Philippines : "strict energy conservation is now a matter of national survival"

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said on Saturday that drastic energy conservation measures must be enforced to deal with the looming oil crisis brought about by the steady increase in crude prices in the world market. Arroyo also suggested that the people use bicycles or walk instead of taking a ride when going to nearby places.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said "strict energy conservation is now a matter of national survival". He said the Malacanang presidential palace will start reducing the consumption of electricity "to set the example in both energy conservation and fiscal discipline". "Lights are dimmed and all cooling systems are turned off early in the Malacanang complex," he said.

Oil prices in the world market have soared from 30 US dollars per barrel one and a half years ago to 67 dollars Friday, bringing high inflation in oil importing countries like the Philippines.

"I am appealing to the people to seriously consider conserving energy amid a possible energy crisis which is beyond government's control," Bunye said. He said the increasing oil prices in the world market would definitely have a great impact on the prices of oil products in the country.

(2005-08-13 22:40:56 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

$67.10

reuters.com :

Oil charges above $67 on capacity worries

Oil prices raced to record highs above $67 a barrel on Friday as investors fretted over the world's strained capacity to refine and pump crude oil. U.S. light crude settled $1.06 higher at $66.86, off the record $67.10 a barrel hit earlier in the day. London Brent crude settled $1.07 higher at $66.45.

"The upstream and downstream constraints are real and long-term and we're seeing almost daily examples of them," said Michael Wittner, head of energy market research at Calyon. "We're going to have a very strong price environment until the steam is taken out of demand or until investment catches up and restores a spare capacity cushion to production and refining."

Supply limitations were underscored on Thursday by the International Energy Agency which cut its estimate of non-OPEC supply growth. Non-OPEC producers are failing to deliver as much oil as expected this year, leaving OPEC to fill the gap.

A new snag on Friday in the U.S. refining system, this time at Premcor's 175,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in Tennessee, threatened gasoline supplies. The list of outages includes several units at BP's giant 460,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Texas City, and the loss of capacity at ConocoPhillips refinery in Illinois.

In real terms, stripping out inflation, oil is below the $80 a barrel on average for the year after the 1979 Iranian revolution. But at an average of more than $53 for the year to date on U.S. oil is up nearly $23 on the average for 2003.

See also :

1. $65.20

(2005-08-13 08:04:46 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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