Oil nears $74, highest since Aug, on economic optimism
The International Energy Agency raised its oil demand forecasts and a Reuters survey showed Chinese refineries will keep crude processing at record levels in October.Oil jumped more than 2 percent towards $74 a barrel on Monday, the highest in over six weeks, on optimism about the pace of global economic recovery and indications of stronger oil demand.Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, will keep steady in November its curbs on the contracted volumes of crude it supplies to Asia and Europe,Crude gained 2.6 percent last week, bolstered by a falling dollar. The International Energy Agency raised its oil demand forecasts and a Reuters survey showed Chinese refineries will keep crude processing at record levels in October. Read more
The demise of the dollar
In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.
Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars. Read more
Abu Dhabi retail gold sales down 25%
Today: UAE. Retail gold sales dropped by about 25% in March in Abu Dhabi compared with the same period last year, an industry executive said this week.
Tushar Patni, managing director of Ajanta Jewellery added that if the price of the precious metal stays over AED100 (US$27.4) per gram then it could force closure of some retail outlets.
“Currently the price of gold is at AED110 and I expect that it will stay at this level which spells bad news for many of the smaller retailers here who will be forced out of the market,” Patni, who manages the largest retailer of 22 carat gold in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, told Reuters. Read more
The gold prices and demand as well
Coin making from scrap gold thrives in Dubai
Countries like India which used to import gold from Dubai in the last month exported scrap gold to Middle East to make profits.
The export of gold from Dubai has increased by 29% in 2008 compared to 2007 export figures. This increase has caused the market in the Middle East to face an unprecedented shortage of gold.
As gold prices continued to rise and are expected remain high throughout the year, the cash strapped population is cashing in on their old gold. Read more
Mines prof sees potential in energy crisis
The current fuel and energy crisis is only going to get worse, but at the same time, it will produce job, career and business opportunities for those with the imagination to see them, a Colorado School of Mines professor says.
Dr. Roel Sneider, the W.M.Keck Distinguished Professor of Basic Exploration Science at the Golden university, made that assessment for members of the Evergreen Rotary Club at their June 13 meeting.
“Many foreign companies are taking advantage of these opportunities right now,” Sneider said, “and we are lagging behind them.” Read more
Utah, Colorado rival OPEC oil reserves, lure Chevron, Exxon, Shell
Colorado and Utah have as much oil as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Nigeria, Kuwait, Libya, Angola, Algeria, Indonesia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates combined.
That’s not science fiction, according to Bloomberg News. Trapped in limestone up to 200 feet (61 meters) thick in the two Rocky Mountain states is enough so-called shale oil to rival OPEC and supply the U.S. for a century.
Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., the two biggest U.S. energy companies, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are spending $100 million a year testing new methods to separate the oil from the stone for as little as $30 a barrel. A growing number of industry executives and analysts say new technology and persistently high prices make the idea feasible.
“The breakthrough is that now the oil companies have a way of getting this oil out of the ground without the massive energy and manpower costs that killed these projects in the 1970s,” said Pete Stark, an analyst at IHS Inc., an Englewood, Colorado, research firm. “All the shale rocks in the world are going to be revisited now to see how much oil they contain.” Read more
