The shale gas revolution in Poland is progressing fast. A British company, co-operating with US energy giant ConocoPhillips expects to start pumping Polish shale gas within two years:
The prospects for shale natural gas production in Poland took a positive step this week when a British firm said it completed the country's first horizontal gas well.
Peter Clutterbuck, chief executive of 3Legs Resources, announced Tuesday the horizontal well at Lebien -- believed to be the first in Poland's Baltic Basin shale gas field -- was drilled and cased at a depth of 13,385 feet in the "organic-rich lower Paleozoic shales."
The effort, Clutterbuck said in a company release, "encountered high gas saturations throughout the horizontal section" and will be followed by a "stimulation program" and further tests in the third quarter.
The development of horizontal drilling has been a key in tapping the potential of "unconventional gas" as a viable power source. Once drilled, the wells need to be "stimulated" to produce gas by fracturing the dense shale deposits, usually accomplished by pumping in a water-sand mixture.
"We are very encouraged by the excellent gas shows encountered while drilling this horizontal well and we look forward to the results of the well stimulation and test program later this year," Clutterbuck said.
3Legs, which is working with U.S. energy giant ConocoPhillips to cover the costs of its Baltic Basin exploration program, conducted a $101 million initial public offering this month on London's Alternative Investment Market. Its pitch was its access to 1 million acres of prime shale gas land in northern Poland.
Clutterbuck has said he expects to be able begin pumping such gas within two years.
The fact his company was able to quickly raise that amount of cash in a generally lackluster IPO market indicates investors are excited about the viability of European unconventional gas production.
Read the entire article here
PS
The Poles, who are soon about to take over the EU Presidency are now in a unique situation to promote their own - and the entire EU´s - energy interests by pushing hard in favour of shale gas. They must not let the climate-industrial lobby, working together with Russia´s Gazprom and a number of enviro-fundamentalist NGO´s, destroy the the best thing that has happened in the European energy sector since oil drilling began in the North Sea.
Friday, 24 June 2011
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Both the EU and the US are in a terrible state - but "who will save them"?
" It is hard to think of a time when both the U.S. and the E.U., the two biggest players in the international economy, were in such miserable shape"
The editor of the German weekly Die Zeit, Josef Joffe, describes the economic mess in which both the US and the EU find themselves right now. This is what he thinks about the current euro crisis:
As many economists cried out in the run-up to the euro 15 years ago, in monetary policy, one size won’t fit all—certainly not a bunch of diverging economies untrammeled by common governance. And, indeed, the euro, instead of forcing member states into fiscal convergence, has only accentuated the bad habits of the PIIGS. These countries had always lived beyond their means. With the euro, however, they could suddenly spend like Italians, but borrow like Germans, at low rates. Bond spreads converged between the spendthrifts and the tightwads, but not basic policies. Indeed, cheap money encouraged even more profligacy—worst of all in Greece (which also managed to cheat on its financial statistics before and after entering the euro).
This is where we are now: With Greek two-year bonds fetching almost 30 percent, the markets are growling that Hellas is doomed. Both Merkel and Sarkozy dread the looming default as “Lehman squared“—and so, by the way, does Washington. So, too, does the IMF, which wants to withhold a critical $12 billion pay-out to the Greeks unless the E.U. swears a holy oath on bailing out Athens, come what may.
Europe will inevitably buy time by handing over a few more slices of bail-out money to Greece, even though, one day, the country will default. With 50 cents of the euro, it will halve its debt as well as its repayments and thus buy more time. The E.U., meanwhile, still won’t have any idea where it’s going or how to handle the crisis long-term. But what else is new? Twenty-seven governments do not a “more perfect union” make. Certainly not when the natural leader, which is Germany by dint of wealth and weight, sounds such an uncertain trumpet as it has under Chancellor Merkel. Yet what, exactly, is she supposed to do when the chickens of an ill-designed monetary union have finally come home to roost? Neither she nor Sarkozy can undo the mismanagement of the PIIGS in one fell swoop.
Meanwhile, back to the United States—to its still-sinking dollar and rising unemployment. It is hard to think of a time when both the U.S. and the E.U., the two biggest players in the international economy, were in such miserable shape. We are talking about two giants with a total of 50 percent of global GDP. Who will save them?
Read the entire article in the New Republic here
PS
Joffe´s questions is, of course, rethorical, at least with regard to the EU. What he means, is that the political leaders do not have a clue about how to get out of the mess that they themselves and their immediate predecessors have created. The European house of cards is inevitably beginning to crumble. Merkel, Sarkozy and the others are scared stiff. - their cosy club is not anymore what it used to be. That´s why they are warning about a coming chaos and catastrophy. And the other day, the Fed´s Ben Bernanke joined the doomsday chorus:
Ben Bernanke, the US Federal Reserve chief, reminded them that "a failure to resolve that situation (in Greece) would pose threats" to the entire European and global financial system.
The truth is, that a breakdown of the present euro system is not going to be the kind of catastrophic event that the politicians are talking about. On the contrary, it will lead to a smaller, much better functioning euro group - or whatever you would like to call it - or even to the return of the German D-Mark. Of course, there will be a lot of problems and difficulties in the beginning, but the end result will without doubt be much better than the present unstable system. And a scaling down of the present, badly working European Union in general, would probably be a welcome added bonus.
The fact of the matter is, that politicians, pundits and other "experts" always tell us that a breakdown of any major system, country or institution, will have unheard of, catastrophic consequenses. You may e.g. remember the doomsday scenarios about what would happen, if the Soviet Union were to crumble. The experts where wrong then - and they are wrong now.
The editor of the German weekly Die Zeit, Josef Joffe, describes the economic mess in which both the US and the EU find themselves right now. This is what he thinks about the current euro crisis:
As many economists cried out in the run-up to the euro 15 years ago, in monetary policy, one size won’t fit all—certainly not a bunch of diverging economies untrammeled by common governance. And, indeed, the euro, instead of forcing member states into fiscal convergence, has only accentuated the bad habits of the PIIGS. These countries had always lived beyond their means. With the euro, however, they could suddenly spend like Italians, but borrow like Germans, at low rates. Bond spreads converged between the spendthrifts and the tightwads, but not basic policies. Indeed, cheap money encouraged even more profligacy—worst of all in Greece (which also managed to cheat on its financial statistics before and after entering the euro).
This is where we are now: With Greek two-year bonds fetching almost 30 percent, the markets are growling that Hellas is doomed. Both Merkel and Sarkozy dread the looming default as “Lehman squared“—and so, by the way, does Washington. So, too, does the IMF, which wants to withhold a critical $12 billion pay-out to the Greeks unless the E.U. swears a holy oath on bailing out Athens, come what may.
Europe will inevitably buy time by handing over a few more slices of bail-out money to Greece, even though, one day, the country will default. With 50 cents of the euro, it will halve its debt as well as its repayments and thus buy more time. The E.U., meanwhile, still won’t have any idea where it’s going or how to handle the crisis long-term. But what else is new? Twenty-seven governments do not a “more perfect union” make. Certainly not when the natural leader, which is Germany by dint of wealth and weight, sounds such an uncertain trumpet as it has under Chancellor Merkel. Yet what, exactly, is she supposed to do when the chickens of an ill-designed monetary union have finally come home to roost? Neither she nor Sarkozy can undo the mismanagement of the PIIGS in one fell swoop.
Meanwhile, back to the United States—to its still-sinking dollar and rising unemployment. It is hard to think of a time when both the U.S. and the E.U., the two biggest players in the international economy, were in such miserable shape. We are talking about two giants with a total of 50 percent of global GDP. Who will save them?
Read the entire article in the New Republic here
PS
Joffe´s questions is, of course, rethorical, at least with regard to the EU. What he means, is that the political leaders do not have a clue about how to get out of the mess that they themselves and their immediate predecessors have created. The European house of cards is inevitably beginning to crumble. Merkel, Sarkozy and the others are scared stiff. - their cosy club is not anymore what it used to be. That´s why they are warning about a coming chaos and catastrophy. And the other day, the Fed´s Ben Bernanke joined the doomsday chorus:
Ben Bernanke, the US Federal Reserve chief, reminded them that "a failure to resolve that situation (in Greece) would pose threats" to the entire European and global financial system.
The truth is, that a breakdown of the present euro system is not going to be the kind of catastrophic event that the politicians are talking about. On the contrary, it will lead to a smaller, much better functioning euro group - or whatever you would like to call it - or even to the return of the German D-Mark. Of course, there will be a lot of problems and difficulties in the beginning, but the end result will without doubt be much better than the present unstable system. And a scaling down of the present, badly working European Union in general, would probably be a welcome added bonus.
The fact of the matter is, that politicians, pundits and other "experts" always tell us that a breakdown of any major system, country or institution, will have unheard of, catastrophic consequenses. You may e.g. remember the doomsday scenarios about what would happen, if the Soviet Union were to crumble. The experts where wrong then - and they are wrong now.
Union of Concerned Scientists: Win a (high carbon footprint) trip to Brazil!
Public interest in global warming is on the wane in the US and in most other western countries. That is why climate alarmist organizations now are desperately trying to sell their doomsday messages by using "innovative" methods, particularly targeting young people.
The latest - probably very costly - propaganda effort was recently introduced by the Union of Concerned Scientist: "The Climate Hot Map Scavenger Hunt":
From catastrophic flooding to airplane delays, from itchier poison ivy to food and water shortages, global warming is already having an impact on your life and the world around you. Embark on our Climate Hot Map Scavenger Hunt to explore the places (or "hot spots") where scientists have gathered evidence of climate change. Not only will you virtually travel the world, but you could win a trip for two to help find answers to the challenges of climate change in the Rio Cachoeira Natural Reserve in Brazil!
One wonders why the Concerned Scientists are not at all concerned about the the carbon footprint created by the trips to the Rio Cachoeira Natural Reserve in Brazil? If the scientists were really serious about global warming, they certainly would not actively want to contribute to make it worse, would they?
Here are just a few examples of the dubious "facts" on offer in the climate propaganda hot map:
Cities in the Netherlands and throughout Europe suffered through an unprecedented and deadly heat wave in the summer of 2003. Unless we make deep and swift cuts in our global warming emissions, a similar heat wave could hit Europe every other year by the end of this century, on average. Here, Amsterdam residents take a break from the scorching heat.
The latest - probably very costly - propaganda effort was recently introduced by the Union of Concerned Scientist: "The Climate Hot Map Scavenger Hunt":
From catastrophic flooding to airplane delays, from itchier poison ivy to food and water shortages, global warming is already having an impact on your life and the world around you. Embark on our Climate Hot Map Scavenger Hunt to explore the places (or "hot spots") where scientists have gathered evidence of climate change. Not only will you virtually travel the world, but you could win a trip for two to help find answers to the challenges of climate change in the Rio Cachoeira Natural Reserve in Brazil!
One wonders why the Concerned Scientists are not at all concerned about the the carbon footprint created by the trips to the Rio Cachoeira Natural Reserve in Brazil? If the scientists were really serious about global warming, they certainly would not actively want to contribute to make it worse, would they?
Here are just a few examples of the dubious "facts" on offer in the climate propaganda hot map:
Cities in the Netherlands and throughout Europe suffered through an unprecedented and deadly heat wave in the summer of 2003. Unless we make deep and swift cuts in our global warming emissions, a similar heat wave could hit Europe every other year by the end of this century, on average. Here, Amsterdam residents take a break from the scorching heat.
New York City's location on the Atlantic Ocean -- at the mouth of the Harlem River, and in a tidal strait connecting upper New York Harbor to Long Island Sound -- has served its growth as a global center of commerce and culture. Now, sea-level rise caused by global warming threatens the Big Apple's future.
Rising sea levels and ocean temperatures caused by global warming threaten the people, economy, and very existence of Kiribati, a low-lying island nation composed of coral atolls in the tropical Pacific.
Syracuse, NY, is already one of the snowiest cities in the United States, and is paradoxically becoming snowier due to global warming (specifically because of warmer surface waters and decreased ice cover on the Great Lakes). Increasingly heavy snowfalls in Syracuse could disrupt transportation and commerce throughout central New York State.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
"The end of green ideology"
"Within this new geopolitical framework, green ideology will survive like a cult or a recipe for economic suicide"
In the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, western media have been full of articles about the growing influence of the "green" parties and NGOs - particularly in Germany. However, it is not at all likely that the present temporary success of the greenies will last for very long. On the contrary, the renowned French economist, philosopher and author Guy Sorman thinks that the shale gas revolution and small nuclear power plants will change the overall situation in favour of the western democratic countries and lead to the end of the green ideology:
In the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, western media have been full of articles about the growing influence of the "green" parties and NGOs - particularly in Germany. However, it is not at all likely that the present temporary success of the greenies will last for very long. On the contrary, the renowned French economist, philosopher and author Guy Sorman thinks that the shale gas revolution and small nuclear power plants will change the overall situation in favour of the western democratic countries and lead to the end of the green ideology:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government was the first to overreact by deciding to close down all nuclear reactors in the coming years – a radical move driven by domestic politics. Merkel's government does not include Germany's Greens, but the Green ideology has become a widely shared national creed in Germany. Indeed, one can relate popular hostility toward nuclear energy to Germany's traditional romantic cult of nature, not to science.
Germany's nuclear plants will be replaced by more thermal plants, implying a large increase in German carbon emissions – so much for Green concern with global warming! And so much for intellectual honesty, because a Germany without nuclear power of its own will be compelled to buy it from France, which has no intention of closing its nuclear plants.
In the US, the ideological aftershock is closer to Germany's than to France's: the US may not be overly prone to romanticism, but a cult of nature remains part of the American psyche. This may go some way toward explaining why the Democrats, who control the presidency and the Senate, are so committed to so-called alternative energies.
President Barack Obama's administration has thrown billions of dollars at wind, solar, ethanol, and other alternative-energy resources. Now the Fukushima tragedy is being used to justify continuing these economically dubious programs. We can bet that none of these alternative energies will easily replace oil, gas, and nuclear power in the foreseeable future.
At market prices, without public subsidies, a unit of energy produced by solar or wind in the US costs five times more than a unit produced by oil, gas, or nuclear plants. Moreover, supporters of alternative energies systematically downplay their negative environmental impact. A wind turbine requires 50 tons of steel and half a square mile of ground space. If California were to rely on solar power for its electricity consumption, the entire state would have to be covered with photovoltaic cells.
The great irony of the current situation is that real innovation and entrepreneurial activity, without government support, is taking place in the field of energy generation, such as in the creation of miniaturized nuclear reactors. The most promising breakthrough may well be the discovery of huge reserves of shale gas all over the planet.
Indeed, thanks to the new techniques in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, shale gas may well become the dominant energy resource of the future. Shale gas could thus reduce dependency on OPEC oil and gas while reducing carbon emission. Gas generates ten times less carbon than biomass or ethanol, which ecologists so heavily promote.
Beyond Fukushima, future energy supplies will most likely rely more and more on miniaturized nuclear plants and shale gas – a mix capable of responding to a rapidly urbanizing world population's growing demand for electricity.
Such a renewed energy balance would impact the current global balance of power. Shale gas is abundant in Europe and North America, in contrast to oil and gas. Thus, the energy of tomorrow could well reinforce the world's democracies and weaken its most repressive regimes, where most oil is to be found nowadays. Within this new geopolitical framework, green ideology will survive like a cult or a recipe for economic suicide.
Read the entire article here
PS
It is interesting to note, that you can read professor Sorman´s outstanding article in the China Daily, not in any of the major English language western newspapers. No, a sober, realistic and positive analysis like this, is not welcome in the politically correct mainstream media, which are more than happy to publish every piece of rubbish, written by ignorant enviro-fundamentalist scaremongerers.
The end of the green ideology will, as an added bonus, also lead to the end of the global warming religion. One must only hope that this happens sooner rather than later, in order to avoid the wasting of the huge sums of money that many of the present western governments now are planning to use in order to fight imaginary human-induced warming.
EU Brussels trade union leader: "Our national leaders are imbeciles"
 |
| Carpenito: "Our national leaders are imbeciles" |
Austerity packages, including major pay and staff cuts, are being adopted everywhere in the EU member countries. In view of these radical measures, it is only natural that member countries also would like to see some cuts in the overblown 50.000 person EU bureaucracy.
As a response, the European Commissíon is, according to the EU Observer, proposing to cut five percent of the jobs in the EU institutions for the next seven year budget, in line with austerity measures in member states.
The Brussels trade union´s reply was to be expected. This is how Mr. Renzo Carpenito, a high representative of the EU trade union, reacted to the plan:
"Our national leaders are imbeciles. There are about eight northern countries pushing for cuts, the UK, Denmark, Holland, Finland. What they don't say is that out of the EU's €142 billion annual budget, we [staff] do not even represent five percent, and that includes the cost of [EU] buildings.
PS
Does anybody believe that a leader of a trade union in any of the member countries could keep his job after calling his country´s prime minister an "imbecile"? Probably not even in Mr. Carpenito´s home country, Italy. This again shows the enormous arrogance - on all levels - of the EU bureaucracy. It is to be hoped that the UK, Denmark, Holland and Finland will demand much higher staff reductions - including shutting down of a number of totally useles EU institutions. There is no reason whatsoever why this army of arrogant eurocrats should be excluded from severe austerity measures!
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
European Parliament: "big, corrupt and unaccountable bureacracy"
The Wall Street Journal is taking a look at corruption in the European Parliament and the parliament´s efforts to prevent the publishing of a crucial report about corrupted MEPs:
Rumors of European Union expense abuse have been circulating since 2008, when news of a damning internal audit surfaced in the Daily Telegraph. The so-called Galvin Report, named after its author, European Parliament internal auditor Robert Galvin, was part of a 2006 annual internal audit. In 2008, Irish lawyer and activist Ciarán Toland applied for the report to be released on the basis of an European law that allows public access to parliamentary documents. Brussels refused.
Little wonder. The few details disclosed in February 2008 led to an internal investigation of MEP policy. Later that year, the European Parliament released a statement that no individual cases of fraud have been revealed, though today more than 10 MEPs are under investigation for their abuses of allowances. Some members, such as Britain's Chris Davies, wanted a public hearing.
Instead, the European Parliament suppressed the report and cut MEPs' allowances for travel and constituency offices, while limiting their monthly salary to €7,957 ($11,355) a month, which had previously been directly correlated with the salaries of MPs in their home country. Despite these efforts, Mr. Davies noted in 2009 that many of Mr. Galvin's suggestions had not been implemented.
Last week the Sunday Times of London published more of the documents. It turns out Mr. Galvin's audit discovered how some MEPs claimed well over one million euros each in what were supposed to be business and staff expenses during their terms. Some MEPs granted themselves bonuses 150% greater than their base salary, diverted money to front companies and had roughly €180,000 in staff allowances without receipts. In sum, more than €100 million was not properly accounted for.
----
Mr. Toland is now back on the hunt. He brought the European Parliament to high court this year, arguing that, since it is a democratic institution, citizens have the right to see the Galvin Report. He also noted, rightly, that only transparency can help improve the institution. Sweden, Finland and Denmark are backing him.
But the EU continues to stonewall. Parliamentary lawyers responded in court this year that releasing the documents would "derail" MEP decision-making (though much of the content has already been leaked over the Internet). The EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice, found that the Parliament acted unlawfully in denying Mr. Toland's request. The Parliament has until June 22 to appeal, and Mr. Toland has re-applied for an official release of the Galvin Report.
The European Parliament was supposed to be a great exercise in transnational democracy. At the current rate, it's looking more like one more big, corrupt and unaccountable bureaucracy.
Read the entire article here
PS
Yet another example of the sad state of the European Parliament. What an enormous waste of taxpayers´ money this bogus body is! No wonder, most people never bother to show up at EU "elections".
Rumors of European Union expense abuse have been circulating since 2008, when news of a damning internal audit surfaced in the Daily Telegraph. The so-called Galvin Report, named after its author, European Parliament internal auditor Robert Galvin, was part of a 2006 annual internal audit. In 2008, Irish lawyer and activist Ciarán Toland applied for the report to be released on the basis of an European law that allows public access to parliamentary documents. Brussels refused.
Little wonder. The few details disclosed in February 2008 led to an internal investigation of MEP policy. Later that year, the European Parliament released a statement that no individual cases of fraud have been revealed, though today more than 10 MEPs are under investigation for their abuses of allowances. Some members, such as Britain's Chris Davies, wanted a public hearing.
Instead, the European Parliament suppressed the report and cut MEPs' allowances for travel and constituency offices, while limiting their monthly salary to €7,957 ($11,355) a month, which had previously been directly correlated with the salaries of MPs in their home country. Despite these efforts, Mr. Davies noted in 2009 that many of Mr. Galvin's suggestions had not been implemented.
Last week the Sunday Times of London published more of the documents. It turns out Mr. Galvin's audit discovered how some MEPs claimed well over one million euros each in what were supposed to be business and staff expenses during their terms. Some MEPs granted themselves bonuses 150% greater than their base salary, diverted money to front companies and had roughly €180,000 in staff allowances without receipts. In sum, more than €100 million was not properly accounted for.
----
Mr. Toland is now back on the hunt. He brought the European Parliament to high court this year, arguing that, since it is a democratic institution, citizens have the right to see the Galvin Report. He also noted, rightly, that only transparency can help improve the institution. Sweden, Finland and Denmark are backing him.
But the EU continues to stonewall. Parliamentary lawyers responded in court this year that releasing the documents would "derail" MEP decision-making (though much of the content has already been leaked over the Internet). The EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice, found that the Parliament acted unlawfully in denying Mr. Toland's request. The Parliament has until June 22 to appeal, and Mr. Toland has re-applied for an official release of the Galvin Report.
The European Parliament was supposed to be a great exercise in transnational democracy. At the current rate, it's looking more like one more big, corrupt and unaccountable bureaucracy.
Read the entire article here
PS
Yet another example of the sad state of the European Parliament. What an enormous waste of taxpayers´ money this bogus body is! No wonder, most people never bother to show up at EU "elections".
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