World Mining Exploration News

Major oil wholesaler Idemitsu Kosan Co. will begin revising its oil products’ wholesale prices every week starting in October to more promptly reflect changes in crude oil prices, the company said.

Idemitsu’s new pricing system will replace its current twice-a-month price revision method.

Nippon Oil Corp., the nation’s No. 1 oil wholesaler, also plans to change its wholesale prices every week starting in October, instead of setting wholesale prices on a monthly basis as it does now.

Because of the change, major price fluctuations likely will occur weekly, though retail prices at gas stations will see minor daily changes.

Beginning in October, Idemitsu will set wholesale prices every Monday based on inter-dealer spot market estimations released by private research institutes. (more…)

Gasoline prices in many parts of Canada fell about five cents a litre Thursday, but motorists will likely face volatile pump prices for a while as North American fuel markets recover from hurricane Ike and global crude oil prices swing wildly.

The national average price for a litre of regular gasoline was about $1.31 on Thursday, down almost five cents from the previous day, according to the price-tracking website GasBuddy.com.

But with oil prices so volatile on world markets, fuel prices could jump all over the place, although they will likely trend downwards.

“The full effect of the US$100 crude oil hasn’t been felt yet,” said Gasbuddy co-founder Jason Toews.

“In December, I’m expecting to see prices in the $1.05 to $1.10 range across Canada, depending on the province.” (more…)

Petronas has received some domestic flak following fuel-price rises in Malaysia, but continues its impressive international expansion, writes NJ Watson

PLAYING at home is usually seen as an advantage. But Malaysia’s national oil company, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), is finding the going much easier abroad as it comes under sustained attack by politicians and the public because of recent rises in fuel prices.

Petronas’ problems began in June, when the Malaysian government cut fuel subsidies, pushing up gasoline and diesel prices by 41% and 63% respectively. The price of the natural gas supplied by Petronas was raised by between 124% and 188%, depending on the consumer, from 1 July. Overall, the government estimates that the reduction in subsidies will save it $4.2bn a year. (more…)

Varun Shipping Company, the country’s largest carrier of sea-borne LPG cargo, plans to earn at least a third of its revenue from chartering anchor handling and tug service vessels, helped by high crude oil prices that are inducing a demand for oil exploration.

The company, which earns a fifth of its revenue from offshore services, expects the boost as it plans to invest $300 million to buy vessels for offshore marine services and crude oil transportation.

The Mumbai-based company reported Rs 672.6 crore of revenue from operations in 2006-07, of which it earned around 55 per cent from LPG transportation and 25 per cent from crude oil and petro-products transportation. The remaining 20 per cent of the revenue came from offshore marine services.

“We will see the three sectors almost balancing with 30-33 per cent of revenues in the next three to four years,” Yudhishthir Khatau, managing director, Varun Shipping Company. “With crude oil prices touching new highs, there is tremendous incentive for oil exploration companies to increase their exploration and production activity.” (more…)

With the distress of Americans growing as gasoline prices passed the $4-a-gallon mark, John McCain put the issue of offshore oil drilling back at political center stage in mid-June by proposing an end to the federal moratorium on drilling for states that wanted to allow it. Barack Obama lost little time pushing back against the idea.

Two recent national polls have pegged the number of Americans who favor measures to increase energy production through offshore drilling and other more aggressive exploration and production measures, although they have analyzed the results in somewhat different ways.

The Pew Research Center, in a poll conducted June 18-29, said the number of Americans who believe the most important priority for energy policy was to expand exploration and do more mining and drilling had risen from 35 percent in February to 47 percent in June. Those who said the higher priority for the country was developing new energy sources rose from 54 percent to 60 percent in the same period while those who favored protecting the environment slipped from 36 percent to 34 percent. The number of people who saw more energy conservation as a priority dropped from 55 percent to 45 percent. (more…)