Because of its prime geographical location, Louisiana has been one of the United States’ most productive areas of oil production, with its first attempt at oil discovery dating back a century and a half. This first dig proved unsuccessful, however, the promise of untold riches and energy independence proved too strong a pull for early exploration to be so easily thwarted. The first oil field discovered that proved to be commercially viable for production occurred in 1901, the Heywood well, and can be seen as the jumping off point for the many years of oil production to come.
Rivers and large bodies of water have always been the lifelines for civilization, and the massive mother of all U.S. rivers, the Mississippi River is no different. Cutting a large swath through the middle of the United States, the Mississippi brings with it tons upon tons of sediment, rich with decaying plant and animal matter, depositing them at her massive mouth at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. Hydrocarbons form as bacteria combines with the molecules of dead animal and plant matter; the results of the mighty Mississippi’s centuries, even millennia of hard work can be seen in these huge deposits of sediment that have been mounded and compacted into the seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico. The pressure created by years upon years of pounding and pounding have created a veritable hotbed of hydrocarbon production, and where hydrocarbons exist, oil and natural gas supplies are present for extraction. Geologists employed by oil exploration outfits like observed these advantageous, naturally-occurring conditions, and several large drilling platforms were erected off Louisiana’s shore in the Gulf of Mexico in the 1940’s in hopes of capitalizing upon the oil deposits, both for economic boost to the state of Louisiana as well as providing energy for the millions of United States’ inhabitants.
Louisiana’s oil industry began to flourish with it reaching its peak production numbers of over 725 million barrels in 1969. Louisianan reserves have experienced a slight decline since then, however, new efforts employed in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of new congressional allowances have motivated an oil production renaissance with an increase in production since 1996. Some estimates show that Louisiana’s yields could increase by at least 33 percent in the next 20 years, allowing for large profits for this state that has been in dire need of economic boosting since the horrible havoc wrecked by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Oil outfitters like Triple Diamond Energy Corp will surely be available to help with the harvest of this oily bounty. Louisiana will undoubtedly continue to remain as one of the United States’ most important states in terms of oil production for many years to come.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
U.S. Pipeline Construction Boom
As demand for natural gas in the United States continues to soar, pipeline companies are experiencing their highest all-time profits. Trying to keep up with natural gas needs, many pipeline companies have been starting and completing new projects at breakneck speed, helping to pipe the much needed natural gas from the prolific basins of the southeastern United States to various areas across the continent. As the price of oil soars, many locales are hoping that the United States’ mammoth natural gas supplies will rise to the challenge, providing the energy needs of the many, taking up the slack and decreasing the United States’ dependence on foreign oil reserves.
The largest project, the Mid-Continent Crossing, a collaboration between CenterPoint Energy and Duke Energy Gas Transmission, was agreed upon in 2006, and the two companies seemed determined that the construction of this large pipeline would be supported by the higher natural gas prices nationwide and increased demand, especially in the United States’ energy hungry and highly populated Northeast. The proposed route included a 1600 mile pipeline that would run from the Waha Hub near Plains, Texas, crossing several states along the way including Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and others, all the way to Pennsylvania. This pipeline proposal was encouraged by claims of each state along the route, assuring the two companies of needy customers that would more than support the great costs incurred by the enormous build. Along the way, Duke Energy bowed out and was replaced by Spectra Energy, assuring CenterPoint that they would be an advantageous partner. In the end however, initial numbers that drove the two companies in their proposal and ongoing talks proved to be inflated, and construction was discontinued even before it began. Demand proved to be a fickle mistress in this case, though the two companies are leaving communication lines open should the market support their joint venture in the future.
Perhaps such a large endeavor was too ambitious. The construction boom continued throughout 2007, motivated by a nearly 4% increase in demand, but on smaller scales. Around 69 new projects were proposed in 2007 across the United States amounting to around 3200 miles of expansion. Most of these proposals included lateral construction of new tributaries from pre-existing routes. This might have been the downfall of the Mid-Continent Crossing project; its proposed route was too ambitious because it involved primarily all new construction without an existing network in place. American companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corp and others continue to employ market analysis, assessing need for new pipeline ventures to help better serve the nation’s consumers.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
The largest project, the Mid-Continent Crossing, a collaboration between CenterPoint Energy and Duke Energy Gas Transmission, was agreed upon in 2006, and the two companies seemed determined that the construction of this large pipeline would be supported by the higher natural gas prices nationwide and increased demand, especially in the United States’ energy hungry and highly populated Northeast. The proposed route included a 1600 mile pipeline that would run from the Waha Hub near Plains, Texas, crossing several states along the way including Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and others, all the way to Pennsylvania. This pipeline proposal was encouraged by claims of each state along the route, assuring the two companies of needy customers that would more than support the great costs incurred by the enormous build. Along the way, Duke Energy bowed out and was replaced by Spectra Energy, assuring CenterPoint that they would be an advantageous partner. In the end however, initial numbers that drove the two companies in their proposal and ongoing talks proved to be inflated, and construction was discontinued even before it began. Demand proved to be a fickle mistress in this case, though the two companies are leaving communication lines open should the market support their joint venture in the future.
Perhaps such a large endeavor was too ambitious. The construction boom continued throughout 2007, motivated by a nearly 4% increase in demand, but on smaller scales. Around 69 new projects were proposed in 2007 across the United States amounting to around 3200 miles of expansion. Most of these proposals included lateral construction of new tributaries from pre-existing routes. This might have been the downfall of the Mid-Continent Crossing project; its proposed route was too ambitious because it involved primarily all new construction without an existing network in place. American companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corp and others continue to employ market analysis, assessing need for new pipeline ventures to help better serve the nation’s consumers.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Sifting Through “Tar Sands”
The term “tar sands” are somewhat of a misnomer as tar is itself a man-made product from crude oil and does not exist naturally. “Tar sands” are perhaps better referred to as “oil sands” because it is the heavy, extremely viscous, blackest of oils, bitumen that lies naturally beneath the Earth’s surface in a gritty amalgam of clay, sand, and water. Because of its need for extra refining due to its less than hospitable state, tar or oil sands has until now been a sort of “last resort” supply for most countries in conventional oil trade. As oil supplies dwindle across the planet, more and more countries are turning to tar sands for relief, and new technologies are emerging that help make these reserves more recoverable.
Of the nations of the world, Canada stands alone currently as having the most developed tar sands industry, seeing production of nearly a million barrels of synthetic oil daily. This represents nearly 40% of Canada’s total oil production, and numbers are steadily on the rise. Much of Canadian tar sand deposits are recoverable through open pit mining techniques which prove very efficient when deposits are near the surface. Large hydraulic shovels dig up the tar sands and deposit them in extra large dump trucks for transport to a nearby extraction plant. Hot water must first be added to the combination, allowing the oily bitumen to rise to the top for ease of separation. The bitumen is then skimmed from the top like the fat on buttermilk, and off to another plant for further refining into synthetic oil blends.
Main objections to harvesting tar sands in the United States are from highly vocal environmental groups voicing valid concerns over the disturbance of habitat for seemingly miniscule amounts of oil. Even with modern advancements during the 1990s, nearly two tons of tar sands are still required to produce one barrel of oil. This would mean large excavation sites would be necessary in areas of tar sand congregation like Utah, and most citizens don’t enjoy the decimated landscape that is left after a quarry or a mining operation has run dry. Triple Diamond Energy Corp and other American oil extraction companies are continually striving to uncover new ways of efficiently removing oil deposits while maintaining diligent stewardship of the environment. As needs grow and supplies diminish within the United States, new methods are direly needed and will be put to the test.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Of the nations of the world, Canada stands alone currently as having the most developed tar sands industry, seeing production of nearly a million barrels of synthetic oil daily. This represents nearly 40% of Canada’s total oil production, and numbers are steadily on the rise. Much of Canadian tar sand deposits are recoverable through open pit mining techniques which prove very efficient when deposits are near the surface. Large hydraulic shovels dig up the tar sands and deposit them in extra large dump trucks for transport to a nearby extraction plant. Hot water must first be added to the combination, allowing the oily bitumen to rise to the top for ease of separation. The bitumen is then skimmed from the top like the fat on buttermilk, and off to another plant for further refining into synthetic oil blends.
Main objections to harvesting tar sands in the United States are from highly vocal environmental groups voicing valid concerns over the disturbance of habitat for seemingly miniscule amounts of oil. Even with modern advancements during the 1990s, nearly two tons of tar sands are still required to produce one barrel of oil. This would mean large excavation sites would be necessary in areas of tar sand congregation like Utah, and most citizens don’t enjoy the decimated landscape that is left after a quarry or a mining operation has run dry. Triple Diamond Energy Corp and other American oil extraction companies are continually striving to uncover new ways of efficiently removing oil deposits while maintaining diligent stewardship of the environment. As needs grow and supplies diminish within the United States, new methods are direly needed and will be put to the test.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Natural Gas Providing Electricity
The choice for most plants providing electricity in the United States during the 1970’s and 1980’s were coal or nuclear powered. Though coal is the cheapest fossil fuel used to produce electricity, it is also the dirtiest, producing the highest levels of harmful particulate into the air, causing far reaching environmental damage, not to mention the adverse affects on respiratory health. Historically, U.S. electricity generation has been one of the most polluting industries. Thankfully, governmental emission regulations have forced the cleanup of a large amount of these coal-fired plants, and many have turned to cleaner options to help provide Americans with the electricity they need. There has been a slow rise since the early nineties, a shift to the use of natural gas to fire power plants.
Natural gas is used in the most basic way, similarly to coal, burned in order to heat water with the resulting steam funneled into a turbine, turning it, and producing electricity. The unfortunate reality of this tried and true way is its overwhelming inefficiency in comparison to newly emerging methods. Another way gas is used is simply as fuel to engines that turn the turbines, but this is only slightly more efficient than the steam producing method. Newer natural gas fired power plants are using both methods in “combined-cycle” units, harnessing the most successful attributes of both methods, combining them into one unit, and nearly doubling the thermal efficiency in the process. This allows for less of the natural gas produced heat energy to be lost, with numbers dwindling to nearly 30% lost rather than 70% in those methods when used alone.
An exciting innovation motivated by the increasing usage of clean burning natural gas is the development of smaller power plants that can be erected locally rather than the traditionally, large, centrally located power plants that have dominated the United States in the last century. This trend is known as distributed generation, and has allowed municipalities, independent factories, and even residential areas the ability to generate their own electricity, ensuring that their individual needs are met. Most all of these smaller plants are powered by the nation’s extensive natural gas infrastructure that grows each year as natural gas distributors like Triple Diamond Energy Corp expand operations to keep up with the ever- rowing demand for clean burning, highly efficient, and readily available natural gas. New supplies are needed, and American companies are hard at work, using all their available resources to discover them.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Natural gas is used in the most basic way, similarly to coal, burned in order to heat water with the resulting steam funneled into a turbine, turning it, and producing electricity. The unfortunate reality of this tried and true way is its overwhelming inefficiency in comparison to newly emerging methods. Another way gas is used is simply as fuel to engines that turn the turbines, but this is only slightly more efficient than the steam producing method. Newer natural gas fired power plants are using both methods in “combined-cycle” units, harnessing the most successful attributes of both methods, combining them into one unit, and nearly doubling the thermal efficiency in the process. This allows for less of the natural gas produced heat energy to be lost, with numbers dwindling to nearly 30% lost rather than 70% in those methods when used alone.
An exciting innovation motivated by the increasing usage of clean burning natural gas is the development of smaller power plants that can be erected locally rather than the traditionally, large, centrally located power plants that have dominated the United States in the last century. This trend is known as distributed generation, and has allowed municipalities, independent factories, and even residential areas the ability to generate their own electricity, ensuring that their individual needs are met. Most all of these smaller plants are powered by the nation’s extensive natural gas infrastructure that grows each year as natural gas distributors like Triple Diamond Energy Corp expand operations to keep up with the ever- rowing demand for clean burning, highly efficient, and readily available natural gas. New supplies are needed, and American companies are hard at work, using all their available resources to discover them.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Australia’s Relationship with Oil
The continent Australia can be seen as having the unluckiest hand in the geological draw. Instead of being a part of Pangea, the large mass that other continents broke off from millions of years ago, Australia was part of a super-continent situated closely to the South Pole, Gwondanaland. It has experienced a drift over the past millennia, but to a less amiable position than most, to a latitude where dry and arid temperatures are the norm. While other continents experienced tectonic fluctuations that promoted fossil fuel formation, Australia continued to remain the driest of all continents, a hard and rough landscape, more conducive to coal formation than to the formation of crude oil deposits. In fact, Australia continues to be the largest exporter of coal (mostly to China), but their oil reserves started at the smallest of amounts at nine billion barrels, about half a percent of the world’s supplies. Luckily, Australia possesses quite a small population due to its harsh landscape and oil usage has been pretty conservative.
Australia has been mostly self-sufficient with its oil production and usage, as 85% of the oil used is domestically produced. However, reserves are dwindling as oil usage is on the rise. Estimates show that by 2010, Australian oil supplies will only provide 42% of their need and will be forced to import the difference, mostly form Middle Eastern reserves. The population of Australia has experienced 300% growth since 1945, but mostly to the coastal cities, while its rural populations have dwindled. The cities are heavily motor vehicle dependent, making need for oil supplies to increase. Because Australia is an island quite separated from other continents, transport of imports to their population is very costly. Transportation of all products throughout Australia is dominated by semis and eighteen-wheelers. As a result, oil dependence continues to grow.
While oil supplies dwindle, Australians are shifting focus to their natural gas supply that accounts for a large part of its energy exports. Though possessing the least hospitable continent, Australia remains the only developed country with large energy exports; 70 percent of their production of coal, uranium, and natural gas is exported. Australia has always been known as a country of tough, adaptable people. Their metal will surely be tested in the coming decades as focus will need to shift in order to keep up with the fuel demands of their population. Natural gas will surely play a pivotal role, and natural gas distributors will be called upon to provide the necessary supply.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Australia has been mostly self-sufficient with its oil production and usage, as 85% of the oil used is domestically produced. However, reserves are dwindling as oil usage is on the rise. Estimates show that by 2010, Australian oil supplies will only provide 42% of their need and will be forced to import the difference, mostly form Middle Eastern reserves. The population of Australia has experienced 300% growth since 1945, but mostly to the coastal cities, while its rural populations have dwindled. The cities are heavily motor vehicle dependent, making need for oil supplies to increase. Because Australia is an island quite separated from other continents, transport of imports to their population is very costly. Transportation of all products throughout Australia is dominated by semis and eighteen-wheelers. As a result, oil dependence continues to grow.
While oil supplies dwindle, Australians are shifting focus to their natural gas supply that accounts for a large part of its energy exports. Though possessing the least hospitable continent, Australia remains the only developed country with large energy exports; 70 percent of their production of coal, uranium, and natural gas is exported. Australia has always been known as a country of tough, adaptable people. Their metal will surely be tested in the coming decades as focus will need to shift in order to keep up with the fuel demands of their population. Natural gas will surely play a pivotal role, and natural gas distributors will be called upon to provide the necessary supply.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Refining Innovation Promotes More Efficiency
When refining petroleum, a process known as alkylation is used in order to produce the premium gasoline-blending component known as alkylate. Alkylate is the additive in premium automobile fuel that helps solve the pesky knocking noises that can occur in engines and may develop when using lower grade gasoline. Engine knock is the sharp metallic noise produced as a result of the pre-ignition of fuel, often when accelerating, which can result in power reduction and a loss of fuel economy. Engine knock can often be alleviated by a tune-up and correcting the timing of the engine. In older cars especially, this is not enough, and an easy defense against engine knocking is by using higher-octane gasoline with the additive alkylate.
The term octane is the common name for the measure of the Antiknock Index of gasoline. The Antiknock Index, or octane number, measures the gasoline’s ability to resist this pre-ignition, or engine knock. The higher-octane gasoline blends are always priced higher than the lower ones partly because of the higher costs that develop as a result of the more stringent refining processes they must go through before reaching the pump, and ultimately the discerning consumer’s tank. Conventionally, this process involves the use of liquid isobutene and liquid olefin reacting together when exposed to one of two potentially hazardous acids (sulfuric or hydrofluoric) that then act as a catalyst to promote the rearrangement of the structural molecules. This process is very expensive, and the resulting alkylate is then blended with gasoline to produce the higher-octane blends. An American company, VHP, Inc., has developed a more efficient and cheaper alternative to this tried and true alkylation method. Their device has previously been used as a stripper to remove contaminants from water, but its proposed use as a new and improved alkylation reactor is less costly to install and necessitates less use of these corrosive acids, resulting in lowering the costs incurred by acid transport and disposal in the conventional method. Another attractive byproduct of this new process would be less harmful particulate emissions into the environment.
This exciting new technology would result in a nearly 50 percent reduction of acid costs currently spent in refining of petroleum into gasoline. Large domestic refining and distribution companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corp are anxiously observing the development of this technology in hopes of using it to better serve their consumer base, lowering their bottom line, and passing these savings on to their valued customers.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
The term octane is the common name for the measure of the Antiknock Index of gasoline. The Antiknock Index, or octane number, measures the gasoline’s ability to resist this pre-ignition, or engine knock. The higher-octane gasoline blends are always priced higher than the lower ones partly because of the higher costs that develop as a result of the more stringent refining processes they must go through before reaching the pump, and ultimately the discerning consumer’s tank. Conventionally, this process involves the use of liquid isobutene and liquid olefin reacting together when exposed to one of two potentially hazardous acids (sulfuric or hydrofluoric) that then act as a catalyst to promote the rearrangement of the structural molecules. This process is very expensive, and the resulting alkylate is then blended with gasoline to produce the higher-octane blends. An American company, VHP, Inc., has developed a more efficient and cheaper alternative to this tried and true alkylation method. Their device has previously been used as a stripper to remove contaminants from water, but its proposed use as a new and improved alkylation reactor is less costly to install and necessitates less use of these corrosive acids, resulting in lowering the costs incurred by acid transport and disposal in the conventional method. Another attractive byproduct of this new process would be less harmful particulate emissions into the environment.
This exciting new technology would result in a nearly 50 percent reduction of acid costs currently spent in refining of petroleum into gasoline. Large domestic refining and distribution companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corp are anxiously observing the development of this technology in hopes of using it to better serve their consumer base, lowering their bottom line, and passing these savings on to their valued customers.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Russian Druzhba Pipeline: Supply, Demand, and Control
Germany, Poland, and the Ukraine, as well as other countries in the European Union produce minimal amounts of petroleum within their borders, if any, and rely on imports for most all of their fueling needs. Thirty percent of all imported oil to the countries of the European Union begins its journey deep within Russia, half of it running through the Druzhba Pipeline that crosses through the small country of Belarus. “Druzhba” means “friendship”, but friendly feelings were not prevalent in January of 2007, when Russian oil monopoly Transneft halted pipeline service through Belarus, affecting many countries in Europe who were forced to use their limited on-hand supplies until the conflict was resolved.
The Druzhba Pipeline began pumping oil in the early 1960’s, when all of the territory it crossed was part of the Soviet Union. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990’s, a new agreement was made between Russia and the newly formed republic of Belarus. This agreement allowed Russia to continue using the line as integral export transportation provided Belarus was able to receive its crude tariff free. Furthermore, Belarus was allowed to refine the crude, selling the resulting products to other markets, with the supposition that Belarus would share the profits with Russia. Belarus, in attempts to strengthen its growing economy, apparently chose to “forget” this profit sharing alliance, resulting in Russia raising the price of the oil it exported to Belarus in an effort to equalize Belarusian “forgetfulness”. The Russian shutdown of the pipeline in January 2007 was an immediate result of Russian suspicions that Belarus was illegally siphoning crude at several points along the line. The efforts of Belarus were undoubtedly motivated by the imposition of a new $180 a ton duty on oil sold to them by Russia beginning in January. To counteract this fee, Belarus demanded $45 a ton transit fee from Russia for use of the pipeline, and allegedly illegally siphoned oil because this transit fee was not being honored.
Trade agreements between countries are very fragile relationships, and the countries of Germany, Poland, and the Ukraine, were directly affected because of the disagreements between Russia and Belarus. These countries were forced to dip into their limited reserve supplies to make up for the interruption of service. Service in the United States is rarely interrupted, and never because of interstate squabbling, thankfully. Distributors like Triple Diamond Energy Corp and others make sure that the petroleum products American consumers need are always readily available.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
The Druzhba Pipeline began pumping oil in the early 1960’s, when all of the territory it crossed was part of the Soviet Union. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990’s, a new agreement was made between Russia and the newly formed republic of Belarus. This agreement allowed Russia to continue using the line as integral export transportation provided Belarus was able to receive its crude tariff free. Furthermore, Belarus was allowed to refine the crude, selling the resulting products to other markets, with the supposition that Belarus would share the profits with Russia. Belarus, in attempts to strengthen its growing economy, apparently chose to “forget” this profit sharing alliance, resulting in Russia raising the price of the oil it exported to Belarus in an effort to equalize Belarusian “forgetfulness”. The Russian shutdown of the pipeline in January 2007 was an immediate result of Russian suspicions that Belarus was illegally siphoning crude at several points along the line. The efforts of Belarus were undoubtedly motivated by the imposition of a new $180 a ton duty on oil sold to them by Russia beginning in January. To counteract this fee, Belarus demanded $45 a ton transit fee from Russia for use of the pipeline, and allegedly illegally siphoned oil because this transit fee was not being honored.
Trade agreements between countries are very fragile relationships, and the countries of Germany, Poland, and the Ukraine, were directly affected because of the disagreements between Russia and Belarus. These countries were forced to dip into their limited reserve supplies to make up for the interruption of service. Service in the United States is rarely interrupted, and never because of interstate squabbling, thankfully. Distributors like Triple Diamond Energy Corp and others make sure that the petroleum products American consumers need are always readily available.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Phill: The Way to Fill Up the Natural Gas Vehicle at Home
With gasoline costs rising, seemingly, every week in the United States, many consumers are searching and searching for alternative ways to cut fuelling costs. While bio-diesel is definitely making itself known across the country currently, bio-fuel is not readily available year round in the United States, especially in the cold winter months as lower temperatures limit supplies. Many are looking to the hybrid electric/gasoline vehicles that are more efficient but still rely on gasoline to charge their fuel cells, accelerate, and do much of their in-city driving. A technology that is emerging in popularity, especially in California, is the option of using natural gas to power energy efficient vehicles such as Honda’s Civic GX. Natural gas fueling stations are more prevalent throughout California than in the rest of the United States, but many consumers look to yet more efficient and dependable ways of refueling their automobiles. An innovative company, FuelMaker, has filled this niche by developing a home appliance with the ability to refuel environmentally minded consumers’ vehicles in the comfort of their own garages. This product is Phill.
FuelMaker is not new to the manufacturing of vehicle refueling appliances as they have been designing and producing such innovations marketed mainly to natural gas powered private fleet vehicles since 1989. In 2002, FuelMaker debuted a prototype of their at-home unit at the World Natural Gas Vehicle Conference in Washington, D.C. “Phill” is the world’s first relatively low-cost, home-based fueling appliance that can be mounted inside or outside the consumer’s garage, allowing him or her to refuel their natural gas powered automobile overnight, extracting the fuel from the homeowner’s existing natural gas supply line. In an eight hour refueling cycle, most vehicles have a 100 mile radius of driving, and a full fueling cycle provides about 220 miles of driving. Phill is easy to use, with simply designed stop and start buttons, and even having the added safety feature of stopping automatically when the automobile’s tank is full. Southern California Honda dealers signed an agreement with FuelMaker in 2005 offering a free Phill with every purchase of a Honda Civic GX. The benefits of Phill and natural gas powered cars do not stop there. Many states and localities offer tax incentives for using these alternative vehicles, and some even allow single drivers to use the HOV lanes to commute because of their fuel efficiency. As innovations like the Phill gain in popularity, natural gas distribution companies such as Triple Diamond Energy Corp and others will rise to the occasion, providing sufficient fuel supplies to meet consumer demand.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
FuelMaker is not new to the manufacturing of vehicle refueling appliances as they have been designing and producing such innovations marketed mainly to natural gas powered private fleet vehicles since 1989. In 2002, FuelMaker debuted a prototype of their at-home unit at the World Natural Gas Vehicle Conference in Washington, D.C. “Phill” is the world’s first relatively low-cost, home-based fueling appliance that can be mounted inside or outside the consumer’s garage, allowing him or her to refuel their natural gas powered automobile overnight, extracting the fuel from the homeowner’s existing natural gas supply line. In an eight hour refueling cycle, most vehicles have a 100 mile radius of driving, and a full fueling cycle provides about 220 miles of driving. Phill is easy to use, with simply designed stop and start buttons, and even having the added safety feature of stopping automatically when the automobile’s tank is full. Southern California Honda dealers signed an agreement with FuelMaker in 2005 offering a free Phill with every purchase of a Honda Civic GX. The benefits of Phill and natural gas powered cars do not stop there. Many states and localities offer tax incentives for using these alternative vehicles, and some even allow single drivers to use the HOV lanes to commute because of their fuel efficiency. As innovations like the Phill gain in popularity, natural gas distribution companies such as Triple Diamond Energy Corp and others will rise to the occasion, providing sufficient fuel supplies to meet consumer demand.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
General Motors CNG & LPG Vehicles
American demand for CNG (compressed natural gas) or LPG (liquefied natural gas) powered vehicles may not be high currently, in part, because American car companies like Detroit’s General Motors are not actively promoting them to U.S. customers. However, overseas in European and Asian markets, General Motors has quite an interest and prolific production of alternatively fueled vehicles with production continuing through GM’s foreign subsidiary companies. Truthfully, the amount of CNG and LPG filling stations that exist within the fueling infrastructure of the United States would necessitate expansion. While there do exist nearly 1,100 CNG filling stations across the U.S., many are for private or commercial fleets, and a large amount of them are located within California’s borders, so a cross-country trek in a natural gas powered vehicle would currently be out of the question. In Europe, because of the smaller distances to travel, and the more readily available filling stations, natural gas powered automobiles are on the rise.
Most American consumers are not familiar with the popularity of natural gas powered vehicles in Europe and do not realize that the same products could be marketable in the United States as well, with the right promotional help from General Motors and other American motor companies. In addition to producing natural gas fuelled vehicles for European motorists, General Motors is currently working with natural gas distributors and providers to expand and enhance the compressed natural gas infrastructure in Europe. With General Motors help, Germany’s number of filling stations will rise to 1,000 this year, Austria and Switzerland are expanding their numbers, and France will have over 300 in the next few years. Western European totals are currently around 2,000 and growing. General Motors Korean subsidiary, GM Daewoo, has an increasing number of liquefied natural gas powered vehicles on the road, 117,270 vehicles since 2002, helping to improve the overly polluted air of South Asia. GM Thailand hasn’t missed a beat either, with their Optra model being the first and only compressed natural gas vehicle offering a three-year/100,000 kilometer full warranty. General Motors is stepping up efforts in the United States, if hesitantly, with an increased focus on the renewable fuel E85 ethanol, made up of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Ethanol can be produced locally and domestically from a large selection of different materials such as corn, grass, sugarcane, and agricultural waste.
As U.S. motor companies like General Motors increase their products’ relationships with natural gas, American companies such as Triple Diamond Energy Corp will undoubtedly be prepared to fill the new fuelling needs.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Most American consumers are not familiar with the popularity of natural gas powered vehicles in Europe and do not realize that the same products could be marketable in the United States as well, with the right promotional help from General Motors and other American motor companies. In addition to producing natural gas fuelled vehicles for European motorists, General Motors is currently working with natural gas distributors and providers to expand and enhance the compressed natural gas infrastructure in Europe. With General Motors help, Germany’s number of filling stations will rise to 1,000 this year, Austria and Switzerland are expanding their numbers, and France will have over 300 in the next few years. Western European totals are currently around 2,000 and growing. General Motors Korean subsidiary, GM Daewoo, has an increasing number of liquefied natural gas powered vehicles on the road, 117,270 vehicles since 2002, helping to improve the overly polluted air of South Asia. GM Thailand hasn’t missed a beat either, with their Optra model being the first and only compressed natural gas vehicle offering a three-year/100,000 kilometer full warranty. General Motors is stepping up efforts in the United States, if hesitantly, with an increased focus on the renewable fuel E85 ethanol, made up of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. Ethanol can be produced locally and domestically from a large selection of different materials such as corn, grass, sugarcane, and agricultural waste.
As U.S. motor companies like General Motors increase their products’ relationships with natural gas, American companies such as Triple Diamond Energy Corp will undoubtedly be prepared to fill the new fuelling needs.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Pipeline Piggies Squeal ‘Till It’s Clean
Everybody knows that oil is just so hard to clean out of everything, i.e. jeans, shirts, rags, garage floors. Even more difficult is the job of making sure petroleum pipelines insides are clean and free of debris so that oil can flow freely from retrieval point to distribution centers, but nonetheless, the job must be done. Because oil pipelines are out in the elements, whether underground or above ground, rust and other deposits can develop and congregate within the pipes, disrupting efficient flow, causing backups, or even worse, leaks and ruptures. The job of cleaning the inside of a 36-inch diameter pipe full of flowing crude is fit for no man nor woman; but perhaps beast? What better to get all dirty inside those pipes than a beast that loves sludge? Why send a human to do a job meant for a pig?
Of course this P.I.G. is no animal. Initially called “pigs” because of the squealing noises made as they forced their way through the tight pipeline enclosures, scouring and cleaning as they go, P.I.G. stands for “pipeline inspection gauges” which were predecessors to the thin robotic innovations that now carry the acronym. These pigs come in many shapes and sizes but are relatively slender robotic machines with little scrubbers along their lengths to manually (robotically) scrub the inside of long stretches of pipeline as their little motors and magnets push them along. Many of the newly designed, “smart” pigs include abilities to utilize new techniques such as magnetic flux leakage (MFL) and ultrasonic transduction (UT). Pigs with MFL capabilities use magnets to induce an intense magnetic fluctuation of the inside wall of the pipe, analyzing the data retrieved to calculate how much metal might be lost to age or corrosion, and sending that data to their masters above the surface. Pigs with UT technology project sound waves throughout the pipe, comparing the speed of the waves with the proper speed the waves should produce within an unobstructed, free-flowing pipe. These pigs can take as many as 625 readings per second, providing confident readings, assuring pipeline management of corrosion and debris free transport.
A fascinating fact about the use of this technology is that it can be performed at any time, with no disruption of service or crude flow. The pigs are merely powered up, inserted at a junction or valve, and then creep merrily along, completing their task while consumers continue to enjoy the fuels they have come to expect. Oil and natural gas outfitters such as Triple Diamond Energy Corp and others rely on new technology like the pigs to ensure proper flow of fuels, allowing for safe transport of oil and natural gas to homes and businesses within their territories.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Of course this P.I.G. is no animal. Initially called “pigs” because of the squealing noises made as they forced their way through the tight pipeline enclosures, scouring and cleaning as they go, P.I.G. stands for “pipeline inspection gauges” which were predecessors to the thin robotic innovations that now carry the acronym. These pigs come in many shapes and sizes but are relatively slender robotic machines with little scrubbers along their lengths to manually (robotically) scrub the inside of long stretches of pipeline as their little motors and magnets push them along. Many of the newly designed, “smart” pigs include abilities to utilize new techniques such as magnetic flux leakage (MFL) and ultrasonic transduction (UT). Pigs with MFL capabilities use magnets to induce an intense magnetic fluctuation of the inside wall of the pipe, analyzing the data retrieved to calculate how much metal might be lost to age or corrosion, and sending that data to their masters above the surface. Pigs with UT technology project sound waves throughout the pipe, comparing the speed of the waves with the proper speed the waves should produce within an unobstructed, free-flowing pipe. These pigs can take as many as 625 readings per second, providing confident readings, assuring pipeline management of corrosion and debris free transport.
A fascinating fact about the use of this technology is that it can be performed at any time, with no disruption of service or crude flow. The pigs are merely powered up, inserted at a junction or valve, and then creep merrily along, completing their task while consumers continue to enjoy the fuels they have come to expect. Oil and natural gas outfitters such as Triple Diamond Energy Corp and others rely on new technology like the pigs to ensure proper flow of fuels, allowing for safe transport of oil and natural gas to homes and businesses within their territories.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
A New Artery: The Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline Project
As more and more people migrate to enjoy the amiable lifestyles and temperate climate of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, the demand for fuel to be used for heating homes and preparing meals continues to grow. Most all of the Pacific Northwest’s natural gas needs are pumped southward from the large commercial field in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. However, the outstretching fingers of this lifeline from the north is in dire need of expansion in order to provide the fuel that is sorely needed in more rural parts of the growing states in this region. The Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline purports to fill this need and help keep up with growing natural gas fuel demands.
Two large American gas outfitters are proposing to join together in order to construct a large tributary of pipe to extend outward from the existing Pacific Northwest Pipeline at different junctions throughout the great state of Oregon. Seven local distributors of natural gas fuel in the regions most affected have stated a need of and agreed to purchase an amount of 1.49 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily. Since the need obviously exists, the parties involved in construction are currently filing the necessary paperwork in order for construction to commence. This involves the hiring of experts who will research, compile data, and issue a third party statement assessing the environmental impact of the proposed construction. This statement will be made available for public observation and comments from citizens and lawmakers alike. It is then that the benefits of the pipeline will be weighed against any estimation of environmental effects. The proposed length of the 36-inch diameter pipeline is 230 miles. A new liquefied natural gas import terminal will need be constructed in Jordan Cove, Oregon, as well. This project, along with the pipeline construction will provide nearly 3,000 jobs in the affected regions at project’s peak. This will result in large amounts of monies invested in the local areas, resulting in economic growth and prosperity. 120 permanent jobs will be created relating to management and maintenance operations as well. Perhaps the most attractive of all is the hefty $14 million in annual county property taxes that will continually be “piped” into the regions once the pipeline is complete.
The pipeline should become operational in early 2011 provided all goes well. The Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline will surely be an important addition and invaluable in its ability to better serve the growing natural gas customer base of the Pacific Northwest, northern California, and northern Nevada.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Two large American gas outfitters are proposing to join together in order to construct a large tributary of pipe to extend outward from the existing Pacific Northwest Pipeline at different junctions throughout the great state of Oregon. Seven local distributors of natural gas fuel in the regions most affected have stated a need of and agreed to purchase an amount of 1.49 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily. Since the need obviously exists, the parties involved in construction are currently filing the necessary paperwork in order for construction to commence. This involves the hiring of experts who will research, compile data, and issue a third party statement assessing the environmental impact of the proposed construction. This statement will be made available for public observation and comments from citizens and lawmakers alike. It is then that the benefits of the pipeline will be weighed against any estimation of environmental effects. The proposed length of the 36-inch diameter pipeline is 230 miles. A new liquefied natural gas import terminal will need be constructed in Jordan Cove, Oregon, as well. This project, along with the pipeline construction will provide nearly 3,000 jobs in the affected regions at project’s peak. This will result in large amounts of monies invested in the local areas, resulting in economic growth and prosperity. 120 permanent jobs will be created relating to management and maintenance operations as well. Perhaps the most attractive of all is the hefty $14 million in annual county property taxes that will continually be “piped” into the regions once the pipeline is complete.
The pipeline should become operational in early 2011 provided all goes well. The Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline will surely be an important addition and invaluable in its ability to better serve the growing natural gas customer base of the Pacific Northwest, northern California, and northern Nevada.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Russian-Bulgarian Natural Gas Agreement
The leaders of Russia and Bulgaria finalized a deal this week allowing the proposed construction of a natural gas pipeline running through Bulgaria to begin. Talks had seen moments of duress with Russia’s opposition to sharing stakes in the pipeline with Bulgaria, insisting on holding onto an extra one percent share, giving Russia 51 percent holdings in the pipeline. Russia is so interested in the Bulgarian deal because it hopes to continue its stranglehold on the European natural gas market. The proposed pipeline would delve deeper into Europe than ever before, extending Russian company, Gazprom’s reach and ability to entice more and more European countries to rely on Russia to supply their natural gas needs.
The proposed pipeline will be 550 miles in length and run under the Black Sea from Russia to Bulgaria, where it would inevitably branch off in order to serve a much larger customer base. The United States and the European Union are very much disgruntled by these latest developments because of their impending deal to also run a pipeline through Bulgaria in efforts to counteract the growing monopoly the Russian gas company is creating in Europe. President Putin made it clear that Russian efforts have been motivated by the growing demand for natural gas and claims it is as a result of increased efforts by European nations who are “pleading” for the natural gas network Russia is proposing. Russia’s South Stream pipeline proposal has been jockeying for Bulgaria’s approval while plying its services against a similar deal, known as Nabucco, proposed to Bulgaria by the European Union and the United States. The proposed European Union-U.S. collaboration would deliver Caspian, and potentially Central Asian, gas westward through Bulgaria. Spokespeople for the South Stream pipeline project have levied their proposal against the European Union’s, intimating that the Nabucco proposal is vague at best, and that the South Stream pipeline is closer to reality and would be most advantageous to Bulgaria.
Bulgaria has pitted these two proposals against each other, having much to gain whichever project is victorious. Russia agreed to share ownership and profits (50%-50%) with Bulgaria earlier this week to help seal their agreement, allowing pipeline construction to move from the talking phase to an impending groundbreaking. Experts estimate that European natural gas demand could support the construction of both pipelines. Pipeline technology innovations pioneered and developed by ingenious engineers at American gas outfitters like Triple Diamond Energy Corp and others will definitely come in useful in the successful transportation of fuel throughout Europe.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
The proposed pipeline will be 550 miles in length and run under the Black Sea from Russia to Bulgaria, where it would inevitably branch off in order to serve a much larger customer base. The United States and the European Union are very much disgruntled by these latest developments because of their impending deal to also run a pipeline through Bulgaria in efforts to counteract the growing monopoly the Russian gas company is creating in Europe. President Putin made it clear that Russian efforts have been motivated by the growing demand for natural gas and claims it is as a result of increased efforts by European nations who are “pleading” for the natural gas network Russia is proposing. Russia’s South Stream pipeline proposal has been jockeying for Bulgaria’s approval while plying its services against a similar deal, known as Nabucco, proposed to Bulgaria by the European Union and the United States. The proposed European Union-U.S. collaboration would deliver Caspian, and potentially Central Asian, gas westward through Bulgaria. Spokespeople for the South Stream pipeline project have levied their proposal against the European Union’s, intimating that the Nabucco proposal is vague at best, and that the South Stream pipeline is closer to reality and would be most advantageous to Bulgaria.
Bulgaria has pitted these two proposals against each other, having much to gain whichever project is victorious. Russia agreed to share ownership and profits (50%-50%) with Bulgaria earlier this week to help seal their agreement, allowing pipeline construction to move from the talking phase to an impending groundbreaking. Experts estimate that European natural gas demand could support the construction of both pipelines. Pipeline technology innovations pioneered and developed by ingenious engineers at American gas outfitters like Triple Diamond Energy Corp and others will definitely come in useful in the successful transportation of fuel throughout Europe.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Price of Oil Rising Makes Gas Pump Wars Inevitable
In the 1980’s and 1990’s, gasoline prices in the United States were at all-time lows because of new discoveries of large oil supplies in the Middle East and other regions and because of a relatively small demand for those large excess supplies of oil. In the last decade, however, the sharp rise in demand for petroleum products, especially in China, has created a dire situation where demand has put a strain on existing supplies, forcing oil companies to inflate the price of oil per barrel, reaching all-time highs.
Because the world’s crude oil supplies serve as the raw material from which the gasoline that fuels the population’s millions of vehicles is made, the higher prices at the gas pump reflect the rising price of the crude. The high expense of crude is passed all throughout the different stages of production along its way to the filling station. Crude oil must be refined into the gasoline motor vehicles require. Refineries are feeling the crunch high crude prices have created and refining costs have risen similarly as efforts to create balance and keep profit margins advantageous for refining operations continue, while attempting to keep up with rising demand. Refining capacity is inadequate to keep up with surging demands. If refining capacity were higher across the board, perhaps gasoline prices would not tend to be so influenced by the rising rice of crude oil. Distribution costs have risen as well. Distributors, motivated by demand are doing their best to keep up with high transportation costs dictated by the high price of fuel. A cyclic situation exits where distributors are paying high costs using fuel-powered tankers and eighteen-wheelers to transport fuel to the clamoring consumer base at home and abroad.
Foresight would have helped the oil industry maintain its edge and efficiency. When supplies were at record amounts, larger portions of the profits should have been reinvested into new technologies and capacity research. This reinvestment would have helped in all areas of fuel production, from the well, to the gas pump, to the tank; making operations much more efficient and less affected by dwindling supplies. It is hard for motorists to be sympathetic to the oil industries “plight” with large outfits like Exxon Mobil achieving its highest profit in history in 2007, reaching $39.5 billion. Smaller, private companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corp, of Texas, are developing new technologies to help fill the gaps, providing consumers fair prices of refined fuel to help boost the economy of the United States.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Because the world’s crude oil supplies serve as the raw material from which the gasoline that fuels the population’s millions of vehicles is made, the higher prices at the gas pump reflect the rising price of the crude. The high expense of crude is passed all throughout the different stages of production along its way to the filling station. Crude oil must be refined into the gasoline motor vehicles require. Refineries are feeling the crunch high crude prices have created and refining costs have risen similarly as efforts to create balance and keep profit margins advantageous for refining operations continue, while attempting to keep up with rising demand. Refining capacity is inadequate to keep up with surging demands. If refining capacity were higher across the board, perhaps gasoline prices would not tend to be so influenced by the rising rice of crude oil. Distribution costs have risen as well. Distributors, motivated by demand are doing their best to keep up with high transportation costs dictated by the high price of fuel. A cyclic situation exits where distributors are paying high costs using fuel-powered tankers and eighteen-wheelers to transport fuel to the clamoring consumer base at home and abroad.
Foresight would have helped the oil industry maintain its edge and efficiency. When supplies were at record amounts, larger portions of the profits should have been reinvested into new technologies and capacity research. This reinvestment would have helped in all areas of fuel production, from the well, to the gas pump, to the tank; making operations much more efficient and less affected by dwindling supplies. It is hard for motorists to be sympathetic to the oil industries “plight” with large outfits like Exxon Mobil achieving its highest profit in history in 2007, reaching $39.5 billion. Smaller, private companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corp, of Texas, are developing new technologies to help fill the gaps, providing consumers fair prices of refined fuel to help boost the economy of the United States.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Oil Prices Rise as Temperature Plummets
In the frigid Northeastern United States, homeowners prepare to tighten their belts as forecasters have predicted much lower temperatures in the region in the recent future. As the consumer of 80% of the world’s heating oil, the Northeastern United States often serves as a barometer for the raising and lowering of the price of oil across the world. The Midwestern states are dreading an approaching cold front as well, and as a large user of natural gas, are expecting to see those prices jump in reaction to forecasts as well.
Large demand dictates price fluctuations as often as small supplies do. When more users are clamoring for a particular product, whether it be heating oil or the newest “Tickle Me Elmo”, prices are sure to rise. This unfortunate reality comes much to the chagrin of the population of the Northeastern United States, because they are all too familiar with its adverse effects upon their winter budgets. Hitting them where it really hurts, oil supplying distributors know they have homeowners over a barrel, so to speak, with no other choice but to foot the bill in order to ensure the comfort and safety of their loved family members during the long, cold winter months. The United States Weather Service forecasts far-below normal temperatures in the next two weeks of 2008, and consumers are at the mercy of fluctuating prices.
Presidents of the United States have time and again submitted themselves before the oil producers of the Middle East in hopes of lightening the burdens levied upon the citizens of the United States in difficult times. With a recession threatening, President Bush, currently on a visit to Saudi Arabia, begged oil barons to consider the effects the high prices are having on their consumer base. President Bush argued that the effects of the high price of oil will be widespread, affecting consumers’ ability to purchases in the future if the economy suffers as it has been. Bush asked that OPEC members consider the undue burdens rendered upon their largest consumers, the American populace, when setting new production levels in the coming weeks.
Only time will tell if the supplication of the United States’ Chief Executive Officer will help lighten the load of Americans in the winter months to come. Domestic suppliers of natural gas and oil like Triple Diamond Energy Corp of Texas are doing what they can to provide Americans with fair prices and adequate amounts to keep them warm and satisfied in all seasons.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Large demand dictates price fluctuations as often as small supplies do. When more users are clamoring for a particular product, whether it be heating oil or the newest “Tickle Me Elmo”, prices are sure to rise. This unfortunate reality comes much to the chagrin of the population of the Northeastern United States, because they are all too familiar with its adverse effects upon their winter budgets. Hitting them where it really hurts, oil supplying distributors know they have homeowners over a barrel, so to speak, with no other choice but to foot the bill in order to ensure the comfort and safety of their loved family members during the long, cold winter months. The United States Weather Service forecasts far-below normal temperatures in the next two weeks of 2008, and consumers are at the mercy of fluctuating prices.
Presidents of the United States have time and again submitted themselves before the oil producers of the Middle East in hopes of lightening the burdens levied upon the citizens of the United States in difficult times. With a recession threatening, President Bush, currently on a visit to Saudi Arabia, begged oil barons to consider the effects the high prices are having on their consumer base. President Bush argued that the effects of the high price of oil will be widespread, affecting consumers’ ability to purchases in the future if the economy suffers as it has been. Bush asked that OPEC members consider the undue burdens rendered upon their largest consumers, the American populace, when setting new production levels in the coming weeks.
Only time will tell if the supplication of the United States’ Chief Executive Officer will help lighten the load of Americans in the winter months to come. Domestic suppliers of natural gas and oil like Triple Diamond Energy Corp of Texas are doing what they can to provide Americans with fair prices and adequate amounts to keep them warm and satisfied in all seasons.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Kentucky Oil and Natural Gas
Many farmers in Kentucky are trading in their tractors and overalls for oil derricks and wildcatting gear. With the price of oil reaching an all time high and the family farm becoming more and more obsolete, the attraction of getting rich by striking oil on the family’s back forty is becoming harder and harder to resist. And not without promise, with current geological readings estimating that nearly five billion barrels of oil reserves could be tucked away near Kentucky’s famed coal mines of old.
The Appalachian Range possesses at its core rocks that formed nearly a billion years ago. The Appalachians have always been harvested for their minerals with existing abundances of iron ore, granite, and coal. The oil and natural gas deposits of this ancient range remain largely untapped however. Because of the age of the rock formations and the varied terrain, most deposits lie in small fields that are relatively close to the surface. The reason large oil outfits such as Triple Diamond Energy Corp or British Petroleum have not exploited these resources is because of the smallness of the strikes. However, the depth of the deposits has made drilling and installation of derricks affordable for a number of smaller oil companies in the southern states. Kentucky’s oil ventures has been lapsed and depressed for so long that there exists no skilled laborers who know how to run a rig, or even rigs to be run, for that matter. The new smaller companies have brought workers with them with the hopes of exploiting the land to its fullest, paying top dollar to cooperative farmers that allow wells to be dug on their land in exchange for hefty profit shares.
As the price of oil continues to rise, the nearly 350,000 dollars cost per well becomes a nominal fee that is often repaid within the year if a healthy strike is made. Entrepreneurial spirit is running high in the old mountains of Kentucky with rugged peoples, young and old trying their hand at striking it rich at the bottom of a dark hole. The new teams have brought with them a resurgence of local businesses due to more money being invested in mostly rural, farming burgs. A new rush has hit the hills of Kentucky, quite similar to the Gold Rushes North America experienced in its western states in the late 1800s. With energy needs and energy prices both at all time highs, who can blame these pursuers of the “American Dream”?
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
The Appalachian Range possesses at its core rocks that formed nearly a billion years ago. The Appalachians have always been harvested for their minerals with existing abundances of iron ore, granite, and coal. The oil and natural gas deposits of this ancient range remain largely untapped however. Because of the age of the rock formations and the varied terrain, most deposits lie in small fields that are relatively close to the surface. The reason large oil outfits such as Triple Diamond Energy Corp or British Petroleum have not exploited these resources is because of the smallness of the strikes. However, the depth of the deposits has made drilling and installation of derricks affordable for a number of smaller oil companies in the southern states. Kentucky’s oil ventures has been lapsed and depressed for so long that there exists no skilled laborers who know how to run a rig, or even rigs to be run, for that matter. The new smaller companies have brought workers with them with the hopes of exploiting the land to its fullest, paying top dollar to cooperative farmers that allow wells to be dug on their land in exchange for hefty profit shares.
As the price of oil continues to rise, the nearly 350,000 dollars cost per well becomes a nominal fee that is often repaid within the year if a healthy strike is made. Entrepreneurial spirit is running high in the old mountains of Kentucky with rugged peoples, young and old trying their hand at striking it rich at the bottom of a dark hole. The new teams have brought with them a resurgence of local businesses due to more money being invested in mostly rural, farming burgs. A new rush has hit the hills of Kentucky, quite similar to the Gold Rushes North America experienced in its western states in the late 1800s. With energy needs and energy prices both at all time highs, who can blame these pursuers of the “American Dream”?
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Pemex: Mexico’s Antiquated Oil Monopoly
Mexico holds the fifth largest oil reserves on the planet, but lately has seen slippage in oil production. That is not good news for the United States, Mexico’s closest neighbor, and also the largest importer of their oil surplus. Mexico is the second largest supplier of oil to the U.S. after Canada, and while the United States’ oil needs continue to rise, Pemex, Mexico’s state owned oil monopoly continues to falter in its management of oil supplies; they are even having trouble keeping up with rising oil demands within their own borders as well.
Pemex, Petroleos Mexicanos, was set up in 1938 to help regulate and control Mexico’s burgeoning oil exploration and export industry. In the many years since its inception, Pemex has risen to its place as the fifth largest oil company in the word, with yearly revenues topping $50 billion. In fact, sales as recently as 2006 reached as high as $97 billion. Instead of using much of these profits to reinvest in the company, its technologies and research, over half of that $97 billion, $79 billion to be exact, went straight to the national government of Mexico. It is no wonder Pemex is having trouble keeping up in the oil industry; it is nearly 40 percent responsible for the federal budget of its nation. Similarly to Gazprom, Russia’s state owned natural gas monopoly, Pemex is not allowed to accept any sort of foreign input financially or otherwise. Because there is no need to improve in order to keep up with oil competitors within Mexico (there are none), Pemex has not reinvested in developing technologies and has fallen behind as new technological developments have been introduced in oil exploration around the world. The United States has offered its help time and again, with much needed private capital and oil exploration expertise from American companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corp. President Bush urged in early 2007 that President Felipe Calderon should consider accepting help from outside entities. This suggestion was summarily dismissed and egos were bruised as Mr. Bush’s effort was considered an affront to Mexican independence and ingenuity.
Mexican government officials have repeatedly said “No, thank you” to all outside intervention while some of the world’s largest oil supplies continue to be squandered due to inefficient management. The nationalist attitudes of the Mexican government as it pertains to their oil reserves has and will continue to be a hindrance for efforts to reach their oil industry’s fullest potential.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Pemex, Petroleos Mexicanos, was set up in 1938 to help regulate and control Mexico’s burgeoning oil exploration and export industry. In the many years since its inception, Pemex has risen to its place as the fifth largest oil company in the word, with yearly revenues topping $50 billion. In fact, sales as recently as 2006 reached as high as $97 billion. Instead of using much of these profits to reinvest in the company, its technologies and research, over half of that $97 billion, $79 billion to be exact, went straight to the national government of Mexico. It is no wonder Pemex is having trouble keeping up in the oil industry; it is nearly 40 percent responsible for the federal budget of its nation. Similarly to Gazprom, Russia’s state owned natural gas monopoly, Pemex is not allowed to accept any sort of foreign input financially or otherwise. Because there is no need to improve in order to keep up with oil competitors within Mexico (there are none), Pemex has not reinvested in developing technologies and has fallen behind as new technological developments have been introduced in oil exploration around the world. The United States has offered its help time and again, with much needed private capital and oil exploration expertise from American companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corp. President Bush urged in early 2007 that President Felipe Calderon should consider accepting help from outside entities. This suggestion was summarily dismissed and egos were bruised as Mr. Bush’s effort was considered an affront to Mexican independence and ingenuity.
Mexican government officials have repeatedly said “No, thank you” to all outside intervention while some of the world’s largest oil supplies continue to be squandered due to inefficient management. The nationalist attitudes of the Mexican government as it pertains to their oil reserves has and will continue to be a hindrance for efforts to reach their oil industry’s fullest potential.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Peace Pipeline: Iran to India Natural Gas
India has experienced enormous growth in population at an average of 7% a year in the last decade. With this growth, India’s need for energy has increased exponentially. In a move that threatened to strain United States – India relations, India signed a $40 billion contract with Iran, promising to import more than 1.2 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas each year from the natural gas giant.
Iran possesses the second largest proven natural gas reserves (only Russian reserves are larger) estimated at 812 trillion cubic feet of the resource. With an economy that is often in disarray, Iran has pumped up its efforts to increase its gas exports dating back to the large discoveries of their South Pars natural gas fields in 1988. This discovery made Iran the sole possessor of 9% of the planet’s natural gas reserves. Iran envisioned the promise of large profits if export deals could made with the ever increasing populations and energy needs of South Asian countries like Pakistan and India. In 1995, Pakistan signed an initial agreement with Iran allowing a pipeline to be constructed from the South Pars fields to Pakistan’s industrial port, Karachi. This agreement resulted in a feeling of confidence within Iran’s natural gas industry, and motivated Iran to take that agreement one step further. Iran proposed that Pakistan could not serve as a final destination of the new pipeline, but rather as a stopping off point, with the pipeline continuing on into India. This would not be an enormous undertaking of engineering, but of political compromise, with India and Pakistan having had strained relations since the mid 1940s over there disputed mutual borders. Perhaps India and Pakistan could put aside their political and social disagreements in order to achieve the economic growth the import of natural gas fuel could create for both countries. The proposed pipeline has been nicknamed the “Peace Pipeline” because of the promise of political compromise and mutual agreement between the two nations of India and Pakistan.
Perhaps an even larger hurdle for the pipeline exists half a world away in a totally different hemisphere. The United States has expressed its concern and objection to any agreements, economic or otherwise, made between any of its allies and Iran. Iran has expressed disdain for the large presence of US military troops in the Indian Ocean. An agreement between the three countries is still in the works, but the construction has not yet begun. Iranian natural gas companies similar to Triple Diamond Energy Corp, British Petroleum, and others, will be ready to assist with construction efforts when the time arrives.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Iran possesses the second largest proven natural gas reserves (only Russian reserves are larger) estimated at 812 trillion cubic feet of the resource. With an economy that is often in disarray, Iran has pumped up its efforts to increase its gas exports dating back to the large discoveries of their South Pars natural gas fields in 1988. This discovery made Iran the sole possessor of 9% of the planet’s natural gas reserves. Iran envisioned the promise of large profits if export deals could made with the ever increasing populations and energy needs of South Asian countries like Pakistan and India. In 1995, Pakistan signed an initial agreement with Iran allowing a pipeline to be constructed from the South Pars fields to Pakistan’s industrial port, Karachi. This agreement resulted in a feeling of confidence within Iran’s natural gas industry, and motivated Iran to take that agreement one step further. Iran proposed that Pakistan could not serve as a final destination of the new pipeline, but rather as a stopping off point, with the pipeline continuing on into India. This would not be an enormous undertaking of engineering, but of political compromise, with India and Pakistan having had strained relations since the mid 1940s over there disputed mutual borders. Perhaps India and Pakistan could put aside their political and social disagreements in order to achieve the economic growth the import of natural gas fuel could create for both countries. The proposed pipeline has been nicknamed the “Peace Pipeline” because of the promise of political compromise and mutual agreement between the two nations of India and Pakistan.
Perhaps an even larger hurdle for the pipeline exists half a world away in a totally different hemisphere. The United States has expressed its concern and objection to any agreements, economic or otherwise, made between any of its allies and Iran. Iran has expressed disdain for the large presence of US military troops in the Indian Ocean. An agreement between the three countries is still in the works, but the construction has not yet begun. Iranian natural gas companies similar to Triple Diamond Energy Corp, British Petroleum, and others, will be ready to assist with construction efforts when the time arrives.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Palestine’s Natural Gas Confusion
Palestinian officials secured a deal with British Gas in the late 1990s allowing the exploration and drilling for natural gas and oil reserves in the Mediterranean Sea. In September of 2000, President Yasser Arafat himself watched anxiously as their hopes were rewarded with a huge flame shooting into the sky from a British Gas well 22 miles off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Arafat called the impressive showing of anticipated wealth a “gift to God to us, to our people, to our children,” stating further that the reserves would “provide a solid foundation for our economy, for establishing an independent state with holy Jerusalem as its capital.” In the eight years since this discovery, political jockeying and grappling has much stymied the exportation efforts of Palestine, hindering their ability to truly maximize their reserves and boost economic growth.
In July 2005, Palestinian’s chief export hope, Israel, signed a deal to import natural gas not from its gas-rich neighbor, Palestine, but instead circumventing them to import their natural gas fuel needs from Egypt. Purely a move motivated by politics, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opposed any financial agreement made with the Palestinian Authority fearing that any monies exchanged would be used to support terrorist operations against Israel. This Israeli deal squashed initial Palestinian hopes that the gas trade would motivate the formation of new jobs in Gaza and earn $40 million to $45 million in taxes annually to help assist in bolstering their government towards eventual statehood.
The Gaza Marine field promises a yield of approximately 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in its ample reserve. This large reserve of gas has the ability to provide much more than Palestine’s energy needs, which are minimal. British Gas entered into the last stages of talks, nearly reaching an agreement with Egypt as recently as 2006 to export a minimum of 1.5 billion cubic yards of natural gas annually for 50 years through a proposed Gaza-E Arish pipeline. This proposed deal was thrown a major road block by then British Prime Minister Tony Blair who decided that British Gas should give Israel one more chance at making the gas deal with Palestine, insisting that the gas could provide a large part of the energy needs of Israel’s rapidly growing economy. Though Israeli leaders recognized this growing need for gas, their opposition to trade with Palestine once again hobbled the hopeful bridging of gaps between the two. This has resulted in British Gas and Palestine resuming talks with Egypt, hoping to finalize a deal in early 2008, putting an end to the confusion which began with hope and anticipation of wealth nearly a decade earlier.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
In July 2005, Palestinian’s chief export hope, Israel, signed a deal to import natural gas not from its gas-rich neighbor, Palestine, but instead circumventing them to import their natural gas fuel needs from Egypt. Purely a move motivated by politics, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon opposed any financial agreement made with the Palestinian Authority fearing that any monies exchanged would be used to support terrorist operations against Israel. This Israeli deal squashed initial Palestinian hopes that the gas trade would motivate the formation of new jobs in Gaza and earn $40 million to $45 million in taxes annually to help assist in bolstering their government towards eventual statehood.
The Gaza Marine field promises a yield of approximately 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in its ample reserve. This large reserve of gas has the ability to provide much more than Palestine’s energy needs, which are minimal. British Gas entered into the last stages of talks, nearly reaching an agreement with Egypt as recently as 2006 to export a minimum of 1.5 billion cubic yards of natural gas annually for 50 years through a proposed Gaza-E Arish pipeline. This proposed deal was thrown a major road block by then British Prime Minister Tony Blair who decided that British Gas should give Israel one more chance at making the gas deal with Palestine, insisting that the gas could provide a large part of the energy needs of Israel’s rapidly growing economy. Though Israeli leaders recognized this growing need for gas, their opposition to trade with Palestine once again hobbled the hopeful bridging of gaps between the two. This has resulted in British Gas and Palestine resuming talks with Egypt, hoping to finalize a deal in early 2008, putting an end to the confusion which began with hope and anticipation of wealth nearly a decade earlier.
About the Author: Robert Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)