Monday Edition

03.23.09

GLOBAL

Crude oil advanced $0.83, 1.6%, to $52.90 a barrel in after-hours trading on the NYMEX as the dollar’s decline reduced the price of commodities for non-US buyers and made hard assets more attractive as a hedge against inflation, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Soybeans for May delivery added $0.28, 2.9%, to $9.80 a bushel in electronic trading on the CBOT, lifted by speculation that demand for US crops may increase as Argentine farmers plan to halt sales for a week to protest against export taxes.

NORTH AMERICA

US President Obama plans to nominate David Sandalow, who held environmental positions in the Clinton administration, to be DOE assistant secretary for Policy and International Affairs. Obama also plans to nominate BP chief scientist Steven Koonin to be undersecretary for Science.

Montreal, Canada-based Enerkem Inc. will construct a $250 million, 20 million gallon per year ethanol plant in Mississippi. The plant will process 189,000 tons of solid waste along with wood residues and other feedstock.

In Canada, Manitoba has licensed its first biodiesel plant, Greenway Biodiesel, which will produce over 5 million gallons per year. The entire output will be sold to the US.

Nova Biosource Fuels has announced preliminary financial results for the quarter ended January 31 including a net loss of $11,149,000. Nova owns two biodiesel refineries: a 60 million gallon per year plant in Seneca, IL and a 10 million gallon per year plant in Clinton, IA.

SOUTH AMERICA

This past weekend, argentine farmers protested President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s plan to funnel levies on soy exports into federal revenue sharing by blocking roads and halting all grain freight. The protests are expected to last for the entire week

A biodiesel plant has arrived in El Salvador from Colombia to be used in a pilot project studying the profitability of producing biofuels in the country. A UN economic commission has stated the principal barrier for biodiesel in El Salvador is the offer of raw materials, as the country does not have large-scale feedstock production.

EUROPE

In Oslo, Norway, city officials plan to introduce buses that run on biofuels extracted from sewage beginning in 2010. The biofuels will come from the Bekkelaget sewage treatment plant which handles waste from 250,000 citizens.

ASIA / PACIFIC

Malaysia is expected to consume 500,000 mt of palm oil, or 3%, of national CPO production, when it fully implements its B5 mandate by early 2010, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister said.

The Indonesian government on Monday disbursed $43.5 million from its stimulus package to expand electricity transmission, including $6.5 million to finance biofuel plantations and village-level renewable energy plants in 79 so-called independent energy villages.

About World Energy