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Why Nuclear Rules Scare Foreign Companies

India wants to boost its nuclear power-generation by more than ten times over the next two decades to cut dependence on imported fossil fuels, but there’s one problem: global companies don’t want to sell India the equipment it needs to run nuclear power-plants under existing rules. Foreign equipment-makers are worried about an Indian law, passed in 2010, which would make them liable to pay compensation in the event of an accident, says Dipankar Bandyopadhyay, a Mumbai-based partner at Indian law firm Verus, and one of the few lawyers in the country who specialize in India’s nuclear liability law. Mr. Bandyopadhyay says that in most other countries, if there is a nuclear accident, the damages are borne only by the company which runs the nuclear plant, not companies which supplied equipment to the plant. Still, given the large size of India’s market for nuclear power, some equipment-makers are negotiating with […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China Releases Blueprint for Adapting to Climate Change

China issued its first nation-wide blueprint for adapting to climate change, as governments around the world shift their efforts from focusing solely on curbing global warming to minimizing its impact on people and the environment. “Addressing climate change isn’t only about reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, it’s also about taking initiative on adaptation,” the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning agency, said in a report posted to its website. The agency calculated that climate change has cost China more than 200 billion yuan ($32.9 billion) since 1990. In the same period, more than 2,000 people have died here because of extreme weather-related disasters such as floods, droughts, typhoons and storms, it said. “China isn’t only the world’s largest carbon-dioxide emitter but also a vulnerable country that suffers a lot […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China's 2014 growth in focus as leaders met on reform plans

China’s leaders began mapping out their economic and reform plans for 2014 behind closed doors on Tuesday, and would have drawn confidence from data showing the economy has sustained momentum from a mid-year pick-up into the final quarter. Even as the government’s 7.5 percent growth target for this year looks increasingly secure, some advisors think it may not issue a specific target for 2014 in order to have more room to pursue reforms intended to lead to more sustainable growth. The government has repeatedly said it has the appetite to overhaul the world’s second-largest economy, and last month outlined an ambitious agenda for the next decade, but it has also shown a distaste for growth slowing towards 7 percent. Top government think tanks, which make policy proposals, were still debating whether the growth target should be cut to 7 percent in 2014 from this year’s 7.5 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s 2014 growth in focus as leaders met on reform plans

China’s leaders began mapping out their economic and reform plans for 2014 behind closed doors on Tuesday, and would have drawn confidence from data showing the economy has sustained momentum from a mid-year pick-up into the final quarter. Even as the government’s 7.5 percent growth target for this year looks increasingly secure, some advisors think it may not issue a specific target for 2014 in order to have more room to pursue reforms intended to lead to more sustainable growth. The government has repeatedly said it has the appetite to overhaul the world’s second-largest economy, and last month outlined an ambitious agenda for the next decade, but it has also shown a distaste for growth slowing towards 7 percent. Top government think tanks, which make policy proposals, were still debating whether the growth target should be cut to 7 percent in 2014 from this year’s 7.5 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Peak oil action plan cuts risk in Meander Valley

The Meander Valley Council is implementing the first Local Government Peak Oil Action Plan in Tasmania. The Council has ratified its oil risk action plan, and the report is being picked up as a template by other local government councils in the state. Meander Valley mayor, Craig Perkins says the blueprint identifies opportunities for the Council, local businesses and communities to take action to reduce exposure to rising fuel costs. Craig Perkins says the valley’s dispersed rural communities and businesses and some Council services are very vulnerable to changes in the price and availability of fuel. “There are different views in the community about where oil vulnerability goes, or doesn’t go. “But one thing we do know is that if the price of oil continues to rise that poses risks for us as a council and risks for the community […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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U.S. Retail Gasoline Falls Second Week as Refinery Runs Rise

U.S. retail gasoline declined for a second week, led by a price drop in the Rocky Mountain region, as refiners returned from maintenance. Regular, unleaded gasoline at filling stations averaged $3.269 a gallon in the seven days through yesterday, down 0.3 cents from a week earlier, the Energy Information Administration said on its website. Prices are 3.7 percent below year-earlier levels. The biggest drop was in the Rocky Mountains , where the motor fuel fell 3.6 cents to $3.145. U.S. pump prices are at a three-year low for this time of year as refiners take advantage of cheaper domestic crude supplies. Gasoline slid 2.1 cents the previous week as refiners produced a record seasonal amount of the fuel as they increased operations after maintenance. “We could be looking at a couple pennies of relief by the time the next report comes around,” James Williams , the president of energy […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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AAA: Great Lakes experiences 'wild ride' on gasoline prices

Though most retail gasoline prices in the United States are steady, the Great Lakes region may experience a high degree of volatility, AAA said Monday. AAA reports a national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline of $3.26, unchanged from the same time last week but 7 cents more expensive than one month ago. For the Great Lakes region, however, prices experienced more volatility. AAA said the state average Monday in Ohio was $3.24 per gallon, 10 cents more expensive than the same time last week and 20 cents more expensive than one month ago. Michael Green, a spokesman for AAA, said the Great Lakes region can often “go on a wild ride” before settling back near the national average. “Averages in the Great Lakes region change very quickly because many of the local gas stations are owned by a few major […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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AAA: Great Lakes experiences ‘wild ride’ on gasoline prices

Though most retail gasoline prices in the United States are steady, the Great Lakes region may experience a high degree of volatility, AAA said Monday. AAA reports a national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline of $3.26, unchanged from the same time last week but 7 cents more expensive than one month ago. For the Great Lakes region, however, prices experienced more volatility. AAA said the state average Monday in Ohio was $3.24 per gallon, 10 cents more expensive than the same time last week and 20 cents more expensive than one month ago. Michael Green, a spokesman for AAA, said the Great Lakes region can often “go on a wild ride” before settling back near the national average. “Averages in the Great Lakes region change very quickly because many of the local gas stations are owned by a few major […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EIA Shale Oil Drilling Productivity Report

The new EIA Drilling Productivity Report  has just been published with their shale oil production and prediction numbers out through January 2014. I have discovered something very strange about their numbers. But first here is the Bakken data. I have shortened the time frame to just two years in order to better show what is happening. I have plotted what the EIA reported last month along with what they reported in this last report. The data is in barrels per day. There was extremely little revision in the data from the report last month. And now Eagle Ford Production in barrels per day. Eagle Ford was revised downward and like the data, the revisions were extremely linear. But the dead give away was when I plotted the percent change of from month to month. The last eight months show almost the exact rate of change, about 2.5 percent increase […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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America, The Energy Exporter

Bolstering North American energy infrastructure will solidify the United States as an energy exporter by the end of this decade. It is time to start the conversation about changing U.S. laws to allow exporting of American crude oil. U.S. Government estimates released this month show the United States producing 25 million barrels of oil equivalent a day of natural gas and oil in 2013 surpassing Russia which produces 22 million barrels a day. The U.S. already took the lead in natural gas production in 2012 passing Russia for the first time since 1982. The U.S. is leading because of development the Bakken in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford in Texas. North American energy self-sufficiency is within reach, but only if advancements such as horizontal drilling are matched by improvements to North American energy infrastructure such as its pipeline, railway and seaborne transportation. There are two obstacles keeping the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple