Demand Grows for OSVs in the Offshore Floating Production and Storage Energy Sector
Over the last year we have seen an upswing in floating production and storage systems ordering after many years of low activity. According to our colleagues at World Energy Reports, “The global oil and natural gas markets are contending with rebounding energy demand on top of supply disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a result, activity and business sentiment in the floating production sector has seldom been stronger.” This increased activity in the floating production and storage…
How to Determine Which Countries Have the Best Energy Policies
Which countries have the best energy policies? This is an interesting, and rather obvious, question, considering that every country’s energy practices impact the world in one way or another. But it’s one you don’t often hear asked.That is probably because it’s hard to compare countries in any sensible and fair way, given the differences in population, size, economy and resources.Still, the world needs to know who does it best. The challenge is to measure performance against a set of agreed indicators…
HazSub Spill Response Plans
On August 18, 1990, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) was enacted into law. Section 4202 of that Act amended the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA or Clean Water Act) to require tank vessels and marine transportation-related facilities to prepare and submit to the US Coast Guard plans for responding, to the maximum extent practicable, to a worse case discharge, and to a substantial threat of such a discharge, of oil or a hazardous substance carried in bulk as cargo. The only real…
India to Build 50 MW LNG Power Project in Andaman
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the 50 Mega Watt liquefied natural gas (LNG) based power project in south Andaman. The will take around 18 months to be operational.NTPC Limited’s wholly-owned subsidiary NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) will build the plant which is expected to improve the quality of life of the residents of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and boost the economic development.The plant shall be operational through Dual Fuel — LNG or HSD to be sourced…
Eco-friendly Power for Container Ships in Hamburg Port
Port of Hamburg is taking a further step toward improving air quality at its port. Innovative technology developed right here in the city is set to enable large and very large container ships to switch off their auxiliary diesel supplies during lay time and instead draw the power they need for on-board operations from a new kind of mobile generator.Becker Marine Systems, Hapag-Lloyd AG and Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) have been testing the new technology as part of a joint pilot project since the start of the year.
Settlement Reached in Petrobras' Texas Refinery Emissions Case
A U.S. unit of Brazilian state-run company Petrobras agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit over alleged toxic emissions from its Pasadena, Texas, oil refinery, two environmental groups said.The settlement comes in the midst of the company's efforts to sell the refinery. The deal is subject to approval by a federal judge.Petrobras did not respond to a request for comment.Under the terms of the agreement, Petrobras subsidiary Pasadena Refining System Inc (PRSI) will pay $3.175 million…
Trump Signs Order Sweeping away Obama-era Climate Policies
U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to undo a slew of Obama-era climate change regulations that his administration says is hobbling oil drillers and coal miners, a move environmental groups have vowed to take to court. The decree's main target is former President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan that required states to slash carbon emissions from power plants - a critical element in helping the United States meet its commitments to a global climate change accord reached by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015.
Halliburton to Cut Pollution near Schools
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement valued at more than $400,000 with Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. for a fleet of diesel trucks that violated California’s Truck and Bus Regulation. The company will spend $180,600 on environmental projects to reduce air pollution at schools in the Los Angeles area, and $75,000 on air quality improvements in the San Joaquin Valley. It will also pay a $154,400 civil penalty and has taken measures to comply with the law. EPA made the announcement at Van Deene Avenue Elementary School near Torrance…
South Africa's fuel fund Heads Resign After Chevron bid
The heads of South Africa's state-owned Strategic Fuel Fund resigned on Friday, a day after the Department of Energy said it would investigate the fund's unauthorised bid to buy Chevron's assets in the country. The fund, which reports to the energy department, said on Wednesday it had applied to buy a 75 percent stake in Chevron's refinery and such downstream assets as retail service stations. But such a bid needed the energy minister's consent, which the fund had neither sought nor obtained, the energy department said.
ClearSign Inks Tesoro Emissions System Deal
ClearSign Combustion Corp, a small company whose technology helps refiners cut nitrogen oxide emissions, has signed a deal with Tesoro Corp to retrofit a Los Angeles refinery heater with a combustion control system. The refinery, which supplies 50 percent of the jet fuel used by Los Angeles International Airport, is aiming to halve nitrogen oxide emissions by 2020, a goal set by the local air pollution control agency. U.S. companies are spending more to reduce emissions as the Obama administration steps up efforts to curb pollution.
BSEE Tests GoM Response Equipment
The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) informs it has recently tested and verified the sound working condition of various response equipment used in the Gulf of Mexico region. Analysts with BSEE’s Oil Spill Preparedness Division boarded the pollution control vessel Louisiana Responder at Fort Jackson, La. on July 14 to test the response readiness of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. While conducting an equipment verification, the team witnessed the testing of a skimmer and other associated equipment, stored in Buras, La., on the Mississippi River.
US Supreme Court Fires Warning Shot Across EPA's Bow
In a rare defeat for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered it on Monday to reconsider whether the EPA's regulations on mercury and other toxic emissions from power plants are appropriate and necessary. While the EPA considered the costs and benefits of various regulatory options later in the rule-writing process, the court faulted it for not considering compliance costs at the beginning to determine whether regulation was appropriate in the first place. The ruling is unusual because so far the federal courts…
California Fines 4 Shipping Firms
The California Air Resources Board has fined four shipping companies a combined $146,719 for failing to switch from dirty diesel “bunker” fuel to cleaner, low-sulfur marine distillate fuel upon entering Regulated California Waters – within 24 nautical miles of the California coast. “State anti-pollution laws require shippers to do their part to protect air quality,” said ARB Enforcement Chief Jim Ryden. “Shippers who comply are helping to protect the health of those who live, work, and go to schools near ports and shipping lanes.
China Coal Tariff Sends Message to Cut Supply
The Australian coal industry response to China's decision to impose tariffs on imports was rapid and predictable, and ultimately shows the sector is still suffering from reality denial. The decision by Beijing to levy a duty of 6 percent on thermal coal and 3 percent on coking coal imports from Oct. 15 certainly is yet another blow to Australia's already beleaguered coal miners. They will suffer disproportionately as the tariffs won't affect shipments from rival Indonesia, given it enjoys a free-trade agreement with China through being part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Foster Wheeler Closes Acquisition Of Siemens Environmental Systems And Services
Foster Wheeler AG (Nasdaq:FWLT) announced today that a subsidiary of its Global Power Group has finalized the acquisition of the Siemens Environmental Systems and Services business that supplies and services clean air technologies for use in power plants and industrial facilities. The transaction was closed April 30, 2014. The Siemens Environmental Systems and Services purchase includes assets of the former Wheelabrator Air Pollution Control Company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the Advanced Burner Technology Company located in Branchburg, New Jersey.
Siemens to Bring eHighway Demonstration to California
Contract signed with South Coast Air Quality Management District inCalifornia to install and demonstrate Siemens eHighway system near Portsof Los Angeles and Long Beach. Electrified catenary system offers economically attractive and environmentally friendly solution to transport goods on highly frequentedroutes near the two largest Ports in the U.S. Siemens has been selected by the South Coast Air Quality Management District(SCAQMD) to install an eHighway system in the proximity of the Ports of LosAngeles and Long Beach, the two largest ports in the U.S.
China's Pollution Control Yields Wrong Question on Coal
Just how serious is China about cutting or limiting coal consumption? That's something that global coal miners, traders and environmentalists would love to know, but the likelihood is that it is the wrong question. Hardly a week goes by without an announcement by one of the many central or regional authorities about plans to curb the burning of coal, the fuel that meets about two-thirds of China's electricity needs and powers the world's biggest steel industry. The latest was from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau…
China Walks Tightrope over Natural Gas Prices
China's natural gas dilemma was neatly illustrated by two recent announcements, the first a price increase and the second the closing of two gas-processing plants. The two developments show the tightrope Beijing is trying to walk by increasing natural gas prices to the level where increased exploration, production and imports are viable, but not so much so as to crimp demand. Natural gas prices for bulk buyers and non-residential users will be raised effective on Sept. 1 about 20 percent, or 0.4 yuan ($0.065) a cubic metre, to a national average of 2.35 yuan a cubic metre.
EPA Fines Shell for Clean Air Act Permit Violations during Offshore Oil Exploration in Alaska
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced settlements with Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. and Shell Offshore, Inc. for violations of their Clean Air Act permits for arctic oil and gas exploration drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, off the North Slope of Alaska. Based on EPA’s inspections and Shell’s excess emission reports, EPA documented numerous air permit violations for Shell’s Discoverer and Kulluk drill ship fleets, during the approximately two months the vessels operated during the 2012 drilling season.
Foster Wheeler For Air Quality Control System Upgrade In West Virginia
Foster Wheeler AG announced today that a subsidiary of its Global Power Group’s Environmental and Industrial division has been awarded a contract by Longview Power, LLC to rehabilitate and optimize the wet flue gas desulfurization system at their existing 700 MWe (net megawatt electric) Longview Power facility in Maidsville, West Virginia, USA. Foster Wheeler has received a full notice to proceed on this contract. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and the contract value will be included in the company’s third-quarter 2014 bookings.
