04/19/2014
MOSCOW – The Russian government celebrated on Friday the first shipment of oil from an offshore platform in Moscow’s Arctic waters.
“The whole project will positively influence Russia’s future presence on the global energy markets and will strengthen both the whole economy and the energy sector,” President Vladimir Putin said.
“This, in essence, is the beginning of great and large-scale extraction of minerals and oil by our country in the Arctic,” he said during a video link with workers on the Prirazlomnoye platform, which was the scene last fall of a dramatic protest by Greenpeace that landed activists behinds bars for several months.
Russian authorities seized the Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic Sunrise icebreaker, arresting 28 activists and two freelance journalists covering their protest, on Sept. 19.
Russia acted a day after some of the activists tried to scale the Prirazlomnoye platform.
The boss of Russian state energy giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, traveled to the platform, located 60 kilometers (37.5 miles) from the coast, to oversee Friday’s inaugural shipment.
Seeking to ease environmental concerns about drilling in the Arctic, Miller said Prirazlomnoye observes the strictest international safety norms and is equipped with “zero-spill” technology.
The “Arctic 30,” as the Greenpeace detainees were known, spent two months in pre-trial detention in the cities of Murmansk and St. Petersburg.
The activists and journalists were released on bond in late November after the charges against them were downgraded from piracy, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, to hooliganism, which carries a maximum prison term of seven years.
All charges were eventually dropped as part of an amnesty.
Gazprom, which has invested $2.5 billion in the project, expects the Prirazlomnoye platform to be producing 120,000 barrels per day by 2021.
source
U.S. Puts Off Decision on Keystone XL Pipeline
WASHINGTON – The U.S. State Department said Friday that it will allow more time for eight federal agencies to weigh-in on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
“Agencies need additional time based on the uncertainty created by the on-going litigation in the Nebraska Supreme Court which could ultimately affect the pipeline route in that state,” the department said in a note.
“In addition, during this time we will review and appropriately consider the unprecedented number of new public comments, approximately 2.5 million, received during the public comment period that closed on March 7, 2014,” the note continued.
Canada’s government and North American business leaders have been pressuring President Barack Obama’s administration to approve the pipeline, a project of Calgary-based TransCanada to transport oil from the western Canadian province of Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Environmentalists vehemently oppose the project, arguing it would trigger faster development of the Alberta oil sands.
“The Permit process will conclude once factors that have a significant impact on determining the national interest of the proposed project have been evaluated and appropriately reflected in the decision documents. The Department will give the agencies sufficient time to submit their views,” the note issued Friday says.
Republican lawmakers – along with some Democrats – have long demanded that Obama approve the Keystone XL project.
The GOP was quick to blast the administration for postponing a decision on the pipeline.
“This delay is shameful. With tens of thousands of American jobs on the line and our allies in Eastern Europe looking for energy leadership from America, it’s clear there is little this administration isn’t willing to sacrifice for politics,” House Speaker John Boehner said.
While proponents claim the project would create upwards of 20,000 new jobs, TransCanada’s 2008 permit application to the State Department referred to “a peak workforce of approximately 3,500 to 4,200 construction personnel” to build the pipeline.
In a Final Environmental Impact Statement released earlier this year, the State Department deemed it “unlikely” that construction of the pipeline would lead to a significant increase in global greenhouse-gas emissions.
MOSCOW – The Russian government celebrated on Friday the first shipment of oil from an offshore platform in Moscow’s Arctic waters.“The whole project will positively influence Russia’s future presence on the global energy markets and will strengthen both the whole economy and the energy sector,” President Vladimir Putin said.
“This, in essence, is the beginning of great and large-scale extraction of minerals and oil by our country in the Arctic,” he said during a video link with workers on the Prirazlomnoye platform, which was the scene last fall of a dramatic protest by Greenpeace that landed activists behinds bars for several months.
Russian authorities seized the Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic Sunrise icebreaker, arresting 28 activists and two freelance journalists covering their protest, on Sept. 19.
Russia acted a day after some of the activists tried to scale the Prirazlomnoye platform.
The boss of Russian state energy giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, traveled to the platform, located 60 kilometers (37.5 miles) from the coast, to oversee Friday’s inaugural shipment.
Seeking to ease environmental concerns about drilling in the Arctic, Miller said Prirazlomnoye observes the strictest international safety norms and is equipped with “zero-spill” technology.
The “Arctic 30,” as the Greenpeace detainees were known, spent two months in pre-trial detention in the cities of Murmansk and St. Petersburg.
The activists and journalists were released on bond in late November after the charges against them were downgraded from piracy, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, to hooliganism, which carries a maximum prison term of seven years.
All charges were eventually dropped as part of an amnesty.
Gazprom, which has invested $2.5 billion in the project, expects the Prirazlomnoye platform to be producing 120,000 barrels per day by 2021.
source
U.S. Puts Off Decision on Keystone XL Pipeline
WASHINGTON – The U.S. State Department said Friday that it will allow more time for eight federal agencies to weigh-in on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.“Agencies need additional time based on the uncertainty created by the on-going litigation in the Nebraska Supreme Court which could ultimately affect the pipeline route in that state,” the department said in a note.
“In addition, during this time we will review and appropriately consider the unprecedented number of new public comments, approximately 2.5 million, received during the public comment period that closed on March 7, 2014,” the note continued.
Canada’s government and North American business leaders have been pressuring President Barack Obama’s administration to approve the pipeline, a project of Calgary-based TransCanada to transport oil from the western Canadian province of Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Environmentalists vehemently oppose the project, arguing it would trigger faster development of the Alberta oil sands.
“The Permit process will conclude once factors that have a significant impact on determining the national interest of the proposed project have been evaluated and appropriately reflected in the decision documents. The Department will give the agencies sufficient time to submit their views,” the note issued Friday says.
Republican lawmakers – along with some Democrats – have long demanded that Obama approve the Keystone XL project.
The GOP was quick to blast the administration for postponing a decision on the pipeline.
“This delay is shameful. With tens of thousands of American jobs on the line and our allies in Eastern Europe looking for energy leadership from America, it’s clear there is little this administration isn’t willing to sacrifice for politics,” House Speaker John Boehner said.
While proponents claim the project would create upwards of 20,000 new jobs, TransCanada’s 2008 permit application to the State Department referred to “a peak workforce of approximately 3,500 to 4,200 construction personnel” to build the pipeline.
In a Final Environmental Impact Statement released earlier this year, the State Department deemed it “unlikely” that construction of the pipeline would lead to a significant increase in global greenhouse-gas emissions.
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