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California Stretched by Worsening Drought

Record-low precipitation in 2013 has worsened California’s drought, draining reservoirs, forcing farmers to keep fallow thousands of acres of fields and leaving some ski resorts high and dry during the busy holiday season. Urban and agricultural customers, including Southern California’s huge Metropolitan Water District, have been told by the state to expect to receive this year, on average, just 5% of the water they historically request, after a year in which rainfall totals hit record lows in many parts of the state. Last year, customers received 35% of requested supply, on average. It is also mobilizing emergency drought plans to convey water from places that have more abundant supplies to those in need.A drought emergency could be called by Gov. Jerry Brown early in the new year, officials said, following an unusually dry start to the state’s rainy season—which usually begins in late October—in addition to two […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Bakken Crude Found More Dangerous to Ship Than Other Oil

Safety rules will probably be tightened on crude oil shipments from North Dakota following a string of railway explosions, threatening to damp an energy boom that has boosted the region’s economy. U.S. regulators issued a safety alert after a train carrying oil crashed and caught fire earlier this week in North Dakota, where surging production has helped lead a renaissance in domestic energy and driven the state’s unemployment rate to the nation’s lowest. The type of oil pumped from the shale formations of North Dakota may be more flammable and therefore more dangerous to ship by rail than crude from other areas, the Transportation Department said in the alert. Regulators are considering imposing tougher rules on railcar construction, among other things, potentially raising the costs of moving the crude to market. Pipelines could be affected as well. “Regulators have to take heed that anything they do is going to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Canadian Crudes Jump on Concern Over Cold Weather Cutting Supply

Canadian crudes jumped on the spot market on concern that frigid temperatures will affect northern production and transportation. Temperatures in Fort McMurray, Alberta , where the bulk of Canadian oil-sands production is centered, dropped to minus 38 degrees Celsius (minus 36.4 Fahrenheit) late yesterday, according to The Weather Network. “There is no doubt that the cold weather is impacting operations up there,” said Andy Lipow , president of Houston-based Lipow Oil Associates LLC. “The market may be sensing that there is going to be some reduction in supplies.” Western Canadian Select heavy oil for February delivery reached the strongest level in five months, narrowing its discount to West Texas Intermediate oil by $3.90 a barrel to $19.85, according to Calgary oil broker Net Energy Inc. Contracts for March and second-quarter delivery also gained at least $2 a barrel. “Anything below minus 30 would probably be a threshold,” said Mike […]

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UK braced for flooding as high tides peak

A man speaks on the phone while standing in knee-deep flood water 3 January 2014 Last updated at 04:02 Severe flooding is expected in parts of the UK as high tides combine with heavy rain and strong winds later. The Environment Agency has issued 21 severe flood warnings – which mean "danger to life" – affecting south-west England, Gloucestershire and Wales. The Met Office has warned of flooding in Scotland and Northern Ireland. On Thursday, Environment Minister Owen Paterson said "exceptional weather" would hit the UK on Friday and over the weekend. Many of the severe flood warnings relate to the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, with the highest risk of flooding expected for two to four hours either side of Friday morning’s high tides. High water is expected at 05:42 GMT at Penzance, 06:54 at Plymouth, 07:05 at Barnstaple and 07:57 at Weymouth in Dorset. Waves more than […]

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Beijing to control vehicle pollution

Beijing will extend its air quality monitoring network with more stations and focus on vehicles with high emission, confirmed the city environmental authority Friday. These stations will be along the fifth and sixth ring roads and other highways heading into the urban areas, the main routes of heavy diesel vehicles, said Zhang Dawei, director of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center. Heavy diesel vehicles only comprise about five percent of Beijing’s traffic but spew out about fifty percent of the city’s nitric oxide. The new stations will help environmental authorities understand high emission vehicle pollution, said Zhang. Beijing has 35 air monitoring stations measuring the city’s six main pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, PM10 and PM2.5. Beijing reported 58 days of heavy pollution last year, compared with 176 days of excellent or fairly good air. Related: Beijing PM 2.5 reading fails national standard BEIJING, Jan. […]

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China demands accuracy of economic census data

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli on Friday said that accuracy is key for the data collected in the ongoing third national economic census. Zhang said that data collectors must stick to independent surveys to ensure that no false data are reported. "The third national economic census is a significant survey of the whole society and national economy," Zhang said, adding that the survey will be of practical use for the nation’s efforts to comprehensively push forward reforms, accelerate the transformation of the economic development pattern, improve people’s livelihoods, and boost sustainable development. Accuracy is being emphasized because the data will provide an important basis for policymakers in making scientific decisions for both the Party and the country, Zhang said during his inspection of census work in the capital city of Beijing. The census, launched on Wednesday, is designed to complete a database covering all […]

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PMI easing reflects reforms slowing GDP

China’s manufacturing activities in private and export-oriented companies grew in December at the slowest pace in three months, the latest evidence that structural reforms have slowed China’s economic growth, a survey showed yesterday. The HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures operating conditions in largely private companies, fell slightly to 50.5 from November’s 50.8, according to HSBC Holdings Plc. The reading was flat from a flash reading released on December 16. A reading above 50 means expansion. Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC, said the decline was mainly due to slower output growth, but a steady increase of new orders kept the PMI in the expansion territory for the fifth consecutive months. “The recovering momentum since August 2013 is continuing into 2014, in our view,” said Qu. “With inflation still benign, we expect the current monetary and fiscal policy to remain […]

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China’s Tianjin to begin restricting car population, Xinhua says

China’s northern Tianjin municipality will begin restricting its car population next year to control traffic congestion and air pollution, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Only 100,000 new license plates will be issued in Tianjin next year, of which 60,000 will be distributed by lottery and the rest auctioned off for a minimum bid of ¥10,000 (RM5410) each, according to Xinhua. Government departments will be banned from buying new official cars and all proceeds from the auctions will go to support public transportation, Xinhua reported, citing a plan approved by the Tianjin government. The city of 14 million, located about 111 kilometres (69 miles) from Beijing, follows the capital, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Guiyang in imposing vehicle quotas. […]

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Reliance Industries To Up Output from India's Richest Gas Deposit

Reliance Industries Ltd. will raise natural gas output from a new well in India’s richest gas deposit from this month, which could help it to reverse months of declining output. The company is expecting to add between 1.5-2 million metric standard cubic metres a day (MMSCMD) by this month from its current output level of around 12 MMSCMD. The additional output will come from the well located in MA field in the east coast Krishna-Godavri D 6 block, a company spokesman told The Wall Street Journal on Friday. Production in the east coast KG D-6 block has declined from around 61 MMSCMD in 2010, he said. Reliance says the decline in natural gas output from the east coast block is due to geological complexities. Any additional natural gas output would be welcomed by India, which imports nearly 75% of its energy needs to feed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Reliance Industries To Up Output from India’s Richest Gas Deposit

Reliance Industries Ltd. will raise natural gas output from a new well in India’s richest gas deposit from this month, which could help it to reverse months of declining output. The company is expecting to add between 1.5-2 million metric standard cubic metres a day (MMSCMD) by this month from its current output level of around 12 MMSCMD. The additional output will come from the well located in MA field in the east coast Krishna-Godavri D 6 block, a company spokesman told The Wall Street Journal on Friday. Production in the east coast KG D-6 block has declined from around 61 MMSCMD in 2010, he said. Reliance says the decline in natural gas output from the east coast block is due to geological complexities. Any additional natural gas output would be welcomed by India, which imports nearly 75% of its energy needs to feed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple