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ANKARA - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says Turkey and Russia have agreed to extend a contract on natural gas supplies. The current agreement is scheduled to end in 2012. A proposed new pipeline, Blue Stream 2 is expected to meet TurkeyÂ’s growing need for natural gas The prime ministers of Turkey and Russia agreed over the weekend to strengthen the countriesÂ’ energy cooperation and begin negotiations over the Blue Stream 2 natural-gas pipeline project. The announcement came Saturday at a televised joint press conference held by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the...

Russian energy giant Gazprom issued a brief statement on June 29 which actually touches on many political problems in the greater geography surrounding Turkey. It said that the company is ready to send more gas to Turkey if necessary, but from 2018 on Turkey could ask help from Azerbaijan as well. Reuters got it right when it called the statement a threat; a threat to both Turkey and Azerbaijan. The date the Russian company named, 2018, is the planned completion date for the TANAP (Trans-Anatolian) pipeline, which will carry Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe, a $7 billion project which was...

A fire followed the blast which happened around 08:45 (07:45 GMT) at the Baumgarten site, just east of the capital Vienna, near the Slovak border. On Twitter, Austrian police said the situation was under control and a technical fault had caused the blast. The flow of Russian gas has dropped, triggering price hikes in Europe. Baumgarten is a major hub for imported gas Russian gas, which is sent on to a number of European countries. The facility receives about 40bn cubic metres of gas per year. ... Gas Connect said the incident should have no effect on gas deliveries to...

SUPPORTERS OF Olympia Stand, a climate justice coalition in Olympia, Washington, has constructed an encampment blocking the railroad tracks to the Port of Olympia--under a banner reading "No Fracking Sand in Our Port." The purpose of the blockade is to prevent fracking sands, known as ceramic proppants, from being shipped from the port to the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and other places. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of extracting oil and natural gas from source rock, primarily shale. This is done by pumping a mixture of fracking sands, and large amounts of water and chemicals into...

Following spirited discussion on both sides of the issue, a vote was called at the Energy and Natural Resources committee hearing, regarding new legislation proposed by Sen. Murkowski. By a vote of 13 in favor and 10 opposed, the legislation passed out of the committee just after 8 a.m.

MV North Star. Photo: TOTE TOTE Maritime Alaska, a division of TOTE, Inc., has announced that it will convert two of its diesel-electric roll-on/roll-off ships to dual fuel operations using liquefied natural gas (LNG). The two vessels, ‘North Star’ and ‘Midnight Sun’, are both currently powered by four MAN 58/64 engines running on HFO. But, working with MAN Diesel & Turbo’s after-sales division on the conversion, the engines will be retrofitted to run on cleaner-burning LNG fuel. The contract between TOTE and MAN was signed in April 2017 and covers the design, development, and testing of a first-of-its-kind dual-fuel kit....

Recently, President Donald J. Trump joined Energy Industry Executives, members of Congress, and Cabinet Officials at the Department of Energy to deliver remarks on unleashing America’s boundless capacity for energy production. “We’re here today to usher in a new American energy policy,” he declared. The President explained that his focus isn’t so much on “energy independence,” but rather dominance. In fact, the program is being called “American Energy Domination.”

Rising US energy exports could prompt seismic shift in Asian market Middle East, Russia on defensive as cheaper fuel floods in TAKESHI KUMON, Nikkei staff writer TOKYO -- Energy markets across Asia could be about to undergo a huge overhaul. Driven by the shale drilling revolution, U.S. exports of crude oil and liquefied natural gas are growing rapidly and likely to make significant inroads into the market share held by Middle Eastern producers. U.S. crude oil prices have been so low that new customers have even been found in India, while American LNG comes relatively free of restrictions -- a...

WASHINGTON – The Senate rejected an amendment Thursday that sought to block a key panel from raising revenue through drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a move that could make it easier for future oil and gas drilling to take place there. Sen. Maria Cantwell, Wash., the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, offered an budget amendment that would have removed instructions to the panel to raise an additional $1 billion through federal leasing. It failed 48 to 52 on a largely party-line vote, with only Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin, W.Va., breaking ranks....

“We have bridges that are falling down,” then-candidate Donald Trump told Fox last August, pledging to double the amount Hillary Clinton wanted to spend on infrastructure as president of the United States. “We’ll get a fund, we’ll make a phenomenal deal with the low interest rates and rebuild our infrastructure.” One year later and eight months into his presidency, Trump has continued to double down on his lofty promises — during “Infrastructure Week” in June, he told his supporters in Cincinnati that the U.S. “deserves the best infrastructure in the world.” But the administration has been slow to move its...

President Donald Trump’s effort to boost U.S. energy is facing push back from manufacturers who say exporting more natural gas may undercut his “America First” jobs focus. The Industrial Energy Consumers of America asked the administration Wednesday for a moratorium on U.S. approvals for liquefied natural gas projects. The trade association, which represents U.S. manufacturers that depend on cheap energy to fuel their factories, sent a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry Wednesday.

In New Trend, U.S. Natural Gas Exports Exceeded Imports in 3 of the First 5 Months of 2017 August 8, 2017 by U.S. EIA: Today in Energy Leave a Comment   Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Natural Gas Monthly The United States exported more natural gas than it imported in February, April, and May of 2017 according to the latest EIA’s Natural Gas Monthly. The United States has been a net natural gas importer (on an average annual basis) for nearly 60 years. Declining net pipeline imports from Canada, growing natural gas pipeline exports to Mexico, and increasing exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are all contributing...

Intelligence brief: Colorado shale is almost size of Marcellus; Pipeline bill calls for new technologies Jun 14, 2016 Colorado is famous for its high peaks; now it could also be known for its shale Colorado sits on 40 times more natural gas than previously thought, according to an updated estimate by the US Geological Survey.The USGS said the Mancos Shale in the Piceance Basin contains about 66 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable shale natural gas, 74 million barrels of shale oil and 45 million barrels of natural-gas liquids, according to the estimate, the first since 2003.More than 2,000...

By Nina Chestney LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) – The United States is on track to have capacity to become the world’s second largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by the end of 2022, just behind Australia and ahead of Qatar, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. [snip] "By the end of our forecast period, the United States will be well on course to challenging Australia and Qatar for global leadership among LNG exporters,” the report said."

President Donald Trump will use fast-growing supplies of U.S. natural gas as a political tool when he meets in Warsaw on Thursday with leaders of a dozen countries that are captive to Russia for their energy needs.

Natural Resources: Last week President Trump announced plans to make the U.S. not just energy independent, but a global energy powerhouse. Too bad everyone was hyperfocused on his tweets. On Thursday, Trump said he was ushering in a new energy policy that marked an end to decades of fretting about an alleged "energy crisis" brought on by supposed limited domestic supplies and an insatiable demand for fossil fuels. "We now know that was all a big, beautiful myth," Trump said in remarks at the Department of Energy. "The truth is that we have near-limitless supplies of energy in our country."...

President Donald Trump will use fast-growing supplies of U.S. natural gas as a political tool when he meets in Warsaw on Thursday with leaders of a dozen countries that are captive to Russia for their energy needs. In recent years, Moscow has cut off gas shipments during pricing disputes with neighboring countries in winter months. Exports from the United States would help reduce their dependence on Russia. Trump will tell the group that Washington wants to help allies by making it as easy as possible for U.S. companies to ship more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to central and eastern...

The shale revolution in the U.S. has led to a boom in domestic natural gas production, to the point that America is expected to become a net exporter of natural gas on an average annual basis by 2018. Abundant gas at home has also led to a renaissance in the petrochemical industry in the U.S., which had suffered a downturn in 2008 and 2009. But then came the shale revolution, and chemical companies in the U.S. now use the affordable ethane—a natural gas liquid derived from shale gas—as a feedstock. Abundant and cheap, shale gas and ethane are now feeding...

PARIS (AFP) - France is to stop granting new licences for oil and gas exploration on the mainland and in overseas territories, Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot said Friday. "There will be no new exploration licences for hydrocarbons, we will pass the law this autumn," Hulot said on BFMTV. President Emmanuel Macron said during his election campaign in February that he was opposed to exploration for gas and shale gas in mainland France.

Beijing (AFP) - China opened its gates to US beef imports this week, giving American cattle farmers much sought-after access to the country's massive market following a 14-year ban. Shipments of eligible US beef have been allowed to enter China since Tuesday, the General Adminstration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement. Announced last month, the lifting of the beef embargo was one of the first concrete results of trade discussions that began when Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Donald Trump at the US leader's resort in Florida in April.