Ethanol and environment
In his letter, "Ethanol's Net Energy Balance" (OGJ, Nov. 10, 2003, p. 10), Steve Plotkin seems to have some misconceptions not only of energy balances, but more importantly, of environmental costs and benefits. He argues that ethanol's negative net energy balance means very little and that petroleum fuels also have negative net energy balances.
Wholesale prices for natural gas shot up almost 200% to a record $47/Mcf in New York City on Jan. 14—a spike of more than $30/Mcf from Jan. 13—as extremely cold weather moved into the northeastern US.
Afrex Ltd. plans to finalize a production sharing contract in the next 6 months governing the 11,550 sq km Massawa Block in the Red Sea off central Eritrea.
By ensuring valves and actuators are only operated by authorized individuals, this new antitamper lock (ATL) helps secure assets by reducing the risk of human error or deliberate tampering.
With all the talk about oil supply growth in 2004, it may be easy to overlook the strong possibility that oil demand growth will outstrip expectations.
Oil & Gas Journal last year rendered an invaluable service to the energy industry in six consecutive issues featuring special reports on future energy supply (OGJ, July 7-Aug. 18, 2003).
Royal Dutch/Shell Group's recent announcement that it overestimated its proved oil and natural gas reserves by 3.9 billion boe, or 20%, caught both investors and analysts by surprise.
The White House has reported to the US Congress that Iraq's oil production currently stands at 2.3 million b/d and is expected to increase to 2.5 million b/d by Apr. 1.
Mexican Sec. of Energy Felipe Calderon made a strong pitch last month for industry to build import terminals in his country as a way to secure LNG supplies into thirsty North American natural gas markets.
Compliant reserve reports from Canadian firms to
Canadian investors can expect to see more details on oil and natural gas reserves reporting in annual reports starting this spring because securities commissions across Canada have adopted uniform, updated reporting standards for public companies.
Once again, accounting and nature collide. This time, the wreck occurs in a regulatory climate made volatile by recent scandals of corporate governance.
Technological advancements and rising gas prices came together in the late 1990s to overcome the complexities involved in developing the tight Barnett shale formation in north central Texas.
The largest operator in the Barnett shale play, Devon Energy Corp., Oklahoma City, in the past year launched a horizontal drilling program in both its Barnett core and non-core areas with encouraging results.
The design and manufacture of equipment in ethane crackers with more than 1 million tonnes/year (tpy) of ethylene production create many problems during engineering, procurement, construction, and start-up. Current technology constraints due to the exclusive use of centrifugal compressors limit ethane cracker capacity to 1.4 million tpy of ethylene in a single compression line.
Conditions in the Caspian and Black seas continue to create problems as well as opportunities for the world's petroleum shipping industry—but not always in expected ways, according to analyses released last month by New York-based shipping consultant Poten & Partners Inc.
