The Big Chill

With the season's first snowfall hitting the Northeast last week, it is becoming apparent that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita did far more to the nation's energy equation than spoil Labor Day vacation drives. The storms upset the already precarious balance of the nation's supply and demand for fuel. So much Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas production remains in disarray that even with a mild winter, Americans face a Big Chill: astronomical heating bills - on average, 38 percent higher than last year's record costs for natural gas and 21 percent higher for oil.

That means hundreds of closed factories and enormous hardship for low-income and working poor families, who can expect scant federal government help. And if bitter cold rides in on Mother Nature's coattails, extraordinary measures will be needed to keep energy flowing, particularly in the Northeast, as natural-gas shortages spill over into oil and electricity supplies.

Adds Matthew Simmons, a prominent Houston energy investment banker, who has warned of a new era of scarcity: "We're headed into a winter that could be a real winter of discontent."

Ford's Super-Size SUV

peakoil.com -> money.cnn.com :

According to a newspaper report, Ford is set to launch a new, super-size SUV. Just two months after it pulled the plug on the massive Ford Excursion, the Detroit News said the automaker is preparing to unveil a vehicle tentatively called the "Ford Everest."

The Excursion, launched in 2000, was quickly dubbed the Ford Valdez by critics; Ford ended production earlier this year as gas prices topped $3 a gallon. Even though the company has pursued a hybrid-heavy marketing strategy, the Detroit News reported that there is still demand in the lucrative SUV market. "It's hard to wean yourself off of them," Langley was quoted as saying. "They're the crack of the American auto industry."

Essentially a stretched version of the Ford Expedition, the new SUV will be over 19 feet [5.8m] long - about 15 inches longer than the Expedition - and will have more cargo room behind the third row of seats, the report said.

Google Base :
american auto-makers

ConocoPhillips to buy Burlington in $35.6 billion deal

news.yahoo.com :

Global oil major ConocoPhillips agreed to buy Burlington Resources Inc., a major independent producer of natural gas, in a cash-and-stock deal worth $35.6 billion, making a huge bet that natural gas will remain lucrative over the long term. The deal would bring the number-three U.S. oil company's revenues within striking distance of the U.S. number two, Chevron Corp. Together, ConocoPhillips and Burlington Resources will have "proforma" reserves of about 10.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to company records as of December 31, 2004. "Proforma" 2005 production will total about 2.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The deal enhances ConocoPhillips's production growth and North American gas supply in the near-term, through projects involving conventional and unconventional resources, and in the long-term through liquefied natural gas and Arctic gas projects. Shares across the natural gas sector jumped during the day on speculation that other gas producers could become attractive takeout targets.

Adding Burlington to its portfolio boosts ConocoPhillips's natural gas production at a time when the fuel is pushing record high prices of $15 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). Prices on the NYMEX remain about $10 per mmBtu for delivery through the spring of 2007, an indication that markets expect gas to remain costly for the foreseeable future.

(2005-12-13 14:43:58 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

GM bankruptcy possible: S&P

news.yahoo.com :

A bankruptcy by General Motors Corp. is not "far-fetched" if present trends at the company persist, Standard & Poor's said, shortly after cutting world's largest automaker's ratings deeper into junk territory. S&P cut GM's corporate credit rating by two notches to "B," five steps below investment grade, from "BB-minus." The outlook is negative, meaning the rating is likely to be lowered again over the next two years.

GM has lost nearly $4 billion this year as it battles high health care and commodity costs, eroding U.S. market share and slumping sales of its once-profitable sport utility vehicles. Consolidated debt outstanding was $285 billion on September 30, S&P said.

"This year has witnessed a stunning collapse of GM's financial performance compared with 2004 and initial expectations for 2005," S&P said in its rating statement. An industrywide falloff in demand for sport utility vehicles makes it doubtful that GM's new models can help restore its North American operations to profitability, S&P added.

Google Base :
american auto-makers

(2005-12-13 14:22:56 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

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