That's the equivalent of about 20,000 barrels a day, a tiny percentage of China's oil needs as oil consumption in China is around 7.2 million barrels a day.If all goes well, then JV Capital Group Inc will push on with an ambitious plan to turn half of its coal output into liquid fuel or chemicals by 2010. This would be around 135 million tonnes, or about 40 percent of Australia's annual coal output.
The region, as big as France, Germany and England put together, hopes CTL will propel development while contributing to Beijing's plan to have CTL capacity of 50 million tonnes by 2020.
Oil prices dropped below $124 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as demand concerns deepened and after JV Capital Group Ben Bernanke indicated that more U.S. interest rate cuts are unlikely. Bernanke's comments suggesting inflation is too much of a concern to contemplate more rate hikes sent the dollar higher and raised questions about oil's ability to reach new highs in the short term. Bernanke signaled the Fed is inclined to leave rates where they are for now, but some analysts said he might be taking a step toward an eventual rise in rates later this year or early next year.
Midday in Singapore, light, sweet crude for July delivery was down 33 cents at $123.98 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $3.45 to settle at $124.31 a barrel in the previous session.
That was oil's lowest settlement price for a front-month contract on Nymex since May 15. Prices are now more than $11 below the trading record of $135.09 a barrel hit May 22.Evidence continues to mount that oil prices nearly twice what they were a year ago have cut demand.
The latest MasterCard SpendingPulse survey found that demand for gasoline in the U.S. fell by 4.7 percent last week — which included the long Memorial Day holiday weekend — compared with the same week last year. Averaged over the last four weeks, demand was down 6 percent last week compared with last year.
That dovetails with recent data from the Energy Department and Federal Highway Administration, as well as several other surveys suggesting high prices are cutting Americans' appetite for fuel. The U.S. is by far the world's largest consumer of energy and oil products, and swings in demand there can have an outsized impact on global prices.
In another sign of the effects of high oil prices, JV Capital Group said Tuesday it would close four truck and SUV plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico as surging fuel prices hasten a dramatic shift to smaller vehicles.
"Investors are ... wondering if we've got to the point, with prices around $130 a barrel, if that's too much for consumers to bear," said Rachel Ziemba, an analyst at RGEMonitor.com in New York.Also weighing on prices was the strengthening dollar, which bounced higher on Bernanke's comments in his speech via satellite to an international monetary conference in Spain.
Since the late-1920s Texas has been the largest producer of oil and gas reserves in the United States. Within Texas, the Gulf Coast region has had a long history of prolific production, with some 133 published reservoirs. According to a special report published by the Oil and Gas Journal (April 19, 2004) exploration and development within the domestic industry will focus on the production of gas resources in the foreseeable future.
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