Gasoline demand may never recover from pandemic: IEA

LONDON - Gasoline demand may never recover to pre-pandemic levels, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday, with increased use in developing countries offset by rising fuel efficiency and a switch to electric vehicles in wealthy nations.

In last year's five-year outlook before the COVID-19 pandemic's full force was felt in Western countries, the IEA said that gasoline demand was approaching a plateau and kept its demand outlook figure steady from 2024 to 2025.

However, remote working during the pandemic has helped to hollow out demand, the IEA said on Wednesday, and commuting is likely to remain curtailed in 2021 and in the coming years.

"Global gasoline consumption is unlikely to ever return to its 2019 level," the IEA said on Wednesday in its Oil 2021 five-year outlook. "Strong growth in developing countries is no longer enough to offset declines within the OECD, where fuel efficiency improvements are making an impact.

"Consumption should continue to rise strongly in 2022 ... narrowing the gap with pre-pandemic levels. However, beyond that, gasoline demand is likely to stagnate for several years."

-reuters-

Delta jet dumps fuel on California school playground

LOS ANGELES — A Delta airliner experiencing mechanical trouble on Tuesday dumped jet fuel onto a school playground in the Los Angeles area, leaving 20 students and several adults with minor injuries.

Delta Flight 89 took off from Los Angeles en route to Shanghai and was forced to turn back due to engine trouble, a Delta spokesperson said.

The plane landed safely around noon after dumping its fuel, which fell onto a wide area, including Park Avenue Elementary School, located about 16 miles (25 kilometers) east of the airport.

Fire officials said about 20 children and 11 adults complaining of skin irritation or minor respiratory problems at the elementary school were treated on the spot and did not require hospitalization.

In a statement to AFP, a Delta spokesperson said the fuel was released to allow the plane to land safely.

"Shortly after takeoff, Flight 89 from LAX to Shanghai experienced an engine issue requiring the aircraft to return quickly to LAX," Adrian Gee said in the statement. 

"The aircraft landed safely after a release of fuel, which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight," he added.

"We are in touch with Los Angeles World Airports and the LA County Fire Department and share concerns regarding reported minor injuries to adults and children at a school in the area."

The fuel also landed on other schools in south Los Angeles but there were no injuries among students or staff, authorities said.

In a statement, the Los Angeles Unified School District said students and staff were on the playground of the elementary school when the incident happened.

They "may have been sprayed by fuel or inhaled fumes," it said, adding that school officials "immediately called paramedics, who are on the scene and are treating anyone who is complaining of skin irritation or breathing problems."

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the incident and said there are special fuel-dumping procedures for aircraft operating into and out of major US airports.

"These procedures call for fuel to be dumped over designated unpopulated areas, typically at higher altitudes so the fuel atomizes and disperses before it reaches the ground," the agency said in a statement.

Agence France-Presse 

UK faces food, fuel and drugs shortages in no-deal Brexit - Times, citing official documents

LONDON - Britain will face shortages of fuel, food and medicine if it leaves the European Union without a transition deal, jamming ports and requiring a hard border in Ireland, official government documents leaked to the Sunday Times show.

The Times said the forecasts compiled by the Cabinet Office set out the most likely aftershocks of a no-deal Brexit rather than the worst case scenarios.

They said up to 85 percent of lorries using the main channel crossings "may not be ready" for French customs, meaning disruption at ports would potentially last up to three months before the flow of traffic improves.

The government also believes a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Republic will be likely as current plans to avoid widespread checks will prove unsustainable, the Times said.

"Compiled this month by the Cabinet Office under the codename Operation Yellowhammer, the dossier offers a rare glimpse into the covert planning being carried out by the government to avert a catastrophic collapse in the nation's infrastructure," the Times reported.

"The file, marked "official-sensitive" — requiring security clearance on a "need to know" basis — is remarkable because it gives the most comprehensive assessment of the UK’s readiness for a no-deal Brexit."

The United Kingdom is heading towards a constitutional crisis at home and a showdown with the EU as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly vowed to leave the bloc on Oct. 31 without a deal unless it agrees to renegotiate the Brexit divorce.

After more than 3 years of Brexit dominating EU affairs, the bloc has repeatedly refused to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement which includes an Irish border insurance policy that Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, agreed in November.

Johnson will this week tell French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the Westminster parliament cannot stop Brexit and a new deal must be agreed if Britain is to avoid leaving the EU without one.

The prime minister is coming under pressure from politicians across the political spectrum to prevent a disorderly departure, with opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn vowing this week to bring down Johnson's government in early September to delay Brexit.

It is, however, unclear if lawmakers have the unity or power to use the British parliament to prevent a no-deal departure - likely to be the United Kingdom's most significant move since World War Two.

Opponents of no deal say it would be a disaster for what was once one of the West's most stable democracies. A disorderly divorce, they say, would hurt global growth, send shockwaves through financial markets and weaken London’s claim to be the world’s preeminent financial center.

Brexit supporters say there may be short-term disruption from a no-deal exit but that the economy will thrive if cut free from what they cast as a doomed experiment in integration that has led to Europe falling behind China and the United States. (Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

OPEC to continue pumping oil at current rate

VIENNA - OPEC is set to carry on pumping oil nearly flat-out for months more, content that last year's shock market therapy has revived demand and knocked back growing competition.

With oil prices having stabilised, at around $65 a barrel, some $20 above their January lows, there's little appetite within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to modify production limits.

"There is consensus among Gulf OPEC countries, and others, to keep the ceiling unchanged," a senior Gulf OPEC delegate told Reuters late on Tuesday after an informal meeting of the four core Gulf Arab OPEC members earlier in the day.

Iraqi oil minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said there was "optimism and general acceptance with the current situation".

The group meets on Friday following a two-day seminar featuring the chief executives of the world's biggest energy groups, including BP and Exxon, companies whose fortunes have been abruptly altered by OPEC's decision to abandon efforts aimed at sustaining oil prices at more than $100 a barrel in favour of defending market share.

"Nobody wants to rock the boat," the Gulf source said. "The meeting is expected to be smooth sailing."

OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said on Wednesday that it would likely be a brief meeting.

"Everything is very clear."

That marks a change in tone from OPEC's last meeting in November 2014, when Venezuela and others mounted an unsuccessful bid to convince Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies to tighten the taps on supply.

Instead, the kingdom laid out its new laissez faire approach, saying it will no longer consider cutting output without the cooperation of non-OPEC producers such as Russia.

This time calls for collaboration have been muted.

The Gulf source said the outlook for the oil market is positive, especially in the second half of this year, which Qatar's oil minister Mohammed al-Sada said should be "more balanced".

"You can see that I'm not stressed, I'm happy," Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi said on Monday.

IRAN'S RETURN

There may still be some choppy moments. Iran is seeking to clear space for its gradual return to the oil market after years in which sanctions halved its oil exports to as little as 1 million barrels per day (bpd), an official said on Monday.

However, even if Iran and world powers meet a June 30 deadline for finalising a pact on gradually winding back nuclear-related sanctions, most analysts expect it will be months, if not a year or more, before Iran's production begins to recover, leaving OPEC little reason to sort it out now.

"Due to heightened uncertainty with an (Iran nuclear) deal, we think OPEC is likely to take a wait-and-see approach to the prospect of additional oil," analysts at Barclays wrote.

Some analysts, including those at Morgan Stanley, have raised the remote possibility that OPEC might surprise the market by increasing the output ceiling, now set at 30 million bpd. Some of OPEC's 12 members have dismissed that option.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

2 arrested over 'paihi' fuel theft

MANILA – Two suspects were arrested in Manila for allegedly siphoning diesel fuel from a parked truck.

The suspects were caught on closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras draining the fuel without knowledge of the driver.

One of the suspects was seen approaching the truck and going under it while holding a pail.

After a few minutes, he stood up carrying the pail filled with diesel.

He was allegedly assisted by another suspect, who brought the pail to a waiting tricycle and left.

Barangay officials in the area were able to apprehend the suspects after they received several complaints on the “paihi” group.

The suspects are facing charges of qualified theft for stealing 43 liters of diesel with an estimated worth of P7,000.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Petron, Flying V slash fuel pump prices

MANILA -- Petron Corp. and Flying V said they will be reducing prices of regular and premium gas, diesel, and kerosene products effective 12:01 a.m. on April 13, Saturday.

Petron said prices of Blaze 100, XCS, Xtra Advance and Super Xtra will be cut by P1.65 per liter; kerosene rates will be slashed by P0.75 per liter; and Turbo Diesel and DieselMax prices will be decreased by P0.55 per liter.

Flying V, meanwhile, said prices of Rush, Thunder, Volt, and Leadfree will be lessened by P1.50 per liter; regular gas rates will be cut by P1.25 per liter; and biodiesel prices will be slashed by P0.05 per liter.

The rollback reflects the movement in prices in the international oil market, the firms said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

XL1–The “1-liter” fuel economy car from VW

MANILA, Philippines - In America, it’s miles per gallon. In the Philippines and in other parts of the world, it’s kilometers per liter. But in Europe, the benchmark unit of measurement has always been liters of fuel consumed per 100 kilometers. (You might notice it when you drive a European car with a trip computer.)

And now, there is a new record-holder in the liters/100 km. yardstick. It’s from Volkswagen and it’s called the XL1. The XL1 is now the most fuel-efficient production car in the world, with a fuel consumption value of 0.9 l/100 km. Thanks to its plug-in hybrid system, the two-seat XL1 can also cover a distance of up to 50 km in all-electric mode and therefore with zero local emissions.

The XL1 is an automotive technological tour de force that follows pure sports car design principles—light weight (795 kg), streamlined aerodynamics (a drag coefficient of 0.189) and a low center of gravity (just 1,153 mm high). This gives the XL1 the ability to cruise at a constant speed of 100 km/h using just 8.4ps. In all-electric mode, the XL1 requires less than 0.1 kWh to cover a driving distance of over one kilometer.

High-tech lightweight design, perfect aerodynamics and a plug-in hybrid system—consisting of a two-cylinder 48ps TDI (common-rail direct-injection turbo-diesel) engine,  27ps E-motor, a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox (DSG), and lithium-ion battery—all make it possible for the Volkswagen XL1 to emit just 21 g/km of CO2. At full throttle, the XL1, with a top speed of 160 km/h, can accelerate to 100 km/h in just 12.7 seconds. Clearly, 0.9 l/100 km fuel consumption is a record figure that has not been achieved by any other vehicle to date, and it illustrates how Volkswagen is redefining what is technically feasible in car-making.

Conceptually, the XL1 represents the third evolutionary stage of Volkswagen’s “1-liter” car strategy. When the new millennium was ushered in, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Piëch, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG, formulated the visionary goal of bringing to market a production car that was practical in everyday use with fuel consumption of one liter per 100 km. In the two-seat XL1, this vision has become reality.



 Despite the tremendous efficiency of the XL1, developers successfully came up with a body concept, which delivers more everyday utility than in the two previous prototypes. While the driver and passenger sat in a tandem arrangement for optimal aerodynamics in the L1, the 1-liter car presented in 2002 and in 2009, in the XL1 two occupants sit slightly offset, side by side, nearly as in a conventional vehicle.

The XL1 is 3,888mm long, 1,665mm wide and just 1,153 mm tall. By usual automotive standards, these are extreme dimensions. For comparison a Honda Jazz is just over an inch longer (3,920mm) and wider (1,695 mm) but is significantly taller (1,525 mm). Even a purebred sports car like a Porsche Boxster is almost five inches taller (1,282 mm). Needless to say, the XL1 will make a spectacular appearance—a true car of the future, (hand)built for today.

There is no word on pricing yet; it could probably be spectacularly expensive—and it would certainly be easier to import into the Philippines any exotic supercar than this sleek VW. But the fact that mankind has created such an astonishingly fuel-efficient machine—and will be making it available for sale—is reason enough to celebrate. st car? It’s now easy!

source: philstar.com

Flying V to slash fuel prices

MANILA, Philippines – Flying V has announced that it will roll back its fuel prices on Sunday.

The firm said effective 12:01 a.m., prices of its premium and unleaded gasoline will be reduced by P0.40 per liter while diesel prices will be slashed by P0.50 per liter.

Oil company Seaoil also implemented a rollback on Saturday. -- Report from Alvin Elchico, ABS-CBN News

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Expect at least P1 increase in fuel prices this week - small retailers group

MANILA - After 13 weeks of reductions, oil companies are poised to increase prices at the pump by at least a peso, according to the head of the country's group of small retailers.

Fernando L. Martinez, chairman of the Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association, said prices could go up "a little over a peso for all products."

So far this year, prices have fallen P3.92 a liter for gasoline, and by P5.06 for diesel.

In Metro Manila, diesel retails for between P37.20 and P39.95 per liter, while gasoline, P43.65 to P51.27.

Industry players said EU sanctions against Iran, which took effect July 1, could reverse the dip in prices, pushing them higher over the next few months.

The embargo stemmed from Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran insists as solely for peaceful purposes.

Besides the oil embargo, the week-on-week 14-centavo depreciation of the peso against the dollar from P42.27 two weeks ago to P42.41 last week is also expected to contribute to the projected increase in pump prices this week.

source: interaksyon.com