Top Stories
What Will You Do When The Lights Go Out? The Inevitable Failure Of The US Grid
LNG terminal Delta Airlines recently experienced what it called a power outage in its home base of Atlanta, Georgia, causing all the company’s computers to go offline—all of them. This seemingly minor hiccup managed to singlehandedly ground all Delta planes for six hours, stranding passengers for even longer, as Delta scrambled to reshuffle passengers after the Monday debacle. Where Delta blamed its catastrophic systems-wide computer failure vaguely on a loss of power, Georgia Power, their power provider, placed the ball squarely in Delta’s court, saying that “other Georgia Power customers were not affected”, and that they had staff on site to assist Delta. Whether it was a true power outage, or an outage unique to Delta is fairly insignificant. The incident was a single company without power for six measly hours, yet it wreaked much havoc. Which brings to mind (or at least it should) what happens when the […]
Oil Prices at One-Month High on Potential OPEC Action
Crude hit a one-month high Monday on hopes that the prolonged oil-price rout may drive major producers to reconsider a collective production cap. Brent crude, the global oilbenchmark, rose 0.9% to $47.38 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 0.8% at $44.86 a barrel. Prices have gained since Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih last week signaled his country was open to measures to stabilize the market, which has been beleaguered by oversupply for two years. Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, is historically seen as the de facto leader of the oil cartel. The 14-member bloc is scheduled to meet at an informal gathering late next month. Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih signaled his country was open to measures to stabilize… The idea of […]
Oil Bulls Take Heart as OPEC Rekindles Hopes of Output Freeze
Saudis say discussions may include action to stabilize prices Speculators boost bullish WTI crude bets most since January All it took was a few words from OPEC to encourageoil bulls. Money managers increased wagers on rising crude prices by the most since January as futures rebounded from a three-month low. Prices jumped after OPEC’s president said Aug. 8 the group will hold informal talks in Algiers next month and Saudi Arabia signaled Aug. 11 it’s prepared to discuss taking action to stabilize markets. “The statement certainly achieved its purpose,” said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit. “The Saudis saw bearish bets had really driven down the prices.” Talks between OPEC members and other producers may result in action to stabilize the market, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are in “constant deliberations,” according to a statement on OPEC’s […]
Oil Extends Rise Above $44 After Biggest Weekly Gain Since April
Saudi Arabia signals it’s open to discuss stabilizing markets U.S. drillers added oil rigs for a seventh week: Baker Hughes Oil extended its advance above $44 a barrel after posting the biggest weekly increase since April. Futures rose as much as 0.6 percent in New York after climbing 6.4 percent last week as Saudi Arabia signaled it’s prepared to discuss stabilizing markets at informal OPEC discussions next month. Venezuela’s oil and foreign ministers will visit producer countries to lobby for price increases ahead of the talks, President Nicolas Maduro said. U.S. producers added rigs for a seventh week, the longest run since 2014, according Baker Hughes Inc. data on Friday. Oil has rebounded more than 10 percent since closing below $40 a barrel and tumbling into a bear market earlier this month. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said in a statement last week that talks with Organization of […]
Nissan revolution: could new petrol engine make diesel obsolete?
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co has come up with a new type of gasoline engine it says may make some of today’s advanced diesel engines obsolete. The new engine uses variable compression technology, which Nissan engineers say allows it at any given moment to choose an optimal compression ratio for combustion – a key factor in the trade-off between power and efficiency in all gasoline-fuelled engines. The technology gives the new engine the performance of turbo-charged gasoline engines while matching the power and fuel economy of today’s diesel and hybrid powertrains – a level of performance and efficiency the conventional gasoline engine has so far struggled to achieve. The potential breakthrough technology comes at a time when diesel engine technology has been tarnished by Volkswagen’s ( VOWG_p.DE ) emissions cheating scandal. The German […]
