NYMEX crude steady below $127, after gasoline rally
U.S. crude oil futures steadied on Thursday after rallying more than $4 on Wednesday, when an unexpected drop in gasoline stocks, refinery problems, and geopolitical tensions from Iran and Nigeria pushed up prices.
* Front-month U.S. crude for September delivery CLc1 was down 7 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $126.70 a barrel on the Globex
electronic trading platform. On Wednesday, it jumped by $4.58, or 3.8 percent, to settle at $126.77.
* U.S. gasoline stocks fell by 3.5 million barrels last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration on
Wednesday, countering analyst calls for a 200,000-barrel build. [EIA/S]
The EIA report also showed U.S. crude oil stocks dropped by 100,000 barrels, lower than analysts forecasts, while
distillate stocks rose 2.4 million barrels, more than expected. Read more
Some Provinces Revisit Uranium Mining Ban
Thanks to revived interest in nuclear energy as an alternative energy source, the prices of uranium are booming, adding more value to Canada’s ever-thriving natural resources sector.
The rise in demand has prompted increased exploration activities in Canada and some provinces have been re-thinking the issue of uranium mining after many years.
Currently, Saskatchewan is the only province that has uranium mining, and as the word’s largest uranium production region it accounts for 30 per cent of the annual world production.
Earlier in July, New Brunswick imposed strict regulations on uranium exploration to protect watersheds and land owners. This came after an outcry about the possibility of uranium mining and private landowner’s concern over mineral rights claims to their land. Read more
Some Provinces Revisit Uranium Mining Ban
Thanks to revived interest in nuclear energy as an alternative energy source, the prices of uranium are booming, adding more value to Canada’s ever-thriving natural resources sector.
The rise in demand has prompted increased exploration activities in Canada and some provinces have been re-thinking the issue of uranium mining after many years.
Currently, Saskatchewan is the only province that has uranium mining, and as the word’s largest uranium production region it accounts for 30 per cent of the annual world production.
Earlier in July, New Brunswick imposed strict regulations on uranium exploration to protect watersheds and land owners. This came after an outcry about the possibility of uranium mining and private landowner’s concern over mineral rights claims to their land. Read more
Oregon Appeals Board Deals Major Blow to PG&E’s LNG Project
Opponents of PG&E’s Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline and the related Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility welcomed news that Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) rejected CoosCounty’s approval of the project yesterday.
Project opponents argued in an appeal to LUBA that the County’s approval in late 2007 violated Oregon’s land use laws. On Tuesday, LUBA agreed with some of the opponents “Assignments of Error” and remanded the matter to the County for further work.
“This LUBA decision is a big win for the people of CoosCounty and Oregon,” said Jody McCaffree, leader of Citizens Against LNG in CoosBay, who supported the appeal. “People came to the hearings and testified ten to one against this project The Coos County Commissioners should have listened to their constituents’ legitimate concerns. Instead, the Commissioners deferred to Jordan Cove Energy Partners on issue after issue. LUBA’s decision requires the County to reconsider some of its key decisions and to fully engage the public in doing so.”
David Lohman, a Medford attorney representing appellant Southern Oregon Pipeline Information Project, said LUBA’s decision was based on more than just narrow legal technicalities: “Correcting the problems with this permit – if Coos County decides to try to do so – will require a lot of new work by Jordan Cove and the County, including public involvement processes that were skipped over before. And we now know of additional problems to bring to LUBA’s attention the next time around.”
James Nicita, the Oregon City-based attorney who successfully argued the case against the environmentally damaging project, looked ahead to the State’s role in the project. “This is the first major permit that Jordan Cove has sought from state or local agencies, and LUBA’s decision is a huge signal to them that their project has major problems.”
The decision may stall the plans of the California-driven pipeline project, which would connect the LNG terminal in CoosBay to PG&E’s California market.
Dan Serres, with FLOW, an environmental group supporting community opposition to the project, said, “This is a big victory for the community activists in Coos County and throughout Southern Oregon who are concerned about the questionable economic impacts of a project that would put homes and schools at risk while using eminent domain to cut a 230-mile clearcut across private property and impacting five major rivers—just to send more polluting natural gas to PG&E and a state that has repeatedly rejected this type of project.”
Antioquia Gold Inc. Closes Transaction With Am-Ves Resources Inc.
Antioquia Gold Inc. (”Antioquia” or the “Company”), formerly known as High American Gold Inc., is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced business combination (the “Transaction”) (see press releases dated February 28, 2008 and April 18, 2008 ) with Am-Ves Resources Inc. (”Am-Ves”).
Pursuant to the terms of the Transaction, Antioquia has acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Am-Ves (the “Am-Ves Shares”, including the Am-Ves Unit Shares, as defined below) in consideration for the issue of the common shares of the Company (the “Consideration Shares”) to the shareholders of Am-Ves on a one-for one basis and all of the issued and outstanding warrants of Am-Ves (the “Am-Ves Warrants”, including the Am-Ves Unit Warrants, as defined below) in consideration for the issue of warrants of the Company (the “Consideration Warrants”) to the warrant holders of Am-Ves on a one-for-one basis. Read more
High Oil Prices Fuel Pellet Stove Sales
Pellet stoves didn’t use to be hot sellers in July when the temperatures were pushing 90 degrees and homeowners thoughts ran more to pools and air conditioners. “You never sold a stove this time of year,” said Russell Pomeroy, owner of Pomeroy Lumber Co. in North Hatfield, Mass. “But, now, you can’t afford not to have one.”
With the price of home heating oil up to $4.71 per gallon compared with $2.54 a gallon a year ago, and the price of propane at $3.12 a gallon compared with $2.31 a gallon a year ago, homeowners are looking for ways to avoid using their furnaces this winter.
That search is also leading to shortages of stoves and of the pellets needed to fuel them Pomeroy, who’s been in the business of selling pellet stoves for 15 years, said he’s got 20 customers on a waiting list and doesn’t know when he’ll take delivery of more stoves. He has pellet fuel on hand, but not much of it. Read more
