Daily Archives: March 23, 2012

Brazil may shift jurisdiction of Chevron case

Mar 23

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By Jeb Blount and Joshua Schneyer
RIO DE JANEIRO | Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:16pm EDT

(Reuters) – A judge in Campos, Brazil, could shift the criminal charges filed against Chevron and drill-rig operator Transocean to Rio de Janeiro, a decision that would remove a crusading prosecutor from the case.

Eduardo Santos de Oliveira, a federal prosecutor based in Campos, in Rio de Janeiro’s interior, told Reuters on Friday a jurisdictional review is under way, which could delay any formal criminal indictment of the firms and their employees for weeks.

Oliveira filed criminal charges against Chevron, Transocean and 17 of their employees in Brazil this week for alleged crimes related to a November offshore oil spill in Brazil’s Frade field, which Chevron operates.

He pledged to seek maximum prison sentences of 31 years against the firms’ executives.

Federal judge Claudio Girão Barreto will consider whether the companies must post bonds in Campos or whether the case should be moved to Rio de Janeiro. The judicial review normally takes around ten calendar days.

The review does not alter the content of the criminal charges, but it could remove the case from Oliveira’s turf and hand it to another team of prosecutors.

The question of jurisdiction stems from the location of the alleged crimes in a deep-sea oil field beyond Brazil’s territorial waters but within its 200-nautical-mile “exclusive economic zone.”

Oliveira said the judge had asked him to appear in court on Monday with more details about the case.

“I think moving the case to Rio de Janeiro would be a mistake,” said Oliveira in a telephone interview. “Chevron and Transocean want you to believe this happened on some foreign ship or platform in international waters. But the crime happened under the seabed, in physical Brazilian territory.”

Some Brazilian officials, including Senator Jorge Viana of the government’s ruling party, have called Oliveira’s charges over-aggressive. Viana told Reuters this week that the case could damage Brazil’s oil industry.

A 20 billion reais ($11 billion) civil suit filed earlier by Oliveira in Campos against Chevron and Transocean, its drilling contractor at Frade, has already been shifted to Rio de Janeiro’s capital. A judge ruled in January that Campos wasn’t the proper jurisdiction for the civil case, Brazil’s largest-ever environmental lawsuit.

Chevron’s November leak of 2,400 to 3,000 barrels of oil at the Frade field was the result of a pressure kick during drilling. Oliveira has said Chevron’s drilling was reckless and unsafe. The companies deny the charges.

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Obama’s Kenyan Birth Certificate Surfaces In Africa

Mar 23

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Note: You can magnify this if you use Magnifier tool; found in the Windows Accessories folder under Ease of Use.

http://africanpress.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/obama-registration-sir-edward-of-lavender-was-the-colonial-registrar-in-mombasa-in-1961.jpg

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Posted by truther on March 23, 2012
African Press

Now it is here and places the president in the African continent. The debate surrounding it will now end after the revelation, and those who have not been telling the truth will have to be made answerable one way or another.

The revelation, however, coming during this election year 2012 is doing no good to the democratic party.

API on Tuesday the 6th March evening received President Obama’s genuine birth certificate. API decided not to hurry in publishing it immediately because we wanted to be sure of the content value.

http://africanpress.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/obama-registration-bottom-says-coast-province-of-kenya.jpg

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Now that the scrutiny has been done, the publishing of the Birth certificate that will clear the air once and for all is being done without prejudice. This may force the US president to apologise to the American people for having been kept in the dark on the issue for a long time now on demanding the publishing of the birth certificate by President Obama.

API will scan in here a letter from Coast Provincial Birth Registration Office in the next few hours or days, depending on how quick API is cleared to do so.

The purpose of scanning the official letter is to ensure that what we have received as you see here is fully collaborated officially.

http://www.africanpress.me : Obama registration sir edward of lavender was the colonial registrar in Mombasa in 1961? Check it out and satisfy yourself by weighing the facts individually.

Everyone knows that the documents are very sensitive and are not for misuse by any person to gain upper hand in political games.

It is, however, fair that the whole truth is brought to light and have the whole saga put to rest once and for all.

Many people seem to be of the opinion that there is a plan to hide from them the real thing. The US President says he is born in Hawaii. Many documents being circulated worldwide says otherwise. Therefore, it is very important to be outright and get the real thing on the table without witch hunt or without trying to malign the president’s name, unless the truth is not what he personally has said.

A duly signed official letter and a very special document will be scanned here for all to see – this comes in a few hours or days, depending on how quick API gets the clearance to do so. The two documents will put the issue to rest and clear the air once and for all who wish to know the true facts of this case file that has bothered a section of the American people!

It is only reasonable to continue working on this case in order to reveal the truth of the matter.

Another issue important to consider is why many are so interested in this. If Obama has ruled now for three good years and is now in his fourth year – and already asking for another term that will give him new 4 years in the White House, is there any wrongdoing when he actually has delivered leadership and continues to do so? He has not run down the country, so what is all the farce about where he is born? After all, he has lived in the US all his life.

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Posted in Africa, AMERICAS, East Africa, Kenya, North America, One and Done, United States

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South Korea: Stena Drilling Wins 5 Year Contract for Its Newbuild Stena IceMAX Drillship

Mar 23

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Stena Drilling has been awarded a 5 year worldwide drilling contract by Shell for the new build Stena IceMAX. The drilling contract which is on market day rates will commence in March when the vessel is delivered from the yard in South Korea. The first assignment for the vessel will be in French Guyana.

Stena IceMAX will be the world’s first dynamically positioned, dual mast ice-class +1A1 drillship, allowing for safe and efficient operations in Arctic conditions. Stena IceMAX is currently under construction by Samsung Heavy Industries at their Geoje Shipyard in South Korea and is the fourth vessel in the Stena DrillMAX fleet.

Following their successful delivery, Stena DrillMAX, Stena Carron and Stena Forth are currently in worldwide operation. Stena IceMAX is based on the existing Stena DrillMAX vessels, providing the optimum layout/specification for a vast range of world-wide operational requirements.

Vessel Particulars:

Displacement (approx) – 98,000 Mt

Variable Deck Load Transit (approx) – 7,500 Mt

Variable Deck Load Drilling/Survival (approx) – 15,000 Mt

Overall length – 228.0m

Breadth, mid. – 42.0m

Depth, mid. – 19.0m

Moonpool – 25.6m x 12.5m

Transit Ice, draught – 11.0m

Transit open water, draught – 8.5m

Operation draught, mid. – 12.0m

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Norway: Lunding Charters LNG Powered Supply Vessel ‘Viking Prince’

Mar 23

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Eidesvik has entered into an agreement with Lunding Norway for chartering of the LNG powered supply vessel Viking Prince, which will be delivered from Kleven Verft 30th of March 2012.

Viking Prince will replace Viking Athene in the existing contract between the two parties from the time of delivery, which means that Viking Athene will be released from duty from the same date.

The original contract was firm for 4 drilling wells, with charterer’s option for another 6 wells. At the time Viking Prince commences the contract, Lundin is near the completion of the 2nd well.

“We are excited over the fact that the vessel will commence a contract from the time of delivery. It is delightful to see another operator on the shelf start using LNG powered supply vessels. For us it is satisfactory to be in the position to offer a vessel of the highest quality to a fast developing operator with an exciting future,” says CEO Jan Fredrik Meling in a comment.

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Germany: Siemens Postpones Launch of Subsea Power Grid

Mar 23

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Siemens has unveiled the postponement of first subsea grid after revealing the purchase of Expro’s Connectors and Measurements division for $630 million, which will provide the final engineering for the project, the Reuters reported.

CEO of Siemens Oil and Gas Division, Adil Toubia, stated that the proto-type subsea power grid would be implemented at the end of 2013 and would be available to the market at the end of 2014.

Atle Stromme, Global Head of Subsea, said to Reuters that Expro’s C&M business would complete what Siemens needs to create the subsea power grid, a first ever for water depths of minimum 3,000 meters in the oil and gas processing business.

Reuters citied him as saying: “We now have in-house to develop the power grid.”

Siemens’ subsea power grid — which consists of transformers, converters, switchgears and adjustable speed drives — will supply the power to carry the oil and gas from the wellhead to a processing facility.

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University of Texas Oil Connections

Mar 23

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This is a picture of the Santa Rita in the early 1920’s.

In 1883, the year UT was opened, an endowment was established by the state of Texas that donated 2.1 million acres in West Texas to help UT. Not much was expected of the desolate land besides to perhaps develop it for real estate. In the 1920’s curious men acquired drilling permits from UT, hoping to strike it rich. There were in fact huge oil discoveries. Oil from the Permian Basin has generously provided for the UT system. The PUF continues to receive royalties from oil and gas production in West Texas while the AUF, Available University Fund, continues to receive all surface lease income. Surface lease usually entails “grazing and easements for power lines and pipelines.”1

Big Lake Oilfield and Santa Rita #1 Oil Well

In 1919, Rupert P. Ricker started advertising the land given to UT for oil exploration. The UT alum had utilized a law passed two years earlier permitting state land to be chartered for oil exploration. Having trouble making the sale of 431,360 acres, Ricker turned to an army buddy, Frank T. Pickrell. The original price of the permits for the land and other processing fees was approximately $41,136; however Pickrell paid only $2,500 due to the approaching thirty day deadline for Ricker to make the sale. In 1921, Pickrell started making his runs desperately searching for Texas Tea.

Much to his delight, the Santa Rita #1 oil well produced oil on the final day before the permit expired. A group of Catholic women had large investments in the exploration; when they heard all of this, they wanted it called Santa Rita (“Patron of the Impossible”). But on May 25, 1923, Cromwell, with fellow worker Dee Locklin, decided to “shut down the well to keep reports tight while they leased surrounding acreage for themselves.”2

The oil well was a part of the Big Lake Oilfield. By 1926, the oilfield had already contributed $4 million to the PUF. In the beginning, the single oil well was producing around 3,000 barrels of oil daily. Different wells in the field also had success early on; “the No. 9 well’s initial daily production was 1,400 barrels, on June 24, 1924. The No. 10 came in with 1,840 barrels on July 11. But the No. 11, which began producing 3,600 barrels daily on July 31, proved the field’s productivity.”1

The Santa Rita had served its purpose to the UT system in its sixty-seven years. In 1990, the plug was pulled. The Texas State Historical Association had the original Santa Rita #1 rig moved to the UT campus, and it can be seen next to MLK Blvd between Trinity and San Jacinto streets.

Yates Oil Field

is one of the richest oil fields in the United States; it is rated in the top ten for overall production and second for reserves. Much like the Big Lake Oilfield, permits were granted by UT, and in turn, the school received royalties from the drilling in West Texas.

According to the DrillingInfo website, Yates has over 1 billion barrels left in reserves, which is the largest amount of reserves in the entire nation with the exception of the mammoth Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. It continues to produce around 20,000 barrels of oil per day and around 85,000 MCF (thousand cubic feet) of gas daily. In 1998, it was reported that a research team named Golder Associates of Redmond, Washington was attempting to discover ways to maximize production using natural drainage systems. “Very effective gravity drainage, combined with a secondary gas-cap expansion drive is responsible for the estimated ultimate recovery of 50 percent of the original oil in place.”3 The oil field is so well maintained since it contributes so much to the University.

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Interest groups protest Obama’s support for Oklahoma-Texas pipeline

Mar 23

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Various groups on Thursday protested President Barack Obama’s speech at a pipe yard near Cushing.

 

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President Barack Obama arrives at the TransCanada Pipe Yard near Cushing, Okla., Thursday, March 22, 2012. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

By Adam Wilmoth

Published: March 23, 2012

CUSHING — President Barack Obama‘s speech near Cushing on Thursday drew strong opinions and protests from a variety of interest groups.

Crowds along the motorcade route held signs with a variety of messages including “Drill, baby, drill,” “Oklahomans for Obama,” “Stop Keystone” and “Tar Sands are Toxic.”

Americans for Prosperity opposed the president for his efforts to promote renewable energy with tax credits and other incentives at the expense of the oil and natural gas industry.

“The truth is the Obama administration has repeatedly blocked domestic energy production, vilified the oil and gas industry and actually cheered the rise of fuel prices,” AFP President Tim Phillips said. AFP activists held signs and rallied in Cushing while the president gave his speech.

The Domestic Energy Producers Alliance had a similar message.

“President Obama’s message of support for the oil industry is completely disingenuous because he has spent three years discouraging oil production,” said Mike Cantrell, Oklahoma oilman and member of the producers alliance. “He stands up there and takes credit for the things the private sector has done without him.”

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The oil industry’s plan to lower gas prices

Mar 23

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By Steve Hargreaves @CNNMoney March 23, 2012: 5:20 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The oil industry recently laid out a set of proposals it believes will instantly lower gasoline prices.

The proposals call for more domestic oil production, fewer environmental regulations on refineries and fuel, and for not raising taxes on the industry. They’re basically what the Republican presidential candidates are calling for.

But analysts say those ideas will do little to lower gas prices in the short term. Here’s why:

More drilling: The industry has long held that this is key to lowering prices, and “unlocking America’s energy potential” is a theme all the Republican candidates are touting.

The industry has studies saying that if it was allowed to drill off both the East and West coasts, on all federal land that isn’t a national park and in Alaska’s national wildlife refuge it could produce another 10 million barrels of oil a day by 2030 — double the nation’s current oil output.

Eighteen years is a long time to wait for gas prices to come down. But the industry says that if Obama merely announced such a plan oil prices would drop overnight in anticipation of this new production.

“Markets are driven by expectations,” Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said on a recent conference call.

Saudi Arabia can’t save us from high oil prices

Gerard noted that oil prices fell $16 in the two days after George W. Bush lifted a moratorium on drilling off the coasts in 2008, a moratorium that was effectively reinstated after BP’s (BP) Gulf of Mexico disaster.

But oil traders are skeptical.

“Just because a policy is announced doesn’t mean it can be easily or quickly attained, and the markets will discount that,” said Addison Armstrong, director of market research at the brokerage Tradition Energy.

Those against more drilling note that U.S. oil production has increased by about 15% since Obama took office, and prices have only gone up.

Obama himself likes to take credit for this production increase, although actual federal acreage available for drilling is down slightly from the Bush administration.

The extra production comes mostly from private land and is spurred by higher prices, new technology and the expanded use of hydraulic fracturing.

Known as fracking for short, the process is highly controversial as many fear it is contaminating the ground water. Yet Obama has allowed it to continue mostly unfettered — and has taken flack from his left flank as a result.

In the medium term it’s hard to say what impact increased production from the United Sates would have on oil prices.

Ten million barrels a day is a lot of oil, though critics say the industry would never be able to generate that much and note the potential high environmental costs of drilling everywhere.

Plus OPEC might simply cut that amount of production to keep prices high.

Either way, it’s unlikely more drilling now would lower gas prices anytime soon.

Fewer regulations: Cutting regulations is another mantra of the American Right, and more regulations are indeed looming for the oil and gas industry.

It’s thought that Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency will propose new standards designed to cut air pollution and global warming on both refineries and fuels.

The oil industry says the new fuel standards alone could add anywhere from six to nine cents to a gallon of gas.

Yet not implementing those regulations wouldn’t lower the price of gas now — analysts aren’t expecting them to be put in place until after the election.

Plus, it’s uncertain they will really cost that much.

“Historically, the cost impacts [of additional regulations] have been estimated to be higher than they really are,” said Joseph Stanislaw, founder of J.A. Stanislaw Group, an energy and investment advisory firm.

Less taxes: As any good lobby group would, API has used every chance it gets to rally against proposals from the Obama administration that would eliminate up to $4 billion a year in tax breaks for the oil industry.

“No economist in the world will tell you gas prices can be reduced by increasing taxes,” said API’s Gerard.

Speculators are driving up gas prices – Opinion

Eliminating the tax breaks has been opposed by nearly every Republican politician as well.

But while eliminating those tax breaks might be bad for oil company shareholders, it’s hard to see how they would have much of a bearing on raising or lowering gas prices.

What is driving prices: Fundamentally, what politicians on both sides of the isle are missing is the fact that gas prices are not being driven by domestic policies.

They are being driven by oil prices, which are in turn rising mostly on fears over a confrontation with Iran.

“There’s a lot of oil out there right now, but people are scared,” said Stanislaw. “This is largely outside of the control of the United States.”  To top of page

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