China's Natural Gas Consumption will account for 10% of total annual energy consumption by 2020

 Natural gas consumption will account for 10 percent of China's annual total primary energy consumption by 2020 from the current 3.9 percent level, PetroChina Company Limited Chairman Zhou Jiping forecast Tuesday.

Chinese demand for natural gas will increase over the coming 10 years, and by 2020, China will consume 300 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, Zhou said at the 2010 International Oil and Gas Conference held here.

Annual increases in PetroChina's natural gas proven reserves have exceeded 400 billion cubic meters for three years in a row, Zhou said.

The company produced 68.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2009, accounting for 80 percent of the nation's total production.

Retail Industry in china will mantain sustainable growth in the medium and long term

Despite China's slowing economic growth, the retail industry in the world's second-largest economy will maintain sustainable growth in the medium and long term, commerce officials said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the industry is undergoing a transformation and the government will make more efforts to enhance its quality and efficiency and to optimize its structure.

"Following the restructuring process of the economic growth model, the improvement of the consumption structure, the advancing urbanization, and especially the development of e-commerce, China's retail industry in the remainder of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) will keep steady growth," Wang Desheng, deputy director of the department of circulation industry development at the Ministry of Commerce, told a news conference on Thursday.

Source: Xinhua

Larry Summers Front Runner to be next Fed Chairman?

According to an article published today in the Wall Street Journal, Larry Summers the former top economic adviser for Mr Obama,say some of the friends of the former,it is more than interested in replacing Fed Chairman Bernanke.
If picked, Mr. Summers would bring a range of government, academic and financial-market experience that Mr. Obama could find hard to replicate. Mr. Summers was chief economist at the World Bank and helped the Clinton Treasury navigate financial crises in Latin America and Asia.
Mr. Summers is widely considered one of the top economists of his generation. He is known for being able to quickly and clearly analyze economic issues, identify the challenges and conceptualize solutions.
But to his detractors—of which there are also plenty—he is an overbearing smarty pants who could be a bull in the collegial Fed china shop.

Precious Metals Quotes

Gold Price Futures     3months        1,220.85

Silver Price Futures    3months            18.84

Target Of China's Government 10 Top Chinese steel makers to produce 60%+ of total output by 2015

China expects its top 10 steel makers to produce more than 60 percent of the country's total steel output by 2015, according to a document published on the government's website Thursday.

China is encouraging its big steel companies to acquire other smaller ones to cut emissions, and restructure so to consolidate the steel industry. It aims to create three to five major steel companies that will compete in the international market, according to the document issued by the General Office of the State Council.

The government said it would encourage domestic steel mills and iron ore firms to set up reliable iron ore bases overseas and for big steel companies to establish plants overseas.

Source: Xinhua

New Safety Guidelines for Japanese Utilities.

Updated nuclear safety guidelines took effect on Monday for Japanese utilities.

The new guidelines will also require operators to be prepared for higher tsunami and more powerful earthquakes than under the current rules, and prevent accidents like the one it ocurred in Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011.

Four utilities are to file applications on Monday to restart 10 reactors at 5 power plants. They are Hokkaido Electric Power Company's Tomari plant, Kansai Electric's Ohi and Takahama plants, Shikoku Electric's Ikata plant and Kyushu Electric's Sendai plant.

Source: NewsonJapan

TPP would affect 47 prefectures in Japan

Annual agriculture income in Japan would plunge 14 pct to 2.5 trillion yen from the average of 2.9 trillion yen in 2006-2010 if Japan joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact and all tariffs in the nation are removed immediately as a result, an anti-TPP group said Friday.

Income would drop in all of Japan's 47 prefectures, according to the estimates by the group comprising university teachers.

Source:NewsonJapan

Trade talks between E.U. and U.S.

Talks to create the world's biggest free-trade zone between the E.U. and U.S. are going to start  amid a controversy of spying to their allies by U.S. agencies and demands of protected industries.
France for example has demanded protection for its film and television industry.

"Direct tariffs on goods and services between the two are already low, but there are other barriers such as regulatory and safety standards, inspection procedures, and preferences for domestic business.

Removing these could significantly reduce the costs for companies doing transatlantic business".

"Last year, trade in goods between the United States and the EU was worth some 500bn euros ($650bn), with another 280bn euros ($359bn) in services and trillions in investment flows".

Source :  BBC

Greece close to an EU agreement

Greece's government has said it is close to agreeing a deal to gain the latest payment of bailout money from its international lenders.

Talks have centred around 4,000 civil service jobs that are due to be cut.

Greece must pay off 6.6bn euros of debt by mid-August.

Source: reuters

Brazil. Eike Batista Misfortunes . These are his worst performing companies.

The market price meltdown of Brazilian billionare Eike Batista´s companies.

Market Value in R$ Billions                                 Market Value in R$ Billions

OGX (Oil and Gas)                                               OSX(Shipbuilding and Offshore)

41.05    june 2008     4.47  may 2013                     7.8B march 2010   0.86B may 2013

 Cash Available  2.3 billions                                 Cash Available   1.3 billions

 Total debt           7.9 billions n                             Total debt March   5.4 billions
                                                                               2013

%Debt in             92%                                       %Debt in                    72%
Foreing  Currency                                                 Foreign Currency