When You Are Number Two
Posted by Phil Flynn I PFG Best Research • Tuesday, July 20. 2010 • Category: Rohstoffe
The Energy Report for Tuesday, July 20, 2010
When you are number two, aren't you supposed to try harder? China reached a major milestone in its history when it was reported by the International Energy Agency that China had over taken the United States of America as the world’s largest energy consumer. This of course is a label that has belonged to us for a very long time and despite what some environmental naysayers would say, it is a label that we should have worn with pride. For years we heard people scold us because the United States consumes 25% of the world’s energy yet has only 5% of the world’s population. Some looked at our consumption as piggish and that somehow we were bad. Yet what those naysayers failed to realize was that consumption helped drive global economic wealth around the globe. The truth is that our leadership in energy consumption reflected our leadership as a global economic growth engine that fed the world. Not only that, the US was energy efficient in getting better GDP per barrel back on investment than almost anywhere else around the globe. The US was not consuming too much, the problem was that other countries were consuming and producing too little.
Countries like China that has about 60% of the world population, yet despite that was a distant runner-up in the energy consumption crown. Back in 2000 China consumed only half of what the US did at that time. The reason of course was that China’s economy, driven by years of communist and socialistic controlled markets, failed to produce the type of economic growth that could support the country with the world’s biggest population and the type of demand growth you would expect in a country in the modern world. China lacked infrastructure and the industrial output that would create wealth that could support that type of demand. Chinese citizens a decade or so ago had more bikes than cars and millions in the country did not even have electricity and still don’t have electricity to this day. Now China has assumed its rightful place as the world’s top energy producer after decades of playing catch up and decades now of a strong upward growth trend. Still despite this noble achievement, shouldn't they be consuming even more?
The IEA says that China consumed the equivalent of 2,252 million tons of oil last year. That according to the IEA is roughly 4% more than the U.S. used. The U.S. demand oil equivalent which measures oil, nuclear, coal, natural gas and renewables showed US demand at 2,170 million tons. Despite this great honor and the billions of dollars in economic stimulus that it took to achieve this China says it is not so. China says that the International Energy Agency data is unreliable. The International Business Times reported that, "in February, China’s National Bureau of Statistics had put the total energy consumption in the country at 2.132 billion tons of oil equivalent.
Both the agencies deploy different techniques to calculate the energy consumption leading to variations in the assessments, said a NEA official, according to the China Daily. Commenting that the IEA report ignored China’s measures to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, Zhou Xian highlighted the country's contribution to carbon-free energy generation. He said China has surpassed the US in generating clean energy from various sources such as hydropower, solar power, nuclear power and wind power.” Well obviously China has liked that number two energy position because it likes to be the underdog when it comes to carbon reduction talks. China is still far less efficient when using energy. The U.S. uses more oil per ton per person because our population is much less than China's. The Wall street Journal says that the U.S. used 7.1 tons of oil per person and in China they used 1.7. Of course in China they have millions that hardly use any. Many feared that when China became the world’s leader in energy consumption the world would have hit peak oil. There were those who estimated that oil prices would be $200.00 a barrel or more. Yet instead we find ourselves with an oil glut. In fact the only thing that moved the oil market yesterday seemed to be stock market optimism or pessimism and the threat of storms in the Gulf. Now one tropical wave is gone but another has seen the odds of it becoming a hurricane increase from 20% to 30%. Still the odds are not high enough to keep the markets focus off of the stock market and to lesser extent the euro. The euro has shown some good strength and technically looks like it wants to move higher. Still as we have been saying oil has been in a range so make sure you respect that.
Make sure that you call to get on my daily energy blast and to sign up for my daily buy and sell points on all of the major commodities markets. Just call me at 800-935-6487 or email me at pflynn@pfgbest.com to open your account and check out the best in business news on the Fox Business Network where you can see me every day!
Phil Flynn
Senior Market Analyst
800-935-6487
312-563-8344
pflynn@pfgbest.com
Phil Flynn is Energy Analyst and General Market Analyst with PFGBEST (www.pfgbest.com). Phil is one of the world’s leading energy market analysts, providing individual investors, professional traders and institutions with up-to-the-minute investment and risk management insight into global petroleum, gasoline and energy markets. Phil’s market commentary, fundamental and technical analysis, and long-term forecasts are sought by industry executives, traders and global media.
Because he has been available to media around the clock, even during some of the most turbulent market periods in history, and because he has built a solid reputation for accuracy in his market analysis and forecasts, through thousands of interviews and broadcast appearances for more than a decade, Phil Flynn has become a headline-making name even as he continues to provide expert advice and customer care to his proprietary trading account clients.
Media highlights include: CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, ABC, CBS with Katie Couric, NBC’s “Today Show” and “Nightly News with Tom Brokaw”, FOX’s “O’Reilly Factor”, PBS’s “The Newshour with Jim Lehrer” and “Nightly Business Report”, MSNBC’s “The News with Brian Williams”, Wall Street Journal Report, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Investor’s Business Daily, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, The Toronto Globe & Mail, Houston Chronicle, Futures Magazine, National Public Radio’s Marketplace, a chat with the President of the United States, and many more venues.
You can read Phil’s daily market analysis and blogs at www.pfgbest.com.
PFGBEST is among the largest non-clearing U.S. Futures Commission Merchants, with customers, affiliates and brokerage offices in more than 80 countries. The company is a leader in sustainable investing through diversified products including managed funds, futures, forex, options, full-service and discount brokerage, trader education, market research, and direct online futures trading through its BESTDirect™ platform, and numerous other platforms and applications.
Phil’s commitment to and experience in futures trading is documented in two books, The Mind of a Trader (Financial Times/Pitman,1997), and Trading Online (publisher, date), both by Alpesh B. Patel. Phil is a lifelong resident of Illinois. He attended DaleyCollege in Chicago before beginning his career on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Disclaimer
There is a substantial risk of loss in trading futures and options.Past performance is not indicative of future results. The information and data in this report were obtained from sources considered reliable. Their accuracy or completeness is not guaranteed and the giving of the same is not to be deemed as an offer or solicitation on our part with respect to the sale or purchase of any securities or commodities. PFGBEST, its officers and directors may in the normal course of business have positions, which may or may not agree with the opinions expressed in this report. Any decision to purchase or sell as a result of the opinions expressed in this report will be the full responsibility of the person authorizing such transaction.
When you are number two, aren't you supposed to try harder? China reached a major milestone in its history when it was reported by the International Energy Agency that China had over taken the United States of America as the world’s largest energy consumer. This of course is a label that has belonged to us for a very long time and despite what some environmental naysayers would say, it is a label that we should have worn with pride. For years we heard people scold us because the United States consumes 25% of the world’s energy yet has only 5% of the world’s population. Some looked at our consumption as piggish and that somehow we were bad. Yet what those naysayers failed to realize was that consumption helped drive global economic wealth around the globe. The truth is that our leadership in energy consumption reflected our leadership as a global economic growth engine that fed the world. Not only that, the US was energy efficient in getting better GDP per barrel back on investment than almost anywhere else around the globe. The US was not consuming too much, the problem was that other countries were consuming and producing too little.
Countries like China that has about 60% of the world population, yet despite that was a distant runner-up in the energy consumption crown. Back in 2000 China consumed only half of what the US did at that time. The reason of course was that China’s economy, driven by years of communist and socialistic controlled markets, failed to produce the type of economic growth that could support the country with the world’s biggest population and the type of demand growth you would expect in a country in the modern world. China lacked infrastructure and the industrial output that would create wealth that could support that type of demand. Chinese citizens a decade or so ago had more bikes than cars and millions in the country did not even have electricity and still don’t have electricity to this day. Now China has assumed its rightful place as the world’s top energy producer after decades of playing catch up and decades now of a strong upward growth trend. Still despite this noble achievement, shouldn't they be consuming even more?
The IEA says that China consumed the equivalent of 2,252 million tons of oil last year. That according to the IEA is roughly 4% more than the U.S. used. The U.S. demand oil equivalent which measures oil, nuclear, coal, natural gas and renewables showed US demand at 2,170 million tons. Despite this great honor and the billions of dollars in economic stimulus that it took to achieve this China says it is not so. China says that the International Energy Agency data is unreliable. The International Business Times reported that, "in February, China’s National Bureau of Statistics had put the total energy consumption in the country at 2.132 billion tons of oil equivalent.
Both the agencies deploy different techniques to calculate the energy consumption leading to variations in the assessments, said a NEA official, according to the China Daily. Commenting that the IEA report ignored China’s measures to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, Zhou Xian highlighted the country's contribution to carbon-free energy generation. He said China has surpassed the US in generating clean energy from various sources such as hydropower, solar power, nuclear power and wind power.” Well obviously China has liked that number two energy position because it likes to be the underdog when it comes to carbon reduction talks. China is still far less efficient when using energy. The U.S. uses more oil per ton per person because our population is much less than China's. The Wall street Journal says that the U.S. used 7.1 tons of oil per person and in China they used 1.7. Of course in China they have millions that hardly use any. Many feared that when China became the world’s leader in energy consumption the world would have hit peak oil. There were those who estimated that oil prices would be $200.00 a barrel or more. Yet instead we find ourselves with an oil glut. In fact the only thing that moved the oil market yesterday seemed to be stock market optimism or pessimism and the threat of storms in the Gulf. Now one tropical wave is gone but another has seen the odds of it becoming a hurricane increase from 20% to 30%. Still the odds are not high enough to keep the markets focus off of the stock market and to lesser extent the euro. The euro has shown some good strength and technically looks like it wants to move higher. Still as we have been saying oil has been in a range so make sure you respect that.
Make sure that you call to get on my daily energy blast and to sign up for my daily buy and sell points on all of the major commodities markets. Just call me at 800-935-6487 or email me at pflynn@pfgbest.com to open your account and check out the best in business news on the Fox Business Network where you can see me every day!
Phil Flynn
Senior Market Analyst
800-935-6487
312-563-8344
pflynn@pfgbest.com
Phil Flynn is Energy Analyst and General Market Analyst with PFGBEST (www.pfgbest.com). Phil is one of the world’s leading energy market analysts, providing individual investors, professional traders and institutions with up-to-the-minute investment and risk management insight into global petroleum, gasoline and energy markets. Phil’s market commentary, fundamental and technical analysis, and long-term forecasts are sought by industry executives, traders and global media.
Because he has been available to media around the clock, even during some of the most turbulent market periods in history, and because he has built a solid reputation for accuracy in his market analysis and forecasts, through thousands of interviews and broadcast appearances for more than a decade, Phil Flynn has become a headline-making name even as he continues to provide expert advice and customer care to his proprietary trading account clients.
Media highlights include: CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, ABC, CBS with Katie Couric, NBC’s “Today Show” and “Nightly News with Tom Brokaw”, FOX’s “O’Reilly Factor”, PBS’s “The Newshour with Jim Lehrer” and “Nightly Business Report”, MSNBC’s “The News with Brian Williams”, Wall Street Journal Report, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Investor’s Business Daily, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, The Toronto Globe & Mail, Houston Chronicle, Futures Magazine, National Public Radio’s Marketplace, a chat with the President of the United States, and many more venues.
You can read Phil’s daily market analysis and blogs at www.pfgbest.com.
PFGBEST is among the largest non-clearing U.S. Futures Commission Merchants, with customers, affiliates and brokerage offices in more than 80 countries. The company is a leader in sustainable investing through diversified products including managed funds, futures, forex, options, full-service and discount brokerage, trader education, market research, and direct online futures trading through its BESTDirect™ platform, and numerous other platforms and applications.
Phil’s commitment to and experience in futures trading is documented in two books, The Mind of a Trader (Financial Times/Pitman,1997), and Trading Online (publisher, date), both by Alpesh B. Patel. Phil is a lifelong resident of Illinois. He attended DaleyCollege in Chicago before beginning his career on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Disclaimer
There is a substantial risk of loss in trading futures and options.Past performance is not indicative of future results. The information and data in this report were obtained from sources considered reliable. Their accuracy or completeness is not guaranteed and the giving of the same is not to be deemed as an offer or solicitation on our part with respect to the sale or purchase of any securities or commodities. PFGBEST, its officers and directors may in the normal course of business have positions, which may or may not agree with the opinions expressed in this report. Any decision to purchase or sell as a result of the opinions expressed in this report will be the full responsibility of the person authorizing such transaction.
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