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Backseat Driver: The polar bear is where the rubber meets the road

The fortunes of the polar bear could well become the ultimate symbol of our thirst for oil.

With the Bush administration, which is not known to be pro-environment when oil industry interests are at stake, declaring the polar bear a threatened species, you got to figure it really is threatened.

But Alaska is now suing to challenge the ruling, according to the Associated Press.
Republican Governor Sarah Palin said the studies that predict the loss of sea ice which the bears need to hunt for seals are unreliable.

At issue is the possible loss of “oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off the state’s northern and northwestern coasts.”

The Department of the Interior last week declared the polar bear threatened based on three findings, according to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne:
"First, sea ice is vital to polar bear survival. Second, the polar bear’s sea-ice habitat has dramatically melted in recent decades. Third, computer models suggest sea ice is likely to further recede in the future."

So, will sentiment for one of the most significant animals in the world triumph over oil and gas interests in Alaska?

Frankly, it is hard to see how Alaska can overturn the Bush administration in one of its few nods to the problem of global warming.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 4:13 PM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 3

Backseat Driver: Ready for $5 a gallon for regular?

Sounds incredible, doesn’t it? But given the way gas prices are ratcheting up on an almost daily basis, it is not out of the realm of possibility. Not with the way oil prices are going.

For anyone who has worked in the oil patch, as I did with Petroleum Intelligence Weekly and Platt’s Oilgram in New York in the early 1980s followed by a couple of years helping to set up the energy desk at Reuters, the current surge in oil prices is simply incredible.

And the ramifications are enormous.

But let’s start with gas prices. The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is now $3.83 a gallon, according to the Associated Press.

Really? Not around here. On my way down to Westerly yesterday, I saw $3.99 a gallon. Add on that 9/10th of a cent the gas companies love to slide in those tiny numbers – forgive me if I repeat myself – and that’s $4.00 a gallon.

Just weeks ago, that number was seen as a possibility sometime this year. Well, we’re at $4.00 a gallon now and I don’t see any end in sight.

Just look at the crude oil market. At the beginning of the week it was flirting with $130 a barrel; this week we’ve hit over $135 a barrel before coming down to about $132 today. What’s going on?

It’s partly the new demand from developing economies such as China and India; and it’s partly speculation by commodity brokers who are always attracted to prices that are going up.

Now the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that its previous projections of global crude oil supplies may be off by many millions of barrels a day. According to a front page story in today’s Wall Street Journal, both the agency and the U.S. Energy Department are worried about supply not keeping up with demand.

“The oil investments required may be much, much higher than what people assume. This is a dangerous situation,” the paper quotes IEA chief economist Fatih Birol as saying.

The paper cites all sorts of problems in the global oil patch, including the fighting in Iraq and sanctions on Iran hindering investments in both nations, political turmoil in Nigerian and Venezuela and production slumping in a number of areas.

Earlier this month, Birol told the German magazine Internationale Politik: “We see a sharp decline in production from the existing oil fields, especially in the North Sea, the USA and many non-OPEC countries.”

"Exactly 12.5 million barrels a day are still missing, about 15 % of the global oil demand. This gap means that we could face a supply shortage and very high prices during the next (few) years."

Gulp!

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 3:15 PM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil surpasses $135 a barrel on new supply concerns

Oil prices rose above $135 a barrel for the first time Thursday, with supply worries, global demand and an ever weakening U.S dollar driving crude futures up, according to the Associated Press.

Also on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the world's top energy watchdog is preparing a sharp downward revision of its oil-supply forecast.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:16 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0

Ford cuts N. American production, cuts profit goal

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. no longer expects to return to profitability by 2009 and is cutting North American production of pickups and SUVs for the rest of this year as high gas prices and the weak economy hurt sales, the company announced Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
The Dearborn-based automaker also cut back its projections for total U.S. sales in 2008 to between 15 million and 15.4 million vehicles. That's down from 17 million vehicles as recently as 2005.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:15 AM to Ford | Permalink | Comments 0

Video: NASCAR Drivers Ready for 600-mile Race

AP Photo

NASCAR drivers Casey Mears, Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers and David Ragan look ahead to Sunday's 600-mile race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in North Carolina. Click here to see the AP Video.

In above photo, Kasey Kahne takes a victory lap after winning the NASCAR Sprint All-Star auto race at the speedway on Saturday.

Posted by Pam Cotter  at 8:08 AM to Racing | Permalink | Comments 0

Backseat Driver: Gas prices on my mind - and yours too I bet

Gollee!

I just filled up my car with regular at $3.96 a gallon.

And by the way, that includes that 9/10ths of a cent the gas companies add on in tiny numbers at the end of their prices.

I guess they hope you won’t notice that little bit of extra money they are putting in their pockets.

The total bill was $76 for 19.2 gallons.

It was actually a little surreal. I had just started filling it up when I noticed the price and assumed I had pressed the wrong button and was filling up with premium.

Right button - premium was $4.15 a gallon! Oh, excuse me, make that $4.16 a gallon – I almost forget that 9/10ths of a cent.

And with the price of oil now over $129 a barrel, prices are not going down any time soon.

But you know what? I think there is a bright side to this. Yes, it’s painful for all of us. The price of oil affects everything and this dramatic increase over the last few months means a readjustment of our spending habits, especially our driving habits.

But necessity is the mother of invention and I do not think we are going to sit around and cry about this massive change in our lives. Instead it is going to prompt all sorts of changes which for the most part are already on our doorstep.

For while we have paid lip service to freeing ourselves from dependence on foreign oil, most of the work to develop alternate fuels has been driven by concern about the environment and the ever more stringent laws to reduce emissions.

I have written for some time about the new diesels which are on the verge of arriving from Europe, starting with Volkswagen’s Jetta sedan and wagon. And I confess I have been in love with the Jetta diesel sport wagon since I first saw it at the New York Auto Show last year.

It will be available in the late summer I believe and I am sure it’s going to be a big success. It’s fast, economical and green – and good looking to boot!

Mercedes is going the further mile and coming out with a diesel hybrid in the fairly near future and that to me is the ultimate make-sense car. Electric around town and clean diesel on the highway – the best of both worlds and probably a big part of our future.

Certainly it is getting harder and harder to justify my gas guzzling Volvo station wagon. Not at these prices.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:29 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

Diesel Automobiles Clean Up for an Encore

Volkswagen says it will be the first to market with diesels clean enough to pass muster in every state. Jetta TDI sedans and wagons are due to arrive in August.

AFTER years in the automotive wilderness, largely exiled to the smoky borders of truck stops, diesel is coming home. Americans may not recognize its freshly scrubbed face, according to The New York Times.

A 19th-century invention by Rudolf Diesel, the diesel engine has always been known for outstanding fuel efficiency, with better mileage (by 25 percent to 40 percent) than gasoline. But the kerosenelike fuel and the engines that burn it were dirty, noisy, dawdling and even deadly, linked to increased risk of cancer and respiratory disease.

That has all changed, in part because of cleaner-burning fuel — its 2006 rollout had been mandated in 2000 by the Clinton administration — that has 97 percent less of the sulfur responsible for diesel engines’ sooty particulates.

The low-sulfur fuel, hailed by the Environmental Protection Agency as a historic advance, has opened the door to sophisticated emissions controls that let diesel engines meet the strict pollution standards of California. Those rules, the world’s most stringent by far, require 2009-model diesels to be as green as gasoline or even hybrid models.

In the meantime, advances like turbocharging and high-pressure fuel injection have transformed diesel cars from soot-belching slowpokes with a telltale clickety-clack sound to smooth, tidy and powerful machines that many Americans would have a hard time distinguishing from gasoline models.

With technical and environmental hurdles overcome — and facing tougher mileage standards that call for a 35 m.p.g. average by 2020 — automakers are rushing in with clean-diesel cars.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:26 AM to Clean diesel | Permalink | Comments 0

Bob Tasca III makes first-round exit in Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. – It just wasn’t Bob Tasca III’s day at Bristol Dragway on Sunday as the rookie driver fell to Ron Capps in the first round of NHRA POWERade Drag Racing eliminations, according to Tasca's publicist Alexis Kinch.

“Ron went out and made a solid pass,” said Tasca. “We just didn’t quite have enough for him today.”

The driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane/Custom Accessories Shelby Mustang's record against Capps drops to 0-2 after posting a 4.923-second, 313.88 mph run to Capps’ 4.827-second, 316.52 mph pass.

“We expected the car to run a high 4.70, Chris [Cunningham, crew chief] was pretty confident on that,” said Tasca. “It’s just disappointing that the car just didn't do what we expected it to. We also didn’t have that little bit of extra luck that you need in this sport. But, you can’t get down about it. The next race in Topeka is coming up, so now we focus on that.

"The team is going to pick up our new three-rail car this week in Indianapolis, which is the same style chassis that the Force teams are running with. Ford Motor Company has invested a lot of time into this new chassis to make it safer out here for us competitors, and we’re optimistic that it is going to show us a little something for our zero to 60 feet.”

The series takes the week off before heading to Topeka, Kansas for the 20th annual O’Reilly Summer Nationals May 30-June 1. It will be Tasca’s first visit to the Kansas track, and the ninth race of the 24-race NHRA schedule.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:02 AM to Racing | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil prices gain while pump prices rise to new high

NEW YORK -- Oil futures crept higher Monday while retail gas and diesel prices reached new records, adding to the pressure on drivers planning road trips for the coming holiday weekend, according to the Associated Press.

Americans are now paying an average of $3.79 for a gallon of regular gas, according to a survey by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Diesel now costs $4.52 a gallon.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 10:41 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0