Free Republic

Recent Chinese diplomatic maneuvers in Central Asia, both bilateral and multilateral, show that Beijing’s strategy treats the region as a corridor for reaching resource bases in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. Central Asia is thus part of China’s broader blueprint of securing strategic resources and supplies to feed its developing economy (Z. Saipov, China Oil & Gas Monitor, Week 21, Issue 396, News Base, May 31, p. 3–4). Hu Jintao (L) and Islam Karimov Illustratively, Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu’s two-week official tour of Congo, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on September 1–13 (English.sina.com, September 6) supports the premise that...

<p>The administration appears unwavering in its decision to block construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would bring oil from Canada, our closest trading partner, to American refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.</p> <p>The relative safety of pipelines vis-à-vis road and rail to transport oil and gas is a topic of preeminent importance. Data published by the U.S. Department of Transportation clearly show that pipelines have lower injury and fatality rates than road and rail, in addition to enjoying a substantial cost advantage.</p>

... means hundreds of new miles of pipeline as part of a larger, traditional cross-country network that already extends through Pennsylvania and its neighboring states, as well as dozens of new or upgraded compression stations to force more gas through the buried pipes. ... Combined, more than a dozen projects proposed or already under construction would have the capacity to move an additional 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day — one-third of what analysts for Colorado-based Bentek Energy say is the average daily demand in the northeastern United States. ... about 3 billion cubic feet (bcf) per...

TEHERAN, Iran — Iran's semiofficial Mehr News Agency on Friday said simultaneous blasts have struck three pipelines near the city of Qom, cutting the flow of gas. Mehr said the blasts, which occurred at 5:50 a.m. locat time (2:20 GMT) outside the town of Salafchegan, 130 kilometers south of Teheran, were felt kilometers away. Local official Majid Bojarzadeh said the blasts were not caused by technical failures, but did not elaborate if officials believed the explosions were acts of sabotage. He said operations were under way to repair the pipelines and restore the gas flow. Iran's oil and gas sector...

LONG BEACH -- Home to the nation's largest port complex and near almost half of California's 21 oil refineries, Long Beach is a community crisscrossed with hidden, aging pipelines pumping hazardous and flammable materials in every direction, around the clock, 365 days a year. Buried beneath major thoroughfares and snaking under homes, schools and businesses, hundreds of miles of pipe transport petroleum, natural gas, chemicals and other materials to distribution centers and customers who rely on the fuels.

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Hurricanes could rupture underwater oil and natural gas pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico, which is already struggling with the worst oil spill in U.S. history, according to a new study by researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Mississippi. The study looked at the effects from 2004's Hurricane Ivan, which disrupted several underwater pipelines in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Disruption of the seafloor can reach depths of 300 feet from destructive currents, which can continue for up to a week after the hurricane passes, the researchers found. "It doesn't go away, even after the...

The thing that caught our eye in the plot to blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport and its oil lines concerns a detail in respect of the arrest of one of the key Guyanese suspects. It was the fact that the former member of the Guyanese legislature who was fingered in the plot, Abdul Kadir, was arrested in Trinidad on his way to Caracas, Venezuela. According to Mr. Kadir's wife, who was quoted in the Guyanese press, he was there to pick up an Iranian visa that would enable him to attend an Islamic conference in Tehran. No doubt...

SNIPPET: "Bashir al-Ameriki, born Bryant Neal Vinas, was in the right place at the right time. He caught a wave of online jihadi activism dominated by some really interesting and aggressive individuals, and he rode that wave all the way to glory - sort of. Now he's a prized possession of the United States of America. I have to assume there are a number of indictments either pending or under seal, because Bashir likes to talk."

Note: The following text is a quote: 09 July 2009 EGYPT ARRESTS TERRORIST CELL OF 25 MEMBERS CAIRO, July 9 (Xinhua) The Egyptian authorities have arrested a terrorist cell of 25 members, 24 Egyptians and one Palestinian, for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Suez Canal, Egyptian Interior Ministry said in statement issued on Thursday. According to the statement, the members of the cell who believe in Jihad (Holy War) were located in Cairo, Alexandria and Daqahlia governorates and communicated through internet with other terrorist groups outside Egypt. The cell's members, mostly engineers, were developing high-tech and electronic devices...

Expanding Afghan War Awaits New President An expanded U.S. military involvement awaits a new U.S. president in Afghanistan where the unfinished business of September 11 has flared over the past three years into a major insurgency. A raft of assessments and reviews now underway in Washington point to a fundamental rethinking of the Afghan war. But whoever is elected Tuesday will face choices on the size of the military buildup, how to strengthen the central government, how far to go in dealing with insurgent sanctuaries across the border, how to help stabilize Pakistan, and whether and how to reconcile...

March 24, 2008, 5:00 a.m. Chilling ConfirmationYes, Saddam Hussein was an Islamofascist threat. By Deroy Murdock As Operation Iraqi Freedom is now five years old, a new study confirms that ousting Saddam Hussein was justified and vital to U.S. national security. Though war critics hate to admit it, the Baathist dictator was up to his mustache in aid for Islamofascist terrorism. As a report from the Institute for Defense Analyses explains, “captured Iraqi documents uncovered strong evidence that links the regime of Saddam Hussein to regional and global terrorism.” IDA’s review of some 600,000 documents discovered in Iraq since...

VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) - A shadowy leftist guerrilla group took credit for a string of explosions that ripped apart at least six Mexican oil and gas pipelines Monday, rattling financial markets and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production. The six explosions could be seen miles away, and set off fires that sent flames and black smoke shooting high above the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. At least a dozen pipelines, most carrying natural gas, were affected, said Jesus Reyes Heroles, the head of Mexico's oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, without providing specifics. He said there would be hundreds...

VERACRUZ, Mexico - Mexican gas and oil pipelines were attacked in six places before dawn Monday, causing explosions, fires and gas leaks that forced the evacuation of thousands of people. The blasts reverberated for miles. No direct injuries were reported, although civil defense agencies said two women in their 70s who lived nearby died of heart attacks shortly afterward. A small, shadowy leftist group linked to similar attacks in July left a note claiming responsibility, a police official in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed...

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canada's crude-oil pipelines may have to ration space as early as this autumn because of a surge of new oil production from the Alberta oil sands, the country's energy regulator said on Friday. The National Energy Board said the pipeline industry may face a capacity crunch as oil output this year rises to 2.9 million barrels a day, 9 percent more than in 2006.

LOS ANGELES Federal, state and local officials are on the hunt for an invasive mussel that has been spotted in California for the first time ever and could clog water supply pipelines. Quagga mussels were found earlier this month at Lake Mead in Arizona and at Lake Havasu near the Whitsitt intake facility for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The discoveries launched a wider search for infested reservoirs and pipelines in California that are connected to the Colorado Aqueduct. The aqueduct delivers water to an estimated 18 million people in urban Southern California, including Los Angeles and San...

KIRKUK -- Artillery Soldiers visited two oil-gas separation plants in Janbar Thursday to check the progress of the Oil Protection Forces guarding pipelines south of here. The OPF, funded by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, guard the infrastructure that keeps the oil flowing in the area. Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, met with the OPF to learn how they can better support the Iraqi Forces and ensure they continue to receive the tools they need for success. The 3-7 Soldiers make themselves available to assist with training, supplies and guidance on...

ON THE CALCASIEU RIVER, LA. - The state-issue Boston Whaler plowed through the beer-bottle-brown Calcasieu River, stirring the calm waters that concealed what coursed below. From their boat, John Snead and Robert Paulsell were tracking Louisiana's man-made rivers of commerce: the thousands of miles of pipeline that crisscross the state transporting fuel, oil and natural gas mined and refined along the Gulf Coast to distant gas stations and homes. The two men, mapmakers with the Louisiana Geological Survey, knew the pipelines were down there. They just weren't sure where. "A map of pipelines in Louisiana looks like a web made...

BP was ordered to scrape pipelines but told regulators it wasn't necessary --- WASHINGTON - Alaskan regulators ordered BP four years ago to clean out sediment from pipelines carrying crude from America's largest oil field, Prudhoe Bay. Two months later, Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation relaxed the order, accepting the company's argument that scraping out the lines was not necessary. BP officials now suspect bacteria growing between accumulated sediment and the pipeline wall may have caused the corrosion that created leaks in two major transit lines — a crisis that forced BP to shut down part of Prudhoe Bay in...

Already under siege by American environmental regulators and financial-market investigators, BP PLC faces a new inquisitor today: Congress. In the first of as many as two Capitol Hill appearances in coming days, U.S. operations chief Bob Malone and other BP officials face a public grilling from politicians just ahead of U.S. midterm elections. The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hear testimony from experts and BP officials on corrosion problems at BP's Alaska oil field. The London company partially shuttered the field last month after discovering corroded pipes. The hearing comes amid a series of embarrassing regulatory, criminal and civil...

Gazprom on Tuesday said it had struck a three-year deal with Turkmenistan to buy its gas for $100 per 1,000 cubic meters -- a 50 percent hike on the current price of $65. The cost will most likely be passed on to Ukraine, the final customer for Turkmen gas, when the price increase takes effect in January. Under the deal, reached by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov during talks in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, on Tuesday, the country's gas sales to Russia will drop to 50 billion cubic meters per year. Under a 2003 agreement, Turkmenistan...