U.S. oil demand during the first half of 2008 fell by an average 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared with the same period a year ago, the biggest volume decline in 26 years, the Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday. In its latest monthly energy forecast, the EIA said the huge drop in demand was due to slower U.S. economic growth and the impact of high petroleum prices. The drop in U.S. oil demand helped offset a 1.3-million bpd increase in petroleum consumption in nonindustrial countries during the first half of the year. As a result, preliminary data shows that global oil consumption rose by 500,000 bpd in the six-month period, the EIA said. The Energy Department’s analytical arm sees continued falling oil demand, and for the first time is predicting that U.S. petroleum consumption in 2009 will be lower than this year, which would mark a drop in annual demand for three years straight. ‘Total U.S. petroleum and other liquids consumption is projected to shrink by almost 500,000 (bpd) in 2008 based on prospects for a weak economy and continuing high crude oil and product prices extending into 2009,’ the EIA said. U.S. […]
Internet users appear to take the concept of privacy online seriously, but their actions don’t follow their words very well. AOL surveyed a thousand online consumers in the UK in order to get a feel for their understanding of privacy issues on the Internet and found that while 84 percent said that they would remain tight-lipped about personal details, even more ended up forking them over without any hesitation. ‘Our research identified a significant gap between what people say and what they do when it comes to protecting sensitive information online,’ AOL Chief Privacy Officer Jules Polonetsky said in a statement. That gap was to the tune of 89 percent, which is the fraction of those surveyed who ended up divulging personal income details-‘without any pressure or persuasion,’ says AOL. Here at the Ars Orbiting HQ, we imagine an amusing scenario where AOL placed the two questions immediately after one another: ‘1) Would you ever tell someone your income online? 2) What is your annual household income?’ Hey, no one ever said Internet users weren’t easily distracted by shiny things. Additionally, AOL found that the more people understood about the risks involved in sharing personal details online, […]
Almost one-third of U.S. homeowners who bought in the last five years now owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, according to Zillow.com, an Internet provider of home valuations. Second-quarter home prices fell 9.9 percent from a year earlier, giving 29 percent of owners negative equity, said Zillow, the Seattle-based service that offers values for more than 80 million homes. For those who bought at the 2006 peak of the housing market, 45 percent are now underwater, Zillow said. Negative equity and declining prices are making it difficult for homeowners to sell property for a profit. Almost one-quarter of U.S. homes sold in the past year were for a loss, Zillow said. That contributes to the foreclosure rate because some homeowners can’t absorb the loss and end up surrendering their homes to the bank that holds the mortgage, said Stan Humphries, Zillow’s vice president of data and analytics. ‘For homeowners who need to sell, this is a gravely serious situation,” Humphries said in an interview. ‘It can also be harmful to communities where the number of unsold homes adds more to inventory and puts downward pressure on prices.” The highest percentages of homeowners […]
Opec nations earned as much in the first half of this year as they did in the whole of 2007 – thanks both to record oil prices and record production – triggering a big increase in its spending. Members of the Saudi ÂArabia-led oil exporters’ cartel took home $645bn (£335bn, €430bn) between January and June, just below the record $671bn they earned last year, according to the US department of energy. At the current pace, Opec nations would earn about $1,245bn this year, a record. The recent 20 per cent drop in oil prices below $120 a barrel is unlikely to damp the earnings significantly, as higher output will offset the impact. Industry estimates suggest that Opec production in July hit a record 32.6m b/d. The current oil price, at $116.53 a barrel, is still higher than the first half of the year’s average: $111.1 a barrel. The flood of petrodollars has boosted Opec’s overseas spending, with imports rising up to 40 per cent from last year’s level. Binky Chadha, of Deutsche Bank in New York, said that Asian emerging markets were now the primary beneficiaries of oil exporters’ rising trade expenditure, followed by […]
Despite appearances, T. Boone Pickens has not become an instant environmentalist. But he has become an advocate of wind power, because he sees the country’s dependence on imported petroleum as a security threat. As he puts it, ‘You don’t have to attack the United States to put us on our back. You just cut 30 percent of the oil.’ Pickens advocates replacing natural gas with wind power to generate electricity. In turn, that natural gas would fuel cars, buses and trucks, replacing gasoline, and reducing petroleum imports. Out of concern for national security, he has devised a strategy that is attractive to environmentalists. Much of the detail of Pickens’ plan remains to be filled in. Aside from a vague reference to the need for tax credits, he has not publicly dealt with the issue of financing the enormously expensive construction of new wind turbines and the vast extension of the national electrical grid that will be required. He is similarly silent about wind power technology not having advanced sufficiently to carry the burden he assigns to it and will require government investment in research and development before it can. Pickens is a steadfast Republican who notoriously financed […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
