Indonesia Plans To Pull Out OPEC Membership

Indonesian government is reluctantly planning to quit its membership from OPEC. Is it because of the not-so-good oil markets today or is it because OPEC is not anymore doing its part to maintain the oil price?


As domestic consumption rises and international prices are kept at high level, Indonesia has no choice but to re-discover its abundant oil and gas riches.

To quit OPEC may be a wake-up call for Indonesia to improve investment, upgrade poor infrastructure and reform its weak legal system and red tape to absorb more foreign investors.

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PAULSON: Oil Prices a Burden On Global Economy

US Treasury Secretary, in its upcoming trip to Middle East, is planning to promote foreign investment in oil production so that oil supply will boost. As part of his visit to Mid-east countries, Paulson is planning to tell the officials of Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries that the current soaring oil prices pose a significant burden on global economy.

"The key message that he will highlight is that record high oil prices are putting a significant burden on the global economy. They are also putting a significant burden on families and consumers, not just in the United States, but around the world," McCormick said in a briefing to preview Paulson's weekend trip.

McCormick said Paulson would be urging "all countries to open up their oil markets to investment that boosts yields, exploration and production." He said that message would not be aimed at any specific country but to all oil producing nations because a significant number of them are "walled off to private investment."

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Oil Price Fall Pushes Stocks To Jump

After a shocking $135 per barrel oil price, oil price is now at less than $129 per barrel. A strong fall of oil price has pushed the ailing stock markets to recover, as it rallied today. The falling oil price and strong dollar boost the investors confidence to put shares on stocks as it recorded a strong gains Tuesday.

After a two-month rally off the March 17th lows and a nearly two-week selloff, stocks are basically pausing, he said.

"Investors are taking a cautious approach and are keeping an eye on any news about growth in the second quarter," King said. "We know growth was slow, but we don't know how slow. So stocks are going to react to any news on that, and on inflation, over the next few weeks."

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Crude Oil Price Drops To Less Than $129

After reaching the so called "peak oil" last few days, as oil price recorded a new high price of more than $135 per barrel, crude oil price has dropped of more than $6 per barrel, making it now at less than $129 per barrel.

"People are just increasingly concerned about the inflation risk picking up and the U.S. economy deteriorating," said Andrea Williams, head of European equities at Royal London Asset Management.

Technology shares had modest gains on Wall Street and the Nasdaq composite was in positive territory, while the blue-chip Dow industrials and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 Index were little changed.

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Oil Industry: At Global Crisis

Oil peak will surely damage businesses and bring out detriments to all who depends on it. Oil price is a real shocker!


The historical upward trend in oil price has inflicted pains, headaches and economic worries on every consumers. After some decades have passed, since the conception of the oil industry in Middle East, cheap oil is a history. But what makes it unbearable today? Last year's oil price was only at $65 per barrel, today, it is more than a double, making it a new record of $165 per barrel and also expected to escalate at $200.


Pessimists believe that production has passed its peak. Optimists say it may be 20 years or so away – which would give us some time to prepare – but are now muted. Last week the hitherto optimistic International Energy Agency admitted that it may have overestimated future capacity. Chris Skrebowski, editor of 'Petroleum Review' and once an optimist himself, believes that the world is now in "the foothills of peak oil". Prices may ease a bit over the next few years, but then the real crunch will come. The price then? "Pick a number!"

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$200 A Barrel Is Possible, Oil Producers Say

Oil price is at above $135 per barrel in early trading today, which escalates tensions and fears over supplies. The price becomes double as last year's price. Meanwhile, oil producers predicted that oil price may end up $200 per barrel this year. how would OPEC react on this issue?

The US has repeatedly called for oil-producing countries to raise output to calm the market but producers blame speculators and the weakness of the dollar for high prices, rather than supply constraints.

Abdullah al-Badri, Opec secretary general, said the cartel saw no problems with the fundamentals of oil supply and demand. "Even if we increase output tomorrow, the prices will not come down."

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Oil Price Scaled At $130/Barrel

What could you expect from the trend in the global oil market? Everybody is expecting nothing aside from the continued increasing oil prices, despite effort to minimize its price. But those efforts seemed to be useless, as the oil price has surged to its peak.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies, but the White House threatened to veto the measure because it could spur "retaliatory action against American interests in those countries".

Energy analysts say an OPEC decision to raise output could help ease the price rally, which they say has been fueled largely by resilient world energy demand even as the United States economy slows.

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Google, Investing on Alternative Energy

Google, is one of the many companies that have put capitals in solar energy projects.



BrightSource Energy, an Oakland, Calif.-based builder of solar-thermal utility plants, announced it raised $115 million in funding to expand into markets around the world.

BP Alternative Energy and StatoilHydro Venture joined Google in the investment, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

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Rising Oil Price Is Hurting Consumers

What would you expect from the oil consumers if its price is no more than the usual? Definitely, they would be infuriated! Costly gas price would mean budget cutting for them.



Despite oil negotiations made by top leaders around the world, still, oil price cannot be stopped from rising. This makes every householder be forced to tighten their budgets, including personal budgets.

The situation could get worse soon. Prices at the pump have been pushed to levels many couldn't conceive of even a year ago, and analysts and the Energy Department are both expecting the cost of gas to rise even further this spring and summer.

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What's the reasons behind high oil price

As the oil price trend continue to affect the global market, everyone is trying to find out some means on how to counter and at least try for a new solution for the alarming high oil price. But, before doing so, one could probably check out what's the reason behind the increasing oil price.


On May 13, the price of a barrel of oil briefly hit a record of $126.98 on the New York Mercantile Exchange The reason was ostensibly that Iran was cutting oil production. But there is no gas shortage. So why are prices still going up?

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Fuel Conflicts Still Increasing

War, cold war, conflict, misunderstanding...whatever you call it, it still creates tension on economy of one's country. This conflict leads to political war and havoc, as the politicians are trying to inject personal and political attachment on the oil issues.


Why is it that oil wealth always fuels conflict among nations, even among oil-rich countries? Its a fact that all countries are craving for oil, as it needs to run the economy. This is why almost all countries are trying to grab possible opportunities on oil industries.

Today, we cannot deny the fact that oil-related conflicts are still growing as we can see the future oil prices are still increasing, making every government to push oil-rich countries to produce more oil and gas. While the oil-rich countries are allegedly hoarding its oil from the oil market, which makes the price escalates.

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A Technology Twist for Alternative Energy

High oil price creates alternative energy market!



Energy alternatives have been the focus of the discussion among energy traders today, due to rising energy costs. Some energy traders are trying their luck in investing on the alternative energy as it becomes popular since the oil price sky-rocketed.

Why not? Alternative energy will surely offer profits for those who want to try it because it can lessen the expenses, yet, it still needs funding before an investor can enjoy profitable returns. In addition, some oil investment companies are focusing on the possible merge of technology and alternative energy to counter the possible funding expenses.

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Oil Price Retreats From $126/Barrel

From last week $126.96 a barrel due to weak dollar, oil price is getting its way down, this time, is due to a strong dollar.

The advance at the end of last week came after Colombia said it recovered documents from a slain guerrilla that indicate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered assistance to Colombian rebels. Some U.S. lawmakers have cited the documents to argue that the White House should add Venezuela to a list of state terror sponsors that includes North Korea, Iran, Syria, Sudan and Cuba.

"We see this as having continued upward pressure on the demand for oil world wide", cited a senior trader at Global Options, one of the largest commodities traders.

Such a move would most likely spur Venezuela to cut off oil exports to the U.S., but analysts believe such a provocative diplomatic step is unlikely.

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Weak Dollar Equals High Oil Price?

Last week, oil price set another record at $125.96 a barrel on Friday following the consistent weak dollar. The question is: Does a weak dollar equal equal high price of oil?


“The problem is that the market for dollar-denominated assets is orders of magnitude bigger than the oil market,” Mr. Diwan says, so this hedging can have a disproportionate effect on oil prices. “It’s like a lake and a pond, and the lake is overflowing into the pond.”

While it’s hard to pinpoint the impact, it’s clear that money has been pouring into commodities over the last five years. In the first quarter of 2008 alone, commodity assets under management rose $30 billion, to $225 billion, according to estimates by Barclays Capital.

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Airline Businesses May Fly Low As Oil Prices Fly High

Here's a contrast on Airline business and oil price: Oil price is flying high while Airline bussiness is flying low. Airline businesses are directly affected by the oil price increase. As easyJet said, it may drive a weaker airline business if the oil price trend will continue. Recently, merging and acquisition of airlines companies was already in the news.

The budget airline reported a 15% jump in passenger numbers for the six months to March 31, with revenue growing 24% to £892.2m. But its pre-tax losses spiralled to £57.5m, triple the loss it made a year ago. The loss, which was expected following the firm's profit warning in March, was primarily caused by dearer jet fuel, which costs 80% more than a year ago.

Every $10 increase in the cost of a barrel of oil cuts around £2.5m off easyJet's profits. Harrison claims the company's relatively young fleet - its 157 planes are three years old on average - give it an edge.

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Oil Market Brings No Good News At All

What do you expect from the oil market? Are you expecting oil price to at least go down a little bit? Last week yes, it fell down a bit lower. But now, oil price becomes more unaffordable as it already hits near $123 per barrel. What is happening to our oil management sector? the OPEC? Isn't it time to act?

Separately, the U.S. government again raised its short-term price forecasts for crude oil and gasoline. The Energy Department now expects average monthly gasoline prices should peak at $3.73 a gallon in June, while regular-grade gasoline is expected to average $3.52 a gallon this year.

At the pump, the national average price of a gallon of regular gas slipped 0.1 cent overnight to $3.61, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

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Oil Price Fall May Not Last?

After weeks or even months of shocking oil price increase, oil price has slowly stepped down. Yet, there is still a threat that the current oil price may not last for good. Find out.

Crude oil prices were up over $117 a barrel on Monday morning amid supply concerns fueled by an attack on a Nigerian oil installation. The rise was tempered by a slightly stronger dollar; the dollar's weakness has pushed crude prices higher this year as investors look to commodities as a hedge against inflation.

As the summer driving season approaches, refiners need to recover how much they make per gallon in order to restore some capacity that they have idled, Lundberg said. Also, refiners overseas could be attracted to a higher U.S. gas price "and send over those extra barrels," increasing supply to meet the U.S. demand, she said.

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Is Ethanol A Miracle?

On alternative energy....

While ethanol may soon make up 5% of the gas at Ontario's pumps, it certainly isn't matching that in capital investment dollars. Total investment in Canadian ethanol production to date is about $1.2 billion — chump change compared to the $6.2 billion invested in 2004 in Alberta's oilsands, with $2.3 billion more in oilsands development capital projected this year. Recent oilsands projects from the likes of Shell, Chevron or Suncor have already eclipsed cost targets by amounts greater than the capital expenditure costs of all Canada's current ethanol projects. Ethanol producers say production costs are dropping, but at 35¢ to 45¢ per litre, they are still steep compared to Alberta oil, which can cost less than 24¢ per litre to extract and refine. Governments can try to create an ethanol market, but international investors see green only in oil.

After reading the American study, more will be tempted to see ethanol funding as another farm subsidy in disguise. Even with oil on a tear, ethanol producers may encounter more weeds before harvest time.

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Oil Market Watch: Is Oil Price Declining?

Is oil price declining? Here are related topics on oil price and find out if the oil market is already stable.
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The strengthening dollar has atributed the lowering of oil price. Few weeks ago, oil price was at near-$120 per barrel. As the grrenback recovered this week against euro and yen, New York Mercantile Exchange has recorded a drop of $8 from its high level of US$120 per barrel.


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Crude oil prices yesterday slipped more $US3 a barrel, the slip is described by analysts as the biggest recorded in one month, after BP restarted a North Sea oil pipeline and the dollar strengthened, reducing the appeal of commodities to investors.

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Oil prices fell slightly Thursday as the dollar strengthened against the euro on a smaller-than-anticipated interest-rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

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Prices have eased since striking a record high of $119.93 in New York last Monday during a Scottish refinery strike and related pipeline closure.

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Energy Market Updates

Oil prices, energy trading, alternative energy updates....


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The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has no plans to hold an emergency meeting before a scheduled September gathering, they said.

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It is a new sunrise at the Reliance empire as the fuel to food conglomerate led by Mukesh Ambani moves into solar energy.

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There seems something surreal about the continuing rally in international prices of petroleum crude. In terms of fundamentals, stocks are ‘high’, supply quite ‘satisfactory’, and demand is actually ‘easing’. Yet crude oil prices keep going up and up and up. The sustained rally in oil quotes does call for a closer look at the role of speculation in hardening prices.
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The presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain, and Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton have both called for a gas tax holiday this summer, eliminating the 18.4-cent-per-gallon tax during the time when Americans rekindle their passionate affair with the open road, from the end of May to Labour Day.
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BRITISH gas giant BG Group has made a $13 billion power play in the Australian market, launching an all-cash takeover bid for Origin Energy.
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Additional supplies would have to come from OPEC states because refineries in non-OPEC countries required enormous levels of investment to maintain current production, he wrote.

"In those countries much of the remaining oil in the ground in OPEC is run by National Oil Companies that have, by and large, been starved of investment capital by their own governments, for example Venezuela, Nigeria, Iran," Mr Sieminski wrote.

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