Laptop Battery Prices for heating oil and gasoline are soaring and likely to
keep rising as energy markets cope with a colder than expected
winter, the loss of Venezuela's production and worries about war
with Iraq.
"The increase in gas prices reflects a surge in oil prices back above $60 per barrel in the last ten days, as well as a corresponding increase in the NYMEX futures price wholesale price of gasoline to $1.68 per gallon, " said Phil Wedgewood, Iowa spokesperson. "Oil and gasoline prices also have been driven higher by the arrival of cold winter weather, which creates demand for more energy."
Thinkpad A deep freeze in the Northeast caused heating oil prices to
spike by 20 percent last week. The Energy Department, citing low
stocks -- as well as higher natural gas prices -- said heating
bills could be 50 percent higher this year than last winter.
Small businesses have been urged to introduce plans to deal with the possible disruption to energy supplies this winter. Leading industry bodies, such as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), are concerned that with the Met Office predicting the coldest winter in a decade and the shortage of crude oil, small firms may experience an energy shortage this winter.
Microsoft Consumers are getting hit at the gasoline pumps as
well.
Heating oil prices fell 3.94 cents, to $1.5097 a gallon, Monday afternoon on Nymex. Others remain concerned about winter fuels. "We are heading for winter, and stocks in the U.S., Europe and Japan are significantly lower than they were a year ago, " said Axel Busch, the chief correspondent for Energy Intelligence Group in London. "If we get a cold snap, or a cold winter, we will see prices go higher."
Laptop Computers Nationally, gasoline prices increased for the ninth straight
week to an average of $1.60 a gallon for regular grades, 50 cents a
gallon higher than a year ago, according to the federal Energy
Information Administration. Many
parts of the country have seen price hikes of 20 cents a gallon
in recent weeks.
The national residential heating oil price fell a slight 0.4 cent a gallon over the last week to $1.382 a gallon, but is still 10.5 cents higher than a year ago, according to the Energy Department. The department's Energy Information Administration, which conducts the weekly survey of heating oil costs, said it expects heating oil to average $1.33 a gallon this winter. Even with this week's price decline, heating fuel costs so far this season have been way above the EIA's estimate, and the coldest winter months have yet to arrive.
Laptop Computer Crude oil on Friday moved above $35 a barrel, the highest it has
been in two years.
Government analysts forecast
that prices probably will stay above $30 a barrel this year,
even if a war is avoided in Iraq.
According to the indictment, Jones would steal various IBM and Penguin computer servers from Verisign's warehouse in Virginia and sell them to Johnson. Johnson would then sell the servers to several individuals, who would sometimes place them for sale on eBay. As a result of this scheme, the indictment alleges that Jones and Johnson caused Verisign to lose more than $120, 000 worth of computer equipment. In the indictment, Jones and Johnson are charged in three counts with causing the interstate transportation of stolen property, namely IBM 330 and 335 servers, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
Desktop Computer The price of light sweet crude was $34.78 per barrel at noon
yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Notebooks Although OPEC oil producers have boosted production, they have
yet to make up the oil lost to political unrest in Venezuela. Crude
inventories fell "well below the low end of the normal range" at
the end of January, the Energy Department said. With high crude
prices and some shortages, refiners scaled back operations,
choosing to perform normal maintenance a few weeks early, some
analysts said.
Lenovo That has caused suppliers to draw heavily on heating oil
stockpiles, causing prices to jump. On Friday, wholesale heating
oil prices on the New York exchange soared to $1.20 a gallon, a
jump of 30 cents from a week earlier.
Hard Drive After a New Hampshire terminal couldn't get heating oil for four
days, Jack Sullivan, chief executive of the New England Fuel
Institute, warned in a letter to the Energy Department of "a supply
and pricing crisis" if more heating oil isn't made available.
Travelstar "The demand is extraordinary. It's absolutely horrific,"
Sullivan said in an interview. His organization, which represents
1,000 heating oil companies, urged the government to release stocks
from an emergency heating oil stockpile. No decision on such a
release has been made.
Gateway Economists say the supply crunch and price spiral stem from a
variety of factors, especially unease over war with Iraq and the
possibility Kuwaiti and Saudi production could be disrupted.
Laptop Parts "The dramatic price rise we've seen in the last couple of weeks
is primarily associated with fear about war in Iraq, the disruption
of oil exports from Venezuela and extremely cold weather," said
Kyle Cooper, an energy analyst for Smith Barney.
Software Heating oil stocks in the Northeast are 35 percent below the
10-year average, according to the American Petroleum Institute.
Gasoline stocks, while still at comfortable levels, fell 3.4
million barrels last week, the government said.
Hard Drives If the cold winter persists, refiners will need to keep up the
heating oil supply and postpone their push to making gasoline. If
so, gasoline inventories may not recover, leading to higher gas
prices this spring and
summer, analysts said.
Electronics "Oil markets now are as tight as a fully stretched rubber band,"
said an Energy Department analysis. "Whether the rubber band breaks
or not will largely depend on the pace of demand in coming
weeks."
Canon By H. Josef Hebert
Associated Press - 2/11/2003
Topic: Petroleum Industry
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