UPI Energy Watch

WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- China plans to invest in Colombian oil. Following his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Columbian President Alvaro Uribe Velez said on Apr. 6: "We feel that (the president) is very interested in the construction of the oil or gas pipeline from Venezuela, crossing through northern Colombia into the Colombian Pacific region. That would enable us to have another port on the Pacific, and would make it easy for China to bring fuel from Venezuela and for Venezuela to export it. (Hu Jintao) tells me that China is unable to produce the biological fuel that they will need in the coming years. So, strategic alliances with countries like Colombia, which have tremendous potential, open up great prospects for China and of course for us Colombians. We have all the land, all the conditions, the manpower, to produce biological fuels. They will need a lot of oil, and it is very attractive for China to know that Ecuador produces 600,000 barrels a day - there is very good production close to the border with Colombia - and Venezuela produces 3 million barrels - very good production close to the border with Colombia - and in Colombia 87 percent of the territory has yet to be explored."

Controlling radioactive waste continues to be a growing problem at many of the nuclear power plants in the United States. The federal government is slow in creating and enforcing safeguards, according to a federal report issued on Apr. 12. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has maintained a comprehensive log of issues surrounding a number of plants in recent years. Due to inadequate oversight and gaps in safety procedures, several plants are uncertain about the whereabouts of all their spent fuel, according to the Government Accountability Office. Because of problems in tracking materials, radioactive rods could be missing from more than the three plants that are widely known to have problems. Connecticut's Millstone in Connecticut, Vermont Yankee and California's Humboldt Bay have reported missing or unaccounted-for spent nuclear fuel in recent years.

Russia intends on producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) domestically, according to a statement made by Andrei Sharonov, deputy economic development and trade minister, before a U.S.-Russian LNG seminar organized by the Center of Strategic Research on Apr. 12. Sharonov said that LNG was "a new product featuring a high added value. This has an indirect impact on resolving our problems of building continental pipelines. I mean technical and political problems." Calling on the liberalization of LNG pricing, Sharonov emphasized: "This sphere should be liberalized, and there are all necessary preconditions for this. Those consumers who will still enjoy regulated prices will have to pay more for LNG anyway, so regulating will be futile anyway."

China's National Offshore Oil Corp. acquired almost 17 percent of Canadian MEG Energy Corp.'s shares for $150 million. MEG Energy has an estimated 2 billion barrels of recoverable bitumen in northeastern Alberta, Canada. Some six years ago, MEG Energy looked to construct a pilot project utilizing steam-assisted technology to melt the tar-like bitumen deep underground before pumping the heavy oil to the surface. Yang Hua, chief financial officer for CNOOC, said on Apr. 12: "I am excited with our low cost entry into oilsands, gaining a footstep in this potential area. 'Lower operating costs and higher recoveries resulting from recent advances in technologies have made many similar projects economically viable."

Taiwan's Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) recently issued a report proposing that state-owned enterprises and the private companies undertake joint efforts to established cooperative ventures with foreign companies to diversify Taiwan's energy resources. The report also notes that Taiwan's energy consumption during the 1992-2002 period increased 4 percent annually and liquefied natural gas and electricity consumption soared by 10.1 and 66.7 percent respectively per annum. The report highlights that such an increased could be due to either rapid economic growth or waste.

The oil-to-gold ratio reached an all time high in 29 years, which demonstrates the divergence in the fortunes of the two commodities. Steadily ascending since September 2003 with only a brief interruption in November, the ratio reached an all-time daily high of 0.135 on Apr. 4 when oil prices hit $57 a barrel even as the price of gold dropped to less than $424 per ounce. Oil remains the highly expensive since January 1983 at $50 per barrel; gold meanwhile continues bump up against a constant 2000 dollar ceiling of $400 per ounce as illustrated in August 2004.

Closing oil prices, Apr. 14, 3 p.m. London

Brent crude oil: $50.48

West Texas intermediate crude oil: $50.18

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