The Peak Oil Crisis: China’s Year of the Tiger With each passing day, it is becoming increasingly likely that the future of our gasoline prices and consequently our economic well-being over the next few years will be determined by what happens with China’s economy. For over 30 years, China’s GDP has grown at an unprecedented 10 percent a year allowing for the absorption of 15 million new workers into the labor force annually. Much of this growth has been supported by ever-increasing exports as China converted itself from a backwards agricultural nation to the center of world manufacturing. Mexico replaced 74.9% of oil and gas reserves Mexico discovered new proven oil and gas reserves sufficient to replace 74.9% of production last year, according to a preliminary estimate released by state-owned Pemex today. Gazprom says LNG can compete with shale Russian monopoly Gazprom expects liquefied natural gas shipments to compete with rising output of shale gas in the US as the Russian producer aims to expand into the world’s biggest energy market. “Shale gas and LNG are competitive in one price range,” Gazprom exec Alexander Medvedev said in an interview in Paris yesterday. “The market will say who will be in the market and with what.” Exxon Urges U.K. to Keep Open Gas Market as EU Trading Expands (Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest U.S. energy company, said European natural-gas spot markets are growing and lawmakers in Britain and elsewhere shouldn’t make changes that threaten their progress. “We’re seeing continued evolution to more trading at hubs on the Continent,” Richard Guerrant, Exxon’s director of Europe, Russia and the Caspian, said in an interview in Amsterdam yesterday. “All the reforms we’ve put in place over many years in Europe are starting to have an impact.” Petrobras Offering May Reach $40 Billion, BNDES Says (Bloomberg) — Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil producer, may raise as much as $40 billion in its planned share sale, the head of the country’s national development bank said. OPEC Likely to Hold Output Steady The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is likely to keep crude output quotas unchanged at their March 17 meeting in Vienna as oil prices remain at satisfactory levels, a senior Gulf official said Wednesday. “The prices are within OPEC’s preferred range of $70 to $80 per barrel and if they stay the same until the meeting, we won’t see any change in output,” the official told Zawya Dow Jones. Clinton Hopes To Change Brazil’s Mind On Iran Sanctions U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Brazil today and although the stop is just one of six on her Latin American tour, her agenda in Brasilia sets it apart from all the others. Clinton has made no secret of the fact that her top priority in Brazil is to convince President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to drop his opposition to a new round of sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council. The price of Pakistan’s generation shortfall In Pakistan, the days of doing business by candlelight are far from over. Power cuts in many areas of the country last as long as 16 hours every day, and consumers will be paying about 45 per cent more for electricity by the end of this month compared with last year as government subsidies are withdrawn. Ending the power subsidy might help the country get US$6 billion (Dh22.03bn) of loans from the IMF, but it will deeply hurt the people of Pakistan

Original Source of Drumbeat: March 3, 2010