FuelClub Discount

The federal government has refused to rule out the possibility its proposed emissions trading scheme will force up petrol prices.

The government will offer a glimpse of the much-awaited scheme to battle climate change when it releases a green paper in July.

A timetable, released this week, said by the end of the year the government would give a “firm indication” of the scheme’s trajectory, which would determine the initial price of carbon.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong reaffirmed the scheme - the centrepiece of efforts to curb greenhouse gases - would begin in 2010.

Asked on Tuesday whether the scheme would force up petrol prices, Senator Wong refused to rule it out.

“Absolutely we know from the Stern report and a from a range of other advisers, including Professor Garnaut, that the cost of neglecting to act to the Australian economy and to households will be significantly greater than … the cost of responsible action now,” Senator Wong said.

The Australian people recognise the scheme would not be painless, she said.

But the government would be “methodical and careful” to ensure the impact was minimised.

Source: The Age

A Tele investigation has revealed prices at Tesco in Greenock and BP in Regent Street are a shocking 5p per litre more than in neighbouring areas.
Angry drivers in Inverclyde have to pay around 107p or 108p a litre for their unleaded — but Renfrewshire motorists can get their petrol for as little as 102.9p.
Greenock motorist John Irving, who is a volunteer driver for Ardgowan Hospice, is one of thousands of victims being mugged at the pumps.
John, 54, who suffers from arthritis and diabetes and struggles to get around without his car, said: “The prices are just ridiculous. The whole point of supermarkets is they are supposed to provide things much more cheaply. I don’t know why they’re not doing this with their fuel.
“The prices in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde vary so much. I have ?86 a week to buy shopping, pay for heating and to put petrol in my car — it’s very difficult.
“I don’t understand why it’s cheaper elsewhere and much dearer here. Tesco are driving customers away with their prices.”
Duncan McNeil MSP has stepped into the battle and has promised to write to Tesco to try to resolve the problem.
He told the Tele: “It is important our petrol prices are competitive. However, it is completely unacceptable a few miles of a difference should have a significant effect on the price of our fuel.”
BP and Tesco in Greenock both believe their prices are justified.
A BP spokesperson said: “A number of factors have to be taken into account to decide on fuel prices. The cost of the raw materials and the transport of the fuel is a major part of it. Prices have to change to compete with other fuel providers in the area.
“Everyone has the right to choose where they buy their petrol or diesel. We believe our prices are competitive and that we offer a good service.”
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We appreciate it is the customer who decides whether or not our prices are competitive. They have the right to choose where they shop for their fuel.
“Every single one of our petrol stations has local competition. If we are not competitive in that locality, our customers could choose to fill their cars elsewhere. We check the prices at our own petrol stations versus our competitors daily, and we are confident the local customer is getting a great deal on fuel.”
In Wednesday’s budget, Chancellor Alistair Darling announced a 2p hike in fuel prices in October.

Source: GreenockTelegraph

ALGIERS, March 16 (Reuters) - Oil markets are rising due to speculation and the U.S. dollar’s fall, not to a lack of petroleum production, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said on Sunday, the official Algerian news agency APS reported.

APS quoted Khelil, who is also Algerian Energy and Mines minister, as saying: “Prices are not going up because of a lack of output, but rather from the effect of speculation.”

This increase in price “is linked not to a lack of production but to the devaluation of the dollar which has given speculators the opportunity to invest in oil.”

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) left its output steady at a meeting earlier this month despite calls from consuming countries for more oil to halt the record rally. The price hit a peak of $111 a barrel on Thursday.

Crude futures have jumped about 15 percent this year in part due to a steep decline in the U.S. dollar, which has helped push up the nominal value of all commodities prices in the currency.

Khelil said investors were shifting into oil and gold because “there is no longer the possibility of good profitability in stock markets which have lost a lot of their value.”

APS reported Khelil as saying OPEC had played no role in oil’s rise, adding that its move to keep levels unchanged had been approved “taking into account the situation of the market, which is well supplied with stocks of crude, which are more than sufficient in relation to the average of the past five years.”

“How can some people say that OPEC contributes to the current price spike and at the same time issue forecasts saying that world oil demand will reduce in the second quarter because of the economic crisis?” he added. (Reporting by William Maclean, editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Source: Reuters

Royal Dutch Shell today reassured investors over its oil and gas reserves after expectations had grown that the Anglo-Dutch oil giant would report a decline.

The group said net oil and gas reserves in 2007 were 11.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), in line with the level at the end of 2006, while the overall reserve replacement rate was above 100 per cent.

Shares in Shell added 7p to ?17.22 in early trading. However, Shell refused to set short term growth targets, stating instead that it expects production to increase by 1-2 per cent up to 2010 and 2-3 per cent beyond that date.

Last month, Shell refused to disclose its reserve base while reporting record-breaking annual profits of $27.6 billion (?13.9 billion).

The profits broke European company records and prompted calls by environmental groups for a windfall tax on “obscene” oil profits.

However, the results, which were boosted by surging global crude prices, masked a 6 per cent slump in daily oil production last year to 3.3 million barrels, down from 3.5 million in 2006.

The company also faced a 10 per cent rise in costs and a steep drop in both refining margins and cashflow.

Shell said this morning that organic reserves additions for 2007, excluding acquisitions, divestments and year-end price effects, were 1.5 billion BOE, compared to 1.2 billion BOE of production, and reserves replacement was 124 per cent.

Organic reserves replacement for the year, including year-end price effects, was 109 per cent, it added.

The City has been particularly sensitive about the issue ever since Shell mis-stated its reserve figures in 2004. The company was forced to pay out more than ?200 million in fines and compensation to settle the scandal.

Shell said it is building over 50 large projects that will underpin new cash flows for decades to come. It added it has over 10 billion boe of resources under construction which will add around 1 million boe per day of production.

Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive at Shell, said: “This is an unprecedented phase of activity for the company… We are creating new heartlands for Shell in a new energy landscape.”

Source: Times Online, UK

SINGAPORE — Oil prices jumped to an all-time trading high Monday in Asia as the tumbling U.S. dollar and plunging stock markets prompted investors to seek shelter in commodities.

Investors fled the dollar after a surprise move by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Sunday to provide cash to financially squeezed Wall Street investment houses pushed the battered greenback deeper into multiyear lows against the yen.

“The Fed’s move overall will help the liquidity of the U.S. dollar, and that will really further soften the dollar,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

“Meanwhile, investors seem to be just following the mantra of buying oil and commodities to hedge against the falling dollar and inflation.”

Light, sweet crude for April delivery spiked to a record $111.42 a barrel - up $1.21 from Friday’s close - in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midmorning in Singapore. It later slipped back to $111.10 a barrel.

The contract’s previous high was set Thursday at $111 a barrel. It fell 12 cents to settle at $110.21 a barrel Friday.

Analysts blame the weak dollar for oil’s recent rally. Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is weak.

Interest rate cuts in the United States further weaken the dollar and have helped drive oil’s rise. In an extraordinary weekend move, the Fed cut its discount rate Sunday by 25 basis points to 3.25 per cent. The Fed is also expected to cut the benchmark federal funds rate at its regularly scheduled monetary policy meeting Tuesday.

“The inverse link between the dollar and oil prices seem to be strengthening. While we have new records for oil almost daily now, we’re also seeing daily new record lows for the dollar,” Shum said.

Shum said the surge in investor demand for commodities as a hedge against inflation has created a self-fulfilling cycle that causes prices to keep rising.

“When there is more liquidity, it will raise inflation. So investors pump more money into oil as a hedge and that further fuels inflation,” he said.

“It points to the risk in the oil market that the fundamentals don’t really support such continual strengthening in pricing.”

Equities investors also sought refuge from Asian stocks, which declined sharply Monday after the stunning collapse of Bear Stearns Cos., one of the world’s largest investment banks.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. agreed Sunday to buy Bear Stearns for $236.2 million in a deal aimed at averting a Bear Stearns bankruptcy and a spreading crisis of confidence in the global financial system.

But investors chose to see the move as a sign that fallout from problems in the U.S. housing market is far from over.

On Monday in Tokyo, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock index plunged more than four per cent, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng fell more than five per cent. Markets in South Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand also fell.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 0.07 cent to $3.1472 a gallon (3.8 litres) while gasoline futures jumped 3.37 cents to $2.7231 a gallon. Natural gas prices added 18.2 cents to $10.05 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: The Canadian Press