Falklands : Hydrocarbons Weekend Record (22 and 23 May 2006)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 24.07.2006 (Article Archived on 07.08.2006)
Diplomatic efforts in the mid-east are keeping the price of oil from rising sharper.
HYDROCARBONS WEEKEND RECORD: 22 AND 23 JULY 2006
By J. Brock (FINN)
TRENDS:
All eyes are now on the mid east and the escalating fighting in Israel and Lebanon. Thinking is that this will be a long and drawn out affair but with international diplomatic co-operation, it will not spread. The continued diplomatic effort as well as good gasoline supplies in the states and calm weather in the Gulf of Mexico has helped to keep crude prices down.
DEVELOPING FACTORS:
Seeking alternative methods of energy generation have kept hope alive that people will be able to save money in the face of higher hydrocarbons products costs. Vehicles running on propane as well as those running on hydrogen are becoming more popular with municipalities worldwide.
In the hydrocarbons sector there are more finds of natural gas, which is liquefied and turned into highly pure diesel fuel. It is hoped that more can be done to break the links between rises in the price per barrel of crude and that of liquefied natural gas.
LATIN AMERICA:
(Venezuela)
Several news agencies report that Petrobras and Chevron have become the most recent companies to partner with Venezuela’s state owned oil company PDVSA. New joint venture contracts are changing the way Venezuela deals with foreign companies because they give foreign investment a major role in industrial operations. Previous contracts negotiated in the 1990’s did not leave the Venezuelan state firmly in control of its own resources.
MERCOSUR has completed its meeting in Cordoba in Argentina with Brazil taking on the presidency. Various duties and tariffs have been sorted out and, with Venezuela a full member, it looks as if the international hydrocarbons trade in the region will be economical, though not significant for a while. With better political and trade relations it makes the MERCOSUR countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela – a better place to do business than the Mid East at the moment. Give this a while. It is hoped, that despite analysts’ opinions, the region will take full advantage of the new trade agreements.
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