Greece and Russia on Tuesday signed a deal on Greece's participation in a gas pipeline project that will help strengthen Russia's grip on energy exports to Europe.
The agreement for the 900-kilometer (550-mile), €10 billion (US$15 billion) South Stream pipeline was signed at a Kremlin ceremony attended by Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Russia President Vladimir Putin.
At a news conference after the ceremony, Putin again focused on Russia's growing position as Europe's dominant supplier of gas and oil, and pooh-poohed efforts to find alternatives — both sources and conduits.
"Realizing the South Stream project doesn't mean that we are fighting some other alternative project," Putin told reporters. "Please, if someone can find some other similar project under economically acceptable terms that can guarantee products of a sufficient volume for these gas systems, we will only be glad."
The European Union, with the United States, has pushed another pipeline called Nabucco, but that project lags far behind South Stream, which will run under the Black Sea from Russia to Bulgaria, where it could branch off in several directions.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Broadwater Liquid Natural Gas New York Project - Appealed!
NEW YORK, April 28 (Reuters) - Energy companies Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and TransCanada (TRP.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) plan to ask the U.S. Commerce department to overturn New York state's rejection of their plan to build a liquefied natural gas platform in Long Island Sound.
John Hritcko, regional project director for the Broadwater LNG project, has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to forward the details of the case to the Secretary of Commerce in preparation for an appeal.
The company plans to appeal to the Commerce department before the May 12 deadline, he said. He said the department has up to a year to process the appeal.
Earlier in April, New York Governor David Paterson rejected the proposal to build the Broadwater project, saying it was "fundamentally wrong" to privatize open water.
Under the Coastal Zone Management Act, the state of New York's objection prevents federal agencies from issuing permits required by the project. However, the state's objection may be overridden by the Secretary of Commerce through an administrative appeal.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Broadwater's construction in March despite concerns by local officials that the plant could be the target of an attack.
LNG is natural gas that is super cooled into liquid form for transport in ships. It is warmed and returned to its gaseous state at the import terminal.
The project would be the first floating terminal in the United States for storing and delivering LNG.
John Hritcko, regional project director for the Broadwater LNG project, has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to forward the details of the case to the Secretary of Commerce in preparation for an appeal.
The company plans to appeal to the Commerce department before the May 12 deadline, he said. He said the department has up to a year to process the appeal.
Earlier in April, New York Governor David Paterson rejected the proposal to build the Broadwater project, saying it was "fundamentally wrong" to privatize open water.
Under the Coastal Zone Management Act, the state of New York's objection prevents federal agencies from issuing permits required by the project. However, the state's objection may be overridden by the Secretary of Commerce through an administrative appeal.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Broadwater's construction in March despite concerns by local officials that the plant could be the target of an attack.
LNG is natural gas that is super cooled into liquid form for transport in ships. It is warmed and returned to its gaseous state at the import terminal.
The project would be the first floating terminal in the United States for storing and delivering LNG.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Idaho Natural Gas from Cow Manure
One Idaho Falls company is leading the way when it comes to creating renewable green energy. As Ty Brennan show us, you may be surprised to find out how they're doing it.
Intrepid Technology, based in Idaho Falls, is doing their part to go green. Sitting on an ordinary dairy farm near Rupert, something extraordinary is going on. Animal waste is being transformed into pipeline-quality natural gas.
The senior vice-president of Intrepid, Brad Frazee, says they saw a need to not only help nature, but produce something from it.
"We started looking at some of the issues the state faced and the manure coming off the dairies was kind of first and foremost as far as the ability to go in and help manage the situation."
Three years after the initial idea, the first prototype was installed, and the company says they haven't looked back since, blazing a trail as the first company to produce natural gas.
"We're very intrepid in our approach to this renewable energy field and it's something nobody else in the United States has been able to accomplish in the private or the government actually."
The process of turning manure into natural gas is no easy feat. It's lengthy and complicated. Every six to eight hours, waste from the nearly 6,000 head of cattle is collected. From there, it starts its transition to natural gas in a 34,000-gallon tank.
"Each tank gets a certain charge and just keeps going 24/7."
After the gas is captured, it is then refined and sent out in trucks to customers. Some of the gas even runs some of the plant's own equipment.
"This boiler-water heater is running on the purified side of natural gas. It's running as if it were hooked up to a natural gas pipeline."
One hundred cubic feet a minute of natural gas is produced. To put that into perspective, in one room alone, there is enough natural gas being produced to serve nearly 2,000 homes.
Wayne Tolman, who helped design and now runs the operation, says this plant is not only creating a green fuel, but keeping harsh gases out of the environment.
"As you know, methane is a big deal getting into the atmosphere. Well, we're keeping the methane out of the atmosphere. We're turning it into usable fuel."
But besides that usable fuel, Intrepid has also found another way to go green - by using all the byproducts of the manure as compost.
"It's 100% renewable green energy, the manure, the compost goes back out on to the land, it's brought in, becomes a nutrient plan for raising the crops and it goes back out through the cow, so it's this perpetual machine going."
Intrepid employees they say this is just the tip of the iceberg - just one way they are looking forward to the future.
"We are producing a product that's basically a renewable replacement for natural gas."
"In the United States, everyone's talking about 'going green'. This is state-of-the-art. This is green energy as we speak."
The gas from Intrepid was rigorously tested during a 3-month process to make sure it was pipeline-quality gas. They are currently working on using cheese whey as yet another way to produce natural gas.
Intrepid Technology, based in Idaho Falls, is doing their part to go green. Sitting on an ordinary dairy farm near Rupert, something extraordinary is going on. Animal waste is being transformed into pipeline-quality natural gas.
The senior vice-president of Intrepid, Brad Frazee, says they saw a need to not only help nature, but produce something from it.
"We started looking at some of the issues the state faced and the manure coming off the dairies was kind of first and foremost as far as the ability to go in and help manage the situation."
Three years after the initial idea, the first prototype was installed, and the company says they haven't looked back since, blazing a trail as the first company to produce natural gas.
"We're very intrepid in our approach to this renewable energy field and it's something nobody else in the United States has been able to accomplish in the private or the government actually."
The process of turning manure into natural gas is no easy feat. It's lengthy and complicated. Every six to eight hours, waste from the nearly 6,000 head of cattle is collected. From there, it starts its transition to natural gas in a 34,000-gallon tank.
"Each tank gets a certain charge and just keeps going 24/7."
After the gas is captured, it is then refined and sent out in trucks to customers. Some of the gas even runs some of the plant's own equipment.
"This boiler-water heater is running on the purified side of natural gas. It's running as if it were hooked up to a natural gas pipeline."
One hundred cubic feet a minute of natural gas is produced. To put that into perspective, in one room alone, there is enough natural gas being produced to serve nearly 2,000 homes.
Wayne Tolman, who helped design and now runs the operation, says this plant is not only creating a green fuel, but keeping harsh gases out of the environment.
"As you know, methane is a big deal getting into the atmosphere. Well, we're keeping the methane out of the atmosphere. We're turning it into usable fuel."
But besides that usable fuel, Intrepid has also found another way to go green - by using all the byproducts of the manure as compost.
"It's 100% renewable green energy, the manure, the compost goes back out on to the land, it's brought in, becomes a nutrient plan for raising the crops and it goes back out through the cow, so it's this perpetual machine going."
Intrepid employees they say this is just the tip of the iceberg - just one way they are looking forward to the future.
"We are producing a product that's basically a renewable replacement for natural gas."
"In the United States, everyone's talking about 'going green'. This is state-of-the-art. This is green energy as we speak."
The gas from Intrepid was rigorously tested during a 3-month process to make sure it was pipeline-quality gas. They are currently working on using cheese whey as yet another way to produce natural gas.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Bangladesh Doubles Natural Gas Prices
BANGLADESH: Bangladesh Thursday almost doubled the price of compressed natural gas (CNG) to 16.75 taka per cubic meter from 8.50 taka previously.
The Bangladeshi caretaker Government announced Thursday, “The new tariff rate will come into effect from Friday.”
The announcement said though the CNG tariff is raised, bus and truck operators will not be allowed to raise their transport fares. “The Ministry of Communications will contemplate increasing the rate of CNG-run auto-rickshaw and taxicabs’ passenger fares,” it said.
The Bangladeshi caretaker Government announced Thursday, “The new tariff rate will come into effect from Friday.”
The announcement said though the CNG tariff is raised, bus and truck operators will not be allowed to raise their transport fares. “The Ministry of Communications will contemplate increasing the rate of CNG-run auto-rickshaw and taxicabs’ passenger fares,” it said.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Natural Gas $11/mmBtu on April 25
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas rose to the highest in more than two years as oil advanced on supply disruptions, spurring prices of the heating and industrial fuel.
Crude rose as BP Plc prepared to shut down a North Sea pipeline and violence and strikes crimped output in Nigeria. The furnace fuel also gained amid speculation supplies may fall short of the quantities needed to rebuild storage for next winter's heating needs.
``People are trying to make an association that natural gas and crude have a symbiotic relationship and their prices need to be closer,'' said Michael Rose, trading director at Angus Jackson Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ``There's been a notion prevalent for the last month that this gap has to close.''
Natural gas for May delivery rose 17.3 cents, or 1.6 percent, to settle at $10.963 per million British thermal units at 2:53 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price rose to $11.05 per million Btu in after-hours electronic trading, the highest intraday price since Dec. 30, 2005. The May contract is up 4 percent this week. Prices are 47 percent higher so far this year. The contract expires on April 28.
The contract for June delivery rose 15.8 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $11.101 per million Btu and is pulling the May price higher, said Rose.
Based on prices in the cash market, gas is valued at $11.27 per million Btu compared with $14.66 per million Btu for fuel oil, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Heating oil at $23.88 per million Btu equivalent is more than double the price of gas.
``There's some pre-weekend short covering for natural gas,'' said George Ellis, a director in the energy derivatives group at BMO Capital Markets in New York. ``Natural gas looks very strong. Momentum is taking over and allowing this market to trade higher.''
Moving Average
Traders who are short heading into the weekend may be buying now to guard against having to purchase gas at higher prices should it surge before regular trading resumes on April 28. Short trades are bets that the price of a commodity will decline. Prices typically rise as those speculators who had sold contracts anticipating lower prices buy them back to protect gains or limit losses.
Gas has held above the nine-day moving average of about $10.605 per million Btu and unless it breaks below that, the fuel should continue higher, Ellis said.
Moving average is an indicator used by technical analysts. It shows the average value of a security or commodity over time. Chartists track the averages for clues on price direction.
Fundamentals
Higher crude allows ``natural gas traders the luxury of paying attention to their own fundamentals,'' said Peter Beutel, president of energy consultant Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Connecticut.
To rebuild supplies for next winter, higher prices are needed to either prompt additional exploration and production in the U.S. or to pull cargoes of liquefied natural gas from Asia and Europe, which pays more.
Inventories for the week ended April 18 gained 24 billion cubic feet to 1.285 trillion, the Energy Department said in a report yesterday. Stockpiles were 18 percent lower than a year ago and 1.9 percent below the five-year average, the department said.
The five-year average change for the same week of the year is an increase of 46 billion, according to the Energy Department.
Gas inventories fell to 1.234 trillion cubic feet on April 4, the lowest since May 2004, after reaching a record 3.545 trillion in November.
``I have a feeling we're going to make new highs,'' said Beutel. ``We're losing production from Independence Hub. Imports of LNG are lower and we're playing catch up to next winter, there are a lot of reasons to think this is still a bullish market.''
LNG Imports
Flow of liquefied natural gas into the U.S. is below that of a year ago as Europe pays more for the fuel to build up inventories, investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. said.
U.S. LNG imports dropped to 900 million cubic feet a day in April from a daily 3.2 billion cubic feet a year earlier, Tudor analyst Stacy Nieuwoudt said in an e-mail yesterday. The New York June futures contract was $1.63 per million British thermal units below prices offered in the U.K. today for the same month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
LNG is super-cooled natural gas reduced to a liquid for transport by ships to markets not connected by pipeline.
The Independence Hub, a production platform in the Gulf of Mexico that was supplying about 900 million cubic feet a day, shut April 9 after a leak was discovered in a pipeline. Repairs may take as long as four weeks, Enterprise Products Partners LP, which owns Independence, said.
Crude rose as BP Plc prepared to shut down a North Sea pipeline and violence and strikes crimped output in Nigeria. The furnace fuel also gained amid speculation supplies may fall short of the quantities needed to rebuild storage for next winter's heating needs.
``People are trying to make an association that natural gas and crude have a symbiotic relationship and their prices need to be closer,'' said Michael Rose, trading director at Angus Jackson Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ``There's been a notion prevalent for the last month that this gap has to close.''
Natural gas for May delivery rose 17.3 cents, or 1.6 percent, to settle at $10.963 per million British thermal units at 2:53 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price rose to $11.05 per million Btu in after-hours electronic trading, the highest intraday price since Dec. 30, 2005. The May contract is up 4 percent this week. Prices are 47 percent higher so far this year. The contract expires on April 28.
The contract for June delivery rose 15.8 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $11.101 per million Btu and is pulling the May price higher, said Rose.
Based on prices in the cash market, gas is valued at $11.27 per million Btu compared with $14.66 per million Btu for fuel oil, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Heating oil at $23.88 per million Btu equivalent is more than double the price of gas.
``There's some pre-weekend short covering for natural gas,'' said George Ellis, a director in the energy derivatives group at BMO Capital Markets in New York. ``Natural gas looks very strong. Momentum is taking over and allowing this market to trade higher.''
Moving Average
Traders who are short heading into the weekend may be buying now to guard against having to purchase gas at higher prices should it surge before regular trading resumes on April 28. Short trades are bets that the price of a commodity will decline. Prices typically rise as those speculators who had sold contracts anticipating lower prices buy them back to protect gains or limit losses.
Gas has held above the nine-day moving average of about $10.605 per million Btu and unless it breaks below that, the fuel should continue higher, Ellis said.
Moving average is an indicator used by technical analysts. It shows the average value of a security or commodity over time. Chartists track the averages for clues on price direction.
Fundamentals
Higher crude allows ``natural gas traders the luxury of paying attention to their own fundamentals,'' said Peter Beutel, president of energy consultant Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Connecticut.
To rebuild supplies for next winter, higher prices are needed to either prompt additional exploration and production in the U.S. or to pull cargoes of liquefied natural gas from Asia and Europe, which pays more.
Inventories for the week ended April 18 gained 24 billion cubic feet to 1.285 trillion, the Energy Department said in a report yesterday. Stockpiles were 18 percent lower than a year ago and 1.9 percent below the five-year average, the department said.
The five-year average change for the same week of the year is an increase of 46 billion, according to the Energy Department.
Gas inventories fell to 1.234 trillion cubic feet on April 4, the lowest since May 2004, after reaching a record 3.545 trillion in November.
``I have a feeling we're going to make new highs,'' said Beutel. ``We're losing production from Independence Hub. Imports of LNG are lower and we're playing catch up to next winter, there are a lot of reasons to think this is still a bullish market.''
LNG Imports
Flow of liquefied natural gas into the U.S. is below that of a year ago as Europe pays more for the fuel to build up inventories, investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. said.
U.S. LNG imports dropped to 900 million cubic feet a day in April from a daily 3.2 billion cubic feet a year earlier, Tudor analyst Stacy Nieuwoudt said in an e-mail yesterday. The New York June futures contract was $1.63 per million British thermal units below prices offered in the U.K. today for the same month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
LNG is super-cooled natural gas reduced to a liquid for transport by ships to markets not connected by pipeline.
The Independence Hub, a production platform in the Gulf of Mexico that was supplying about 900 million cubic feet a day, shut April 9 after a leak was discovered in a pipeline. Repairs may take as long as four weeks, Enterprise Products Partners LP, which owns Independence, said.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Turkmenistan Selling Natural Gas to India & Pakistan
India and Pakistan on Thursday committed themselves to buying natural gas from Turkmenistan despite cost of laying pipeline from the Central Asian nation doubling to $ .6 billion and the energy-hungry countries close to striking a deal for a rival line from Iran.
The South Asian neighbours and Afghanistan signed the Framework Agreement with Turkmenistan for laying the line by 2015.
Two-days of deliberation of the Steering Committee of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, that has the US backing, saw the formal induction of New Delhi and resolved issues regarding gas reserves in Turkmenistan and demand of the South-Asian neighbours.
After the meeting, Pakistan's Petroleum Minister Khwaja Asif said: "We are strongly committed to the project. We believe it is still economically viable for the four countries even after the escalation in cost."
According to a draft feasibility study prepared with the support of the Asian Development Bank, which is financially backing the pipeline, the estimated cost of the project has increased from $ 3.3 billion in 2004 to $ 7.6 billion.
The escalation was due to sharp rise in steel prices, jump in construction costs and cost of compressor stations to be set up for the 1,680-km line from Turkmenistan's Daulatabad gas field to Fazilka on the India-Pakistan border after passing through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan and Multan in Pakistan
The South Asian neighbours and Afghanistan signed the Framework Agreement with Turkmenistan for laying the line by 2015.
Two-days of deliberation of the Steering Committee of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, that has the US backing, saw the formal induction of New Delhi and resolved issues regarding gas reserves in Turkmenistan and demand of the South-Asian neighbours.
After the meeting, Pakistan's Petroleum Minister Khwaja Asif said: "We are strongly committed to the project. We believe it is still economically viable for the four countries even after the escalation in cost."
According to a draft feasibility study prepared with the support of the Asian Development Bank, which is financially backing the pipeline, the estimated cost of the project has increased from $ 3.3 billion in 2004 to $ 7.6 billion.
The escalation was due to sharp rise in steel prices, jump in construction costs and cost of compressor stations to be set up for the 1,680-km line from Turkmenistan's Daulatabad gas field to Fazilka on the India-Pakistan border after passing through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan and Multan in Pakistan
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Natural Gas Canada Drilling Again
EDMONTON - A drilling revival has begun as rising natural gas prices fuel increases in industry budgets, the Petroleum Services Association of Canada reported Wednesday.
The 270-company group sharply increased its 2008 activity forecast to 16,500 wells, up 14 per cent from a previous prediction of 14,500 wells made as gas languished in a market low last fall. Nearly 12,000 wells or three-fourths of western Canadian drilling will be in Alberta this year, though the industry is accelerating oil exploration in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, PSAC added.
"While all the talk of late is centred around the rising price of oil, it's actually the price of natural gas that really impacts the industry in Canada, especially in Alberta," association president Roger Soucy said in a statement on the new numbers.
The 270-company group sharply increased its 2008 activity forecast to 16,500 wells, up 14 per cent from a previous prediction of 14,500 wells made as gas languished in a market low last fall. Nearly 12,000 wells or three-fourths of western Canadian drilling will be in Alberta this year, though the industry is accelerating oil exploration in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, PSAC added.
"While all the talk of late is centred around the rising price of oil, it's actually the price of natural gas that really impacts the industry in Canada, especially in Alberta," association president Roger Soucy said in a statement on the new numbers.
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