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World oil prices will rise sharply in the second half of 2007 unless OPEC increases production, the International Energy Agency said yesterday....
"We would very much hope that OPEC production is at its seasonal low at the moment," David Fyfe, analyst at the IEA, told Reuters news service. "We definitely do need more crude oil."......
Analysts said both crude oil and product markets remain tight, with inventories abnormally low for this time of year......
But he added that, unless OPEC increases production, the market will be undersupplied in the second half of the year.....
"OPEC needs to ramp up production to meet the shortfall, and fast!," the analyst wrote in a report yesterday.
Click link to see the charts they talk about.It's as simple as this:
These two pictures tell why crude oil will soon take out the all time high in the $78 range and move higher from there over the next several months:
From: Salon: If It Smells Like Peak Oil, it Probably is:World oil demand will rise faster than expected, while supplies will remain tight, the latest International Energy Agency (IEA) report has warned.
The IEA predicted demand would rise by an average 2.2% a year between 2007 and 2012, up from previous estimates of 2%.
It added that geo-political tensions and a lack of spare capacity in Opec production would also limit supplies.
By 2012, biofuel production would hit 1.8 million barrels, more than double 2006 levels it said.
However, while supplies of the green fuel are set to surge, it is likely to remain marginal with just a 2% slice of the energy market, the IEA said.
It also echoed warnings issued in an Organisation for Economic Development report that rapidly growing biofuel market will increase the price of certain feedstocks - such as sugar and corn - over the coming year.
Demand pressure
But with forecasts predicting world economic growth to increase by 4.5% a year, the report argued that oil demand was likely to soar to 95.8m barrels a day in 2012 from 81.6m bpd this year.
At the same time it predicted production from oil cartel Opec would fall, slipping by 2m bpd in 2009,(My note: NEWS FROM SAUDI!????) while it also cut supply forecasts for non-Opec countries by 800,000 bpd.
It added that other factors including rising refinery costs, engineer shortages and strong demand in other energy markets would also put pressure on oil supplies.
Demand for oil products -- primarily transportation fuels -- is growing fast. You can blame all those developing countries whose populations are approaching the critical $3,000 per capita GDP level -- that magic moment when, according to the IEA, "a middle class usually emerges, eager to purchase cars, fly in aeroplanes, install air-conditioners and, more generally, use energy-consuming appliances."
Don't blame a lack of refinery capacity -- the IEA says investment in refinery upgrades is proceeding apace, and is not likely to be a problem in the near future. But overall, supply of the raw product -- oil and gas -- is having a harder and harder time keeping up with demand.
U.S. crude prices could top $90 per barrel this autumn and hit $95 by the end of the year, if OPEC keeps oil production capped at current levels, Goldman Sachs said in a report issued on Monday.
U.S. oil prices have risen above $74 per barrel Monday, driven this month by higher demand and lower supplies (FROM ME: DID THEY ADMIT SUPPLY/DEMAND WAS ACTUALLY THE PROBLEM! WOW), the report said, pointing out that such fundamentals could tighten further unless key OPEC members hike output.
"We believe an increase in Saudi Arabian, Kuwaiti and UAE (United Arab Emirate) production by the end of the summer is critical, to avoid prices spiking above $90 a barrel this autumn," the report stated.
OPEC agreed last year to lower output by 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd), and Goldman said global oil production is down about 1 million bpd from last summer's levels.
Disappointing output growth from non-OPEC producers also helped tighten supplies, Goldman said, adding global demand was up by 1 million bpd from year-ago levels.
"Our estimates show that keeping OPEC production at current levels, and assuming normal weather this coming winter, total petroleum inventories would fall by over 150 million barrels or 6.5% by the end of the year, which would push prices to $95 a barrel without a demand response," the report forecast.
OTTAWA -- When executives from the world's largest oil companies say we need to cut back on our consumption, it should serve as the ultimate wake-up call about a looming energy crunch.
Yesterday, the former chairman of Exxon Mobil Corp. and the current chairman of Chevron Corp. led an urgent call for dramatic increases in vehicle fuel mileage standards and the rapid adoption of ethanol and other biofuels.
Without those measures and a host of others, the U.S. could face a punishing energy crisis by 2030 that would spare no energy consuming nation.
The call to arms was issued in Washington yesterday by a committee of the National Petroleum Council, which was chaired by former Exxon chairman Lee Raymond. He was joined on it by Chevron chairman and chief executive officer David O'Reilly.......
With U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman in attendance, the council released an exhaustive report on U.S. and global energy challenges over the next 25 years, and offered a series of "hard truths" about the massive investment, both public and private, needed to meet rising energy demand.....
The council also recommended the expansion of nuclear energy and concerted government effort to develop clean-coal technologies......