Photo courtesy of Chattahbox News Blog Iraqi oil field near the Iranian border is not among fields foreign oil companies plan to further develop. Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan last month moved closer to pushing a new round of oil and gas infrastructure building in Iraq after signing an initial energy development deal with the oil ministry to process more than 700 cu ft per day of gas now flared at three domestic oilfields.According to an Associated Press report, the 25-year deal could be worth at least $12 billion, but it still must
The province of Alberta, Canada, agreed on July 27 to give $297 million toward a $1.6-billion project that will create synthetic gas out of coal in Whitecourt, Alberta, that can't be mined. Then, the gas will be used to generate 300 MW of electricity.Construction of the Swan Hills in situ coal-gasification project, 177 kilometers northwest of Edmonton, is projected to begin in 2013. By 2015, Edmonton, Alberta-based Swan Hills Synfuels expects to capture 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide from the gasification. That CO2 will be used for enhanced oil recovery in the area.The Swan Hills Synfuels project will use
Image courtesy Bechtel Corp. Construction of a 120-hectare liquefied-natural-gas processing plant in Soyo, a coastal city, should be finished by the end of this year. Angola is revving up to start exporting liquefied natural gas, with a key phase of a $9-billion project nearing completion.Construction of a 120-hectare processing plant in Soyo, a coastal city in the southern African nation, is scheduled to wrap up in the first quarter of 2012, following the completion earlier this year of two offshore pipelines with a combined total distance of 385 kilometers.Bechtel Corp. is serving as the general contractor and construction manager. The
The House has approved legislation that would require the Obama administration to accelerate its decision on whether to build a $7-billion, crude oil pipeline that would run from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf Coast. But the White House opposes the bill, calling the measure "unnecessary," and some observers say the bill has little chance of passing the Senate.The State Dept. must issue a special permit for the 1,700-mile TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, because it would cross international boundaries. The measure, which the House approved on July 26 by a 279-147 vote, would require the State
Image courtesy Rio Tinto Alcan Rio Tinto Alcan plans to build a new aluminum smelter in northwestern British Columbia. Montreal-based Rio Tinto Alcan’s plan to invest $2.5 billion in a new aluminum smelter in northwestern British Columbia has created a stir among engineering and construction contractors in the region. Last month, 300 local contractors attended a meeting in Vancouver, where plans to rebuild the existing Kitimat plant were presented.Built in the 1950s and powered by the nearby Kemano generating station, the Kitimat plant is undergoing $300 million of preliminary work this year. The work includes a contractor village, cleaning and
Map by Shem Oirere/ENR Art Department The Inga III hydro plant will harness energy from the Congo River's Inga Rapids, located some 225 kilometers from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Construction of an $8-billion to $10-billion hydroelectric plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may be delayed and cost more if its design remains unchanged, the African Development Bank said in late June.The Inga III hydropower project, on the Congo River's Inga Rapids, located some 225 kilometers from the capital, Kinshasa, is likely to be bogged down by its design. That design, by SNC-Lavalin, Quebec, entails
Map Shem Oirere/ENR Art Department Nava Bharat will start work this year on a new $650-million powerplant at the mouth of Zambia's biggest coal mine, Maamba Collieries. Singapore-based Nava Bharat will start work this year on a new $650-million powerplant at the mouth of Zambia's biggest coal mine, Maamba Collieries, about 410 kilometers southeast of the capital, Lusaka. The mine has been dormant since 1997, but it was re-opened by the country’s president, Rupiah Banda, on July 8.Construction of the 300-MW plant at the state-owned facility is scheduled to be finished by 2014. A second 300-MW phase could be built
Rawabi, a planned city for 40,000 residents, is under construction in the West Bank. The first phase will encompass about 100 residential buildings between five and nine stories tall, ranging from 2,800 to 3,500 square meters, as well as schools and other public and commercial buildings. The 1,557-acre site covers the slope of a hill in Birzeit, a university town located just north of the town of Ramallah in the West Bank and 10 miles north of Jerusalem. “Rawabi” means “the hills” in Arabic. Earthmoving and road construction began late last year, and construction of the buildings began in June. The
Related Links: Corps To Update Missouri River Dams' Release Strategy Corps Delays Missouri River Manual Revision The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is still sending above-normal releases from its six Missouri River dams, does not plan to increase its flood storage capacity this fall and winter because of risks to downstream levees.Brig. Gen. John R. McMahon, commander of the Corps’ Northwest Division, says the planned release schedule announced July 29 will allow the Corps to get its system ready for the 2012 season when it starts March 1.“We came to the conclusion that this year we would not need
Related Links: First Report of the Jefferson County Sewer System Receiver Officials of Jefferson County, Ala., and the state are negotiating with creditors for another week while they try to avoid a $4.1-billion bankruptcy filing. All it took to reach this point is bad spending on a sewer system overhaul, bad financing and changing of the county's debt structure. If county officials decide to seek protection from creditors, it may become the biggest municipal bankruptcy ever. Jefferson County includes Birmingham, Alabama's biggest city.The Jefferson County Commission and creditors agreed July 28 to postpone until Aug. 4 a decision on filing after creditors
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