prices Archive

  • frog

    Oil spikes $25, then retreats - by frog



    Oil took a violent swing upwards at the close of business yesterday, as a collapsing US Dollar and an expiring long-term crude oil contract led the market to believe that one of the big fund managers was being caught short. To translate – the market smelled blood and everyone jumped in. Despite spiking to $130, [...] read more
    September 23, 2008 10:51 am - No Comments
  • frog

    Study: As petrol prices rise, auto deaths fall - by frog



    Today’s high gasoline prices could cut auto deaths by nearly a third as driving decreases, particularly among price-sensitive teenage drivers, the authors of a new study say. Professors Michael Morrisey of the University of Alabama and David Grabowski of Harvard Medical School found that for every 10% increase in gas prices there was a 2.3% [...] read more
    July 17, 2008 9:25 am - 10 Comments
  • frog

    Fuel for thought – the future of transport fuels: challenges and opportunities - by frog



    Such is the name of a report released today by the Future Fuels Forum, an initiative led by the Australia’s CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship. The Age summarises the bad news: PETROL prices could reach $8 a litre [~NZ$10 per litre] within a decade if oil production peaks and Australia is not ready to shift to [...] read more
    July 11, 2008 2:07 pm - 61 Comments
  • frog

    RBNZ keeps head in the sand - by frog



    You can tell a series has lost it’s punch when it takes me 4 days to get the post up about it. I simply cannot believe that the Reserve Bank has turned out yet another oil price forecast guaranteed to be a loser – like every single previous forecast of the last four years. The [...] read more
    June 11, 2008 9:28 am - 36 Comments
  • frog

    Dropping a Brick - by frog



    In the US housing market, prices are falling faster than during the Great Depression. Goodness, I pray that doesn’t happen here! In an article last week, the Economist reported that: Unfortunately, new figures this week reveal that house prices have already fallen by more over the past 12 months than in any year during the [...] read more
    June 9, 2008 4:50 pm - 42 Comments
  • frog

    Oil: from Perpetual Backwardation into Contango - by frog



    It’s finally happened. And only a few hours after my post about tomorrow’s Treasury BEFU announcement. For the first time in history, al oil futures are higher priced than the present price. Backwardation is when prices in the future are lower than in the present. Contango is the reverse, where future prices are higher than [...] read more
    May 21, 2008 7:01 pm - 7 Comments
  • frog

    Bitumen price soars, roads will crumble - by frog



    Let’s just set aside the Green Party’s distaste for all of Labour and National’s think big road building fantasies for a moment, and do a reality check. This month’s Contractor magazine features an article by Chris Olsen, the CEO of Roading New Zealand. Chris explains that bitumen prices have risen around 30 percent over the [...] read more
    March 17, 2008 5:10 pm - 17 Comments
  • frog

    Peak Oil and Food - by frog



    I’ve blogged on these topics many times before, and the relationship between the two. This week’s Peak Oil Review, published by ASPO-USA, states the relationship so clearly I won’t bother to do anything but quote it: US wheat inventories have now reached a 60-year low and wheat prices have risen by 50 percent in the [...] read more
    February 12, 2008 12:27 pm - 16 Comments