising in China, gasoline prices could remain at these levels for the foreseeable future.

High gasoline prices have had only a modest impact on the driving habits of American motorists, who have done relatively little to moderate their gasoline consumption. Ever since oil prices soared last September after Hurricane Katrina, gasoline consumption has been within 1.5 percent of the previous year -- some months lower, some months higher, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Gasoline deliveries in January, barely lower than a year earlier, ran 13.3 percent higher than January 1999, when crude oil prices were a fraction of current levels.

"People are wealthier, they've been enticed into buying homes further from work, and the auto industry has been enticing them into buying very inefficient vehicles," said Philip K. Verleger, an oil consultant. He estimates that it takes a 20 percent increase in price to trim consumption by 1 percent today while a 10 percent price increase in the 1970s would have an identical effect.

Nonetheless, angry motorists are already sending e-mails to AAA complaining about the higher prices. One accused local gasoline stations of "price gouging" and claimed prices go up twice a day at some places.

John Felmy, chief economist of the American Petroleum Institute, blamed the increase on higher crude oil prices, shutdowns in U.S. refineries for maintenance deferred since Hurricane Katrina last fall, and federal regulations mandating that oil refiners remove an environmentally harmful additive and substitute more expensive ethanol in its place.

But some consumers remain unconvinced. "These are things that don't explain the hike," said Dawn Van Dyke, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. "It's not enough. It's too much of a hike."

The price increases come as major oil companies are reaping record profits. Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing at which senior executives from some of the largest firms were grilled by lawmakers about whether a spate of mergers among had resulted in price gouging.

Crude oil prices yesterday briefly climbed to their highest levels since Feb. 1, pushed upward by unrest that has curtailed output in Nigeria by about half a million barrels a day, disputes between Venezuela and major oil companies over contract terms, and a rise in investments in commodity funds, oil industry experts said. U.S. crude oil ended the day 11 cents higher at $66.74 a barrel.

Officials from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its members tried to moderate the increases, suggesting that there wasn't any plan to cut output. Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told Reuters on Sunday that "We are doing all that we can do . . . to stabilize the oil market."

But U.S. experts say key factors are out of OPEC's hands. To believe otherwise "assumes that crude prices lead [petroleum] product prices and not the other way around," said Verleger. "And since the beginning of 2004, product prices have been pulling up crude prices."

Many oil experts had predicted higher gasoline prices around this time because of new rules on gasoline additives. The Clean Air Act of 1990 required the oil industry to use additives to oxygenate gasoline, which reduces tailpipe emissions. Refiners largely turned to methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), which in small quantities enhances octane and reduces engine knocking. MTBE made up about 2.8 percent of the 140 billion gallons of gasoline used last year, Felmy said.

But MTBE, a volatile, flammable and colorless liquid, has been found to have contaminated groundwater in many places. Last year's energy bill removed the federal requirement for an oxygenate in gasoline, but supporters of ethanol convinced lawmakers to insert a requirement that refiners use more ethanol. Ethanol supplies are modest, however, and the price runs about $2.50 a gallon, Felmy said, even though ethanol has only 70 percent of the energy value of gasoline.

Trilby Lundberg, editor of the gasoline monitor Lundberg Survey, said, "We want the cleanest gasoline in the world and we have it: the cleanest and most costly gas in the world." Only higher taxes in other countries prevent U.S. gasoline prices from being the highest in the world, she added.

Verleger said that it wasn't only a matter of environmental concerns but also a question of competing interests. "The ag interests wanted to push more ethanol down people's throats," he said.

Felmy said prices have also gone up because of refinery shutdowns, partly for maintenance and partly to meet tougher emissions standards. After Hurricane Katrina, he said, "If you had a refinery that could keep running in the fall, you kept it running." Now, he said, companies were doing deferred maintenance. A year ago, U.S. refineries were running at 92.3 percent of capacity. They are currently running at about 87 percent, Felmy said.

Nonetheless, some observers noted that inventories of both crude oil and refined petroleum products have risen since the beginning of the year, raising suspicions that major oil companies are pushing up prices as much as possible.

"There is generally a small increase in price this time of year as refinery capacity is limited while switching to summer-grade fuels, but the recent increases have been atypical for this changeover," said AAA's Van Dyke. "While we recognize current events and we expected summer demand increases to affect the overall price of gasoline, it isn't as dire as the price jump of the last month would have you believe. Gasoline prices have been trending upward at a steep rate that seems beyond justification."

WashingtonPost