Free Republic

Orange County School Superintendent Ron Blocker announced Wednesday that the school district is running out of gas, according to a Local 6 News report. The pipelines out of New Orleans that supply the district with diesel fuel have no power and the suppliers have canceled the shipments. So, the school district estimates it has enough gas to bus students to and from school through Friday, Local 6 News reported. If another shipment of fuel does not come before Friday buses will not be able to run. "Parents, as early as next week, will have to drive their children to school,"...

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in Washington this week and, in addition to meeting with President Bush, will address a joint session of Congress - an indicator of the dramatic change in the once-chilly relationship between India and the US. Equally remarkable has been the upturn in the India-Pakistan relationship, which the Bush administration has helped promote. But by doggedly opposing the projected gas pipeline from Iran across Pakistan to India, the administration is still forgoing a key opportunity to bind India and Pakistan together further, while also engaging Iran and giving it a greater stake in the stability...

BAGHDAD — A fire caused by mechanical failure broke out at an oil pipeline in south Baghdad around 8:30 p.m. Aug. 25. The pipeline valve was shut off, minimizing the amount of time the fire burned. Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers secured the area around the pipeline. There were no injuries or damages to U.S. personnel or equipment.

New Eastern bloc will send Caspian oil to West, bypassing Russia, papers say Russian news media reported yesterday that Ukraine was determined to build a new pro-Western economic bloc that would speed Caspian oil to the West and spell the end of a Moscow-led bloc comprising Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. The reports were denied by Ukraine. Talks that took place on the weekend between the leaders of Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine could be expected to lead to a the creation of a Western-oriented "Community of Democratic Choice," Russian newspapers said. This new axis was aimed at creating a...

An explosion has badly damaged an oil pipeline in the north-east Indian state of Assam, police say. Police said they suspect the involvement of the separatist rebel group, the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa). They said the blast, which took place on Saturday night, set off a huge fire in Assam's northern Shibsagar district. The damage to the pipeline forced the authorities to suspend oil supplies to two oil refineries in the state. It took several hours to control the fire. "There was a big fire immediately after the blast and several houses nearby caught fire," Reuters quotes a...

Pakistan's Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Amanullah Khan Jadoon has said that Pakistan could effectively handle the security of the proposed Indo-Iran gas pipeline. He said that Pakistan itself had a vast network of gas pipelines running through the length and breadth of the country and was fully aware of the security aspects of the proposed transnational gas pipeline through its territory. He said that Pakistan itself had a stake in the project and was committed to its safety and security. "We like India are in need of gas and we know how to take care of the inter-state...

BLEAK NEWS FOR JAPAN Russia prioritizes China for oil GLENEAGLES, Scotland (Kyodo) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday his country will prioritize China over Japan as the recipient of oil supplies from a pipeline project linking eastern Siberia with the Russian Far East. He made the remarks during a news conference after the three-day summit of the Group of Eight powers. Both Japan and China have tried to convince Russia to favor it in planning the pipeline's route. Russia had at one point last year agreed to build a 4,180-km pipeline from Taishet near Lake Baikal to Nakhodka on Russia's...

Economy | USA | WMD Source: SAAG Purely on strategic terms the above offer is worth consideration. It will lessen immediate need to build Iran/Pakistan gas pipeline and deliver a body blow to Pakistani ambition to get rich ($500 million a year trans-shipment fees). US are opposed to the pipeline deal. They wish to deny Iran the financial security, which deals like this may provide. Again without US concurrence, financial participation, technical know how etc., this deal is as good as dead. To move India away from this sore point in India – US relations, Washington has offered alternative means...

{Alaska} State officials may be at loggerheads again with companies that own leases at the North Slope's Point Thomson gas field over commitments the companies made to conduct development work in the field. The state Division of Oil and Gas says it expects Exxon Mobil and its partners in the field to begin development drilling in 2006. Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and Chevron Inc. made commitments to the state to begin drilling next year and to have seven wells complete by 2008, according to Mark Myers, director of the state Division of Oil and Gas. If they...

Anchorage, Alaska - A dozen members of the National League of Cities are back in Anchorage after a marathon journey to the North Slope. Those representatives are from cities like Chicago, which would be at the receiving end of a proposed $20 billion gas pipeline through Canada. And they seemed impressed by what they saw. Anchorage officials say that’s important because, when the league members return home, they’ll be in a position to influence national policy. The building of a natural gas pipeline to Chicago, as well as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, are projects that depend heavily...

Amid Indo-Pak efforts to firm up the India-Iran gas pipeline project to be laid through Pakistan, US has reportedly cautioned Islamabad over the likelihood of facing sanctions if it went ahead with the four billion dollar project disregarding Washington's concerns over Iranian nuclear programme. While Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri during his meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice last week made out a strong case for Islamabad opting for the project to meet its future energy requirements, Rice reportedly asserted Washington's concerns over the project. She told Kasuri that the project could violate Iran and Libya Sanctions...

Iran pipeline may be extended to China: Aiyar Ammar Zaidi in Tehran | June 12, 2005 17:31 IST Iran has agreed to explore possibilities of extending the 2600-km Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline to China, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, who headed the Indian delegation at the ministerial level talks with Iran on natural gas imports, said. During his discussions with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, Aiyar also asked for extension of the quantity of the liquefied natural gas Iran will export to India from 2009-10 to 7.5 million tons from the 5 million tones already agreed. Iran has refused to give concession on...

Economy | Intelligence Reports | Middle East | Russia 11 June 2005: On the sidelines of the Vladivostok meeting of the Indian, Russian and Chinese foreign ministers, Russia said it would permit its oil to reach India via Iran in return for major investments in Siberian oil fields.Already, India has invested $2.5 billion in the Russian oil industry, taken a stake in the Sakhalin-2 project, and is keen to enter auctions for Sakhalin-3, but Russia wants investments between $12-14 billion for exploring new wells in Siberia.At the 2-June Vladivostok meeting of Natwar Singh with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and...

India, Pakistan Push Ahead with Iran Pipeline Plan By Patrick Goodenough CNSNews.com International Editor June 7, 2005 (CNSNews.com) -- India and Pakistan are edging closer to agreement on building a pipeline to carry natural gas from Iran through Pakistani territory to India -- a project opposed by the Bush administration. On a visit to Pakistan, Indian petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said Monday he was optimistic the $4 billion plan could get "off the ground" by early next year. A panel of officials from the two countries would review the "legal, commercial, technical and financial issues," and ministers from both...

Anchorage, Alaska - Gov. Murkowski met Monday with the head of the Canadian company that wants a piece of a natural gas pipeline from Alaska. TransCanada is one of three groups with a proposal before the governor to build the pipeline. It’s a company in position to play a pivotal role if the pipeline route goes through Canada. TransCanada claims that any pipeline from the North Slope through Canada must come through them. The company claims to have the exclusive right to build the Canadian portion. “We are prepared to commit that we will deliver the Canadian section of this...

India expresses interest in joining Asian Development Bank-sponsored TAP gas pipeline project ISLAMABAD: India expressed interest in joining the Asian Development Bank-sponsored Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline even as it held talks with Pakistan on Sunday on exploring possibilities to give a concrete shape to the $4.16 billion Iran-India gas pipeline project. Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar led the Ministerial-level discussions with his Pakistani counterpart, Amanullah Khan Jadoon, towards forming a new matrix for sourcing cheaper gas from Iran and Turkmenistan. "We have clearly understood that the common interest of India and Pakistan lies in accessing low cost energy, affordable fuel...

Indian Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar is hopeful upcoming talks with Pakistan on a proposed route for a gas pipeline from Iran will lead to an agreement that attracts companies and finance for the multi-billion-dollar project. Aiyar will travel to Islamabad at the weekend to meet his counterpart Amanullah Khan Jadoon to discuss a proposed 2,775-kilometer energy corridor in Pakistan to deliver gas from Iran's South Pars field to the Indian border. "If security and other issues are resolved with Pakistan, I would say construction could begin with all deliberate speed in three years," Aiyar told AFP. "This could be...

Oil hit $51.90 a barrel in midday trading yesterday, up $5 from the same time last week. Oil is once again heading skyward despite OPEC pumping almost flat out and the opening of a new pipeline linking Central Asia with Europe this week that should create an alternative supply of oil for the West. What is driving this latest spike? The first and obvious reason is that demand is still exceeding supply, particularly in the booming markets of the Far East. Second, the U.S. driving season is looming, with a long summer ahead and plenty of SUVs on the roads...

Belfast Telegraph Home > News The pipeline that will change the world It is 42 inches wide, 1,090 miles long and is intended to save the West from relying on Middle Eastern oil. Nothing has been allowed to stand in its way - and it finally opens today By Daniel Howden and Philip Thornton 25 May 2005 The first drops of crude will snake their way along a pipeline that traverses some of the most unstable and war-ravaged countries on earth. This is the oil flow that was meant to save the West, and this morning the taps were turned...

from the May 25, 2005 edition Pipeline politics give Turkey an edge A pipeline that brings Caspian oil to Turkey's coast opens Wednesday. By Yigal Schleifer | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor ISTANBUL – Turkey's heartland of Anatolia - the massive plateau that serves as a land bridge between Asia and Europe - is dotted with the remains of 13th-century inns, reminders of the merchant caravans that traveled the fabled east-west Silk Road. Some 800 years later, Turkey is again trying to take advantage of its strategic location. Today, instead of caravansaries it is building pipelines, and instead of...