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Tepco shouldn't be in charge of Fukushima shutdown: Japan panel

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo Electric Power Co should be stripped of the responsibility for shutting down its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, according to a draft proposal by a panel of Japan’s ruling party. Tokyo Electric, or Tepco, has been widely criticized for repeated missteps, poor planning and a lack of disclosure in its efforts to clear up the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. A task force formed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suggests that responsibility for the massive work of decommissioning the Fukushima plant be stripped from the giant utility in its current form – either by creating a separate unit within Tepco, breaking the unit off as a separate company or hiving it off as a government-affiliated, but independent, administrative agency. A person familiar with the LDP panel’s deliberations said it favors the option of creating a separate […]

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Tepco shouldn’t be in charge of Fukushima shutdown: Japan panel

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo Electric Power Co should be stripped of the responsibility for shutting down its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, according to a draft proposal by a panel of Japan’s ruling party. Tokyo Electric, or Tepco, has been widely criticized for repeated missteps, poor planning and a lack of disclosure in its efforts to clear up the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. A task force formed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suggests that responsibility for the massive work of decommissioning the Fukushima plant be stripped from the giant utility in its current form – either by creating a separate unit within Tepco, breaking the unit off as a separate company or hiving it off as a government-affiliated, but independent, administrative agency. A person familiar with the LDP panel’s deliberations said it favors the option of creating a separate […]

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GDF Suez group gets contract for international nuclear work

PARIS, Oct. 29 (UPI) — A consortium for French and German energy companies announced Tuesday it received a $730 million contract to research nuclear fusion energy. “To take part in the largest international research project in nuclear fusion energy is a source of great pride,” Guy Lacroix, the chief executive in charge of energy services at French energy company GDF Suez , said in a statement. GDF Suez leads a consortium that includes Germany’s M+W Group. The six-year contract is for the so-called Fusion for Energy program, an entity in charge of the European Union’s activities at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in France. The contract calls for design, construction and maintenance of air conditioning, electrical and mechanical installations for 13 buildings at the complex. GDF Suez said in a statement work should begin at the complex in France starting in September. Construction should take about five years, with […]

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Backer: U.S. oil production growth means more pipelines needed

ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 29 (UPI) — Increased oil production from North Dakota means a pipeline through Minnesota is “critical” for the industry, a North Dakota pipeline official said. Canadian pipeline company Enbridge filed an application in Minnesota for its 610-mile Sandpiper pipeline. The pipeline could carry more than 200,000 barrels of oil per day from the Bakken reserve area in North Dakota to an Enbridge terminal in Superior, Wis. Director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority Justin Kringstad told Minnesota Public Radio the pipeline was needed to keep up with Bakken oil production. “We expect production to continue to grow for the next number of years, and having systems like Sandpiper to continue to meet that future growth is critical,” he said Monday. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates parts of North Dakota may contain as much as 7.4 billion barrels of oil. State authorities say monthly production levels […]

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Canada defends appeal to Asian energy investors

OTTAWA, Oct. 29 (UPI) — Asian investors remain keen on playing a role in the Canadian energy sector despite concerns over federal investment rules, Canada’s resource minister said. Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver spoke to The Globe and Mail newspaper about his recent investment discussions with Asian investors. “I certainly got no sense from anybody that they are turned off the prospect of investing in the Canadian industry,” he said in an interview published Monday. The Canadian government in December passed a rule prohibiting state-owned companies from taking on a majority stake in companies working on oil sands developments in Canada. Major Asian companies, like China National Offshore Oil Corp., are state-owned. Oliver said he noted a slowdown in Asian investments in Canada but attributed it to a sluggish economy and to the lack of export infrastructure along his country’s western coast. The Canadian government is supporting pipeline […]

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Mexican Cartel Retaliates Against Civilians

MEXICO CITY—Crime groups launched coordinated attacks on a regional electricity grid that left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity and several dead in a rare case of civilians being deliberately targeted in Mexico’s drug war. The attacks in Mexico’s southern Michoacán state on Sunday morning left some 420,000 residents, about 10% of the state’s population, without electricity, authorities said. The outages also happened in Morelia city, where an international film festival attended by the directors Quentin Tarantino and Alfonso Cuarón was under way. On Monday, as electricity mostly returned, the government didn’t specify how exactly the attacks shut down the system, only that armed men fired bullets and threw Molotov cocktails at electricity stations throughout the state, leaving 11 towns and cities without power. Officials confirmed that five people were killed in attacks, but didn’t say how or why. A resident and local media reports said a crime […]

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Truckers Tap Into Gas Boom

Operators of some of the largest U.S. truck fleets, including Lowe’s LOW +1.00% Lowe’s Cos. U.S.: NYSE $ 50.61 +0.50 +1.00% Oct. 29, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 8.81M U.S.: NYSE $ 50.61 0.00 0.00% Oct. 29, 2013 7:31 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 35,179 P/E Ratio 25.56 Market Cap $52.71 Billion Dividend Yield 1.42% Rev. per Employee $211,910 10/29/13 Truckers Tap Into U.S. Gas Boo… 08/30/13 Crystal Ball: Test Your Predic… 08/23/13 Sears Crucial Appliance Sales … More quote details and news » LOW in Your Value Your Change Short position Cos., Procter & Gamble Co. PG +1.43% Procter & Gamble Co. U.S.: NYSE $ 82.46 +1.16 +1.43% Oct. 29, 2013 4:01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 9.34M U.S.: NYSE $ 82.37 -0.09 -0.11% Oct. 29, 2013 6:48 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 149,701 P/E Ratio 19.97 Market Cap $220.99 Billion Dividend Yield 2.92% Rev. per Employee $699,446 […]

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Russia demands Ukraine payment, raising fears of new gas war

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom demanded Ukraine pay an overdue gas bill urgently on Tuesday, raising fears of a new "gas war" and increasing pressure on Kiev as it tries to build ties with Europe. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described the payment problems as critical, ahead of Kiev’s signing next month of agreements with the European Union which would mark a historic shift away from former imperial master Moscow. Using language that harked back to earlier spats in which Moscow cut off gas to Ukraine, hitting onward deliveries to Europe, Medvedev told Gazprom ( GAZP.MM ) CEO Alexei Miller Kiev had not taken the payments seriously enough in recent talks. "The (problems) exist and they are absolutely critical," he said at a government meeting. Miller said Ukraine had been given until October 1 to pay for natural gas deliveries in August, but no payment had yet […]

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Peak Oil May Keep Catastrophic Climate Change in Check

Enviroment Even as governments worldwide have largely failed to limit emissions of global warming gases, the decline of fossil fuel production may reduce those emissions significantly, experts said yesterday during a panel discussion at the Geological Society of America meeting. Conventional production of oil has been on a plateau since 2005, said James Murray, a professor of oceanography at the University of Washington, who chaired the panel. As production of conventional oil, which is far easier to get out of the ground, decreases, companies have turned to unconventional sources, such as those in deep water , tar sands or tight oil reserves, which have to be released by hydraulic fracturing. But those techniques tend to lead to production peaks that tail off quickly, Murray said. The panelists said these trends belie the high-end emission scenario from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). That scenario, known as RCP 8.5, […]

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Peak Energy: New Tubes Using Hydraulic Pistons Could Harness Ocean Waves for Energy

Inhabitat has a post on a new wave power design – New Tubes Using Hydraulic Pistons Could Harness Ocean Waves for Energy . The cylinders ride the peaks and troughs of waves, which spins concentric shafts working in pairs to push and pull hydraulic fluid (similar way to how a piston works). This double action then creates pressure which is stored in accumulators and released at a capped limit into a hydraulic motor. Etherington, who is an engineering graduate from Brunel University in London, got his inspiration for the device when he was kite surfing off the coast of Cumbria and he noticed that the waves rarely moved in a predictable fashion. Replicating the unpredictable conditions of the ocean was one of the main challenges when testing the device. Etherington had to use data from buoys moored in the Orkney Islands which were used to create suitable waves in […]

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Analysis: From Big Foot to Bluto, Gulf of Mexico bolstering U.S. as No. 1 in oil

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Reuters) – The Gulf of Mexico, stung by the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history in 2010 and then overshadowed by the onshore fracking boom, is on the verge of its biggest supply surge ever, adding to the American oil renaissance. Over the next three years, the Gulf is poised to deliver a slug of more than 700,000 barrels per day of new crude, reversing a decline in production and potentially rivaling shale hot spots like Texas’s Eagle Ford formation in terms of growth. The revival began this summer, when Royal Dutch Shell’s ( RDSa.L ) 100,000 barrels per day Olympus platform was towed out to sea 130 miles south of New Orleans – the first of seven new ultra-modern systems starting up through 2016. It weighs 120,000 tons, more than 200 Boeing 777 jumbo jets. The Gulf Of Mexico’s growth will bolster the United […]

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Storm batters southern Britain, hitting flights, trains and power

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s strongest storm in a decade battered southern regions on Monday, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations, cutting power lines and disrupting the travel plans of millions of commuters. Winds of up to 99 miles per hour (160 km per hour) lashed southern England and Wales in the early hours of Monday, shutting down rail services in some areas during rush hour. Toppled trees crushed cars, damaged properties and flooding made some roads impassable in southern England. Storms were are also expected to hit parts of the Netherlands later on Monday, the Dutch Meteorological Institute said, and Schiphol airport told passengers to expect cancellations. About 40,000 customers were left without power in one of the worst storms to hit England since the 1987 "Great Storm" which killed 18 people in Britain and felled around 15 million trees. A 14-year old boy was missing after being swept out […]

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Stung by scandal, South Korea weighs up cost of curbing nuclear power

SEOUL (Reuters) – It started with a few bogus safety certificates for cables shutting a handful of South Korean nuclear reactors. Now, the scandal has snowballed, with 100 people indicted and Seoul under pressure to rethink its reliance on nuclear power. A shift away from nuclear, which generates a third of South Korea’s electricity, could cost tens of billions of dollars a year by boosting imports of liquefied natural gas, oil or coal. Although helping calm safety concerns, it would also push the government into a politically sensitive debate over whether state utilities could pass on sharply higher power bills to households and companies. Gas, which makes up half of South Korea’s energy bill while accounting for only a fifth of its power, would likely be the main substitute for nuclear, as it is considered cleaner than coal and plants can be built more easily near cities. "If the […]

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WTI Drops From One-Week High; Goldman Cuts OPEC Outlook on Libya

West Texas Intermediate fell from the highest level in a week before U.S. government data forecast to show crude inventories rose to the most in four months in the country, the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures dropped as much as 0.5 percent in New York , declining for the first time in four days. Crude stockpiles climbed for a sixth week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a report from the Energy Information Administration tomorrow. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its 2013 estimate for production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, citing supply constraints in Libya. “Inventory builds in the U.S. are playing more of a part in what’s happening in the market,” said Jonathan Barratt , the chief executive officer of Barratt’s Bulletin in Sydney. “The WTI-Brent spread is starting to push out, and that’s got to do with Libya.” WTI for December delivery slid as […]

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North Dakota Oil Spill Spotlights Obama Delay on Rules

Three years after an oil pipeline rupture in Michigan spilled 843,000 gallons of sludge, government regulators still have not produced promised rules to compel operators to detect leaks. An oil spill in North Dakota last month and the continued debate over construction of TransCanada Corp. (TRP) ’s Keystone XL Pipeline have led to renewed criticism about the government’s inaction on pipeline safety. “It’s outrageous,” Rick Kessler, president of the Pipeline Safety Trust and a Washington lobbyist, said in an interview. “This is glacial. It’s incredibly frustrating, and there never is a straight answer about where the bottleneck is.” Pipeline safety, a little-noticed backwater of Washington policy making, has grown in attention and political importance in recent years as the boom in North Dakota and Texas oil production and the hydraulic fracturing revolution for natural gas means the U.S. pipeline network is both expanding and increasingly active. “As the U.S. […]

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Ethanol Tumbles Against Gasoline as Corn Declines

Ethanol tumbled, widening the discount to gasoline, as cheaper corn enabled distillers to boost production of the biofuel. The spread widened 7.38 cents to 79.99 cents a gallon, the biggest one-day expansion since Oct. 4. Pratt Energy said Oct. 24 that it restarted operations at a plant that was idle for more than five years. “There’s been news of plants coming back online,” said Will Babler, a broker at Atten Babler Risk Management in Galena, Illinois . “It seems like production is trending higher.” Denatured ethanol for November delivery fell 3 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $1.831 a gallon on the Chicago Board of Trade. Futures are down 16 percent this year. Gasoline for November delivery rose 4.38 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $2.6309 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange . The contract covers reformulated gasoline, made to be blended with ethanol before delivery to filling stations. […]

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Dart's John McGoldrick says British energy sector needs shale gas

LONDON, Oct. 28 (UPI) — The British energy sector would suffer without the complementary benefits of shale natural gas, Dart Energy Chief Executive John McGoldrick said. McGoldrick said renewable energy resources like wind power don’t provide the same type of feedstock or raw materials needed to fuel power plants as natural gas does, London’s Daily Telegraph reported. “The logic is very simple. Unless you have got a competitive energy market, a competitive feedstock market, then by definition you are going to be uncompetitive and you lose jobs,” he said. French energy company GDF Suez announced last week it would pay $12 million to Dart, an Australian company, to acquire a 25 percent stake in 13 onshore licenses in the Bowland shale gas reserve area. In June, the British Geological Survey estimated the Bowland formation, located near Lancashire in northwest England, contains 1.3 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas. The […]

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Dart’s John McGoldrick says British energy sector needs shale gas

LONDON, Oct. 28 (UPI) — The British energy sector would suffer without the complementary benefits of shale natural gas, Dart Energy Chief Executive John McGoldrick said. McGoldrick said renewable energy resources like wind power don’t provide the same type of feedstock or raw materials needed to fuel power plants as natural gas does, London’s Daily Telegraph reported. “The logic is very simple. Unless you have got a competitive energy market, a competitive feedstock market, then by definition you are going to be uncompetitive and you lose jobs,” he said. French energy company GDF Suez announced last week it would pay $12 million to Dart, an Australian company, to acquire a 25 percent stake in 13 onshore licenses in the Bowland shale gas reserve area. In June, the British Geological Survey estimated the Bowland formation, located near Lancashire in northwest England, contains 1.3 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas. The […]

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Average cost of gallon of gas in Missouri drops to $2.94

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) — U.S. gasoline prices stayed on a steady decline Monday with a national average cost of $3.28 per gallon, 7 cents cheaper than last week, the AAA reported. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was 26 cents less than a year ago, the report said. The highest average price in the country was $3.72 in California and the lowest, $2.94, was in Missouri. The Energy Information Administration, the analytical division of the U.S. Energy Department, said it expected a national average of $3.34 for the rest of the year. Refiners in the United States produce a winter blend of gasoline starting in September. It’s cheaper to produce than the summer blend, which requires extra processing because of environmental regulations. Jay Z defends deal with Barneys after fan furor over racism allegations Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr are getting a divorce Porn […]

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China wants to make shale work cheaper; one well costs $14.7 million

BEIJING, Oct. 28 (UPI) — Chinese energy companies are looking for ways to reduce the cost associated with shale natural gas operations, executives say. “We’re … considering cutting the costs by buying domestic drilling equipment [and] drilling wells in a large scale,” Ma Yongsheng, chief geologist for state-owned China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., was quoted as saying by the Platts energy news service Friday. Platts reported it costs approximately $14.7 million to drill one shale natural gas well in the country. Another executive, Jin Shumao, vice president of Chinese energy services company SPT Group, said the cost could be cut in half by the end of the decade. China’s shale reserves are considered more geologically complex than those in the United States, where it costs approximately $3.2 million to drill a shale natural gas well. The U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said last week China is the only […]

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Oil Slips Ahead of U.S. Fed Meeting; Brent-WTI Spread at $10.74/Bbl

Crude-oil futures fell in Asian trading hours Tuesday as markets cooled off after Monday’s surge following supply outages in Libya, and ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting this week. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at $98.44 a barrel at 0420 GMT, down 24 cents in the Globex electronic session. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange declined 45 cents to $109.16 a barrel. Brent crude had snapped a three-day losing streak to settle 2.5% higher in overnight floor trade on reports Libya’s crude-oil production has dropped further on labor unrest, but it resumed its decline Tuesday morning. The Brent-WTI spread is at $10.74 a barrel. “The Libya issue has been the main price driver, but the current fall has slightly offset yesterday’s surge,” Newedge Japan commodities sales manager Yusuke Seta said by phone. Political instability in the […]

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Deadly Storms Batter Britain, Mainland Europe

Authorities across Western Europe began a giant cleanup operation Monday after one of the biggest storms in a decade pummeled first England and Wales and later parts of the Continent, killing at least 10 people and causing widespread travel chaos and power outages. Hurricane-force winds swept southe+rn England and uprooted trees across the region. British police officials said a 17-year-old girl was killed after a tree fell on her house in Edenbridge in the southeast of the country. A man was killed when a tree fell on his car in Watford, north of London, and another man and a woman were found dead in one of three collapsed houses in west London after a falling tree caused a gas explosion. French state-owned television reported that a woman was swept into the sea by waves and later washed up on the beach. Three people were killed by falling trees in […]

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Natural Gas Settles 3.7% Lower at Three-Week Low on Warmer Forecast

–November gas posts biggest loss in four months ahead of Tuesday expiry –Early November weather forecasts turn warmer, imperiling demand –November gas settles at lowest level since Oct. 4; erases three-day rise (Adds cash-market prices) By David Bird NEW YORK–Natural-gas futures fell 3.7% Monday, the biggest one-day drop in four months, as forecasts for warmer early November temperatures signaled a weak start to the winter heating season. “The first week of November is looking a lot warmer than it did on Friday,” said Kyle Cooper, analyst at IAF Advisors in Houston. Forecasters now see temperatures turning warmer than previously expected on balance over the next two weeks in the key Midwest and Northeast markets. The extent and duration of above-normal temperatures will be greater than brief periods of modestly below-normal readings, according to private forecasters. Natural gas for November delivery, ahead of its expiration Tuesday, settled 3.7%, or 13.8 […]

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Inspectors Visit All but 2 of Syria’s Declared Chemical Sites

GENEVA — International inspectors have completed verification of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal at 21 of the 23 sites identified by the government, but they have been unable to visit the other two because they are in contested areas in Syria’s civil war, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a statement on Monday. The organization said Sunday that inspectors would complete destruction of equipment for mixing chemicals and filling weapons by the start of November, an important milestone. But no details are yet available on what kind of facilities are in the two sites inspectors have been unable to visit or the chances for gaining access to them, raising the prospect that Syria will miss some deadlines. Despite this hurdle, a senior State Department official said Monday that the disarmament process was generally on track and that there “was reason to be optimistic.” Among the positive […]

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Report: Syria on target to destroy chemical arms | Al Jazeera America

The inspectors have “confirmed the functional destruction of the production and mixing and filling capabilities at all the sites” inspected so far, Ban said. The U.N. leader stressed that the deadline should be met “a mere” 34 days after the 15-nation Security Council ordered the destruction of all of Syria’s chemical weapons. “In all of these activities the government of the Syrian Arab Republic has extended consistent, constructive cooperation,” Ban said. There are 22 OPCW experts and about 50 UN staff supervising the destruction program so far, the U.N. report said. The report said security “remains difficult and unpredictable” for the inspectors because of the 31-month-old war which the U.N. says has left well over 100,000 dead. Ban added the inspectors would go to the last sites “as soon as conditions permit.” The report did not say if the unsafe sites were in government or opposition territory. And the […]

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Report: Syria on target to destroy chemical arms | Al Jazeera America

The inspectors have “confirmed the functional destruction of the production and mixing and filling capabilities at all the sites” inspected so far, Ban said. The U.N. leader stressed that the deadline should be met “a mere” 34 days after the 15-nation Security Council ordered the destruction of all of Syria’s chemical weapons. “In all of these activities the government of the Syrian Arab Republic has extended consistent, constructive cooperation,” Ban said. There are 22 OPCW experts and about 50 UN staff supervising the destruction program so far, the U.N. report said. The report said security “remains difficult and unpredictable” for the inspectors because of the 31-month-old war which the U.N. says has left well over 100,000 dead. Ban added the inspectors would go to the last sites “as soon as conditions permit.” The report did not say if the unsafe sites were in government or opposition territory. And the […]

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Car bombs kill scores in Baghdad, in sign of crisis in Iraq

epa03916249 A Balinese man walks among the blazing coconut husks during a sacred ritual called ‘Mesabatan Api’ or fire fight at a temple in Tuban, Bali, Indonesia, 19 October 2013. During the ritual Balinese Hindu men took the blazing coconut husks barehanded, swinging and throwing them each other. Balinese believe that fire can destroy evil, and the ritual is aimed to get rid of the negative forces. EPA/MADE NAGI The latest attacks occurred just three days before Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is scheduled to arrive in Washington for meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill. At the top of his agenda is a request for more American help in the fight against the al-Qaeda afiliate, whose scope has grown to encompass both Iraq and Syria. “We need to increase the depth and width of our cooperation, to be more agile and reflect the seriousness of the […]

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Kenya: Locals Storm Tullow Oil Fields in Turkana

Tullow Oil has been forced to suspend operations at its two blocks in Turkana after locals stormed the facilities on Saturday. Two area Members of Parliament marshalled local residents to match to Tullow’s camps demanding for jobs for the locals and supply contracts for the communities. The affected are Block 10BB and Block 13T in Turkana East and Turkana South. Tullow Oil and Canada’s Africa Oil Corporation each have a 50 per cent working interest in the two blocks. Over 2000 Turkana residents matched into the two camps in an incident that saw some looting of Tullow properties. No one was injured during the skirmish, Tullow Oil officials said. Sources said the locals were seeking to chase away all the Tullow employees who are not locals and have them replaced with locals. Tullow estimates that out of the 1,700 employees at the two blocks, close to 900 are from […]

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New EIA Report, Production Per Rig  

All Tight Oil Jean Laherrere has pointed out a huge discrepancy in in the Permian data from the latest  EIA Drilling Productivity Report  that I posted Wednesday and what has been posted, also from EIA data, in other places. Here, below, is a graph first posted in May and re-posted many places since, from:  Outlook for shale gas and tight oil development in the U.S. This report was generated and posted by Adam Sieminski, an administrator with the EIA. Now compare that, the Permian data, with the chart in my post from Wednesday. That chart starts with production from 2007 and eyeballing the chart above the EIA has the Permian at about .2 million barrels per day 2007 and at just a tad over .5 million barrels per day at the beginning of this year. But the report that came out of the EIA Tuesday, link above, shows the […]

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Iran pledges 'new approach' to easing rift with U.N. watchdog

VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran’s deputy foreign minister pledged a "new approach" to resolving U.N. concerns about its nuclear program as he began talks on Monday on easing a deadlock over an investigation into suspicions of illicit nuclear bomb research by Tehran. Abbas Araqchi met U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano in Vienna, the first such high-level encounter since Iran’s election in June of a moderate president committed to improving its foreign relations after years of increasing confrontation. "It is very important for all of us that we can show concrete progress," Amano said, sitting across a table from Araqchi at International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna. "We think this is the time to take a new approach to resolving (questions) between Iran and the IAEA and look to the future for further cooperation in order to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program," Araqchi said. He gave […]

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Iran pledges ‘new approach’ to easing rift with U.N. watchdog

VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran’s deputy foreign minister pledged a "new approach" to resolving U.N. concerns about its nuclear program as he began talks on Monday on easing a deadlock over an investigation into suspicions of illicit nuclear bomb research by Tehran. Abbas Araqchi met U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano in Vienna, the first such high-level encounter since Iran’s election in June of a moderate president committed to improving its foreign relations after years of increasing confrontation. "It is very important for all of us that we can show concrete progress," Amano said, sitting across a table from Araqchi at International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna. "We think this is the time to take a new approach to resolving (questions) between Iran and the IAEA and look to the future for further cooperation in order to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program," Araqchi said. He gave […]

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Tech Talk – ten years is a long time to wait for power

Today the British Government are announcing the construction of the first new nuclear-powered electricity generating station in 20-years. The new plant, which will replace plants that will close will go up at Hinkley Point, and will be constructed by a French firm, with significant Chinese investment, and with a promised subsidy from the Government. It won’t, however, start producing electricity until 2023, and even then only if everything goes well. Euan Mearns has been pointing out some of the problems that the country faces as it closes existing power stations in order to meet environmental directives from the EU. The long-term supply of power at an affordable price is being increasingly challenged as the margin between demand and available supply shrinks. The leader of the Labor Party is promising that prices will be fixed by edict, an action that is unlikely to encourage investment at a time when it […]

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Tech Talk – ten years is a long time to wait for power

Today the British Government are announcing the construction of the first new nuclear-powered electricity generating station in 20-years. The new plant, which will replace plants that will close will go up at Hinkley Point, and will be constructed by a French firm, with significant Chinese investment, and with a promised subsidy from the Government. It won’t, however, start producing electricity until 2023, and even then only if everything goes well. Euan Mearns has been pointing out some of the problems that the country faces as it closes existing power stations in order to meet environmental directives from the EU. The long-term supply of power at an affordable price is being increasingly challenged as the margin between demand and available supply shrinks. The leader of the Labor Party is promising that prices will be fixed by edict, an action that is unlikely to encourage investment at a time when it […]

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UK North Sea Oil Production Decline

The streets of Aberdeen are lined with Range Rovers, Porsches and Audis. New commercial property and residential developments are popping up all over and around the city. It is boom time in Europe’s oil capital. And yet UK North Sea oil production is in free fall, despite record high expenditure. Figure 1 In the period 1999 to 2008, sharply rising oil price more than outweighed plummeting production and the total value of that production kept rising. But with oil price now stabilised and range bound $100-$120 / barrel, a continued fall in production will begin to drag the value of that production downwards as capital and operating costs go up. Data from the BP statistical review of World Energy 2013 . Click on all charts to get a larger copy. Oil Field Decline and Decline Rates Production from most oil fields begins to decline within a few years of […]

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Picojoule: Who Killed The Electric Gas Tank?

A few months from now, or perhaps 5-10 years from now, we will know whether or not EEStor can make good on its promise to sell a electrical storage device capable of propelling a reasonably-sized automobile down a freeway for a couple hundred miles before needing a recharge. There are some indications that they are making progress and that this could happen, but there are many reasons to remain skeptical. In this post, I will wade into these waters — and then get out quickly. Will EEStor revolutionize motor transportation and more? Will it even work? The human quest for energy is an interesting topic. Mostly by burning things, we have transformed our relationship with the planet and each other. It has been said that we are addicted to oil, but it is more the case that we are addicted to what harnessed energy can do. As it is […]

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WTI Crude Fluctuates Before U.S. Industrial Output Data

West Texas Intermediate swung between gains and losses before U.S. economic data that may signal when the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin scaling back monetary stimulus in the world’s biggest crude consumer. Futures fluctuated in New York after falling 2.9 percent last week, the most in five weeks. A series of U.S. government data is due this week, including industrial production figures that are forecast to show output rose in September. Iraq ’s crude exports last month dropped to 62.1 million barrels amid maintenance, according to an oil ministry spokesman. “There’s a lot of economic data this week,” said Ric Spooner, a chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. “Weaker data will be bad news for the oil market. There is resistance at the 200-day moving average at about $98.70, and support” at $95, he said. WTI for December delivery was at $97.55 a barrel in electronic trading […]

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Iran shuts down paper, cites anti-Islamic article

AP Photo TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has shut down a reformist newspaper over an article that allegedly undermined Islamic values. State TV reported Monday that Iran’s media supervisory body banned the daily Bahar, citing a law authorizing media closures over articles deemed to violate Islamic values or insult Islam. Bahar published an op-ed article on Wednesday that expressed doubts the Prophet Muhammad had appointed a successor – a statement that contradicts the beliefs of Shiite Muslims. Shiite Muslims believe Muhammad designated Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib, his son-in-law, as the leader of the Islamic society. Last week, Bahar’s chief editors temporarily shut the publication down for two weeks, possibly in an effort to avoid the ban. Since 2000, Iran’s judiciary has shut down more than 120 pro-reform newspapers and jailed dozens of editors and writers. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not […]

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Japan nuke agency urges drastic steps at Fukushima

AP Photo TOKYO (AP) — In their first meeting since Japan created a new, more independent nuclear agency 13 months ago, the top regulator on Monday urged the head of the utility that runs the crippled Fukushima plant to take “drastic steps” to mitigate a spate of mishaps at the complex. Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka summoned Tokyo Electric Power Co. President Naomi Hirose to his office to express concerns about growing problems at the plant, including human errors that have led to a series of leaks of contaminated water used to cool the damaged reactors. Human error is mostly to blame for the recent mishaps, as workers deal with a string of crises. Tanaka said earlier this month the repeated “silly mistakes” are a sign of declining morale and sense of responsibility. TEPCO acknowledged a systemic problem in a recent report: Workers under tight deadlines tend to […]

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Oil Futures Mixed Ahead of EIA Report, FOMC Meeting

Crude-oil futures were mixed in a muted session on Monday ahead of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly inventory report and the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday. “There’s a lack of strong driving factors from the Middle East or the U.S. after the government shutdown ended, so the oil market is back to focussing on fundamentals cues, which are likely to come from the EIA on Wednesday,” said Singapore-based Phillip Futures analyst, Tan Chee Tat. Mr. Tan said West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices are likely to test the $100 a barrel level by the second week of November as the seasonal maintenance of U.S. refineries come to an end. High stockpiles, which have weighed on prices recently, are likely to fall as production picks up, he added. “We’ve seen an unusual widening in the Brent-WTI spread recently but the spread is likely to […]

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Petrobras Weighs New Mechanism to Price Gasoline, Diesel

RIO DE JANEIRO—Brazil’s state-run oil and gas company, Petróleo Brasileiro SA, PETR4.BR +1.37% Petroleo Brasileiro S/A Pref Brazil: Bovespa R$ 18.49 +0.25 +1.37% Oct. 25, 2013 5:08 pm Volume : 30.11M P/E Ratio 8.82 Market Cap R$232.34 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee R$3,448,640 10/25/13 Petrobras Weighs New Mechanism… 10/22/13 Brazil Seen Having to Modify O… 10/22/13 Chinese Hunt for Oil in Brazil… More quote details and news » PETR4.BR in Your Value Your Change Short position is taking steps to stem huge losses on sales of gasoline and diesel that have raised questions about its ability to implement a huge investment program. On Friday, the company’s chief executive, Maria das Graças Silva Foster, wrote in a letter to shareholders that the board of directors has been presented with a new way of calculating prices that will have a “beneficial effect” in terms of bringing domestic fuel prices […]

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How Will Russia Increase Crude-Oil Exports to China Given Flat Production?

By Eric Yep Russia is planning to more than triple crude-oil exports to China over the next decade, but it doesn’t look set to increase production proportionally. How will it manage this? The two countries have signed agreements that would increase the amount of oil flowing from Russia to China by around 700,000 barrels a day from 300,000 barrels a day currently, prompting oil watchers to ask where the additional supply will come from. Russia may be the world’s biggest oil and gas producer for now, but the U.S. is overtaking it , according to the International Energy Agency. And while Russia produced more oil last year, the U.S. will likely surpass it this year or next, while Saudi Arabia is still the top producer. Most of the oil fields in Russia’s biggest production center, Western Siberia, which accounts for around two-thirds of its output, are more than three […]

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Syria Meets Deadline for Submitting Destruction Plan for Chemical Weapons

GENEVA — Syria submitted a formal declaration of its chemical weapons program and its plans for destroying its arsenal three days ahead of the deadline, the international chemical weapons watchdog said Sunday. The watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons , which has been charged with monitoring and destroying Syria’s chemical weapons program, said that it had received the Syrian submission on Thursday and that the agency’s Executive Council would review the declaration’s “general plan of destruction” by Nov. 15. It was not immediately clear, however, whether the declaration’s listing of chemical weapons sites was exhaustive, an important test of President Bashar al-Assad’s willingness to cooperate with the program to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons infrastructure and arsenal. Saying that such declarations are confidential, the chemical weapons agency declined to disclose or discuss the contents of the Syrian document. American officials said in September that Syria’s chemical weapons […]

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Wave of Car Bombs Kills Dozens in Baghdad

BAGHDAD — Ten car bombs struck Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, on Sunday morning, all exploding within 40 minutes. Forty-one civilians were killed and more than 100 others were wounded, according to security and medical officials. Ambulances rushed to hospitals and security forces tightened measures around checkpoints to search each passing car, creating a traffic jam. Most of the bombings targeted public markets and bus stations. In Huriya, a neighborhood in the northwestern part of Baghdad, 5 people were killed and 12 were wounded when a bomb exploded in a parked car near a public market. In Abu Dshir in southern Baghdad, another bomb in a parked car went off near a public market, killing 6 civilians and wounding 13 others. Other car bombs struck the districts of Saba al-Bor, Mashtal, Baladiyat, Ur, Sha’ab, Bayaa and Nahrawan, where two bombs exploded. “I don’t remember how I stopped […]

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Car bombs kill scores in Baghdad, in sign of crisis in Iraq

The bloody campaign has virtually erased the security gains made in the past five years. More than 5,300 Iraqis have been killed this year. Sunday’s attacks occurred just three days before Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is scheduled to arrive in Washington, where he will take part in meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill. At the top of his agenda is a request for more U.S. help in the fight against the al-Qaeda affiliate, whose scope has grown to encompass neighboring Syria as well. “We need to increase the depth and width of our cooperation, to be more agile and reflect the seriousness of the situation in Iraq,” Iraq’s ambassador to Washington, Lukman Faily, said in a telephone interview. “In our discussions, we will highlight the urgent need for the approval and quick delivery of military sales.” At least 40 people died Sunday in attacks on […]

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Arctic temperatures at 44,000-year high due to greenhouse gases

The average summer temperatures in the eastern Canadian Arctic are the highest they have been in any previous century in the past 44,000 years — and perhaps the highest in 120,000 years — reflecting what scientists call an unprecedented warming of the region due to climate change, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder. “This study really says the warming we are seeing is outside any kind of known natural variability, and it has to be due to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” Gifford Miller, a study leader, said in a joint statement from the school and the publisher of the journal Geophysical Researcher Letters , which published the findings this week. The study, according to the statement, is the first direct evidence that the present warmth in the Canadian Arctic exceeds the peak warmth there when Earth’s last glacial period ended about 11,700 […]

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World Energy Congress report dismisses fears of peak oil  

Fossil fuels will continue to dominate the energy sector for the foreseeable future, after a report issued by the World Energy Council made it clear that fears expressed in respect of so-called “peak oil” were unlikely to be realized within the next forty years at least. Following the recent World Energy Congress in Daegu, Korea, Christoph Frei, Secretary General of the WEC said that the chances of the world running out of oil were slim, citing the fact that global reserves of the engineering resource were 25 percent higher than in 1993 while production has increased by 20 percent. According to Canada’s Financial Post, the WEC report demonstrates two potential scenarios for the energy industry, both of which include the implementation of renewable sources, and fossil fuels remain the dominant factor in both. “Our latest World Energy Resources report shows that ‘peak oil’ has moved into a far future. […]

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Lebanon says gas, oil reserves may be higher than thought

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said new estimates for nearly half of Lebanese waters suggested the country’s reserves of natural gas and oil might be larger than previously thought. "The current estimate, under a probability of 50 percent, for almost 45 percent of our waters has reached 95.9 trillion cubic feet of gas and 865 million barrels of oil," he said. The estimates are based on seismic surveys conducted ahead of an auction for exploration rights which has already been delayed by several months by a political stalemate in Lebanon. As Lebanon prepares to move toward exploring and developing its offshore oil and gas resources, Bassil said he hoped that hydrocarbon revenues would give the country "political, economic and financial independence". "This definitely needs more exploration and drilling activities to get more precise figures, but this is an indication that with more work surveys and analyses, […]

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In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling New Cars  

In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling New Cars A mechanic repairs a bike at Calmera bike shop in Madrid in September. As car sales slump across Europe, bicycle sales in Spain are outpacing cars — a trend seen across much of the Continent. Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images We know that Europeans love their bicycles — think or . Denmark specifically for cyclists. Indeed, earlier this month, , which has long had a love affair with cars, is embracing the bicycle: For the first time on record, Lauren noted, bicycles outsold cars in the country. But it’s becoming a Continent-wide phenomenon. More bikes were sold in than cars — for the first time since World War II. This prompted us to look at the figures across the 27 member states of the European Union for both and . New-car registrations for Cyprus and Malta weren’t available, so we […]

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Senior Iran lawmaker says 20 percent uranium enrichment continuing

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran has not halted its most sensitive uranium enrichment work, a senior Iranian parliamentarian said, contradicting a statement by another lawmaker last week. Diplomats accredited to the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday they had no information to substantiate the report that Tehran had halted enrichment of uranium to 20 percent. Israel also dismissed the original report as "irrelevant". Any halt of enrichment would be a big surprise, as Western experts believe Iran would want to use such activity as a bargaining chip to win relief from international sanctions. An end to Iran’s higher-grade enrichment of uranium is a main demand of world powers negotiating with Tehran over its disputed nuclear work. Enriching uranium to 20 percent is sensitive as it is a relatively short technical step to increase that to the 90 percent needed for making a nuclear weapon. "Enrichment to 20 percent is continuing," […]

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Iranian capital takes down some anti-American posters

DUBAI (Reuters) – Tehran authorities have taken down some anti-American posters, amid signs Iran is seeking better relations with the United States as the two sides prepare to hold talks over its nuclear program. A Tehran municipal official said some anti-American billboards had been put up illegally and had been taken down, state news agency IRNA said on Saturday. "In an arbitrary move, without the knowledge or confirmation of the municipality, one of the cultural institutes installed advertising billboards," said spokesman Hadi Ayyazi. Ayyazi did not say which posters had been taken down. According to IRNA, new anti-American posters were put up in busy Tehran thoroughfares since last week, ahead of the November 4 anniversary of the 1979 seizure of hostages in the U.S. Embassy. One depicted an Iranian negotiator sitting at a table with a U.S. official who is wearing a suit jacket but also army trousers and […]

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