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Backseat Driver: Oil Prices and the Violence in Nigeria

Oil prices - and by extension gasoline prices - have been kept on the high side in recent months partly because of the continued violence directed against oil pipelines, installations and workers in the southern Delta region of Nigeria. The West African nation's oil output has been cut by as much as 25 percent.
Nigeria is the world's 6th biggest producer of crude oil and a major supplier to U.S. refineries; It's oil has a low sulfur content and is only a transAtlantic crossing away.
But radical groups are seeking a greater share of oil wealth for the nation - certainly for the inhabitants of the southern, oil-rich Delta region - and reparations for the pollution in the region.
The main group, the shadowy Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), was formed early last year and is motivated and well organized. It operates as a guerilla / pirate group, running gunboats in and out of the dense mangrove swamps that line hundreds of miles of shoreline. Favored tactics have been the blowing up of pipelines and the kidnapping of oil company personnel for political leverage and/or ransom.
The damage to oil installations and harrassment of personnel could force some oil companies to pull out, which would seriously affect world oil supplies and prices.
Certainly, there is no light at the end of this tunnel in the short term: Earlier this week, MEND said it had initiated a month-long campaign to unleash mayhem on Western oil facilities.

Posted by   at 11:32 AM to Oil | Permalink | Comments 0

Magna's partnership with Russian tycoon might bolster Chrysler bid

Magna International, the Canadian auto parts maker believed to be the leading bidder to buy the Chrysler Group, announced a $1.54-billion Russian financing deal yesterday that gave a new twist to possibilities for the struggling automaker, according to the Detroit Free Press.
By the end of the day, Magna chairman Frank Stronach was speculating about building Jeeps in Russia.

Posted by   at 10:52 AM to Companies | Permalink | Comments 0

Honda promises hydrogen sedan in '08

Honda says it will put a sleek hydrogen fuel-cell sedan into limited production next year and also will sell a unique mass-market hybrid in the USA within two years, priced less than the $25,000 Civic hybrid, according to USA Today.
The automaker announced the vehicles yesterday at a demonstration of prototypes of the FCX fuel-cell sedans it will offer in the USA next year.

Posted by   at 9:50 AM to Alternative fuels , Companies , Environment | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil Prices Climb on Supply Worries

Oil prices rose Friday after a report from the IEA raised concerns about the market's ability to meet an expected jump in demand for oil products, the Associated Press reports.
The International Energy Agency said today that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries needs to raise output soon and raised concern over the ability of refiners and OPEC's willingness to meet a 1.6 million barrels a day jump in oil product demand in June.
With the start of summer driving season only weeks away, analysts are concerned that gasoline supplies, though rising, won't meet demand. And continuing violence in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer and a leading supplier to the United States, has also been supporting higher oil prices.

Posted by   at 9:41 AM to Oil | Permalink | Comments 0

Prices Stable Except for Gasoline

Inflation at the wholesale level eased slightly in April even though gasoline prices surged for a third straight month, according to the Associated Press.
Wholesale prices rose 0.7 percent last month, down slightly from a 1 percent jump in March, the Labor Department reported Friday. The big force driving the increase was an 8.2 percent jump in gasoline prices, which followed increases of 8.7 percent and 5.3 percent in the two previous months.

Posted by   at 9:38 AM to Gas prices | Permalink | Comments 1