No gas deal between Ukraine and Russia

Russia and Ukraine fail to reach gas deal ahead of cut-off deadline

Russia and Ukraine failed to resolve a gas pricing dispute during Sunday talks in Kiev. Gazprom says its demands have not changed and Kiev is expected to pay its debt of $1.95 billion by 06:00 GMT on Monday, otherwise the gas supply will be stopped

RT,

16 June, 2014

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Gazprom’s position remained unchanged after EU-brokered negotiations finally ended around 2:30 a.m. Moscow time (10:30 p.m. GMT) on Monday, Gazprom spokesperson Aleksey Kupriyanov told reporters.

If Ukraine’s gas debt is not paid on time, Russia will be switching to an advance payment system, which will essentially stop gas supply to Ukraine, he added.

"We reached no agreement and the chances that we will meet again are slim -- we are already on the plane heading back (to Moscow)," Kupriyanov told AFP. "If we receive no pre-payment by 10:00 am (0600GMT), then we obviously will deliver no gas."

In his turn, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yury Prodan said that Ukraine is prepared for the cut-off of gas supply from Russia.

However, the head of Ukraine’s Naftogaz said that EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger suggested a temporary price of US$300-385, adding that there is a chance that this compromise can be achieved before the deadline.

The talks were attended by Gazprom head Aleksey Miller, Ukrainian PM Arseny Yatsenyuk, and EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.

The previous round of talks over the price of Russian gas for Ukraine failed to reach a solution to the standing Ukrainian $1.95 billion gas debt. Ukraine have not been paying for most of the gas supplied by Russia this year and demands that the contract on the deliveries be amended.

Russia offered a discount to the price, but Ukraine rejected it, saying it wants the price to be lower.

Ukraine has been pushing for the gas price to be set at $268 per 1,000 cubic meters, Ukrainian Energy Minister Yury Prodan told reporters on Saturday.

The latest price proposed by Russia stands at $385. On Friday, Kiev said it is ready to pay $326 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Gasoline prices

Infinite Growth is not possible on a finite planet.

Gas prices set record: 1,000 days above $3 a gallon

But they could taper off later this year

USA Today,

16 September, 2013

By now every driver knows the drill: The price of gasoline ratchets up, there's an outcry among motorists who feel gouged at the pump and then things settle down as the higher price becomes the new normal.

Well, AAA has come up with a sobering statistic: the average price of gasoline will surpass $3 per gallon Tuesday for the 1,000th consecutive day. That's never happened before, the motoring organization says.

In case you're wondering, the current streak began on Dec. 23, 2010. Today, the national average for a gallon of regular is $3.52, according to AAA's daily price tracking service. That's a nickel a gallon less than the average so far this year. And unless there's another recession, AAA forecasts that a price floor of $3 a gallon is basically here to stay.

"Paying less than $3.00 per gallon for gasoline may be automotive history for most Americans, like using 8-track tapes or going to a drive-in movie," said Bob Darbelnet, CEO of AAA. "The reality is that expensive gas is here to stay."

If there's any good news here at all, it's that with the prospect of U.S. attack on Syria diminished, gas prices could moderate, but they won't fall below $3 a gallon, says Patrick DeHaan of the group-sourced gas price reporting site GasBuddy.com.

"The market took a chill pill and is reacting as I would expect to the prospect of a peaceful resolution," he says. "I could see the national average in the very low $3 (a gallon range) by the time we're talking about last minute Christmas shopping."

Also, while prices haven't dropped below $3 a gallon for 1,000 days, they also haven't averaged above $4 a gallon. But they were above $3.75 a gallon for 189 days.

The $3-a-gallon threshehold didn't start until Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, devastating oil rigs and New Orleans, in September, 2005.

Petrol prices

Read in combination with THIS

UK Petrol prices: Rising costs forcing motorists to borrow from payday loans to keep on road

According to a study, a sixth are forced to take out payday loans, pawn prized possessions, go overdrawn or dig into savings

Daily Mirror

6 September, 2013

Soaring petrol prices are driving hard-up motorists into the clutches of extortionate payday loan companies, the AA warns today.

It found one in six car owners, hammered by four petrol price spikes in the last 18 months, are going into the red.

According to the study, a sixth are forced to take out payday loans, pawn prized possessions, go overdrawn or dig into savings to top up the tank.

With pump prices hitting an 11 month high of 140.3 a litre in March and still at 138p a litre today, drivers are having to stump up an extra £5 for a small tank of fuel.

A fifth admitted their household budgets are at breaking point because of petrol prices, rising to third of those in low paid, unskilled jobs.

Young drivers aged 18-24 are the most likely to fall into a payday loan spiral of debt and one 19-year-old told a Yahoo! internet forum how he owes money to several lenders because of his petrol bills.

The teenager said: “I’ve dropped out of uni and managed to find a job however I was using over £500 petrol a month in my new job.

“I had no money to put fuel in my car at the start of my first month and ended up taking out a pay day loan with 2/3 lenders. It’s really spiraled out of control and I’m just so depressed and anxious all the time.”

AA president Edmund King said: “Young drivers with little capital to fall back on and who are likely to be on lower pay scales are clearly suffering the most - one in 50 of them have put themselves in real financial danger by taking out a payday loan. But, they are not alone.”

For the survey also found one in 50 in the 35-44 age group are also turning to crippling, high-interest lenders to make ends meet.

“These drivers are probably saddled with family costs and mortgages or high rents, and their predicament is even more disturbing,” said Mr King.

“Fuel price desperation has created a new and sinister twist to the phrase ‘driven into debt’.”

Record gas prices in New Zealand

Businesses are starting to get worried about petrol prices again. Of course it's all about the low NZ dollar and nothing to do with Peak Oil and resource wars. When was the last time that petrol went below $2/litre in this country.

Reality's no excuse for the AA.

Brent Crude is at $109 today

By my calculations the NZ price ($2.27/litre) translates to about $US9,5/gallon. And you Americans fret about $5/gallon gas!

Petrol price rises to record

Petrol prices have hit a record high but the Automobile Association says a 4 cent a litre rise is unjustified.

Yahoo,

11 July, 2013

The price of a litre of 91-octane rose to $2.27 on Thursday, when BP and Z Energy notched their price up 4c a litre.

The AA, which has been monitoring commodity prices and the exchange rate, says the price should have gone up by just 2c a litre.

The market information indicated the price of diesel, which rose 3c to $1.58 a litre, shouldn't have risen at all, AA senior policy analyst Mark Stockdale says.

"Not only is it too much, it's too soon, because we are seeing a slight recovery in the Kiwi dollar in the last couple of days," he told NZ Newswire.

The price is unlikely to come down in the near future, he said.

Commodity prices were heading in the wrong direction, mainly because of geopolitical issues in the Middle East, he said.

An improving US economy could see the New Zealand dollar lose ground against the US dollar, which oil is traded in, and further price increases could result.

The US, Canada, Mexico and Australia had lower petrol prices than New Zealand, he said.

Tax on petrol increased by three cents a litre in New Zealand from July 1.

Higher fuel prices curb retail spending - Briscoe director

Radio NZ,

14 July, 2013

Briscoe Group executive director Rod Duke warns higher fuel prices could drastically curb retail spending.

Motorists are paying record high petrol prices after a rise in excise on 30 June and subsequent price increase by oil companies, due in part to a lower New Zealand dollar.

Mr Duke said major jumps in fuel costs force people to spend less at the shops because they still need their car to get around.

He said the last major rise in fuel prices cost retailers dearly.

Briscoe Group runs the Rebel Sport, Briscoes Homeware, and Living & Giving chains.

More about the New Zealand dollar and its impact can be heard on Insight.

Petrol prices in NZ at record highs

NZ: Petrol price back to all time highs

Petrol prices are back to their highest ever levels after a 4c a litre rise by fuel companies that followed a 3c tax rise on Monday

Stuff,

4 July, 2013

The increases took the price of non-discounted 91-octane petrol to 222.9c a litre, equal to levels reached last August.

AA senior policy analyst Mark Stockdale said he could not understand the increase by the fuel companies.

"AA monitoring of commodity price movements and exchange rate movements shows there has been almost no change in the past fortnight.

"Therefore there hasn't been an increase in imported costs for fuel companies and in our view there is no justification for rising prices at this time," Stockdale said.

"The AA is surprised that the fuel companies have increased retail prices so soon after the tax increase on Monday. It isn't a good look to be raising prices so quickly."

He acknowledged the price of oil had been rising on concerns about developments in Egypt, but costs of the refined fuels used in vehicles had not risen in the past two weeks.

The rise in the crude oil price may be passed on to refined fuel prices in coming days, but it had not happened yet, Stockdale said.

The companies also lifted the price of diesel by 4c a litre, but at 153.9c a litre the price was still well below the peak of 192c in July 2008. Road user charges for light diesel vehicles also went up 10 per cent on Monday.

BP spokesman Jonty Mills said the company's last price rise had been on June 7, and since then the exchange rate had fallen from US80c to as low as US77c.

The decline in the NZ dollar had driven most of the latest price rise, although during the past four weeks the cost of refined product had also risen, he said.

He was reluctant to comment on the outlook, saying the price of crude oil was volatile and unpredictable. Overnight it had spiked 2 per cent as a result of the Egyptian developments.

Z Energy spokeswoman Sheena Thomas said the petrol price had been under pressure for more than a month.

Increases at the pump had not kept up with the prices of refined petrol or diesel on the international market.

The company realised a 7c rise in one week was hard for motorists, and it would not have raised prices this week had margins not been unsustainable for so long, she said.

"We were hoping for the barrel price to fall but what's been happening in Egypt suggests its not going to do that in a hurry."

British squeezed out of driving cars

UK Petrol sales slump to 23-year low as drivers suffer sky-high prices on the forecourts

• British drivers are cutting back on petrol to record levels because of prices
• Retailers' profit margins increased by 57 per cent over last four years
• Typical insurance policy has also doubled in price since 2008

Daily Mail,

28 April, 2013

Petrol sales have fallen to their lowest level since records began, due to soaring prices.

Consumption at forecourts across the country fell to a new low of 1.37billion litres last month, according to the AA.

This represents a drop of 56million litres since February and marks the lowest level of consumption since January 1990.

Many motorists have swapped gas-guzzling cars for smaller, more economical models in a bid to cut their fuel bills.

Motoring experts believe the increasing cost of running a car has also forced many drivers to switch to public transport or use their car less.

Luke Bosdet, from the AA, said speculators betting on petrol price movements are to blame for pushing up petrol prices.

He said: ‘It’s a completely daft situation. Europe has got more petrol than anyone knows what to do with but petrol is still unaffordable for many drivers.

‘People just can’t afford these prices. Our research shows two thirds of people are using their cars less or cutting back elsewhere to compensate for higher prices.’

In a bid to attract cash-strapped motorists, supermarkets have started a petrol price war with the cost falling from 136p a litre to 134p in recent days.

Supermarkets Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have all slashed prices at the pumps for the second time in a few days because of a drop in wholesale fuel costs.

But petrol still costs 2p a litre more than at the start of the year, with prices soaring over the past three years by more than 10 per cent from 121p a litre.

One piece of welcome news for drivers is car insurance premiums are falling, with a 4.1 per cent drop over the past 12 months, according to the AA.

But a typical annual comprehensive insurance policy has still doubled in price since 2008 – to nearly £750.

Earlier this year the Office of Fair Trading ruled out a full inquiry into the petrol price market.

MPs and motoring groups accused the OFT of a ‘whitewash’, when it said the market is ‘working well’ even though drivers paid a record average price of 135.8p per litre of petrol last year.

The watchdog blamed this mostly on tax rises and the higher price of oil. It said it found ‘very little evidence’ that retailers are profiteering at the expense of consumers.

Despite this the OFT found that petrol retailers have seen their gross profit margins increase by 57 per cent over the last four years – this works out at 11p for every litre sold, compared with 7p per litre in 2008.

Struggling consumers: Pricing watchdog blamed the costs on tax rises and the higher price of oil

The Chancellor froze fuel duty in the Budget, cancelling a rise planned for September – although Treasury documents revealed the rise was only due to be 1.89p, not the 3p widely anticipated.

The decision comes after sustained pressure from motoring groups and backbench Conservative MPs, who have argued the high oil prices of the past few years were already making motoring prohibitively expensive.

Duty on a litre of unleaded petrol or diesel will remain at 57.95p until at least September 2014.

Motoring lobbyists have argued the Government already imposes too high a tax burden on drivers.

The VAT rise in 2011 increased the total tax take on fuel to about 60 per cent of the pump price, or 83p on the average price of £1.38 for a litre of unleaded.

Gas prices

How odd that Radio New Zealand should choose to report increases in the price of Australian petrol while neglecting to report that New Zealand petrol prices are at record highs!

Australian petrol price rises

Radio NZ,

26 Febraury, 2013

The average retail price of petrol in Australia is up 13 cents since the beginning of the year.

The ABC reports prices are at their highest level since April last year.

Data from Commsec and the Institute of Petroleum shows the average retail price of petrol is $A1.52 per litre.

Commsec spokesman Savanth Sebastian said Australian petrol price are tied to the unleaded price in Singapore which is at its highest level in about 10 months.

Peak Oil

The arrival of peak oil is as plain as the nose on your face. And yet many "experts" nevertheless keep insisting that peak oil is a lot of Chicken Little worrying about nothing. Smart people will make energy-crash preparations now. -- RF

Why, Despite the Boom in Oil Production, are Gasoline Prices Still High?

Oil Price,

14 February, 2013

On Monday, USA Today reported that the price of gasoline hit $3.60 a gallon for the first time since October — an early start in comparison to the usual price rise seen in the spring. The increase occurred despite world oil production climbing to 88.8 million barrels per day in 2012, about 2 million barrels higher than two years ago according to the Washington Post’s Brad Plumer. And about half of that increased production is due to an oil boom in the United States that’s driven imported oil to its lowest level since 1987.

That increased oil production will bring down gas prices is one of the most reliable Republican canardswhen it comes to energy, so what gives?

As Plumer points out, “The big thing to remember is that oil prices are a function of both supply and demand. If world demand for oil rises faster than producers can pump the stuff out, prices will go up.” Plumer cites a piece by James Hamilton of UC San Diego, which shows China’s consumption of oil is booming, and that the world economy as a whole is growing apace — and thus demanding more oil — even as fuel efficiency increases.

Technically, the world isn’t even producing enough oil to keep pace with the rise in global incomes. Oil supply has risen by 2.3 percent since 2010. But the world economy has grown by 7.1 percent since then. The only reason that oil prices haven’t soared to record highs, Hamilton points out, is that countries have been undertaking new conservation measures. Americans, for instance, are buying more fuel-efficient cars in droves.

Granted, oil prices would almost certainly be even higher than they are now without the drilling boom over the past two years in places like North Dakota. But at this point, the extra drilling is struggling to keep up with the pace of global economic growth.

Here are the global production and consumption numbers for the last few years from the U.S. Energy Information Agency (note the numbers to the left start at 84,000 thousand barrels per day):

And despite forecasts from BP and the International Energy Agency that domestic and global oil production will continue rising, Plumer notes that high gas prices aren’t going away anytime soon:

The [IEA] recently projected that U.S. oil production would continue rising through 2020 and beyond, as companies extract more “unconventional” oil from shale rock and other sources. But global demand was also expected to rise 35 percent between now and 2035, with China on pace to become the largest oil consumer in the world in the next two decades.

And that’s the optimistic scenario. Raymond T. Pierrehumbert, a geophysical sciences professor at the University of Chicago and a lead author on the third IPCC Assessment Report, recently pointed out in Slate that while going after unconventional oil remains profitable, and thus likely to continue, it requires ever greater effort to retrieve the same amounts of oil:

Technological developments have made it possible to tap into tight oil, but these are not the same kinds of technological developments that have given us ever more powerful computers and cellphones at ever declining prices. Oil production technology is giving us ever more expensive oil with ever diminishing returns for the ever increasing effort that needs to be invested. According to the statistics presented by J. David Hughes at the [American Geophysical Union] session, we are now drilling 25,000 wells per year just to bring production back to the levels of the year 2000, when we were drilling only 5,000 wells per year.

We have to keep increasing drilling just to keep production steady, and the faster you drill in a particular area the faster production peaks and drops off. That future is an economy pouring ever greater amounts of energy and money into efforts “to extract the last drop of profit through faster depletion of a resource that’s guaranteed to run out.” So the structural economics of continuing to pursue oil are shaky, even if further industry profit is possible.

It remains the case that the best way to avoid high gas prices and supply shocks — not to mention avoiding catastrophic damage to the global climate — is to move away from oil as an energy source.

By. Jeff Spross

World Oil Hits Supply Constraints; North Sea Production Nears Historic Low

Forbes,

17 February, 2013

Anyone in the northeast filling up their house with heating oil knows, oil prices are going higher.

What investors know is that crude oil markets have had quite the week, with Brent oil futures settling above the $118 per barrel on most days. With the United States being a net importer of oil, of course, that European Brent crude price is more important that West Texas Intermediate, which is now trading at $96 a barrel.

Even though macroeconomic sentiment weakened slightly on the back of poor fourth quarter GDP numbers in Europe, oil continues to get price support from a solid underlying demand-supply equation and ongoing geopolitical elements in the middle east.

In this context, last week saw yet another failure in talks between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the government of Iran. No date has been set for future talks and the failure in a negotiated agreement comes just two weeks before more meetings, this time between Iran and the so-called P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, U.K. and the U.S.).

That in mind, Barclays Capital told clients in a note on Feb. 15 that supply constraints would serve as strong support for oil prices in the weeks ahead.

The full set of supply figures for North Sea oil (Brent basis) for 2012 was released by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and these show the country’s production averaging 1.91 million barrels daily of oil and oil equivalents over the year. That figure stands at historic lows and 13% below the country’s own production expectations for the year.

Over 2012, output was negatively affected by a multiplicity of technical problems at a variety of fields, including Hog, Oseberg, Vigdis and Troll. Preliminary data for January show total output at 1.85 mb/d, lower on the year by an impressive 255 thousand b/d, though 1% higher than the Directorate’s forecast production for the month.

Then there are the ongoing outages in Brazil, Syria and Sudan in non-OPEC nations. As a result, Barclays‘ tally of non-OPEC supply disruptions now stands at 875 thousand barrels daily, about 256 thousand less barrels of oil less than the previous month.

Gas prices

How are they going to explain this one away? In New Zealand prices have reached $2.19 a litre, which exceeds the previous high price. Mmm...I wonder if that has been reported in the papers.

Gas Prices Surge To Highest Ever On This Day At Fastest Pace In Four Years

Zero Hedge,

18 February, 2013

Despite being weeks away from the start of the driving season proper, gas prices - at the pump - have been surging recently. With premium now over $4 nationwide (over $5 in SoCal - up 25 days in a row), this is the most expensive gas has ever been for the second week in February despite gasoline being relatively well supplied. Gasoline futures have ripped higher as unplanned maintenance, refinery closings, and rising crude oil prices (seemingly more central bank liquidity-driven than middle-east tensions) have impacted wholesale price expectations (and thus retail). The 44c rise is the fastest in four years and the year-to-date surge over 12% (outpacing stocks) is almost four times faster than average. What is more worrisome is the fact that seasonally the next month or two are when the biggest price spikes occur - which coupled with the tax-hike drag, will inevitably eat into people's spending habits and sentiment.

Gas Prices at the pump are the highest on record for this time of year...

With the last month seeing the biggest rise in almost four years...

and far in excess of the average seasonal shift - which is set to start...

And in Southern California, $5 gas prices are now the norm!!