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California's Brown Hears Fracking Gripes

In a year when California Democrats are worried about motivating their voters, Gov. Jerry Brown heard another unwelcome message Saturday: Some Democratic activists are bristling over his administration’s policies on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Appearing at a state Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles, Brown found himself forced to speak over a noisy group of sign-waving protesters in his first major campaign speech since formally declaring his candidacy last month. "Just listen a moment," Brown pleaded at one point, as the protesters bellowed "No fracking" and waved "Another Democrat Against Fracking" signs just steps from the podium where he was speaking. State Democratic conventions can be boisterous gatherings, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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California’s Brown Hears Fracking Gripes

In a year when California Democrats are worried about motivating their voters, Gov. Jerry Brown heard another unwelcome message Saturday: Some Democratic activists are bristling over his administration’s policies on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Appearing at a state Democratic Party convention in Los Angeles, Brown found himself forced to speak over a noisy group of sign-waving protesters in his first major campaign speech since formally declaring his candidacy last month. "Just listen a moment," Brown pleaded at one point, as the protesters bellowed "No fracking" and waved "Another Democrat Against Fracking" signs just steps from the podium where he was speaking. State Democratic conventions can be boisterous gatherings, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Scientists: Test West Coast for Fukushima radiation

Very low levels of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster likely will reach ocean waters along the U.S. West Coast next month, scientists are reporting. Current models predict that the radiation will be at extremely low levels that won’t harm humans or the environment, said Ken Buesseler, a chemical oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who presented research on the issue last week. But Buesseler and other scientists are calling for more monitoring. No federal agency currently samples Pacific Coast seawater for radiation, he said. "I’m not trying to be alarmist," Buesseler said. "We can make predictions, we can do models. But unless you have results, how will we know it’s safe?" The […]

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Canadian Oil-Sands Producer Bedeviled by Mystery Leaks

  Nearly a year after unexplained leaks began to surface at one of For Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.’s main oil-sands production sites, the company remains haunted by the slow-motion spill. In the latest setback for the company, the Alberta Energy Regulator has turned down its application to resume steaming operations in affected area, known as Primrose, which sits on a military base in northern Alberta. “The AER determined that it was premature to approve this application, in lights of the ongoing investigation into the leaks at Primrose,” said Bob Curren, a spokesman for the province’s chief energy regulator. The AER’s decision came on Friday, just a day after CNRL chief executive Steve Laut told financial analysts the issue was “totally solvable” and that the Calgary-based company hoped to restart steaming in the impacted area “in the March-April time frame,” pending regulatory approval. The mysterious subterranean leaks of oily water, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Titans in Russia Fear New Front in Ukraine Crisis

Russian oligarchs are facing the prospect of economic fallout from the crisis. Credit Uriel Sinai for The New York Times MOSCOW — When Vladimir V. Putin returned to the Russian presidency in 2012, one of the first messages he sent to his political elite, many of them heads of banks and large corporations, was that the times had changed: Owning assets outside Russia makes you too vulnerable to moves by foreign governments, he told them. It is time to bring your wealth home. Nearly two years later, those words seem almost prophetic. After a week of escalating tensions between Russia and the United States, it has become clear that the conflict over Ukraine will move to the battlefield of finance. Those same business titans are now contemplating the damage that the crisis could inflict on Russia’s economy. Twenty years into the project […]

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London warns utilities against exploiting Ukrainian crisis

British utility companies shouldn’t use the crisis over Ukraine as an excuse to raise consumer energy prices, British Energy Secretary Ed Davey said. European consumers are wary of a repeat of a 2009 gas contract dispute between Ukraine and Russian energy company Gazprom that resulted in a brief supply disruption. With Russia frustrated with recent political developments in Ukraine, Davey warned utility companies against raising prices in response to the crisis. "Companies tend to buy their gas forwardly, 18 months in advance," he was quoted by the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph as saying Sunday. "So they shouldn’t be using [the Ukrainian crisis] as an excuse to put up people’s prices." European consumers get about a quarter of their gas needs met by Russia. Most of that runs through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine. Davey said there was an increase in oil and […]

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Oil Falls on Weak China Data

Crude-oil futures fell in Asian trading hours Monday on weak Chinese trade data and a drop in the country’s oil imports in February. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at $102.34 a barrel at 0537 GMT–down $0.24 in the Globex electronic session. April Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.56 to $108.44 a barrel. China’s exports contracted unexpectedly by 18.1% on year in February after 10.6% growth in January–although some market participants attributed this to the Lunar New Year holidays. China’s total oil and oil product imports also fell in February by 13% on month to 6.03 million barrels a day but was 7% higher on year. While crude-oil imports eased after hitting records in January oil-product imports posted a much sharper drop on softer demand. Crude-oil imports in China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, are supported by […]

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WTI Oil Falls as China Export Drop Signals Slower Growth

West Texas Intermediate and Brent crudes fell for the first time in three days after exports from China unexpectedly shrank, stoking speculation that the world’s second-largest oil consumer may miss economic growth targets. Futures lost as much as 1.5 percent in New York . China’s overseas shipments declined by 18.1 percent in February from a year earlier, the biggest drop since August 2009, the General Administration of Customs reported on March 8. A median 7.5 percent increase was projected in a Bloomberg News survey of 45 economists. WTI rose 1 percent on March 7, the most in four days, as hedge funds increased bullish bets. “Falling Chinese exports could be seen as sign of a slowing global economy,” said Carsten Fritsch , an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt . While the data has “spooked the oil market,” the Chinese economy is still forecast to expand by 7.3 percent […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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West Tries to Loosen Russia's Gas Grip

Western officials are scrambling to loosen Russia’s energy stranglehold on Ukraine, the latest sign of growing pressure on Moscow to end the crisis. The options being considered by officials from Brussels to Washington include larger exports of U.S.-made natural gas, reversing the flow of natural gas through pipelines from Western Europe back into Ukraine, and accelerating plans across Europe to buy more energy from countries other than Russia. "If no solution to this can be found," European countries will "recast their approach to energy and economic links with Russia over time," U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said Sunday. Western officials also have threatened sanctions against Russia if the Kremlin continues its occupation of the Crimea region of Ukraine. The threats have failed so far, with Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring his support Sunday for Crimea’s move to secede from Ukraine. The region could join Russia as soon as this […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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West Tries to Loosen Russia’s Gas Grip

Western officials are scrambling to loosen Russia’s energy stranglehold on Ukraine, the latest sign of growing pressure on Moscow to end the crisis. The options being considered by officials from Brussels to Washington include larger exports of U.S.-made natural gas, reversing the flow of natural gas through pipelines from Western Europe back into Ukraine, and accelerating plans across Europe to buy more energy from countries other than Russia. "If no solution to this can be found," European countries will "recast their approach to energy and economic links with Russia over time," U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said Sunday. Western officials also have threatened sanctions against Russia if the Kremlin continues its occupation of the Crimea region of Ukraine. The threats have failed so far, with Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring his support Sunday for Crimea’s move to secede from Ukraine. The region could join Russia as soon as this […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple