KINGSTON, Jamaica
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Oil plunged suddenly Monday afternoon, dropping more than US$4 per barrel at one point in a dramatic end to an otherwise quiet trading day in New York.
Benchmark crude fell $2.38, or 2.4 per cent, to finish at $96.62 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s the biggest percentage decline since July 23. Oil plunged below $95 per barrel during the sell-off.
Traders were unsure of the cause of Monday’s price drop. Some questioned whether an errant trade or another rumour about a release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was to blame.
The White House has been considering tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to stem the rising cost of crude and gasolene. A little over a week ago, Reuters reported the Obama administration was considering a release much larger than the 30 million barrels from last year.
Oil rose 2.7 per cent last week after getting a boost from the US Federal Reserve‘s latest plan to boost the US economy. It held to slight gains above $99 for most of Monday.
Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, fell sharply as well. Brent lost $2.91, or 2.9 per cent, to $113.77 on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.
– AP
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A Nissan Leaf electric car being charged. – Contributed
SEATTLE (AP):
If you believe Bob Lutz, one of the auto industry’s best-known executives, come mid-century we’ll all be driving around in lightweight electric cars that can go hundreds of miles between charges.
Electric-car technology is improving rapidly, he said, while internal-combustion engines are as good as they’re ever going to get.
Lutz, developer of the Chevy Volt, was at Seattle Centre, USA, on Friday for a conference called ‘Beyond Oil’ – an event that showcases green and high-tech transportation advances. Sponsored by local think-tank Cascadia Centre, the city of Seattle, VIA Motors and others, the conference drew transportation execs, state officials and electric-car enthusiasts.
They showed off or peered inside an assortment of energy-efficient vehicles on display – everything from plug-in Nissan Leafs to an aerodynamic Viking X car built by students at Western Washington University and something called a Firefly, for use by parking enforcers and security patrols.
For now, electric cars remain a niche market, with price being a huge factor – typically US$35,000 to US$40,000 for a basic passenger car.
Lutz guessed that unless electric cars can be priced as cheaply as gasolene-powered cars, only about five per cent of the public will pay extra for green cars. For now, he said, the most cost-effective use for electric motors is in trucks and delivery fleets that burn lots of gas.
He’s a board member at VIA Motors, which showed off a white van brought from Utah. Like a Volt, it runs all-electric during a normal workday, with gasolene as backup power for trips longer than 40 miles.
VIA plans to deliver 2,000 of the vehicles to government and business fleets around the country next year.
More mainstream
Still, plug-in cars have become more mainstream since 2006, when scientists and amateur mechanics at the Beyond Oil conference here spent time explaining how to retrofit a hybrid Prius so it could be plugged into a regular household power socket. Since then, Nissan, Chevrolet, Toyota, Ford and Mitsubishi have all developed plug-in models.
The next big advance? The experts say it will be automobile bodies made of lightweight carbon fibre that will help cars run on less energy, much like the Boeing Dreamliner.
That, in turn, will enable cars to be propelled by smaller batteries and powertrains, according to Amory Lovins, chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, which does research into efficient technologies.
A carbon-built auto industry is already getting under way, Lovins said, noting that carbon fiber made in Moses Lake is being sent to BMW in Germany, and a company called Fiberforge is negotiating with US automakers about how to build carbon-fibre vehicles.
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Petroleum Company of Jamaica (Petcom) has entered into a dealership arrangement with the family of the late Lloyd ‘LG’ Brown to operate a service station at the intersection of Dunrobin and Constant Spring roads in St Andrew.
It’s part of the state-owned gasoline retailer’s strategy to procure a greater share of the overall petroleum retail market of which it now controls only 12 per cent. Petcom increases its service station chain to 29 with the deal.
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Acquisition of the former LG Service Station puts Petcom in a position to profit at one of the major intersections in St Andrew (Photo: Naphtali Junior) |
“Petcom is currently on a drive to expand our service station network and therefore we have been actively looking for strategic locations, particularly in the Corporate Area,” said the company’s general manager, Courtney Lawes.
“Our new location, Petcom Dunrobin, is not only a popular service station but it has the additional advantage of being situated in a high-traffic area,” said Lawes.
Government figures show that three major multinational oil companies
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW Hugh Wildman on Tuesday urged the Government to use its 19 per cent share in the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) to acquire the electricity grid from the light and power company in an effort to accommodate energy providers who would want to enter the market.
Wildman, the attorney for the group of persons who had the Supreme Court struck down the exclusivity aspect of the JPS’s 20-year all-island licence, said that the grid should be in State control in order for Jamaica to benefit from affordable energy.
“Persons are expressing an interest in providing energy. What the Government needs to do now is use its 19 per cent share to acquire the grid from the JPS to allow other players to come on board,” said Wildman, who was speaking at the Kiwanis weekly luncheon at the Wyndham Hotel in New Kingston.
Wildman said that there are new players out there with better technology that would benefit consumers.
“Without cheaper energy Jamaica is going nowhere but down. Jamaica deserves better,” Wildman said.
The way was made clear for other players to enter the energy market when Justice Bryan Sykes on July 30 struck down the exclusivity aspect of JPS’s licence, issued by the energy minister in 2001. At the same time though, Sykes said that the all-island aspect of the licence was valid.
JPS has since appealed the ruling. So too have Dennis Meadows, Betty Ann Blaine and Cyrus Rousseau, the group of people who have brought the action against the JPS.
The claimants are asking the Court of Appeal to declare the licence invalid. The claimants are set to argue that only one licence was issued to the JPS and that it cannot be divided to make one part valid and another part invalid, as was done by the Supreme Court. The claimants are contending that the Electric Lighting Act prevents an entity from providing electricity across the entire island.
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CARICOM-member countries have agreed to work together to ensure adequate support for the region’s renewable energy push.
The commitment came out of a meeting held last Friday at the conclusion of a two-day renewable energy summit in the Republic of Malta, organised by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
State minister in the ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Julian Robinson, who was Jamaica’s representative at the summit, called the early-morning meeting of CARICOM member states in attendance, to examine how the region could interact with entities like IRENA to source assistance, grants, and other financial instruments, “to facilitate joined-up projects rather than compete head on for instruments from the same global financial pie”.
Robinson pointed out, many of the smaller countries lose out to the larger and better resourced ones when trying to source financial assistance.
According to Robinson, arising from the meeting, the eight CARICOM countries represented agreed in principle to work together to complete a renewable energy assessment within the region.
He said the members also pledged to “examine the possibilities of harmonising regulations and legislative framework for renewables, which will allow all investors to invest within the region in complement, not competition”.
They have also agreed to carry out work with regulators on renewable energy initiatives.
The group also resolved to increase the CARICOM presence in the IRENA. Only two countries, Antigua and Barbuda, and Grenada, are currently members.
The eight CARICOM countries represented at the Malta summit were Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Barbados, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Dominica.
President and CEO of JPS, Kelly A. Tomblin.-Rudolph Brown/Photographer
The much maligned and criticised Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) could be the one to save the Government‘s floundering liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which will bring cheaper electricity to Jamaicans.
Having stuck to the letter of the law and prevented the parent company of the JPS, Marubeni Corporation, from bidding to supply LNG to Jamaica, the Government now seems ready to eat humble pie and beg the firm for help.
Marubeni had wanted to submit a bid to supply the LNG to Jamaica but was disqualified after it arrived minutes after the 5 p.m. deadline.
However, with the qualified bidders offering prices that would not lead to any appreciable decline in the cost of electricity to Jamaicans, it appears negotiations are set to be initiated with Marubeni.
“The prices quoted by the bidders are much higher than Jamaica can pay and would not attract the JPS or the bauxite companies,” a source close to the talks told
Tropical Storm Leslie has hit Bermuda with high winds and heavy rains, causing power outages and flooding in parts of the island.
However, there were no immediate reports of major damage or personal injuries.
The Bermuda Electric Light Company reported five major power outages, knocking out power to 650 customers, before Leslie, packing sustained winds of 60 miles per hour, passed the island just before noon around 145 miles to the east.
Bus and ferry services as well as flights were cancelled, with the exception of a British Airways flight from London, which was scheduled to land in the afternoon.
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A team from South Korean company Samsung is to visit the island this week to hold talks with the government on its LNG project.
Samsung has emerged as the preferred bidder for the development and operation of the LNG floating storage and re-gasification terminal.
It is understood that Samsung has written to the Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell asking for a meeting with him and all the parties involved.
Paulwell has admitted that after three months, a formal deal is yet to be struck with Samsung.
He stressed that the negotiation is a process and the government is proceeding with caution.
The government had projected to introduce LNG by 2014 but there are doubts that this timeline may be achieved because the administration is yet to secure a supplier of the LNG.
There are also fears that the current cost of the fuel may prohibit the government from realising its aim of reducing the cost of electricity by 30 per cent.
Paulwell said he is awaiting the final report from the LNG steering committee, which is due this month.
He added that after reviewing the report, the government will indicate its position going forward.
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