OPEC to consider second production cut

OPEC, the producer of 40% of the world's oil, is considering its second production cut in three months to prevent a price drop early next year. Officials from Venezuela and Iran said the group should reduce supply because of rising inventories. Representatives from Qatar and Nigeria said the U.S. dollar's 11% drop against the euro this year is eroding the purchasing power of OPEC's dollar-based revenue. "The cut could be up to 500,000 barrels a day," Venezuelan Oil and Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Nov. 30.

Saudi Arabia said on Dec. 1 that stockpiles are too high. OPEC convenes this week in Abuja, Nigeria. The group agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day as of Nov. 1. OPEC has so far made about half the promised target. Excluding Iraq, which is excused from the accord, OPEC's November crude output fell to 26.97 million barrels a day, down 535,000 barrels from October, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

(2006-12-11 17:25:33 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

Power bill update

I have received the first utilities bill which contained readings I took myself. Earlier, I signed up for a free account over at spservices.com.sg and sent in the meter readings on 3 Dec 2006.

The historical readings for electriticy usage are :

Sep 2006 - 700 KWh
Oct 2006 - 669 KWh*
Nov 2006 - 639 KWh
Dec 2006 - 597 KWh
* denotes estimated reading

SP Services should be happy - they get to save on manpower. I'm happy, it's just a bit of effort but it lets me watch the usage more closely. Plus, I don't have to try to figure out their odd-ball "estimated consumption" algorithm. It has never gotten it right anyway, wasn't even close.

So, we got a reduction of 103 KWh, or 14.7%, comparing to the readings taken in Sep and Dec 2006. Which works out to $22.29 at the current rate of 21.64 cts/KWh. This is after we undertook a number of conservation measures, as described below.

There are some more things that can be done. For example, there's that -18 degC chest freezer. And, for the overall bill, gas has remained more or less constant, and water has gone up a little. Room to improve :)

Save energy, urges Russia and EU

peakoil.com -> today.reuters.co.uk :

Russia and the European Union backed energy efficiency measures to save more than 400 million tonnes of oil equivalent each year by 2020 - similar to adding two more Irans to world oil supply. The European Commission has already unveiled a plan for the EU to cut its own energy use, involving more efficient buildings, cars, power generators and appliances. A report by a joint EU-Russia energy efficiency working group has said Russia could also halve the energy intensity of its economy by 2020 via similar energy saving programmes and by cutting down on gas flaring and wastage and losses in industry. Energy is at the heart of EU-Russia diplomacy, with Russian producers relying on European demand as much as European consumers depend on continuing supplies from Russia, which has been the world's top oil producer in recent months.

But Russian industry, much of it born under an inefficient Soviet economy which did little to ration energy use, is among the most ineffecient in the world. IEA figures show Russia uses about 10 times more energy to produce one dollar of gross domestic product than the average in the OECD group of industrialised countries. Russia produced almost 40 million tonnes (9.75 million barrels) of oil per day in November as well as 57.5 billion cubic metres of gas, making it by far the world's biggest energy producer. But more than half of its crude oil goes to domestic refineries and less than a third of its gas finds its way to export markets. Improving efficiency could free up more energy for export, increasing both revenues to Russia and supplies for the stretched world market.

Rising interest in nuclear power brings new life to uranium mining

peakoil.com -> washingtonpost.com :

Arandis, Namibia - This sandy little company town, with its tree-lined streets and concrete homes set amid a vast, forbidding desert, had all the signs of terminal decline just a few years back. Both banks closed. The only gas station shut off its pumps. And employable young men, realizing the bleak future of the giant uranium mine that gave Arandis life, began drifting away.

But something unexpected happened on the way to the funeral for Arandis: The nuclear industry, stagnant for two decades, reversed its fortunes at a time of rising oil prices and growing realization that burning fossil fuel caused global climate change. Nuclear went from being seen as a dirty source of energy to a comparatively clean, efficient one. From that shift in perception, mainly in the minds of Westerners thousands of miles away, the fate of this remote African town went from doom to boom.

"The future was very dark," said the energetic mayor of Arandis, Daniel Muhuura, who like hundreds of residents here has spent his entire professional life working for Roessing Uranium Mine. "Now the future is very bright."