Annual Growth

admin · Annual Growth

In the USA, the market for biodiesel is growing at an alarming rate. Biodiesel consumption in the U.S. grew from 25 million gallons per year in 2004 to 78 million gallons in 2005. Biodiesel production in the U.S. is expected to reach 300 million gallons by the end of 2006, and to reach approximately 750 million gallons per year in 2007.

Demand for biodiesel in the U.S. has grown so fast in 2006 that the seventy or so existing major biodiesel plants are barely able to keep up. To meet this demand, over fifty new, larger-scale plants are in construction and are expected to come online between 2007 and 2008. Not only will these fifty plants more than double the U.S. production capacity, but the size and production volumes of the new plants are much bigger on average.

Stroker

I always thought biodiesel was going to be cheaper to run, than regular diesel. Heck sometimes biodiesel is a lot higher than regular fuel, or at least, the same price.

Tom Cobb

I find this interesting and hope it helps my stocks.

I read that there is testing going on with ethanol biodiesel blends. It seems to enhance the performance without any bad affects on the engines.

Ethanol production is increasing to meet demands and the estimate of increased production facilities is suppressing prices of ethanol. That is bad for my stock in the short term but good for the market. As new ethanol capable cars are produced demand will increase. The nice thing about diesels is that there is no special engines required to use biodiesel. New car diesel engines are coming over the next couple of years and the need for diesel will increase.

What gets me is that with the biodiesel replacing some of hte demand for diesel why is diesel so high priced right now? They say it is the home heating oil market production change over. I can't believe that we still have so many homes in this country using heating oil that it is having that major of an impact on the supply.

Prices in TX for diesel are the highest I have EVER SEEN at any time. It never reached $2.99 and over $3.00 here in all the crisises of the past. It defies explanation.

D. Green

Ethanol may have some effect toward reducing the price of motor fuels, but the price of foodstuffs will more than offset the savings.

Tom, did you notice that on Friday, crude closed at the highest ever recorded price... $ 80.20 bbl for US light crude. I hate to disappoint, but with the world financial situation, the US banking problems, and many mid-east countries wanting to sell for money other than US dollars, I fully expect to see crude top $90 bbl about years end.

Indeed, former Shell chairman Lord Oxburgh has predicted oil prices at $100-150 bbl in the next few years. Sooner if the wars in the mid-east escalate...

Interesting times ahead.

D. Green

I made the above post before I completed by daily readings.

from: http://tinyurl.com/33cp4f

Goldman Raises Year-End Oil Price Forecast to $85 (Update4)
By Alexander Kwiatkowski

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its yearend oil-price forecast to $85 a barrel and said there was a ``high risk'' of a jump above $90 because supplies will drop to critical levels in the fourth quarter, when heating demand peaks.

Goldman increased its 2007 yearend forecast from a previous prediction of $72 a barrel, analysts at the world's biggest securities firm said in a research note today. Prices are forecast to reach as high as $95 a barrel by the end of 2008, Goldman said.

Surging oil prices threaten to erode the profits at energy consuming companies such as Air France-KLM Group, Europe's biggest airline, whose first-quarter earnings missed analyst estimates because of higher jet fuel costs. Crude oil touched a record $80.50 a barrel in New York today on concern an OPEC production increase starting Nov. 1 won't come soon enough to bolster supplies for the northern hemisphere winter.

``In the current environment, the risk of oil prices spiking to $95 remains very high should inventories continue to draw down to critical levels,'' Jeffrey Currie, a London-based commodity analyst at Goldman, said in a telephone interview today.

...snipped....more story at the link.......

Stroker

One could hope the north has a warm winter. To me, when ever somebody makes a forecast for higher prices, it seems to be accepted, and somebody will make sure it happens.

Tom Cobb

That is called speculating. It is the biggest price increaser in the market place.

Speculators should be banished by law because of the damage they do to the market place. In the 1800's in the west flour sold for as much as $200 a barrel. Can you imagine that in the market place and the value of a dollar at that time. REASON: speculators saying that there would be a hard winter and the wagons couldn't through and all the other reasons they could muster up. It sent prices skyrocketing for those that had money because they would pay the price to buy what was on hand or coming in the future.

Same thing going on today with oil and corn futures and all that stuff. Speculating on availability and price.