2010-08-26 12:13:36
by The Oil Drum - Discussions about Energy and Our Future
BP frozen out of Arctic oil drilling race
BP has been forced to abandon hopes of drilling in the Arctic, currently the centre of a new oil rush, owing to its tarnished reputation after the Gulf of Mexico spill.The company confirmed tonight that it was no longer trying to win an exploration licence in Greenland, despite earlier reports of its interest. "We are not participating in the bid round," said a spokesman at BP's London headquarters, who declined to discuss its reasons for the reverse.
The setback, which follows the announcement this week of a major find in the region by British rival Cairn Energy, is the first sign that the Gulf of Mexico disaster may have permanently damaged BP's ability to operate ? not just in US waters, but in other environmentally sensitive parts of the world.
Oil Rises for Second Day as Stocks Gain on Speculation Prices Fell Too Far
Oil rose for a second day in New York, buoyed by advancing equity markets and speculation that crude?s 7 percent drop this month has been excessive relative to the economic outlook.
Refining Margins' 51% Decline May Worsen as China Slows
The combination of slowing Chinese economic growth and expanding refineries means this year?s 51 percent decline in profit margins from turning crude into gasoline, diesel and kerosene is poised to worsen.
PetroChina Profit Misses Estimates as Government Controls Curb Price Gains
Profit growth at PetroChina Co., Asia?s biggest company by market value, slumped in the second quarter after government controls on gasoline and diesel tariffs curbed gains from higher crude oil prices.
U.S. Winter Will Be Warmest in Five Years, Forecaster MDA Federal Says
The U.S. will have its warmest winter in five years, which will reduce demand for natural gas, according to forecaster MDA Federal Inc.
Shell Moves Sakhalin LNG Manager to Australia to Build Project
Royal Dutch Shell Plc has brought the former manager of Sakhalin-2, Russia?s first liquefied natural gas project, to Australia to oversee development of a proposed venture that may cost more than $20 billion.
UK and Norway team up to tap North Sea potential
The UK and Norway yesterday agreed to step up levels of co-operation between the two countries as they each attempt to re-establish the North Sea as one of the world's leading energy hubs.
Former Chief of Drilling Agency Says New Inspection System Is Needed
S. Elizabeth Birnbaum, the former head of the Minerals Management Service who resigned under pressure a month after the blowout of BP?s well in the Gulf of Mexico, said Wednesday that the offshore drilling oversight agency needed a thorough overhaul of its regulations, inspection procedures and culture.
Engineer says he warned BP over deepwater well
A Halliburton engineer has testified he warned BP its design for the Macondo well was flawed.The deepwater exploration well, which had struck oil in the Gulf of Mexico, would be susceptible to surges of natural gas without changes to the design, testified Jesse Gagliano, a shore-based technical adviser assigned by Halliburton to work with BP.
Missing Piece in Oil Rig Inquiry: Who Was in Charge?
HOUSTON ? Even after dozens of witnesses, a hundred hours of testimony and three months of investigation, a chairman of a federal panel exploring the Deepwater Horizon disaster admitted Wednesday that he still lacked a simple fact: Who was the top authority on the oil rig when it exploded?
After the Leak, Restoring the Gulf Coast
This week, a coalition of dozens of environmental and social justice groups, led by Oxfam America, released a report calling for billions in financing for ecosystem restoration, storm protection and community development along the Gulf Coast.?On the five-year anniversary of Katrina and the devastating 2005 hurricane season, it?s well past time for the nation to commit to a true restoration vision and plan for the central gulf, long the nation?s energy sacrifice zone,? Aaron Viles, campaign director for the Gulf Restoration Network, which co-authored the report, said in a statement.
The company that owns the crude oil pipeline that burst last month in mid-Michigan has no time line for repairing a dented section of pipe beneath the St. Clair River at Marysville, despite a congresswoman's concerns that any spill there could be "simply catastrophic" to metro Detroit's drinking water supply and the environment.
Nigeria announces power grid sale, repair
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigeria's president announced a multi-billion-dollar plan Thursday to repair and privatize the oil-rich nation's decrepit national power grid that forces people to rely on private generators to provide electricity.President Goodluck Jonathan said the nation would sell off the state-run Power Holding Company of Nigeria and workers at the state-run power company would receive "generous" severance package.
Iran has material for 1-2 atom bombs: ex-IAEA aide
(Reuters) - Iran has stockpiled enough low-enriched uranium for 1-2 nuclear arms but it would not make sense for it to cross the bomb-making threshold with only this amount, a former top U.N. nuclear official was quoted as saying.
New Greatest Generation is needed
Today, our country faces daunting challenges which are greater than anything we?ve seen since the Great Depression and World War II. Our economy is stalled, with high unemployment and five to six applicants for every job opening. Our infrastructure is corroding, with many roads, bridges, water and sewer systems in need of repair or replacement. Our energy, transportation and land-use systems are rapidly becoming obsolete in a world facing peak oil and catastrophic climate change. Our health care system is inefficient and increasingly unsustainable. And an increasing portion of our economy is based on ?financial services,? rather than on production of useful goods. And the extent of income inequality is greater than at any time since before the Great Depression of the 30s.
?Green? commute for bus-less school
Green Ways to School is a new campaign launched in January. Funded through a grant from the Marin Community Foundation?s Climate Change Initiative, the campaign consists of a new Web-based SchoolPool trip-matching program (The SchoolPool Marin program helps families find others in their neighborhood to carpool, walk, bike or take the bus together to and from school), and contests and promotions that encourage students and their parents to find Green Ways to School.
Severn Trent's `Concrete Cow' Is First U.K. Crop-Fed Generator
Severn Trent Plc started generating electricity from the U.K.?s first commercial-scale crop-fed power plant as the utility seeks to lower its carbon emissions by using an emerging form of renewable power.The company?s Severn Trent Water unit began supplying the national power grid from a gas-fueled turbine at a site near Nottingham, Gill Dickinson, a company spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview. The gas comes from anaerobic digestion towers, which use micro-organisms to break down corn and wheat.
California Approves First U.S. Thermal Solar Plant
California regulators on Wednesday approved a license for the nation?s first large-scale solar thermal power plant in two decades.The licensing of the 250-megawatt Beacon Solar Energy Project after a two-and-a-half-year environmental review comes as several other big solar farms are set to receive approval from the California Energy Commission in the next month.
Could a superbee from Swindon save the world?
Will Swindon be remembered as the home of a major breakthrough in halting the global decline of the honeybee? Ron Hoskins, a 79-year-old beekeeper from the town, has spent the last 18 years looking for a bee that is resistant to the parasite blamed for killing billions worldwide. And yesterday he claimed that his superbee could assure the future of the insect that pollinates around a third of everything we eat.
EPA to cruise lines: No dumping sewage off California coast
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed a rule forbidding cruise ships from dumping sewage off the California coast.
Riverside Park Plans Composting Restroom
The bathroom, which would compost sewage to fertilize park greenery and use solar panels to power the complex, is being designed to operate without causing carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to global warming. In addition to producing fertilizer instead of sewage, composting toilets typically use little or no water (about three ounces) compared with three and a half gallons per conventional toilet flush.
Archaeologists find new clues why the Maya left
The whole idea of a widespread catastrophic collapse of the classic Maya is overstated, Alexander says, suggesting centers likely went through many cycles of building, abandonment and reuse.
Texas fights global-warming power grab
The state's slogan is "Don't mess with Texas." But the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing just that, and at stake is whether the Obama administration can impose its global-warming agenda without a vote of Congress.
Exhibit envisions a Kansas City altered by climate change
Kansas City conceptual artist Tim Brown is preparing for future calamity.In ?Floodplain Refugee Housing, Kansas City 2050-2100,? a thought-provoking exhibit at the Writers Place, Brown proposes a solution to the possible refugee problem brought about by climate change and the flooding of the Earth?s coastal areas. Twelve black-and-white photocopies mounted to plywood panels imagine buildings that take environmental issues into account and make efficient use of space.
It's a Communication Challenge, Not a Scientific Challenge
Even if you're Al Gore (and maybe especially if you're Al Gore), I caution you against arguing the science of climate change. You cannot change the mind of a global warming skeptic by citing scientific facts. The reason is simple; resistance isn't grounded in facts. Instead, it's grounded in emotion, political ideology and perceived financial self-interest.
Greenhouse gases are heating up the earth?s atmosphere and, as a result, global weather conditions now seem to have gone truly haywire. Temperatures are unusually high in certain places, while rain in other places is causing unprecedented floods and loss of life. Pakistan, China, North Korea, and Niger are now threatened with floods such as they?ve never seen before. In view of the rise in temperature, some scientists even predict that there will be no more summer ice in the Arctic by 2030. And where will all that water go then?
Time to blame climate change for extreme weather?
IT IS time to start asking the hard questions. Countless people in flood-stricken Pakistan have lost families and livelihoods. Who can they hold responsible and turn to for reparations?Less than a decade ago, these questions would have been dismissed outright. "Many scientists at the time said that you can never blame an individual weather event on climate change," says Myles Allen of the University of Oxford. But a small meeting of scientists in Colorado last week - organised by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UK Met Office's Hadley Centre, among others - suggests the tide is turning.
Huge ice chunk breaks off Ellesmere Island
A large parcel of ice has fractured from a massive ice shelf on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, marking the third known case of Arctic ice loss this summer alone.The chunk of ice, which scientists estimate is roughly the size of Bermuda, broke away from the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf on the island's northern coast around Aug. 18, according to NASA satellite imagery.
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