http://www.theoildrum.com/
Posted on 02/02/2009 12:21:59 PM PST by BBell
Walkout averted, but no deal reached
Oil company officials and a union representing about 24,000 refinery workers nationwide continued contract negotiations Sunday, averting a walkout at facilities that process a large percentage of the country's oil.
In the New Orleans area, roughly 1,500 employees at facilities in Norco, Convent and Chalmette would participate in any strikes, United Steelworkers spokeswoman Lynne Baker said.
The current contract expired Sunday at 12:01 a.m., but Royal Dutch Shell, negotiating on behalf of refiners nationwide, and the union agreed to a 24-hour rolling extension. Talks will continue until either the two sides reach an agreement or one side terminates the existing contract.
Workers are expected to report to work today, and the union must give a one-day notice before production, lab and maintenance workers strike.
Baker said Sunday that talks were "moving forward."
"We're positive about getting a fair and equitable contract," she said.
Shell spokesman Stan Mays said in an e-mail Sunday that the oil giant is "optimistic that a mutually satisfactory agreement" can be hammered out.
Bloomberg News reported that the union is seeking a "substantial wage increase" with a cost-of-living adjustment for workers at refineries processing about two-thirds of the nation's oil. Baker said other issues include getting fully paid health care coverage and health and safety improvements.
No new proposal was put forth Sunday, the union said.
The current contract started in 2002 and was extended in 2005. The union rejected three contract offers from Royal Dutch Shell, including a three-year deal with a $500 signing bonus offered Friday, according to Baker. That proposal called for a 75-cent-an-hour wage increase in the first year and a 2.5 percent increase in each of the remaining years, Baker said.
Officials at some Louisiana facilities said over the weekend they
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Drill, drill, drill. and hire native americans to refine the petrol.
As many as seven massive natural gas export terminals are expected to start up overseas this year, expanding worldwide capacity by 20 percent and flooding markets with new supplies of the key power plant and heating fuel. Dozens of new tankers capable of carrying natural gas in a liquefied form are slated to hit the seas.
Just as these new supplies come on line, worldwide demand is expected to drop as the global recession deepens.
Operators of these new facilities are unlikely to cut back production, however, so shipments of liquefied natural gas will most likely head to the deepest markets with the greatest amount of natural gas storage capacity — the United States.
...The wave of imports might even be strong enough to challenge growing domestic natural gas production from various shale formations, including the Barnett Shale near Fort Worth and Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas.
“This can put pressure on U.S. gas prices and could delay the full development of some of the new shale projects,” Douglas said.
gas went up 6 cents here already
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