Saudi Arabia Slashes Output -- Pulls Back Production 800,000 BOPD

Updates

April 20, 2011: Both WTI and Brent oil prices are trending higher. WTI is up $1.30 today, solidly above $109; Brent is up $160, nearing $123. Both are at the high end of their recent price range.

Original Post

Link here.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister said on Sunday [April 17, 2011] the kingdom had slashed output by 800,000 barrels per day in March due to oversupply, sending the strongest signal yet that OPEC will not act to quell soaring prices.

So much for the Libyan civil war causing a global shortage of oil.

If that "quote" is accurate, it means that Saudi never did increase oil output despite what they said, and despite the Libyan civil war. Remember, the civil war started in March, and Saudi now says they cut production 800,000 bopd in March. 

I don't think I have to say much more; the article speaks volumes. If there is an oversupply, the price of oil should plummet tomorrow (all things being equal).

But something smells in Denmark, and it ain't Brent crude.

If there is an over-supply of oil, one would expect price of oil to start to fall. Generally when OPEC "slashes" output, the price of oil increases.  Futures don't seem to correlate well with actual prices the following day, but right now WTI futures are down about 60 cents; earlier this evening WTI oil had been down as much as 80 cents. That is not much of a reaction to an announcement that Saudi Arabia has slashed output.

If "slashing" output doesn't affect price of WTI oil much it suggests traders have known all along that they didn't think Saudi would increase production all that much. In fact, if Saudi says they slashed output in March, this is an "old" story to traders who are in the know.

Japanese Nuclear Disaster: Timeline For Shutting Down Reactor -- To Start Shutting Down in Early 2012

Updates

May 7, 2012: Japan is nuclear-energy free. The last of 54 nuclear reactors was shut down. Japan is the first major economy in the modern world to be nuclear free. 

Original Post

Link here.

The operators will be able to start shutting down the reactors in early 2012.

A two-phase plan that involves first plugging leaks and cooling the reactors, then shutting them down by the beginning of 2012 is the most concrete [no pun intended?] timetable offered yet for resolving Japan's worse nuclear crisis.

Our own Secretary of State Hillary Clinton helps draw up the plan.

I honestly did not know she also had training as a nuclear physicist.

Why do visions of "The Simpsons" suddenly flash across my mind?

I keep updates on the Japanese nuclear disaster here.

Potash Lease Sale in North Dakota -- April 26, 2011

Bidding begins at 10:00 a.m. CST. 

There are 51 tracts covering 3,906.2 net mineral acres available for lease from the state of North Dakota.

Click here for an earlier posting on North Dakota potash, or use the labels at the bottom of the blog to find other potash postings. One can also "search" potash on the site using the browser application at the top of the blog. 

 I don't follow potash very closely so what is posted is about all I know about it.

Well, This Was Good Planning -- Too Much Renewable Energy

Updates

May 15, 2011: It's official. Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) may turn off the wind turbines as early as this weekend -- more to follow. Too much renewable electricity (hydroelectric and wind), and cost of electricity continues to go up (see original post).

Original Post

Because of the huge amount of water runoff (i.e., flooding) this year in the Pacific Northwest, and the number of new wind farms in Washington and Oregon, the electric grid can no longer handle all of the energy.

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), which is responsible for managing the regional transmission system, has indicated that it will likely limit wind power to handle a surge in hydro-power production resulting from the melt-off of a large mountain snowpack this year. The regional transmission system apparently lacks the capacity to accommodate wind production and heavier than usual hydropower production at the same time.

The heavier-than-normal precipitation, caused by global warming, which the wind turbines were designed to prevent, was predicted by global warming advocates as far back as 2003.

Exceptionally good planning.

All this good news has not helped rate payers. As noted only days ago, BPA customers will see a double-digit rise (on a percentage basis) in their utility bills. Despite the fact that natural gas prices are headed lower due to all the snowfall.

Memo to self: File this under, "I can't make this stuff up."

Incidentally, I can't recall the last time I saw this four-letter word in Forbes Magazine:

Needless to say, wind investors are pissssssssed.

We Can Get Men To The Moon and Back, But We Can't Get A Train Into LAX

Update

April 25, 2011: Update on high-speed rail.

Original Posting

The explanation(s) why the Los Angeles airport doesn't have light rail access would be humorous -- on second thought it is humorous -- but, I was going to say, if the reasons weren't so bizarre.

Memo to self: file this under "Stuff I can't make up."

Remember that initiative for high speed rail? It appears "we" can't even build a 2.5 mile section of slow rail any more.

At least 20 airports across the nation have rail access, according to the American Public Transportation Assn., including those in Chicago and New York. LAX is the nation's third-busiest airport and the sixth-busiest in the world, and travelers have long wondered why L.A. has no airport rail link.

The Los Angeles subway / light rail system comes within 2.5 miles of LAX but from there you catch a 15-minute shuttle bus. Which of course, is no big deal, because no one rides the Los Angeles subway / light rail system anyway. The Green Line almost got to LAX when it was built in the 1990's but "they ran out of money." LOL. My four-year-old granddaughter can budget better than that. [That is hyperbole; of course, she can't.]

["That's a nice McMansion you have there. But I don't see a front door." "Oh, we ran out of money."]

There are not less than half a dozen reasons why light rail never made it to LAX and why it still won't make it to LAX but the most bizarre reason is this:

Linking the Green Line to LAX also faced hurdles from the Federal Aviation Administration, which worried the line could create a hazard to air navigation, interfere with electronic or visual aids, or obstruct aircraft approach and departure paths.

You have got to be kidding. How do the other "more than 20 airports across the nation" manage to keep operating safely despite rail access? Now that we know rail access can interfere with flight operations, perhaps rail access should be terminated at these other airports. Who would have thought?

By the way, in LA, the Green Line is known as the "line to nowhere."

And that folks, is just a 2.5 mile stretch of light rail. Something tells me I'm not going to see much of that high speed rail initiative in my lifetime.

Oh, by the way, the real reason Los Angeles is not interested in connecting the Green Line to the airport: Los Angeles is a "car town." No one rides the subway in LA.

Actually, the rumbling of a train on rickety rails or regularly irregular blasts of a locomotive horn might help keep FAA controllers awake.

*********

Another rail story, this time closer to home.

If Amtrak service to northeast North Dakota is to continue, $100 million worth of improvements and repairs are needed. Without the repairs, Amtrak will go from Minot to Fargo, bypassing Devils Lake and Grand Forks, in addition to other stops. Repairs and maintenance will disrupt traffic for two seasons.

I'm sure that's another "shovel-ready" project that won't be completed in my lifetime.