Total issues oil shortage warning

Chief executive Christophe de Margerie warned that too little has been spent trying to tap into new oil reserves because of the economic crisis.  “If we don’t move [now] there will be a problem,” Mr de Margerie said. “In two or three years it will be too late.”   He also said he thought oil prices would rise to more than $100 a barrel, from their current level of around $70.

Real men tax gas [Friedman Op-ed]

France today generates nearly 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power plants, and it has managed to deal with all the radioactive waste issues without any problems or panics. And us? We get about 20 percent and have not been able or willing to build one new nuclear plant since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, even though that accident led to no deaths or injuries to plant workers or neighbors. We’re too afraid to store nuclear waste deep in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain — totally safe — at a time when French mayors clamor to have reactors in their towns to create jobs. In short, the French stayed the course on clean nuclear power, despite Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, and we ran for cover.

NUCLEAR

How 2 Swedish towns vied for nuclear waste

In Sweden … two municipalities, Östhammar and Oskarshamn, have spent the past seven years competing for the right to host the world’s first high-level nuclear waste storage facility.  Although it comes in many varieties, nuclear waste is short on what most people consider winning qualities. It is the downsides that catch our eye, and, of these, high-level nuclear waste has a peculiarly rich array. This kind of waste is normally “spent fuel”, long rods of uranium that have been burnt in a nuclear reactor. No longer capable of supplying the steady chain reaction that a power station demands, the bundles of radioactive metal emerge at the end of their useful lives to become a terrifying hazard.

GEOPOLITICS

Sovereignty, oil hunt complicate Arctic research

Russian and U.S. oceanographers studying the impact of global warming on the Bering Strait in late August enjoyed seas on some days that were so calm their ship made the only ripples.  But the serenity of the seascape belied increasingly turbulent waters for scientific research as countries exert sovereignty over Arctic territory and Big Oil boosts exploration efforts.

Left behind by Iraq’s oil rush

Critics of the US invasion six years ago often said its ultimate aim was to control Iraq’s vast deposits of oil.  So it is ironic, perhaps, that the first foreign oil company to sign a production agreement with the Iraqi government since 2003 should be from America’s growing rival, China. …  With its budget almost entirely dependent on oil revenues, the government is desperate to boost output – which still barely matches pre-invasion levels – so it has turned to foreign companies for help.

South China Sea piracy hits five-year high

Piracy in the South China Sea has hit a five-year high with tankers and large container ships most prone to attack, an international monitoring agency said Monday.  A spokeswoman for the information sharing centre of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) told AFP there were at least 10 cases of sea attacks reported in 2009 so far. …  Tankers and large container ships are targeted because they are “more vulnerable and slow-moving”, ReCAAP’s assistant director of research Lee Yin Mui was quoted as saying by Singapore’s Straits Times.

Venezuela’s Iran ties raise eyebrows

Here’s an issue that is drawing growing attention in Washington, but is going almost unnoticed in Latin America — allegations that Venezuela is helping Iran develop nuclear weapons, and that Iran’s fundamentalist regime is setting up a foothold in Latin America from where to threaten the United States.  While there has been speculation about Venezuela’s ties to Iran’s nuclear program in the past, it has risen to a new level since a Sept. 8 speech by New York district attorney Robert M. Morgenthau at the Brookings Institute in Washington.

Turkey and Iraq weigh Nabucco pact

Turkey and Iraq have discussed signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to ship Iraqi gas to Europe via Turkey through the planned Nabucco pipeline, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said. … No concrete supply deals have yet been signed for Nabucco, which plans to pump 31 billion cubic metres of gas to Europe by 2014, but backers of the Vienna-based consortium have said Iraq could be among the suppliers.

CLIMATE and ENVIRONMENT

Arctic ice melts to third-smallest area on record

The Arctic’s sea ice pack thawed to its third-lowest summer level on record, up slightly from the seasonal melt of the past two years but continuing an overall decline symptomatic of climate change, U.S. scientists said on Thursday.

China to lead on climate change

China will be at the forefront of combating climate change by 2020 if it meets government targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the International Energy Agency suggests.  The finding contrasts sharply with the widespread image internationally of China as a country of inefficient, carbon-intensive industry that is resisting international calls to curb its emissions.  Fatih Birol, IEA chief economist, said: “If China reaches its targets – and in the past, it has reached most of its targets of this kind – its emissions [growth] will have declined so much by 2020 that it will be the country that has achieved the largest emission reductions. China will be at the forefront of combating climate change.”

Frankfurt Motor Show goes electric

Resource-friendly electric cars dominate this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, but not every company agrees.  “The electric car will account for 10 percent of the global market in 10 years,” Carlos Ghosn, head of Renault-Nissan, told the BBC. “It is time for zero emission motoring.”  Those are bold words, and most European carmakers are trying to paint their image as “green” as possible at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.

OPEC warns continuing weak crude demand will boost stock overhang

Continuing weak demand for crude oil is likely to result in already brimming industry stocks being boosted further, OPEC said September 15. The oil producer club noted in its latest monthly oil market report that while its production cuts had helped to reduce crude inventories, refined products now represented “more than 60% of the total overhang in stocks compared [with] only 20% in January.” …

But OPEC said that although crude inventories had dropped, the end of the driving season and the start of refinery maintenance and continuing low throughputs meant that demand for crude was likely to remain low in the coming months.

Shah Deniz forecast takes a dip

The Shah Deniz consortium has cut its outpt forecast for the year to 7.2 billion cubic metres of gas from 8 Bcm, an official from Azerbaijan’s state-run producer Socar said.

The Socar official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters technical reasons had caused the decline.

Total sees output growth in 2010, faster field declines

French oil major Total indicated Wednesday that its oil and gas production would rise next year, after a dip in 2009, despite faster-than-expected output declines from its mature oil and gas fields.  According to graphics in a mid-year strategy presentation posted on its website, Total sees its upstream production rising through 2016 and cash flow next year benefiting from 2009 field startups and cost reductions.

NUCLEAR

U.S. drafts new nuclear resolution

The United States has distributed a new draft resolution on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation to other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council that includes a pledge by nuclear states to not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states. It also would make the “right” of a country to pursue a peaceful nuclear program contingent on not being found in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’s other obligations.

Neither Iran nor other countries are explicitly mentioned in the draft text, which calls on all countries to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It does not name the four holdouts: India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel.

India, Mongolia sign uranium agreement

India signed a civil nuclear energy agreement with uranium-rich Mongolia on Monday.

The memorandum of understanding for “peaceful use of radioactive minerals and nuclear energy” was signed during Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia’s state visit to India. … Mongolia claims to have 6 percent of the world’s uranium reserves.

India, Asia’s third-largest energy consumer, now has a nuclear power generation capacity of 4,120 megawatts, which accounts for 3 percent of its total capacity. By 2030 it hopes to boost that amount to 60,000 megawatts, Shyam Saran, special envoy to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said Jan. 8, Bloomberg reported. But India lacks its own uranium resources.

 GEOPOLITICS

Venezuela’s loss is Colombia’s gain in oil fields

Until recently in a free fall because of terrorist attacks that scared off wildcat drillers, Colombia’s oil production is staging a surprisingly robust rebound, boosted in no small part by the arrival of oil industry executives and engineers banished by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Increased production in Colombia, a U.S. ally, is important for U.S. consumers because it advances the goal of reducing the country’s reliance on oil imports from unstable, unreliable or unfriendly governments. …

Statistics from the U.S. Energy Department show that Colombia is a significant supplier to the United States. In May, it exported an average of 243,000 barrels of crude daily, making it the 13th-largest shipper of oil to the U.S. …

Colombia is only part of the PDVSA diaspora stretching from the Canadian tar sands to Houston to Mexico City and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Romania says in advanced talks over Nabucco supplies

Romania is in advanced talks with Asian states to secure supplies for a planned natural gas pipeline designed to reduce Europe’s energy dependence on Russia by transporting gas from the Caspian and Middle East from 2014.

“We are in advanced talks with Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan … to import gas for the Nabucco pipeline,” Deputy Economy Minister Tudor Serban told an energy seminar. He would not elaborate.

Georgia challenges Russia to detain its ships in Abkhaz waters

Georgia said on Tuesday it would resist any attempts by Russia to detain its ships in the waters of its former province of Abkhazia.

A Russian border protection service official said earlier in the day that Russian border guards would detain all vessels that violate Abkhazia’s maritime border. Tbilisi considers Abkhazia and its waters part of Georgian territory, and has declared any unauthorized maritime shipments of goods illegal.

CLIMATE and ENVIRONMENT

Obama calls for stricter fuel standards by 2016

The Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled its plan to require better gas mileage for cars and trucks and tougher rules on vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. …

The new standards call for the auto industry’s fleet of new vehicles to average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

The proposal will cover vehicle model years 2012 through 2016, allowing auto companies to comply at once with all federal requirements as well as standards pushed by California and about a dozen other states.

EU plans 30 cities to lead world on “smart” energy

Europe will select 30 cities to pioneer “smart” electricity grids and space-proven insulation as it seeks to lead the global race for green technology, a draft European Union document shows. …

Billions of euros will have to be poured into research to avoid falling behind the United States, which is pouring $777 million into energy research, the draft, obtained by Reuters ahead of the plan’s release next month, said.

End dirty tricks on clean energy push

As the American economy is restored on a foundation of efficiency and clean energy, existing jobs will be transformed and modernized, and new industries will develop to serve emerging markets. Businesses will innovate and grow to meet increasing demand for clean energy goods and services, not only in the U.S. but in a global economy hungry for low-carbon energy solutions. The Chinese market for clean technology alone is predicted to grow to as much as $1 trillion a year.

OPEC to eye economic stimulus, not just oil supply 

OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna this week were expected to keep supply targets intact and instead rely on hoped-for economic growth to sustain oil prices.

OPEC will keep current output target at Sep 9 meet

Oil producer club OPEC will maintain its current 24.845 million b/d crude production ceiling at Wednesday’s ministerial meeting in Vienna, Iran’s OPEC governor said Monday, quoted by the Mehr news agency.

Natural gas glut expected to test US storage system this fall

With US natural gas storage supplies comfortably above 3.3 Tcf, and with even more gas trying to push its way in, many in the industry are bracing for a very real capacity test of the storage system in the coming weeks.  Despite a gas rig count that, according to Baker Hughes, is about 50% below last year, supplies have been kept flush by a relatively mild summer in most of the US and weak economic conditions.  “We have a recession, so there’s no demand,” said Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist with Deutsche Bank. … the plain fact is that “there’s just not enough storage for the gas that’s trying to get in,” Sieminski said. “There’s a physical limit.”

Trinidad and Tobago gas reserves revised 

Trinidad and Tobago has proved gas reserves of 15.4 tcf and another 30 tcf in unrisked exploration potential, according to recent findings of Ryder Scott Consultants.  Herman Acuna, Ryder Scott managing senior vice-president, told a news conference in the Caribbean twin-island nation’s capital of Port of Spain that while there was a reduction in the country’s proved reserves, its probable and possible reserves had increased.  The study was conducted for 2008 and showed that the largest exporter of LNG to the US had 8.5 tcf of probable reserves, 6.3 tcf of possible reserves, and 29.6 tcf of unrisked exploration potential.

NUCLEAR

Iran rules out talks on its nuclear “rights”

Iran’s president on Monday snubbed U.S. President Barack Obama’s end-September deadline to talk to world powers on its disputed nuclear program, saying in his opinion discussion on the issue is “finished.”

GEOPOLITICS

China Oil Deal Is New Source of Strife Among Iraqis

… [T]he China National Petroleum Corporation has struck oil at the Ahdab field in Wasit Province, southeast of Baghdad. And while the relationship between the company and the Iraqi government has gone smoothly, the presence of a foreign company with vast resources drilling for oil in this poor, rural corner of Iraq has awakened a wave of discontent here.

Medvedev puts his foot down

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev today ordered Gazprom to stop advance payments to Ukraine for transit of natural gas across its territory.

Moscow ‘may lend Kiev $2bn’

Russia could lend Ukraine $2 billion to support the former Soviet republic’s economy ahead of next year’s election, according to local media reports.  Moscow-based business daily Vedomosti, citing an unidentified Russian government official, said gas supplies and the possibility of lending money to Ukraine would be discussed at an October meeting between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko.

On star-studded world tour, Chavez seeks to create gas cartel

According to Philippe Moreau Defarges, senior fellow at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), Chavez is hoping to rally energy-producing countries such as Turkmenistan, Iran, and Russia against the United States.  “The OPEC is in a bad way, so a new cartel around gas, which is considered to be a clean energy, is a good way to recreate an anti-Western front,” Moreau Defarges said in an interview with FRANCE 24 on Tuesday.  On Monday, Chavez called on Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to join a gas forum of natural gas exporters.

Iran and Venezuela seal $760m deal

Venezuela and Iran will both invest $760 million in each other’s energy sectors under deals signed during a visit to Tehran by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, according to local media reports.

CLIMATE and ENVIRONMENT

Rigs going green

As oil and gas operators venture into deeper waters to feed the global hunger for energy, a greater challenge exists to balance cost control with environmental concerns.   Environmentalists often blame the noise from seismic acquisition and drilling operations for the beaching of whales and other disruptions to marine life. … Industry players have developed new technology in attempt to resolve these issues, although, as yet, no one approach can offer a complete solution.

Friendlier Arctic seas bring opportunity — and risk

Arctic trade experts say that natural resource development and regional trade will open up marine shipping through the Arctic over the next decade and that many non-Arctic nations will be participating.

U.S. climate change bill to compete with healthcare

 Environmentalists hope the push in Congress for climate change legislation is not overwhelmed by the debate dominating Capitol Hill over changing the U.S. healthcare system. But it might be.

US crude output on the rise

U.S. crude oil production is expected to rise this year for the first time in nearly two decades, buoyed mostly by new offshore projects in the Gulf of Mexico but also getting a boost from a so-far quiet Atlantic hurricane season. … The rise in domestic oil production highlights the growing contribution of deep-water fields in the Gulf, which until only recently were considered out of reach. …

Yet it may be too early to call it a turning point for U.S. oil. While deep-water fields, as well as emerging onshore fields like the Bakken oil shale play in North Dakota, are sure to become a bigger part of America’s oil diet, they may not be enough to offset declining production elsewhere in the U.S. Nor will they help the country wean itself from foreign oil any time soon.

Shell restarts Utorogu gas plant in western Niger Delta

Shell Petroleum Development Co. has restarted its 300-MMscfd capacity gas plant in Utorogu in western Niger Delta after the vandalized Escravos-Lagos Pipeline (ELP) was repaired by the Nigerian Gas Co.

 BP unveils ‘giant’ Tiber find

 UK supermajor BP has made what it claims is a “giant” oil find at the Tiber prospect in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico’s Lower Tertiary play.

StatoilHydro confirms oil, gas find in North East Smoerbukk

Proven resources are so far estimated at between 15 and 25 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent.

GEOPOLITICS

Bulgaria weighs up pipe deals

Bulgaria will decide in November whether to push ahead or abandon a number of major energy projects it had committed to, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said today.   The new centre-right government, which won elections in July, is reviewing the country’s participation in the Russian-backed trans-Balkan pipeline, which has sparked strong environmental protests, a Reuters report said.

Naftogaz to restructure $1.7 bn debt

Naftogaz, the cash-strapped Ukrainian state company at the centre of the supply of Russian natural gas to Europe, announced on Wednesday that it had hired Credit Suisse as an advisor to help restructure more than $1.7bn in debts, including a $500m Eurobond issue, which matures on September 30. …

The debt restructuring talks are expected to be particularly tough. Russian gas giant Gazprom has said it has no interest in Naftogaz, one of its biggest clients, falling into default.

MacKenzie key plank to Arctic rights

The approval of the MacKenzie Valley natural gas pipeline should be viewed as a key plank to demonstrate Canadian sovereignty over its Arctic lands and waters, according to the Northwest Territories energy minister.

Putin attacks Polish gas firm’s role in key venture

Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for an investigation into the way a private Polish firm won a share of a key pipeline venture bringing Russian gas to Europe.

The Polish firm, Gas Trading S.A., rejected his criticisms and said its participation in the Yamal-Europe project would continue.

 Gazprom asks Japan to help fund gas pipeline

Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom has asked Japan to help fund a major natural-gas pipeline in Russia’s Far East, according to news reports Tuesday. … The pipeline from Russia’s Sakhalin Island to the Pacific port of Vladivostok is expected to cost around 210 billion rubles ($6.6 billion), the report said.  Russia had asked Japan to lend $1 billion for the pipeline project, Reuters said, citing an article in Russian newspaper Kommersant, but Japan said it would offer $2 billion if the project would use to fund Japanese pipes.

Gazprom says Ukraine gas storage levels good

Ukraine has pumped 25 billion cubic metres of gas so far into its underground storage facilities, almost enough to ensure smooth supplies to Europe this winter, a Gazprom executive said on Wednesday.

NUCLEAR

Nuclear negotiator: Iran ready for talks with West

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator offered an opening Tuesday for possible compromise with the West, saying the Islamic regime is ready to hold talks with world powers over its nuclear program.

Iran nuclear threat ‘hyped’: IAEA’s ElBaradei 

Iran is not going to produce a nuclear weapon any time soon and the threat posed by its atomic program has been exaggerated, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said in a published interview. 

CLIMATE and ENVIRONMENT

California mine digs in for ‘green’ gold rush

The future of wind farms and hybrid cars may well hinge on what happens to a 55-acre (22.3-hectare) hole in the ground at the edge of California’s high desert.

The open-pit mine at Mountain Pass, California, holds the world’s richest proven reserve of “rare earth” metals, a family of minerals vital to producing the powerful, lightweight magnets used in the engines of Toyota Motor Corp’s Prius and other hybrid vehicles as well as generators in wind turbines.

Experts agree goals for better climate information

Experts at 150-nation climate talks agreed guidelines on Wednesday to improve a flow of information to help the world cope with heatwaves, sandstorms or rising sea levels likely to be caused by global warming.

Crude nudges $71 ahead of US data

Oil rose towards $71 a barrel today as the market waited on US data expected to indicate economic recovery and higher fuel consumption in the world’s biggest energy market.  ”I don’t see a strong recovery in the oil price,” Eugen Weinberg, analyst at Commerzbank, told Reuters.

“The risk factors … freight rates, a weak stock market, possibly also a stronger dollar and weak equity markets in Europe today indicate prices are likely to fall.” Oil traders will look for fresh direction to the next sets of data on the world’s biggest energy market, the US.

Norwegian oil output to fall more than expected

Norway says its offshore oil production will fall 10 percent more through 2013 than predicted a year ago, but will be partly offset by an increase in natural gas exports. …

The government has been urging oil companies to step up efforts to find more oil near existing North Sea fields, develop technology to get more crude out of current reservoirs, and move exploration into Arctic waters in a bid to offset the oil production decline.

US natural gas store may near capacity

The US Department of Energy said on Monday that peak natural gas storage capacity rose by a modest 100bn cubic feet in the year to April, suggesting gas stockpiles will be close to tapping out capacity this fall. …

Traditionally, natural gas companies inject their production underground – in salt caverns, depleted oil wells and aquifers – through the summer, when demand is weak, to meet higher consumption during winter months. …

“During years like 2009, when storage builds have been historically large, the total amount of gas that operators can store becomes particularly important,” the EIA said. “As storage fields near their maximum capacity, constraints on storage may cause downward pressure on prices paid for current supplies of gas until the winter demand rebalances supply and demand.”

NUCLEAR

Iran ready to hold nuclear talks with world powers

Iran has prepared an “updated nuclear proposal” and is ready to hold negotiations with world powers, state-run television quoted the Islamic Republic’s chief nuclear negotiator as saying on Tuesday.

The announcement was made a day before six world powers are expected to hold high-level talks in Germany on what to do about Iran’s contentious nuclear program. The West suspects the Islamic state is seeking to build bombs. Iran denies the charge.

Interview: Mohamed ElBaradei

After three terms, 12 years, and countless unprecedented challenges, the IAEA can’t help but be changed by its outgoing director-general. Three months before Mohamed ElBaradei leaves office, he explains how such an evolution is only a start.

Cost of new nukes still pending

CPS Energy, San Antonio’s municipal utility has spent $276 million on nuclear planning and engineering, approved another $100 million for it yesteday and is expected to go to the City Council next month and ask for permission to issue bonds for $400 million for the project.

Opponents of the expansion say the costs are going to be much higher than previous predictions of more than $5 billion, and could top $20 billion.

GEOPOLITICS

Chavez says Venezuela will continue oil exports to U.S.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that his country will continue exporting oil to the United States because it is in the Andean nation’s interest.

Chavez said in a statement published in the Lima daily El Comercio that “many people don’t know” that Venezuelan state oil giant PDVSA, through its Citgo subsidiary, has seven large refineries and more than 10,000 service stations on U.S. soil.

Finland considers Nord Stream

The Nord Stream natural gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea may not be a security risk to Nordic countries, though environmental concerns remain, officials say.

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen told Finnish public radio the Nord Stream gas pipeline did not pose a security risk, noting energy cooperation with Russia would actually bring stability.

Russia has a role in energy diversity

Russia remains a top energy partner for Europe, though lingering gas issues make oil and gas diversification a priority, a top U.S. official says. …

Richard Morningstar, the U.S. special envoy for Eurasian energy, said in an interview with European weekly New Europe that Washington would work with its European and international partners to avert another crisis as the winter heating season approaches. …

 Morningstar said the diversification effort was moving in the right direction but left the door open for a Russian role in the European energy sector.

Lockerbie bomber on show at Gaddafi’s 40th anniversary celebrations

Libya is set to flaunt the Lockerbie bomber’s release at the climax of today’s celebrations marking Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s 40 years in power.

The Times gained access last night to the dress rehearsal of a spectacular two-hour show which extols Colonel Gaddafi for reviving his country and restoring Arab pride. As the finale approaches, the screen at the back of the giant stage in Tripoli’s Green Square shows Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi stepping off the plane which brought him home from his Scottish prison two weeks ago. His arms are raised aloft by Colonel Gaddafi’s son, Saif, as he acknowledges the joyful reception from the crowd below.

PetroChina grabs Canadian oil sands

Oil company PetroChina plans to acquire a 60 percent stake in Canada’s Athabasca Oil Sands Corp., which holds the largest lease in Alberta’s oil sands.

PetroChina in a $1.7 billion deal will take a 60 percent stake in one of the largest oil sand reserves in Canada. Athabasca says it holds upwards of 1.3 million acres of oil sand leases in northern Alberta.

“Oil sands projects are very capital-intensive long-term investments and difficult to fully finance in the traditional equity market,” Athabasca Chairman Bill Gallacher said in a statement.

Iran brags of European energy deals

Iran says it has conducted negotiations with as many as 30 different companies in nine European countries for oil and gas developments.

U.S. lawmakers are considering a new round of harsh economic sanctions on companies that export petroleum products to Iran as punishment for its controversial nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency says the Iranian government is still defying the international community over its nuclear program.

Despite the international pressure, the Mehr News Agency in Iran points to a series of deals with European companies that are working in the midst of the sanctions regime.

CLIMATE and ENVIRONMENT

Troubling bubbles:  Methane oozes from thawing permafrost

Pure methane, gas bubbling up from underwater vents, escaping into northern skies, adds to the global-warming gases accumulating in the atmosphere. And pure methane escaping in the massive amounts known to be locked in the Arctic permafrost and seabed would spell a climate catastrophe.

EU bans Edison’s light bulbs

The European Union is banning the production of 100-watt incandescent light bulbs starting Tuesday in a bid to introduce compact fluorescent models, widely known as energy-savings bulbs.

Could we replace the nation’s pavement with solar panels?

The Solar Road Panels would contain not just solar panels but LED lighting (to enable real-time communication with drivers), heating units (to prevent icing), high-voltage power transmission lines, and even electric-vehicle recharging stations. It’s transportation, power, and grid infrastructure in the same place.

At the limit, if all paved surfaces in the U.S. were replaced with 15% efficiency solar panels, the resulting distributed power network could provide three times the electricity the nation consumes, with zero carbon emissions and no additional power grid infrastructure.

Wind farms can appear sinister to weather forecasters

Wind farms have been blamed for disrupting the lives of birds, bats and, most recently, the land-bound sage grouse.

Now the weather forecaster?

The massive spinning blades affixed to towers 200 feet high can appear on Doppler radar like a violent storm or even a tornado.

Climate conference under way in Geneva

High-level policymakers, scientists and business leaders are gathering in Switzerland this week for a climate conference that focuses on coping with effects of climate change such as droughts and floods.

The goal of the roughly 1,000 delegates — among them a large U.S. delegation — at the World Climate Conference in Geneva is to make sure that poorer nations have the information to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. It sidesteps the tricky issue of emissions reductions, which is due to be discussed before and during a major U.N. climate-change conference this December in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Some buildings not living up to green label

Builders covet LEED certification — it stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — as a way to gain tax credits, attract tenants, charge premium rents and project an image of environmental responsibility. But the gap between design and construction, which LEED certifies, and how some buildings actually perform led the program last week to announce that it would begin collecting information about energy use from all the buildings it certifies.

I agree, on BTC, that demonstrating Georgia’s vulnerability by making it vulnerable is useful in debunking the myth of ‘supply diversification away from Russia’ and it’s an attempt to put another nail in the Nabucco’s coffin. 

But Robb is talking about Iran supplying Nabucco as if it’s a foregone conclusion.  Now, Nabucco isn’t going to work without Iran, but including Iran would mean the US deciding it’s the lesser of two evils (the other evil being Russia). 

It’s unlikely that the US would include Iran, because this isn’t meant to be a commercial endeavour – it’s purely political.  In the meantime, the real damage Russia is doing to Nabucco is (preventively) encouraging the flow of Iranian gas eastward, with the signing of the Iran-Pakistan (and possibly India) pipeline.

Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, on a visit to the town of Igarka in Krasnoyarsk Territory, boasted that the region will eventually provide more than 115 million tons/year of “additional oil and condensate” on reaching its estimated capacity. … “In the coming years, a whole new Russian oil and gas region should appear here. Hundreds of kilometers of gas and oil pipelines will be laid,” Putin said. “Roads and power stations will be built, literally from scratch. Dozens of fields will be developed,” he said. … At the launch, Putin said that fields in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area and the north of Krasnoyarsk Territory contain 67% of Russia’s natural gas, 15% of its oil, and 60% of its gas condensate.

Oil, gas execs more optimistic for future than other industries

A survey conducted in June by Ernst & Young and the Economist Intelligence Unit reveals that nearly half of the oil and gas industry executives surveyed believe that their business has been less severely impacted by the economic downturn than other sectors. Nearly half of survey respondents even realized business improvements. The respondents primarily represented major international oil and gas firms, which were well capitalized before the downturn.  “These findings are consistent with what we’re observing in our day-to-day work with some of the top oil and gas companies in the world,” said , Ernst & Young LLP, Americas Leader of Oil and Gas. “Compared to the last major collapse in the 1980s, today’s oil and gas industry is leaner, more efficient and better-positioned to weather market turmoil and take advantage of opportunities in the recovery.” 

Nord Stream in $5.6 billion hunt

The Nord Stream gas pipeline group has asked banks to bid on a €3.9 billion ($5.6 billion) financing to back the scheme that will pipe Siberian gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea, according to reports. … The Nord Stream consortium, which involves Russian gas export giant Gazprom , Germany’s E.ON and Dutch Gasunie, aims to have the twin pipeline up and running in 2011, bringing 55 billion cubic metres of Russian gas to Germany and other European Union countries each year.

Lack of capital, demand may alter Gazprom’s US plans

While Gazprom plans to become a major player in the US natural gas market when it begins trading in the fall, recent setbacks for the Russian firm’s financial situation, along with a downturn in the US market, may put that goal out of reach for some time, according to industry analysts.  “It is completely pie in the sky, a totally unrealistic dream,” asserted Morten Frisch, senior partner of Morten Frisch Consulting. “I can’t put it more clearly than that. I think financially they are already overstretched.” … Gazprom, the partially state-owned company that controls 17% of the world’s gas reserves, earlier in 2009 announced intentions to begin trading gas in the US in October.

Should these ventures be successful, they could be plugged into a cycle that would help solve the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) debacle:  instead of finding places to sequester CO2, which carries with it huge potential liabilities and uncertainties when attempted at scale, funnel the CO2 into the algae farms as part of the process of biofuel production.  I don’t hear enough experts talking about this, however.  The focus still seems to be on elusive CCS.

Read:  Affordability Is Martek’s Challenge As It Looks to Turn Algae Into Fuel

Crude futures unable to sustain early upward momentum

Crude futures were unable to sustain their early upward momentumWednesday, following a surprise 6.1 million barrel crude draw reported by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday evening. A stronger dollar and faltering equity markets were seen as the primary reasons behind the downward fall. 

Oil drops below $69 on China shares fall

Oil fell below $69 a barrel on Wednesday, at one stage losing more than $1, after a near 5 percent slump in Chinese shares sent doubts rippling through global markets about the strength of the world economic recovery.

No need for OPEC supply change at September meet

Kuwait sees no need for OPEC to change oil supply targets at its meeting in September as the oil price is satisfactory, the country’s oil minister said on Wednesday.  U.S. crude traded at just above $69 a barrel on Wednesday, not far below the $75 that OPEC has targeted for investment in future energy supplies. … OPEC, supplier of over a third of the world’s oil, meets on September 9 in Vienna to discuss supply policy.

Gulf Coast vulnerable as refiners hit hard times

The Gulf Coast could be the biggest loser in a shakeout of the U.S. refining business that some analysts and industry executives view as inevitable in coming years as rising costs and weaker demand for petroleum fuels pummel the industry. The region is especially vulnerable not only because it has more plants than other areas and competition is more intense, but because a reduction in refining anywhere would hurt oil and gas companies that support jobs and economic growth in this part of the country.

Oil product thefts long undetected

Smugglers have managed to slip at least $100 million in stolen oil products in tanker trucks past U.S. border inspectors in South Texas for years, raising questions about how the illicit trade flourished for so long.  Mexican investigators say stolen natural gas condensate, a gasoline-like liquid that forms in pipelines, crosses the border with falsified paperwork that claims it is something else. … Nearly 400 illegal pipeline taps were discovered in 2008. And hardly a week has gone by this year in which more pilfering hasn’t been turned up by Mexico’s national oil monopoly, Pemex, or police.

Gazprom may cede Kovykta field to state co-paper

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom is likely to cede control of the huge Kovykta gas field in eastern Siberia to a state holding company, a Russian newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. TNK-BP, owned 50 percent each by BP, and a quartet of Russia-connected businessmen, agreed in 2007 to sell Kovykta to Gazprom for around $1 billion.  But the deal has repeatedly been delayed due to disagreements over price. The field has reserves of about 2 trillion cubic metres of gas and a $20 billion project is under way to develop it. … In June, Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Ananenkov said a decline in demand in Russia and abroad caused by the global economic crisis may prompt it to postpone the launch of the Kovykta gas field until after 2017.

GEOPOLITICS

Iran’s major oil customers, energy partners

FACTBOX

Nigeria army puts ceasefire in jeopardy, warns MEND

Nigeria’s main armed group in the Niger Delta Tuesday warned that the alleged extrajudicial execution of a civilian by the military was putting an ongoing ceasefire in jeopardy. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in a statement that the special military unit, the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Sama, in southern Rivers State, on Monday “executed an unarmed man and dumped his body into the river.” … The MEND, which engaged the military in a bloody confrontation in Delta State in June when dozens of soldiers, militants and civilians were killed, last July 15 declared a 60-day ceasefire.  The truce was in response to President Umaru Yar’Adua’s declaration, last June 25, of an unconditional amnesty for all militants in the volatile region who lay down their arms.  The amnesty runs from August 6 to October 4.

CLIMATE and ENVIRONMENT

US energy industry stages rally against climate bill

The US energy industry sought on Tuesday to put a human face on its lobbying effort against climate change legislation under consideration by Congress, staging the first of a series of “energy citizen” rallies across the country. More than 3,000 people packed the lunchtime demonstration at a Houston stadium, mostly from energy companies including Chevron, Anadarko Petroleum and ConocoPhillips, which encouraged staff to participate.

Wind generation growth expected to cut gas demand

Demand for natural gas in the US electric power sector will grow to 28 Bcf/d by 2020 from a current 18 Bcf/d if no new wind generation is installed in the US between now and then, merchant banking group Tudor Pickering Holt said in a report released Tuesday.   The report, however, said that if the US meets the 15% renewable standard by 2020 as included in a House of Representatives-passed climate bill, natural gas demand in the US electric power sector will grow at a slower rate, rising to roughly 21 Bcf/d by 2020 from a current 18 Bcf/d.

Budget cut to keep Maldives away from UN Climate Talks

The Maldives on Wednesday said a budget crisis will keep its president from attending landmark U.N. climate talks, the results of which could have a huge effect on the future of the low-lying archipelago.  Famed mostly for its high-end luxury resorts and white-sand atolls, the Maldives has also made a name for itself as an advocate for mitigating climate change — because rising sea levels are forecast to submerge most of its islands by 2100.

Bright outlook for Germany’s solar businesses as groups eye switch to renewable energy

When Reinhold Würth, one of Germany’s best known entrepreneurs, launched a solar business in the late 1990s, he thought “it would be a nice PR gag to ride the green wave” … Ten years on, and Würth Solar has become a profitable business that is about to lift its 2008 revenues by more than 50 per cent to €95m ($134m) this year.

U.S. glaciers stage dramatic retreat

USGS report on the 50 year record of glacier change in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska