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View Full Version : Energy: Refined out of existance.


Rockstar
04-10-12, 10:24 AM
I know of three marine towing companies tying up their boats, fuel barges and laying people by the hundreds because there is no fuel to move between U.S. ports.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/256f583c-7a83-11e1-8ae6-00144feab49a.html#axzz1rePc3LUp

As petrol prices rise and western demand shrinks, refineries are closing across the developed world.

Tanking market: US petrol demand has fallen since 2007 amid improved fuel efficiency and the impact of a weaker economy. Sunoco petrol stations are a fixture of the US eastern seaboard, their blue-and-yellow awnings touting the brand's status as official fuel of Nascar racing. But after July, none of the petrol they sell will actually be made by Sunoco. The 126-year-old company's decision to quit the refining business is the latest sign of the tumult in downstream fuel markets that is accompanying a global shift in oil use. As consumption flags in developed economies and grows in emerging markets, refineries are dying from Japan to Pennsylvania, the Sunoco home state where oil wells drilled in the 1850s begat the petroleum age.

Half the refining capacity on the populous US east coast is set to disappear. Sunoco has pulled the plug on two refineries already and warns that another in Philadelphia will close in July if no buyer steps forward. ConocoPhillips is trying to sell a refinery in Pennsylvania, idle since last year. On May 1, it will spin off its refining business. More than 3m barrels of daily refinery capacity have closed in western countries, since the financial crisis, says the International Energy Agency, the west's oil watchdog. Emerging economies have meanwhile added 4.2m b/d in capacity, with another 1.8m b/d coming this year. It'sreally a tale of two markets, says Toril Bosoni, IEA senior oil analyst. You have very contrasting pictures for economic growth and demand, and refining is reflecting what's going on elsewhere.




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geetrue
04-10-12, 10:54 AM
Not sure why this is happening, but look at the price of bunker fuel used by most shipping companies such as long distance carriers, cruise ships, etc

This is the cost per metric ton of IFO 380 I can't convert that to something that makes sense, but it has gone up and up this year trading for $895 bunker index right now.

http://www.bunkerindex.com/


Montevideo (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/port.php?port_id=441)Latest prices valid until 14 Apr. New prices (for 15 Apr onwards) expected over the next 48 hours.Tokyo (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/port.php?port_id=750)Earliest date for deliveries currently from 13 Apr onwards.Gothenburg (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/port.php?port_id=240)Product availability and delivery schedules currently ok. Prompt delivery possible.Augusta (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/port.php?port_id=46)380-cst and MGO avails ok. 180-cst product not available.Rotterdam (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/portfreels_xmdo.php?port_id=637)Many suppliers fully committed until 12-15 Apr. Premium between HS and LS grades remains high due to shortage of LS product.Cape Town (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/portfree_x380mdo.php?port_id=119)Earliest delivery for MGO currently 17 Apr onwards.Singapore (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/portfree_xmdosup.php?port_id=682)Earliest delivery generally arond 15 Apr. Some prompt (within 24-48 hours) also possible.



PortIFO 380Singapore (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/portfree_xmdosup.php?port_id=682)725.00 http://www.bunkerindex.com/images/icons/up.gif+1.00Rotterdam (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/portfreels_xmdo.php?port_id=637)693.00 http://www.bunkerindex.com/images/icons/down.gif-5.00Fujairah (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/portfree_xmdo.php?port_id=214)730.00 http://www.bunkerindex.com/images/icons/down.gif-5.00Busan (http://www.bunkerindex.com/prices/portfree.php?port_id=109)745.00 http://www.bunkerindex.com/images/icons/down.gif-5.00

Ducimus
04-10-12, 11:16 AM
The subject title reminded me of a thought that not many pay attention to anymore. Petroleum. It used to be called a "Fossil fuel". Which is true. All that oil is basically organic matter (plants and such) from the earliest days of the planet that fermented into a sludge.

The thing is, there is no such thing as free energy. Energy can change its physical form, but it doesn't just magically appear out of nowhere. Not to get "all green", but oil's energy arguably comes from the plant material it originally was. Those plants energy came from Photosynthesis, or to boil it down further, the energy stored in oil can trace it's roots back to the sun. Anyway....... we've been sucking on oil for so long, It seems like its free energy that just comes up out of the ground, all we gotta do is pump it out. I suppose that's true, but eventually it will run out and It's irreplaceable as it's taken millions of years to create. Sooner or later we'll have to find a new energy source.

Odds are we'll just pass the problem down to the next generation like we always do. That's human nature you know? I'll be dead - not my problem.