Archive for the ‘opinions’ Category

Overcapacity threatens refineries

February 6, 2010 - 12:00 pm Comments Off

Nothing goes into refining. While Total is planning to close its plant in Dunkirk, lack of opportunities and a sufficient margin, the French Union of Petroleum Industries (Ufip) drives the point home. The situation is "critical," said Jean-Louis Schilansky, its president.

Twelve French refineries are losing "150 million euros a month" since March 2009, and the industry continue to suffer in 2010. The closure of the site Total to Dunkirk, which alone accounts for 13% of the French ability, do not change much, according to Ufip, which dealt with the topic at European level.

"This is not the closure of a refinery in Europe that will be enough to restore the situation," says Jean-Louis Schilansky. It should delete "7 to 8 million barrels per day, or about 10% of installed capacity in Europe."In other words, on the 114 European refineries, "a half" should be closed to restore the balance between supply and demand.

Shell reported a loss of $ 1.7 billion

In France, controls oil products fell by 2.8% in 2009 and nearly 9% in ten years. The economic crisis is not the sole cause of this decline free credit score . Consumers roll than before, and prefer diesel to petrol. Furthermore, the refining overcapacity and inflation of the multiple requirements of ecology and safety is increasing pressure on margins. In this context, the French oil industry does not want to hear about carbon tax."If, in this very difficult situation, we add a layer, it will be worse here," warns Jean-Louis Schilansky.

Total is far from the only group to suffer in oil refining. The U.S. Exxon announced last week a loss of 189 million dollars in this activity in the fourth quarter of 2009. BP just to break even on this trade. Shell yesterday announced an annual loss of $ 1.76 billion in its refining division. This is the "worst crisis" for this activity for twenty-five years, and it does not end in 2010, warned Peter Voser, Shell's CEO. The British giant is planning to sell or close 15% of its portfolio in refining.

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Wall Street started the meeting recessed

February 4, 2010 - 6:52 pm Comments Off

Wall Street started badly the meeting this Thursday. On opening the Dow Jones lost 0.75% at 10,194 points and the Nasdaq fell by 0.87% to 2172 points. The Exchange NEWYORKAISES is affected by the disappointing numbers of jobs. The U.S. Department of Labor lists because 480,000 new applications for unemployment benefits from January 24 to 30, or 1.7% over the previous week. The indicator has thus regained its level of December 12. It's much more than was expected by analysts, who figures the department would have to show a decline in new listings to 455,000 files.

Moreover, markets can not rely on the monthly sales featureless published by major U.S. retailers.

On the values front, Cisco will be monitored closely.The action of the number one global internet network equipment gained 4% in hours trading Wednesday after the publication of quarterly results, above expectations and with comments upbeat on the prospects for recovery in 2010.

Monster Worldwide also should be surrounded. The Action Group on Internet recruitment gained 2.3% in hours trading Wednesday after the quarterly earnings release and the announcement of the acquisition of HotJobs to Yahoo for $ 225 million in cash.

Saffron: giant contract with China

December 21, 2009 - 10:27 am Comments Off

The Safran Group is Monday affix his signature on a contract worth $ 5 billion (about 3.3 billion euros) for the supply of aircraft equipment manufacturer in China Comac, announced the Chief Executive Safran, Jean-Paul Herteman. The boss of the French group is currently in Beijing with Prime Minister Francois Fillon. General Electric teamed up with Saffron, obtained a contract with a value equivalent.

The initial contract is focused on supplying engines to the X Leap C919 aircraft manufacturer Comac, future competitor of the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, whose launch is expected towards 2016.The latest generation of engines are still being developed by CFM, a joint venture of Safran and GE for aircraft engines.

A contract that could reach 15 billion over thirty years

"This is an important contract, launching a new aircraft that happens every ten, fifteen years," he told reporters Jean-Paul Herteman. The amount of the contract could rise to 15 billion dollars and create between 8,000 and 10,000 direct jobs in France and three to four times more for subcontractors in thirty years. "The Chinese market represents 20% of the aviation market in the world 20 years ahead," stressed the president.

Comac The Chinese group was founded in May 2008 in the optical display to create a major aircraft manufacturer in the country, while the country would need more than 3,000 airplanes in the next twenty years, according to analysts.

The morale of French households is still improving

November 27, 2009 - 6:08 pm Comments Off

French households have become even more confidence. Their morale even accelerates its rise in November according to latest figures from INSEE. And despite the very poor unemployment figures in France, published Thursday by the Ministry of Economy.

The indicator that summarizes this view and goes back to 4 points from October. The indicator leaves the historically low levels where it had fallen since late 2007 to return to the previous values of the floor last fifteen years in the hollow of 1995-1996 and 2005.

The views of households on the economic situation, which had hit a historic low in the summer of 2008 to -48 points, had subsequently begun a slow recovery phase and marked by a few shots off.In November, with this "improvement", he moved to -30 points, says the National Institute of Statistics.

Statistics rather encouraging in a few weeks of Christmas and New year period during which the French consume far. While Americans seem less inclined to spend than other years – the shopping season starts this Friday – French households also felt more appropriate to make major purchases, such as winning 5 points in a month.

The fear facing a future increase in unemployment continues to recede, but much more slowly than in recent months.

As for inflation, households continue as they have for more than six months, thinking that prices should increase only slightly in the coming months.