Canadian Dollar Falls on Slowing Global Economy, Crude Oil Price, Equities

Canada’s dollar fell for the second week as stocks were pummeled and oil, the nation’s largest export, declined to the lowest level since February, signaling less demand for risky assets.

The loonie, as the currency is nicknamed, fell versus 12 of its 16 most-traded counterparts this week on speculation slowing economic growth will weigh on demand for raw materials. Growth concern was tempered yesterday when reports showed Canadian jobs grew for a fourth straight month in July and employment increased in the U.S., the nation’s largest trading partner, more than forecast. Demand for Canadian government securities will be tested when the Bank of Canada auctions three-year debt on Aug. 10.

“Concern over the health of the U.S. economy is probably a very negative translation to the Canadian economy,” said Gregory Salvaggio, senior vice president of capital markets in Washington at the currency trader Tempus Consulting Inc. “On top of that, significant slippage in commodity prices all contribute to downward pressure on the loonie.

The Canadian currency fell 2.8 percent to 98.20 cents per U.S. dollar in Toronto from 95.52 on July 29. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0183. It touched 94.07 cents on July 26, the strongest since November 2007.

Gas prices could drop 35 cents

It might take a few days, but gasoline prices soon should fall in light of the recent decline in oil prices.

How does a drop of 35 cents per gallon sound? That's what some national forecasters are anticipating over the next month.

Oil prices have fallen about $10 per barrel in about a week, driven downward by a sluggish global economy, said Rose White, a spokeswoman for AAA Nebraska.

Oil for September delivery closed Friday at $86.88 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In the last 10 days, Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude has declined $12.71 a barrel.

Prices tumbled as a series of weak economic data rolled in.

The United States said the economy grew only 1.3 percent in the second quarter, while manufacturing reports pointed to weaker activity in the country and in China.

The U.S. debt-ceiling debate ended with plans to cut spending by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, while Europe continues to struggle with enormous debt.

Stocks get little help from oil rally

Oil prices rebounded Friday from steep declines but the shares of Calgary-based oil and gas companies continued to fall to new depths.

ICE Brent crude for September delivery rose $2.12 to settle at $109.37 US a barrel on Friday and West Texas Intermediate futures crept up 25 cents to settle at $86.88. On Thursday, Brent plunged $5.98 and WTI was off $5.30.

In spite of the commodity price gains, Calgary oil producers, oilsands producers, gas explorers and service companies alike lost market value.

Savanna Energy Services Corp. was down 7.7 per cent, PetroBakken Energy Ltd. was off 7.1 per cent, Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. lost another 6.5 per cent, Husky Energy Inc. and Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. each fell three per cent, while Encana Corp. was down 2.9 per cent.

The S&P/TSX Energy Index fell 5.9 per cent Friday, leaving it at 2776.78.

That's down 11.5 per cent on the year.

Niger Delta villagers go to the Hague to fight against oil giant Shell

A man walks on slippery spilled crude oil on the shores of the Niger Delta swamps of Bodo, a village in Niger's oil-producing Ogoniland. Photograph: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images

Goi is now a dead village. The two fish ponds, bakery and chicken farm that used to be the pride and joy of its chief deacon, Barrisa Tete Dooh, lie abandoned, covered in a thick black layer. The village's fishing creek is contaminated; the school has been looted; the mangrove forests are coated in bitumen and everyone has left, refugees from a place blighted by the exploitation of the region's most valuable asset: crude oil.
Last Thursday, a long-awaited and comprehensive UN study exposed the full horror of the pollution that the production of oil has brought to Ogoniland over the last 50 years.
The UN report showed that oil companies and the Nigerian government had not just failed to meet their own standards, but that the process of investigation, reporting and clean-up was deeply flawed in favour of the firms and against the victims. Spills in the US are responded to in minutes; in the Niger delta, which suffers more pollution each year than the Gulf of Mexico, it can take companies weeks or more.

PRINCIPLES OF OIL EXTRACTION

Oil is extracted from a number of fruits, nuts and seeds (Table 1) for use in cooking and

soapmaking1 or as an ingredient in other foods such as baked or fried goods. Oil is a valuable

product with universal demand, and the possible income from oil extraction is therefore often

enough to justify the relatively high cost of setting up and running a small scale oil milling

business.

-Raw material preparation
Oilseeds and nuts should be properly dried before
storage, and cleaned to remove remove sand, dust,
leaves and other contaminants. Fruits should be
harvested when fully ripe, cleaned and handled carefully
to reduce bruising and splitting. All raw materials
should be sorted to remove stones etc. and especially
mouldy nuts, which can cause aflatoxin poisoning.
When storage is necessary, this should be in
weatherproof, ventilated rooms which are protected
against birds, insects and rodents. Some raw materials
(for example groundnuts, sunflower seeds) need
dehusking (or decorticating). Small manual machines
are available to give higher production rates than
manual dehusking (Figure 1).

Figure 1: A Decorticating Machine

Dehusking is important to give high yields of oil and
reduce the bulk of material to be processed` but in
groundnut oil extraction about 10% by weight of husk
should be added back to the nuts to allow oil to escape
more freely from the press. Coconut is dehusked and
split by skilled operators as this is faster than the
available small-scale machines. Most nuts need grinding
before oil extraction to increase the yield of oil. Small
mills are available for grinding copra, palm kernels and
groundnuts.
Figure 2: A Seed Scorcher
Some seeds (e.g. groundnuts) are conditioned by
heating to 80-90oC using a seed scorcher (Figure 2), and
all oil-bearing materials need to have the correct
moisture content to maximise the oil yield. Other
oilseeds and nuts are usually processed cold provided
that their moisture content is below about 7%.
Methods of extraction