Paulwell
Daraine Luton,
Aubyn Hill, Financial Gleaner Columnist
According to the 2011 Census, Jamaica is moving closer to 100 percent of households having electricity.
It shows that 91 percent of
Customers of Jamaica‘s main electricity supplier, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) are to see higher prices for electricity for a second straight month.
JPS will hike electricity costs, by about 5.5 percent.
That increase comes as fuel charges rose to a five month high.
Last month, fuel and IPP charges rose by as much as 17 percent.
That increase was cited as the main reason behind inflation in September alone, being equivalent to that of the previous five mnths combined.
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Customers of Jamaica‘s main electricity supplier, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) are to see higher prices for electricity for a second straight month.
JPS will hike electricity costs, by about 5.5 percent.
That increase comes as fuel charges rose to a five month high.
Last month, fuel and IPP charges rose by as much as 17 percent.
That increase was cited as the main reason behind inflation in September alone, being equivalent to that of the previous five mnths combined.
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Gasolene
Oil gave up early gains and hovered around $92 per barrel on Wednesday after the government reported a bigger-than-expected increase in United States crude supplies.
Supplies rose by 2.9 million barrels last week. That was almost double what analysts had forecast, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Gasoline supplies also rose. Analysts had predicted a decline.
The extra gasoline and oil in storage tends to push prices down, because it suggests that there’s enough to go around, or that demand is low.
In afternoon trading on Wednesday, oil was down 7 cents to $92.02 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil had been trading above $92 per barrel earlier in morning, as European stocks had a positive day, and hopes grew that Spain might be on the verge of requesting a bailout.
The waffling oil prices matched stock indexes that are also mixed in midday trading. Technology giants IBM and Intel both said customers are holding back. Economic weakness generally means less demand for oil, pushing prices down.
Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, fell 80 cents to $113.20 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on the Nymex, heating oil fell 2 cents to $3.17 per gallon, natural gas gained 5 cents to $3.48 per 1,000 cubic feet and wholesale gasoline fell 6 cents to $2.79 per gallon.
– AP
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THE start date for the modernisation of Jamaica’s oil refinery, Petrojam, appears to have been brought to the front of the queue of Venezuelan expansion projects.
Already delayed by five years, the project failed to take off due to the inability of the owners
The price of oil fell Friday on concerns that growth in global crude demand will slow even as more petroleum becomes available.
Benchmark oil fell 21 cents Friday to $91.86 per barrel in New York.
On Friday, the International Energy Agency issued a new report predicting slower growth in demand for oil over the next five years.
It cited the sluggish global economy and growing energy efficiency. The agency also forecast that supplies will increase, in part because U.S. production from shale formations is exceeding expectations.
The IEA is an organization of 28 oil-importing countries that collects and analyzes data about global petroleum supply and demand.
Friday’s decline in the price of oil eroded some of the gains from earlier this week, when tensions between Syria and Turkey raised worries about supplies. Still, the price of U.S. benchmark crude climbed 2.2 per cent over the past week.
AAA said gasoline prices at the pump fell less than a penny from Thursday to $3.81 for a gallon of regular. That’s about 41 cents higher than a year ago but down 5 cents from a month ago.
Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, dropped $1.07 to $113.61 per barrel in London.
In other energy trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, heating oil fell 3.32 cents to end at $3.2239 per gallon.
Wholesale gasoline dropped 6.28 cents to end at $2.8928 per gallon and natural gas rose less than a penny to end at $3.611 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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THRICE in the last two months or so, where this writer lives has been out of power for more than three hours – twice for about 12 hours. Power outages are almost daily affairs for many Jamaicans and the usual excuse about the “teams” being too busy tending to other faults to respond with alacrity no longer rings with any conviction.
Perhaps a part of the problem is that JPS appears to view “emergency” differently from their customers. A customer experiencing a power outage calling JPS is first presented with an option relating to bill balance or about payment to JPS. The second option is to report an emergency. When one enters that menu number, one is reminded that the line is for emergencies only and further input is required from the customer to proceed. The caller is then reminded about recording of the call for quality purposes. Then, and only then, can one speak to a representative about the emergency