The Russian military allegedly dumped nuclear waste into the Baltic Sea in the early 1990s, according to a report on Swedish television. Radioactive material from a military base in Latvia is thought to have been thrown into Swedish waters. For many the biggest shock is that the Swedish government may have known at the time and done nothing about it. The partly enclosed Baltic Sea is known as one of the most polluted seas in the world. But now it seems it was also used as a dumping ground for Russian nuclear waste and chemical weapons. According to a report on Swedish television, Russian boats sailed out at night, to dump barrels of radioactive material, from a military base in Latvia, into Swedish waters. And even though the Swedish government at the time reportedly knew this, no action was taken to find the waste. The current government in Stockholm now wants the politicians, who were then in charge, to explain why they did nothing to find the barrels. The Baltic Sea is...

BP chief economist Christof Ruehl told Reuters that a global gas business, whereby tankers ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to areas of high demand, would benefit consumers by making prices more competitive. Gas trade would also become less dependent on pipeline supplies in the long term should geologists unearth unconventional reserves, such as shale gas or coalbed methane, close to areas of high consumption. "The old picture - three gas markets, Europe, Asia and North America, with no connection as far as prices are concerned - is breaking down," Ruehl said in an interview. "Every large gas exporter will have more of an uphill struggle." The United States last year outpaced Russia as the world's largest gas producer for the first time since 2001, largely due to an unforeseen boom in shale gas production. Analysts say this, coupled with higher LNG output, could lead to a gas glut. Ruehl said about 12% of gas produced in the...

Norway’s Gassco has awarded a Nkr50 million ($8.5 million) front-end engineering and design contract to Dutch contractor CB&I Lummus for upgrade of the Norsea Gas Terminal (NGT) in Northern Germany. Upstream staff  Thursday, 04 February, 2010, 09:56 GMT The FEED work is for necessary upgrades to extend the life of the Norsea Gas Terminal. The work will also include some minor work at the Europipe Metering Station (EMS) and the Europipe Receiving Facilities (ERF), said Gassco in a statement. Work on the contract will start this month and is due to be finished by the end of the year. The NGT facilities, in Emden, have been in operation since 1977 and were constructed to receive the gas coming from Norway through the Norpipe pipeline. The Europipe Metering Station (EMS), also in Emden, was constructed later in connection with the Europipe I pipeline in 1995. The Europipe Receiving Facilities (ERF) are...

Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell posted a 75% year-on-year fall in fourth-quarter profits to $1.18 billion, as the global giant was punished for falling output and its strong position in the depressed refining and natural gas businesses. Newswires & Staff  Thursday, 04 February, 2010, 07:45 GMT Excluding one-off items, which amounted to a charge of $1.6 billion, the result was $2.77 billion, short of an average forecast of $2.87 billion from a Reuters poll of 10 analysts. Earnings per share fell to 19 cents from 78 cents previously. Quarterly cash flow from operating activities fell 45% year-on-year to $5.66 billion. Total revenue for the quarter was $83.42 billion, compared with $82.7 billion previously. Oil prices recovered in the quarter but gas prices were much lower than in the same period a year earlier, while refining margins collapsed to their lowest level in...

The UK could face power shortages in the years ahead, according to the energy regulator, Ofgem. The regulator also warns that a significant number of consumers may not be able to afford the higher energy prices they will have to face. Ofgem says there is "reasonable doubt" about whether the UK's energy market will be able to deliver sustainable supplies in the coming decade. The industry needs £200bn of investment, Ofgem said. Faced with unprecedented challenges we're looking at new solutions to protect security of supply Alistair Buchanan, Ofgem chief executive However, Ofgem believes energy companies may need stronger incentives before committing that level of funds. In its report, Ofgem says the UK's open competitive energy market could fail to deliver secure, sustainable...

The UK could face power shortages in the years ahead, according to the energy regulator, Ofgem. The regulator also warns that a significant number of consumers may not be able to afford the higher energy prices they will have to face. Ofgem says there is "reasonable doubt" about whether the UK's energy market will be able to deliver sustainable supplies in the coming decade. The industry needs £200bn of investment, Ofgem said. Faced with unprecedented challenges we're looking at new solutions to protect security of supply Alistair Buchanan, Ofgem chief executive However, Ofgem believes energy companies may need stronger incentives before committing that level of funds. In its report, Ofgem says the UK's open competitive energy market could fail to deliver secure, sustainable...

Crude oil rose in New York for a third day as increases in Asia equities renewed expectations of a recovery in the global economy, spurring demand for fuels. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.9 percent today with materials producers and energy companies leading the climb. Oil advanced yesterday on data showing sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. grew in December following a record drop. The dollar fell today against a basket of major currencies, prompting demand for commodities. “If people are optimistic about the economy and buying equities, then that will drive oil prices higher,” said Clarence Chu, a trader with options dealer Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. “Having the dollar index drop below 79 is enough to move oil higher.” Crude oil for March delivery rose as much 59 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $77.82 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $77.71 at 4:20 p.m. Singapore time. The contract earlier...

Austrian oil company OMV is in preliminary talks with state run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to undertake gas projects in the United Arab Emirates, an OMV executive said today. Upstream staff  Tuesday, 02 February, 2010, 10:58 GMT The UAE has the world's fifth-largest gas reserves but has been slow to develop them and gas supply has lagged demand from power plants and industry. The Gulf Arab state is looking at exploiting unconventional reserves as it aims to boost domestic supply, and OMV is among companies competing for future deals. "We have a number of project ideas," Reuters quoted OMV's director of business development in the Middle East, Klaus Angerer, as telling reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference. "Our feeling is there will be a positive response. It's very, very preliminary. Abu Dhabi is interested in talks with companies like ours." OMV is 20% owned by the...

BP Norge has reported its 11, 000-ton BP Valhall redevelopment integrated production and hotel facility deck has left the fabrication hall. The main deck will measure 100 m in length, 47 m in width, and 50 m in height. It is expected that the structures’ main deck, weather deck module, flare boom, and first and second bridges will leave the Heerema Zwijndrecht location in May or June for its final destination off Norway. Once completed, the topsides will weigh more than 13,000 tons, excluding power-from-shore module and living quarters. Heerema Zwijndrecht was awarded the fabrication and integration contract in March 2007 for the topsides with the 350-ton flare-boom structure of which fabrication started in November 2007. It also received the award for the fabrication of the 2,000-ton weather deck module on June 23, 2009.

BP Norge has reported its 11, 000-ton BP Valhall redevelopment integrated production and hotel facility deck has left the fabrication hall. The main deck will measure 100 m in length, 47 m in width, and 50 m in height. It is expected that the structures’ main deck, weather deck module, flare boom, and first and second bridges will leave the Heerema Zwijndrecht location in May or June for its final destination off Norway. Once completed, the topsides will weigh more than 13,000 tons, excluding power-from-shore module and living quarters. Heerema Zwijndrecht was awarded the fabrication and integration contract in March 2007 for the topsides with the 350-ton flare-boom structure of which fabrication started in November 2007. It also received the award for the fabrication of the 2,000-ton weather deck module on June 23, 2009.

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the climate negotiations that failed to produce a binding treaty to rein in greenhouse gases were flawed, putting pressure on the United Nations to change the way the talks are structured. The two-week discussions in Copenhagen in December involved 193 nations and highlighted splits between rich and poor countries so severe that some delegations walked out of the meeting. Brown, writing in a letter to lawmakers in the U.K., said more must be done to ensure developing nations trust the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “We must all learn the lessons of the Copenhagen conference,” Brown wrote, according to a text of the letter released by his office in London. “The process up to and at Copenhagen was clearly flawed. We all need to work to ensure that the UNFCCC is an institution that can bear the huge expectations we are putting on it.” Companies including American Electric Power Co. of Columbus, Ohio, the...

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russian energy giant Lukoil signed an agreement in Baghdad on Sunday to develop Iraq's massive West Qurna-2 oil field, the company said in a statement. Along with Norway's StatoilHydro, Lukoil signed an initial deal in December last year to develop the field, which is expected to dramatically increase the country's crude production to 12 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2017. According to the terms of the deal, Lukoil and StatoilHydro are aiming to raise production at the field in southern Iraq, which has proven reserves of around 13 billion barrels of oil, to 1.8 million bpd. They will receive fees of 1.15 dollars per barrel extracted. "Production must reach 1.8 million barrels over the course of the next six years," Iraq's Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani said at the signing ceremony, attended by Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov. Under the consortium, Lukoil has a 56.25 percent share, StatoilHydro 18.75 percent, and Iraq's North Oil Company 25...

The European Nuclear Energy Leadership Academy (ENELA) is going to open in Germany to attract university graduates to the nuclear energy sector and train future leaders in the field. The founding treaty of ENELA was signed here on Thursday by six European nuclear energy companies, which are shareholders of the academy. According to the shareholders, the purpose of the academy is to train young graduates and high potential employees with different backgrounds to become leaders or to prepare them to take broader responsibility in European nuclear energy corporations and institutions.

A measure of the wind industry's maturity is its move into new dimensions of performance and responsibility. by Herman K. Trabish, Contributor California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Wind is, as an opening speaker at the American Wind Energy Association's "Wind Project Profitability and Reliability" workshop said, changing the world. To take on this urgent responsibility, the industry must achieve ever-better levels of performance. There is no better measure of a wind project's performance than it's profitability. To build and operate a profitable wind plant, developers need to know all the factors that make a project more reliable and how to implement them. Despite a stalled U.S. economy, wind’s 2009 capacity growth (unofficially revealed early in the workshop) was greater than in 2008, passed the 9,000 megawatt mark and set a new one-year record for the industry. Stephen Miner, an AWEA Senior Vice President, reminded the...

Upon replacing the oil in its hydro turbine-generating units with new-generation oils, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers experienced operational problems, including sticking valves and plugged filters. From 1998 to 2002, several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydroelectric powerhouses experienced operational problems following the replacement of worn-out oil with new turbine oils and/or mixing in-service oil with new turbine oils. Problems such as excessive foaming and air entrainment of turbine oil, sticking of governor proportional valves, and plugging of governor pilot in-line filters caused operational difficulties and resulted in increased maintenance and costly unscheduled downtime. The Corps' 2,620-MW Chief Joseph powerhouse in Bridgeport, Wash. experienced the biggest operational problems. Personnel replaced old oil with new turbine oil during 1999 and 2000. Approximately four months after completing the replacement, personnel observed a significant increase of air entrainment and...

The Scottish government reports that Scotland's hydropower potential is nearly double the amount previously estimated, with small hydro playing a key role in hydro development and job creation. "There is a clear untapped potential for smaller, community hydro schemes which can create green energy and tackle climate change," said Energy Minister Jim Mathers. "While large-scale renewable energy development is helping drive economic recovery, there could also be substantial economic and social benefit from micro-hydro schemes." A recently-published update on a 2008 study on Scotland's hydro resources estimates there could be 1.2 GW of potential new hydro capacity in 7,043 hydro projects. This compares to 657 MW according to the 2008 study. "There is a clear untapped potential for smaller, community hydro schemes which can create green energy and tackle climate change,” said Energy Minister Jim Mathers. "While large-scale renewable energy...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Oil prices fell to near $74 a barrel Wednesday in Asia amid concerns that energy demand isn't recovering as quickly as expected. Benchmark crude for March delivery was down 24 cents to $74.47 a barrel at late afternoon Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 55 cents to settle at $74.71 on Tuesday. Trading was lackluster ahead of a weekly oil inventory report by the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration that is expected to show demand remains weak despite another cold snap in the U.S. Clarence Chu, a trader with Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore, said the American Petroleum Institute has forecast a 2.2 million barrel decline in oil inventories, compared with market expectations for an increase in supplies of 1.5 million barrels. Cold and snow from before Christmas into the first part of January helped drive oil prices to a 15-month high earlier this month. Below-average...

  Shell faces legal fight over Arctic well Shell could extract billions of barrels of oils from the US part of the Chukchi Sea if its controversial plans go ahead. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images Royal Dutch Shell's controversial plans to drill for billions of barrels of oil in the Arctic's environmentally sensitive frozen waters face a potentially damaging legal challenge. An alliance of conservation and Alaskan indigenous groups has filed a legal claim to prevent Shell drilling for oil this year in the Arctic Ocean's Chukchi Sea. Two years ago, Shell paid $2.1bn (£1.3bn) to the US government for 275 oil leases there. The legal claim accuses the US's minerals management service, part of the federal interior department, of waving through permission to allow Shell to drill wells on the basis of an "abbreviated and internal review" of the environmental dangers of exploration. The US portion of the Chukchi Sea, which separates...

2ND ANNUAL SHUTDOWNS, TURNAROUNDS AND OUTAGES FORUM Instability within the energy and financial markets are impacting hugely on cost resources and operating margins and the importance of successful Turnaround management has never been so evident. Scheduling and performing plant shutdowns can have all too familiar pit falls, which, in many ways, can be extremely costly to the business and organisation. This event will focus on industry best practice, via keynote speakers, on STO innovation and future strategy. This 2-day meeting will also observe the following areas : European case studies - What can we learn from each other's strategies? Comparative insights into real application, pit falls and successes. Cost analysis - How do we ensure pinpointed forecasting? Implementation and value of detailed turnaround work processes - What best practices can we implement throughout the organisation to optimize STO performance and eliminate dysfunctional habits? ...

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