Briefs - November 17, 2008

• A crude oil pipeline that feeds into the Chevron-operated Escravos export terminal in Nigeria’s Delta state was attacked late Friday. One security source said 100,000 b/d of oil output had been cut because of the attack.(11/16, #7)

• The weak US economy will reduce America’s oil demand this year by 1.1 million b/d, or 5.4 percent, the first time annual oil consumption will fall by more than 1 million b/d since 1980, according to the EIA. The Agency reduced its forecast for oil prices next year by 43 percent as the economic slowdown cuts energy demand. (11/13; #12, #13)
• The Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline that carries Azerbaijani crude oil to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey will increase shipments to 1 million b/d by the end of the year. (11/15, #10)
• Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras reported that October crude output was 1.87 million b/d, an 8.3 percent increase over the same month last year. (11/15, #11)
• Total US petroleum demand has steadily decreased, down 6.6% year-over-year on a four-week moving average, but gasoline demand improved, a sign that the sharp decline in prices at the pump may be affecting consumption patterns. Each 10-cent drop in US gasoline prices puts $12 billion/yr back in consumers’ pockets. (11/14, #14; 11/15, #15)
• China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia’s biggest oil refiner, will reduce crude processing by 10 percent in November from July’s record as the economic slowdown cuts fuel demand. China’s monthly power generation fell for the first time in four years, suggesting a significant drop in industrial demand.  (11/14, #10-11)
• In a case that could set a precedent for US federal regulation of greenhouse gases, an appeals board at the Environmental Protection Agency ordered one of the agency’s regional offices to consider imposing carbon dioxide emission limits on a proposed coal-fired power plant in Utah. (11/14, #13)
• The prospects of a government rescue for foundering American automakers dwindled Thursday as Democratic congressional leaders conceded that they would face enormous Republican opposition during a lame-duck session next week. (11/14, #15)

• Billionaire hedge-fund manager T. Boone Pickens said his plan to build a 4,000-megawatt wind farm in Texas is on hold because lower prices for natural gas would make it uneconomic. (11/14, #18)
• Russia has ordered oil firms to resume full exports in November after they cut loss-making deliveries because of high duties and falling oil prices. (11/14, #19)
• Underinvestment in liquefied natural gas production plants may boost gas prices from 2012, the International Energy Agency said. (11/13, #5)
• The Energy Information Administration has largely underestimated near-term US natural gas production in its Annual Energy Outlook, released early this year, according to a study by FACTS Global Energy in Singapore. (11/13, #16)
• The European Union moved closer to publishing weekly data on commercial oil stocks in a bid to match U.S. practices and enhance market transparency. The European Commission included the provision in a draft law that also seeks to improve the EU’s ability to cope with any oil-supply disruption. (11/13, #17)
• Russia and China have suspended talks over $25 billion in loans to Russian oil companies due to disagreements over interest rates and state guarantees, two Russian sources close to the talks told Reuters on Wednesday. (11/13, #18)
• Four months ago, economists warned of “demand destruction” as record prices and a slumping economy slowed the growth of global crude consumption. But now, the IEA is worried about “supply destruction” as producers delay expensive projects, including some in Canada’s oil sands, that would bring much-needed supplies to market. (11/12, #10)
• Federal scientists have concluded that Alaska’s North Slope holds one of the nation’s largest deposits of recoverable natural gas in the form of gas hydrates, a finding that could open a major new front in domestic energy exploration. (11/12, #22) [Editor's note: we remind readers that production from gas hydrates is far from a proven technology.]
• A severe shortage in aircraft delivery financing is threatening to leave Airbus and Boeing stranded with perhaps 200 “white-tail” aircraft they can’t place with customers. The aircraft financing crisis comes on top of fears by analysts that 20-30% of Airbus and Boeing backlogs may be at risk as airlines go bust. (11/11, #13)
• Americans are using the [cheaper gasoline] savings not to buy groceries or make home payments, but instead to drive more. That may, in turn, drive up demand and push prices right back up. So while gas prices are still well below $3 a gallon, is now the time to pass a gas tax in an effort to keep demand down? (11/11, #14)
• According to a newly published global supply report by the Energy Watch Group at the Foreign Press Association in London, world oil production peaked in 2006. (11/11, #19)
• Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest state oil company, will cut crude supplies to Asia in December for the first time in at least a year as demand slumps for naphtha and diesel fuel. (11/10, #5)
• Asphalt is becoming scarce as US refiners overhaul their equipment to maximize output of more profitable fuels such as diesel and gasoline. Refiners are also cutting back on production of a petrochemical often mixed into asphalt for road durability. (11/10, #14)
• More than four-out-of-five refinery construction projects face cancellation as the worldwide collapse in fuel demand wipes out all but those with strong government backing. (11/16, #3)