Energy news

Diesel runs dry in southern China gas stations - report

Reuters,

15 December, 2011,  2:50am GMT

Widespread diesel shortages are hitting southern China, with many filling stations posting "no diesel" signs ahead of high seasonal demand, the China Review News reported on its website.

The newspaper reported long queues at filling stations along the expressway linking Beijing and Hong Kong, while in the southeastern province of Zhejiang, a line of trucks awaiting fuel at a gas station stretched for 2 km.

Supplies of diesel, the country's main transportation fuel, have been tight in some regions for several months as refiners throttled back output in the face of refining losses and because of maintenance. Sporadic diesel shortages spread after the government reduced gasoline and diesel prices on Oct. 9.

For article GO HERE

Asia frets over oil as US eyes new Iran sanctions

Reuters,

December 15, 2011 7:35am EST

Plans for fresh U.S. sanctions to isolate Tehran have sent shudders among Asian governments who fear they will have no way to pay for Iranian crude imports and face rising costs to fuel the region's growing economies.

Top buyer China, meanwhile, is looking to cash in on the pressure Tehran faces to snap up discounted Iranian crude.

At stake is around 1.4 million barrels of oil Iran ships to Asia every day, meeting 10 percent of demand from top buyers China and India. South Korea, Japan and India are scrambling to find ways to keep the oil flowing.

Any restriction on oil supplies from Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter, could drive up already high oil prices and threaten economies already facing the impact of the euro zone debt crisis.

"This is an issue that could have a big impact on the global economy in terms of crude prices, so our nation will pay close attention to this with grave concern," said Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, adding his government was in "active negotiations" with Washington on the matter.

Japan is in talks with U.S. diplomats about a possible waiver to U.S. legislation that would make it more difficult to pay Iran. South Korea would also seek an exemption if the bill is signed into law, which U.S. Congress expects to send to President Barack Obama as early as this week.

For article GO HERE

Persistent drought in Romania threatens Danube's power

Drop in the level of the river's waters means that nuclear reactor may have to close down

the Guardian,
13 December, 2011

In Cernavoda, a small town in southeast Romania, social housing projects stretch all along the left bank of the Danube. The now dilapidated buildings sprang up in the 1970s and 1980s, after the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decided to build the country's first nuclear power plant there.

In his ambition for power and prosperity, he also ordered a canal to be built from Cernavoda to Constantza, a port on the Black Sea, to shorten the trade route by 400km. The excavations were done by thousands of political prisoners, many of whom died.

Today, 21 years after the fall of communism, the threat to Cernavoda is not from dictatorship but the drought that has hit Romania since August. "Look at the water level," said Vasile Mogos, who lives in a council flat by the river. "I would never have imagined that the Danube could fall so low."

The Danube crosses Europe from west to east over 2,850km, from its source in Germany's Black Forest to the Black Sea in Romania. In its path Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania all exploit the waters of Europe's second-longest river after the Volga.

The first reactor in the Romanian nuclear power plant, which uses Canadian CANDU reactor technology based on natural uranium and pressurised heavy water, came on stream in 1996. A second reactor was built in 2007, and three others are planned, since the Romanian government counts on nuclear power for energy self-sufficiency.

The two reactors in the Cernavoda plant generate 20% of those needs and were built on the banks of the Danube to use its waters for cooling.

Early this month, the Danube's flow rate in Turnu-Severin, a town in southwest Romania, home to the country's largest hydroelectric power plant, was 2,400 cubic metres per second, 63% of the usual average of 3,800 cubic metres per second. Hidroelectrica, the public corporation in charge of delivering the energy produced by the plant, is generating only 1,800MW instead of the usual 2,100 MW.

In 2003 the drought in Romania was so severe that it led to the shutdown of one of the Cernavoda reactors. Cantemir Ciurea, director of the National Committee for Controlling Nuclear Activities, said: "We immediately put in place a new system that allowed the pumps to extract the cooling water from much lower levels."

The Romanian authorities have not, however, discounted the possible closure of a reactor if the drought persists.

The lack of rain is also worrying for hotel owners in the Danube delta, who have lost some 10,000 tourists this year, with 250 boats and craft stranded, waiting for the rains before they can sail again. Losses are now counted in millions of euros.

Second world war battleships have even resurfaced on the Sava river, a tributary that joins the Danube in Belgrade, Serbia.

The drought is also threatening the fragile ecosystem. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the race to expand agricultural land in the 20th century has already eliminated 80% of the Danube's wetlands.

"The wetlands along the riverbanks were able to absorb water in the event of flooding and free it in periods of drought," explained Andreas Beckmann, director of WWF's Danube-Carpathian programme. "We are going to see more and more of these extreme situations. Our best response is to protect and strengthen our green infrastructure

Pakistan: trains halted as diesel ends for Railways

the News,

16 December, 2011

Pakistan Railways (PR) has been hit by a new crisis as there is no more diesel available for the trains to continue service, Geo News reported Thursday.

According to PR sources, all Lahore-bound trains are at halt due to non-availability of diesel and the service would remain suspended until diesel would be supplied.

Ghauri Express could not leave for Faisalabad from Lahore at 9am today due to the same problem. Trains arriving from Peshawar

Iran says Saudis agree not to up production to compensate if Iranian crude under sanctions

Washington Post,

15 December, 2011

VIENNA — Iran’s oil minister said Wednesday that his Saudi counterpart had agreed not to up crude production to replace Iranian oil in case an international embargo on Iranian oil impacts Tehran’s ability to sell its petroleum.

For article GO HERE