Entries from Chemicals & The Economy tagged with 'gasoline demand'
"Its the oil price, stupid!"
Famously, when Bill Clinton ran his successful presidential campaign in 1992, his advisers would remind him of the key message with just one phrase "Its the economy, stupid!". Today's policymakers would do well to maintain a similar focus on the...
China's polyethylene demand growth remains slow
There are increasing signs that China's economic growth is slowing. Local gasoline and diesel prices are now (as in Europe) at record levels. Gasoline is Rmb 8.2/litre, the equivalent of $1.20/l, or $4.40/US gal. Unsurprisingly, this leaves people with very...
EU auto sales hit new lows
Autos are now the single biggest market for petchem sales. They are also reported very quickly. So October's EU auto sales provide the best real-time picture of the downturn now underway. As the chart shows: • October's sales (red square)...
Wal-Mart says consumers under "more pressure"
The major retail groups are excellent indicators of future trends in chemical consumption. Since before the Crisis began, consumers have been focusing more on price and value-for money. Now Wal-Mart is reporting that consumers face "more pressure than a year...
Electric autos launched in the USA
The blog has been following the development of General Motors' electric auto, the Volt, since October 2008. Its old friend, Pedro Spohr of Galp in Portugal, had highlighted how a move to electric autos had the potential to change naphtha...
China's gasoline at record highs, EU's close to peak
Crude oil prices have been rocketing lately. In turn, they have produced the seemingly 'strong' year-end for the chemical industry forecast by the blog in early November. At this point, there is a clear divergence of view. The blog's bullish...
Lower refining rates support EU petchem margins
Sometimes every cloud does have a silver lining. And that's currently the case with the fall in demand for oil products. The European petchem industry is based on feedstock from refineries such as naphtha and LPG. And as the chart...
Lower Western gasoline demand helps paraxylene
Paraxylene (PX) has been a great petchem success story over the past 30 years. This 4th post in the blog's series looks back at its history, and discusses how its future may develop. It is hard to remember that back...
Gasoline stocks at all-time high ahead of US driving season
They say that you learn more from your mistakes than your successes. In the blog's case, it will never forget the mistake it made when it began to build a long position in early May, soon after arriving in Houston,...
Saudi cuts oil output below OPEC quota
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, now seems to be moving to Phase 2 of its efforts to achieve a $75 - $100bbl price range. As the blog noted in early December, the Saudis' initial tactic was to play...
Volt could change naphtha balances
A blog reader has kindly pointed out the potential impact of GM's new Volt car on the chemical industry. The Volt will have an operating range of 40 miles (64km), when it becomes available in 2010. According to GM, it...
US drivers cut back - a little
Yesterday's US government data on gasoline consumption gives the clearest picture yet of what is happening to US demand. The data compares the 4 weeks covering the July 4 Independence Day weekend, with the same period last year. And it...
China’s olefin imports surge as government subsidises gasoline/diesel demand
China’s ethylene and propylene imports have surged in recent months, as the country has diverted naphtha to supply gasoline and diesel needs. ICIS news, reporting official China Customs figures, says 2007 ethylene imports were over 400% higher at 510KT,...
OPEC seeks lower oil prices
OPEC are sounding a note of concern about the impact of high oil prices on the world economy. Hasan Qabazar, OPEC’s chief economist said yesterday ‘We are trying, hopefully, to reduce high oil prices, to have prices that are more...
Feed Subscription
If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries tagged 'gasoline demand'. [What is this?]
