West Coast Shell Adds Hydrogen Refueling
Shell gas station in Los Angeles adds hydrogen services to energize fuel cell vehicles.
Shell Hydrogen LLC has opened a hydrogen refueling station on a conventional Shell gasoline forecourt in West Los Angeles, the company said.
Located on Santa Monica Boulevard and Federal Avenue near Interstate 405, the company said the station gives consumers a taste of the future, with refueling services for hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles becoming just as convenient as conventional gasoline motors.
In hydrogen vehicles, an electric motor powers the wheels, and a chemical reaction inside the fuel cell unit – usually between hydrogen and oxygen – creates electricity for the motor.The only tail pipe emission is water vapor, which produces zero-carbon emissions and has the potential to significantly reduce air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality and protect against climate change, the company said.
California has more fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) and hydrogen refueling stations than any other part of the world, and last year recorded 1.5 million zero-emission miles from hydrogen FCV trials. Twenty-five hydrogen stations currently operate in California, most in the San Francisco-Sacramento corridor and the Los Angeles and San Diego regions. Ten more stations are already in the planning stages.
Hydrogen produced at the Shell station will be done on-site by the electrolysis of water using ‘green electricity’ purchased from the Los Angeles City Department of Water & Power. It will then be compressed and stored to provide daily fueling.
The station will also support a U.S. Department of Energy hydrogen infrastructure program to supply hydrogen to future and existing General Motors FCVs in the LA metro area. GM plans to provide more than thirty Chevy Equinox Fuel Cell-Electric compact SUVs to private and commercial customers in Southern California as part of a three-year trial, called “Project Driveaway.”
Hydrogen can also be produced from a number of different feedstocks including oil, coal, and biomass. This allows different countries to manufacture hydrogen with their own domestic supplies, and at the same time reduce costs and increase security of supply.
“California is leading the way with clean fuels, as it moves one step closer to realizing its hydrogen program, FCVs powered by hydrogen will provide a sustainable transportation choice for the future, opening up new markets across the globe,” said Graeme Sweeney, executive vice president for Shell Future Fuels and CO2. “This requires the sustained effort of energy companies, auto manufacturers and federal and state governments working together.”
Mjunction scouting for key partnerships in coal mining
Mjunction services Ltd, a joint venture between Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), plans to enter into a strategic partnership with coal mining companies even as it looks to sell 19 million tonne of coal this year.
“We are looking to enter into a strategic partnership with coal mining companies. It can be in the form of a new company that we create or through our existing company,” Mjunction managing director Viresh Oberoi said. Read more
Exploring for Gold in Tanzania-New International Board Appointed
Lake Victoria Mining Company, Inc. (OTC BB:LVCA.OB – News) is recruiting a new team with international business, geology and finance experience. Joining the board of directors is Ahmed A. Magoma and Heidi Kalenuik who has also been appointed and accepted as Secretary and Treasurer, effective immediately.
Mr. Ahmed Magoma, (Tanzania) has a BSc in geology from the University of Dar es Salaam (1992) and 16 years experience in the mining industry wherein he has held progressively more responsible management and supervisory roles. He most recently joined Kilimanjaro Mining Company, Inc. (Feb-07, www.kilimanjarominingcompany.com) a private company involved in the acquisition and exploration of highly prospective resource properties in Tanzania, East Africa. Read more
RIL to choose between BP, Shell for deepwater exploration blocks
Reliance Industries (RIL) is on the verge of choosing between British Petroleum (BP) and Shell as its strategic partner for deepwater exploration blocks in the seventh round of bidding of oil and gas blocks under the new exploration licensing policy (NELP), reports Economic Times.
RIL is all set to implement a new strategy of tying up with the big oil barons for the seventh round of bidding under NELP and hopes to start pumping the first unit of gas from its blocks in the Krishna Godavari basin from September.
The government has reportedly offered 19 deepwater blocks in this round. However, there is a possibility that RIL (Q, N,C,F)* may choose to continue with its existing partners Niko or Hardy for the other blocks, including onland and shallow water.
Both BP and Shell are believed to be technologically competent for working in deepwater basins since both the companies can boast of an impressive track record comprising exploration projects and development projects, respectively.
New Iraq oil firm aims to triple production in Maysan
The Iraqi government said it is setting up a new oil company in the southeastern province of Maysan with the goal of more than tripling oil production in the region in the next five years.
The new Maysan Oil Company will be split from the Southern Oil Company and established as a separate state-run firm, a government statement, released late on Friday, said.
Together with the existing Northern Oil Company, Iraq will have three state-run oil firms.
Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said this week that each Iraqi province producing at least 100,000 bpd would get its own state-run oil company to focus on developing oilfields there.
The move is designed to expand oil activities in Maysan, a large, oil-rich but poor province bordering Iran, and to achieve the best use of the province’s oil fields, the statement said.
Total oil output from Maysan province is between 100,000 and 110,000 barrels per day (bpd), the statement said.
“One of the targets of this company is to increase oil production in this province in the coming five years to reach 360,000 bpd,” it said.
Maysan province, which has six producing oil fields and five not yet in production, had been “neglected and marginalised for decades”, the statement said.
The new company will have the authority to coordinate with international companies to develop the province’s oil fields with the aim of increasing their capacity
India’s ONGC discovers new Iranian oilfield-report
Iran has discovered an oilfield within its southwestern Farsi oil block, an oil official said on Saturday, without giving details of estimated reserves.
Iran, the world’s fourth-largest crude oil exporter, said in March it had finalised a financial proposal for developing the Farsi block with Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) (ONGC.BO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
“India’s ONGC has discovered a new oil field in the Farsi oil bloc of the Persian Gulf,” state broadcaster’s website IRIB quoted managing director of Iran’s state offshore oil company Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh as saying. Read more
