/ News and Common Sense Solutions en-gb Hemp4Fuel.com is copyright 2002-2010 J.R. Irvin and http://www.GnosticMedia.com Hemp4Fuel - contact@nospam.com contact@nospam.com Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:23:53 -0700 Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:23:53 -0700 http://backend.userland.com/rss e107 (http://e107.org) 60 Search Hemp4Fuel.com query http://hemp4fuel.com/search.php http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.156.12
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - To some entrepreneurs, the wild and icy seas between Australia and Antarctica could become a money spinner by engineering nature to soak up carbon dioxide and then selling carbon credits worth millions of dollars.

To some scientists and many nations, though, the concept of using nature to mop up mankind's excess CO2 to fight global warming is fraught with risk and uncertainty.

An analysis by a leading Australian research body has urged caution and says more research is crucial before commercial ventures are allowed to fertilize oceans on a large scale and over many years to capture CO2.

"I don't think the scientific community has even sat down and made a list of the things we need to check before we feel comfortable that this would be a low-risk endeavor," said one of the Australian report's authors, Tom Trull.

"We never even designed measurement programs to look at ecological change and the risks," said Trull, Ocean Control of Carbon Dioxide program leader at the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Center (ACE CRC) in Hobart.

Scientists say sprinkling the ocean surface with trace amounts of iron or releasing other nutrients over many thousands of square kilometers promotes blooms of tiny phytoplankton, which soak up carbon dioxide in the marine plants.

When the phytoplankton die, they drift to the ocean depths, along with the carbon locked inside their cells where it is potentially stored for decades or centuries in sediments on the ocean floor.

Firms eyeing this natural carbon sink hope to commercialize it to yield carbon credits to help industries offset their emissions.

The problem is no one knows exactly how much carbon can be captured and stored in this way, for how long, or the risks to ocean ecosystems from such large-scale geo-engineering.

Some scientists fear such schemes could change species composition in the oceans, increase acidity or cause oxygen depletion in some areas, even promote the release of another powerful greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide.

BLOOMING

"Ocean fertilization may cause changes in marine ecosystem structure and biodiversity, and may have other undesirable effects," says the ACE CRC position analysis on ocean fertilization science and policy, soon to be publicly released.

"While controlled iron fertilization experiments have shown an increase in phytoplankton growth, and a temporary increase in drawdown of atmospheric CO2, it is uncertain whether this would increase carbon transfer into the deep ocean over the longer-term," it says.

It also says the potential for negative impacts is expected to increase with the scale and duration of fertilization. There are doubts that any damaging effects could be detected in time.

"It is very important to recognize that if deleterious effects increase with scale and duration of fertilization, detection of these cumulative effects may not be possible until the damage is already done," said John Cullen, professor of oceanography at Dalhousie University at Nova Scotia in Canada.

"It is extremely important to look at the ecological risks of this kind of activity," he said.

Oceans soak up vast amounts of CO2 emitted by nature or through burning of fossil fuels and deforestation and the Southern Ocean plays the greatest role of all the oceans.

But much of the Southern Ocean is depleted of iron and experiments have shown even small amounts of the nutrient can trigger phytoplankton blooms that can last for up to two months.

Companies such as California-based Climos and Australia's Ocean Nourishment Corp are planning small-scale experiments to test their ocean carbon capture and sequestration projects.

Ocean Nourishment uses ammonia and urea, delivered via a marine pipeline to a region deficient in nitrogen, to boost phytoplankton growth and boost fish stocks. Climos uses iron and plans experiments in the Southern Ocean in 2010.

"Iron fertilization is no silver bullet for climate change -- which underscores the severity of the problem we have, and the urgency for immediate emissions reductions worldwide," Climos founder and CEO Dan Whaley told Reuters in an email interview.

But he said it was premature to judge iron fertilization as dangerous.

"Phytoplankton are nature's way of sequestering CO2 to the deep ocean, where nearly 90 percent of earth's carbon lies. Further, most everything we put up in the air is going to the deep ocean eventually. The only question is how long it takes," he said.

Many nations, though, remain cautious and member states of two treaties that govern dumping of wastes at sea passed a non-binding resolution in October calling for ocean fertilization operations to be allowed only for research.

Parties to the London Convention and related London Protocol, part of the International Maritime Organization, signed the resolution that said member states were urged to use "utmost caution" to evaluate research proposals to ensure protection of marine life.

ABSORPTION LIMIT

Trull, who participated in the first ocean fertilization experiment in 1999, one of a dozen since conducted globally, said commercial ventures would need to operate over huge areas of ocean for many years.

The ACE CRC report also says ocean fertilization just using iron would likely hit an absorption limit of about 1 billion tonnes of carbon (3.7 billion tonnes of CO2) annually, or about 15 percent of mankind's total carbon emissions.

"That really puts the risk in context. We're talking about altering ecosystems of planetary scale for a benefit that won't actually relieve us from dealing with all the other issues, such as conservation or alternative energy generation."

Cullen of Dalhousie University said studies suggested that to sequester large amounts of carbon would require fertilization of most of the Southern Ocean for long periods of time.

"The question is can we assess those large-scale and long-term effects on the basis of experiments 100 by 200 km (60 by 120 miles) in size. I have not seen evidence it can be done."

(Editing by Megan Goldin)

Source Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4BE0K520081215
[[b]Submitted by hempistry[/b]]]]> hempistry<ajingrao@nospam.com> Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:55:00 -0700 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.156.12 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.137.12 IEA: Development Delays Could Mean $200 Oil Prices

Manufacturing.Net - November 13, 2008

LONDON (Kyodo) -- Delays in the development of new oil fields may spark a supply crunch and drive up oil prices above $200 per barrel, International Energy Agency Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka warned in a recent interview.
In the World Energy Outlook 2008 released on Wednesday, the Paris-based agency projected that crude oil import prices are likely to top $200 per barrel by 2030 on the back of booming demand in emerging economies like China and India.
"The IEA forecast is a warning scenario," Tanaka said in an interview with Kyodo News.
Crude oil futures in New York surged to an all-time high at $147 per barrel in July and have since dropped to around the $60-level due to the global economic downturn.
But Tanaka said the price surge in recent years was caused by neglected global efforts to explore new oil fields during the 1990s from fears that a boost in supplies would send oil prices lower.
"If we postpone the development of oil fields, there is a risk of inviting another supply crunch," Tanaka said.
The former Japanese director at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also called for the construction of more power plants using energy-efficient technology to meet strong demand in high-growth countries.
In the annual report, the IEA said China and India will account for 51 percent of the increase in global primary energy demand between 2006 and 2030.
Tanaka said Japan will also need to use more renewable energy like geothermal heat and wind power for a stable supply of energy.
While crude oil prices have drifted lower recently, Tanaka said the level is still historically high and indirectly urged the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries not to slash output amid growing speculation that the 13-member cartel will again reduce oil production to lift prices.
"I am worried about supply when the global economy recovers," Tanaka said. "I hope OPEC will respond by closely watching market conditions."
In October, OPEC cut oil production by 1.5 million barrels per day to put a brake on falling prices in the first large-scale output reduction of over 1 million bpd in two years.
Tanaka, a former official in Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, also warned that the Earth's temperature will rise nearly 6 degrees Celsius if efforts to prevent global warming fail against a backdrop of steady growth in energy demand.
"There is a need for the United States to clarify its position on combating global warming under the administration of U.S.-President-elect Barack Obama and win cooperation from emerging countries like China," he said.]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:25:43 -0700 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.137.12 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.103.12

Published: Saturday, October 18, 2008
NASHUA Stolen fuel nabbed

A city man was caught with two 50-gallon drums of stolen diesel fuel, police charge.

Joseph Aceto, 55, of 3 Euclid Ave., was arrested Thursday afternoon, charged with receiving stolen property, a felony punishable by up to 3-1/2 to 7 years in prison.

Police charge that Aceto had two 50-gallon drums of diesel that had been stolen in Massachusetts, Detective Lt. George McCarthy said.

Aceto was released on personal recognizance pending arraignment in Nashua District Court. Police are still investigating, and expect to file more charges and make more arrests, McCarthy said.

The charge alleges that Aceto had more than $500 worth of property. The average retail price of diesel fuel in New England this week is $3.89 per gallon, however, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, so 50 gallons of diesel would be worth roughly $195 dollars, and 100 gallons roughly $389.


[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:15:40 -0700 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.103.12 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.99.12
By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 17, 2008; A23

A leading House Democrat alleged yesterday that a top fundraiser for Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain has been involved in apparent war profiteering by inflating prices on jet fuel in defense contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The allegations surround the activities of Florida businessman Harry Sargeant III, founder of International Oil Trading Co. (IOTC) and a prolific donor to political candidates from both parties, though mostly Republicans. McCain's campaign Web site says Sargeant has raised at least $500,000 for his presidential bid.

Sargeant has been a well-known figure in Florida political circles as a longtime patron of Gov. Charlie Christ (R) and, most recently, as the finance chairman of the state Republican Party. He gained notoriety earlier this year for joining with a Jordanian business partner to bundle $2,300 checks for McCain, as well as presidential candidates Rudolph W. Giuliani (R) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), from donors that included a Taco Bell manager, an auto mechanic and a grocery store clerk. The McCain campaign returned the money raised by the Jordanian.

"This obviously has nothing do with the McCain campaign," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.

"John McCain has always called for full transparency in military contracting, and if there's a nonpolitical mechanism for looking at credible allegations, then that should obviously go forward."

Yesterday's allegations came in a letter from Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House oversight committee, to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and pertained to contracts IOTC brokered with the military to ship jet fuel to Iraq for use by aircraft based there.

"I have been conducting oversight of procurement problems in Iraq since the war began over five years ago," Waxman wrote. "The IOTC contracts stand out for the extent of the company's apparent profiteering. Of the $210 million in profits received by the company, at least one third -- $70 million -- appears to have benefited a single individual: Mr. Sargeant."

Efforts to reach Sargeant yesterday were unsuccessful. But in an interview earlier this year, Sargeant defended his military contracts and pledged to cooperate with Waxman's investigation. "Everything we have done on this contract has been in the best interest of the military and the U.S. taxpayers," he said.
[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Fri, 17 Oct 2008 06:40:32 -0700 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.99.12 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.95.12 By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer Mike Baker, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 16, 6:44 pm ET

ELON, N.C. – Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Thursday that God blessed the nation with oil and gas resources and other forms of energy that should be tapped to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign suppliers.

The Alaska governor told supporters at Elon University that she and GOP presidential nominee John McCain will develop new energy sources.

"God has so richly blessed this land, not just with the oil and the gas, but with wind and the hydro, the geothermal and the biomass," Palin said. "We'll tap into those."

Palin said some of the countries the U.S. relies on for energy use their resources "as a weapon." And she said the billions spent each year on oil imports should be circulated within the country "for the sake of the nation's security."

"We need to drill here and drill now," Palin said as the crowd chanted "drill baby, drill." A protester at the back of the crowd shouted "No blood for oil."

Palin has visited North Carolina twice in the past two weeks as McCain's campaign ramps up efforts to defend the state, which has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1976 but is trending toward Democrat Barack Obama this year. Obama is counting on his heavy investment in the state and its bloc of black voters to help turn the tide on Nov. 4.

But Palin remains an asset to McCain in the South, where GOP voters had remained skeptical of him until he put her on the ticket. She appeals to Southern voters by talking about God, gun rights and abortion — shoring up aspects of McCain's lacking Southern credentials.

"She's a hunter. She opposes abortion. She's religious," said John Shirley, 63, of Pittsboro, who cited those issues as among his top concerns. "She reflects a lot of the values we have here in the South."

McCain had struggled to pacify voters of the region, which helped doom his candidacy in 2000 and nearly ruined it again this year.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was this year's Southern favorite, even grabbing 12 percent of the vote in North Carolina's primary two months after he left the race and had endorsed McCain.

Palin helps McCain.

The National Rifle Association, which long has taken issue with some of McCain's positions on gun rights, endorsed the ticket this week and said Palin was an asset. Her drawl, though not Southern, appeals to rural voters who can't stand Washington and Wall Street insiders. Her willingness to discuss her faith has appeal in the Bible Belt.

Last week, she held the campaign's first North Carolina event in five months. Earlier this week, she spoke at a NASCAR track in Richmond, Va.

Country singing star Hank Williams Jr. joined her on stage Thursday, carrying forward the Republican message about Obama's ties college professor William Ayers, who was a member of the violent Weather Underground in the 1960s.

"John and Sarah tell you just what they think. And they're not going to blink," Williams crooned in a song while Palin clapped. "And they don't have terrorist friends to whom their careers are linked."

Voting in North Carolina began Thursday, with hundreds of voters lining up at one-stop voting sites statewide.

Earlier Thursday, Palin stumped in Bangor, Maine, with an eye on winning at least one of the state's four electoral votes. She criticized Obama for not disavowing ACORN, a community activist group under investigation by state and federal authorities for alleged voter registration fraud.

Nearly a dozen states and the FBI are looking into allegations against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which is registering voters in swing states. ACORN officials have denied charges of concerted, widespread fraud.

"In this election, it's a choice between a candidate who won't disavow a group committing voter fraud, and a leader who won't tolerate voter fraud," Palin said.

Obama has denied any significant ties to ACORN, and has said the group is not advising his campaign.

Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that allocate electoral votes in part by congressional district.

___

Associated Press writer Glenn Adams in Bangor, Maine, contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

McCain campaign: http://www.johnmccain.com/

Obama campaign: http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:22:59 -0700 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.95.12 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.79.12
By Angela Macdonald-Smith

Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp., operator of a proposed $11 billion liquefied natural gas venture in Papua New Guinea, said it started competitive bidding for the construction of the gas processing part of the project.

Bechtel Group Inc. and Chiyoda Corp. will compete against each other for the contract to build processing, storage and loading systems for 6.3 million metric tons a year of LNG output, Exxon's Esso Highlands Ltd. unit said today in an e-mailed statement. The contract will probably be awarded by late 2009 and construction will start in 2010, it said.

Exxon and its partners, including Oil Search Ltd. and Santos Ltd., want to tap demand for LNG that the U.S. company estimates is set to increase by more than 4 percent annually to reach almost half a billion tons a year by 2030, about 15 percent of global gas demand. They decided in May to start initial engineering work, known as FEED, on the project.

``Exxon Mobil is pleased to have the first phase of the LNG plant FEED completed and we look forward to a successful tendering process leading to the downstream engineering, construction and procurement contract,'' Peter Graham, venture manager at Exxon Mobil, said in the statement.

The Papua New Guinea plant, to be built about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) northwest of Port Moresby on the Gulf of Papua, is scheduled to start shipments in late 2013 or 2014.

KBR, WorleyParsons

Eos, a venture between KBR Inc. and Sydney-based WorleyParsons Ltd., is carrying out initial design and engineering work for the development of gas fields that will supply the project. Construction contracts for that work are also expected to be awarded by late 2009, Exxon said.

Exxon has 41.5 percent of the LNG project, while Port Moresby-based Oil Search has 34 percent, Adelaide-based Santos 17.7 percent, AGL Energy Ltd. 3.6 percent, Nippon Oil Corp. 1.8 percent, the Papua New Guinea government-owned Eda Oil Ltd. 0.2 percent and MRDC, held by local landowners, 1.2 percent. The interests will change when companies nominated by the government take stakes, Exxon said. AGL is in final negotiations to sell its share.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 15, 2008 20:30 EDT
[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:38:21 -0700 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.79.12 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.78.12
baltimoresun.com

Exxon vows to residents to 'make it right' as trial starts

By Nick Madigan

October 16, 2008

A lawyer for Exxon Mobil Corp. yesterday promised the residents of a Baltimore County neighborhood that the company would "pay money damages to the people who were harmed" by a 26,000-gallon gasoline leak that contaminated the groundwater beneath their homes two years ago.

"We want to make it right," the lawyer, James F. Sanders, said at the start of a trial in which 309 plaintiffs are trying to paint the oil giant as a careless steward of its facilities and the responsible party in what they view as the ruin of their land. "There is some harm here in this case. Some plaintiffs have suffered emotional distress and some plaintiffs have suffered loss in property values."

At first glance, Sanders' admission might - in political-debate terms - be considered a game changer, or at least an acknowledgment that his opponent's case has enough merit to force him to concede part of his argument.

But the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Stephen L. Snyder, said during a break in the Baltimore County Circuit Court trial that Sanders' offer was purely tactical, an effort to steer the jury toward granting compensatory rather than punitive damages - the latter often a far greater sum.

"I predicted he would say that, to lessen the blow," Snyder said, referring to Sanders' offer to help those affected. "It's to acknowledge responsibility for compensatory damages. But, for us, it sets the stage for an evaluation of the misconduct."

A central part of the plaintiffs' case pivots on allegations that Exxon had known for at least seven years before the incident that the electronic leak detectors it used at its gas station in Jacksonville were perennially defective but that the company failed to monitor them properly or replace them with a more reliable brand.

For the company to prevail in its wish to avoid punitive damages - which Snyder said could rise to as much as $2 billion - "you'd have to ignore the documented evidence of seven years."

In his presentation, Exxon's lawyer said that, while the company accepted liability for actual, proven harm, it did not commit fraud or act with "intentional malice" or negligence. On the contrary, Sanders said, the company and its contractors made every effort to begin cleaning up the mess as soon as the underground leak was discovered on Feb. 17, 2006 - which was later determined to be 37 days after it had sprouted from a high-pressure pipe.

Sanders took exception to Snyder's assertion that Exxon officials are "waiting to cut and run" from their obligations at the site, and that, "when they do, all hell is going to break loose." He said the company will not be able to stop its remediation efforts in the Jacksonville neighborhood "until the Maryland Department of the Environment says it is clean" - a process that could take a decade or more.

"You know already that mistakes were made all up and down the line," Sanders said. "But we accept responsibility. There's no one here but us."

Then, going to what he described as the most important part of his presentation, Sanders said the company was "sorry for the leak" and the fact that it persisted "for over 30 days without being discovered." He apologized to the residents of Jacksonville, to the state of Maryland and to the 14-member jury that sat before him, a panel that is likely to spend several months hearing testimony in the case.

Sanders said that, contrary to what the plaintiffs' attorney had said earlier, "We didn't start pointing fingers at everybody." The company's position was that the spill was "unacceptable" and "inexcusable" and that it "must not happen again."

"I can understand the fear, the concern," Sanders said, referring to what the residents might be feeling. "I can understand them being mad. If I lived out there, I would be mad."

Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:38:05 -0700 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.78.12 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.97.12
President Bush Asserts Right to Control Iraqi Oil
Last update: 6:11 p.m. EDT Oct. 16, 2008

WASHINGTON, Oct 16, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- President
George Bush this week rejected a Congressional effort to bar the United
States military from controlling Iraq's oil resources.
Before signing a military funding bill earlier this week, the president
issued a "signing statement," barring any expenditure of funds to "To
exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq."
The Friends Committee on National Legislation, a 65-year-old Quaker lobby,
has worked with Congress for three years to pass legislation that bars the
United States from building permanent military bases in Iraq or exercising
control of Iraq's oil resources. "We are dismayed that the president would
deny the Iraqi people and its government the basic sovereign right to
control their own natural resources. President Bush apparently believes that
as commander in chief he is entitled to seize Iraq's oil fields and control
Iraqi oil if he should deem it necessary to protect U.S. national security,"
said Jim Fine, a lobbyist for the Friends Committee on National Legislation.
"It's hard to see any other logic behind his signing statement. He has, in
effect, declared himself -- and any future U.S. presidents who fail to
repudiate his outlandish claims -- emperors of Iraq."
President Bush has signed the restriction against controlling Iraqi oil into
law five times since 2006, but has issued 2 signing statements this year
asserting that banning U.S. control over Iraqi oil would violate the
constitutional powers of the executive. He argues that his administration is
not legally bound to abide by those provisions.

[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:15:41 -0700 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.97.12 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.6.12
Ike skews gas; some stations ask $5 a gallon
By JOHN PORRETTO and MARK WILLIAMS, AP Business Writers
18 minutes ago

HOUSTON - Pump prices jumped above $5 per gallon in some parts of the
country Sunday as Hurricane Ike, which caused less destruction than feared,
left refineries and pipelines idled and destroyed at least 10 offshore
petroleum platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Far beyond areas struck directly by high winds and flooding, Ike left behind
it a bizarre pattern of prices at gas, with disparities of as much as $1 a
gallon in some states, and even on some blocks.
"We're on the other side of the looking glass," said Claire Raines, who
lives near Knoxville, Tenn. "I just passed three gas stations with prices
that ran from about $3.50 to close to $5 within walking distance."
Average prices exceeded $4 per gallon in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, South
Carolina, Hawaii and Alaska, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price
Information Service and Wright Express.
States fed directly by refineries along the Gulf Coast were particularly
hard hit and supply may be sporadic for the next few weeks with refineries
shut down, said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst with the Oil Price Information
Service.
A station in Knoxville, Tenn. was asking $5.19 for a gallon of regular gas.
In Nashville, about 180 miles away, gas was going for $3.50.
Whatever pain is being felt at U.S. gas pumps will likely be a very brief
phenomenon, analysts say. The dour drumbeat of the global economy has the
vast majority of traders believing the world has lost its appetite for
high-priced crude and gasoline.
The pain was immediate, however, for 22-year-old college student Isiah
James. He bought four gallons of gas at $3.99 each near the Columbus suburb
of Worthington.
"You've got to work harder," he said.
Hurricane Ike appears to have destroyed a number of production platforms and
damaged some of the pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico, federal officials said
Sunday.
Fly-overs revealed that at least 10 production platforms were destroyed by
the storm, said Lars Herbst, regional director for the U.S. Minerals
Management Service.
"It's too early to say if it's close to Katrina- and Rita-type damage,"
Herbst said.
The MMS says Hurricane Katrina destroyed 44 platforms three years ago, and
soon after Hurricane Rita destroyed 64.
Herbst stressed the assessments were preliminary, but the damage appeared
far worse than that caused by Hurricane Gustav two weeks ago.
Specifics about the size and production capacity of the destroyed platforms
were not immediately available.
Herbst said the aerial inspections showed Ike damaged several large
pipelines, but the extent of the damage was not known, nor whether they
carried oil or natural gas.
Since just before Gustav's arrival two weeks ago, nearly 100 percent of Gulf
Coast crude production has stopped, or about 1.3 million barrels per day.
About 98 percent of all natural gas production is on hold.
There was limited production between storms, but that ended as Ike
approached.
Kloza said it's unlikely damage to platforms in the Gulf would keep prices
up for long, if at all.
"It's not a big deal in the economy we see working in the oil market," he
said.
The wave of higher gas prices across large sections of the U.S. stood in
stark contrast to the direction of crude and gasoline futures Sunday on the
New York Mercantile Exchange.
Nymex held a special trading session because of trader concerns over Ike.
The price for a barrel of light, sweet crude tumbled $2.43 to $98.75.
Gasoline futures fell more than 11 cents to $2.6563.
The crude sell-off came two days after a barrel of oil dropped below $100
for the first time since April 2.
Overnight, retail gasoline prices nationwide rose an average of more than 6
cents for a gallon of regular gasoline, to $3.795, according to auto club
AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That followed
another 6-cent jump between Friday and Saturday.
Overnight changes in the national average for gas are usually measured by
tenths of a cent.
Shell said Sunday the majority of its stations in the Houston, Galveston and
Beaumont areas remained closed.
Meanwhile, two weeks after Hurricane Gustav shut down production and closed
a dozen refineries in Louisiana, those same companies were sending out crews
Sunday to assess damage. The upper Texas coast is home to about one-fifth of
the nation's petroleum refining capacity, and any prolonged disruption could
severely crimp gasoline supplies.
However, because of ongoing damage assessments and uncertainty about how
long it will take to get power restored, refiners were unable to say when
they'd be able to resume production of gasoline and other fuels.
The Gulf also accounts for 25 percent of domestic oil production and 15
percent of natural gas output. That production was nearly 100 percent shut
down Sunday, though Shell and some other producers had begun restaffing
platforms and other offshore facilities that were not in Ike's path.
More than half of Texas' 28 refineries have been shut down because of Ike.
Valero Energy Corp., North America's largest refiner, said crews had found
no significant structural damage at facilities in Houston, Texas City and
Port Arthur.
The company said it had no timetable for when production would resume.
"Gulf Coast pipelines that carry crude oil and refined products to other
parts of the country are also experiencing outages, which will further
complicate the supply situation," Valero said.
Transocean Inc., the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, said
Sunday that Ike moved one of its three moored, semisubmersible rigs in the
Gulf about 2 miles to the north of its pre-storm location, and crews were
trying to determine if it sustained any significant damage.
Another of the rigs, which was damaged during Gustav, kept its location,
while the third was docked in Mobile, Ala., out of the storm's path, said
spokesman Guy Cantwell.
The Department of Energy said Sunday it had agreed to deliver 200,000
barrels of emergency exchange oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to
ConocoPhillips' Wood River refinery in Roxana, Ill.
The department said it also will deliver an additional 109,000 barrels of
emergency exchange oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Placid Oil's
Port Allen, La., refinery along a Shell pipeline in Louisiana.
The oil was requested by ConocoPhillips and Placid because of supply
disruptions. The deliveries were to begin Sunday.
[[b]Submitted by Hemp4Fuel[/b]]]]> Hemp4Fuel<contact@nospam.com> Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:04:15 -0700 http://hemp4fuel.com/news.php?item.6.12