ꕤArticle SOURCE as marked
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COMMENT Some of what I've enjoyed looking at today.
Former French foreign minister Roland Dumas US 4-Star General, General Wesley Clark (Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO from 1997 to 2000) confirms a serial conquest strategy for region (7 countries). NOTE ALSO:
Huge oil discovery in Golan Heights - Israeli media ---------------------- ꕤ --------------------- PS ...
won the Turner Prize. New York public health officials banned Two Fucking and Two Watching featuring a rotting cow and bull, because of fears of "vomiting among the visitors" [here] Well, now I'm sure I'll never understand anything on this planet. Who the f*ck considers a rotting cow art? This hilarious. The fellow behind this is the "richest living artist to date." Guess the 'Virgin Mother' would have taken some effort and talent to produce. That anyone actually bought the finished product is mind-boggling. I'd definitely go the mammoth. ;)
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TOKYO MASTER BANNER
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MINISTRY OF TOKYO
❌ US-ANGLO CAPITALISM
 EU-NATO IMPERIALISM ❌
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Showing posts with label LNG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LNG. Show all posts
December 04, 2015
Syria - British Airstrkes & Dodgy Dave's Lies
April 09, 2015
Royal Dutch Shell & BG Group $70 Billiion Purchase Deal - LNG
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-08/shell-will-buy-bg-group-for-70-billion-in-cash-and-shares Royal Dutch Shell Plc
COMMENT |
August 22, 2014
LITHUANIA - LNG supply deal with Norway inked
Lithuania, Statoil sign LNG deal to end Gazprom monopoly MENAFN - AFP - 21/08/2014 |
Surprised it's a Norwegian company. Thought it would be the US doing the supply.
August 08, 2014
US - NEW WAVE OF LNG EXPORT FACILITIES - BOOMING
As one LNG project moves forward, another caught in regulatory tussle Sempra Energy and Cheniere want to construct export terminals By Rhiannon Meyers and Ryan Holeywell |
Wonder if that's the Japanese $10billion facility in the Gulf Coast, or if the figure's just a coincidence and the money's from somewhere else?
Anyway, there's a shale boom ... and there's a scramble to build LNG export facilities.
cheap and abundant supplies of natural gas produced in the U.S. shale boom. Chilling natural gas into a liquid makes it possible to transport the fuel on tanker ships.
LNG? HELLO EUROPE.
** NOTE - Europe (ie Economic Union) is on the proposed free trade agreements list - here.
Does this mean US is preparing to export LNG to Europe?
US - SHALE GAS - JAPANESE and CHINESE MARKETS
Why Japan Will Drive Global LNG Growth There is little reason to expect Japan’s reactors will offset its voracious new appetite for LNG. |
That's just the Japanese / Chinese market.
* China will be largely natural gas reliant (Russian deal) ... but some diversity expected.
* Japan is a big market ... but they *could* revert to nuclear, so market not assured?
Don't forget Europe needs energy, too. Hello Europe.
UKRAINE & RUSSIA - GERMANY, UK, EU - ENERGY NEEDS - HELLO US LNG
'Germany, Want to Rid Yourself of Russian Gas? Turbo-Charge the Energiewende!' Posted August 7, 2014 Merkel And Medvedev Inaugurate Nord Stream Gas Pipeline
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Germany, UK and Europe need ENERGY.
Forget the renewable stuff. They need hard-core dependable energy.
It's a case of : GET READY US SHALE / LNG.
Liquid Natural Gas
Until the mid-1990s, LNG demand was heavily concentrated in Northeast Asia: Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. At the same time, Pacific Basin supplies dominated world LNG trade. The world-wide interest in using natural gas-fired combined cycle generating units for electric power generation, coupled with the inability of North American and North Sea natural gas supplies to meet the growing demand, substantially broadened the regional markets for LNG. It also brought new Atlantic Basin and Middle East suppliers into the trade.
By the end of 2011, there were 18 LNG exporting countries and 25 LNG importing countries. The three biggest LNG exporters in 2011 were Qatar (75.5 MT), Malaysia (25 MT) and Indonesia (21.4 MT). The three biggest LNG importers in 2011 were Japan (78.8 MT), South Korea (35 MT) and UK (18.6 MT). LNG trade volumes increased ... new LNG supply from six new plants comes to the market just in 2009, including:
Northwest Shelf Train 5: 4.4 MTPA
Sakhalin II: 9.6 MTPA
Yemen LNG: 6.7 MTPA
Tangguh: 7.6 MTPA
Qatargas: 15.6 MTPA
Rasgas Qatar: 15.6 MTPA
In 2006, Qatar became the world's biggest exporter of LNG. As of 2012, Qatar is the source of 25 percent of the world's LNG exports.
Investments in U.S. export facilities were increasing by 2013—such as the plant being built in Hackberry, Louisiana by Sempra Energy. These investments were spurred by increasing shale gas production in the United States and a large price differential between natural gas prices in the U.S. and those in Europe and Asia. However, general exports had not yet been authorized by the United States Department of Energy because the United States had only recently moved from an importer to self-sufficiency status. When U.S. exports are authorized, large demand for LNG in Asia was expected to mitigate price decreases due to increased supplies from the U.S. [WIKPEDIA]
The US has a shit-load of LNG it needs a market for. Hello Europe.
That's why snatching gas supply from Russia is so important -- and it's also why Ukraine's natural resources are important.
This isn't about 'democracy' or 'protecting' anyone in Europe; it's about a grab for energy, resources and strategic control.
August 07, 2014
UK - NEEDS EUROPEAN LNG - FRACKING - ENERGY DRYING UP
Government data hints at future challenges for curbing natural gas emissions 05 August 2014 |
Wow!
This would indicate that UK has a vested interest in supporting the Obama/US incursions into Eastern Europe ... and that UK would be fully behind the energy rape of Ukraine, the replacement of infrastructure ... and snatch of Russia's market etc.
July 15, 2014
US AIM STEPPING UP LNG EXPORT - EUROPEAN GAS SUPPLY - US ANTI FRACKING ENVIRONMENTALISTS PROTEST
Anti-fracking activists rally with opponents of LNG export facility
July 14, 2014
On Sunday afternoon, about 2,000 people marched in the heat of mid-summer Washington,D.C., from a rally on the national mall to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; the first-ever demonstration at FERC. They were protesting what they called FERC’s rubber stamp approval process for an export facility for liquified natural gas, or LNG, in a heavily populated area of southern Maryland called Cove Point. It’s one of 14 such proposed facilities around the country. Much of the natural gas slated for export would be extracted through the process of fracking, which is already happening in the Marcellus Shale formation located in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. That’s leading anti-fracking groups to form an alliance with opponent of LNG export terminals. Melinda Tuhus reports from D.C.
...
Residents and advocates like the Chesapeake Climate Action Network – CCAN – which organized the rally, want FERC to require Dominion, the owner of the liquefied natural gas terminal, to do an Environmental Impact Statement or EIS, in addition to the less comprehensive Environmental Assessment it conducted. A FERC spokesperson said she couldn’t comment spcifically on Cove Point, but that if a full study was done when the site was developed several years ago as an LNG import, not export, facility, another one would not be required since the new proposal does not exceed the footprint of the existing facility.
Mike Tidwell, founder and executive director of CCAN, said the export plans involve “completely different industrial machines, totally different process, much bigger, much more dangerous, and FERC doesn’t think there should be an Environmental Impact Statement. They think the EIS from 2006 for a $700 million facility is enough to cover, in 2014, a $3.8 billion facility. It’s ridiculous.” Tidwell said this is the only LNG proposal in the country that’s planned for a populated area.[WOW .... IT'S A CORPORATE FREE FOR ALL & STAKES HIGH.]
...
One of the speakers at the rally was Sandra Steingraber, a biologist, author and a leader of the anti-fracking movement in New York. She said their destinies are intertwined, because LNG exports would lead to an increase in fracking. She noted the success of a movement to ban liquified natural gas production in New York State following an explosion in Staten Island in 1973 that killed 40 people. She said the safety concerns remain, but what has changed is that in 1973 people didn’t know yet about climate change and had never heard of fracking. So the stakes are even higher today.
“To the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and to President Obama, we say we are not willing to blow up the bedrock of our nation in order to extract a fossil fuel called methane, that will in turn blow up our climate,” Steingraber told the crowd gathered for the rally. “We are not willing to liquefy the results, using more fossil fuels, and so give methane a passport to foreign markets and so give methane a passport to foreign markets and so further entrench a fossil fuel dependency around the globe and so further entrench a fossil fuel dependency around the globe in a time of climate emergency. We say No to that!”
Mike Tidwell of CCAN said FERC does more to facilitate the production of natural gas than to regulate it. “They facilitate fossil fuel projects. They’ve never denied a major electrical or gas project ever presented to them – ever. So they’re an isolated, non-responsive commission that does not take into account public safety or health and instead all they do is try to further the profits of the fossil fuel industry.”
Plans to increase the nation’s natural gas export infrastructure come as Europe’s largest gas supplier – Russia – is locked in a dispute with Ukraine, where key pipelines carrying Russian gas to Central and Western Europe are located. Are export facilities like the one in Cove Point meant to step in to fill a need at a moment of political crisis?
In a phone interview before Sunday’s rally, Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, explained how the business works: “All the trade from LNG exports are going to be typically structured as 20-year, locked in deals, where nearly all of the export capacity is already slated for specific customers. Not a single bit of this is slated to go to Ukraine or anything like that. These are not national determinations; these are private marketplace determinations, depending upon who negotiates the supply agreements.”[NO WAY DO I BELIEVE THAT. AS IF CORPORATE AMERICA WILL BE PRECLUDED FROM ENTERING INTO *NEW* SUPPLY CONTRACTS.]
FERC’s decision is expected in the next several months. The Maryland Public Service Commission must also given an opinion on whether the proposed LNG export facility is in the public’s interest.
FULL @ - SOURCE - FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS - here.
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COMMENT
It seems a corporate free for all over there -- and it is. LOL.
Fancy not doing an Environmental Impact Statement on a $3.8 BILLION facility & trying to rely something dated in relation to a much smaller project ($700m).
The US energy corporations must be rubbing their hands in glee in anticipation of becoming Europe's supplier:
Plans to increase the nation’s natural gas export infrastructure come as Europe’s largest gas supplier – Russia – is locked in a dispute with Ukraine, where key pipelines carrying Russian gas to Central and Western Europe are located. Are export facilities like the one in Cove Point meant to step in to fill a need at a moment of political crisis?
As if this isn't about big corporate interests. *eye-roll*
And as if vilifying Russia as a 'threat' and US heavy investment (billions) in Ukraine (and US-NATO calls for increased war chest investment & presence of US soldiers on European soil) isn't about US (& assoc.) corporate interests.
Another *eye-roll*.
US $11 BILLION ARMS DEAL TO QATAR
US, Qatar sign $11 bn arms deal
Washington, July 15
(IANS)
US and Qatar have signed an arms deal on Qatar's purchase of US
Patriot defence systems and Apache helicopters to the tune of $11
billion, the US Defence Department said in a statement on Monday.
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel hosted
Qatar's Minister of State for Defence Affairs Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah
at the Pentagon on Monday to sign letters of offer and acceptance for
Apache helicopters and Patriot and Javelin defence systems worth $11
billion, Xinhua reported.
"Today's signing ceremony underscores the strong
partnership between the United States and Qatar in the area of security
and defence and will help improve our bilateral cooperation across a
range of military operations," said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby
in a statement.
Secretary Hagel also used the meeting to express
his appreciation for the support that Qatar provides US forces in the
country. "Today's visit followed Secretary Hagel's visit to Doha last
fall, where he met with al-Attiyah to sign and renew the US-Qatar
Defence Cooperation Agreement," Kirby said.
"This is a critically important relationship in
the region," the official said, adding that the secretary is pleased to
be able to continue to make the US-Qatar ties stronger.
US Vice President Joe Biden welcomed al- Attiyah
at the White House and the two sides discussed regional issues,
including Syria, Iraq, Libya, and the Gaza crisis.
During their meeting, Biden noted that the signing
of the arms deal will help strengthen strategic relationship between
Qatar and the US.
The weapons deal was the biggest for the US in
2014 and would enhance its security and diplomatic ties with Qatar to
counter the threat across the Gulf from Iran, experts said.
SOURCE - IANS - here.
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COMMENT
US scores it's biggest 2014 arms deal with Qatar - $11 BILLION.
Cooperation between Qatar & US strategic in region because of alleged Iran threat. [Also reserves of gas. Also US regional control. Important regional US ally. Also big money.]
So what's the background?
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FURTHER INFO
State of Qatar is a sovereign Arab country, located in Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the north-easterly coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its territory surrounded by the Persian Gulf.
Qatar is home to USA's biggest military base in the Middle East.
[Blogger's note: Historically has been under British and Ottoman rule.]
Qatar was also an early member of OPEC and a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It is a member of the Arab League. The country has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction.
Qatar hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, which acts as the hub for all American air operations in the Persian Gulf. Qatar has bilateral relationships with a variety of foreign powers. It has allowed American forces to use an air base to send supplies to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Qatar signed a defence co-operation agreement with Saudi Arabia, with whom it shares the largest single non-associated gas field in the world.
It was the second nation, the first being France, to have publicly announced its recognition of the Libyan opposition's National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of Libya amidst the 2011 Libyan civil war. Qatar's relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are strained, owing to the perceived closeness between the Qatari government and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Qatar Armed Forces are the military forces of Qatar. The country maintains a modest military force ...
Qatar has recently signed defence pacts with the United States and United Kingdom, as well as with France earlier in 1994.
Qatar plays an active role in the collective defence efforts of the Gulf Cooperation Council; the other five members are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, and Oman.
The presence of a large American military base in the country provides the country with a guaranteed source of defence and national security.
In 2008 Qatar spent US$2.355 billion on military expenditures, 2.3% of the gross domestic product. Qatari special forces have been trained by French and other Western countries,... also helped the Libyan rebels during the 2011 Battle of Tripoli.
Oil was discovered in Qatar in 1940, in Dukhan Field. The discovery transformed the state's economy. Now, the country has a high standard of living. With no income tax, Qatar (along with Bahrain) is one of the countries with the lowest tax rates in the world. The unemployment rate in June 2013 was 0.1%.
Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world as of 2013, according to the CIA World Factbook and approximately 14% of households are dollar millionaires.
In 2012, Qatar retained its title of richest country in the world (according to per capita income) for the third time in a row, having first overtaken Luxembourg in 2010.
Oil production will not long remain at peak levels ... as oil fields are projected to be mostly depleted by 2023.
However, large natural gas reserves have been located off Qatar's north-east coast.
Qatar's proved reserves of gas are the third-largest in the world...
1991 ... North Field gas development.
1996 ... Qatargas ..... began exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan.
Further phases of North Field gas development costing billions of dollars are in various stages of planning and development.[wikipedia]
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This is embarrassing, but I didn't even know Qatar existed.
It sure sounds important to the US.
Also, I think 'liquified natural gas' is what hydraulic fracturing or fracking is all about (I think).
Quick check:
Anti-fracking activists rally with opponents of LNG export ...
Free Speech Radio News - 9 hours ago
That's leading anti-fracking groups to form an alliance with opponent of LNG export terminals. Melinda Tuhus reports from D.C
...[I've not read the Free Speech Radio New's story, so I haven't linked. It's just what come up on my Google.]
Fracking is why the Ukraine is also important to the US - as well as strategic/military regional importance in the Ukraine.
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