The Energy Toll of Rita and Katrina on the Gulf Coast

From a Department of Energy report as quoted by the November 7 issue of Natural Gas Week:

113 oil and gas drilling platforms destroyed.

52 platforms heavily damaged.

8 drilling rigs destroyed.

98 pipelines heavily damaged.

According to an official of the Independent Petroleum Association, most barriers to production are now located "beyond the platform," and companies are still trying to assess the damage caused to gathering lines, processing plants and other infrastructure needed to take capacity from platforms to markets.

Technorati tags: Energy, Electricity, Home Heating, Natural Gas, Oil, Oil Exploration, Manufacturing

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Fluor Invests in NuScale

You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap...

Wednesday Update

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NEI Nuclear Notes

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