Demand for oil tumbles on the back of weak demand

Industrial output in Germany dropped in August, the lowest since January 2009, putting pressure on European equities and leading to weak demand for oil. Europe and China are experiencing stagnation, thereby making it difficult for the oil price to climb up.

The US Energy Information administration (EIA) made a discouraging forecast, which added to the bearish sentiment. Brent November crude fell $1.03 at $91.76 per barrel, while Brent dropped to a contract low of $91.25 on Monday. US November crude oil fell 96 cents at $89.38.

Iran has declared that OPEC does not intend to hold an emergency meeting to deliberate the drop in oil prices. OPEC oil ministers are slated to meet in Vienna on November 27 to consider making adjustments to their output of 30 million barrels per day. Unless OPEC doesn’t take measures to reduce supply, oil prices will likely remain under pressure.

Brent crude long futures and options positions on the Intercontinental Exchange fell by a sixth in the week to September 30, which points to the fading investor expectations for higher prices.

US crude oil output has risen over 3 million barrels per day since 2010 amidst a global economic slowdown and increase in efficiency has limited growth in oil demand. Experts suggest that the current oil market scenario represents the effect of the colossal rise in US oil production.

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Global crop yields may slowdown

Over the next two decades we may witness a slowdown in the growth of crop yields around the globe, thanks to climate change. In the next 20 years climate change will make it extremely difficult for crop yield to meet the ever-increasing demand.

New research indicates that the possibility of a major slowdown in the production of wheat and corn, despite the warming climate, is highly unlikely. However, the risk to crop yields is about 20 times higher and this would require environmental organizations as well as establishments affected by international food availability and price to formulate strategic plans.

Researchers used computer models of global climate and information about weather and crops to estimate the chances that climatic change would impact crop yields in the coming years. They stated that climatic trends would have a negative effect of 10 per cent on yields. This would have a significant impact on food supply. Growth in crop yields would continue but the slowdown would bring down the rate of growth by half as demand increases sharply.

Researchers found that the odds of natural shifts in climate causing slowdown over the next 20 years are 1 only in 200. However, when human-induced global warming was taken into account, the chances rose to 1 in 10 for corn and 1 in 20 for wheat.

Yield of crops like wheat and corn have risen by 1-2 per cent in the past few years and the global production of major crops is expected to hit 13 per cent per decade through 2030. The rise in global crop production during the next two decades can be attributed to population growth, increased per-capita food consumption and growing use of biofuels.

Researchers relied on simulation from an NCAR-based climate model as well as other models to figure out changes in temperature and precipitation over the next two decades for crop-intensive areas in the context of increasing carbon dioxide. They also made use of the same model simulations without human-induced increases in carbon dioxide to estimate trends in a natural climate.

They also performed statistical analysis to assess the effects if change in temperature and precipitation on yields of wheat and corn in different parts of the world and during specific times of the year.

The researchers affirmed that warming climate would lead to reduced yields. We can try and reduce the impact of changing climate by growing wheat and corn in cooler regions, however the researchers didn’t find sufficient evidence which could prove that adaptation strategies (changes in growing practices or crop varieties) would balance the impact of warming climate.

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Renewable energy may be the way out of economic quagmire for Egypt

Lack of abundant financial resources combined with the failure to form strategic plans is responsible for Egypt’s energy crisis.  Mohamed Shoeb, former president of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, said, "The energy problem is well known. Its solutions are also well known, but there is no will to solve it."

Experts suggested that the government should come up with innovative solutions. Solar energy is considered to be a viable and beneficial option for Egypt. Nations like Germany have formulated a plan to produce electricity from renewable energy by 2050. Solar energy has become extremely inexpensive; the cost of it has decreased by 90 per cent in the past 10 years.

Experts opined that smart electricity meters can bring down consumption in peak hours and thereby reduce electricity cuts. Power cuts have become frequent since 2008, but the cuts were limited to summer months. However, in the winter of 2012-12 blackouts became common.

The government can lower consumption of households that make use of several air conditioners or other power-hungry electronic devices.

Households can also increase use of energy saving LED light bulbs, which will reduce consumption by almost 20 per cent. "There are several ideas that can be studied and implemented, but we have been very slow," says Mohamed Moussa Omran, undersecretary of the Ministry of Electricity.

Despite being the first region to start use of solar energy, they were left behind by countries like Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia, which have started use of smart meters. "Transparency is missing, and that is a problem that needs to be solved. The government thinks the people are not capable of understanding the problem," says Shoeb.

Egypt expects to use nearly 2,500 megawatts yearly for the next five years in order to meet the rising demand, at a cost of $2.5 billion per annum. Egypt would also require funds to set up power stations, and fuel needs would cost at least $700 million per station per year. Foreign investors are crucial to the process of developing power stations as well as the power grid.

Nearly 80 per cent of Egypt’s electricity needs are met with the help of natural gas, the production of which has declined tremendously in recent years as a result of political instability and rising government debts have made foreign energy companies hesitant to invest in development of new gas fields. 

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Toxic chemicals used in lotions may prove harmful for human health

In today’s generation many people are found using various types of cosmetic products on to their skin for a softer, fairer and smooth skin. With the upcoming of different brands most of the individuals nowadays prefer to pick and choose the best brand for their skin. However, they are not aware of harmful chemicals such as toxic chemicals used while making the cosmetic products, which at a later stage can destroy overall health. These toxic chemicals that are being used in the products can cause disease like tumors and cancer, and also cause dryness and irritation to the human skin.

Nowadays, most of the branded companies have come up with various lotions for smoother, softer and moist skin throughout the year and for all types season. The uses of hand or body lotions are mostly seen during winter as less moisture is present in air.

According to reports, in today’s world apart from various cosmetic product lotions have also become an essential accessory, which is applied several times a day. Moreover, lotion is basically prepared to treat the unbroken skin which reprieves the skin short term only. However in the long run, it in fact makes the problems worse as number of hand lotions contain toxic chemicals which over a time period get accumulated in increasingly greater amounts in the fatty tissues and liver and thus cause problems in long term.

Most of the lotions are a mixture of oil-in-water with a use of a matter such as cetearyl alcohol, to keep the mixture together, however the water-in-oil lotions are also formulated. Most of the common chemicals which are found in commercial hand lotion consist of mineral oil, parabens (propylparaben, ethylparaben, methylparaben), alcohols, aluminum and other petroleum products which are known to cause skin irritation and dryness. These chemicals that have been applied via lotion onto the skin are absorbed directly into the blood stream.

Toxic chemicals like Paraben and Petroleum affect the overall health of human bodies causing disease like cancer and tumors. Paraben chemical which is used in lotions gets accumulated in the human body affecting the liver, breasts and fatty tissues and are also known for causing dry, irritation and sensitizing skin and also triggering allergic reactions.

Whereas according to the researched studies, cancerous tumors and long-term dryness of skin are caused by petroleum chemical. As per analysts, quite a number of people don’t bother to go through the ingredients list on their cosmetic and other products.

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Declining oil prices benefits the West

The fall in oil prices in the midst of violent clashes in Iraq, hightened tensions between the West and Russia and sanctions against Iran has brought about drastic changes.

However, the rising supplies of crude in North America and the slowing demand have led to a decline in prices, a move indicative of how the shale oil boom has benefitted Washington and its Western allies both politically and economically.

Russia and Iran are dependent on oil sales and are currently experiencing budget shortages, which has affected their position in negotiations concerning Ukrainian sovereignty or the Iranian nuclear deal.

Increasing oil production from the US and Canada have helped provide a buffer against threats of supply disruptions from Russia or the Middle East.

Russian currency has declined drastically against the dollar as its economy is restrained by sanctions from US and EU. These sanctions have forced Russia to shell more money for imports.

Oil production in the United States has increased tremendously. US continues to ban export of crude and has forced barrels from West Africa and the Middle East to look for new markets.

Lower oil prices will benefit US energy firms, while the consumers will gain from spending less the pump.

On the other hand lower oil prices will affect Iran's economy as well as its crude sales. Analysts have also stated that despite having captured oil fields in Syria and Iraq, Iran will be affected by lower oil rates as they will have to discount the black market sales that provide funds for the militant group.

As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, lower oil prices may lead to short-term budget shortages.

Experts suggested that a price drop may not spur action from OPEC members unless crude falls below $85 per barrel.

For the time being, the surge in US oil production combined with poor demand has forced traders to store additional barrels as they wait for prices to improve.

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Major expansion of Petrochemical industry is scheduled in Qatar

Qatar which is one of the richest state per-capita in the world and as per the year 2012 the country has established nearly 15 billion barrels of oil reserves and around more than 5% of gas fields of the global resource. In terms of its petrochemicalindustry, Qatar is at second position in the midst of Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries. Moreover for the country the petrochemical industry is a key source of hard earning which ranks behind the crude oil and the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sectors.

According to the industry experts, over next 5-10 years the country has a greater petrochemical expansion plans than any other country in the region and the expansion of the petrochemical industry will bring in growing revenue and produce numerous new jobs in the coming years.

According to the industry experts, in the petrochemical industries the country is taking good steps to prolong their success and with this it is taking action against the potential threats from the international souk. Moreover at the same time from low cost shale gas as a feedstock, most of the US manufacturers are gaining benefits as these will make the US the cheapest place in the world to produce petrochemicals.

In the coming years the US tactics to spend around USD 100 billion in the petrochemical facilities and it much prone to flow into the Asian market once the product starts to come on-stream by setting it in an unswerving competition with the product from the Middle East.

According to the sources, the current production of petrochemicals in the small nation state intends to boost surplus twice in order to reinforce its traction in the industry. Moreover in the Gulf region the construction of the two largest petrochemical projects is at present on track and due to the high outlay of these projects the government remains the largest shareholder in petrochemical investments.

In past few years the petrochemical industries in Qatar have seen a noteworthy rise and most of the Petchem companies based in this country have a few really big decisions in front of them as they are facing the choice of defending their markets in Asia against the low cost US product in the midst of a budding impact on price and margin.

Furthermore for the development and expansion of the chemical and the domestic petrochemical industries, the country plans to invest around USD 25 billion and in the year 2012 major petrochemical manufacturers Shell oil companies and the Qatar Petroleum had affirmed the plan to build up an olefins project in Ras Laffan Industrial City at a total outlay of USD 6.4 billion.

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Does chemical Triclosan in Colgate Total lead to cancer-cell growth?

Triclosan is said to cause cancer-cell growth and disrupted development in animals. Thus, is it safe to put chemical triclosan in soaps, toys, toothpastes etc. Let’s find out.

Consumer companies are gradually stopping the use of this harmful chemical. However, millions continue to be exposed to triclosan put in toothpastes like Colgate-Palmolive Co.’s Total. Colgate asserts that Total is safe and that the product underwent rigorous Food and Drug Administration process that led to the toothpaste’s approval in 1997 as an over-the-counter drug.

However, FDA recently published Colgate’s findings on triclosan which proved that FDA’s drug approval process is based on company-backed science to show products are safe and effective. This report made experts question the company’s research on triclosan.

The study showed fetal bone malformations in mice and rats, which was put aside as irrelevant by Colgate. However, such findings when viewed in terms of today’s science may prove that triclosan is capable of disrupting the endocrine system and affecting hormonal functioning.

Colgate continues to defend the effectiveness of its product. Colgate spokesman Thomas DiPiazza said, “In the nearly 18 years that Colgate Total has been on the market in the U.S., there has been no signal of a safety issue from adverse-event reports. Colgate also pointed to an independent 2013 review by the Cochrane Oral Health Group, a network of doctors, researchers and health advocates, which found no evidence of harmful effects associated with using Colgate Total.” The safety of this product is supported by 80 clinical studies involving 19,000 people.

The FDA is reviewing safety information available on triclosan in hand soaps and not in Colgate Total as triclosan hasn’t been proven superior to soap and water at washing hands, however its effectiveness as an ingredient in toothpastes has been made clear through its FDA approval process. FDA, however, is positive that triclosan doesn’t pose a cancer risk for humans.

Colgate stopped use of triclosan in its Softsoap liquid handsoaps and Palmolive antibacterial dish liquid in 2011. Triclosan is the most scrutinized chemical since it is now used in nearly 200 products including rugs and pet-food dispensers. Firms like Johnson & Johnson, Avon Products Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. have decided to remove triclosan from their products.

Consumers have turned away from chemicals like Bisphenol A and phthalates and have become much more aware about toxicity ranking.

At the end of the day it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to assure that its product is safe and to provide consumers with relevant information.

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