They distributed 17 million fuel smart cards to Iranian auto drivers, with a ration plan of 180 liters of fuel for the summer season (60 litres for private vehicles in each month of summer), the allocation of 25 liters of gasoline for motorcycles and the same amount for the public sector vehicles, including pick-up trucks, taxis and cabs, each month of summer.

They suggest that had fuel rationing not been implemented, fuel consumption nationwide would have reached as much as 98 million litres per day.

The thing is, in Australia we extract about 580,000 litres yet consume 953,000 litres, we are exporting part of our economy, so should we consider a similiar system here?

The chief of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and also Algeria’s energy minister Chakib Khelil said ‘there will be a reduction in production at the next extraordinary meeting of Opec, and it will have to be a substantial one to get the balance right between supply and demand; if it has to be 1.5 million barrels per day, or two million barrels per day, that’s what it will be’.

The emergency meeting in the Austrian capital on October 24 will discuss the impact of economic weakness on oil markets. Oil prices have dropped more than 50 per cent from July’s record of $147.27 and expectations have grown that a global recession will further reduce demand.  Last week US crude was trading at around $72 a barrel.

Earlier on Saturday, Khelil was quoted in the Algerian El Watan newspaper as saying that Opec saw oil prices bottoming at $70-$90 per barrel. “Normally, Opec has no price target. The market decides on prices. But people say that the bottom price, the bottom cost below which we can not step down, is between $70 and $90 per barrel,” he said. The oil ministers of Qatar and Iran have also said that a balance between supply and demand must be found so that the oil price does not slip further.

Qatar’s OIl Minister – Abdullah al-Attiyah – sais ‘We are targeting a fair price; in my personal opinion, we are talking about a target price today not more than $100 or $120, but between $80 and $90 as a benchmark within which prices could oscillate and be acceptable to consumers and producers at this time’.

Gholamhossein Nozari, Iran’s oil minister, said: “Balance should be established between oil demand and supply. In addition to stabilising the oil price, we intend to increase its price.” Economists say that Iran, the second largest Opec producer after Saudi Arabia, has become increasingly dependent on high oil prices, some saying it now needs $70 to $75 a barrel for its crude to balance its books.

Kuwait, another Opec member, has warned that it will have to cut spending in its next budget if the price of its crude fell below $60 per barrel. “The estimated budget of 19 billion dinar [$70.71bn] will not be affected, but the new budget could be affected depending on an increase or decrease of oil prices,” Mustapha al-Shamali, Kuwait’s finance minister, told al-Rai newspaper. State news agency KUNA said Kuwait’s crude oil fell to $59.15 on Thursday.

Nigeria has also been hit by the dramatic drop in world oil prices, prompting a revision in next year’s budget, which is due to be debated in parliament next week.

Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/business/2008/10/20081018194157179167.html

Given the vagaries of market movement and aforesaid manipulation, what are the septics paying for fuel as opposed to us in OZ.  [And remember there are a lot of countries whose losses - with a collapsing US$ - only have paper losses at present, so keeping the 'body' alive in some vague hope that a miracle will occur is what is stopping life support being switched off]     
 
Taken at some random point … In July Oil was at $145 USD barrel, our exchange rate peaked in that month at over 0.97, so a barrel of oil was roughly $149.  Oil is around $75 (disregarding current drops that won’t have had time to flow through) and an exchange rate around 0.80 for the latter part of September, a barrel of oil would be $93, which is $56 off the peak.

At today’s rates 0.6681 USD and $69/barrel we get $103, which is still $46 off the peak, yet we (at least here) are lucky if we’ve seen a 5-10 cent drop from peak fuel prices. Oil is at 69% of it’s high, but prices are still at 90 odd percent of their high, at best.

We buy Tapis, but the overall changes should still be indicative given that Tapis is (nearly?) always more expensive.

The combination of extra supply and slowing demand could put further pressure on its margins. Caltex says 2007 production levels could still be met, but it has put forward the possibility that it may be forced to reduce production if the running costs of its plants outweigh margins.

The company’s shares today plunged 7 per cent to $12.38.

Caltex is warning motorists they can expect to pay more for petrol as oil prices continue to rise. Caltex chairwoman Elizabeth Bryan says the cost of crude oil is the reason for the increases.

“Our main import, which we have to buy on the open market, has rocketed from $US10 a barrel to well over $US100 a barrel in the last 10 years,” she said. “Caltex does not explore for or produce any crude oil. We have to pay whatever the world price is for it.”

But the Service Station Association says it is unlikely any moves by Caltex to cut production would push prices up at the pumps. The association’s chief executive, Ron Bowden, says motorists are unlikely to suffer from even a significant increase in the amount of fuel Australia imports.

“I don’t think that there’s a big issue in terms of supply or cost in this particular position,” he said. “I think it’s more a reflection of the further erosion of manufacturing in this country and a further indication of us importing stuff that we used to make here ourselves.”