Free Republic

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – A dozen previously unknown shipwrecks, some of them believed to be up to 1,000 years old, were discovered in the Baltic Sea during a probe of the sea bed to prepare for the installation of a large gas pipeline, the Swedish National Heritage Board said Monday. "We have manage to identify 12 shipwrecks, and nine of them are considered to be fairly old," Peter Norman, a senior advisor with the heritage board, told AFP. "We think many of the ships are from the 17th and 18th centuries and we think some could even be from the Middle...

The National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami warning for Hawaii and a tsunami advisory for the West Coast of the United States.A NWS spokesman on CNN says it is estimated the tsunami waves will be 10 to 15 feet high when they hit Hawaii. The tsunmi waves could last up to six hours.Recent buoy reports of wave heights vary from 5 to 16 feet.Latest statement on Hawaii:BULLETIN TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 7 NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI 148 AM HST SAT FEB 27 2010 TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII...

The first dense phase rich natural gas from the Bakken is being transported to the Chicago hub via the Alliance Pipeline system. Alliance Pipeline recently completed construction of a new interconnect facility near Bantry, North Dakota which connects to Pecan Pipeline's 12", 76-mile Prairie Rose Pipeline. The new interconnect provides a much needed route to bring natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) from the Bakken to market. While the Bakken is primarily an oil play, a significant amount of associated natural gas is also being produced. Natural gas is the cleanest burning and environmentally preferred fossil fuel, but without...

The discovery of huge new natural-gas fields across the contiguous U.S. is threatening Alaska's plans for a pipeline to export gas to the lower 48 states. Two rival consortiums, each backed by major energy companies, are competing to build the pipeline, designed to carry gas from Alaska's North Slope to continental markets. But even as the project is poised to get off the ground after decades of discussion, its viability is being called into question as energy companies have found huge new supplies of natural gas locked in dense rocks known as shale in places such as Texas, Louisiana and...

News of a higher price tag than expected and competition from other gas supplies are growing skepticism among state legislators that TransCanada Corp. can deliver on the long-awaited natural gas pipeline to the Lower 48. "Can anyone afford to spend $41 billion and find a way to pay for that investment when natural gas is so cheap?" said Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican. "I think we all have to question that and wonder how it's going. ... There's reason to be concerned, reason to be fearful of what the future is for Alaska." That was the environment faced...

As the Long-Discussed Energy Project Finally Advances, Discoveries of Fields Outside the State Threaten Chances. The discovery of huge new natural-gas fields across the contiguous U.S. is threatening Alaska's plans for a pipeline to export gas to the lower 48 states. Two rival consortiums, each backed by major energy companies, are competing to build the pipeline, designed to carry gas from Alaska's North Slope to continental markets. Alaskans hope that gas will help offset falling oil production, as transported here from the North Slope. .But even as the project is poised to get off the ground after decades of discussion,...

Sarah Palin, like all politicians, made many campaign promises when she ran for Governor in Alaska. Unlike many politicians, Sarah made good on all of hers. And while that is remarkable unto itself, no campaign promise made was more important to the Alaskan people than building a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to the lower 48.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that “TransCanada Corp. [on January 29, 2010] filed a detailed plan [with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] for holding an open season this summer to seek commitments from potential shippers to supply gas for the proposed North Slope pipeline

TransCanada Corp and partner Exxon Mobil Corp boosted their cost estimates for a planned line to carry Alaska gas to southern markets by up to 58 per cent on Friday, as the two ready plans to sign up shippers on the massive project. The companies said the cost of the 2,700-kilometer line carrying at least 4.5 billion cubic feet of gas daily from the North Slope to Alberta will range between $32 billion and $41 billion, up from a previous $26 billion forecast. A smaller line, running from the gas fields of Alaska's North Slope to a liquefied natural gas...

Enbridge Inc., Canada’s No. 2 pipeline company, will open two major pipeline projects months ahead of schedule, it chief financial officer said Thursday. Enbridge, whose pipes carry the lion’s share of Canadian crude exports to the United States, expects to open its 450,000-barrel-per-day Alberta Clipper project on April 1, three months ahead of schedule, Enbridge chief financial officer Richard Bird said at an investor conference. “Both the Canadian and U.S. segments of the Alberta Clipper expansion project are expected to be placed in service on April 1 of this year,” Bird said. “This will be a few months ahead of...

Sarah Palin’s pet project got a huge boost today. An independent group, Environment Canada gave the green light for the US-Canada pipeline. Environment Canada studied the environmental and social impact of the 2,760-kilometre pipeline (1,700 in Canada & 1,060 in Alaska) and determined that the project "would provide the foundation for a sustainable northern future. The challenge to all will be to build on that foundation." The report provides 176 recommendations to ensure that the pipeline is developed responsibly, ranging from pipeline design strategies to waste management schemes to wildlife preservation. etc....

<p>Russia and Ukraine agreed new terms Tuesday for oil transit to Europe, averting the threat of another year-end energy crisis after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of "abuse" on the deal.</p> <p>"Yesterday night, everything fell into place. An additional agreement has been signed," Valentyn Zemlyansky, spokesman for Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz, said in Kiev.</p>

MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will witness the celebratory launch of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline, officials say. During Putin's visit to the Russian Far East, he is expected to witness the inauguration of the first leg of the project, which should pump 1.6 million barrels of crude oil per day, the news agency RIA Novosti said Sunday The oil will flow from Siberia to Russia's Far East and on to China and the Asia-Pacific region, the news agency said. The second part of the pipeline is expected to run about 1,300 miles from...

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin launched Russia's long-awaited Siberian oil export route on Monday, hailing a "truly serious event" giving energy-hungry Asia a new supply source from the world's largest crude exporter. Putin, clad in a heavy winter parka, pushed a button that initiated the first filling of an oil tanker at a new oil terminal near the Russian Pacific port of Nakhodka, the projected terminus of the new Siberian oil pipeline. "For Russia this is truly a serious event," Putin said during the terminal inauguration ceremony at the port of Kozmino near Nakhodka, in comments broadcast on state television. "This...

The declining flow of oil from Alaska's North Slope is creating anxiety among executives who run the trans-Alaska pipeline. Within a matter of years, they say, they will need to take costly steps to preserve the life of the 800-mile-long line. If they aren't successful, ice and wax could become a serious problem for the pipeline, increasing the risk of corrosion and spills. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.'s sense of urgency isn't because the North Slope is running out of oil. The Slope's producing oil fields still contain enough oil to supply the pipeline for at least several more decades. Many...

Obama is so transparent, petty and small, he is an embarrassment. O's latest Chicago way payback? He has nominated Larry Persily, who writes hit pieces on Palin for the Puff Ho, got that? Obama defines the hatred of the good for being the good. You go Sarah. W'vee got your back. Obama nominates former Palin aide to pipeline job [note lefturd Reuters headline -- as if he was part of her camp /not] WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama nominated Larry Persily, a former aide to ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, on Wednesday to be federal coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas...

Authorities say an oil spill near Prudhoe Bay contaminated about 8,400 square feet of snow-covered tundra. Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation spokeswoman Weld Royal said oil cleanup crews rushed to the scene about 1 1/2 miles from a production center on the North Slope around 3 a.m. Sunday. She told The Associated Press that it still isn't clear how much spilled or what caused it, but the petroleum did not reach the bay. The spill occurred around an 18-inch pipeline that carried a mixture of crude oil, produced water, and natural gas, but the line was not in operation at...

The U.S. Obama administration put its mark in the overwhelmingly Republican state of Alaska, asking Alaska pipeline coordinator Drue Pearce to step down, according to U.S. news sources Monday. Vice Admiral Thomas Barrett, USCG (Ret.), the deputy federal coordinator, will be interim coordinator until a permanent replacement is named. Pearce, a former Alaska Senate president, had been appointed federal coordinator of Alaska natural gas transportation projects by former President George W. Bush 2006. A terse statement by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska lamented the move, adding "I regret the loss of Drue's experience and knowledge on this project, but I understand...

Alaskans await progress on Palin pipeline plan By DAN JOLING, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 9 mins ago ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Sarah Palin hit the vice presidential campaign trail last year and touted what Alaska could provide for the rest of America — a natural gas pipeline to help lead the country to energy independence. When a pipeline might be built remains a giant question for Alaskans who need the project to support a vulnerable economy and for the Lower 48 states that need the gas, and a petroleum economist who spent more than 25 years in the Alaska Department...

MOSCOW, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that Turkey had given Russia the go ahead to begin work in Turkish waters on the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline to Europe. Russia, which supplies more than a quarter of the European Union's gas, is in a race to build South Stream under the Black Sea ahead of the EU-supported Nabucco pipeline which is meant to reduce reliance on Russia by securing gas from the Caspian. The Kremlin said in a statement that Turkish President Abdullah Gul had telephoned his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, to tell him...