Platts Broker-Based Indexes for Coal and Emissions for January 5

Washington (Platts) -- 5Jan2009 -- Platts weekly broker emissions indexes, along with its monthly broker emissions indexes and the daily OTC coal broker indexes are posted here so all market participants can evaluate our results. Our "Methodology...
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AGL Energy acquires majority interest in Sydney Gas at 54.4%

Auckland (Platts) -- 5Jan2009 -- Australia's AGL Energy has acquired a majority interest in Sydney Gas at 54.4% according to a release on the Australian Securities Exchange Tuesday. AGL Energy had announced a takeover bid for Sydney...
Read more [Platts Oil Industry News]

Asian toluene prices climb $15/mt on bear market rally

Singapore (Platts) -- 5Jan2009 -- Spot prices in the Asian toluene market trekked $15/mt higher on Tuesday morning after receiving a boost from overnight crude oil gains and a surge in US toluene prices, but most industry observers considered...
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Asian Stocks Trade Mostly Higher

Stock markets in Asia mostly rose on growing optimism the world economy will recover later this year. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average gained 0.9%.

Coley to stay on at British Energy

Vincent de Rivaz , chief executive of EDF Energy, the UK division of the French power giant, has been rewarded for his successful year-long pursuit of British...
Read more [Financial Times Energy News]

Putin orders cut in Ukraine supply

Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, yesterday ordered Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, to reduce gas supplies to Ukraine bound for Europe in a move that...
Read more [Financial Times Energy News]

Volvo tie-up lifts Clean Air Power

Shares in Clean Air Power, the Aim-listed maker of equipment that enables trucks to run on a mixture of liquefied natural gas and diesel, rose 14 per cent to 14½p...
Read more [Financial Times Energy News]

Energy landscape poised for a dramatic reshape

Leading international oil and gas companies could emerge as winners from the financial crisis, as the steep drop in oil prices and asset valuations creates...
Read more [Financial Times Energy News]

Emerging markets grab a bigger slice of the action

The most striking trend in oil and gas M&A in recent years has been the rise of bidders from emerging economies - a development that hit the headlines with the...
Read more [Financial Times Energy News]

Conditions ripe for a reshuffle of energy sector pack

Leading international oil and gas companies could emerge as winners from the financial crisis, as the steep drop in oil prices and asset valuations creates...
Read more [Financial Times Energy News]

Escalating violence pushes oil price higher

Crude oil prices closed above $49 a barrel yesterday as fighting between Israel and Hamas escalated. Nymex February West Texas Intermediate rose $2.47 to $48.81 a...
Read more [Financial Times Energy News]

Chesapeake Collects Cash

Liquidity concerns motivate sale of natural gas assets to group of private investors.
Read more [Forbes - Energy News]

Water supply deemed safe near Kingston coal plant fly ash spill

Washington (Platts) -- 5Jan2009 -- The public water supply in eastern Tennessee towns near the site of the December 22 fly ash dike failure at Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston coal-fired power plant is safe to drink, according to the...
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US oil/gas sector set record high for drilling costs in 2007: API

Washington (Platts) -- 5Jan2009 -- The US oil and natural gas industry spent an all-time high of $226.4 billion in drilling expenditures in 2007, more than double the previous record of $109.8 billion set in 2006, the American Petroleum...
Read more [Platts Oil Industry News]

Citgo suspends US heating oil program on price slide: partner

New York (Platts) -- 5Jan2009 -- Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has "suspended" its winter heating oil assistance program to underprivileged communities in the US because of falling oil prices, the company's US partner, Citizens Energy...
Read more [Platts Oil Industry News]

Israeli oil demand unaffected by Gaza conflict

London (Platts) -- 5Jan2009 -- The ongoing clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are being closely monitored by the oil industry, sources said Monday. Jet fuel is of particular interest as the conflict...
Read more [Platts Oil Industry News]

Moody's downgrades E&P independents to 'negative' on price falls

New York (Platts) -- 5Jan2009 -- Moody's has downgraded the independent exploration and production industry to "negative" because of the "precipitous" decline in oil and natural gas prices expected to lead to low cash margins and "fundamental...
Read more [Platts Oil Industry News]

Banks pull plug on Oilexco's UK operations

The UK arm of Oilexco is likely to go into administration within days, taking all the London and Toronto-listed exploration and production company's oil and gas reserves with it
Read more [Financial Times Energy News]

Slo-mo splat

Remember the wall that environmentalists (like the 1972 "Limits to Growth" authors) have long been saying that industrial society would eventually hit? Permit me to make the formal introduction: Industrial society, meet wall; wall, meet industrial society.

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EDF calls on UK to declare nuclear need

The French energy group gave a policy deadline if the first of a new generation of reactors is to be ready for 2017
Read more [Financial Times Energy News]