OPEC members are investing $150 billion on 120 projects to raise their capacity by five million barrels a day in 2015.

OPEC chief Abdallah Al-Badri on Nov. 14 rejected US calls for increased oil output to cool record prices, saying the market is already well supplied.
But the oil organization’s secretary general said a final decision would be made by OPEC ministers at a meeting in Abu Dhabi next month, as prices dropped from highs near 100 dollars a barrel, AFP said.
“At this time, frankly we don’t see that we need to add more oil in the market,“ Badri told a press conference in Riyadh ahead of a rare weekend OPEC summit to discuss long-term oil supplies.
“There is a plenty of oil in the market. There is no shortage of oil,“ Badri said in response to a question about a decline in US and Japanese oil inventories in the past few weeks and calls by Washington to raise output.
Badri, a Libyan official, said however that a final decision on production will be taken by OPEC ministers when they meet in Abu Dhabi on December 5.
“We (OPEC) will show our figures to our ministers in Abu Dhabi. It’s up to them to decide,“ he said.
He said oil inventories were still at the average level of the past five years and were sufficient for 53.5 days, a margin considered fairly safe.
US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman on Nov. 13 called on OPEC, which supplies 40 percent of the world’s oil, to help cool record prices by raising output.
“I do believe there is a lack of willingness to supply the market... It is contributing to the price environment,“ he told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Rome.
“We don’t want to see any shortage in supply... If there is a shortage, we will watch it and we want to see if we can satisfy this shortage,“ said Badri, adding that OPEC does not favor a high price for oil.
He said OPEC members are investing 150 billion dollars on 120 projects to raise their capacity by five million barrels a day in 2015.
The 12-member organization plans to increase its capacity by 19 million barrels in 2030, he said.
Oil prices rose sharply to close to 100 dollars a barrel last week over concerns of tight supplies, geopolitical tensions and a decline in US oil inventories.
Prices however lost some ground on Nov. 13 after the International Energy Agency (IEA) lowered its global demand forecast for crude for the fourth quarter this year.
The IEA, the energy policy advisor to major developed countries, cited weaker economic activity in the United States and pointed to an increase of 410,000 barrels per day in OPEC output in October.
But the IEA cautioned that despite its downward fourth quarter demand revision, “supplies are likely to remain constrained through to the end of the year.“
This assessment contrasted with comments by OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, who said fears about a shortage of supplies were groundless and there was no reason for them to push prices to current levels.
World oil traded higher in Asia on Nov. 14, rebounding from heavy falls sparked by the lower demand forecasts.

China’s fast-growing economy might appear impervious to rising oil prices but government leaders are jittery as crude surges toward the sensitive 100 US dollar mark.
One sure sign of nervousness is a delay in the introduction of an anticipated tax on fuel, until oil prices recede. Another is Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit, last week, to Beijing’s poorer neighborhoods in a publicized show of concern over rising inflation.
Meanwhile, the release of the annual forecast of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which predicts that China will displace the United States as both the world’s biggest polluter and the largest energy consumer by 2010 has been met with a wave of official skepticism, IPSNews.net said.
The timing of the release last week, which came as international oil prices hit 96.90 dollars a barrel, was termed ’inappropriate’ by Chinese officials as it seems to assign blame for rising crude prices to China and India--whose soaring demand would be driving energy consumption growth in the years to come.
“The annual World Energy Outlook by IEA is merely a scientific projection, based on forecasts and scientific analysis, and it does not have any political background,“ Li Junfeng, an energy official from the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top planning body, told the media at a press conference. “My worry is that the (IEA) report could be used by other people with very definite political motives.’’
The sobering report, which solicited the opinions of some 50 Chinese experts, portrays a world that by 2030 will be consuming 55 percent more energy than it is now, with almost half of the growth caused by surging demand in China and India.
As a country most scrutinized for its role in the global energy markets, China has been trying to keep a lid on its energy use, both to control pollution and to keep prices from skyrocketing.
Still, the Chinese leadership was forced to raise domestic fuel prices in the beginning of the month by nearly ten percent after thousands of gas stations, saddled by government-imposed price caps, closed shop or began rationing diesel.
The Nov.1 jump in prices--the first in 18 months--came despite a pledge by Wen to keep the lid on existing price caps for fear that it might increase already rising inflation.
Soaring food prices have caused inflation to jump this year, hitting a ten-year high last month. After initially dropping from a record high of 6.5 percent in August, the consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rebounded in October to match its August level.
The government’s main concern is that higher fuel prices could have a domino effect on other fuels and energy sources that could squeeze China’s poorer residents. Rising fuel prices and the resulting inflation sparked street protests in Indonesia two years ago, and was blamed for the August/September unrest in Burma.
China, where economic disparity between the urban and rural areas has been growing, already faces a significant risk of social upheaval. Last year rights groups reported some 90,000 protests against local governments over land disputes and rampant pollution.
The government team led by President Hu Jintao has made equalizing growth and helping poor peasants in inland provinces its top policy priority and is loath to see any social discontent arising from fuel price hikes.
“The higher than targeted inflation in the first nine months of this year is the reason why domestic fuel prices were not (initially) allowed to keep pace with surging international crude oil prices,“ Liu Zhenqiu, price bureau chief with the National Development and Reform Commission told the Central Chinese Television on the weekend.
Also on the weekend, Chinese officials said the government would delay the implementation of a controversial fuel tax that has been in the workings for more than ten years. Chinese media reports had said earlier that the tax would be imposed in March next year.
“Now is not an appropriate time to carry out the tax policy, as the government plans to launch it only when international oil prices are low,“ Chen Qingtai, research fellow with the State Council’s Development Research Centre, said at a car industry forum in Beijing.
The tax is seen as a tool for curtailing fuel consumption and worsening air pollution in thousands smoggy cities where number of vehicles have shot in recent years. Beijing, in particular, has been eager to clean up its air by reducing car emissions by next year, when it plays host to the Olympic games.

British energy giant BP discovered a gas deposit in the Caspian Sea that may double production from the largest natural gas development in Azerbaijan.
BP shares rose as much as 4.1 percent, the most in a month, in London trading after the company said the Shah Deniz well “justifies our plans for the next stage of development of the field.’’ With the latest discovery, the field may be able to pump enough gas to supply Belgium and Luxembourg together, according to Bloomberg.
BP and partners including StatoilHydro ASA plan to spend $4.2 billion on the site’s first stage, which started pumping fuel to Turkey in July, easing Europe’s dependence on supplies from Russia’s OAO Gazprom. The announcement is the second “major’’ discovery within a week after Petroleo Brasileiro SA said an offshore field could be Brazil’s biggest ever oil find.
“It’s good for BP’s production profile, as they have other fields maturing and going into natural decline,“ David Hart, a senior analyst at Fat Prophets, said by phone from London on Nov. 14. As the pipeline from Shah Deniz “doesn’t run to Russia, it’s an advantage for European users, who are looking to diversify their source of the supply.“
BP, Europe’s second-biggest oil company, rose 12 pence, or 2.1 percent, to 595 pence at 12:50 p.m. in London. StatoilHydro shares advanced 1.8 percent to 172 Norwegian kroner in Oslo.
The pipeline across the Caucasus mountains allows Azerbaijan to sell gas to Europe without passing through Russia. A BP-led oil pipeline already follows the same route to Turkey and ends up at a Mediterranean oil terminal in Ceyhan.
“The well has proven that there are reserves with the potential to more than double production from the field,“ StatoilHydro spokeswoman Kjersti Morstoel said in an interview on Nov. 14. “Gas from a second development stage can help cover national demand for gas in Azerbaijan and countries in the region, but also supply markets in the European Union.“
The new discovery came from the SDX-04 appraisal well at the field, BP said on Nov. 14 in a statement. The gas condensate deposit is situated below the currently developed natural gas reservoir. Gas condensate is a mixture of hydrocarbon liquids, similar to gasoline.
The Shah Deniz partners started pumping gas in December and are now supplying the fuel to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. Some customers in Europe have been looking for supplies from the field to ease dependence on OAO Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas export monopoly.
BP and StatoilHydro each own 25.5 percent of the Shah Deniz production-sharing agreement. The State Oil Co. of Azerbaijan, Russia’s OAO Lukoil, Iran’s NICO and Paris-based Total SA each own 10 percent. Turkish Petroleum Overseas Co. owns 9 percent.

The world’s energy lust is incompatible with the need to avert climate change, the European Commission president, JosŽ Manuel Barroso, said on Nov. 12 in the keynote address of the 20th World Energy Congress in Rome.
How to “manage this energy environment and mitigate the worst effects of climate change“ is “the greatest challenge of our generation,“ Barroso said, adding that Europe would lead the way toward conservation and the efficient use of energy.
The World Energy Congress, the biggest industry gathering on the topic, has met every five years since 1924, bringing together world leaders and corporate executives, Iht.com said.
But the meeting this year has a special sense of urgency: It is the first since a United Nations report this year concluded that fossil fuel use was driving climate change, with potentially disastrous economic and social effects. Oil prices, which were the equivalent of $1.43 a barrel when the World Energy Council first met, are now are hovering below $100.
Barroso said developing countries, like India and China, would have to find a way to have economic growth while still regulating emissions. That theme is likely to be reiterated again and again in coming months, as the world begins negotiations in Bali next month, trying to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Many at the conference this year directed strong criticism at the oil-rich countries that have nationalized or are moving toward nationalizing oil reserves--including Venezuela and Nigeria--a trend that they said was driving up prices around the world.
The world is now using 150,000 liters, or about 40,000 gallons, of oil every second, said Rex Tillerson, chairman of Exxon-Mobil, and such behavior makes it difficult and risky for foreign investors to provide the technology needed in these countries, he said.
To the audience gathered in Rome on the outskirts of Rome, Barroso claimed the place of pride for the EU in energy and climate matters, pointing to its “ambitious but achievable“ climate-change and energy package, passed this year. He announced, for example, the European Commission’s determination to present legislative proposals this December that would cut emissions in the automobile sector to 120 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer by 2012, a standard that only 8 percent of vehicles in Europe now meet.
In March, when the European Union proposed a compromise limit of 130 grams, many automakers said it was “physically impossible.“ And vehicles manufacturers still object to the tough plan.
The average vehicle in Europe now emits 160 grams per kilometer, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, and some--particularly large, heavy luxury brands like BMW and Mercedes--put out more than 200 grams.
Barroso said that the unbundling of power networks was vital to fostering energy competition in the EU and would bring down prices. An EU plan announced last month would require power companies to sell their distribution systems or grids, or hand them over to independent third parties for operation.
That is strongly opposed in countries like France, where companies can be both producers and distributors of electricity.
“We do not think unbundling is a primary necessity to increase competitiveness and competition,“ said Antoine Lenoir of Suez, the big French utility that also owns 25 percent of the power grid in Belgium. “Of course, the opening of the market might allow prices to fall, but you also see a decrease of capacity, which can lead to blackouts.“
At the conference, officials from large energy corporations leveled intense criticism at oil-rich nations who were restricting private access to this resource.
Countries pursuing “isolationist energy policies“ and “resources nationalization“ would severely damage the flow of global energy, Tillerson of ExxonMobil said.

Machines apply a layer of solar-absorbing nano-ink onto metal sheets reducing production costs to a mere tenth of current solar panels.

Nanosolar coatings are as thin as a layer of paint and can transfer sunlight into power quite efficiently. Imagine the possibilities, from solar coated shingles to solar lined windows to solar powered cell phones and ipods. Solar powered buildings and homes might just become standard in the future thanks to this innovative technology by Nanosolar Inc.
The almighty dollar will launch these thin-film solar cells into worldwide applications thanks to the fact that it’s actually cheaper than burning coal. The underlying technology for these solar cells is nothing new, having been around for decades, but Nanosolar has created the actual technology to manufacture and mass produce the solar sheets, ENN.com said.
The solar cells are produced by a solar printing press of sorts rolling out these aptly named PowerSheets rapidly and cheaply. The machines apply a layer of solar-absorbing nano-ink onto metal sheets as thin as aluminum foil reducing production costs to a mere tenth of current solar panels and at a rate of several hundred feet per minute. The first commercial cells for consumer use are scheduled to be released this year.
Cost has always been the burdening factor weighing down the mass application of solar technology at nearly $3 per watt. In order to compete with the energy produced from coal solar has been in need of finding a way to shrink its costs down to $1 per watt. Nanosolar’s cells use absolutely no silicon as is the standard for current solar production and the efficiency of the PowerSheet cells are competitive with the traditional systems as well. The golden kicker, the cost to produce these solar coatings is a mere 30 cents per watt!!
Nanosolar has built what is soon to be the largest solar plant in world in San Jose and once full production begins early next year the facility is capable of producing a whopping 430 megawatts per year, more than the combined total of every other solar manufacturer in the US The biggest problem for Nanosolar is keeping up with the impending solar boom. California recently launched the Million Solar Roofs initiative providing tax breaks and rebates to encourage the installation of $100,000 solar roofs per year for a solid decade. Thanks to the innovative approach Nanosolar is poised to launch the solar revolution and we the consumer stand to benefit greatly as the result.