Alaskan Gas to China?

Those segments of the US beholden to both big business and America-firstness have a big conundrum looming on the horizon: what to do with the natural gas supplies waiting to be developed on the Alaskan North Slope. TransCanada and ExxonMobil have filed their plans to seek shippers with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and …

El Paso natural gas traders sentenced to prison

Hooray! Now that's out of the way and everyone know's where I stand, let me continue. Most energy commodities traded are settled on the basis of a third-party price report.  I used to be a price reporter. It's not a terrible job...except for having to deal with people blatantly trying to manipulate where you end …

Davey Jones’ Locker: Pirates drown with ransom

So you hijack a supertanker (Sirius Star) 450 miles offshore east Africa in a motorboat and actually succeed. It seems the problem quickly becomes: what the hell do you do with the thing? You probably don't have a place to put 2 million bbl of crude. Or dock a ship more than 1,000 ft long. But you …

“Garrrr … Thar Be Pirates”

By mid-December 2008 the year's tally for pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia alone totalled 109, with 42 ships successfully hijacked, and 14 vessels (with 268 crew) still being held hostage. Included among these were a Saudi supertanker (Sirius Star) and a ship carrying ex-Soviet tanks (Faina). The International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime …

Presidential Debate #2: McCain Myths Dispelled

I'll use a different format this time. No point-by-point winners and losers. Obama won this battle. But what became clear in the process are that a number of myths regarding John McCain and his candidacy can now be dispelled. Myth: McCain is stronger on foreign policy/terrorism. He points out that Obama "was wrong on the …