Free Republic

Governor announces gas line agreement; 20-20 oil tax goes to lawmakers Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski announced Feb. 21 that the administration has reached agreement with the North Slope producers on a gas pipeline fiscal contract and on a 20 percent production profits tax. While details of the gas contract are still being worked out, and that is not ready to be released to the public or the Legislature, the Legislature did receive the oil tax bill that same day. The governor told a Feb. 21 press conference: “as of late yesterday we were able to conclude a contract agreement with...

In recent memories, there have been many schoolyard tragedies ranging from Beslan massacre to Columbine shooting. This one is the worst schoolyard tragedy. New London, Texas, located in Rusk County, is the richest rural county in the nation because of oilfields throughout East Texas. This is in midst of the Great Depression grappling America. A new school is built which holds 500 students and 40 teachers. The school wanted to save money for natural gas bills, which cost $300, they tapped into natural gas straight from the field. It was odorless as a result. This peaceful and thriving town's world...

Governor Proposes Legislation to Modernize Oil Taxes Announces that agreement reached on gas pipeline (Juneau) – Governor Frank H. Murkowski announced Tuesday that the State of Alaska and the producers have reached agreement on a natural gas pipeline contract. He also announced that he is proposing legislation to reform the state’s oil production tax. “Completion of the gas pipeline contract represents a major milestone in securing a natural gas pipeline, which will provide hope and opportunity for Alaska’s future. Modernizing our oil tax system will provide Alaskans with revenue today,” said the governor. “These are two historic events, ones that...

Uraine, Poland PMs sign declaration on oil pipeline 17.02.2006, 12.31 KIEV, February 17 (Itar-Tass) - - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov and his Polish counterpart Kazimerz Marcinkiwicz signed in Warsaw on Thursday a declaration on finishing the construction of the oil pipeline “Odessa-Brody” to Plock (Poland), the press service of the Ukrainian prime minister reported on Friday. “We want to implement this project to the end,” Marcinkiwicz told journalists after the signing of the declaration, the economic news agency PRIME-TASS reports. According to the Polish premier, during the coming three months, profile ministries will prepare specific proposals, including data on...

Michael Reynolds, formerly of W-B, said he was trying to bait an al-Qaida operative. Keeping Michael Curtis Reynolds quiet could prove to be difficult. The former Wilkes-Barre resident accused by federal authorities of plotting to aid the al-Qaida terrorist network kept on talking against his lawyer’s advice on Dec. 15. He is held on unrelated weapons charges and has not been charged with any terrorism-related offenses. Last week he reportedly sent a letter from prison to a newspaper defending himself as someone intent on turning over a suspected terrorist to the proper authorities. And, at the time of his arrest...

Report: Pennsylvania 'patriot' tried to blow up oil pipelines Federal agents think American sought to wreck U.S. economy with al-Qaida Posted: February 12, 2006 5:49 p.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Is he an American patriot, or a terrorist trying to kill the U.S. economy? That's the question surrounding Michael Curtis Reynolds, a 47-year-old unemployed resident of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., who federal agents say worked with al-Qaida in a plot to blow up the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, a Pennsylvania pipeline, and a New Jersey refinery. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Reynolds is not publicly charged with terrorism, but a federal prosecutor said in...

Michael Curtis Reynolds says he's a patriot. Federal authorities say he's a terrorist. The FBI believes that the unemployed Wilkes-Barre man tried to conspire with al-Qaeda to wreck the American economy. Agents say Reynolds plotted to blow up the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, a Pennsylvania pipeline, and a New Jersey refinery. The sensational allegations, disclosed in a federal transcript obtained by The Inquirer on Friday, reveal a convoluted plot that includes cyberspace intrigue, an elaborate FBI sting, and a clandestine money-drop on a deserted Idaho road. The case also involves a municipal judge from Montana who has devoted the last four years...

Michael Curtis Reynolds says he's a patriot. Federal authorities say he's a terrorist. The FBI believes that the unemployed Wilkes-Barre man tried to conspire with al-Qaeda to wreck the American economy. Agents say Reynolds plotted to blow up the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, a Pennsylvania pipeline, and a New Jersey refinery. The sensational allegations, disclosed in a federal transcript obtained by The Inquirer on Friday, reveal a convoluted plot that includes cyberspace intrigue, an elaborate FBI sting, and a clandestine money-drop on a deserted Idaho road. The case also involves a municipal judge from Montana who has devoted the last four years...

President Mikhail Saakashvili accused Moscow of serious acts of "sabotage" yesterday after explosions ripped apart gas pipelines cutting off supplies to Georgia and neighbouring Armenia. Mr Saakashvili said the blasts were the "attempted sabotage" of his country's energy system and dismissed Russia's explanation - that the attacks were the work of "extremist groups" intent on causing "material damage" - as "unconvincing and contradictory".... "They happened at the same time, and basically they didn't affect supplies to Russia proper, so we can conclude that it was a very well-organised act."

A Russian soldier guards part of the Mozdok-Tbilisi pipeline, twisted by a blast, near the village of Nizhni Lars in North Ossetia. Explosions have ripped through Russia's main natural gas pipeline to Armenia and Georgia as well as a power line, halting supplies amid freezing temperatures and sparking accusations of sabotage from Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili

VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia (AFP) - Explosions ripped through Russia's main natural gas pipeline to Armenia and Georgia as well as a power line, halting supplies amid freezing temperatures and sparking a war of words between Moscow and Tbilisi. Two explosions occurred on the Mozdok-Tbilisi gas pipeline in the Russian Caucasus province of North Ossetia early on Sunday, Russian officials said. A third blast in the nearby province of Karachaevo-Cherkesia cut supplies along one of the main electricity cables supplying power from Russia to Georgia, the emergency situations ministry said. Investigators are treating the gas pipeline blasts as sabotage but not terrorism,...

Terrorists are threatening to blow up Alaska oil pipelines. Via Foxnews Alert. Fox said they were going to take guns and shoot them?

B.C.'s energy sector is on heightened alert after an al-Qaida-affiliated Internet blog message called on Canadian and U.S. jihadists to attack an Alaskan oil pipeline. The 12-page posting targets the Trans-Alaska Pipeline specifically and energy infrastructure in California and Mexico in general. It was discovered and translated from Arabic Dec. 30 by the Washington-based SITE Institute. The posting advocates riddling the iconic pipeline with bullets, blowing it up and causing large fires to complicate repair efforts, and attacking ocean-going tankers or fuel depots in Valdez. "The most suitable candidates for these operations are our American Muslim brothers who live on...

Compromise: The accord would divvy up the basin's water during dry years Representatives of the seven Colorado River Basin states announced Friday they have reached a tentative agreement about how the river will be managed during water shortages. The deal culminates a year of sometimes stormy negotiations between upper basin states Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico, plus California, Arizona and Nevada in the lower basin over how the river's precious resource should be shared. The stakes are enormous. Interior Secretary Gale Norton late in 2004 gave the seven basin states until February to submit a joint proposal for an...

MOSCOW. Jan 4 (Interfax) - Russia and Ukraine have signed a five- year contract on the delivery of Russian natural gas to Ukraine at a price of $230 for 1,000 cubic meters, Russian gas giant Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told journalists after negotiations with Naftogaz Ukrainy head Olexiy Ivchenko.

VIENNA, Austria -- Gas supplies to much of Europe fell sharply Monday in the fallout of Moscow's pricing dispute with Ukraine while several nations urged energy-hungry industries to switch to oil and rationing began in Serbia. Serbia was worst affected, with its gas deliveries cut in half. But other nations also reported susbtantial losses of between 18 and 40 percent. Apart from Serbia, gas was flowing normally to homes and businesses thanks to stored supplies. Despite the dispute, gas prices rose only marginally on Monday on world markets. Still, with the 25-nation European Union counting on Russia for a quarter...

WESTERN officials are to meet in Washington later this week to discuss the precise implications of U.S. sanctions against the Soviet Union on the construction of the 5,500km Siberia-West Europe gas pipeline. The Reagan Administration has long argued that the pipeline will make West Europe dangerously dependent on the Soviet Union. EEC countries say it would be “very wrong” for the U.S. to use the present situation to destroy the pipeline.

Driving to New York City this holiday season? What if you couldn't drive through New Jersey because that state and New York had been unable to agree on the tolls at the Lincoln Tunnel? [...] Up to 80 percent of Russia's gas exports to Western Europe pass through Ukraine, and this accounts for about 25 percent of Western Europe's supply of natural gas. The two sides had originally agreed to sign an agreement by July 1 on gas rates for 2006. But Ukraine's strategy was evidently to delay. Aleksey Ivchenko, head of the Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz, was reported by...

MOSCOW. Jan 1 (Interfax) - Ukraine is reportedly siphoning off Russian gas intended for European consumers, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said at a press briefing at the company's main office. Kupriyanov said verified information on this score is likely to be released at a press briefing at noon, Monday. "We'll be able to announce tomorrow exactly how much gas has been stolen today. Right now I'll announce latest reports on Gazprom's balance at Ukraine's western borders, at the exits from the Ukrainian gas pipeline system: minus 18% at the Kapushany gas-metering unit from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; plus...

MOSCOW. Jan 1 (Interfax) - Gazprom has started to reduce pressure in pipelines that deliver Russian gas to Ukrainian consumers, Russian gas giant spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said in Moscow on Sunday. Gas shipments transiting Ukraine en route to Europe are proceeding in full, he said. On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Ukraine a three-month gas price freeze as long as the Ukrainian authorities agreed to pay what Gazprom sees as the market price of $230 for 1,000 cubic meters, Kupriyanov said. "We were ready to accommodate the Ukrainian people's needs and maintain comfortable conditions for our work during...