First auction of Deep-Water Blocks Since BP Disaster draws $ 337.6 million in winning bids. The oil and gas industry took a step from the shadow of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on Wednesday when federal officials unsealed more than $ 330 million in winning bids for drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico, the first is offered since the fatal accident in April 2010. Approximately 21 million acres of federal waters, an area roughly the size of South Carolina, stretching hundreds of miles off the Texas coast were discussed. The auction attracted $ 337.6 million in winning bids for the 191 available blocks that could eventually lead to more than 400 million barrels of oil production. Read more
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs dedicated a significant environmental impact study of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to a company with financial ties to the lead operator, ignoring the intent of a federal law designed to provide impartial analysis of major projects, environmental protection. Read more
At first glance, may seem wrong to TransCanada Corp. for the 1700-mile Keystone XL Pipeline to build in order to transport oil from Alberta, Canada, the U.S. Gulf Coast. Indeed, if such a pipeline leak ever, such as pipelines, there would be some risk to the Ogallala Aquifer pollution under Nebraska’s Sandhills, that 80 percent of drinking water that state. What’s more, a new channel seems to only encourage the further development of the Athabascan oil sands in Alberta. This is a dirty business, to be sure: huge spruce and fir trees are felled to make way for open-pit mines, which deposits of sticky black sand scooped out and then rinsed for viscous tar. For deeper deposits, steam shot hundreds of feet into the earth to melt the tar enough that it can be pumped to the surface. Then there are the emissions from mining Canadian oil sands: produces two and half times more carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases such as oil drilling in, say, Saudi Arabia and western Texas. Read more
After lying low in the Gulf of Mexico for about one year, the British oil giant BP has taken steps back into the deep water oil exploration game from the Louisiana coast, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. From April 20, 2010, at Macondo blowout of the oil company is 11 employees slain on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon and resulted in the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Environmental groups urged the federal government to permanently ban new offshore oil exploration and development, but such calls were blasted as naive by the oil industry and its supporters, who noted that 29% of domestic crude oil comes from the Gulf. Read more
Tar balls washed on the Gulf of Mexico beaches by Tropical Storm Lee earlier this month show that oil left over from last year, BP’s leak is to break down as quickly as some scientists thought it would, university researchers Tuesday.
Auburn University experts tar samples examined at the request of the coastal leaders said the latest wave of sticky orbs and lumps appeared relatively fresh, strong smell and were little changed from the chemically weathered oil on Gulf beaches collected during the spill. Read more
Macarthur Coal has recorded a net profit of $ 39.6 million for the six months ended December 31, to 63 percent $ 106.9ma year earlier due to lower coal prices. CEO Nicole Hollows said the company was on track to reach full year sales guidance of 4.8 million to 5 million tons and the coal market has been benefiting from the global recovery of production steel. (more…)
SAN FRANCISCO – Gold futures went on retreat to take Monday, lists $ 1,400 an ounce to settle at a new best. Gold for December delivery (GCZ10 1409, +5.30, +0.38%) added $ 5.50, or 0.4%, to $ 1,403.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
It hit an intraday high of $ 1,409.40 per ounce, according to FactSet Research. Gold began floor trading in the red, losing up to $ 10 from Friday close settlement as the dollar rose. The metal fast compared its losses, however, as renewed concerns about the debt was central Europe suffered.
The cost of insuring Irish debt against default climbed to a new record Monday, and the cost of insuring debt Portuguese also expanded to a record. Read more about the Portuguese and Irish CDS (more…)
Shreveport, La – Residents happy here two years ago when gas stuck in a giant gas deposit within 2 miles of their homes, sparking a modern gold rush.
The companies offered residents of tens of thousands of dollars per acre to drill on their land, to enrich some people at night in this rural corner of northwest Louisiana.
Than cows started dying. Methane seeped into the drinking water. Homes were evacuated when uncontrolled gas escapes from a borehole.
(more…)
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