Franklin Fuel Cells Receives Major Grant From Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority
Malvern, PA-- Franklin Fuels Cells, Inc. has received a major grant of $408,737 from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, also known as PEDA.
The announcement from the office of Governor Edward G. Rendell acknowledged both the state’s “investments to support clean energy projects” and Franklin’s role in that mission. According to the governor’s office, the grant is “… for an applied research project for ongoing development of solid oxide fuel cell technology. Within 12 months, Franklin Fuel Cells expects to have a core direct-oxidation solid oxide fuel cell technology that has been proven to be technically feasible, economically viable and ready for incorporation into pre-commercial products.”
Responding to the announcement, John Law, Franklin’s President and CEO, said, “ We’re obviously very delighted and appreciative. PEDA is going to make a major difference in the future of energy efficiency in Pennsylvania, and we’re proud to be chosen as part of the team. It’s a real acknowledgement of our unique technology.”
Law added that the grant will allow Franklin to greatly increase its in-house capabilities by expanding its current state-of-the-art facility to reduce its design/build/test cycles, thereby permitting faster analysis and implementation of results “to further speed technology development and product enhancement”. Law said that Franklin calls the improved capability its “Rapid Cycles of Learning” strategy, saying “This allows us to execute our next phase of our strategy which will result in faster and better learning at dramatically reduced costs.”
Franklin’s proprietary DOSOFC technology is unique among current SOFC development technologies in that the company’s patented process employs a copper-ceria impregnated anode. (The technology was initially developed by a team of scientists at the University of Pennsylvania.) Franklin’s anode technology generates power by operating directly on currently-available hydrocarbon fuels without the need for fuel reformation or hydrogen, and is not prone to Carbon or sulfur fouling that results in dramatically reduced fuel cell life and efficiency.
Franklin’s technology is currently so fuel-flexible that it has been demonstrated and proven to run on virtually every commercially-available liquid and gaseous fuel, as it has already demonstrated on retail pump gasoline, diesel, kerosene, ethanol and naphtha as well as on natural gas, propane, butane and hydrogen. The result, according to Franklin, is a more efficient system that is simpler in design and construction.
Franklin Fuel Cells is an early-stage, venture-backed SOFC technology-development company located in Malvern, PA, about 30 miles from downtown Philadelphia, PA. Its Intellectual Property portfolio consists of 8 U.S. patents, 30 U.S. patent applications, and 13 invention disclosures. For more details on the company and its proprietary SOFC technology, contact: Mr. John Law, Franklin Fuel Cells, Inc., 83 Great Valley Parkway, Malvern, PA 19355, or call (610) 640-7545.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Why you should make the switch to CNG: "Why you should make the switch to CNG "
Home> Mumbai> News
Tuesday , January 24, 2006
Page One Sportsline All Headlines
NEWS
GREEN FUEL: COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS IS LESS POLLUTING, CHEAPER THAN PETROL AND MORE REFILLING STATIONS MEAN NO MORE QUEUES
Why you should make the switch to CNG
Anumeha Yadav
Mumbai, January 23: WITH the turning of a switch, Mahavir Shah (34) does his bit in ridding the city’s air of 6,00,000 kg of pollutants every day. In the process, he cuts down his monthly fuel expenses by Rs 7,000.
Shah, a dealer of motors and pumps, got a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) kit fitted in his year-old Tata Indica last month. ‘‘I enjoy the comforts of a car at the cost of a motorbike,’’ says Shah, who commutes over 60 km daily from his Kanjurmarg residence to his office in Fort.
BrideGroom
18-2526-3031-3536-4546-5099-50
In a city choking on pollutants and battling a burgeoning vehicular population of 11.23 lakh, CNG-run vehicles—they emit lesser particulates, airborne toxins and neglible emissions of sulphur oxides—might just bring in a breath of much-needed clean air.
‘‘Given the rate at which the number of vehicles is rising—300-odd vehicles added daily—an effective and feasible way of reducing emissions is for private vehicles to opt for a clean fuel like CNG and simultaneously augment dispension facilities,’’ says Deputy Transport Commissioner Satish Sahasrebudhe.
‘‘1.6 lakh commercial vehicles running on CNG have benefitted economically,’’ says A K Purwaha, managing director of Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL), the sole CNG supplier. ‘‘Seeing this, more and more private vehicle owners are seeking details of how they can opt for CNG.’’
According to Purwaha, the reliability of a CNG-kit can be easily verified with the Regional Transport Offices. And doubts about the safety of this fuel are unfounded, he asserts.
‘‘CNG being lighter than air disperses very quickly in case of a leak and is no way more risky than conventional fuels,’’ he says.
Refuelling too no longer means having to stand for hours in serpentine queues.
‘‘Refuelling is not a problem as stations abound,’’ says P Chellapa, who drives a Maruti van to ferry school children from Chembur to Govandi and back. ‘‘And in case of emergency, I can always use petrol to reach the nearest pump.’’
Things are only expected to get better with MGL promising to augment the refilling facilities by adding 23 stations to the current 117 by March. ‘‘Users in Mumbai are in a comfortable position right now,’’ says Purwaha. ‘‘Still, we want to increase the number of stations in Thane from five to 12 and add two more to Mira-Bhayander.’’
Why CNG* It’s daily operating cost is almost one-fourth that of a petrol vehicle* Money invested in conversion kits—available for Rs 27,000-35,000—can be recovered through savings in fuel* One kg of CNG used is equal to a kg of particulate emissions cut down
anumehayadav@expressindia.com
(Series concluded)
Home> Mumbai> News
Tuesday , January 24, 2006
Page One Sportsline All Headlines
NEWS
GREEN FUEL: COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS IS LESS POLLUTING, CHEAPER THAN PETROL AND MORE REFILLING STATIONS MEAN NO MORE QUEUES
Why you should make the switch to CNG
Anumeha Yadav
Mumbai, January 23: WITH the turning of a switch, Mahavir Shah (34) does his bit in ridding the city’s air of 6,00,000 kg of pollutants every day. In the process, he cuts down his monthly fuel expenses by Rs 7,000.
Shah, a dealer of motors and pumps, got a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) kit fitted in his year-old Tata Indica last month. ‘‘I enjoy the comforts of a car at the cost of a motorbike,’’ says Shah, who commutes over 60 km daily from his Kanjurmarg residence to his office in Fort.
BrideGroom
18-2526-3031-3536-4546-5099-50
In a city choking on pollutants and battling a burgeoning vehicular population of 11.23 lakh, CNG-run vehicles—they emit lesser particulates, airborne toxins and neglible emissions of sulphur oxides—might just bring in a breath of much-needed clean air.
‘‘Given the rate at which the number of vehicles is rising—300-odd vehicles added daily—an effective and feasible way of reducing emissions is for private vehicles to opt for a clean fuel like CNG and simultaneously augment dispension facilities,’’ says Deputy Transport Commissioner Satish Sahasrebudhe.
‘‘1.6 lakh commercial vehicles running on CNG have benefitted economically,’’ says A K Purwaha, managing director of Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL), the sole CNG supplier. ‘‘Seeing this, more and more private vehicle owners are seeking details of how they can opt for CNG.’’
According to Purwaha, the reliability of a CNG-kit can be easily verified with the Regional Transport Offices. And doubts about the safety of this fuel are unfounded, he asserts.
‘‘CNG being lighter than air disperses very quickly in case of a leak and is no way more risky than conventional fuels,’’ he says.
Refuelling too no longer means having to stand for hours in serpentine queues.
‘‘Refuelling is not a problem as stations abound,’’ says P Chellapa, who drives a Maruti van to ferry school children from Chembur to Govandi and back. ‘‘And in case of emergency, I can always use petrol to reach the nearest pump.’’
Things are only expected to get better with MGL promising to augment the refilling facilities by adding 23 stations to the current 117 by March. ‘‘Users in Mumbai are in a comfortable position right now,’’ says Purwaha. ‘‘Still, we want to increase the number of stations in Thane from five to 12 and add two more to Mira-Bhayander.’’
Why CNG* It’s daily operating cost is almost one-fourth that of a petrol vehicle* Money invested in conversion kits—available for Rs 27,000-35,000—can be recovered through savings in fuel* One kg of CNG used is equal to a kg of particulate emissions cut down
anumehayadav@expressindia.com
(Series concluded)
Nine killed in attack on Nigerian oil complex. 25/01/2006. ABC News Online
Gunmen have stormed a riverside oil complex in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt in a fleet of speedboats and shot dead eight policemen and a civilian worker, officials say.
The gang seized sacks of money before making its escape, suggesting that robbery was at least part of its motive, but the raid also came shortly after separatists threatened to step up attacks on the oil industry.
Africa's biggest oil industry is in crisis after two months of increasingly violent attacks on company sites and the kidnapping of four foreign oil workers by an armed ethnic militia.
Local resident Damka Pueba told AFP she heard gunfire from a site known as the Agip Industrial Area in the Mgboshimini area of the city, a large complex of offices, workshops and jetties run by the Italian energy giant.
"One of the staff came out, she was crying. She said some boys came in speedboats and got into the company and just started shooting," Ms Pueba said, adding witness saw dead policemen being loaded onto a jeep.
"The installation was attacked between about 2.00pm and 2.30pm. The attackers came over the water and attacked the section of the base which houses a bank," Maurizio Bungaro said, Italy's consul general in Nigeria.
"The attackers killed nine people in all, eight police officers and a Nigerian employee ... there were no dead among the assailants. The attack was well organised and they were able to take their loot and go," he said.
Port Harcourt's police chief, Commissioner Samuel Adetuyi, confirmed that there had been an incident, but gave no details.
The gunmen were clad in camouflage fatigues and military-style berets and killed an accountant before making off in their boats with two large bags of money, Ms Pueba says, citing witnesses.
- AFP
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Tuesday, January 24, 2006
US says it intervened in latest European gas crisis - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US officials intervened to help sort out the latest European natural gas crisis that erupted after Russian supplies to Georgia were cut by pipeline explosions, the State Department said.
Natural gas flowed into Georgia via an alternative pipeline passing through neighboring Azerbaijan after the cutoff, which sparked accusations from Tbilisi of sabotage by Moscow. Armenia had also been affected.
"We did talk to the parties that were involved in the issue over the weekend," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, adding there were "a lot of phone calls."
He said the American officials involved included Dan Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, his deputy Matthew Bryza, and US diplomats in Georgia.
"Regardless right now what the cause of the explosions were, what is important is that Georgia and Armenia's neighbors came together to come to their neighbors' aid in a time of crisis," McCormack said.
"And we played a role in that, proudly so," he said.
McCormack said there was no word on what caused the pipeline explosions which the Russians have called terrorist acts. "We encourage the Russian authorities to look into it," he said.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US officials intervened to help sort out the latest European natural gas crisis that erupted after Russian supplies to Georgia were cut by pipeline explosions, the State Department said.
Natural gas flowed into Georgia via an alternative pipeline passing through neighboring Azerbaijan after the cutoff, which sparked accusations from Tbilisi of sabotage by Moscow. Armenia had also been affected.
"We did talk to the parties that were involved in the issue over the weekend," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, adding there were "a lot of phone calls."
He said the American officials involved included Dan Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, his deputy Matthew Bryza, and US diplomats in Georgia.
"Regardless right now what the cause of the explosions were, what is important is that Georgia and Armenia's neighbors came together to come to their neighbors' aid in a time of crisis," McCormack said.
"And we played a role in that, proudly so," he said.
McCormack said there was no word on what caused the pipeline explosions which the Russians have called terrorist acts. "We encourage the Russian authorities to look into it," he said.
News - Grid Interconnection Requirements to be Solved for Australian Wind Farm Utilizing American Superconductor's D-VAR(R) System - Netscape Celebrity
WESTBOROUGH, Mass., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC), a leading electricity solutions company, received an order for two D-VAR(R) voltage regulation systems from Lake Bonney Wind Power Pty Ltd. (LBWP), through its operator, National Power Company, an independent renewable energy project developer based in San Francisco and Sydney. The D-VAR systems will be installed in two phases at the Lake Bonney II wind project located near Millicent, South Australia in Australia. The D-VAR systems will provide dynamic and steady state voltage support required to meet Australian grid interconnection requirements. Phase One of the wind project, which is the first in Australia for AMSC, includes 45 megawatts (MW) of wind generation and an associated 12 megaVAR (MVAR) D-VAR solution. Phase Two will add an additional 114 MW of wind generation and another 12 MVAR D-VAR solution. AMSC is expected to ship the D-VAR systems in June and December of this year. Phase One energization is expected in November - December, 2006 and Phase Two energization is expected in April - May, 2007. "LBWP chose American Superconductor's dynamic voltage regulation solution in order to comply with interconnection requirements established by the Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) and the (National Electricity Market Management Company) NEMMCO for the Lake Bonney II wind power project," noted Tim Flato, a partner at National Power. "The interconnection standards require dynamic voltage regulation and control, and the wind farm must also have the ability to ride through high voltage situations. We chose the AMSC D-VAR voltage regulation system because of its proven performance at similar wind farms around the world." According to the world market update published by BTM Consult Aps, the global wind energy growth rate for the next five years will be around 15-20%. Australia ranks among the leaders in the world with approximately a 35% forecasted growth rate. The Australian Wind Energy Association indicates that Australia has 572 MW of installed wind energy and 5,914 additional proposed wind energy projects.
"With this increasing demand for wind energy, electric industry regulators are increasingly mandating strict grid interconnection standards for wind farms. Countries such as Australia, Spain, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States have recently established criteria requiring dynamic voltage control and we anticipate other countries will soon follow," said Greg Yurek, CEO of AMSC. "Our unique D-VAR voltage regulation system has become the industry product of choice for helping wind facilities meet these new grid interconnection standards."
Overall, this is the 12th wind farm worldwide to incorporate AMSC's advanced D-VAR dynamic voltage control technologies. These projects bring the total wind-generated electric power served by AMSC's D-VAR systems to more than 1000 MW. To learn more about AMSC's D-VAR solutions, see: http://www.amsuper.com/products/transmissionGrid/104273030481.cfm. For more information on AMSC's wind energy solutions, see: http://www.amsuper.com/products/applications/windEnergy/index.cfm.
About Lake Bonney Wind Power Pty Ltd:
Lake Bonney Wind Power Pty Ltd is the owner of the Lake Bonney wind farm in South Australia. The project is operated by National Power Company, an independent renewable energy project developer based in San Francisco and Sydney. National power was founded in 1991 and is a private, employee-owned company whose owners have significant experience in the development, financing and construction of power and industrial projects. National Power has in- house wind farm development expertise along with commercial business development and construction management skills. The Lake Bonney II Wind Power Project is a joint venture development with Babcock and Brown.
About American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC)
AMSC is the world's principal vendor of high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire and large rotating superconductor machinery, and it is a world- leading supplier of dynamic reactive power grid stabilization products. AMSC's HTS wire and power electronic converters are at the core of a broad range of new electricity transmission and distribution, transportation, medical and industrial processing applications, including dynamic reactive power grid stabilization solutions, large ship propulsion motors and generators, smart, controllable, superconductor power cables and advanced defense systems.
The company's products are supported by hundreds of patents and licenses covering technologies fundamental to Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity(TM). More information is available at http://www.amsuper.com.
American Superconductor and design, AMSC, POWERED BY AMSC, Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity, and PowerModule are trademarks and D-VAR is a registered trademark of American Superconductor Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
WESTBOROUGH, Mass., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC), a leading electricity solutions company, received an order for two D-VAR(R) voltage regulation systems from Lake Bonney Wind Power Pty Ltd. (LBWP), through its operator, National Power Company, an independent renewable energy project developer based in San Francisco and Sydney. The D-VAR systems will be installed in two phases at the Lake Bonney II wind project located near Millicent, South Australia in Australia. The D-VAR systems will provide dynamic and steady state voltage support required to meet Australian grid interconnection requirements. Phase One of the wind project, which is the first in Australia for AMSC, includes 45 megawatts (MW) of wind generation and an associated 12 megaVAR (MVAR) D-VAR solution. Phase Two will add an additional 114 MW of wind generation and another 12 MVAR D-VAR solution. AMSC is expected to ship the D-VAR systems in June and December of this year. Phase One energization is expected in November - December, 2006 and Phase Two energization is expected in April - May, 2007. "LBWP chose American Superconductor's dynamic voltage regulation solution in order to comply with interconnection requirements established by the Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) and the (National Electricity Market Management Company) NEMMCO for the Lake Bonney II wind power project," noted Tim Flato, a partner at National Power. "The interconnection standards require dynamic voltage regulation and control, and the wind farm must also have the ability to ride through high voltage situations. We chose the AMSC D-VAR voltage regulation system because of its proven performance at similar wind farms around the world." According to the world market update published by BTM Consult Aps, the global wind energy growth rate for the next five years will be around 15-20%. Australia ranks among the leaders in the world with approximately a 35% forecasted growth rate. The Australian Wind Energy Association indicates that Australia has 572 MW of installed wind energy and 5,914 additional proposed wind energy projects.
"With this increasing demand for wind energy, electric industry regulators are increasingly mandating strict grid interconnection standards for wind farms. Countries such as Australia, Spain, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States have recently established criteria requiring dynamic voltage control and we anticipate other countries will soon follow," said Greg Yurek, CEO of AMSC. "Our unique D-VAR voltage regulation system has become the industry product of choice for helping wind facilities meet these new grid interconnection standards."
Overall, this is the 12th wind farm worldwide to incorporate AMSC's advanced D-VAR dynamic voltage control technologies. These projects bring the total wind-generated electric power served by AMSC's D-VAR systems to more than 1000 MW. To learn more about AMSC's D-VAR solutions, see: http://www.amsuper.com/products/transmissionGrid/104273030481.cfm. For more information on AMSC's wind energy solutions, see: http://www.amsuper.com/products/applications/windEnergy/index.cfm.
About Lake Bonney Wind Power Pty Ltd:
Lake Bonney Wind Power Pty Ltd is the owner of the Lake Bonney wind farm in South Australia. The project is operated by National Power Company, an independent renewable energy project developer based in San Francisco and Sydney. National power was founded in 1991 and is a private, employee-owned company whose owners have significant experience in the development, financing and construction of power and industrial projects. National Power has in- house wind farm development expertise along with commercial business development and construction management skills. The Lake Bonney II Wind Power Project is a joint venture development with Babcock and Brown.
About American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC)
AMSC is the world's principal vendor of high temperature superconductor (HTS) wire and large rotating superconductor machinery, and it is a world- leading supplier of dynamic reactive power grid stabilization products. AMSC's HTS wire and power electronic converters are at the core of a broad range of new electricity transmission and distribution, transportation, medical and industrial processing applications, including dynamic reactive power grid stabilization solutions, large ship propulsion motors and generators, smart, controllable, superconductor power cables and advanced defense systems.
The company's products are supported by hundreds of patents and licenses covering technologies fundamental to Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity(TM). More information is available at http://www.amsuper.com.
American Superconductor and design, AMSC, POWERED BY AMSC, Revolutionizing the Way the World Uses Electricity, and PowerModule are trademarks and D-VAR is a registered trademark of American Superconductor Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Geopolitical worries pump up energy prices
HOUSTON, Jan. 23 -- Energy prices escalated Jan. 20, with the front-month crude futures contract hitting a 4-month high on the New York market amid traders' despair that a Western confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program could threaten supplies.
"Iran is rapidly becoming the most important noneconomic influence on the oil market today," said analysts Jan. 23 at the Houston office of Raymond James & Associates Inc. "The ongoing nuclear tensions are unnerving the market and carry with them the real possibility of a military confrontation at some point in the foreseeable future. While this risk does not appear imminent, we do think it will likely come to a head in the next 6-18 months."
The Raymond James analysts said "the odds have increased greatly" for an Iranian-related oil-supply interruption in the next 2 years.
They warned, "We have to remain mindful of other wildcard countries, as well: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Iraq. While the risk of each of these individual oil supply disruptions is low, in the aggregate the oil market is facing what may be an unprecedented combination of potential risk factors. Combined with another paradigm shift—the almost total lack of excess production capacity—this is catalyzing prices to move higher despite high oil inventories. In other words, the market has recognized that there is virtually no room for error in the global supply picture."
Nigeria
Paul Horsnell of Barclays Capital Inc., London, in a Jan. 19 report said, "While the Iranian issue holds the greatest dangers going forward, it has been the more immediate problems in Nigeria that have been the key market driver over the past week." Royal Dutch Shell PLC shut in production of 221,000 b/d of crude after attacks by militants on its facilities in Nigeria (OGJ Online, Jan. 20, 2006).
"Low-level violence with more severe incidents on occasions has long been a feature of the usual flow of events in the Niger delta," Horsnell said. "However, we believe events over the past week represent a significant break with the previous pattern. The actions of the group that attacked the EA field [off Warri in Delta State], took hostages, attacked pipelines and the Benisede pumping station does not seem to fit the usual modus operandi of previous groups."
Recent attacks "suggest that the most active group is better organized, more ambitious, perhaps more broadly based in local political terms, more heavily armed, and is hence a more dangerous proposition than its predecessors," he said. "There is a very significant escalation involved in the move from the occupation of onshore pumping stations by villagers motivated by local issues to attacks on offshore facilities using speedboats, causing significant loss of life and pursuing a broader and more intractable set of demands."
Hurricane damage
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were "the greatest natural disasters to oil and gas development in the history of the Gulf of Mexico," and full production probably will not be restored before the start of the 2006 hurricane season next summer, said Chris Oynes, regional director of the US Minerals Management Service in New Orleans. He said 255,000 b/d of crude and 400 MMcfd of natural gas production will likely remain shut in until then.
Assessment of storm damage to pipelines and other offshore facilities is still under way 5 months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. "It is likely that additional damage will be reported as underwater damage assessments are completed. These have been delayed because of overwhelmed support resources, such as diving equipment, support vessels, and remotely operated vehicles," Oynes said.
Katrina destroyed 46 platforms and damaged 20 others. MMS received reports of damage to 100 pipelines, resulting in 211 minor pollution incidents, each involving less then 500 bbl of oil that did not reach the coast. MMS reported 12 of the 36 large diameter (10 in. or larger) damaged by Katrina have since returned to service.
Rita destroyed 69 platforms and damaged 32 others. There were reports of 83 damaged pipelines and 207 minor pollution incidents in Rita's wake. Of the 28 large diameter pipelines damaged by that storm, 10 have returned to service.
Energy prices
The February contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes jumped by $1.52 to $68.35/bbl Jan. 20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The March contract escalated by $1.29 to $68.48/bbl. On the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., was up by $1.52 to $68.36/bbl.
Heating oil for February delivery climbed by 7.03¢ to $1.88/gal on NYMEX. Gasoline for the same month increased by 4.1¢ to $1.82/gal. The February natural gas contract gained 37.5¢ to $9.28/MMbtu as it "followed crude oil prices higher on continued geopolitical anxieties ahead of the weekend," said analysts at Enerfax Daily.
In London, the March contract for North Sea Brent crude advanced by $1.04 to $65.23/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange. However, gas oil for February lost $2.25 to $546.25/tonne.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of 11 benchmark crudes gained $1.13 to $60.39/bbl on Jan. 20.
Contact Sam Fletcher at samf@ogjonline.com.
HOUSTON, Jan. 23 -- Energy prices escalated Jan. 20, with the front-month crude futures contract hitting a 4-month high on the New York market amid traders' despair that a Western confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program could threaten supplies.
"Iran is rapidly becoming the most important noneconomic influence on the oil market today," said analysts Jan. 23 at the Houston office of Raymond James & Associates Inc. "The ongoing nuclear tensions are unnerving the market and carry with them the real possibility of a military confrontation at some point in the foreseeable future. While this risk does not appear imminent, we do think it will likely come to a head in the next 6-18 months."
The Raymond James analysts said "the odds have increased greatly" for an Iranian-related oil-supply interruption in the next 2 years.
They warned, "We have to remain mindful of other wildcard countries, as well: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Iraq. While the risk of each of these individual oil supply disruptions is low, in the aggregate the oil market is facing what may be an unprecedented combination of potential risk factors. Combined with another paradigm shift—the almost total lack of excess production capacity—this is catalyzing prices to move higher despite high oil inventories. In other words, the market has recognized that there is virtually no room for error in the global supply picture."
Nigeria
Paul Horsnell of Barclays Capital Inc., London, in a Jan. 19 report said, "While the Iranian issue holds the greatest dangers going forward, it has been the more immediate problems in Nigeria that have been the key market driver over the past week." Royal Dutch Shell PLC shut in production of 221,000 b/d of crude after attacks by militants on its facilities in Nigeria (OGJ Online, Jan. 20, 2006).
"Low-level violence with more severe incidents on occasions has long been a feature of the usual flow of events in the Niger delta," Horsnell said. "However, we believe events over the past week represent a significant break with the previous pattern. The actions of the group that attacked the EA field [off Warri in Delta State], took hostages, attacked pipelines and the Benisede pumping station does not seem to fit the usual modus operandi of previous groups."
Recent attacks "suggest that the most active group is better organized, more ambitious, perhaps more broadly based in local political terms, more heavily armed, and is hence a more dangerous proposition than its predecessors," he said. "There is a very significant escalation involved in the move from the occupation of onshore pumping stations by villagers motivated by local issues to attacks on offshore facilities using speedboats, causing significant loss of life and pursuing a broader and more intractable set of demands."
Hurricane damage
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were "the greatest natural disasters to oil and gas development in the history of the Gulf of Mexico," and full production probably will not be restored before the start of the 2006 hurricane season next summer, said Chris Oynes, regional director of the US Minerals Management Service in New Orleans. He said 255,000 b/d of crude and 400 MMcfd of natural gas production will likely remain shut in until then.
Assessment of storm damage to pipelines and other offshore facilities is still under way 5 months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. "It is likely that additional damage will be reported as underwater damage assessments are completed. These have been delayed because of overwhelmed support resources, such as diving equipment, support vessels, and remotely operated vehicles," Oynes said.
Katrina destroyed 46 platforms and damaged 20 others. MMS received reports of damage to 100 pipelines, resulting in 211 minor pollution incidents, each involving less then 500 bbl of oil that did not reach the coast. MMS reported 12 of the 36 large diameter (10 in. or larger) damaged by Katrina have since returned to service.
Rita destroyed 69 platforms and damaged 32 others. There were reports of 83 damaged pipelines and 207 minor pollution incidents in Rita's wake. Of the 28 large diameter pipelines damaged by that storm, 10 have returned to service.
Energy prices
The February contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes jumped by $1.52 to $68.35/bbl Jan. 20 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The March contract escalated by $1.29 to $68.48/bbl. On the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., was up by $1.52 to $68.36/bbl.
Heating oil for February delivery climbed by 7.03¢ to $1.88/gal on NYMEX. Gasoline for the same month increased by 4.1¢ to $1.82/gal. The February natural gas contract gained 37.5¢ to $9.28/MMbtu as it "followed crude oil prices higher on continued geopolitical anxieties ahead of the weekend," said analysts at Enerfax Daily.
In London, the March contract for North Sea Brent crude advanced by $1.04 to $65.23/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange. However, gas oil for February lost $2.25 to $546.25/tonne.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of 11 benchmark crudes gained $1.13 to $60.39/bbl on Jan. 20.
Contact Sam Fletcher at samf@ogjonline.com.
Empire Energy Enters into Exclusivity Period with China-Based Oil Company
LENEXA, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2006--Empire Energy Corporation International (Empire) (OTCBB:EEGC) announces that it has entered into a 60-day Exclusivity Period with a China-based oil company to allow those interests time to conduct their due diligence regarding the potential oil and gas in the 3,700,000-acre tenement in Tasmania, Australia held by Empire thru its wholly owned Great South Land Minerals Ltd. Subsidiary.
Tad Ballantyne, recently appointed director of Empire, commented: "It is important for the global economy that China's economic expansion continue and that access to potentially large frontier basins of oil and gas are made available to China. It only makes sense that one of the largest undeveloped frontier basins in the world be considered by one of the largest growing economies in the world. Empire is pleased to provide a China-based oil company with the time they need to assess the potential and we look forward to continuing our already good working relationship with its management."
Prior to Duke Energy Corporation constructing its pipeline over the tenement, Empire subsidiary Great South Land Minerals Ltd. entered into confidentiality agreements to allow the exchange of basin potential confidential information. Empire directors believe entering into these types of confidentiality and exclusivity agreements from time to time with world-class companies provide the needed time to assess the opportunity. The directors of Empire believe entering into this exclusivity agreement will allow the China-based oil company the needed time to assess the confidential information provided and also the time needed to explore structuring with Empire the opportunity the basin presents to the Pacific Rim countries of China and Australia.
This Press Release contains forward-looking statements based on our current expectations about our company and our industry. You can identify these forward-looking statements when you see us using the words such as "expect," "anticipate," "estimate,", " believes," "plans" and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of our ability to complete required financings and other preconditions to the completion of the transactions described herein and Empire's ability to successfully acquire reserves and produce its resources among other issues. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future. We caution you not to place undue reliance on those statements.
LENEXA, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2006--Empire Energy Corporation International (Empire) (OTCBB:EEGC) announces that it has entered into a 60-day Exclusivity Period with a China-based oil company to allow those interests time to conduct their due diligence regarding the potential oil and gas in the 3,700,000-acre tenement in Tasmania, Australia held by Empire thru its wholly owned Great South Land Minerals Ltd. Subsidiary.
Tad Ballantyne, recently appointed director of Empire, commented: "It is important for the global economy that China's economic expansion continue and that access to potentially large frontier basins of oil and gas are made available to China. It only makes sense that one of the largest undeveloped frontier basins in the world be considered by one of the largest growing economies in the world. Empire is pleased to provide a China-based oil company with the time they need to assess the potential and we look forward to continuing our already good working relationship with its management."
Prior to Duke Energy Corporation constructing its pipeline over the tenement, Empire subsidiary Great South Land Minerals Ltd. entered into confidentiality agreements to allow the exchange of basin potential confidential information. Empire directors believe entering into these types of confidentiality and exclusivity agreements from time to time with world-class companies provide the needed time to assess the opportunity. The directors of Empire believe entering into this exclusivity agreement will allow the China-based oil company the needed time to assess the confidential information provided and also the time needed to explore structuring with Empire the opportunity the basin presents to the Pacific Rim countries of China and Australia.
This Press Release contains forward-looking statements based on our current expectations about our company and our industry. You can identify these forward-looking statements when you see us using the words such as "expect," "anticipate," "estimate,", " believes," "plans" and other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of our ability to complete required financings and other preconditions to the completion of the transactions described herein and Empire's ability to successfully acquire reserves and produce its resources among other issues. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future. We caution you not to place undue reliance on those statements.
Ukraine admits withholding gas from Europe - Yahoo! News
KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine has been withholding some Russian natural gas exports meant for customers in Europe, where several countries have reported falls in gas supplies amid a severe cold weather snap, an official with Ukraine's state-owned energy firm told AFP.
"We have in fact allowed the withholding of gas in excess of the contract during the past day," a Naftogaz official said on the condition of anonymity.
The official declined to say how much gas Ukraine -- which transports the vast majority of Russian gas exports to Europe -- was using over and above its agreed contract with Moscow.
"But we are certain that according to monthly totals, Ukraine will withhold exactly the volume agreed with Gazprom," the official said.
Earlier, a spokesman for Ukraine's Prime Minister Yury Yekhanurov denied charges by Russia's state-owned Gazprom giant that Kiev was withholding European supplies.
Although gas consumption in Ukraine has risen to record levels because of a severe cold snap gripping the country, "the increase of gas use in Ukraine has not at all affected the carrying out of our transport obligations," spokesman Valentin Mondrievsky told AFP.
Earlier on Monday, Russia's state-owned Gazprom monopoly admitted for the first time that it was not entirely fulfilling its contractual obligations to clients abroad because Ukraine was retaining some of the exports.
"You can call it withholding or taking, legal or illegal -- call it whatever you like," Gazprom's deputy chief Alexander Medvedev said in an interview with Russian television networks, extracts of which were broadcast Monday evening.
"But what is happening is that gas is remaining in Ukraine at higher volumes than envisioned. This prevents us from fully fulfilling our obligations to our foreign customers," he said.
Around 80 percent of Gazprom's exports to Europe pass through a pipeline network located on Ukrainian territory.
Temperatures in some parts of the country have plunged to lower than minus 30 C (minus 22 F), placing the country's energy systems under enormous strain.
The Ukrainian premier said Ukraine had consumed a record 407 million cubic meters of gas in the past day, some 43 percent more than during an average winter day when temperatures hover around 0 C (32 F).
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have persisted over a new gas pricing deal signed by the two sides on January 4 that resulted in the near-doubling of the price Ukraine pays for natural gas.
European countries including Italy, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Romania have recently reported drops in supplies of gas shipped to them by Gazprom.
Bosnia said Monday its supplies had been curtailed by one-fourth for the past five days.
Gazprom's travails were compounded Sunday when explosions on a section of pipeline in southern Russia halted gas supplies to another ex-Soviet republic, Georgia, where President Mikheil Saakashvili accused Moscow of deliberate disruption to his country's energy supply.
The company used an alternative pipeline route through neighboring Azerbaijan to restore some supplies to Georgia on Monday.
Gazprom had previously stated that it was fulfilling all of its basic gas delivery obligations to clients in Europe but was not in a position to meet their demands over and above those obligations, due to severe cold weather gripping Russia and soaring demand at home.
The gas price dispute with Ukraine flared last month when Russia said it would start charging its neighbor 230 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas -- more than quadruple the 50 dollars it had previously charged -- from January 1 to bring Ukraine's rates into line with European market rates.
Ukraine balked at the 230-dollar price -- the average price in Europe is around that level -- only to see its gas supply from Russia briefly turned off on New Year's Day, forcing experts from the two sides to hammer out an emergency compromise.
Under the January 4 deal, Ukraine, which produces and sells some gas on its own, buys all its gas imports through an intermediary that sells a mix of Russian gas and gas from the Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan. It pays 95 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas.
At the same time, Gazprom receives the 230 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters -- the price it had demanded from Ukraine -- from the same intermediary, which sells gas both to Ukraine and other clients in Europe.
KIEV (AFP) - Ukraine has been withholding some Russian natural gas exports meant for customers in Europe, where several countries have reported falls in gas supplies amid a severe cold weather snap, an official with Ukraine's state-owned energy firm told AFP.
"We have in fact allowed the withholding of gas in excess of the contract during the past day," a Naftogaz official said on the condition of anonymity.
The official declined to say how much gas Ukraine -- which transports the vast majority of Russian gas exports to Europe -- was using over and above its agreed contract with Moscow.
"But we are certain that according to monthly totals, Ukraine will withhold exactly the volume agreed with Gazprom," the official said.
Earlier, a spokesman for Ukraine's Prime Minister Yury Yekhanurov denied charges by Russia's state-owned Gazprom giant that Kiev was withholding European supplies.
Although gas consumption in Ukraine has risen to record levels because of a severe cold snap gripping the country, "the increase of gas use in Ukraine has not at all affected the carrying out of our transport obligations," spokesman Valentin Mondrievsky told AFP.
Earlier on Monday, Russia's state-owned Gazprom monopoly admitted for the first time that it was not entirely fulfilling its contractual obligations to clients abroad because Ukraine was retaining some of the exports.
"You can call it withholding or taking, legal or illegal -- call it whatever you like," Gazprom's deputy chief Alexander Medvedev said in an interview with Russian television networks, extracts of which were broadcast Monday evening.
"But what is happening is that gas is remaining in Ukraine at higher volumes than envisioned. This prevents us from fully fulfilling our obligations to our foreign customers," he said.
Around 80 percent of Gazprom's exports to Europe pass through a pipeline network located on Ukrainian territory.
Temperatures in some parts of the country have plunged to lower than minus 30 C (minus 22 F), placing the country's energy systems under enormous strain.
The Ukrainian premier said Ukraine had consumed a record 407 million cubic meters of gas in the past day, some 43 percent more than during an average winter day when temperatures hover around 0 C (32 F).
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have persisted over a new gas pricing deal signed by the two sides on January 4 that resulted in the near-doubling of the price Ukraine pays for natural gas.
European countries including Italy, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, Romania have recently reported drops in supplies of gas shipped to them by Gazprom.
Bosnia said Monday its supplies had been curtailed by one-fourth for the past five days.
Gazprom's travails were compounded Sunday when explosions on a section of pipeline in southern Russia halted gas supplies to another ex-Soviet republic, Georgia, where President Mikheil Saakashvili accused Moscow of deliberate disruption to his country's energy supply.
The company used an alternative pipeline route through neighboring Azerbaijan to restore some supplies to Georgia on Monday.
Gazprom had previously stated that it was fulfilling all of its basic gas delivery obligations to clients in Europe but was not in a position to meet their demands over and above those obligations, due to severe cold weather gripping Russia and soaring demand at home.
The gas price dispute with Ukraine flared last month when Russia said it would start charging its neighbor 230 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas -- more than quadruple the 50 dollars it had previously charged -- from January 1 to bring Ukraine's rates into line with European market rates.
Ukraine balked at the 230-dollar price -- the average price in Europe is around that level -- only to see its gas supply from Russia briefly turned off on New Year's Day, forcing experts from the two sides to hammer out an emergency compromise.
Under the January 4 deal, Ukraine, which produces and sells some gas on its own, buys all its gas imports through an intermediary that sells a mix of Russian gas and gas from the Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan. It pays 95 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters of gas.
At the same time, Gazprom receives the 230 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters -- the price it had demanded from Ukraine -- from the same intermediary, which sells gas both to Ukraine and other clients in Europe.
Peter Walsh: Labor should ditch greenies [January 24, 2006]
SINCE the 1980s, Australian Labor Party policy has been incrementally hijacked by well-heeled, self-indulgent, morally vain and would-be authoritarian activists, whom the media often misdescribes as the intelligentsia. If language had been less debauched, they would have been more accurately described as secular religious fundamentalists, as contemptuous of the values and aspirations of mainstream Australians as Mao Zedong was of Chinese peasants.
The consequences for Labor have been four successive electoral defeats. Short of a self-destructive Coalition implosion, there is little chance of reversing this electoral trend in the near future.
Some smart Labor people have been long aware of the poisoned chalice handed to Labor by green ideologues and their media cheer squad. Opposition resources spokesman Martin Ferguson is one person to have attacked their holy grail: global warming and the Kyoto Protocol. Writing on this page recently, Ferguson drew attention to the mutual exclusivity of green hostility to economic growth, the greens' self-proclaimed commitment to social justice, their Kyoto-inspired eagerness to export technically efficient Australian industry to Third World countries (thereby increasing greenhouse gas emissions), and their secular religious veto of the only economically feasible alternative to fossil fuel for base load power: nuclear energy.
To secular religious fundamentalists - and others who should know better - global warming, induced by burning fossil fuels, is responsible for all disagreeable or dangerous climatic events: extreme high temperatures, extreme low temperatures, drought, floods, dying coral reefs and rising sea levels. Never mind that one of its high priests, Stephen Schneider, was predicting a catastrophic ice age only 35 years ago. The Kyoto hypothesis, so we are told, must be accepted without reservation.
In several important respects empirical evidence does not confirm the climate model or models on which the Kyoto hypothesis is based. For example:
* Satellite temperature sensors - the most reliable source of global temperature data - show little if any increase in the lower tropospheric temperature.
* Precipitation on the Antarctic continent is increasing.
* Evidence, not yet conclusive, does suggest a small rise in surface temperature since 1970, but to fit the Kyoto models this should have happened 50 years ago. It didn't.
* Anyone who knows anything - including the authors associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - concedes their models are imprecise, even if they have not been designed to prop up favoured or predetermined conclusions. But Ian Castles and David Henderson's exposure of the fanciful economic statistics incorporated in IPCC models suggests they have been fiddled. If your case is immaculate, why feed lies into it?
* Authentic history is more reliable than models, doctored or otherwise. The Vikings, who settled Greenland early in the second millennium, grew barley crops for several centuries. To do that, the climate would have to be at least 2C warmer than now, but glaciers did not melt, sea levels did not rise, coral reefs did not disappear and atmospheric carbon dioxide remained stable. How come?
To divert attention from the enormous damage ratification of Kyoto would inflict on the Australian economy, the green cheer squad asserts we are forgoing a golden opportunity to make a fortune from carbon trading. That is another lie. At best, an honest international carbon trading system would reduce, to some extent, the losses of Kyoto compliance.
But who will regulate and audit an international market? Another misbegotten, self serving and corrupt offspring of a corrupt UN? Another IPCC? In the aftermath of the oil-for-food scandal, does anybody really believe the UN would run an honest chook raffle? Asserting that carbon trading will produce windfall gains for all is cargo cultism resurrected: the hoax of the decade, or perhaps century.
Planting forests for carbon sinks has become a fashionable stunt for populist politicians. Western Australia's populist Government announced it will plant enough trees to offset emissions from its proposed desalination plant.
Recent research from Stamford University says that plants, including forests, produce 30per cent of the world's methane emissions. What about that?
Of one thing we can be certain. If rising atmospheric carbon dioxide really is a problem that threatens civilisation, Kyoto is not the answer. Nor is another populist stunt, renewable energy - unless we ignore the social and economic damage inflicted by an enormous increase in energy prices.
Parasitic rent seekers who market windmills and solar panels (and would-be rent-seeking ethanol producers) are beneficiaries of the captive market already delivered to them by mandatory renewable energy targets, so they naturally demand those targets be increased. They may run into a political problem they have not anticipated.
A proposal to establish a wind farm in Denmark, Western Australia, an area much loved and populated by politically correct green nimbies, is being torpedoed by the residents. Consequently, federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has refused to allocate it any money from the federal renewable energy slush fund, because the green nimbies, including the local Green state parliamentarian, don't want it. Be alert for many repeats of this hypocrisy.
The only economically viable answer to the emissions problem, if indeed it is a problem, is nuclear power, as Ferguson points out. In recent years, Labor has stubbornly truckled for Green preferences, which have helped lower the party's primary vote. But if it wants to remain a major party, Labor should pay more attention to Ferguson and distance itself from a movement that alienates a large body of traditional Labor voters.
Peter Walsh was a senator and finance minister in the Hawke Labor government.
SINCE the 1980s, Australian Labor Party policy has been incrementally hijacked by well-heeled, self-indulgent, morally vain and would-be authoritarian activists, whom the media often misdescribes as the intelligentsia. If language had been less debauched, they would have been more accurately described as secular religious fundamentalists, as contemptuous of the values and aspirations of mainstream Australians as Mao Zedong was of Chinese peasants.
The consequences for Labor have been four successive electoral defeats. Short of a self-destructive Coalition implosion, there is little chance of reversing this electoral trend in the near future.
Some smart Labor people have been long aware of the poisoned chalice handed to Labor by green ideologues and their media cheer squad. Opposition resources spokesman Martin Ferguson is one person to have attacked their holy grail: global warming and the Kyoto Protocol. Writing on this page recently, Ferguson drew attention to the mutual exclusivity of green hostility to economic growth, the greens' self-proclaimed commitment to social justice, their Kyoto-inspired eagerness to export technically efficient Australian industry to Third World countries (thereby increasing greenhouse gas emissions), and their secular religious veto of the only economically feasible alternative to fossil fuel for base load power: nuclear energy.
To secular religious fundamentalists - and others who should know better - global warming, induced by burning fossil fuels, is responsible for all disagreeable or dangerous climatic events: extreme high temperatures, extreme low temperatures, drought, floods, dying coral reefs and rising sea levels. Never mind that one of its high priests, Stephen Schneider, was predicting a catastrophic ice age only 35 years ago. The Kyoto hypothesis, so we are told, must be accepted without reservation.
In several important respects empirical evidence does not confirm the climate model or models on which the Kyoto hypothesis is based. For example:
* Satellite temperature sensors - the most reliable source of global temperature data - show little if any increase in the lower tropospheric temperature.
* Precipitation on the Antarctic continent is increasing.
* Evidence, not yet conclusive, does suggest a small rise in surface temperature since 1970, but to fit the Kyoto models this should have happened 50 years ago. It didn't.
* Anyone who knows anything - including the authors associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - concedes their models are imprecise, even if they have not been designed to prop up favoured or predetermined conclusions. But Ian Castles and David Henderson's exposure of the fanciful economic statistics incorporated in IPCC models suggests they have been fiddled. If your case is immaculate, why feed lies into it?
* Authentic history is more reliable than models, doctored or otherwise. The Vikings, who settled Greenland early in the second millennium, grew barley crops for several centuries. To do that, the climate would have to be at least 2C warmer than now, but glaciers did not melt, sea levels did not rise, coral reefs did not disappear and atmospheric carbon dioxide remained stable. How come?
To divert attention from the enormous damage ratification of Kyoto would inflict on the Australian economy, the green cheer squad asserts we are forgoing a golden opportunity to make a fortune from carbon trading. That is another lie. At best, an honest international carbon trading system would reduce, to some extent, the losses of Kyoto compliance.
But who will regulate and audit an international market? Another misbegotten, self serving and corrupt offspring of a corrupt UN? Another IPCC? In the aftermath of the oil-for-food scandal, does anybody really believe the UN would run an honest chook raffle? Asserting that carbon trading will produce windfall gains for all is cargo cultism resurrected: the hoax of the decade, or perhaps century.
Planting forests for carbon sinks has become a fashionable stunt for populist politicians. Western Australia's populist Government announced it will plant enough trees to offset emissions from its proposed desalination plant.
Recent research from Stamford University says that plants, including forests, produce 30per cent of the world's methane emissions. What about that?
Of one thing we can be certain. If rising atmospheric carbon dioxide really is a problem that threatens civilisation, Kyoto is not the answer. Nor is another populist stunt, renewable energy - unless we ignore the social and economic damage inflicted by an enormous increase in energy prices.
Parasitic rent seekers who market windmills and solar panels (and would-be rent-seeking ethanol producers) are beneficiaries of the captive market already delivered to them by mandatory renewable energy targets, so they naturally demand those targets be increased. They may run into a political problem they have not anticipated.
A proposal to establish a wind farm in Denmark, Western Australia, an area much loved and populated by politically correct green nimbies, is being torpedoed by the residents. Consequently, federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has refused to allocate it any money from the federal renewable energy slush fund, because the green nimbies, including the local Green state parliamentarian, don't want it. Be alert for many repeats of this hypocrisy.
The only economically viable answer to the emissions problem, if indeed it is a problem, is nuclear power, as Ferguson points out. In recent years, Labor has stubbornly truckled for Green preferences, which have helped lower the party's primary vote. But if it wants to remain a major party, Labor should pay more attention to Ferguson and distance itself from a movement that alienates a large body of traditional Labor voters.
Peter Walsh was a senator and finance minister in the Hawke Labor government.
Power play looms over bringing in liquefied natural gas - sacbee.com: "By Dan Walters -- Bee Columnist
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, January 23, 2006
Story appeared on Page A3 of The Bee
James Connaughton, President Bush's top environmental adviser, strongly touted shipping liquefied natural gas from Australia to California during a two-nation conference in Sydney this month, saying that the White House wants to overcome political inertia and environmentalist objections.
'We have a dedicated commitment to opening up the opportunity for a lot more LNG to America,' one Australian newspaper quoted Connaughton."
A week after Connaughton spoke, an Australian firm, Woodside Petroleum, announced that it wanted to build an offshore terminal to bring Australian gas to California. Coincidence? Hardly. Woodside is the fifth company - including one other from Australia - to advance plans to meet the state's ever-expanding demand for clean-burning natural gas through LNG with policy support from Washington.
LNG is created when gas is supercooled to 260 degrees below zero, shrinking its volume to one-600th as a liquid and thus making transport by insulated tanker ship feasible. The gas is then warmed and regasified at the receiving terminal. Most of the gas used by petroleum-bereft Asian countries such as Japan is supplied via ship, and LNG terminals have been in operation for years on the Gulf Coast and East Coast of America. But California, with its supersensitivity to any coastal development, has been a tough nut to crack.
Then-Gov. Jerry Brown, responding to warnings that California faced a looming natural gas supply crisis, pushed through legislation authorizing an LNG terminal near Santa Barbara more than a quarter-century ago, sweeping aside complaints about his family's strong business ties to the Indonesian gas supplier, Pertamina. The project collapsed, however, after an earthquake fault was found beneath the site and after the supply squeeze eased with national deregulation of gas prices.
There's no question that a dependable supply of natural gas is vital to California, not only for direct household, commercial and industrial heating, but as raw material for fertilizer and, perhaps most importantly, as a low-polluting fuel for much-needed electric power generation. Nor is there any question that supplies are tight and prices have been rising dramatically. So it's an appropriate moment to introduce LNG into what will be a fierce political debate.
Most of the public attention to LNG so far has been centered on one of the five proposals, that of Mitsubishi-ConocoPhillips for an onshore terminal at Long Beach - mostly because it's the only one that would receive gas on California soil and thus must contend with human neighbors. Woodside's plan and those of Australia's BHP Billiton and Houston-based Crystal Energy would have ships transfer their gas at offshore terminals (Crystal's is an unused oil-drilling platform).
The fifth proposal is an onshore terminal, already under construction near Ensenada in Baja California, to be operated by a subsidiary of California-based Sempra Corp. All of the LNG firms have hired top-drawer Sacramento lobbyists to advance their cases, and the business community is pushing hard for LNG supplies.
California officials - especially Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Public Utilities Commission president, former utility executive Mike Peevey - must decide not only whether the state will embrace LNG as a future fuel supply but also the safety issues of whether the terminal should be onshore or offshore, whether we need more than one terminal and whether a terminal would be used exclusively by one company or through "open access" be available to a multitude of suppliers and overseas sources. And they must also wrest with very complicated contract and pricing issues.
This is heavy political lifting, as veterans of the bitter battle over LNG in the Capitol in the 1970s could attest. At one point, it created a near-rupture between Brown and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature - and that was when the state's politics and its cultural dynamics were much simpler than those of the moment.
The last time the Capitol attempted to make such a momentous energy decision was exactly a decade ago, when the Legislature unanimously passed a misnamed "deregulation" bill for electric power that turned out to be a financial disaster. One hopes today's politicians do a much better job of it.
About the writer:
Reach Dan Walters at (916) 321-1195 or dwalters@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/walters
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, January 23, 2006
Story appeared on Page A3 of The Bee
James Connaughton, President Bush's top environmental adviser, strongly touted shipping liquefied natural gas from Australia to California during a two-nation conference in Sydney this month, saying that the White House wants to overcome political inertia and environmentalist objections.
'We have a dedicated commitment to opening up the opportunity for a lot more LNG to America,' one Australian newspaper quoted Connaughton."
A week after Connaughton spoke, an Australian firm, Woodside Petroleum, announced that it wanted to build an offshore terminal to bring Australian gas to California. Coincidence? Hardly. Woodside is the fifth company - including one other from Australia - to advance plans to meet the state's ever-expanding demand for clean-burning natural gas through LNG with policy support from Washington.
LNG is created when gas is supercooled to 260 degrees below zero, shrinking its volume to one-600th as a liquid and thus making transport by insulated tanker ship feasible. The gas is then warmed and regasified at the receiving terminal. Most of the gas used by petroleum-bereft Asian countries such as Japan is supplied via ship, and LNG terminals have been in operation for years on the Gulf Coast and East Coast of America. But California, with its supersensitivity to any coastal development, has been a tough nut to crack.
Then-Gov. Jerry Brown, responding to warnings that California faced a looming natural gas supply crisis, pushed through legislation authorizing an LNG terminal near Santa Barbara more than a quarter-century ago, sweeping aside complaints about his family's strong business ties to the Indonesian gas supplier, Pertamina. The project collapsed, however, after an earthquake fault was found beneath the site and after the supply squeeze eased with national deregulation of gas prices.
There's no question that a dependable supply of natural gas is vital to California, not only for direct household, commercial and industrial heating, but as raw material for fertilizer and, perhaps most importantly, as a low-polluting fuel for much-needed electric power generation. Nor is there any question that supplies are tight and prices have been rising dramatically. So it's an appropriate moment to introduce LNG into what will be a fierce political debate.
Most of the public attention to LNG so far has been centered on one of the five proposals, that of Mitsubishi-ConocoPhillips for an onshore terminal at Long Beach - mostly because it's the only one that would receive gas on California soil and thus must contend with human neighbors. Woodside's plan and those of Australia's BHP Billiton and Houston-based Crystal Energy would have ships transfer their gas at offshore terminals (Crystal's is an unused oil-drilling platform).
The fifth proposal is an onshore terminal, already under construction near Ensenada in Baja California, to be operated by a subsidiary of California-based Sempra Corp. All of the LNG firms have hired top-drawer Sacramento lobbyists to advance their cases, and the business community is pushing hard for LNG supplies.
California officials - especially Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Public Utilities Commission president, former utility executive Mike Peevey - must decide not only whether the state will embrace LNG as a future fuel supply but also the safety issues of whether the terminal should be onshore or offshore, whether we need more than one terminal and whether a terminal would be used exclusively by one company or through "open access" be available to a multitude of suppliers and overseas sources. And they must also wrest with very complicated contract and pricing issues.
This is heavy political lifting, as veterans of the bitter battle over LNG in the Capitol in the 1970s could attest. At one point, it created a near-rupture between Brown and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature - and that was when the state's politics and its cultural dynamics were much simpler than those of the moment.
The last time the Capitol attempted to make such a momentous energy decision was exactly a decade ago, when the Legislature unanimously passed a misnamed "deregulation" bill for electric power that turned out to be a financial disaster. One hopes today's politicians do a much better job of it.
About the writer:
Reach Dan Walters at (916) 321-1195 or dwalters@sacbee.com. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/walters
Desperate Georgia gets some gas
Russian gas has started flowing to Georgia from neighbouring Azerbaijan as Georgia's main supplies remain disrupted after pipeline explosions.
Georgia accused Russia of sabotage at the weekend and the Russian government said Georgia's reaction was hysterical.
Part of the freezing Georgian capital, Tbilisi, is now receiving gas again, but many of the city's residents still lack gas, Georgian officials say.
Georgia's energy woes were compounded by the destruction of a power line.
Armenia was also hit by the blasts on Russian gas pipelines in the North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told the BBC the near simultaneous attacks close to Georgia's border were pre-planned actions orchestrated by Russia.
Principal oil and gas pipelines in the Caucasus.
Enlarge Map
Russia's foreign ministry dismissed Mr Saakashvili's remarks as "hysteria".
Russian officials earlier described the attacks as deliberate acts by pro-Chechen criminals and said an investigation was under way.
The electricity transmission line in Russia's southern region of Karachayevo-Cherkessiya - also near the Georgian border - was brought down by an explosion just hours later.
Saakashvili blames Russia
Relations between Georgia and Russia have been tense since Mr Saakashvili was swept to power by the so-called "Rose Revolution" in 2003, pledging to lead his nation on a pro-Western course.
Two explosions occurred on the main branch and a reserve branch of the Mozdok-Tbilisi gas pipeline in North Ossetia at about 0300 local time (2400 GMT) on Sunday.
Georgians queue to fill up gas canisters in Ponichala outside Tbilisi
Georgia is suffering from chronic shortages of gas
President Saakashvili's chief of staff, Georgi Arveladze, said it would take several days to resume gas supplies nationwide.
Mr Saakashvili said the blasts "happened at the same time, and basically they didn't affect supplies to Russia proper, so we can conclude that it was a very well-organised and very well co-ordinated act".
"We've received numerous threats by Russian politicians and officials at different levels to punish us for basically for not giving them pipelines."
He likened the crisis to Russia's recent gas showdown with Ukraine - another western-leaning former Soviet republic.
Extra gas
A senior executive at Russian gas giant Gazprom, Sergei Kupriyanov, told the BBC that an extra three million cubic metres of gas had been sent to Georgia via Azerbaijan.
He said repairs to the pipelines were being hampered by the fact that they were located in a remote mountainous area.
Georgia is holding emergency talks on energy supplies with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Mr Saakashvili said Georgia must continue working to reduce its reliance on energy supplies from Russia.
The gas shortage led to long queues for gas canisters in Tbilisi and the temporary closure of schools.
Some Georgians have been turning to alternative heating, such as kerosene and wood-burning stoves, as they struggle to cope with one of their coldest winters for years.
Tbilisi's relations with Moscow have been soured by a continuing pro-Russian rebellion in Georgia's South Ossetia region, the closure of Russian bases in Georgia and the development of close Georgian-US military ties.
Russian gas has started flowing to Georgia from neighbouring Azerbaijan as Georgia's main supplies remain disrupted after pipeline explosions.
Georgia accused Russia of sabotage at the weekend and the Russian government said Georgia's reaction was hysterical.
Part of the freezing Georgian capital, Tbilisi, is now receiving gas again, but many of the city's residents still lack gas, Georgian officials say.
Georgia's energy woes were compounded by the destruction of a power line.
Armenia was also hit by the blasts on Russian gas pipelines in the North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told the BBC the near simultaneous attacks close to Georgia's border were pre-planned actions orchestrated by Russia.
Principal oil and gas pipelines in the Caucasus.
Enlarge Map
Russia's foreign ministry dismissed Mr Saakashvili's remarks as "hysteria".
Russian officials earlier described the attacks as deliberate acts by pro-Chechen criminals and said an investigation was under way.
The electricity transmission line in Russia's southern region of Karachayevo-Cherkessiya - also near the Georgian border - was brought down by an explosion just hours later.
Saakashvili blames Russia
Relations between Georgia and Russia have been tense since Mr Saakashvili was swept to power by the so-called "Rose Revolution" in 2003, pledging to lead his nation on a pro-Western course.
Two explosions occurred on the main branch and a reserve branch of the Mozdok-Tbilisi gas pipeline in North Ossetia at about 0300 local time (2400 GMT) on Sunday.
Georgians queue to fill up gas canisters in Ponichala outside Tbilisi
Georgia is suffering from chronic shortages of gas
President Saakashvili's chief of staff, Georgi Arveladze, said it would take several days to resume gas supplies nationwide.
Mr Saakashvili said the blasts "happened at the same time, and basically they didn't affect supplies to Russia proper, so we can conclude that it was a very well-organised and very well co-ordinated act".
"We've received numerous threats by Russian politicians and officials at different levels to punish us for basically for not giving them pipelines."
He likened the crisis to Russia's recent gas showdown with Ukraine - another western-leaning former Soviet republic.
Extra gas
A senior executive at Russian gas giant Gazprom, Sergei Kupriyanov, told the BBC that an extra three million cubic metres of gas had been sent to Georgia via Azerbaijan.
He said repairs to the pipelines were being hampered by the fact that they were located in a remote mountainous area.
Georgia is holding emergency talks on energy supplies with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Mr Saakashvili said Georgia must continue working to reduce its reliance on energy supplies from Russia.
The gas shortage led to long queues for gas canisters in Tbilisi and the temporary closure of schools.
Some Georgians have been turning to alternative heating, such as kerosene and wood-burning stoves, as they struggle to cope with one of their coldest winters for years.
Tbilisi's relations with Moscow have been soured by a continuing pro-Russian rebellion in Georgia's South Ossetia region, the closure of Russian bases in Georgia and the development of close Georgian-US military ties.
Monday, January 23, 2006
all revved up over Natural Gas
Call for the Council to Go Natural! - Doug Parkinson, MLC - Tasmanian Government Media Releases
Member for Wellington Doug Parkinson is all revved up over Natural Gas and he wants the Hobart City Council to follow suit.
“While the Hobart City Council is looking at alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles, it would do well to look at the possibility of running its fleet on natural gas.
“The Council should read the Parliamentary Committee Report on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a vehicle fuel.
“I’d like the council to look at the possibility of a Partnership with the Government in a refueling facility.
“The facility could be used for all types of vehicles - fleet, taxis and any member of the public who decided to convert to CNG could use it.
“CNG is produced by compressing natural gas, it is mostly methane which is the cleanest known alternative fuel.
“The only thing that burns cleaner than CNG (or LNG, the liquefied form) is hydrogen which is still in the experimental stage.
“As boot space in most Council vehicles is not a priority, the CNG tank in the boot would not be a problem and with most vehicles used within city limits, a single refueling station would be sufficient.
“As a Fuel, Natural gas would cost around 60c a litre (equivalent) and that means saving money at the bowser for ratepayers.
“Even the Lord Mayor’s “limo” could be converted.”
Further informatio
posted by zygomaturus @ 11:04 PM
Call for the Council to Go Natural! - Doug Parkinson, MLC - Tasmanian Government Media Releases
Member for Wellington Doug Parkinson is all revved up over Natural Gas and he wants the Hobart City Council to follow suit.
“While the Hobart City Council is looking at alternative fuels and hybrid vehicles, it would do well to look at the possibility of running its fleet on natural gas.
“The Council should read the Parliamentary Committee Report on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a vehicle fuel.
“I’d like the council to look at the possibility of a Partnership with the Government in a refueling facility.
“The facility could be used for all types of vehicles - fleet, taxis and any member of the public who decided to convert to CNG could use it.
“CNG is produced by compressing natural gas, it is mostly methane which is the cleanest known alternative fuel.
“The only thing that burns cleaner than CNG (or LNG, the liquefied form) is hydrogen which is still in the experimental stage.
“As boot space in most Council vehicles is not a priority, the CNG tank in the boot would not be a problem and with most vehicles used within city limits, a single refueling station would be sufficient.
“As a Fuel, Natural gas would cost around 60c a litre (equivalent) and that means saving money at the bowser for ratepayers.
“Even the Lord Mayor’s “limo” could be converted.”
Further informatio
posted by zygomaturus @ 11:04 PM
Nuclear reactors under spotlight
he government has ordered the Health and Safety Executive to assess all UK nuclear reactors, the BBC has learnt.
Experts will analyse the cost and suitability of the existing network, as well as how safe it is.
Industry leaders want to know whether more nuclear stations will be built amid fears of future energy shortages.
Environmental campaigners say the HSE study shows ministers, who launch an energy review on Monday, have already decided to create new reactors.
There is concern over the reliability of Britain's energy sources, especially after recent gas price rises.
The government is likely to say that this is not the pre-licensing of reactors that the nuclear industry has been pressing for.
Pallab Ghosh
BBC science correspondent
It is thought the HSE review - set to take 18 months - has been requested to save time if the government does give the go-ahead for new power stations.
It would enable the nuclear industry to begin work more quickly.
BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh said: "The government is likely to say that this is not the pre-licensing of reactors that the nuclear industry has been pressing for.
"Green groups, though, who believe that the government has already made its mind up on the issue, say that at the very least this is a major step toward pre-licensing.
"It's a process they see as paving the way for new power stations rather than one that makes sensible preparations."
As well assessing the nuclear set-up, the HSE has also been asked to analyse other technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, gas transport and storage and wind turbines.
Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson is launching a three-month public consultation on Monday, seeking opinions from industry, environmentalists and the public.
UK energy policy is at a crossroads
Friends of the Earth
Business officials say British firms will be less competitive if energy becomes more expensive or unreliable.
But environmental campaigners have said there is no need to build new atomic power stations when there are greener alternatives.
Tony Juniper, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said: "UK energy policy is at a crossroads. We can tackle climate change and meet our energy needs by cutting waste, harnessing the power of renewables and using fossil fuels more efficiently."
But the Engineering Employers Federation, which represents thousands of companies, said the government had to quickly decide on a coherent energy plan and had to consider all options, including nuclear power.
Director general Martin Temple said: "Energy is now right at the top of the agenda and there is no time to lose in putting in place a long-term strategy that will provide a competitive, reliable and secure supply and generate significant reduction in emissions."
The Energy Saving Trust said there was a pressing need to solve "escalating demand for energy" while still keeping the UK's carbon-emission quotas to Kyoto Protocol targets.
E-mail this to a frien
he government has ordered the Health and Safety Executive to assess all UK nuclear reactors, the BBC has learnt.
Experts will analyse the cost and suitability of the existing network, as well as how safe it is.
Industry leaders want to know whether more nuclear stations will be built amid fears of future energy shortages.
Environmental campaigners say the HSE study shows ministers, who launch an energy review on Monday, have already decided to create new reactors.
There is concern over the reliability of Britain's energy sources, especially after recent gas price rises.
The government is likely to say that this is not the pre-licensing of reactors that the nuclear industry has been pressing for.
Pallab Ghosh
BBC science correspondent
It is thought the HSE review - set to take 18 months - has been requested to save time if the government does give the go-ahead for new power stations.
It would enable the nuclear industry to begin work more quickly.
BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh said: "The government is likely to say that this is not the pre-licensing of reactors that the nuclear industry has been pressing for.
"Green groups, though, who believe that the government has already made its mind up on the issue, say that at the very least this is a major step toward pre-licensing.
"It's a process they see as paving the way for new power stations rather than one that makes sensible preparations."
As well assessing the nuclear set-up, the HSE has also been asked to analyse other technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, gas transport and storage and wind turbines.
Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson is launching a three-month public consultation on Monday, seeking opinions from industry, environmentalists and the public.
UK energy policy is at a crossroads
Friends of the Earth
Business officials say British firms will be less competitive if energy becomes more expensive or unreliable.
But environmental campaigners have said there is no need to build new atomic power stations when there are greener alternatives.
Tony Juniper, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said: "UK energy policy is at a crossroads. We can tackle climate change and meet our energy needs by cutting waste, harnessing the power of renewables and using fossil fuels more efficiently."
But the Engineering Employers Federation, which represents thousands of companies, said the government had to quickly decide on a coherent energy plan and had to consider all options, including nuclear power.
Director general Martin Temple said: "Energy is now right at the top of the agenda and there is no time to lose in putting in place a long-term strategy that will provide a competitive, reliable and secure supply and generate significant reduction in emissions."
The Energy Saving Trust said there was a pressing need to solve "escalating demand for energy" while still keeping the UK's carbon-emission quotas to Kyoto Protocol targets.
E-mail this to a frien
NYMEX oil tops $69 on Iran, Nigeria concerns - Yahoo! News
TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures surged above $69 on Monday to their highest since September, when hurricanes hit U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil facilities, pushed up by tension over
Iran' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Iran's nuclear research program and unrest in Nigeria.
New prompt contract NYMEX March crude briefly touched $69.20 a barrel, the highest since September 2. It was trading at $69.01 in ACCESS electronic trading by 0157 GMT, with 3,906 contracts changing hands.
NYMEX February crude settled up 1.52 at $68.35 at its expiry on Friday. It briefly touched $68.80, the highest price since September 2.
"Most likely the market will test $70 again because we have not seen improvements in Iran and Nigeria," said Naohiro Niimura, vice president of the derivatives business at Mizuho Corporate Bank in Tokyo.
Adding to concerns, the main pipeline to supply natural gas from Russia to Georgia and Armenia was knocked out by two explosions on Sunday. Officials said it would be at least two days before gas started flowing again.
NYMEX crude struck a record high at $70.85 in late August 2005 as hurricane Katrina crippled oil output from the Gulf of Mexico, the center of the oil industry of the United States.
It has surged more than $8, or 13 percent, from the beginning of this year.
In London on Friday, March Brent crude settled at $66.43 a barrel, gaining $1.20, or 1.8 percent.
IRAN STANDOFF
Iran, the world's fourth-biggest oil exporter, said on Friday it was moving its foreign assets to shield them from possible UN sanctions in its nuclear standoff with the West and it said
OPEC' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> OPEC should cut output.
The Financial Times carried an interview with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Monday, who said the country would resume industrial-scale uranium enrichment if it was referred to the UN Security Council over its nuclear standoff with the West.
The United States and the
European Union' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> European Union want the
International Atomic Energy Agency' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran to the UN Security Council at an emergency meeting on February 2.
The council has the power to impose trade or diplomatic sanctions, though no swift action to punish Iran was deemed likely.
Iran also said Friday it sought an OPEC output cut of 1 million barrels per day effective from April, arguing that markets were oversupplied by 2 million bpd.
In Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest oil exporter, more than 220,000 bpd of crude production had been shut by Friday because of repeated militant attacks on oil producers in the country.
The disruption in Russia followed the country's spat with Ukraine over natural gas supplies earlier in this month, triggering rises in international oil prices.
Russia briefly cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in the contract dispute. Ukraine has said Moscow was using its huge energy resources as a political weapon.
NYMEX February heating oil stood 0.18 cent up at $1.8690 a gallon. On Friday, it settled up 7.03 cents, or 3.9 percent, at $1.8672 because of speculation that cold snap in Europe and Asia could limit import availabilities.
NYMEX February gasoline stood 0.75 cent up at $1.8245 a gallon. On Friday, it settled 4.10 cents higher, or 2.3 percent, at $1.8170
TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures surged above $69 on Monday to their highest since September, when hurricanes hit U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil facilities, pushed up by tension over
Iran' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Iran's nuclear research program and unrest in Nigeria.
New prompt contract NYMEX March crude briefly touched $69.20 a barrel, the highest since September 2. It was trading at $69.01 in ACCESS electronic trading by 0157 GMT, with 3,906 contracts changing hands.
NYMEX February crude settled up 1.52 at $68.35 at its expiry on Friday. It briefly touched $68.80, the highest price since September 2.
"Most likely the market will test $70 again because we have not seen improvements in Iran and Nigeria," said Naohiro Niimura, vice president of the derivatives business at Mizuho Corporate Bank in Tokyo.
Adding to concerns, the main pipeline to supply natural gas from Russia to Georgia and Armenia was knocked out by two explosions on Sunday. Officials said it would be at least two days before gas started flowing again.
NYMEX crude struck a record high at $70.85 in late August 2005 as hurricane Katrina crippled oil output from the Gulf of Mexico, the center of the oil industry of the United States.
It has surged more than $8, or 13 percent, from the beginning of this year.
In London on Friday, March Brent crude settled at $66.43 a barrel, gaining $1.20, or 1.8 percent.
IRAN STANDOFF
Iran, the world's fourth-biggest oil exporter, said on Friday it was moving its foreign assets to shield them from possible UN sanctions in its nuclear standoff with the West and it said
OPEC' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> OPEC should cut output.
The Financial Times carried an interview with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Monday, who said the country would resume industrial-scale uranium enrichment if it was referred to the UN Security Council over its nuclear standoff with the West.
The United States and the
European Union' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> European Union want the
International Atomic Energy Agency' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran to the UN Security Council at an emergency meeting on February 2.
The council has the power to impose trade or diplomatic sanctions, though no swift action to punish Iran was deemed likely.
Iran also said Friday it sought an OPEC output cut of 1 million barrels per day effective from April, arguing that markets were oversupplied by 2 million bpd.
In Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest oil exporter, more than 220,000 bpd of crude production had been shut by Friday because of repeated militant attacks on oil producers in the country.
The disruption in Russia followed the country's spat with Ukraine over natural gas supplies earlier in this month, triggering rises in international oil prices.
Russia briefly cut off gas supplies to Ukraine in the contract dispute. Ukraine has said Moscow was using its huge energy resources as a political weapon.
NYMEX February heating oil stood 0.18 cent up at $1.8690 a gallon. On Friday, it settled up 7.03 cents, or 3.9 percent, at $1.8672 because of speculation that cold snap in Europe and Asia could limit import availabilities.
NYMEX February gasoline stood 0.75 cent up at $1.8245 a gallon. On Friday, it settled 4.10 cents higher, or 2.3 percent, at $1.8170
No obstacles to atomic option, says 'nuclear neutral' energy minister
Wicks: 'National security' may justify new reactors
· Waste disposal a 'disgrace' - firms must share cost
Terry Macalister and Patrick Wintour
Monday January 23, 2006
The Guardian
The energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, believes there are virtually no practical obstacles to a new generation of nuclear power stations being built - although he is adamant no decision has yet been made on whether to give them the go-ahead.
In an interview with the Guardian before today's launch of a consultation period on the government's energy review, he brushed aside potential hindrances and emphasised atomic power's role in tackling greenhouse gas emissions. He said:
No obstacles to atomic option, says 'nuclear neutral' energy minister
· Wicks: 'National security' may justify new reactors
· Waste disposal a 'disgrace' - firms must share cost
Terry Macalister and Patrick Wintour
Monday January 23, 2006
The Guardian
The energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, believes there are virtually no practical obstacles to a new generation of nuclear power stations being built - although he is adamant no decision has yet been made on whether to give them the go-ahead.
In an interview with the Guardian before today's launch of a consultation period on the government's energy review, he brushed aside potential hindrances and emphasised atomic power's role in tackling greenhouse gas emissions. He said:
Article continues
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
· It was "dead wrong" to think that a financial framework could not be found to encourage private-sector participation,
· A lot of "major companies" were willing to invest in atomic power,
· Pre-licensing of power station designs could speed up planning inquiries,
· Ways to dispose of nuclear waste were available, and the government and private sector could "share" the cost.
The minister insisted he remained "nuclear neutral" and prefaced many statements with the phrase "if we go down the nuclear route", but the broad thrust of his comments will greatly encourage the atomic industry and frustrate critics.
The government deferred a decision in the 2003 energy white paper about nuclear power but must decide this year whether to build new reactors to fill a supply gap and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Ten atomic stations, supplying about 18% of Britain's electricity, are due to close by 2020, with the country due to rely on renewable sources but mainly gas imports unless more nuclear plants are built.
Meeting the Energy Challenge, a consultation document published today, sets out five key questions that the energy review he chairs will consider. One of the top ones is to acknowledge that the global energy scene is changing dramatically at a time of declining North Sea oil and gas. Britain needs imports at a time when China and India are also competing for similar supplies, Mr Wicks pointed out.
Gazprom of Russia says it wants to provide 20% of Britain's gas imports by 2015 and Mr Wicks said he was relatively relaxed about that but not about wider dependence on imports.
"What happened in January - first when Russia threatened to cut supplies to the Ukraine - has just made me think even more: this is a very important question for the UK. Do we address this by saying that so long as we have different sources of supply ... then we could work our foreign policy around that. Or could you say would it not be sensible to home-grow more of our own energy? It's not just a question of keeping the lights on but national security."
He said there would not be major public spending on a costly atomic programme. Britain would stick to its liberalised and privatised market but that should be no block to nuclear power, he argued. "Some people suggest it's all so complicated economically; it will cost so much; there are all sorts of difficulties about waste; that markets will not go anywhere near this. My judgment is they are dead wrong. A lot of major companies are very interested in investing in nuclear."
Mr Wicks said a financial framework similar to the carbon trading scheme could be the way forward. "I don't think it is intellectually impossible to find mechanisms that incentivise green clean technology ... It could be a version of the renewables obligation. Have I got a scheme in my back pocket, the answer is 'no'".
He said the challenge was so urgent that the planning process needed to be faster. "I want as many people as possible to realise it ain't going to be easy to meet our climate change targets. We need a huge step-change to save the planet, so there has to be some urgent decisions. I don't think people will be very tolerant if ... the whole thing gets held up for 20 years through planning. If we can streamline on this, we should. We should also look at pre-licensing nuclear reactors."
He cannot understand the idea that investment in nuclear would negate the commitment to renewables. "The environmental lobby should at least consider the possibility that the most effective way for energy supply to help us through climate change is nuclear, rather than somehow thinking being green is anti-nuclear."
Mr Wicks is also angry at how UK governments ignored waste. "Our failure as a society to deal with the legacy of nuclear waste has been a disgrace, so one of my ambitions is that we clear up the waste."
He is waiting for the experts to report on waste but he envisages sharing costs. "When you look at ... how long some of this stuff is going to be radioactive, you do have to think in terms of a special relationship between state and market."
The big debate
· Today's consultation document kickstarts a debate on the future of Britain's power supplies. National security is one key consideration, the other is how to cut our greenhouse gas emissions.
· The backdrop is declining North Sea oil and gas reserves, and a growing reliance on foreign imports from potentially volatile countries. By 2020 we could be importing 80% of our gas from places such as Russia.
· Renewable sources such as wind are gradually coming on stream, but the real debate is around nuclear.
· 10 atomic plants currently supplying 18% of our electricity are due to close by 2020. Do we build a new generation when there are still major questions around cost, terrorism and waste disposal?
Special report
The nuclear industry
Useful links
British Energy
Department of Trade and Industry
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Greenpeace
HSE nuclear glossary
Come Clean WMD awareness programme
UK atomic energy authority
National Radiological Protection Board
Friends of the Earth
World Nuclear Association
World Nuclear Transport Institute
Wicks: 'National security' may justify new reactors
· Waste disposal a 'disgrace' - firms must share cost
Terry Macalister and Patrick Wintour
Monday January 23, 2006
The Guardian
The energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, believes there are virtually no practical obstacles to a new generation of nuclear power stations being built - although he is adamant no decision has yet been made on whether to give them the go-ahead.
In an interview with the Guardian before today's launch of a consultation period on the government's energy review, he brushed aside potential hindrances and emphasised atomic power's role in tackling greenhouse gas emissions. He said:
No obstacles to atomic option, says 'nuclear neutral' energy minister
· Wicks: 'National security' may justify new reactors
· Waste disposal a 'disgrace' - firms must share cost
Terry Macalister and Patrick Wintour
Monday January 23, 2006
The Guardian
The energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, believes there are virtually no practical obstacles to a new generation of nuclear power stations being built - although he is adamant no decision has yet been made on whether to give them the go-ahead.
In an interview with the Guardian before today's launch of a consultation period on the government's energy review, he brushed aside potential hindrances and emphasised atomic power's role in tackling greenhouse gas emissions. He said:
Article continues
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
· It was "dead wrong" to think that a financial framework could not be found to encourage private-sector participation,
· A lot of "major companies" were willing to invest in atomic power,
· Pre-licensing of power station designs could speed up planning inquiries,
· Ways to dispose of nuclear waste were available, and the government and private sector could "share" the cost.
The minister insisted he remained "nuclear neutral" and prefaced many statements with the phrase "if we go down the nuclear route", but the broad thrust of his comments will greatly encourage the atomic industry and frustrate critics.
The government deferred a decision in the 2003 energy white paper about nuclear power but must decide this year whether to build new reactors to fill a supply gap and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Ten atomic stations, supplying about 18% of Britain's electricity, are due to close by 2020, with the country due to rely on renewable sources but mainly gas imports unless more nuclear plants are built.
Meeting the Energy Challenge, a consultation document published today, sets out five key questions that the energy review he chairs will consider. One of the top ones is to acknowledge that the global energy scene is changing dramatically at a time of declining North Sea oil and gas. Britain needs imports at a time when China and India are also competing for similar supplies, Mr Wicks pointed out.
Gazprom of Russia says it wants to provide 20% of Britain's gas imports by 2015 and Mr Wicks said he was relatively relaxed about that but not about wider dependence on imports.
"What happened in January - first when Russia threatened to cut supplies to the Ukraine - has just made me think even more: this is a very important question for the UK. Do we address this by saying that so long as we have different sources of supply ... then we could work our foreign policy around that. Or could you say would it not be sensible to home-grow more of our own energy? It's not just a question of keeping the lights on but national security."
He said there would not be major public spending on a costly atomic programme. Britain would stick to its liberalised and privatised market but that should be no block to nuclear power, he argued. "Some people suggest it's all so complicated economically; it will cost so much; there are all sorts of difficulties about waste; that markets will not go anywhere near this. My judgment is they are dead wrong. A lot of major companies are very interested in investing in nuclear."
Mr Wicks said a financial framework similar to the carbon trading scheme could be the way forward. "I don't think it is intellectually impossible to find mechanisms that incentivise green clean technology ... It could be a version of the renewables obligation. Have I got a scheme in my back pocket, the answer is 'no'".
He said the challenge was so urgent that the planning process needed to be faster. "I want as many people as possible to realise it ain't going to be easy to meet our climate change targets. We need a huge step-change to save the planet, so there has to be some urgent decisions. I don't think people will be very tolerant if ... the whole thing gets held up for 20 years through planning. If we can streamline on this, we should. We should also look at pre-licensing nuclear reactors."
He cannot understand the idea that investment in nuclear would negate the commitment to renewables. "The environmental lobby should at least consider the possibility that the most effective way for energy supply to help us through climate change is nuclear, rather than somehow thinking being green is anti-nuclear."
Mr Wicks is also angry at how UK governments ignored waste. "Our failure as a society to deal with the legacy of nuclear waste has been a disgrace, so one of my ambitions is that we clear up the waste."
He is waiting for the experts to report on waste but he envisages sharing costs. "When you look at ... how long some of this stuff is going to be radioactive, you do have to think in terms of a special relationship between state and market."
The big debate
· Today's consultation document kickstarts a debate on the future of Britain's power supplies. National security is one key consideration, the other is how to cut our greenhouse gas emissions.
· The backdrop is declining North Sea oil and gas reserves, and a growing reliance on foreign imports from potentially volatile countries. By 2020 we could be importing 80% of our gas from places such as Russia.
· Renewable sources such as wind are gradually coming on stream, but the real debate is around nuclear.
· 10 atomic plants currently supplying 18% of our electricity are due to close by 2020. Do we build a new generation when there are still major questions around cost, terrorism and waste disposal?
Special report
The nuclear industry
Useful links
British Energy
Department of Trade and Industry
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Greenpeace
HSE nuclear glossary
Come Clean WMD awareness programme
UK atomic energy authority
National Radiological Protection Board
Friends of the Earth
World Nuclear Association
World Nuclear Transport Institute
Russia re-routes gas to Georgia after pipeline blasts - Yahoo! News
hour, 30 minutes ago
TBILISI (AFP) - Russia is using Azerbaijan's pipelines to supply gas to Georgia until its main natural gas conduit there can be repaired after being devastated by several blasts, Georgian officials said.
Following a decision by Russia's gas giant Gazprom, "the first gas from Azerbaijan reached us at 9:00 pm (1800 GMT)," First Deputy Energy Minister Aleko Khetagurov said in comments broadcast by local television.
Local pipelines would get Russian gas by 5:00 am local time (0200 GMT), Khetagurov added.
Gazprom would transmit an additional three million cubic meters daily to Azerbaijan to keep Georgia supplied, the Interfax news agency reported, quoting Gazprom sources.
The two blasts, which ripped through the Mozdok-Tbilisi gas pipeline in the Russian Caucasus republic of North Ossetia early on Sunday, halted supplies amid freezing temperatures and sparked a war of words between Moscow and Tbilisi.
A third blast in the nearby province of Karachaevo-Cherkessia cut supplies along one of the main electricity cables supplying power from Russia to Georgia, the emergency situations ministry said.
Investigators are treating the gas pipeline blasts as sabotage but not terrorism, after finding fragments of improvised explosive devices at the site, said Sergei Prokopov, a spokesman for Russia's deputy prosecutor general.
Other officials said it could take up to four days to prepare the damage to the gas pipeline and at least a week to fix the power cable.
The explosions unleashed intense recriminations between Georgia and Russia, which have long been at odds over Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia, a territory just south of the site of Sunday's explosions.
Relations between the two countries have been especially fraught since President Mikhail Saakashvili swept to power after Georgia's 2003 "rose revolution" declaring a new pro-Western course, including plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (
NATO' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> NATO).
Russia on January 1 imposed a near doubling of the prices it charges Georgia for gas, part of its restructuring of gas prices for several ex-Soviet republics.
Saakashvili on Sunday accused Russia of being behind the blasts, which Georgian officials said could leave households without gas as soon as Sunday evening and also disrupt power supplies.
"The explanation we have received from the Russian side is absolutely inadequate and contradictory.... Georgia has been subjected to serious sabotage from the side of the Russian Federation," Saakashvili said.
"We have long heard threats from Russian politicians that we could be left without light and gas... and now this has happened, when Georgia is experiencing its coldest winter," he added.
The Russian foreign ministry hit back, calling Tbilisi's reaction "hysterical and bacchanalian" in a written statement that insisted Moscow was doing all it could to minimize disruption to Georgian consumers.
Extra electricity would be sought from Turkey, Khetagurov said earlier, supplementing power from another Russian power line as well as supplies generated in Georgia and supplies from Armenia.
Both Georgia and Armenia are experiencing cold winters, with temperatures in Georgia expected to fall as low as minus four degrees Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days.
In Armenia officials from the gas distribution utility Armrosgazprom said that stored gas reserves were available, but that supplies to non-essential consumers would be cut.
"Armrosgazprom calls on the population to use gas economically and if necessary to use alternative sources of heat," the company's spokeswoman, Shushan Sardaryan, told AFP.
While Moscow formally recognizes Georgia's border province of South Ossetia as Georgian territory, observers say Moscow has given de facto support to a breakaway government in South Ossetia, which has close ties to North Ossetia.
Meanwhile Armenian President Robert Kocharian arrived in Moscow late Sunday for an Armenian-Russian cultural event and to meet President
Vladimir Putin' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Vladimir Putin.
hour, 30 minutes ago
TBILISI (AFP) - Russia is using Azerbaijan's pipelines to supply gas to Georgia until its main natural gas conduit there can be repaired after being devastated by several blasts, Georgian officials said.
Following a decision by Russia's gas giant Gazprom, "the first gas from Azerbaijan reached us at 9:00 pm (1800 GMT)," First Deputy Energy Minister Aleko Khetagurov said in comments broadcast by local television.
Local pipelines would get Russian gas by 5:00 am local time (0200 GMT), Khetagurov added.
Gazprom would transmit an additional three million cubic meters daily to Azerbaijan to keep Georgia supplied, the Interfax news agency reported, quoting Gazprom sources.
The two blasts, which ripped through the Mozdok-Tbilisi gas pipeline in the Russian Caucasus republic of North Ossetia early on Sunday, halted supplies amid freezing temperatures and sparked a war of words between Moscow and Tbilisi.
A third blast in the nearby province of Karachaevo-Cherkessia cut supplies along one of the main electricity cables supplying power from Russia to Georgia, the emergency situations ministry said.
Investigators are treating the gas pipeline blasts as sabotage but not terrorism, after finding fragments of improvised explosive devices at the site, said Sergei Prokopov, a spokesman for Russia's deputy prosecutor general.
Other officials said it could take up to four days to prepare the damage to the gas pipeline and at least a week to fix the power cable.
The explosions unleashed intense recriminations between Georgia and Russia, which have long been at odds over Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia, a territory just south of the site of Sunday's explosions.
Relations between the two countries have been especially fraught since President Mikhail Saakashvili swept to power after Georgia's 2003 "rose revolution" declaring a new pro-Western course, including plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (
NATO' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> NATO).
Russia on January 1 imposed a near doubling of the prices it charges Georgia for gas, part of its restructuring of gas prices for several ex-Soviet republics.
Saakashvili on Sunday accused Russia of being behind the blasts, which Georgian officials said could leave households without gas as soon as Sunday evening and also disrupt power supplies.
"The explanation we have received from the Russian side is absolutely inadequate and contradictory.... Georgia has been subjected to serious sabotage from the side of the Russian Federation," Saakashvili said.
"We have long heard threats from Russian politicians that we could be left without light and gas... and now this has happened, when Georgia is experiencing its coldest winter," he added.
The Russian foreign ministry hit back, calling Tbilisi's reaction "hysterical and bacchanalian" in a written statement that insisted Moscow was doing all it could to minimize disruption to Georgian consumers.
Extra electricity would be sought from Turkey, Khetagurov said earlier, supplementing power from another Russian power line as well as supplies generated in Georgia and supplies from Armenia.
Both Georgia and Armenia are experiencing cold winters, with temperatures in Georgia expected to fall as low as minus four degrees Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days.
In Armenia officials from the gas distribution utility Armrosgazprom said that stored gas reserves were available, but that supplies to non-essential consumers would be cut.
"Armrosgazprom calls on the population to use gas economically and if necessary to use alternative sources of heat," the company's spokeswoman, Shushan Sardaryan, told AFP.
While Moscow formally recognizes Georgia's border province of South Ossetia as Georgian territory, observers say Moscow has given de facto support to a breakaway government in South Ossetia, which has close ties to North Ossetia.
Meanwhile Armenian President Robert Kocharian arrived in Moscow late Sunday for an Armenian-Russian cultural event and to meet President
Vladimir Putin' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Vladimir Putin.
LNG the easy way
Australian company's plan could finesse the fight over Long Beach site
LNG the easy way
Australian company's plan could finesse the fight over Long Beach site.
Australia's biggest oil company has a simple answer to Long Beach's anguish over the merits of a controversial proposal to build a terminal to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG). Unload it offshore.
No, don't put the terminal offshore, which would be almost as controversial as putting it in a populated area. Just unload the LNG offshore.
The company, Woodside Energy Ltd., says it wants to join the competition to help satisfy California's huge and growing appetite for natural gas, but it has a different approach. Instead of unloading the cargo in its superchilled liquid form, it would use specially equipped tankers to convert it to natural gas 15 miles offshore and deliver it to shore in a partially submerged pipeline.
Where would the offloading happen? The company isn't saying yet. Jane Cutler, president of its U.S. subsidiary, Woodside Natural Gas, said there will be an announcement in February. She also said Woodside could provide 10 percent to 15 percent of the state's needs for natural gas.
That puts Woodside up against several other company's projects, including one planned by Sound Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp. and ConocoPhillips, at Pier T in the Port of Long Beach. Most local politicians are stepping lightly around this issue, because opponents, worried about safety issues, are highly energized whereas proponents, concerned about shortages and high prices, are far less vocal.
In its liquid form, LNG, at 260 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, is safe to the point of being hard to ignite. But in gaseous form it is explosive. A draft
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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version of an environmental impact report recently made little of the hazards, to the outrage of opponents. (One clause put the probability of a terrorist attack at seven in a million, a conclusion that baffled at least some security specialists.) Both the city of Long Beach and the state Public Utilities Commission have been sharply critical of the draft EIR.
What are the chances the finished EIR will answer all those criticisms? About seven in a million. Answer or not, the idea of building an LNG terminal within a couple of miles of downtown Long Beach causes some people zero anxiety, while others experience something close to terror. Politicians who might have been inclined to support the project are listening to the sounds of terror.
California will need bounteous supplies of natural gas for years to come, and LNG is an efficient way to transport it from across the sea. Ordinarily, the best place for an LNG terminal is far removed from population centers, although at least one, in Boston, is relatively close to downtown condos and office buildings. In addition to those issues, in Long Beach's case, City Hall is influenced by not only a ready supply, but a slice of the revenue.
The Australian company now wants to make all of those arguments moot. Some politicians would be glad of that. And they have a point.
Australian company's plan could finesse the fight over Long Beach site
LNG the easy way
Australian company's plan could finesse the fight over Long Beach site.
Australia's biggest oil company has a simple answer to Long Beach's anguish over the merits of a controversial proposal to build a terminal to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG). Unload it offshore.
No, don't put the terminal offshore, which would be almost as controversial as putting it in a populated area. Just unload the LNG offshore.
The company, Woodside Energy Ltd., says it wants to join the competition to help satisfy California's huge and growing appetite for natural gas, but it has a different approach. Instead of unloading the cargo in its superchilled liquid form, it would use specially equipped tankers to convert it to natural gas 15 miles offshore and deliver it to shore in a partially submerged pipeline.
Where would the offloading happen? The company isn't saying yet. Jane Cutler, president of its U.S. subsidiary, Woodside Natural Gas, said there will be an announcement in February. She also said Woodside could provide 10 percent to 15 percent of the state's needs for natural gas.
That puts Woodside up against several other company's projects, including one planned by Sound Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp. and ConocoPhillips, at Pier T in the Port of Long Beach. Most local politicians are stepping lightly around this issue, because opponents, worried about safety issues, are highly energized whereas proponents, concerned about shortages and high prices, are far less vocal.
In its liquid form, LNG, at 260 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, is safe to the point of being hard to ignite. But in gaseous form it is explosive. A draft
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
version of an environmental impact report recently made little of the hazards, to the outrage of opponents. (One clause put the probability of a terrorist attack at seven in a million, a conclusion that baffled at least some security specialists.) Both the city of Long Beach and the state Public Utilities Commission have been sharply critical of the draft EIR.
What are the chances the finished EIR will answer all those criticisms? About seven in a million. Answer or not, the idea of building an LNG terminal within a couple of miles of downtown Long Beach causes some people zero anxiety, while others experience something close to terror. Politicians who might have been inclined to support the project are listening to the sounds of terror.
California will need bounteous supplies of natural gas for years to come, and LNG is an efficient way to transport it from across the sea. Ordinarily, the best place for an LNG terminal is far removed from population centers, although at least one, in Boston, is relatively close to downtown condos and office buildings. In addition to those issues, in Long Beach's case, City Hall is influenced by not only a ready supply, but a slice of the revenue.
The Australian company now wants to make all of those arguments moot. Some politicians would be glad of that. And they have a point.
MyWestTexas.com - Oil & Gas - 01/22/2006 - Major oil companies bet billions on obscure way to produce diesel: "RAS LAFFAN INDUSTRIAL CITY, Qatar -- In this tiny emirate, the world's largest oil companies are betting billions of dollars on an obscure method for making diesel fuel that stems from apartheid South Africa's aggressive efforts to wean its economy off imported oil.
Yellow school buses shuttle thousands of Indian and Pakistani workers from nearby camps each day to work in a giant meandering knot of pipes and turbines, showcased with a logo of an oryx, Qatar's antelope mascot.
No one is angling for oil here. In fact, rising oil prices have lifted the fortunes of a once-shunned technology that converts another fossil fuel, natural gas, into clean-burning diesel.
Even as geologists fiercely debate whether depleting oilfields can satiate intense demand for oil in the rising economies of Asia, the actions of the international energy industry may speak louder than words. Big oil is betting on once-derided unconventional energy sources, like this stranded natural gas in the Persian Gulf and remote tar deposits in Canada and Venezuela, to help meet surging demand for transportation fuel.
'It's time to take the genie out of the bottle,' Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Qatar's energy minister, said in an interview. 'We want to be the capital of the world for this new age of fuels,' he said.
These different types of fuels may have clunky monikers, like GTL and LNG. But they also draw big money. Al-Attiyah rattled off a roster of ventures with Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, Chevron and Sasol of South Africa to produce a new form of diesel from natural gas and said they were expected to invest more than $14 billion in capital over the next five to seven years. "
Yellow school buses shuttle thousands of Indian and Pakistani workers from nearby camps each day to work in a giant meandering knot of pipes and turbines, showcased with a logo of an oryx, Qatar's antelope mascot.
No one is angling for oil here. In fact, rising oil prices have lifted the fortunes of a once-shunned technology that converts another fossil fuel, natural gas, into clean-burning diesel.
Even as geologists fiercely debate whether depleting oilfields can satiate intense demand for oil in the rising economies of Asia, the actions of the international energy industry may speak louder than words. Big oil is betting on once-derided unconventional energy sources, like this stranded natural gas in the Persian Gulf and remote tar deposits in Canada and Venezuela, to help meet surging demand for transportation fuel.
'It's time to take the genie out of the bottle,' Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, Qatar's energy minister, said in an interview. 'We want to be the capital of the world for this new age of fuels,' he said.
These different types of fuels may have clunky monikers, like GTL and LNG. But they also draw big money. Al-Attiyah rattled off a roster of ventures with Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, Chevron and Sasol of South Africa to produce a new form of diesel from natural gas and said they were expected to invest more than $14 billion in capital over the next five to seven years. "
world's first near-zero-emissions coal-fired power plant: "By JOSH BAUGH
Eagle Staff Writer
Local officials say a 130-acre plot of land between Buffalo and Jewett is the perfect spot for the world's first near-zero-emissions coal-fired power plant - and that's why they're competing for the $1 billion project.
Leon County and Brazos Valley Council of Governments representatives say the plant would be tremendously helpful to the local economy and that Texas A&M University could benefit from research opportunities.
The area is one of nine sites in Texas competing to be the state's selection, which will vie against top picks from eight other states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wyoming and Illinois."
The project is a partnership involving the U.S. Energy Department and eight companies from the United States, China and Australia. The plant, known as FutureGen, will be able to provide electricity to about 275,000 single-family homes.
The concept behind the prototype plant is that it traps emissions that normally are released into the atmosphere. Those emissions - primarily carbon dioxide - have been linked by scientists to global warming.
Instead of burning coal to produce electricity, the plant will turn that coal into hydrogen-rich gas that burns much more cleanly. Carbon dioxide will be trapped and injected as a compressed fluid into underground geological formations or depleted oil and gas wells. The plant also will serve for extensive research to further develop technologies for producing cleaner energy.
Because of the methods used by the plant, the site will be selected based on specific geographic and geologic standards. The plant will need a water reservoir for cooling and access to depleted wells. The site also must be near a railroad system and highways. And the area must be able to support the workforce, so applicants have to submit information about housing and schools.
The local officials who have gathered the needed information about the plausibility of the Leon County site say the area is a perfect fit. But because some of the other states are large coal producers, Texas may face elimination, said one professor at Texas A&M University.
"It will be a tough competition for us," said Kalyan Annamalai, a professor in A&M's mechanical engineering department. "A lot of coal is being mined in those other states."
Leon County officials have said the area produces coal, which is another positive for their site. But the coal mined in Texas, lignite, is considered lower-grade and produces too much ash as it burns, Annamalai said. Coal mined here is mixed with a higher-grade coal when used by power plants, Annamalai said.
Having the one-of-a-kind FutureGen near A&M would be a great benefit to the university and its research, he said.
The site in Leon County is a perfect match in terms of geography and geology, County Judge Byron Ryder said.
"We knew that we had everything we needed: the land, the oil wells to inject into, the railroad and a good highway system," he said.
The site borders the Union Pacific railroad by U.S. 79 and is near Interstate 45.
Trapping carbon dioxide emissions and storing them underground is a practice called sequestration, but it's not widely used in the United States, A&M professor Daulat Mamora said. Sequestration is more common in Europe, where emissions are more highly regulated.
However, carbon dioxide is used in West Texas to help recover additional crude oil and natural gas from wells, Mamora said.
When oil and gas wells cease producing, they're not actually empty - in fact, they can contain up to 15 to 20 percent more product. But the pressure in the wells drops to the point that it becomes too difficult to pump out the remaining oil or gas.
Carbon dioxide emissions can be pumped into the ground to repressurize those wells, aiding in the recovery of the remaining fuel. And Leon County is home to just such wells, officials said.
Mamora said he and several of his students are working on an Energy Department project researching carbon dioxide sequestration. The safety of the practice, he said, is debatable.
"If you inject it into a depleted gas reservoir, then it shouldn't leak because you've taken natural gas from the reservoir," he said. "Theoretically, the carbon dioxide shouldn't leak out. It [the reservoir] has stored natural gas for millions of years before."
A leak would mean releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is already happening at the country's 600 coal-burning plants. But the gas also displaces oxygen and in high enough quantities, could lead to asphyxiation, he said.
"We must make sure that all wells abandoned are left in good condition," Mamora said. "Otherwise, you might get carbon dioxide out of it."
Ryder, the county judge, said he hasn't heard of any local opposition.
"I think that if they do this, it [the carbon dioxide emissions] will be safe enough to put in the ground," he said. "You always have a concern with that, but I think they'll use all precautions to make it right."
Local government officials say the plant would be great for the area's economy. Not only would it create an unknown number of jobs at the plant, but it would also bring more businesses to the area, Ryder said.
The project's $1 billion price tag would be "significant" in a local community, said Michael Parks, assistant executive director of the council of governments.
Parks acknowledged that one of the major concerns is over pumping carbon dioxide into the ground. That's why the science of it is so important, he said.
"It's purely based on geology," Parks said. "Leon County has the proper geology and oil fields to make this work."
• Josh Baugh's e-mail address is josh.baugh@theeagle.com.
Eagle Staff Writer
Local officials say a 130-acre plot of land between Buffalo and Jewett is the perfect spot for the world's first near-zero-emissions coal-fired power plant - and that's why they're competing for the $1 billion project.
Leon County and Brazos Valley Council of Governments representatives say the plant would be tremendously helpful to the local economy and that Texas A&M University could benefit from research opportunities.
The area is one of nine sites in Texas competing to be the state's selection, which will vie against top picks from eight other states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wyoming and Illinois."
The project is a partnership involving the U.S. Energy Department and eight companies from the United States, China and Australia. The plant, known as FutureGen, will be able to provide electricity to about 275,000 single-family homes.
The concept behind the prototype plant is that it traps emissions that normally are released into the atmosphere. Those emissions - primarily carbon dioxide - have been linked by scientists to global warming.
Instead of burning coal to produce electricity, the plant will turn that coal into hydrogen-rich gas that burns much more cleanly. Carbon dioxide will be trapped and injected as a compressed fluid into underground geological formations or depleted oil and gas wells. The plant also will serve for extensive research to further develop technologies for producing cleaner energy.
Because of the methods used by the plant, the site will be selected based on specific geographic and geologic standards. The plant will need a water reservoir for cooling and access to depleted wells. The site also must be near a railroad system and highways. And the area must be able to support the workforce, so applicants have to submit information about housing and schools.
The local officials who have gathered the needed information about the plausibility of the Leon County site say the area is a perfect fit. But because some of the other states are large coal producers, Texas may face elimination, said one professor at Texas A&M University.
"It will be a tough competition for us," said Kalyan Annamalai, a professor in A&M's mechanical engineering department. "A lot of coal is being mined in those other states."
Leon County officials have said the area produces coal, which is another positive for their site. But the coal mined in Texas, lignite, is considered lower-grade and produces too much ash as it burns, Annamalai said. Coal mined here is mixed with a higher-grade coal when used by power plants, Annamalai said.
Having the one-of-a-kind FutureGen near A&M would be a great benefit to the university and its research, he said.
The site in Leon County is a perfect match in terms of geography and geology, County Judge Byron Ryder said.
"We knew that we had everything we needed: the land, the oil wells to inject into, the railroad and a good highway system," he said.
The site borders the Union Pacific railroad by U.S. 79 and is near Interstate 45.
Trapping carbon dioxide emissions and storing them underground is a practice called sequestration, but it's not widely used in the United States, A&M professor Daulat Mamora said. Sequestration is more common in Europe, where emissions are more highly regulated.
However, carbon dioxide is used in West Texas to help recover additional crude oil and natural gas from wells, Mamora said.
When oil and gas wells cease producing, they're not actually empty - in fact, they can contain up to 15 to 20 percent more product. But the pressure in the wells drops to the point that it becomes too difficult to pump out the remaining oil or gas.
Carbon dioxide emissions can be pumped into the ground to repressurize those wells, aiding in the recovery of the remaining fuel. And Leon County is home to just such wells, officials said.
Mamora said he and several of his students are working on an Energy Department project researching carbon dioxide sequestration. The safety of the practice, he said, is debatable.
"If you inject it into a depleted gas reservoir, then it shouldn't leak because you've taken natural gas from the reservoir," he said. "Theoretically, the carbon dioxide shouldn't leak out. It [the reservoir] has stored natural gas for millions of years before."
A leak would mean releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is already happening at the country's 600 coal-burning plants. But the gas also displaces oxygen and in high enough quantities, could lead to asphyxiation, he said.
"We must make sure that all wells abandoned are left in good condition," Mamora said. "Otherwise, you might get carbon dioxide out of it."
Ryder, the county judge, said he hasn't heard of any local opposition.
"I think that if they do this, it [the carbon dioxide emissions] will be safe enough to put in the ground," he said. "You always have a concern with that, but I think they'll use all precautions to make it right."
Local government officials say the plant would be great for the area's economy. Not only would it create an unknown number of jobs at the plant, but it would also bring more businesses to the area, Ryder said.
The project's $1 billion price tag would be "significant" in a local community, said Michael Parks, assistant executive director of the council of governments.
Parks acknowledged that one of the major concerns is over pumping carbon dioxide into the ground. That's why the science of it is so important, he said.
"It's purely based on geology," Parks said. "Leon County has the proper geology and oil fields to make this work."
• Josh Baugh's e-mail address is josh.baugh@theeagle.com.
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