Middle East pricing

There are large concentrations of proven reserves ia specific areas of the globe such as the Middle East, North America, and the Confederation of Independent States. Thus the future of natural gas, worldwide, is dependent on the flow of natural gas across international boundaries on a long-term basis. This future is also dependent on the maintenance of an economic balance between the price of oil and the price of natural gas. 

Fuels. Two-thirds of the fuel used by the United States chemical industry in 1988 was natural gas [8006-14-2] which is clean and easy to combust (see Gas, natural). Although relatively inexpensive at the wellhead, natural gas is cosdy to transport. Hence the chemical industry is concentrated in regions where natural gas is produced, keeping the average price paid by the U.S. chemical industry for natural gas in 1988 to only 80% of the average U.S. industrial price (1). Similarly the movement of chemical commodity production to the Middle East is driven by the desire to obtain low cost natural gas. 

The price of oil itself is not clearly accounted for until the subsidies for exploration and the actual cost of Middle East defense is added. Only recently have the true costs of fossil fuel energy been studied, from defense commitments to long term health care for nationwide respiratory illnesses. Hydrogen must face economic comparisons to gasoline, but we notice that the oil and gas industries are already investing in the hydrogen economy. 

This vision cannot wait. Mankind is facing several major energy-related challenges this century the threat and consequences of climate change, the reconcentration of crude-oil production in the Middle East, and the energy price risks of peaking oil production. 

DFCr systems appear to have the necessary metals tolerance to process residual oils and the abundant, cheaper, but heavily vanadium-contaminated, Venezuelan and Mexican crudes (1-4). Therefore, the dual function fluid cracking catalyst (DFCC) concept could lead to the generation of important catalysts for U.S. refineries should Middle East politics cause another sudden escalation in crude oil prices and availability. The concept is... 

In 1974 OPEC imposed an embargo on oil to the United States, causing a rapid rise in the price of a barrel of oil. Ashland Petroleum, a transporter, refiner and marketer of oil, purchases most of its crude oil. At the time of the embargo, Ashland imported much of its oil from the Middle East, thus raising the question of availability. 

Added to this there is clearly a problem of worldwide energy dependence. Since the fossil fuels were created in specific circumstances where the geological conditions were favorable, the largest deposits of oil, gas and coal tend to be concentrated in particular regions of the globe (e.g. two-thirds of the world s proven oU reserves are located in the Middle East and North Africa), often characterized by political instability in their international relationships. Therefore, the price of oil is subjected to important fluctuations due to economic and geopolitical reasons [3]. 

The first Sasol plant (Sasol One) came on stream in 1955 and is still in production. The profitability of this operation initially was low because the price of crude oil remained depressed for many years due to the discovery and exploitation of the huge oil deposits in the Middle East. After 1973, however, the price of crude oil rose rapidly and consequently the profitability of the Fischer-Tropsch process in South Africa improved dramatically. This lead to the construction of two much bigger plants (Sasol Two and Sasol Three) which came on stream in 1980 and 1982 respectively. 

India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and northern Africa centuries before it was used by ancient Greeks and Romans. In ancient times, it was used as a spice, preservative, and medicine. Pepper was such a valuable commodity that it was often used as a medium of exchange and as a form of money. Centers of commerce such as Alexandria, Constantinople (Istanbul), Calicut, and Venice arose from the trade of pepper. Arab monopolies for pepper (and other spices) kept prices high, making pepper a spice for the wealthy. To break the Arab monopolies, European powers explored for direct trade routes to India. Portugal built on Vasco da Gama s (1469-1524) trade route completed in 1488 to India to establish its own pepper monopoly in the 16th century. This in turn prompted Spain to search for western routes to India. 

Canadian sulfur production will show a net decline despite increased recovery at refineries and smelters. The greatest increases in supplies overseas are expected to occur in the Middle East, Poland, the Soviet Union and in Japan. Demand for sulfur in the world markets is expected to grow at roughly 4% per year (slightly faster than supply) and will sustain the present tight market and high prices for sulfur for several years into the future. 

Although these early findings showed that significant beneficial effects could be derived from mixes prepared with SEA binders, very little attention was maintained in this area until the mid-1970 s, or more directly, the advent of the Oil Embargo from the Middle East. In anticipation of reduced crude supplies on the future price and availability of asphalt, coupled with the lower cost and projected surpluses of sulfur, the paving industry revived its interest in SEA binder technology. 

In the U.S., the primary methanol production location is in the Gulf Coast area. Methanol is also produced in Canada, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Methanol production and price is not controlled by any single country or consortium of countries. Any country with remote natural gas reserves is a candidate for methanol production since production of methanol usually represents the most cost-effective means of developing those reserves. 

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