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26 June, 2008
NEW YORK. – The North Americans finally reacted to the naphtha record prices, when underrating the sport vehicles, driving less and even debating the extraction of crude in front of the costs of Florida and California.  And in an electoral year dominated by the economic concerns, the candidates to the presidency of United States, the democratic Barack Obama and the republican John McCain are including proposals to reduce the petroleum addiction to the world´s biggest consumer of fuels.  But to those plans – that go from the defense of Obama of the biofuels to the efforts of McCain to perforate more and to achieve bigger tax deductions for the “clean” vehicles - would take them one decade to achieve that the prices of the naphtha go back. According to George Philippidis, professor of energy policies of the International University of Florida, to speak of an eventual change is useless, because no candidate wants to take a risk to win the dislike of the voters. “I don’t believe that anything will happen until the election passes. And for then who knows what the petroleum price will be”, he added. While, the polls show that the consumers are the instigators of the change. More than half of the North Americans tries to drive less and 74% supports the oil perforation in the north american coast waters, according to surveys of the Zogby International consultant.¼br /> For the first time since the decade of the 70´s, the number of kilometers driven by the Americans decreased and the naphtha demand would have reached a roof, specified the Cambridge Energy Research Associates. “With the gallon [3,8 liters] to four dollars, we are observing changes of behavior that we didn’t see when it cost two or three dollars”, said Samantha Gross, directress associated of the consultant. The sales of sport vehicles and vans fell this year below 50% of the total of zero kilometers, something that didn’t happen since 2001. Ford and General Motors plan to close truck plants and to increase the production of automobiles with a more efficient fuel consumption. The escalade of the barrel price to almost 140 dollars made the North Americans worry about the most efficient cars, the production of ethanol, the solar energy and the perforations in the Arctic or in the Gulf of Mexico. Biofuels The plan of Obama would depend on the next generation biofuels, as the cellulosic ethanol that companies plan to manufacture through plants. But the technical difficulties have prevented to produce commercial quantities of that fuel. On the other hand, the proposal of McCain to suspend a prohibitation to the oil perforation in coastal waters, also supported by president George W. Bush, it would add between one and two million barrels of crude daily to the production of the country. But the analysts believe that to develop new wells would take ten years, lapse in which the world demand will reach the 100 million daily barrels, near 15 millions more than at the present time. Tim Evans, analyst of the Citi Futures Perspective in New York, pointed out that the domestic perforation is not a great solution since the petroleum can be extracted at a much lower cost in other places of the world. By Andrea Hopkins and Timothy Gardner¼br /> Of the Reuters agency Deje un comentario |
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