natural gas

If I may, I would like to rebut or add a little objectivity to the flood of “Peak Oil” articles circulating around. When I see another crisis looming in the balance, and dramatized articles that warn of the “Dangers of Peak Oil,” I must question the validity or how this will effect the world, the USA, and you and I personally, and if indeed a crisis is at hand.

PetroChina joined with Royal Dutch Shell in a bid for Australian coal-seam gas producer Arrow Energy as Asian countries scramble for a stake in the vast energy resources at their doorstep in Australia.

Chevron has acquired exploration rights for four shale gas concessions in southeastern Poland, the U.S. oil giant said in a recent SEC filing, joining other international companies in the hunt for unconventional gas reserves in Europe in the hopes of duplicating the production boom in the U.S.

The European Commission added to its economic stimulus program with the largest-ever package of grants to energy infrastructure, including support for the Nabucco pipeline project that will help Europe diversify its sources of natural gas.

The Russian gas giant this week said it will allow up to 15% of its gas sales to Europe to be sold at spot gas prices on the continent.

This is a big shift for Gazprom. Previously, the major insisted on selling gas to European users under long-term contracts. With gas prices linked to prevailing oil prices.

A fight brewing over the allocation of costs for transmission lines to connect wind and solar power plants to end users is the latest sign that fossil-fuel electricity producers are stepping up the fight against renewable energy sources.

With Yemen’s oil revenues plunging, the government’s push into the gas market seemed like an economic saving grace for a state wracked by poverty and terrorism, but analysts warn more thought should be given to carving out the country's post-petroleum era.

South Korea is coming to northeast British Columbia.

It was reported this week that state-run Korea Gas has signed a deal with Canadian gas major EnCana covering three fields in the province of British Columbia. Korea Gas will take a 50% interest, for a price tag of $1.1 billion.

European shale-derived natural gas could become a reality far sooner, and in far larger quantities, than markets expect.

In a Securities and Exchange disclosure from last Thursday Chevron confirmed that it won new rights to explore Poland for potential shale gas, although the size of the acreage was not divulged.

Natural gas prices ended lower last week despite slightly supportive weekly inventory data and cold weather forecasts in the US, as a slide in crude and more bad economic news pressured prices.

The Obama Administration is currently pursuing a misguided and dangerous war on the oil and natural gas industry, blaming it for not doing enough to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Not only does this belligerent policy fail to improve the situation it was designed to address, it will also place U.S. energy security at much greater risk in the long run.

On January 18, 2010, during the discussion of the Global Energy Outlook panel of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, Mr. Peter Voser, President and CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, pointed out the potential of natural gas that has consistently been downplayed throughout the world as a substantial source of future energy supply.

A major moratorium on U.S. domestic oil and gas exploration expired in 2008, yet its extension is now being considered. Thing is, despite vigorous alternative energy efforts, the U.S. will remain extremely dependent on fossil fuels through 2030.

Increasingly, it would seem the government is intent on curbing speculation and contract ownership of core commodities. Starting last summer, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, began to debate new position limits on traders and speculators in the energy complex.

A great - and still growing - divergence appeared in 2009 between public statements by leaders and their public performance. The politicized, romanticized theater of increasingly populist “democratic” leaders and media seemed to be of a different planet from activities taking place in the real world.