NST Online - 24 November 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: RM3 as the retail floor price for a litre of petrol is what the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca) would like to see.
"We should set a floor price that would encourage the prudent use of petrol, promote the use of public transport and push for development in alternative energy," Fomca secretary-general Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah said when contacted by the New Straits Times yesterday.
Sha'ani said a floor price of RM1.92 per litre was too low to regulate the price of petrol. That was the price at the pump before the meteoric hike in price by 78 sen on July 1.
"Continued reductions in pump prices will only benefit those who drive their own vehicles but leave out low-income earners and the poor who do not own vehicles.
"At the same time, people will stop thinking about prudence in petrol use and start using their cars more, and then our roads will be jammed again."
Since the July 1 high of RM2.70 per litre of petrol, the government has been reducing prices in tandem with the fall in global crude oil prices. There is speculation that by early next month, pump prices will be below the pre-July prices.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad has proposed a price floor plan.
Yesterday, Shahrir gave the assurance that every detail would be considered before the government decided whether to implement a price floor plan for the pump.
He stressed that everyone must acknowledge that global oil prices were bound to go up at some point so the government would need something to fall back on.
"In the end, the money (for subsidies) has to come from somewhere.
"Even if we save the subsidy for petrol, it will still go to the consolidated fund, which in turn will be used for something else for the benefit of the people.
"Whatever the case, just wait for Dec 1 and the Economic Council will decide on it (price floor plan)."
The Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam (Cassa) agrees that the price floor plan is workable.
Cassa president Datuk Dr Jacob George, however, cautioned against imposing a price floor that was too far removed from the prevailing global crude oil price.
"We should not be seen as tampering with market forces because it may be viewed as Malaysians being unable to handle (the economic crisis)."
Both Sha'ani and George agreed that the crux of change lay in consumer habits.
Consumers, they said, must keep tabs on their petrol consumption and avoid waste.
The associations advised consumers to find an alternative mode of transport for their daily commute and consider at least a partial shift to public transport.
"Everyone is talking about saving 10 or 15 sen at the pump, but ultimately it is the millionaire who enjoys the low prices as this does not have much impact, if any, on the mid-income class," Sha'ani said.
He stressed that instead of pushing for lower prices of goods, the government should focus on bringing down the overall cost of the use of public amenities such as public transport, medical care and education.
Sha'ani noted that by allowing the private sector more freedom to set their own prices, it would help spur the economy and reduce the stranglehold of a handful of companies that monopolised the sale of certain goods such as sugar and flour.
George agreed that it was necessary to "get rid" of cartels and parallel importers, who he said were stifling the development of healthy competition among businesses.
"We need to promote competition which is good for everyone, and this is where we all can come together and come up with a plan which is fair and reasonable for both consumers and the business community.
"Consumers and the private sector need to compromise and this is where the government can play its part, by helping both sides come to a consensus.
"This is not the time for protests. This is the time for prudent thinking and we all need to be accountable and work according to our conscience." -
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Fuel price cut will have ‘little impact’
PETALING JAYA: It will provide some relief but will not have much impact — that sums up the sentiments of the public on the fuel price reduction yesterday.
City folk were definitely happy but many doubt that prices of basic necessities would go down in tandem with the reduction.
Bus and lorry operators said it did not really benefit them as prices of other goods had gone up.
Pan Malaysian Bus Operators Association president Datuk Ashfar Ali said the reduction in fuel prices would not affect bus operators.
“For us, it’s still the same. We are still paying the subsidised rate of RM1.43 per litre for diesel,” he said.
He added that bus operators had also not felt the benefit of lower fuel prices as the cost of other products were still high.
“When the fuel prices shot up early this year, the price of everything else — batteries, lubricating oil and tyres — went up. Now, even though fuel prices are down, the price of these items are not coming down,” he said.
Pan Malaysian Lorry Owners Association president Er Sui See said that while he was happy with the reduced diesel prices, lorry owners still would not be able to absorb the escalating transport charges.
“Only a quarter of the diesel we use is subsidised, so yes it’s good that diesel prices are down.
“But all the other costs that have gone up are still going up. We can’t absorb the cost,” he said.
He gave the example of tyres, which would cost 15% more from Nov 1.
Tutor Tan Chin Swee, 48, said: “The sudden jump in petrol price a few months ago resulted in a spiral effect which pushed up the price of many daily necessities. I doubt that the reduction can undo the inflationary impact that an ordinary person is now facing.”
“Recession and inflation are inherent in any economy and are things that we have to live with,’’ Tan added.
Manager Gobal Rajee, 46, said he was happy with the reduction but felt that there would be little effect.
“We hope the prices of other goods will go down as well, otherwise it really makes no difference,’’ he said.
Civil servant Karim Jaabar, 37, said it was nothing to rejoice about if the prices of goods remain the same.
Administrative executive Theresa Heng, 49, said it was better than nothing.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
U.N. says credit crisis could enable "green growth"
By Patrick Worsnip , Reuters UK, 11 October 2008
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Instead of sidelining the fight against climate change, the global credit crisis could hasten countries' efforts to create "green growth" industries by revamping the financial system behind them, the U.N. climate chief said on Friday.
But that would depend on governments helping poor countries -- who are key to saving the planet's ecology -- tackle their problems, instead of spending most available money on rescuing the financial world, Yvo de Boer told reporters.
De Boer said the financial "earthquake" that has seen markets plunge worldwide in recent weeks could damage U.N.-led climate change talks, but only "if the opportunities that the crisis brings for climate change abatement are ignored."
"The credit crisis can be used to make progress in a new direction, an opportunity for global green economic growth," de Boer, who heads the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told a news conference.
"The credit crunch I believe is an opportunity to rebuild the financial system that would underpin sustainable growth ... Governments now have an opportunity to create and enforce policy which stimulates private competition to fund clean industry."
De Boer said a successful outcome to climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009 would create new markets, investment opportunities and job creation.
But he warned that "if available global capital is used primarily to refloat the financial world, we literally will sink the futures of the poorest of the poor.
"And I hope that the credit crunch will not mean that people in the South will have to wait for those in the North to have repaid their credit card debts and mortgages before attention is again turned to the South."
Without reaching out a hand to developing countries, it would be very difficult to make advances on the rest of the environmental agenda, De Boer said.
Environment ministers will meet in two months' time in Poznan, Poland, to prepare for the Copenhagen summit, which is due to agree on a new global-warming accord to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Ministers in Poznan must make clear they were "willing to put financial resources, the architecture, the institutions in place that will allow developing countries to engage in a global approach on both mitigation and adaptation," he said.
Funding did not have to all come from governments and he foresaw "an approach where we very much use the market".
De Boer said the financial crisis had not so far affected the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, which allows rich countries to offset their carbon footprints by investing in clean energy projects in developing countries.
"I don't see a slowdown in the CDM pipeline at the moment," he said.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Instead of sidelining the fight against climate change, the global credit crisis could hasten countries' efforts to create "green growth" industries by revamping the financial system behind them, the U.N. climate chief said on Friday.
But that would depend on governments helping poor countries -- who are key to saving the planet's ecology -- tackle their problems, instead of spending most available money on rescuing the financial world, Yvo de Boer told reporters.
De Boer said the financial "earthquake" that has seen markets plunge worldwide in recent weeks could damage U.N.-led climate change talks, but only "if the opportunities that the crisis brings for climate change abatement are ignored."
"The credit crisis can be used to make progress in a new direction, an opportunity for global green economic growth," de Boer, who heads the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told a news conference.
"The credit crunch I believe is an opportunity to rebuild the financial system that would underpin sustainable growth ... Governments now have an opportunity to create and enforce policy which stimulates private competition to fund clean industry."
De Boer said a successful outcome to climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009 would create new markets, investment opportunities and job creation.
But he warned that "if available global capital is used primarily to refloat the financial world, we literally will sink the futures of the poorest of the poor.
"And I hope that the credit crunch will not mean that people in the South will have to wait for those in the North to have repaid their credit card debts and mortgages before attention is again turned to the South."
Without reaching out a hand to developing countries, it would be very difficult to make advances on the rest of the environmental agenda, De Boer said.
Environment ministers will meet in two months' time in Poznan, Poland, to prepare for the Copenhagen summit, which is due to agree on a new global-warming accord to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Ministers in Poznan must make clear they were "willing to put financial resources, the architecture, the institutions in place that will allow developing countries to engage in a global approach on both mitigation and adaptation," he said.
Funding did not have to all come from governments and he foresaw "an approach where we very much use the market".
De Boer said the financial crisis had not so far affected the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism, which allows rich countries to offset their carbon footprints by investing in clean energy projects in developing countries.
"I don't see a slowdown in the CDM pipeline at the moment," he said.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Oil prices fall to lowest in eight months
Monday October 06 2008, Graeme Wearden, guardian.co.uk
Oil fell to its lowest level in eight months today, offering drivers and companies the hope of lower petrol prices in the weeks ahead.
The price of a barrel of US crude oil dropped to $89.38 in morning trading, a fall of $4. This followed sharp falls on world stockmarkets, reflecting concerns that demand for energy will drop as the global economy slows.
This is the first time since mid-February that a barrel of US crude has cost less than $90, and almost a year since it first broke through this level.
London Brent crude also fell this morning, losing almost $3.50 to $86.87.
For most of 2008 oil has been well over $100 a barrel, causing pain at the pumps where petrol now costs well over £1 a litre.
A litre of unleaded petrol currently costs an average of 109.9p in the UK, with diesel costing 121.5p a litre, according to www.petrolprices.com.
Typically it costs around six weeks for changes in the oil price to feed through to the consumers, but there are already signs that prices are falling. On Friday Asda and Morrisons both cut their fuel prices, with a litre of unleaded now costing 105.9p at Asda, and 106.6p at Morrisons.
Merrill Lynch analysts predicted last that the price of oil could sink to $50 a barrel next year, if the economic slowdown deepens into a recession.
However, oil-producing cartel Opec may cut production to stem falling prices. Last month, as oil slipped below the symbolic $100 a barrel mark, it reversed earlier plans to boost output.
Graeme Wearden
Oil fell to its lowest level in eight months today, offering drivers and companies the hope of lower petrol prices in the weeks ahead.
The price of a barrel of US crude oil dropped to $89.38 in morning trading, a fall of $4. This followed sharp falls on world stockmarkets, reflecting concerns that demand for energy will drop as the global economy slows.
This is the first time since mid-February that a barrel of US crude has cost less than $90, and almost a year since it first broke through this level.
London Brent crude also fell this morning, losing almost $3.50 to $86.87.
For most of 2008 oil has been well over $100 a barrel, causing pain at the pumps where petrol now costs well over £1 a litre.
A litre of unleaded petrol currently costs an average of 109.9p in the UK, with diesel costing 121.5p a litre, according to www.petrolprices.com.
Typically it costs around six weeks for changes in the oil price to feed through to the consumers, but there are already signs that prices are falling. On Friday Asda and Morrisons both cut their fuel prices, with a litre of unleaded now costing 105.9p at Asda, and 106.6p at Morrisons.
Merrill Lynch analysts predicted last that the price of oil could sink to $50 a barrel next year, if the economic slowdown deepens into a recession.
However, oil-producing cartel Opec may cut production to stem falling prices. Last month, as oil slipped below the symbolic $100 a barrel mark, it reversed earlier plans to boost output.
Graeme Wearden
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Motorists taxed on car efficiency by 2010
By Renee Viellaris, September 15, 2008, couriermail.com.au
MOTORISTS could be taxed for driving pollution-pumping vehicles under a Federal Government plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
A Vehicle Fuel Efficiency discussion paper released by the Rudd Government yesterday laid out a number of "potential measures", which also included reducing the cost of state registration and stamp duty charges for energy-saving vehicles.
The paper comes as the Government has committed to including transport in its emissions trading scheme, which will increase the cost of fuel when it is introduced in 2010.
In a bid to help motorists battling prices at the bowser, the Government has pledged to shoulder fuel increases at the pump by every cent they rise under an ETS - but only for three years.
The report, which called for public feedback by November, said emissions from the transport sector were the nation's third largest.
With more than 14 million registered vehicles on the roads, it was also one of the fastest-growing sources of carbon pollution in Australia.
"There is no silver bullet for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector (and) instead we need a structured and measured approach to this issue," the report said.
"The Australian Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will be the primary mechanism for reducing carbon dioxide emissions on an economy-wide basis.
"Reforms to address fuel efficiency will need to be complementary to the scheme to help reduce travel costs and carbon emissions for Australian motorists."
It put forward the potential for financial rewards and disincentives for motorists who bought new cars.
"(Consider) the development of a framework to realign state and territory stamp duty and/or registration for light vehicles on a sliding scale based on carbon dioxide emissions," it said.
"(Consider) a balanced set of direct financial incentives (rebates) and disincentives (surcharges) for the purchase of new vehicles based on the carbon dioxide emissions performance of a vehicle."
It also proposed the potential for a mandatory carbon dioxide standard for new light vehicles.
It comes as Climate Change Minister Penny Wong attends a four-day meeting in Argentina ahead of new international negotiations on climate change.
The talks aim to expedite United Nations negotiations.
And Environment Minister Peter Garrett also announced yesterday an extra $7.5 million - on top of the $23 million already pledged - would be directed at saving the Great Barrier Reef.
He said up to $4.5 million would help monitor water quality in rivers and wetlands, $2 million would pay for new water quality technologies and $1 million would be offered to traditional owners to conserve turtles and dugongs.
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MOTORISTS could be taxed for driving pollution-pumping vehicles under a Federal Government plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
A Vehicle Fuel Efficiency discussion paper released by the Rudd Government yesterday laid out a number of "potential measures", which also included reducing the cost of state registration and stamp duty charges for energy-saving vehicles.
The paper comes as the Government has committed to including transport in its emissions trading scheme, which will increase the cost of fuel when it is introduced in 2010.
In a bid to help motorists battling prices at the bowser, the Government has pledged to shoulder fuel increases at the pump by every cent they rise under an ETS - but only for three years.
The report, which called for public feedback by November, said emissions from the transport sector were the nation's third largest.
With more than 14 million registered vehicles on the roads, it was also one of the fastest-growing sources of carbon pollution in Australia.
"There is no silver bullet for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector (and) instead we need a structured and measured approach to this issue," the report said.
"The Australian Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will be the primary mechanism for reducing carbon dioxide emissions on an economy-wide basis.
"Reforms to address fuel efficiency will need to be complementary to the scheme to help reduce travel costs and carbon emissions for Australian motorists."
It put forward the potential for financial rewards and disincentives for motorists who bought new cars.
"(Consider) the development of a framework to realign state and territory stamp duty and/or registration for light vehicles on a sliding scale based on carbon dioxide emissions," it said.
"(Consider) a balanced set of direct financial incentives (rebates) and disincentives (surcharges) for the purchase of new vehicles based on the carbon dioxide emissions performance of a vehicle."
It also proposed the potential for a mandatory carbon dioxide standard for new light vehicles.
It comes as Climate Change Minister Penny Wong attends a four-day meeting in Argentina ahead of new international negotiations on climate change.
The talks aim to expedite United Nations negotiations.
And Environment Minister Peter Garrett also announced yesterday an extra $7.5 million - on top of the $23 million already pledged - would be directed at saving the Great Barrier Reef.
He said up to $4.5 million would help monitor water quality in rivers and wetlands, $2 million would pay for new water quality technologies and $1 million would be offered to traditional owners to conserve turtles and dugongs.
Share this article
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Oil plunges below US$92 in Asia on US credit fears
Tuesday September 16, 2008, The Star online
SINGAPORE: Oil prices plummeted Tuesday in Asia, falling below US$92 a barrel as investors feared the U.S. credit crisis that brought down brokerage giant Lehman Brothers will drag on global economic growth and restrain demand for crude.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery tumbled US$3.77 to US$91.94 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midday in Singapore.
The contract fell US$5.47 overnight to settle at US$95.71, the first time oil closed below US$100 since March 4.
In a stunning turn of events Monday on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., a 158-year-old investment bank, filed for bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer and Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be bought out by Bank of America Corp.
"People are selling everything. It's a bit of panic,'' said Jonathan Kornafel, Asia director for market maker Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.
"We may not have seen the end of demand destruction. It's scary what going on economic-wise right now, and that's why oil is selling off.''
The Dow Jones industrials lost 504 points, or 4.4 percent, on Monday in their worst point drop since the September 2001 terrorist attacks, and Asian stock markets tumbled Tuesday.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tried to calm markets, saying the American people can remain confident in the "soundness and resilience in the American financial system.''
Crude fell despite an attack by militants on an oil-pumping station operated by the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC in southern Nigeria with dynamite and other explosives Monday which killed at least one guard in the third day of heavy battles between the armed forces and militants fighters.
Shell said one guard died and four others suffered injuries in the battle, which prompted an evacuation of some facilities in the southern region.
No details were given about any effect on oil production.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the region's main militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack. Since it emerged nearly three years ago, the group has mostly focused on hobbling Nigeria's oil industry, bombing pipelines in hopes of forcing the federal government to send more revenues to the impoverished oil-producing south.
"When you start to see the market not paying attention to what's going on around it, the fundamentals are not being closely looked at,'' Kornafel said.
"This drop since mid-July seems a bit overdone.''
Crude has fallen about US$55 - or 37 percent - from its all-time trading record of US$147.27 reached July 11.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 8.08 cents to US$2.7104 a gallon, while gasoline prices dropped 7.0 cents to US$2.4914 a gallon.
Natural gas for October delivery fell 8.4 cents to US$7.29 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, October Brent crude fell US$2.33 to US$90.27 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Brazil declines Saudi invitation to join OPEC
Meanwhile in Sao Paulo Brazil declined a recent invitation from Saudi Arabia to join OPEC, citing plans to refine, not export, crude oil from its recently discovered deep water reserves, top energy officials said Monday. (Tuesday monring Malaysian time).
Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said Brazil determined it doesn't need the cartel, because it plans to boost oil income by refining crude into products like gasoline for export abroad, the state's Agencia Brasil news agency reported.
Paulo Roberto Costa, a high-ranking executive with Brazil's state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA oil company, confirmed the government had decided not to join OPEC.
"Brazil won't be a big exporter of oil, that's already defined,'' Costa told Agencia Brasil at the Rio Oil & Gas Expo 2008 industry conference in Rio de Janeiro.
"Brazil was invited to participate in OPEC and did not accept because our priority is refining here and exporting derivatives.''
Analysts say the reserves - found in the last year thousands of meters (feet) under the ocean floor and several hundred kilometers (miles) off the Rio de Janeiro coast - may contain 55 billion barrels of oil, enough to catapult Brazil to superpower oil status.
By refining its own oil, instead of shipping it abroad to be refined, Lobao said Brazil will generate more money and jobs at home.
The country is undergoing an economic boom but still has one of the world's deepest divides between rich and poor.
Under orders from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a commission of government ministers is examining possible changes in the nation's oil law.
Silva insists profits from the new oil discoveries be used to fight poverty and improve education.
Agencia Brasil said the Saudi OPEC invite came at a "recent'' meeting of oil producing nations, but gave no other details. OPEC met last week in Vienna.
Brazil last month declined an invitation extended by Iran to join the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Lobao did not specify why at the time, saying only that Brazil had "other priorities.''
Also Monday, Petrobras said it awarded contracts to build 10 new floating production, storage and offloading units to develop its new fields.
Petrobras will rent two units to produce 100,000 barrels a day by 2014, and will build eight others to produce up to 120,000 barrels a day by 2016, according to a company statement.
A spokesman declined to give disclose how much the contracts were worth or with whom they'd been signed.
U.S. traded shares of Petrobras plunged 11.7 percent to US$40.35 in New York on Monday, amid a global stock meltdown and oil prices that closed below $100 a barrel for the first time in six months. - AP
SINGAPORE: Oil prices plummeted Tuesday in Asia, falling below US$92 a barrel as investors feared the U.S. credit crisis that brought down brokerage giant Lehman Brothers will drag on global economic growth and restrain demand for crude.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery tumbled US$3.77 to US$91.94 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midday in Singapore.
The contract fell US$5.47 overnight to settle at US$95.71, the first time oil closed below US$100 since March 4.
In a stunning turn of events Monday on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., a 158-year-old investment bank, filed for bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer and Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be bought out by Bank of America Corp.
"People are selling everything. It's a bit of panic,'' said Jonathan Kornafel, Asia director for market maker Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.
"We may not have seen the end of demand destruction. It's scary what going on economic-wise right now, and that's why oil is selling off.''
The Dow Jones industrials lost 504 points, or 4.4 percent, on Monday in their worst point drop since the September 2001 terrorist attacks, and Asian stock markets tumbled Tuesday.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tried to calm markets, saying the American people can remain confident in the "soundness and resilience in the American financial system.''
Crude fell despite an attack by militants on an oil-pumping station operated by the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC in southern Nigeria with dynamite and other explosives Monday which killed at least one guard in the third day of heavy battles between the armed forces and militants fighters.
Shell said one guard died and four others suffered injuries in the battle, which prompted an evacuation of some facilities in the southern region.
No details were given about any effect on oil production.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the region's main militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack. Since it emerged nearly three years ago, the group has mostly focused on hobbling Nigeria's oil industry, bombing pipelines in hopes of forcing the federal government to send more revenues to the impoverished oil-producing south.
"When you start to see the market not paying attention to what's going on around it, the fundamentals are not being closely looked at,'' Kornafel said.
"This drop since mid-July seems a bit overdone.''
Crude has fallen about US$55 - or 37 percent - from its all-time trading record of US$147.27 reached July 11.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 8.08 cents to US$2.7104 a gallon, while gasoline prices dropped 7.0 cents to US$2.4914 a gallon.
Natural gas for October delivery fell 8.4 cents to US$7.29 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, October Brent crude fell US$2.33 to US$90.27 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Brazil declines Saudi invitation to join OPEC
Meanwhile in Sao Paulo Brazil declined a recent invitation from Saudi Arabia to join OPEC, citing plans to refine, not export, crude oil from its recently discovered deep water reserves, top energy officials said Monday. (Tuesday monring Malaysian time).
Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said Brazil determined it doesn't need the cartel, because it plans to boost oil income by refining crude into products like gasoline for export abroad, the state's Agencia Brasil news agency reported.
Paulo Roberto Costa, a high-ranking executive with Brazil's state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA oil company, confirmed the government had decided not to join OPEC.
"Brazil won't be a big exporter of oil, that's already defined,'' Costa told Agencia Brasil at the Rio Oil & Gas Expo 2008 industry conference in Rio de Janeiro.
"Brazil was invited to participate in OPEC and did not accept because our priority is refining here and exporting derivatives.''
Analysts say the reserves - found in the last year thousands of meters (feet) under the ocean floor and several hundred kilometers (miles) off the Rio de Janeiro coast - may contain 55 billion barrels of oil, enough to catapult Brazil to superpower oil status.
By refining its own oil, instead of shipping it abroad to be refined, Lobao said Brazil will generate more money and jobs at home.
The country is undergoing an economic boom but still has one of the world's deepest divides between rich and poor.
Under orders from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a commission of government ministers is examining possible changes in the nation's oil law.
Silva insists profits from the new oil discoveries be used to fight poverty and improve education.
Agencia Brasil said the Saudi OPEC invite came at a "recent'' meeting of oil producing nations, but gave no other details. OPEC met last week in Vienna.
Brazil last month declined an invitation extended by Iran to join the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Lobao did not specify why at the time, saying only that Brazil had "other priorities.''
Also Monday, Petrobras said it awarded contracts to build 10 new floating production, storage and offloading units to develop its new fields.
Petrobras will rent two units to produce 100,000 barrels a day by 2014, and will build eight others to produce up to 120,000 barrels a day by 2016, according to a company statement.
A spokesman declined to give disclose how much the contracts were worth or with whom they'd been signed.
U.S. traded shares of Petrobras plunged 11.7 percent to US$40.35 in New York on Monday, amid a global stock meltdown and oil prices that closed below $100 a barrel for the first time in six months. - AP
Oil tumbles, but when will petrol prices follow?
By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Correspondent , 15/09/08, Telegraph.co.uk
The price of oil has fallen below $100 a barrel for the first time in nearly six months, as the likelihood of a severe global recession increased in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
# Oil markets escape Hurricane Ike mayhem
The price fell more than $4 to $97 US dollars a barrel. The last time the price was below $100 was April 2.
Petrol forecourts in Britain are now under pressure to cut the price of unleaded petrol and diesel, motoring groups said. They warned that drivers had missed out on the full benefit of the oil price fall earlier this summer, when it came down from its peak of $147 a barrel.
The fall in the price of oil came as investors digested the collapse of Lehman Brothers. With investors betting that the chaos on Wall Street would cause the credit crisis to deepen – and economies around the world to use less oil – investors started to sell the commodity.
The sell-off was also prompted by reports that suggested the damage from Hurricane Ike was less than feared.
The storm destroyed at least 10 oil and gas platforms and damaged pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico – only a small amount of the 3,800 production platforms in the Gulf. Three years ago, a series of hurricanes knocked out more than 100 platforms.
The AA warned that petrol prices on UK forecourts have not fallen as quickly as oil, with average unleaded petrol down from July's peak of 119.7p to only 112.8p at the weekend.
Average diesel prices have fallen from 133.3p to 124.2p. This compares to the 34 per cent fall in the oil price.
The AA said that petrol prices needed to fall by another 4 pence in the coming days, or motorists would lose out once again.
Luke Bosdet, a spokesman for the motoring group, said: "I am not hopeful. Petrol retailers have a history of dragging their feet."
The price of oil has fallen below $100 a barrel for the first time in nearly six months, as the likelihood of a severe global recession increased in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
# Oil markets escape Hurricane Ike mayhem
The price fell more than $4 to $97 US dollars a barrel. The last time the price was below $100 was April 2.
Petrol forecourts in Britain are now under pressure to cut the price of unleaded petrol and diesel, motoring groups said. They warned that drivers had missed out on the full benefit of the oil price fall earlier this summer, when it came down from its peak of $147 a barrel.
The fall in the price of oil came as investors digested the collapse of Lehman Brothers. With investors betting that the chaos on Wall Street would cause the credit crisis to deepen – and economies around the world to use less oil – investors started to sell the commodity.
The sell-off was also prompted by reports that suggested the damage from Hurricane Ike was less than feared.
The storm destroyed at least 10 oil and gas platforms and damaged pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico – only a small amount of the 3,800 production platforms in the Gulf. Three years ago, a series of hurricanes knocked out more than 100 platforms.
The AA warned that petrol prices on UK forecourts have not fallen as quickly as oil, with average unleaded petrol down from July's peak of 119.7p to only 112.8p at the weekend.
Average diesel prices have fallen from 133.3p to 124.2p. This compares to the 34 per cent fall in the oil price.
The AA said that petrol prices needed to fall by another 4 pence in the coming days, or motorists would lose out once again.
Luke Bosdet, a spokesman for the motoring group, said: "I am not hopeful. Petrol retailers have a history of dragging their feet."
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