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Nigerian Slump Deepens as Economy Shrinks 2.1% in Second Quarter
Economy contracted as oil output declined from previous period IMF forecast Nigeria economy will shrink 1.8% in 2016 Nigeria’s economic slump deepened in the second quarter as a declining oil industry weighed on output. Gross domestic product in Africa’s most-populous country contracted by 2.1 percent in the three months through June from a year earlier, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday, after shrinking 0.4 percent in the first quarter. The median of 17 economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for a 1.6 percent contraction. Nigeria suffered a revenue squeeze after oil prices slumped by half since mid-2014, and crude exports fell by over 20 percent in the second quarter as militants in the Niger River delta blew up pipelines and reduced output. This was exacerbated by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s currency peg that led to a lack of dollars in the […]
Mystery Shrouding Oil on Chinese Islands Puzzles Crude Markets
Analyst opinion divided over level of China strategic reserves Purchases for SPR have lifted crude imports, helping prices China’s got the world puzzling over its oil hoard. From underground caverns by the Yellow Sea to a scattering of islands in the Yangtze River delta, the government has been stockpiling crude for emergencies in a network of storage sites dotted around the country. Record purchases this year by the world’s biggest energy consumer have helped oil prices recover from the worst crash in a generation. What the country plans to do next could determine where they go from here. The difficulty is that nobody outside China really knows for certain. The government won’t say how much it’s holding or when the tanks will be full. Energy Aspects Ltd. says the country will probably keep buying and fill up commercial tanks if it has to, while the likes of JPMorgan Chase […]
bloomberg.com
Oil Companies May Spend $8 Billion to Start Output in Uganda
Government expects Tullow, Total, Cnooc to drill 500 wells Companies expected to start crude production in 2020 Uganda expects three oil companies to invest $8 billion in the East African nation before they start producing crude in 2020, Energy Minister Irene Muloni said. The government on Tuesday issued production licenses to London-based Tullow Oil Plc and Total SA of France and said that together with Cnooc Ltd., the state-owned Chinese producer, the country expects to pump as much as 230,000 barrels per day of crude. “The companies are expected to invest over $8 billion in the infrastructure required for all the production licenses,” Muloni said in the capital, Kampala. “This investment will be for the drilling of about 500 wells, construction of central processing facilities and feeder pipelines, among others.” Uganda discovered oil in 2006 and has an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable resources. Cnooc, the first company […]
Venezuela Cracks Down on Opposition Before Massive Rally
President Nicolás Maduro has intensified a crackdown on opponents ahead of Thursday’s major opposition rally to demand a referendum on his rule amid a deepening economic crisis. On Tuesday, police from the government’s intelligence agency detained Carlos Melo, a leader of the Progressive Advance party, on a Caracas street, the party’s spokesman said. The agency declined to confirm the detention. The arrest followed Monday’s detention of Yon Goicoechea, an organizer for the Popular Will opposition party, for allegedly carrying bomb-making materials, according to a top government official. At least four other Popular Will leaders went into hiding in the past week after authorities raided their houses or issued arrest warrants, according to the party. The actions against opposition parties are raising tensions in a deeply polarized country as thousands of Venezuelans descend on […]
4 Energy Storage Options That Elon Musk Is Ignoring
In research there is evolution, revolution and sometimes, what I call “retro revolution,” which happens when old methods have new applications. All three are in play in the world of electricity, and they are having an extraordinary effect on energy storage. The inability to store electricity has been a challenge since the time of Thomas Edison. Electricity is made and used in real time, putting huge pressure on utilities at particular times of the day. For much of the East Coast in summer, for example, the peak is in the evening, when people come home from work or play, crank up the air conditioning, flip on the lights, the TV and start cooking. In many cities, the subways operate at peak and the electricity supply is stretched. Traditionally, there have been two ways to deal with this. One is that utilities have some plant on standby, […]
