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Archive for January 25th, 2013
Halliburton Deploys First Frack-Fluid Cleaning Unit in Australia
Posted by Bloomberg: David Wethe on January 25th, 2013
Bloomberg: Halliburton Co. (HAL), the biggest hydraulic-fracturing services provider, deployed its first bacteria-fighting truck in Australia to clean fracking waters and reduce the environmental impact of drilling for natural-gas.
The world’s second-largest oilfield services provider helps companies drill and complete wells using the pressure-pumping technique known as fracking, which blasts water mixed with sand and chemicals underground to free trapped hydrocarbons from shale formations.
Halliburton’s...
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Can ‘nexus thinking’ alleviate global water, food and energy pressures?
Posted by Guardian: Tim Smedley on January 25th, 2013
Guardian: With the world population growing at a rate of around 80 million people a year, it is estimated that by 2030 the world will need 30% more water, 40% more energy and 50% more food. That's not just to feed, water and power the new arrivals, but also those currently living "off grid" in developing countries as they rise out of poverty.
In the past, water, food and energy have too often been dealt with as separate issues. Biofuels are a classic example. Once the great hope for sustainable energy,...
Halliburton Profit Falls on U.S. Fracking Equipment Glut
Posted by Bloomberg: David Wethe on January 25th, 2013
Bloomberg: Halliburton Co. (HAL), the world’s second- largest oilfield-services provider, reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates as customers around the world boosted spending at the end of the year. Shares rose the most in more than a year.
Excluding discontinued operations, the Houston-based company earned 63 cents a share, 2 cents higher than the average of 33 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales climbed 3.2 percent to $7.3 billion, which was more than the average of...
Enbridge Says Eastern U.S. Gulf Coast Next Big Market for Canadian Oil
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 25th, 2013
Reuters: Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) has started to sketch out plans for moving Canadian crude oil to a U.S. refining market it has so far had little access to--the eastern Gulf Coast region of Louisiana and Mississippi, its chief executive said on Thursday.
Enbridge, the largest shipper of Canada's oil, has been a main player in adding pipeline capacity to the western Gulf Coast, most recently with the expansion of the Seaway pipeline between the hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, and the Houston area.
That project...
Should colleges divest from coal, oil?
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: David J. Unger on January 25th, 2013
Christian Science Monitor: The divestment campaign aims to slow the development of coal, oil, and gas resources – forms of energy that emit large quantities of heat-trapping greenhouse gasses and contribute to climate change – by reducing the investment dollars flowing into energy companies. But energy companies have provided colleges and universities with relatively healthy returns in the past several years.
"We're not debating that fossil fuels are profitable right now. We all understand that. This goes beyond profitability,"...
‘Bipartisan’ task force on climate change one party short
Posted by Washington Times: Tom Howell Jr. on January 25th, 2013
Washington Times: Two Democrats on Capitol Hill are seconding President Obama`s call for real political muscle to address climate change and vowed to form a bipartisan task force -- but they haven`t found any Republican takers yet.
The administration found itself under growing pressure on another front, as a bipartisan majority of senators has signed on to a letter seeking approval of a massive new oil pipeline project staunchly opposed by leading environmental groups.
Rep. Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat,...
Canada: ‘Bitumen Bubble’ Means a Hard Reckoning for Alberta, Premier Redford Warns
Posted by Globe and Mail: Josh Wingrove on January 25th, 2013
Globe and Mail: The sharp revenue decline will also spur the continuing national debate over pipelines, heading east or west, which Ms. Redford argues are the only way to reduce reliance on American buyers, reach new markets and fetch a higher price for Western Canadian oil. “We have a duty to ensure that our resources, especially Alberta oil and gas, get to new markets at a much fairer price,” Ms. Redford said while delivering the news in a special television address Thursday evening, which cost taxpayers $55,000....
Texas Commission That Oversees Drilling Is Being Overhauled, Even in Name
Posted by New York Times: KATE GALBRAITH on January 25th, 2013
New York Times: The Railroad Commission of Texas regulates one of the most advanced industries in the world — oil and gas drilling. Yet the commission’s software systems, many of its rules and even its name are from another era. As the 122-year-old agency confronts a drilling boom that is altering the state and national economies, an overhaul of its operations is under way. Its old mainframe computer system will be upgraded with modern digital storage, clearing the way for a more user-friendly Web site. Decades-old...
Waxman: Keystone XL ‘Small’ Piece of Climate Puzzle
Posted by The Hill: Zack Colman on January 25th, 2013
The Hill: A top Democratic global warming advocate said Thursday that President Obama’s decision on the Keystone XL pipeline is a “small” part of battling climate change. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said he hopes Obama nixes the project to bring Canadian oil sands to the Gulf Coast. But he stressed that Keystone is just one piece of the whole climate picture. “This is only a small issue compared to the overall objective that the president and we want to achieve,” Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Energy...
Tanzania: Maasai herders breed fewer, stronger cattle to tackle climate change
Posted by AlertNet: Lucas Liganga on January 25th, 2013
AlertNet: The loss of more than half their livestock in the 2009 drought has led Maasai pastoralists in northern Tanzania's Arusha region to breed fewer, stronger cattle and end their traditional focus on numbers alone as symbols of wealth and status.
The impact of that devastating drought, which dealt a blow to the whole nation's economy, is still visible in the small number of cattle in many villages of Engarenaibor in Arusha's Longido district.
The district's cattle breeders and owners lost at least...