What Kiplinger had to say about ENERGY in their 02/15/2008 newsletter: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Development of a mammoth new offshore oil find in Brazil means that by 2015 or so, Brazil's production will top those of Kuwait, Nigeria, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates. But the jump won't ease tight global supplies, only help offset declines elsewhere. Most of the oil will head to the U.S. The long trek via the Suez or Panama canals will make shipping it to Asian buyers too costly. Meanwhile, don't fret about threats of a Venezuelan oil embargo. President Hugo Chávez is using a tiff with ExxonMobil to whip up support for his government but knows diverting oil from the U.S. wouldn't work. Too few buyers are interested in his country's heavy sulfur-laden crude. Clean coal? Never mind. That's the message from the Energy Dept., which recently pulled the plug on its $1.8-billion FutureGen program, aimed at developing coal-fueled, emissions-free electricity plants. DOE says the technology to gasify coal and sequester the carbon dioxide is too iffy. Other efforts on storing CO2 underground are a decade away. Utilities will have to rely more on natural gas and nuclear power. That'll bump electricity rates up by about 50% within a decade. An ethanol flood is nearing. By next year, a slew of new plants will lift annual output to about 13 billion gallons. That's more than can be used as E85 in flexfuel vehicles on the road and as E10, the 10% ethanol-gasoline blend approved by EPA for conventional engines. Prices will plunge further, and profits will disappear for makers. Expect the feds to face pressure to speed up market development... building infrastructure and helping get ethanol into more of the country and/or letting blends with over 10% ethanol in them be used in all cars. -- Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
