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CHEVRON has won a coup for its Wheatstone liquified natural gas development, signing up Tokyo Electric Power to a $90 billion supply agreement that will also see the utility take an equity stake in the project. TepCo has signed a heads of agreement for the annual delivery of 4.1 million tonnes of LNG for up to 20 years from Wheatstone, accounting for almost half of the initial yearly production capacity of 8.6 million tonnes.

US OIL giant Chevron Corp has sealed a massive $90 billion contract - the biggest energy deal in Australian history - to supply natural gas to Tokyo Electric Power Company and sell the Japanese utility a stake in its Wheatstone project. The nation's latest trade coup - struck on the eve of the international climate change conference in Copenhagen - comes as Asian countries scramble to lock in long-term supplies of LNG ahead of an anticipated surge in demand for the low-emissions fuel. Chevron announced on the weekend it had signed an agreement with Tokyo Electric to deliver 4.1 million...

In another example of how liberals get their panties in a wad when they are challenged for the decisions they make, Ken Salazar resorted to name-calling and innuendo as he tried to defend the Obama Administration's extremist energy policies. Ken Salazar, criticized the oil and gas industry for accusing the Obama Administration of stifling energy development in the West and offshore. He also left little doubt that he felt that the industry is nothing less than an arm of the Republican party. I always find it amusing when liberals resort to this type of attack. No facts to counter the...

After years of over promising and under delivering, the solar Industry is finally starting to show some interesting developments which have the potential to make solar power as cheap as fossil fuel on a cost-per-watt basis within five years. Getting us to that state, called grid parity, would require solar companies to produce power for around $1 a watt. Is it possible anytime soon? Many analysts think so and the target date being touted around is 2015. The reason for this fresh optimism is a mixture of technological development and simple economics. Traditional conductive materials make up 40% to 50%...

As scientists, Governments and Industry look for viable replacements to our quickly dwindling supply of fossil fuels, attention has again turned to biofuels and the potential they offer. You’ve all no doubt heard of Ethanol, rapeseed and other popular bio-diesel crops, but it is now possible to turn our quickly growing garbage mountains into biofuels. Scientists have now discovered some amazingly effective, mutually beneficial, symbiotic processes that could single-handedly solve both imminent problems with the creation of “bio-fuels” and “synthetic fuels” derived directly from our trash and garbage. Full article is: http://www.oilprice.com/article-biofuel-of-the-future-turning-our-garbage-into-energy.html

Oil-refinery workers on the Delaware River yesterday received their second big blow in six weeks, when Valero Energy Corp. said it would close its operation in Delaware City, Del., casting 550 out of work. When workers heard the news, "it was like a time bomb went off," said Matt Edler, who has worked for 10 years at the refinery that rises out of the lowlands near the Delaware River in southern New Castle County. "My grandfather worked there, my father, and I worked there," said Edler, who yesterday afternoon joined other shocked refinery workers at Red Lion Inn in Bear,...

We’ve been here before. The government mandates more fuel-efficient vehicles across the board, yet the American public continues to gravitate toward what’s big and powerful. Barring this era of greater responsibility and restraint, which might pass like a fleeting fancy with the recession, why not pick the bigger or more powerful car, we say? A lot of things are different this time around, though. Perhaps most remarkably, quite a few executives of automakers and major auto-supplier companies are voicing out in favor of higher fuel taxes—of more rigorous regulation of what types of vehicles can be built and sold—as a...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said Ukraine might be having problems paying for gas, raising new concerns over European supplies. Mr Putin said the European Union had not yet given Ukraine the money it had promised to help provide stable supplies of Russian gas to Europe. He also blamed Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko for blocking payment. In January, many countries were left short of gas because of a payment dispute between Moscow and Kiev. 'Blocking funds' "It appears we are again having problems with payments for our energy supplies, which is extremely regrettable. The EU has still not provided...

North Dakota sits on one of the largest pools of oil in North America. The Bakken Shale Formation is estimated to hold nearly four billion barrels of oil that can be extracted. And now, a new batch of oil just under the Bakken is adding even more interest to oil exploration in the state. The Bakken Shale Formation has created excitement in western North Dakota - the kind of excitement that leads to things like bumper stickers. But even as oil companies scramble to tap into the Bakken, there's a new oil play brewing - it's called the Three Forks-Sanish...

BEIJING, October 14 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia does not object to selling energy resources to China for roubles, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said. “We discussed the possibility of using our national currency in bilateral settlements between Russia and China, and our energy companies raised this issue, even Gazprom. In principle, we do not object to considering the possibility of selling our energy resources for roubles,” Putin told journalists after the end of his official visit to China on Wednesday. “But this mean that our Chinese partners should have those roubles … We are even ready to buy something for yuan, but...

America is not going to bleed its wealth importing fuel. Russia's grip on Europe's gas will weaken. Improvident Britain may avoid paralysing blackouts by mid-decade after all. The World Gas Conference in Buenos Aires last week was one of those events that shatter assumptions. Advances in technology for extracting gas from shale and methane beds have quickened dramatically, altering the global balance of energy faster than almost anybody expected. Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, said proven natural gas reserves around the world have risen to 1.2 trillion barrels of oil equivalent, enough for 60 years' supply – and rising fast....

Iran's oil minister has warned companies that sell gasoline not to halt deliveries to the Islamic Republic in response to Western sanctions moves, saying they would be dropped from its list of suppliers. The United States and its European allies are exploring ways of targeting fuel imports into Iran if the country continues to press on with its nuclear program. "If the suppliers of gasoline avoid exporting it to Iran...they will be eliminated from the National Iranian Oil Company's list of suppliers," business daily "Abrar-e Eqtesadi" quoted Oil Minister Massud Mirkazemi as saying. Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude oil exporter,...

Tried to pawn off her 6-year-old son for $10 in gas money For $10 in gas money, Marcy Pappalardo was prepared to give up her 6-year-old boy. At least according to a tow truck driver who told police Pappalardo made the proposition to him at a gas station in Melbourne, Florida. The tow truck driver turned the offer down, then dialed 911 and followed Pappalardo for several miles until police caught up to her. Pappalardo, 37, denied the allegations. She was charged with child neglect anyway. She is being held in Brevard County jail on a $2,000 bond. She is...

The United States was self-sufficient in energy until the late 1950s when energy consumption began to outpace domestic production. At that point, the nation began to import more energy to fill the gap. In 2008, net imported energy accounted for 26 percent of all energy consumed.

Chinese state companies this month began supplying petrol to Iran and now provide up to a third of its imports in a development that threatens to undermine US-led efforts to shut off the supply of fuel on which its economy depends. The sales come in spite of moves over the past year by international companies, including BP and Reliance of India, to stop selling petrol to Iran, and highlight the difficulties of implementing sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions. Traders and bankers familiar with Iran's purchasing said the gap left by the withdrawal of such long-standing suppliers had been...

I'm looking at my electrical bill and was wondering if it might be worthwhile for me to investigate either solar or natural gas co-generation systems to reduce the monthly bill. Are there any freepers who have walked this path and can give advice? I live in Colorado where NG is locally produced and relatively cheap and I get 6 hrs of sunlight per day on average.

Libya staged a lavish spectacle Tuesday, parading white-robed horsemen and gold-turbaned dancers as jets streaked overhead to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Moammar Gadhafi to power in the oil-rich nation. The four-day festivities were designed to highlight the volatile leader's acceptance on the world stage, but were overshadowed by new controversies about the recent return of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland. While African leaders held a summit to coincide with the celebrations, most Western leaders stayed away. Libya's decision to include a...

Energy: We balk at importing "dirty" oil from Canada, but others aren't so reluctant. Exempt as a "developing" nation from Kyoto-like agreements, China has decided to help Canada develop its energy-rich oil sands.The Financial Post reports that PetroChina International Investment Co. has struck a deal to buy a 60% interest in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.'s McKay River and Dover projects for $1.9 billion. China has been establishing energy beachheads around the world in its quest to keep its growing economy fueled. With possible conflict brewing between Israel and Iran, Beijing recognizes the need for reliable suppliers like Canada in an...

Each year, generally in May, the Energy Information Administration publishes a less-than-eagerly-anticipated tome called the International Energy Outlook, 250+ pages of mind-numbing text, charts, graphs, and tables. No one reads it. The mainstream media ignore it. It's the product of the best prognosticators in the Department of Energy. Okay, that may be what puts most people off. But if you're patient enough to dig into it, it will cough up some fascinating nuggets of information. The present edition is no exception. The report refrains from spelling out the conclusion that seems most obvious from its data. However, confirming a trend...

Woman burned filling gas can August 28, 2009 SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP A 27-year-old Joliet woman suffered second-degree burns after using a cigarette lighter to see how much gas was in the can she was filling. Police reports say it was about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when the woman drove to the 7-Eleven at 1609 E. Cass St. in Joliet in a yellow 1970 Chevrolet. "(The woman) was filling up a gas can, which was sitting on the passenger seat of the car. (She) then used a lighter to use as a light to observe how full the can was," police said....

The Tamar gas field, 50 miles off the Haifa coast, keeps getting bigger with every report, and the gas discovery now is estimated to be the world’s largest in 18 months. The Scotland-based Wood Mackenzie research and consulting firm assessed the value of the field at $8 billion, approximately double that of local analysts. The latest upside projection comes less than two weeks after another revised estimate that the reserves are 16 percent higher than previously thought. Changing gas prices could make the gas worth anywhere between $3.5-$17 billion in the future, and partners in the offshore project are preparing...

Energy Policy: A new study shows that Waxman-Markey will increase prices at the pump, deepen our dependence on foreign oil and shred our ability to turn crude into gasoline. Even fuel-efficient cars will still need fuel.Oil may bubble up out of the ground, but gasoline does not. It's made in those ugly little NIMBY places called refineries we are loath to build anymore because we're too busy trying to save the Earth rather than our economy and American jobs. When Hurricane Katrina shut down 20% of our refining capacity in a single day and raised gas prices in a single...

Energy Policy: New York's governor wants to tap into a shale formation that can supply the entire U.S. with natural gas for 65 years. Will NIMBY environmentalists let him stimulate New York's and America's energy economy? Last week, David Patterson released a draft report of his Energy Planning Board that does something Democrats are loath to do: It proposes developing a domestic energy resource — the huge amounts of natural gas trapped in the Marcellus Shale formation. New York produces 5% of its natural gas in-state and imports more than 95% from the Gulf Coast and Canada. The Marcellus Shale...

Should Oil and Gas Investors Fear the FRAC Act? By Toby Shute August 19, 2009 In June, Democrats introduced the FRAC (Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals) Act via companion bills in the House and Senate. The FRAC Act seeks to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act so that hydraulic fracturing would be regulated on a federal level. Hydraulic fracturing is the technique that, combined with horizontal drilling, has allowed domestic E&Ps like Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN), Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN), and XTO Energy (NYSE: XTO) to unlock massive shale deposits like the Barnett and the Fayetteville. Big Oil's lobbyist,...

Brian Wixom's company has paid the U.S. government hundreds of thousands of dollars for leases to drill for oil and gas on federal lands over the years, only to never put a rig in the ground. The money simply sits in a federal bank account as Wixom and other drillers wait for an agonizing bureaucratic process to run its course. As it turns out, the federal government is holding a boatload of money for leases it auctioned and sold but hasn't issued, holding them back for bureaucratic review because of environmental protests and lawsuits. The backlog grew exponentially under the...

Several dozen militant backers of Hugo Chavez on Monday stormed the headquarters of an opposition TV station that the Venezuelan president has threatened to shut down amid his crackdown on private media. Activists with the UPV, a radical left-wing party that backs Chavez, forced their way past security guards to enter Globovision headquarters in Caracas and fired tear gas inside the compound, images broadcast by the TV station showed. Globovision, a small but critical station, broadcasts news programing and has been highly critical of Chavez. Chavez's government condemned the attack, although Globovision's owners said they suspected the president was behind...

SNIPPET: "According to a report issued by Fund for Peace, Yemen is in the midst of a violent storm caused by the disappearance of the oil and gas reserves and the large flow of Somali refugees with connections to Al-Qaeda as well as the flow of extremists from Saudi Arabia. The report said that "the refugees and the extremists are the most significant imports by Yemen in 2008.""

"There has never been a period in US history when home prices have been falling and we have had real inflation... one must also consider the staggering reduction of consumer credit in the US and global economy... Due to the incredible level of credit contraction within the US, most of the money being put into the banking system by the government is not making it back into the economy. In general, banks are acting as they should by evaluating the overall lending risks in our economy and implementing tighter (more appropriate) lending standards. Under this regime few are willing to...

The 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba has been shaken by the revelation that drilling for oil and natural gas is about to take place less than 50 miles off the U.S. coast - in Cuban waters. No one knows for sure just how much oil lies off the northwest coast of Cuba, but the consensus is that it's sizable. The U.S. Geological Survey initially came up with an estimate in 2004 of between 5 billion barrels and 10 billion barrels. But Cuba's state oil company, Cubapetroleo, recently said the undersea geology was "very similar" to Mexico's giant Cantarell oil field...

It's all in the name of research on finding a better way to tax motorists, and the pay is $895. Wanted: 250 Maine drivers willing to let a stranger put a black box under their dashboard. The reward: $895 and the opportunity to speak their minds about the highway tax experiment to a researcher. University of Iowa researchers are seeking 250 motorists in Cumberland, York and Sagadahoc counties willing to have a computer tracking system installed in their cars for 10 months. The system could someday be used to tax drivers according to the number of miles they drive, rather...

Corn-based biofuel costs 50 gallons of water per mile 05-05-09 Federal requirements to increase the production of ethanol has developed into a "drink-or-drive issue" in the Midwest as a result of biofuel production's impact on water supplies and water quality, says an environmental engineering researcher at Missouri University of Science and Technology in the latest issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology. In an analysis of the water required to produce ethanol from various crops, Joel G. Burken, Ph.D., a professor of environmental engineering at Missouri S&T, and colleagues from Rice University and Clarkson University find that ethanol could...

New estimated of natural gas reserves recently discovered off the Mediterranean Coast near Haifa will allow Israel to be self-sufficient in energy for two decades, according to Yitzchak Tshuva, one of the investors in the project. “Israel today is independent – completely independent with blue and white energy,” said Tshuva, chief executive office of Delek Energy.

Iran has unveiled plans to invest around $75 billion in its two major gas fields by 2015 to exploit their huge undeveloped reserves. Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Seyfollah Jashnsaz said that the country would finance a $40 billion investment in the South Pars gas field in a five-year plan to produce some 28 billion cubic meters of gas annually from the field. Iran and Qatar share the largest gas field in the world in the Persian Gulf, where the Iranian part is divided into 24 phases. Jashnsaz also noted that a $25-billion investment is planned...

This week (June 22-26) I again fielded a ton of questions from several media sources on oil. This is my recollection of what I was asked, how I responded, and some support for my thinking. Question: I'm seeing at least two reports that said china consumption is up a second month, up much more than a year ago and at record levels. Platts recently reported that China consumed 33.23 million metric tons of oil in May, up 6% from a year earlier. Answer: Demand from China may be up, however, according to the International Energy Agency, global demand for crude...

Gas prices rose last week by the smallest weekly increment since the beginning of May, according to AAA Auto Club South. The national average price of a gallon of gas was up by just three cents compared to the previous week. However, in Florida it was up by five cents a gallon to $2.71. Just a month ago the average price of a gallon of regular in Florida was $2.40. The average price was $2.77 in both Fort Lauderdale and Miami. In West Palm Beach, a gallon of regular unleaded is going for $2.80. The good news is that gasoline...

COVENTRY, Vt. – Vermont dairy farmers Tim Maikshilo and Kristen Dellert, mindful of shrinking their carbon footprint, have changed their cows' diet to reduce the amount of gas the animals burp — dairy cows' contribution to global warming. Coventry Valley Farm is one of 15 Vermont farms working with Stonyfield Farm Inc., whose yogurt is made with their organic milk, to reduce the cows' intestinal methane by feeding them flaxseed, alfalfa, and grasses high in Omega 3 fatty acids. The gas cows belch is the dairy industry's biggest greenhouse gas contributor, research shows, most of it emitted from the front...

The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States rose by 23 this week to 899, the second time this year the weekly count has increased. Of the rigs running nationwide, 692 were exploring for natural gas and 196 for oil, Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI ) reported Friday. Eleven were listed as miscellaneous. The only other time this year the count increased was the first week of April. A year ago, the rig count stood at 1,906. The U.S. count is down 56 percent since the end of August as weak energy demand...

A new deal between Russia and China in the sum of about $100 billion became the largest deal that has ever been signed between the two countries, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said as a result of the meeting with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. The two presidents signed a large package of documents, including those in the oil and gas industry, in Moscow. “It became possible owing to the use of the mechanism that we invented with the leader of the People’s Republic of China a year ago,” Medvedev said. Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao conducted negotiations about the shipments...

CAIRO: Egypt has increased the volume of gas exported to Israel after agreeing to an increase in the price, according to local reports. The Ministry of Petroleum increased the volume of exported gas to Israel by 50 percent after an agreement had been reached with the Israeli government over increasing the price, according to business news portal Noozz. Egyptian natural gas is exported to Israel via the Egyptian/Israeli consortium Egyptian Mediterranean Gas (EMG). The source said that the new agreement had included a structure to review prices in the future. The gas deal with Israel has brought a lot of...

Speaking at the Wired Live conference in New York today, Elon Musk told the crowd that we should all be paying $10 at the pump for a gallon of gas. The low price we're currently spoiled with doesn't factor in "the true cost of gasoline at the pump," said the Tesla CEO (via CNET), "since nobody's explicitly paying for the CO2 capacity of the oceans and atmospheres, it's getting consumed. We will pay for it down the road, but we are sort of ignoring it for now." Nevermind that $10 gas would absolutely devastate our economy, Musk wants it so...

Energy: Exxon Mobil's surprise decision to join Trans-Canada on a vast Alaska gas pipeline project is a big step toward making the U.S. self-sufficient in domestic energy. By defying naysayers, Sarah Palin is now vindicated.It must be sweet vindication for Alaska's governor. Against critics who said her 1,712-mile natural gas pipeline project would never get off the ground, who should the project bag but the "big gorilla" of American energy — Exxon Mobil. In a major surprise, Exxon announced Thursday that it had forged a partnership with TransCanada, the Canadian pipeline company that holds the state license for Palin's $126...

This week (June 8-12) I was interviewed by several media sources regarding my thoughts on oil and the direction of gas prices at the pump. These are a few of the questions I was asked and how I responded. Question: What happened in the last month that's prompted this increase in gas price -- and oil price for that matter?

TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2009 "In gaz we trust"? I'd rather change GazTranzitStroyInfo's vision to HangUp Team's infamous - "in fraud we trust". It is somehow weird to what lengths would certain cybercriminals go to create a feeling of legitimacy of their enterprise.

Oil prices broke through the $70 per-barrel barrier Friday and more forecasters are broadening expectations for an upward swing in crude. Benchmark crude for July delivery lost 37 cents to settle at $68.44 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, finishing the week with a gain of nearly $2 a barrel. Earlier in the day oil jumped as high as $70.32 per barrel, the highest since October. Oil prices have been soaring for months despite a massive surplus of petroleum and natural gas. A large amount of speculative money has flowed into the markets, according to government reports, potentially taking advantage...

TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran on Wednesday signed a gas deal worth around five billion dollars with the China National Petroleum Corporation to develop a part of the giant South Pars gas field in the Gulf, the official IRNA news agency reported. "We signed a deal with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to develop the upstream sector of phase 11 in the offshore South Pars gas field," the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) managing director Seyfollah Jashnsaz was quoted as saying.

Note: this is a Russian publication ans is written from a Russian perspective. -------------------------------------------------- This year's federal budget, which only recently appeared doomed to an ugly 8 percent deficit, is beginning to look a lot healthier thanks to spiraling inflation, a weakened currency and a surge of optimism. And while the Central Bank has devalued the ruble and announced plans to print 3 trillion more, the heroes of this story are, of course, OPEC and the United States. The U.S. Federal Reserve is funding a massive spending program to dig the economy out of recession with a steady stream of...

NEW YORK -- Oil prices rose above $65 per barrel Thursday as OPEC maintained crude production levels as expected and a pair of economic reports suggested an economic rebound may push energy prices higher. Benchmark crude for July delivery added $1.56 to reach $65.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a six-month high. In London, Brent prices gained $1.80 to $64.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Retail gas prices have shadowed oil prices, ticking higher every day this month. Gas prices are not only rising because of crude. Refiners, stung by falling demand for gasoline, have...

This video is about ridiculous gas prices. Prices are down now, but they are rising. Anyway, it isn't long, and it is very interesting. The video can be found here. It can also be found on youtube.

Steven Chu, US secretary of energy, on Wednesday said that it would not be politically feasible for the country to lower its reliance on oil by raising petrol prices to Europe’s levels through higher taxes or regulation. In the past Mr Chu, a Nobel laureate, has argued that if the US wanted to reduce its carbon emissions, policymakers would have to find a way to increase petrol prices to levels in Europe. But in an interview with the Financial Times, he said: “At this moment, let me be frank, it is not politically feasible.” Mr Chu’s comments come as oil...

Despite the Massachusetts Senate's passage of a tax package last week, it's clear that funds allocated for transportation - principally from the sales tax - are simply not enough. Moreover, with the rejection of 19- and 11-cent gas tax increase options, what seems to be absent from the debate is the compelling environmental argument for a hike in the gas tax. Looking at the evidence for climate change - and its dire consequences - it's clear that we need to get serious about weaning ourselves from our CO2-emitting, petroleum-based economy. Already in evidence is faster-than-expected melting of the polar ice...