Australia: facing problems for its Gas Projects. US Shale Gas Boom.

From the WSJ.

 Once a first choice country for energy investment due to its political stability and large
natural-gas reserves.
Appreciation of the currency and higher wages than expected,blowout Capex of Australian Big Gas
Projects.
 "Although those problems have been around for a while, they are becoming more worrisome now that gas prices elsewhere have dropped and buyers have more options for securing energy supply.
The industry has more than US$160 billion of liquefied natural gas investments currently in flight [being built]. But upward of another US$100 billion in potential future projects could be at risk," Chevron Australia Managing Director Roy Krzywosinski said.
Chevron and partners Exxon and Royal Dutch Schell Plc, have delayed work to expand their US$52 billion Gorgon project. Gorgon is Australia's largest natural-gas resource, containing an estimated 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—enough to meet U.S. demand for two years. Chevron is the project's operator and largest shareholder. The Browse project has also been delayed.
Project delays carry large risks for companies like Chevron as future supply from Australia would compete for customers with U.S. projects offering cheaper gas. LNG in Asia has traditionally been sold via long-term contracts, with prices linked to relatively expensive crude oil, whereas export deals in North America are based on sharply lower domestic gas prices there. Analysts think Australian gas-export prices may need to fall by as much as 25% to compete with U.S. gas prices.

In May, the U.S. approved Freeport LNG Development LP's $10 billion Quintana LNG-export project in Texas, the second U.S. development to move forward after Chenerie Energy Inc.'s  Sabine Pass project in Louisiana.

Both involve converting old LNG import terminals into export facilities, making them cheaper to build than Australian projects because infrastructure—such as pipelines and storage tanks—is already in place".

Macau's new gaming revenue record

"Macau set a new monthly gaming revenue record in March with 31.3 billion patacas (US$3.8 billion), surpassing 30 billion patacas for the first time. Macau reached the milestone despite slowing economic growth in China, its main source of customers, and stagnant visitor arrival numbers. Special circumstances pushed Macau over the top. 

Revenue from high rollers rose 70% in 2010 and 45% in 2011, boosting its share of overall gaming receipts to 73%. But last year, growth in this VIP market stalled, especially in the second half of the year. That's partly because of the mainland economic issues. An estimated 90% of VIP revenue comes from mainland players. 

The VIP slowdown was also linked to the mainland's long unfolding political leadership change that included pledges to crack down on corruption. Many observers link VIP play and corruption on the assumption that much of the money that's bet on the VIP tables originates from some form of illegal enterprise. True or not, some players felt the transition period was the wrong time to draw attention by flaunting their wealth. 

By the time Xi Jinping officially took office as president in March, it was clear that the regime wouldn't declare a war on wealth or blindly punish visits to Macau. VIP play came roaring back after months of stagnation to grow an estimated 25% from a year earlier, accounting for 21.8 billion patacas, or 70% of March's 31.3 billion patacas total. 

The record month established a new plateau: Macau's casinos now regularly take in more money in a month than they did in a full year a decade ago. Then, there was just one casino operator with a couple hundred tables. Now there are six operators and more than 5,000 tables. But the changes go beyond mere volume.

One of the reasons that Macau surpassed Las Vegas in gaming revenue in 2006 - Macau now does more than five times as much as The Strip - is that table stakes are higher. In Macau, limits start at HK$100 (US$13), while you can still find US$1 bets in Vegas. These days, minimums at many name Macau casinos have risen to HK$300". 

Source: Asia Times

JPMorgan revises down its GDP growth estimates of China in 2013-14

"J.P. Morgan has revised down its estimate on China's 2013 year-on-year economic growth rate from 7.6 percent to 7.4 percent, lower than the government's official target of 7.5 percent.

The 2014 gross domestic product (GDP) growth has now been forecast at 7.2 percent year on year, down from the previous forecast of 7.7 percent, said Jing Ulrich, managing director and chairwoman of global markets, China at J.P. Morgan on Monday.

The government has reiterated its improved tolerance toward the slowdown of GDP growth, she said at a press conference after the government announced its second-quarter GDP growth to be 7.5 percent year on year.

The official figure came down from the 7.7-percent growth logged in the first quarter, and it is also lower than last year's 7.8 percent, the lowest in 13 years.

Ulrich predicted the service sector and high-end manufacturing will be new growth engines and should boost the country's economic transformation".

Source: Xinhua 

IMF: doubts efficiency on tax on financial trading for EU

The IMF raised doubts about a tax on financial trading a group of European states is due to bring in next year, saying other levies may be more efficient ways of obtaining revenues from the financial sector.

"According to the IMF there are other levies that could be better than the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT)," Carlo Cottarelli, head of the International Monetary Fund's fiscal affairs division, told a business conference in Milan on Monday.

"A tax on transactions, in general, is not so sensible, it is something old-fashioned", he said, adding a levy on the value added of the financial sector or a charge on bank assets would be more efficient.

Back in 2010, the IMF proposed a tax on banks' profits and managers pay and a levy on assets as a mean of making banks contribute to the cost of cleaning up after the financial crisis but only few countries adopted on of these scheme.

An alliance of 11 European countries led by Germany and France are currently discussing the details of a tax on financial transactions on shares, bonds and derivatives.

"I don't want to comment specifically on the FTT proposed by the European Commission, but it is clear that if you reduce the tax base you will have a impact on revenue," Cottarelli said.

"Let's see if the 11 European countries are able to find a good compromise on the tax base."

Looking at the experience of Italy and France, where an FTT already exists, Cottarelli said such a levy had a negative impact on transaction volumes.

"Even if in Italy and France financial trading taxes have a low tax rate, there is evidence that the volume of transactions fell following the introduction of these taxes," he said, adding there is no evidence the levy reduces the volatility of trading.

China's Xiluodu hydropower station became operational

China's second-largest hydropower station became operational Monday with its first power generating unit officially starting work after a three-day test run.

The No. 13 power generating unit with a capacity of 770,000 kw at the Xiluodu hydropower station started providing electricity to the China Southern Power Grid, its operator China Three Gorges Corporation said in a statement.

With a total generating capacity of 13.86 gigawatts, the station is the world's third-largest after the Three Gorges and Itaipu hydroelectric projects.

Construction of the Xiluodu hydropower station, located in the Jinsha River, a major headstream of the Yangtze in southwestern Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, started in 2005. It is expected to be completed in 2015 with 18 power generating units.

Source: Xinhua

Japanese Farmers best interest

As voting for the upper house election approaches, Japanese farmers and their lobby groups are struggling to see who will best speak up for their interests.

While they have been a traditional support base for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, many have grown skeptical about backing its candidates after the LDP chief, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, announced in March an intention to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations for creating one of the world's largest free trade zones.

The pact, now being negotiated by 11 nations and set to involve Japan from late July, is estimated to boost the country's gross domestic product by 3.2 trillion yen but at the same time slash Japan's agricultural output by 3 trillion yen from 7.1 trillion yen if all tariffs are eliminated without compensation measures.

China's fiscal Revenue decelerated to 7.5% in H1

China's fiscal revenue growth decelerated to 7.5 percent in the first half due to a continuous economic slowdown and the country's structural tax reforms.

Total fiscal revenue stood at 6.86 trillion yuan (1.12 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first six months, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance on Monday.

The pace was 4.7 percentage points lower than the same period of last year, and slightly lower than the country's economic growth in the first half, said the ministry.

The ministry said the central government saw fiscal revenue for the first six months rose by only 1.5 percent over the same period last year to 3.23 trillion yuan. It is having a difficult time to achieve the full-year fiscal revenue growth target of 7 percent.

Revenue from value-added tax, consumption tax and tariffs have either declined sharply or registered slower growth during this period, contributing to the slower growth in central fiscal revenue, said the ministry.

Local governments' fiscal revenue during this period expanded 13.5 percent from a year earlier to 3.63 trillion yuan, driven up by rising income from sharp increases in housing transactions, said the ministry.

In June alone, fiscal revenue reached 1.24 trillion yuan, up 12.1 percent from a year earlier,the ministry's figures showed.

The ministry said the growth rate of fiscal revenue will not be high in the second half of the year due to weak economic expansion, tax-cutting policies and stabilized property transactions.

A pilot program to reduce the tax burden of Chinese companies through replacing the business levy with a value-added tax will be expanded to more regions in the second half, which will further cut the fiscal revenue, said the ministry.

Government Bonds

Government Bonds U.S. 2 Year			PRICE    CHANGE	YIELD
U.S. 5 Year			5/32	1.391
U.S. 10 Year			8/32	2.557
U.S. 30 Year			9/32	3.614
Germany 2 Year			-1/32	0.124
Germany 10 Year			-3/32	1.575
Italy 2 Year			1/32	2.118
Italy 10 Year			4/32	4.463
Japan 2 Year			0/32	0.132
Japan 10 Year			-1/32	0.822
Spain 2 Year			2/32	2.032
Spain 10 Year			12/32	4.691
U.K. 2 Year			0/32	0.353
U.K. 10 Year			-2/32	2.334

 Source  WSJ

Brazil will allow foreign doctors in September

"Brazil's government plans to assign the first Brazilian and foreign doctors who will join the new program for posting such professionals to municipalities in the interior and at the periphery of large cities, as soon as September.

An announcement will be made today aimed at doctors of all nationalities. Priority will be given to those trained in Brazil. Following them, Brazilians trained abroad will be called. The last will be foreigners.

The program was launched yesterday by President Dilma Rousseff. She said the goal is "to accelerate solutions" and "seek new paths."

The president argued that "you can not force a doctor who lives in the capital to go to the countryside." "But we honestly have to admit that something must be done so that all Brazilians have the right to a doctor."

The government will pay doctors a monthly stipend of R$10,000, and assistance in a single payment of R$10,000 to R$30,000 (US$ 4,400 to US$ 13,200), depending on the destination.

Priority will be given to the capitals, metropolitan areas with areas of vulnerability".

Source  Folha de Sao Paulo

Bank of Nova Scotia drops proposal to buy 20% of China´s Bank of Guangzhou

Bank of Nova Scotia  is scrapping its bid to buy a nearly 20-percent stake in China's Bank of Guangzhou, after signalling that it was growing increasingly frustrated with the slow progress of its efforts to close the acquisition.

Scotiabank, Canada's No. 3 lender, announced the $719 million transaction in September 2011, predicting at the time the deal would close at the end of that year.

But the process of getting a final go-ahead has dragged on, and bank officials acknowledge they underestimated the difficulty of negotiating the multiple levels of government approvals in China. Last year, they stopped forecasting when the deal might close.

On Friday, Scotia ended the pact citing "changing conditions."

"Scotiabank will continue to consider future opportunities for investment in China that are in line with our strategy and footprint in the region," said Dieter Jentsch, Scotiabank's Group Head of International Banking. "The bank also remains focused on our existing operations in the country including the recently announced Bank of Beijing Scotia Asset Management Joint Venture and 19% stake in Bank of Xi'an.

Speaking at a conference in Toronto in January, Scotiabank Chief Executive Rick Waugh suggested the bank may have to find other investments for the equity it had raised for the Guangzhou acquisition.

"We did raise the equity to pay for it, so we'd have to deal with that... We'll find a place for it if that one doesn't go, but we can't wait forever," he told the RBC Capital Markets Canadian Bank CEO Conference in Toronto.

"We're going to have to refresh our due diligence. It's been a year now," he added.

Source BNN

London Metal Exchange Prices

London Metal Exchange				Price               Change          %
Aluminium Alloy Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:10	1770.00	-5.00		-0.3
Aluminium Alloy 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Fri 12:10	1805.00	0.00		0.0
Primary Aluminium Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:30	1761.25	-28.75		-1.6
Primary Aluminium 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:35	1805.50	-26.25		-1.4
Copper Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:05	6891.25	-31.50		-0.5
Copper 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:05	6919.50	-20.75		-0.3
Lead Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:20	2049.25	+0.25		+0.0
Lead 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:20	2063.25	+0.75		+0.0
N. American Special Alum Alloy Cash Official Confmd $/m tonne			Mon 12:10	1877.50	-3.00		-0.2
N. American Special Alum Alloy 3mo Official Confmd $/m tonne			Mon 12:10	1892.50	+5.00		+0.3
Nickel Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:35	13377.50	-185.00		-1.4
Nickel 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:35	13452.50	-185.00		-1.4
Tin Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:20	19302.50	-145.00		-0.8
Tin 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:15	19362.50	-135.00		-0.7
Zinc Cash Official Confirmed $/m tonne			Mon 12:25	1855.75	-5.00		-0.3
Zinc 3mo Official Confirmed $/m tonne Source  BBC			Mon 12:25	1890.50	-4.00		-0.2

From WSJ: EU votes to reduce use of Biofuels

   According to an article published today at the Wall Street Journal:

"The most commonly used biofuels in the European Union are poised to play a reduced role in the bloc's fight against climate change, after lawmakers Thursday voted to limit their use in the transportation sector.

The European Parliament's environment committee voted in favor of limiting the share of food-based biofuel used in cars and trucks to 5.5% of total consumption. It said the change would address concerns that biofuels of this kind are raising food prices and may not be as environmentally beneficial as originally hoped.

However, it means that to meet its 2020 mandate that 10% of Europe's transport energy comes from renewable sources, the bloc will be relying on a much-faster expansion of electric cars and commercially unproven biofuels made from nonfood crops.

The biofuels legislation now goes to the European Parliament for a vote in September. If approved, it will then be negotiated with the European Council—composed of leaders from EU countries—before it is formally adopted.

The proposed change to biofuels legislation comes as the value of turning food crops like rapeseed, palm oil and sugar cane into transport fuel has become increasingly controversial.

Biofuels were lauded a decade ago as a way of emitting far-less carbon from cars and trucks than fossil fuels. But European Commission studies taking into account how land is used to grow the crops have concluded that there may be little or no benefit.

For instance, large amounts of carbon can be released if native forests have to be cleared to make way for biofuel crops.

Production of biofuels, notably corn ethanol in the U.S., has also been linked to higher food prices, as they reduce the amount of land available for other food crops".

FROM WSJ: China's lower Growth ripples Globally

 According to an article published in the Wall Street Journal today,China's GDP slower growth ripples globally.With winners and loosers."The ones that benefited the most from China's rise are now being hurt. Others, aiming at China's 1.3 billion consumers, are faring better.
 Growth in China, the world's second-biggest economy after the U.S., has been slowing since 2007's peak, but that slowdown has accelerated recently.

China's second-quarter gross domestic product released early Monday showed the economy expanded 7.5% from the year earlier, slower than the 7.7% growth in the first quarter.

China is trying to pull off a tricky rebalancing. It hopes to reshape its economy to be less reliant on construction and heavy industry, and more reliant on consumer spending. This is sparking optimism among industries such as car makers and food producers.

To boost domestic consumption, the government has raised minimum wages to put more money in people's pockets and loosened controls on interest rates to give household savers better returns. It has tilted tax and land incentives toward industries that cater to consumption, such as food and autos, and away from heavy industries suffering from overcapacity, such as steel making and ship building.

China's economic growth is still strong, compared with much of the world. But recent single-digit expansion rates are a notable comedown from a 14.2% peak in 2007.The deceleration is particularly hard on commodities producers—the biggest beneficiaries of China's boom.

China is set to contribute 13% of global economic activity this year, compared with 5% in 2006. So even at a slower growth, China's effect world-wide is significant.

A more serious decline in China's growth rate would reverberate around the world". 

China's National Bureau of Statistics Press Release

China's Economy in the First Half of 2013: Stable and Moderate Growth

Excerpts

"In the first half of 2013, faced with the complicated and volatile economic environment at home and abroad, the Central Party Committee and the State Council have committed to the general tone of making progress while ensuring the stability, centered on improving the quality and efficiency of economic growth, continued to carry out the proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy, created conditions for economic restructuring through reforms and restructuring in turn unleashed potential for economic growth. As a result, the overall national economy realized steady development and grew at a moderate pace.

According to the preliminary estimation, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China in the first half of this year was 24,800.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.6 percent calculated at comparable prices. Specifically, the growth of the first quarter was 7.7 percent, and 7.5 percent for the second quarter. The value added of the primary industry was 1,862.2 billion yuan, up by 3.0 percent; that of the secondary industry was 11,703.7 billion yuan, up by 7.6 percent; and that of the tertiary industry was 11,235.0 billion yuan, up by 8.3 percent. The gross domestic product of the second quarter of 2013 went up by 1.7 percent on a quarterly basis".

2. Industrial Production Grew Steadily with Enterprises Profits Continued to Increase.

"In the first half, the total value added (calculated at comparable price) of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up by 9.3 percent year-on-year, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point than that in the first quarter. An analysis on different types of enterprises showed that the value added growth of the state-owned and state holding enterprises went up by 5.2 percent; collective enterprises 5.0 percent; share-holding enterprises 10.9 percent; and 7.4 percent growth for enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan provinces. The year-on-year growth of heavy industry was 9.6 percent, and 8.4 percent for the light industry".

3. Investment in Fixed Assets Enjoyed Relatively Fast Growth while That in the Tertiary Industry Grew Faster Compared with the Whole.

"In the first half, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 18,131.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 20.1 percent (a real growth of 20.1 percent after deducting price factors), which was 0.8 percentage point lower than that in the first quarter, or 0.3 percentage point lower than that in the same period of 2012. Of this total, that in the state-owned and state holding enterprises reached 5,734.2 billion yuan, an increase of 17.5 percent; private investment reached 11,558.4 billion yuan, up by 23.4 percent.

The investment in the primary industry reached 388.4 billion yuan, up by 33.5 percent year-on-year; that in the secondary industry was 7,805.2 billion yuan, up by 15.6 percent; and that in the tertiary industry was 9,938.2 billion yuan, up by 23.5 percent. Of the investment in the secondary industry, that in industry reached 7,657.2 billion yuan, up by 16.2 percent.

4. Retail Sales Kept Steady Growth 

"In the first half, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 11,076.4 billion yuan, an increase of 12.7 percent (a real growth of 11.4 percent after deducting price factors), or 0.3 percentage point higher than that in the first quarter and 1.7 percentage points lower than that same period of last year. Specifically, the retail sales of the enterprises (units) above designated size stood at 5,525.1 billion yuan, up by 10.5 percent. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 9,578.9 billion yuan, up by 12.5 percent, and that in rural areas stood at 1,497.5 billion yuan, up by 14.3 percent". 

China's fixed asset-investment H1 growth 20.1%

China's urban fixed-asset investment grew 20.1 percent year on year to 18.13 trillion yuan (2.94 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2013, down 0.8 percentage point over the first quarter of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Monday.

China's GDP Q2 growth 7.5%

China's gross domestic product growth slowed to 7.5 percent in the second quarter, down from 7.7 percent in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Monday.

The country's economic growth eased to 7.8 percent last year, the slowest annual growth since 1999.

China's Industrial Power Challenge

Since it opened in 2006, Rongsheng shipyard on China's eastern coast has always been a symbol of the country's economy.

First, as a monument to China's rising industrial power fuelled by a huge investment boom - a glut of lending and spending on an ever-increasing scale poured into buildings, bridges, homes and industry.

Rongsheng was part of that boom. It is one of China's biggest shipyards, opened in 2006, and its huge gantries and cranes are capable of building some of the world's biggest ships.

A decade ago, from almost nothing, China declared that it wanted to be the biggest shipbuilding nation in the world by 2015.

But today Rongsheng is a symbol in another, much less welcome sense.

Much of the yard is idle and 20,000 workers have been laid off over the past two years.

There is simply not enough global demand for new ships and, as in other industries in which China has over-invested, there is huge overcapacity, a total of 1,647 shipyards.

Indeed, Rongsheng, which is not a state-owned company but is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, has appealed for government help to save it, on top of the many millions of US dollars of public funds it has already received.

An economy based on ever-increasing investment is simply unsustainable, as China's shipbuilding industry starkly illustrates, so the new government has set itself the priority of rebalancing the growth model.

China's Nuclear Power: Although 30 nuclear power-generating plants are under construction. A planned nuclear fuel processing has been cancelled.

Although  according to a government white paper on energy released in October 2012, China has 15 nuclear power-generating units in operation with a total installed capacity of 12.54 gigawatts (GW), as well as 30 units currently under construction that will add another 32.81 GW.

China is working on forming a complete industrial nuclear power system. It has the greatest nuclear power capacity under construction of any country in the world.

A planned nuclear fuel processing project in south China's Guangdong Province has been canceled following local residents' opposition, local authorities said Saturday.

The planned Longwan Industrial Park project, located in Zhishan Township in the city of Heshan, has been canceled, according to the municipal government of Jiangmen, which administers Heshan, and sources from the China National Nuclear Corporation, builder of the project.

Many local residents expressed opposition to the project after it was made public by the Heshan government on July 4, said Wu Yuxiong, mayor of Heshan.

Most of China's nuclear fuel processing plants are currently based in west China, while China's nuclear power plants are mainly based in the eastern coastal region. The cost and inefficiency of long-distance transportation of the fuel prompted the Longwan Industrial Park project, industry insiders said.

There is a relatively greater number of nuclear power plants near Heshan, which therefore has more demand for nuclear fuel. The geological conditions in Heshan are also stable, said Chi Xuefeng, a nuclear expert.

The nuclear fuel will not produce much radiation and the manufacturing process will not create pollution, said Zhao Yamin, a researcher with the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

China is working on forming a complete industrial nuclear power system. It has the greatest nuclear power capacity under construction of any country in the world.

According to a government white paper on energy released in October 2012, China has 15 nuclear power-generating units in operation with a total installed capacity of 12.54 gigawatts (GW), as well as 30 units currently under construction that will add another 32.81 GW.

Chinese Tourism

About 45.64 million residents of the Chinese mainland traveled out of the region in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 18.36 percent, said the Ministry of Public Security on Friday.

The most popular foreign destination was Thailand, and the Republic of Korea followed, according to a ministry statement.

They also traveled a lot to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, the statement said.

Meanwhile, it added, the number of foreigners entering the Chinese mainland dropped by 5.15 percent to 12.77 million. The Republic of Korea, Japan and the United States were the top three sources of incoming visitors.

Foreign travelers mainly entered the mainland through Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou airports

China's State Council has allowed Shanghai to have a Free Trasde Zone

Creating China's first free trade zone in Pudong New Area will top the city government's work agenda for the rest of the year, Shanghai Party Secretary Han Zheng said yesterday.

The central government has allowed Shanghai to run this pilot program, making the city a pioneer in expanding the country's efforts on reform," Han said.

"Shanghai should continue to be a role model in accelerating reforms, and this program will be among the most important missions for the city in the second half of this year."

Green light

The State Council, China's cabinet, gave the green light on Shanghai's application to run a trial of China's first international free trade zone last month.

This is the latest step in a national strategy to open markets wider and build Shanghai into an international trade and finance hub.

In a free trade zone, goods can be imported, manufactured and re-exported without the intervention of customs.

Mayor Yang Xiong said at the meeting that the free trade zone should be built on intentional standards and become a testing ground for China's reform and opening-up efforts.

"We will focus on exploring mechanism innovations, not on giving preferential policies," said Yang.

"The top priority right now is to design a set of laws and rules to regulate the zone when it starts to operate."

Shanghai already has three areas designated as bonded trade or port zones. But the new area - formed from the existing three zones - is expected to be more far-reaching, with trials on free currency exchange, management innovation, trade-related financial services and other measures

Source: Xinhua

China's electricity consumption rose 6.3% year on year

 China's electricity consumption, a barometer of economic activity, rose 6.3 percent year on year to 438.4 billion kilowatt hours in June, an official statement said Sunday.

The National Energy Administration (NEA) said in a statement on its website that the growth rate was 2 percentage points higher than a year earlier and 1.3 percentage points higher than the pace of May.

In the first six months, power consumption increased 5.1 percent from the same period last year to 2.5 trillion kilowatt hours, the NEA said.

The rate was down from a 5.5-percent growth seen in 2012, showing the country's economy may be losing momentum.

Electricity used by the service sector saw a rapid growth of 9.3 percent during first half, while the industrial sector consumed 4.9 percent more than a year ago.

The agricultural sector witnessed a slight drop of 0.8 percent in its power use. Residential power use increased 3.9 percent year on year, the authority said.

China added 32.43 million kilowatts of power production capacity in the first six months, including 8.89 million kilowatts of hydropower and 15.85 million kilowatts of thermal power, the NEA added.

UK Shale gas future.

According to Project Syndicate, in late June, the British Geological Survey announced the discovery of The Bowland Shale, which lies beneath Lancashire and Yorkshire, contains 50% more gas than the combined reserves of two of the largest fields in the United States, the Barnett Shale and the Marcellus Shale.
At the same time, the UK Parliament has approved stringent new measures to reduce carbon emissions by 2020, with the biggest CO2 cuts by far to come, from an increase of more than 800% in offshore wind power  over the next seven years. But offshore wind power is so expensive that it will receive at least three times the traded cost

of regular subsidies.