Oil prices up THIS WEEK, oil prices surged to nearly $57 a barrel. In an attempt to curb further increases, the Organisation for Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC) proposed raising its official output target by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to reach a ceiling of 27.5 million bpd. Crude oil prices have risen by about 30 per cent this year to levels not seen since the early 1980s. Furthermore, analysts think the oil rise is not over and that prices may jump again, sometime during the early summer, to $70 a barrel. According to Omar Kamal Hamouda, an oil and energy expert, the present rise in oil prices is not in the least surprising. "When the dollar is losing ground versus other currencies, as the case is now, oil prices always rise," said Hamouda. During April and May, oil-importing countries generally seek to rebuild their oil stocks before the following winter season. "This results in higher demand in the market. The door opens for speculations in the oil stock market, thus the prices increase," said Hamouda. At present, China's rapidly expanding economy and demand for raw materials has raised prices, with China's demand for oil increasing at least 20 per cent over the past year. It is also hard to overlook the fact that the US is the world's biggest oil trader. "The US buys and sells oil through the New York stock market. It also makes gigantic profits through American oil companies worldwide," said Hamouda who argued that it is within the US's best interest to keep oil prices at higher levels. The impact of the present increase in oil prices on the Egyptian economy is a mixed blessing. The surge in prices means more hard currency gains to Egypt whose net production of crude oil has reached 600,000 bpd. "However, Egypt imports a large amount of other oil products including gas oil and jet fuel. This means that the cost for subsidising oil products is becoming unbearable," he commented. The latest increase has divided major oil exporting countries into two groups: those such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that favour lifting the output in an attempt to ease the prices and those such as Venezuela that argue against conciliatory moves towards big consumers, especially the US. Got a tissue? NUQUL Group, the leader in tissue paper production in the Middle East and the mother company of Al-Bardi Paper Mill -- Fine Egypt, announced recently the official inauguration of Al-Sindian Paper Mill Company in Egypt. Elie Nuqul, chairman of Nuqul Group, said the tissue mill, the largest of its kind in the region, came as a result of the feedback the group received through extensive research, along with the positive atmosphere and balanced Egyptian investment laws and regulations that continuously promote foreign investments. Nuqul Group expects to export more than 80 per cent of the output of the new machinery to Europe and the MENA region, although some production will be converted on site. The converting plant can produce a full range of premium quality tissue products -- facial and bathroom tissues, paper towels, napkins and industrial rolls. Tissue consumption in the Middle East has grown 25 per cent during the past five years, according to Nuqul. The Al-Sindian project has an annual production capacity of 54,000 tonnes. New storage technologies IBM has unveiled its latest data storage systems, the DS6000 and DS8000 series. Starting at 580 GB and scaling up to 67.2 terabytes, the new compact size TotalStorage DS6000 series provides many technologies previously only available in high- end systems. It can connect to zSeries, iSeries, UNIX, Linux and Intel environments. The DS6000 can also accelerate data response to provide clients with speedy access to stored information. To prevent any failure within the system, the DS6000 series predictive failure analysis provides capabilities that can take preemptive actions to keep data protected without any administrative intervention. Visual alerts can also identify and guide the repair of any components to help clients have quick access to their machines. The new TotalStorage DS8000 series also enables users to integrate different Operating Systems into one storage system which will simplify the management process and reduce costs. The enterprise storage system, available in either dual two processor or dual four processor configurations, includes an architecture that can address more than 4,500 times the amount of information found in the Library of Congress. Roland Leins, an IBM networks solutions manager, explained that different sectors will benefit from these two systems, especially banks and petroleum companies, as they need large data storage capabilities. Universal Service THE MINISTRY of Communications and Information Technology (CIT), in cooperation with the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA), launched the Universal Service Fund to bring basic connectivity and telephony to rural areas and eventually across the country. LE50 million was appropriated from the NTRA's budget to fund this project, which aims at providing telephony services and Internet connectivity to the poorer sectors of society. Access to telephones could be through basic local/long distance cables or through pay phones installed in every village. Applicants will be charged reasonable prices, and a first priority is given to low-income or disabled citizens, schools and public libraries. "Every citizen has the right to use communications services which will promote growth and investment and eliminate the digital divide," said Tareq Kamel, minister of CIT. Al-Azhar logs on THE MINISTER of communications and information technology (CIT) and Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, grand sheikh of Al-Azhar, jointly signed a protocol in order to enhance the services of Al-Azhar Information Centre. The protocol aims at connecting 27 information units established by Al-Azhar in different governorates to Al-Azhar Information Centre located in Cairo. During a three-year period, the Ministry of CIT will upgrade the information centre and supply it with the latest technologies and an Internet lab. The ministry will also develop the 27 information units and connect them, along with Al- Azhar Supreme Council, Islamic Research Academy and other institutes, to the information centre. Al-Azhar staff will receive adequate technical training to better take advantage of these facilities.
