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U.S., India embrace over renewables

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama face the media at Hyderbad House in New Delhi on January 25, 2015. President Obama is on a three day visit and will be the guest of honor at at India’s Republic Day celebrations. UPI NEW DELHI, Jan. 26 (UPI) — Advancing a renewable energy sector in India is a shared priority for the New Delhi and U.S. governments, the Indian prime minister said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted President Barack Obama in New Delhi to discuss economic, energy and nuclear developments. Obama’s visit comes two weeks after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the signing of billions of dollars worth of clean energy investments in the Indian economy at a New Deli investment conference. "For President Obama and me, clean and renewable energy is a personal and national priority," the prime minister said in a statement […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Obama Ends Visit With Challenge to India on Climate Change

NEW DELHI — President Obama pressed India on Tuesday to do more to curb the pollution that is choking its capital and contributing to global climate change , as he wrapped up a visit that yielded no meaningful breakthrough on the issue. While India and the United States agreed to cooperate in promoting cleaner energy, Mr. Obama left after three days without the sort of specific commitment to curbing greenhouse gases that he won in China last year . Instead, he used a farewell speech before his departure to argue that India had an obligation to step up, despite its economic challenges. “I know the argument made by some — that it’s unfair for countries like the United States to ask developing nations and emerging economies like India to reduce your dependence on the same fossil fuels that helped power our growth for more than a century,” Mr. Obama […]

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China’s Louisiana Purchase: Who’s building a methanol plant on the bayou?

This article is part one of a three-part series on China’s role in redeveloping southern Louisiana called China’s Louisiana Purchase. ST. JAMES PARISH, La. — A prominent Chinese tycoon and politician — whose natural gas company has a dubious environmental and labor rights record that recently started coming under fire in the Chinese press — is parking assets in a multibillion dollar methanol plant in a Louisiana town. And he appears to be doing it with help from the administration of likely GOP 2016 presidential ticket contender Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Not many locals in a predominantly black neighborhood of St. James Parish — halfway between New Orleans and Baton Rouge — know that Wang Jinshu, the Communist Party Secretary for the northeastern Chinese village of Yuhuang and a former delegate to the National People’s Congress, is the man at the helm of a $1.85 billion methanol plant to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Asian Aviation Sector to Benefit From Fuel-Price Plunge

The slump in oil prices is giving many Asian carriers a strong boost in profitability. ENLARGE Photo: Reuters Many Asian airlines are seeing a particularly strong boost in profitability due to the slump in oil prices since the middle of last year, because they are typically more exposed to fuel-price swings compared with their counterparts world-wide. Jet fuel typically accounts for as much as 50% of Asian carriers’ operating costs, higher than the global average of 30%, so the improved outlook for the global industry is more pronounced in Asia than in Europe, though U.S. carriers are expected to lead the world in profits this year. International jet fuel prices have fallen 47% to US$65.80 per barrel as of January 9, according to industry trade group International Air Transport Association, or IATA. “Asian carriers tend to hedge less than their U.S. and European peers, with an average of less […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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200 million people moved to cities in East Asia in decade

Almost 200 million people in East Asia moved to urban areas in the decade to 2010, the World Bank said Monday, creating a massive challenge to the region’s planners. About 36 percent of people in the region — which under the World Bank’s definition includes Northeast and Southeast Asia — were living in urban areas as of 2010, up from 29 percent ten years before. This suggests the region will see decades more of further population shifts, it said in a report released Monday. The report contains data gathered through satellite imagery and “geospatial” mapping which the bank said should help planners ensure that policies will benefit a larger number of those moving to cities, especially the poor. “For the first time, the data compares urban areas and their population in a consistent manner across East Asia, providing governments and local leaders with a better understanding of the shape […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tight Oil Production Will Fade Quickly: The Truth About Rig Counts

U.S tight oil production from shale plays will fall more quickly than most assume.  Why?  High decline rates from shale reservoirs is given. The more interesting reasons are the compounding effects of pad drilling on rig count and poorer average well performance with time.   Rig productivity has increased but average well productivity has decreased. Every rig used in pad drilling has approximately three times the impact on the daily production rate as a rig did before pad drilling.  At the same time, average well productivity has decreased by about one-third.  This means that production rates will fall at a much higher rate today than during previous periods of falling rig counts. Most shale wells today are drilled from pads.  One rig drills many wells from the same surface location, as shown in the diagram below. (click image to enlarge) The Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas is one of the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Early signs of the Bakken oil slow-down

In mid-January, when the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources released its latest update on the Bakken oil boom—the “Director’s Cut,” a summary compiled by the Department’s Director, petroleum engineer Lynn Helms—I was surprised by the data. But I wasn’t the only one surprised. In presenting the latest data, through November 2014, Helms explained that the state had reached “record oil production—but just barely record oil production, not really a significant increase.” Looking at the history, oil production has been pretty much the same in September, October, and November. It looks like oil production is flatlining in North Dakota—and hence, in the Bakken shale. The bigger surprise came with the data on the pace of activity in North Dakota. The Director’s Cut gives statistics that show how fast the oil boom is going, including how many drilling permits the state issued and how many drilling rigs were active. One […]

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Obama Moves to Put Much of Refuge Off Limits to Drilling

President Barack Obama ’s call to restrict oil exploration on 12 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge probably won’t have much practical impact for an area already off-limits to drillers, though it’s created a new fault line with the Republican-led Congress. The White House on Sunday said it would ask Congress to designate “core areas” of the 19.8 million-acre refuge as wilderness, including its 1.5 million-acre coastal plain that geologists believe lies atop a rich oil reserve. “Designating vast areas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness reflects the significance this landscape holds for America and its wildlife,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in the statement. The practical impact is slight because Republicans, who now control both chambers of Congress, voiced immediate opposition. And oil and gas production is already prohibited in the Arctic refuge. It does add to the list of energy issues that the […]

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Diesel Rally Fizzles in New York on Barge Deliveries

A rally in diesel futures in New York on Monday proved short-lived on speculation that barge deliveries will bolster supplies by more than enough to help the Northeast weather a blizzard dumping snow on New York City. Ultra-low sulfur diesel settled 0.69 cent a gallon lower today on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising by as much as 3.9 cents. Stockpiles of the fuel in the region are the highest for this time of year since 2012, and additional barrels arrived by barge over the weekend, said John Maniscalco, chief executive officer of New York Oil Heating Association Inc. “When you see something like this coming, you gear up quickly and early,” Maniscalco said by telephone from New York. “Terminals here are well-stocked. We’re just battening down the hatches and getting ready to take whatever’s thrown at us at this point.” New York may see as much as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Murkowski: Obama’s Alaska move an act of war

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says proposal to set aside more state acreage as a wilderness reserve is an act of war on a state that depends on oil revenue. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (UPI) — The Obama administration has declared war on the economic future of Alaska by proposing new acreage as protected wilderness, congressional leaders said. The White House announced plans Sunday to set as 12 million of the 19 million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska as protected wilderness . U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski , R-Alaska, chairwoman of the Senate Energy Committee, said in a statement President Barack Obama launched an assault on the health of the state’s economy with the policy recommendation. "It’s clear this administration does not care about us, and sees us as nothing but a territory," she said in a statement. "We will fight back with every […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple