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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery added 19 cents to $102.75 on the New York Merc, while Brent for June lost 45 cents to $106.80 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $13.00 to WTI, unchanged. Natural gas for May lost 24 cents to $6.94. The TSX energy index added 3.38 points to close at 244.55.

The world will need to scrape up $1.3-trillion (U.S.) to invest in energy development over the next eight years to avoid an energy crisis, according to JPMorgan. The bank published its first annual energy outlook this morning. "Our main finding," wrote strategists Marko Kolanovic and Christyan Malek, "is that by 2030, energy demand growth will exceed supply growth by circa 20 per cent based on current trends."

They emphasized that the above energy investments will need to encompass all fuels, including oil and gas, not just trendy renewables. "Not all fuels are made equal, and for the most part [in this short time frame], different sources of energy are not fully fungible -- solar panels cannot replace oil, needed for example in the industrial production of petrochemicals," they wrote. Over the longer term, they foresee a transition to even safer, cleaner and cheaper sources of energy, such as nuclear. That should not prevent realism in the near term. "Until scalable, reliable, clean and affordable technologies are available, the world will need to work with all of the current sources of energy -- fossil and non-fossil -- and their respective drawbacks," concluded the outlook.

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