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Interesting Article!
........UN: Leaded fuel to be gone by 2013
By BY RON DePASQUALE - Associated Press | AP – Thu, Oct 27, 2011....tweet36Share5EmailPrint......Science Slideshows.
.Earth-observing satellite boosted into orbit
10 photos - 13 hrs agoEndangered plants not 'living fossils' after all
5 photos - Wed, Oct 26, 2011Mysterious migratory lives of killer whales
12 photos - Tue, Oct 25, 2011...See more photos from science »....UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Leaded gasoline, once so widespread it was sold at U.S. pumps as "regular" fuel, is expected to be eradicated globally within two years, the United Nations Environment Program announced Thursday.
With the end of leaded gasoline in sight, public health and environmental advocates are claiming victory in a fight that stretches all the way back to when it was first added to gasoline in the 1920s.
Leaded gasoline is still used in six nations. Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, North Korea, Myanmar and Yemen are expected to complete the phase-out by 2013, said the U.N., which is assisting those nations.
The elimination of leaded gasoline has increased IQ scores, lowered lead-in-blood levels by up to 90 percent and prevented the premature deaths of more than 1.2 million people annually, according to a new study by Thomas Hatfield, chairman of California State University, Northridge's department of environmental and occupational health.
"We live in a time when politicians and lobbyists make sport out of pitting the economy against public health," said Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "This study flies in the face of those petty politics."
In 2002, the NRDC and the U.N. Environmental Program began a final push to eradicate leaded fuel by founding the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, which helps developing nations with the switch to unleaded gasoline.
Most of the six nations still using leaded gasoline are only using small amounts, said Jim Sniffen, a U.N. Environment Program spokesman. They are working with the U.N. and partner agencies to conduct blood testing for lead levels and develop plans to phase out leaded fuel, he said.
Lead became the gasoline additive of choice in the 1920s, after General Motors, DuPont and Standard Oil of New Jersey, the forerunner of Exxon, chose it over clean-burning ethanol and other alternatives as a way to make engines run better. It became universal despite warnings from public health advocates and a scandal over the deaths in 1924 of six refinery workers in Newark, New Jersey, who were poisoned while manufacturing it and "were led away in straitjackets," said Bill Kovarik, a journalist and communication professor at Radford University who researched the history of leaded gasoline.
"Historically, there are only a handful of major environmental victories like this," Kovarik said. "It took 90 years to eradicate what was always a well-known poison from a product that everyone uses. It's a great achievement, but it really says something about how public health works globally, that it took so long ... Benjamin Franklin complained about lead poisoning in print shops."
The industry falsely claimed that there were no alternatives to lead, which was more profitable, and gained control over the government's scientific study of it, Kovarik said.
Eventually, exposure to airborne lead was found to cause brain, kidney and cardiovascular damage. In children, it was found to lower IQ levels and shorten attention spans.
A public health crisis again erupted around lead in the 1960s as the environmental movement bloomed. A lawsuit filed by the NRDC in 1973 lead to the Environmental Protection Agency regulating lead in gasoline and finally banning it as an additive in 1986.
"This is an environmental issue that was rediscovered and it was finally phased out, but it could have been done early on with even the slightest precaution, because everyone knew about lead poisonings," Kovarik said.
"As we look to some future of environmental sanity, this is a great example of where we could have done better. We have to learn from this."
http://news.yahoo.com/un-leaded-fuel-gone-2013-223737108.html;_ylc=X3oDMTNsczJmMmNzBF9TAzk3NDkwNzkyBGFjdANtYWlsX2NiBGN0A2EEaW50bAN1cwRsYW5nA2VuLVVTBHBrZwNlYzY2MGZjMC1iZWE1LTMyN2YtYjJiNS03MTkwMzE1ZTRjMzkEc2VjA21pdF9zaGFyZQRzbGsDbWFpbAR0ZXN0Aw--;_ylv=3
We have to wait just a few more months to see the future clay model lmao!!! i cant wait to see this year 2012 clay model simply hilarious lol!!! where is petey no where to be found?? no pr??
http://gas2.org/2011/07/14/west-philly-high-school-builds-160-mpg-supercar-win-green-grand-prix/
Interesting story!!!
A group of high school students, using a kit car body designed for high performance, managed to win the Green Grand Prix rally back in April by getting 160 mpg using an old VW engine running on biodiesel and a home-built hybrid system.
The West Philly Hybrid X team is made up of teachers and students, and the team is sponsored by U.S.-based International Battery. West Philly faced off against some stiff competition from big names like the Chevy Volt and Tesla Roadster, but their unique vehicle won the day. Using a GTM kit car body from Factory Five Racing, which borrows many parts from the Chevrolet Corvette chassis, the West Philly team forwent big-block horsepower in favor of the small and efficient 1.9 liter Volkswagen diesel engine. Found in VW’s from the late 90’s and early 2000’s, these engines are quite capable of getting 50+ mpg when driven lightly, and can be made to run on biodiesel to boot.
With the 1.9 liter diesel mid-mounted in the GTM, the team next mocked up a home-built hybrid system, using International Battery’s lithium-ion battery cells, broken up into four packs distributed across the car and providing 180 volts of power. The West Philly team managed to achieve about 160 mpg over 100 miles of continuous driving, better than the 90 other teams that entered. The next-closest result was only 106 mpg.
I love this approach to fuel efficiency. The GTM kit car is the perfect choice, being aerodynamic and lightweight. The 1.9 liter VW engine is a stroke of genius as well, and it isn’t a slouch, especially in the lightweight GTM body. Reportedly, the car is also pretty damn quick when the throttle is mashed, and I believe it. Hopefully this group of kids go on to bigger and better things. Not too shabby for some teenagers, eh?
Source: Green Grand Prix via EVWorld
Source: Gas 2.0 (http://s.tt/12QHQ)
what happened to petey???? lol
Interesting article
http://news.yahoo.com/oil-pipeline-argument-focuses-jobs-environment-211338366.html
..Oil pipeline argument focuses on jobs, environment
AP – 6 hrs ago....tweet7Share0EmailPrint......Business slideshows.
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50 photos - Fri, Sep 30, 2011"Occupy Wall Street" protest
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11 photos - Thu, Sep 29, 2011...See latest photos »....MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (AP) — Backers of an oil pipeline that would cut across Oklahoma to deliver crude oil from Canada to refineries in Houston want the jobs that would come with the project, but environmental groups say the damage to natural areas isn't worth the benefits the shortcut would bring.
Supporters of the 1,700-mile pipeline that would carry oil that's being extracted from Canadian oil sands also said at a Friday hearing by the U.S. State Department that it's better to buy crude from a close ally than from unstable sources from overseas. Federal officials also held hearings this past week in Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Kansas and Montana.
Opponents of the $7 billion project, including Oklahoma Sierra Club Chairman Charles Wesner, say the pipeline is bound to leak and cause environmental problems. The Oklahoman reported that Wesner said oil development in Canada is destroying millions of acres of boreal forest and contributing to global warming.
"Pipelines are notorious for leaking," he said. "It's not a matter of if; it's a matter of where and when. It's going to cause a great deal of destruction, somewhere at some time," Wesner said.
American Petroleum Institute economist John Felmy said Wesner overstated his argument and that the pipeline would provide a path for moving $17 trillion worth of oil that's under the ground in Canada.
Calgary-based TransCanada would operate the Keystone XL pipeline. An existing line starts in Alberta, Canada, and runs through the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba before heading south through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, and ending at Cushing, Okla., in the state's north-central region.
The Keystone XL would take a more direct route to Cushing, going through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, and meeting up with the existing route at the Nebraska-Kansas border. The new line would extend from Cushing south into Texas, where it would stretch to Houston, with a branch also going to Port Arthur.
Environmental groups fear the pipeline would leak and endanger subsurface water supplies across the territory and disrupt wildlife habitats. They also say the project is being rushed to approval without adequate safeguards and emergency response plans, something backers deny.
The Norman Transcript reported that two members of the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 344, Kenny Whitson and James McDonald of Oklahoma City, said the environmental concerns aren't so great. Plus, they want the jobs that construction of the underground pipeline would create.
"I think it's people overreacting," McDonald said.
"There'll be a lot of jobs for welders, operators digging ditches and getting it back the way they found it again," Whitson said. "It isn't anything new. It's just the length and the enormity of the job that sets this one apart."
Supporters also say pipeline technology has improved and that the chances of leaks are remote.
..
I will believe when I see it, the both site havent been updated within months, revengesupers.com, and revenegedesigns.com so there is something defintely suspicious about this company. In addtion, the stock hasnt moved within months!!! We have to wait and see what Peter will do to pull the ultimate trick out his hat come january!!! I cant wait to see the new clay model or unfinished car!!
Italian automaker Pagani was to begin selling its $1 million, 700 horsepower Huayra supercar in the U.S. later this year but federal safety regulators have said "Not so fast."
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/u-s--blocks--1-million-italian-supercar.html
MORE AT CNNMONEY.COM
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Pagani had applied for an exemption from federal auto safety rules requiring child-safe "advanced" airbags, arguing that complying with the rule would have caused "substantial economic hardship," according to documents from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
NHTSA denied the request, essentially blocking the car from sale in the U.S., because Pagani failed to show that installing the airbags on the twin-turbocharged 12-cylinder carbon-titanium car would cause the company undue financial strain. Also, the Italian carmaker didn't show that serious efforts had been made to comply, the agency said.
The auto safety agency sometimes grants temporary exemptions from specific safety rules, especially for automakers that plan to sell only a small number of cars.
Pagani created the Huayra as part of the automaker's plan to break into the U.S. market. The car was engineered and crash tested to meet safety standards in both the U.S. and Europe.
Pagani insists it will sell the car here, just not in 2012 as it had planned. The Huayra will now go on sale some time in 2013, Paganai spokeswoman Sanaz Bakhtiari said.
Advanced airbags are designed to sense when children or small adults are in the vehicle and adjust the force with which they deploy accordingly. Early airbags were found to injure -- and even kill -- small children.
Much of the Huayra's structure, particularly the area around the driver, is made from a strong, lightweight material called carbon-titanium. The fuel tank, made from "different composite and ballistic materials," is integrated into the body just behind the cabin, according to the company.
At about 3,000 pounds, Pagani boasts that the Huayra is the lightest car in its class, enabling it to go from a zero to 60 miles per hour in about 3.5 seconds.
With it's seven figure price tag the Huayra would have competed in the rarified pricing sphere of cars like the Bugatti Veyron which is finishing its sales run just as just the Huayra was preparing to enter the market, or the quickly sold out Lamborghini Reventon.
With a total of only 60 employees, Pagani's small factory can only produce so many of the largely hand-built cars, so initial sales in the U.S. were to be limited to about five cars a year during 2012, the automaker said in February. After that, a planned factory expansion would allow for sales of as many as 10 cars a year here.
The Huayra, pronounced "why-rah," is named after the ancient Andean wind god Aymara Huayra Tata.
Wow a supercar made over seas had more of chance of production here than american made RVGD "mmmmmmmmm" how did that happened lmao!!!
http://etfdb.com/2011/three-etfs-for-natgas-act-2011/
Three ETFs For NatGas Act 2011
by Jared Cummans on June 3, 2011 | ETFs Mentioned: FCG • MLPG • UNG
14Share
The debate on our nation’s dependence on oil has been a major issue for quite some time now. Crude oil is a finite resource, and one that we will eventually run out of–though estimates of just how long that will take stretch across the board. But as the largest consumers of crude (roughly 7.3 million barrels per day) in the world, and with 51% of our oil coming from foreign nations, the U.S. will eventually be forced to face its addiction to crude head on. From here, many experts and analysts have their own opinions as to which resource would be the most environmentally friendly and cheapest alternative. While alternative sources of power such as wind and solar energy have been in the works for years, these industries face considerably hurdles still before becoming economically viable.
In recent years, natural gas has gained momentum as a viable piece of the domestic energy equation thanks to the high profile efforts of a number of individuals and organizations. Natural gas is already a major energy source for homes all across the country, as over half use some form of natural gas to run appliances like stoves, water heaters, and clothes dryers (in 2009, about 25% of domestic energy was derived from natural gas). But as a fuel for automobiles, natural gas is a relatively new concept. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has slowly been gaining popularity as a fuel for cars, though less than 1% of all vehicles currently utilize this method. In order to help promote this clean-burning– and abundant– alternative to gasoline, Congress has proposed The New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions of 2011, aka the NatGas Act 2011 [see also Natural Gas ETFs: Seven Ways To Play].
Inside NatGas 2011
The NatGas Act “provides incentives for the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel; the purchase of natural gas fueled vehicles; and the installation of natural gas vehicle refueling property,” writes Ryan Gray. The bill will provide numerous provisions such as a tax credit of up to 80% of the cost of buying a natural gas vehicle. This could include vehicles that utilize both natural gas and another fuel for power, as well as those that exclusively use natural gas. The bill will also extend the current 50 cent per gallon credit on LNG. Tax incentives will also be offered for manufacturers of natural gas as well as those involved in the fuel’s infrastructure. The proposed bill make sense, as the EIA has reported that the U.S. possesses 2.55 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas resources (this compared to the modest 22.84 trillion cubic feet that was consumed in all of 2009). If natural gas companies are able to tap into these major reserves, supplies could skyrocket in a relatively short period of time [see also Natural Gas ETFs: Investing In The Fuel Of The Future].
With the possibility of a viable alternative to oil on the horizon, and possible legislation to push it to the forefront, investing in the natural gas sector has become increasingly popular. There are a number of ETFs that offer exposure to natural gas in various ways, including direct ownership in futures contracts, equities that are involved in gas production and exploration, and gas-focused master limited partnerships (MLPs). Below, we outline three natural gas option to keep an eye on as NatGas 2011 makes its way through Congress in the coming weeks:
United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG)
UNG is one of the most popular ETFs, as nearly 16 million shares change hands on an average day. This ETF invests in front month natural gas futures, rolling holdings on a monthly basis. That strategy creates some meaningful contango-related headwinds for long-term investors, but also results in increased correlation with spot prices over the short run. As the huge ADV figures indicate, UNG is more of a trading vehicle used by those expressing a short-term outlook than it is a buy-and-hold security [see also Strange Times For The Natural Gas ETN (GAZ)].
First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas (FCG)
This product offers exposure to natural gas indirectly, investing in companies that derive a substantial portion of their revenues from the exploration and production of natural gas. The underlying index is an equal-weighted index that considers, among other factors, historical correlation to natural prices in selecting component stocks. FCG holds over 85% of its assets in U.S. equities, with the other allocations going to companies in Canada, the UK, and Norway. The passing of NatGas could be major boost for FCG, as many of its 31 holdings would be eligible to receive a tax benefit based on their production and manufacturing on natural gas.
E-TRACS Alerian Natural Gas MLP Index (MLPG)
MLPG is an exchange-traded note linked to the Alerian Natural Gas MLP Index, which provides investors with a benchmark for the infrastructure component of the natural gas industry. Top holdings in this product include Copano Energy LP, ONEOK Partners LP, and El Paso Pipeline Partners LP, companies that are engaged in the pipeline transport primarily of natural gas. Increased usage of natural gas would boost demand for the assets owned by MLPG components, potentially allowing these companies to charge higher “tolls” to transport fuel through the tollways (i.e., pipelines) they own. While many products in the MLP ETFdb Category are involved in the storage and transfer of petroleum-based products, MLPG is a purer play on natural gas.
[For more ETF ideas sign up for our free ETF newsletter]
Disclosure: Photo courtesy of Adam E. Moreira. No positions at time of writing.
ETF Database is not an investment advisor, and any content published by ETF Database does not constitute individual investment advice. The opinions offered herein are not personalized recommendations to buy, sell or hold securities. From time to time, issuers of exchange-traded products mentioned herein may place paid advertisements with ETF Database. All content on ETF Database is produced independently of any advertising relationships. Read the full disclaimer here.
Are you enjoying ETF Database?
Get more articles like this one via our free daily e-mail newsletter or RSS feed.
Related News Stories
Natural Gas ETFs: Seven Ways To Play
Natural Gas ETFs: Investing In The Fuel Of The Future
WCAT: Another Alternative To UNG
UNG vs. FCG: A Better Natural Gas ETF?
UNG Springs A Leak
Comments on this entry are closed.
Three ETFs For NatGas Act 2011
by Jared Cummans on June 3, 2011 | ETFs Mentioned: FCG • MLPG • UNG
14Share
The debate on our nation’s dependence on oil has been a major issue for quite some time now. Crude oil is a finite resource, and one that we will eventually run out of–though estimates of just how long that will take stretch across the board. But as the largest consumers of crude (roughly 7.3 million barrels per day) in the world, and with 51% of our oil coming from foreign nations, the U.S. will eventually be forced to face its addiction to crude head on. From here, many experts and analysts have their own opinions as to which resource would be the most environmentally friendly and cheapest alternative. While alternative sources of power such as wind and solar energy have been in the works for years, these industries face considerably hurdles still before becoming economically viable.
In recent years, natural gas has gained momentum as a viable piece of the domestic energy equation thanks to the high profile efforts of a number of individuals and organizations. Natural gas is already a major energy source for homes all across the country, as over half use some form of natural gas to run appliances like stoves, water heaters, and clothes dryers (in 2009, about 25% of domestic energy was derived from natural gas). But as a fuel for automobiles, natural gas is a relatively new concept. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has slowly been gaining popularity as a fuel for cars, though less than 1% of all vehicles currently utilize this method. In order to help promote this clean-burning– and abundant– alternative to gasoline, Congress has proposed The New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions of 2011, aka the NatGas Act 2011 [see also Natural Gas ETFs: Seven Ways To Play].
Inside NatGas 2011
The NatGas Act “provides incentives for the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel; the purchase of natural gas fueled vehicles; and the installation of natural gas vehicle refueling property,” writes Ryan Gray. The bill will provide numerous provisions such as a tax credit of up to 80% of the cost of buying a natural gas vehicle. This could include vehicles that utilize both natural gas and another fuel for power, as well as those that exclusively use natural gas. The bill will also extend the current 50 cent per gallon credit on LNG. Tax incentives will also be offered for manufacturers of natural gas as well as those involved in the fuel’s infrastructure. The proposed bill make sense, as the EIA has reported that the U.S. possesses 2.55 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas resources (this compared to the modest 22.84 trillion cubic feet that was consumed in all of 2009). If natural gas companies are able to tap into these major reserves, supplies could skyrocket in a relatively short period of time [see also Natural Gas ETFs: Investing In The Fuel Of The Future].
With the possibility of a viable alternative to oil on the horizon, and possible legislation to push it to the forefront, investing in the natural gas sector has become increasingly popular. There are a number of ETFs that offer exposure to natural gas in various ways, including direct ownership in futures contracts, equities that are involved in gas production and exploration, and gas-focused master limited partnerships (MLPs). Below, we outline three natural gas option to keep an eye on as NatGas 2011 makes its way through Congress in the coming weeks:
United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG)
UNG is one of the most popular ETFs, as nearly 16 million shares change hands on an average day. This ETF invests in front month natural gas futures, rolling holdings on a monthly basis. That strategy creates some meaningful contango-related headwinds for long-term investors, but also results in increased correlation with spot prices over the short run. As the huge ADV figures indicate, UNG is more of a trading vehicle used by those expressing a short-term outlook than it is a buy-and-hold security [see also Strange Times For The Natural Gas ETN (GAZ)].
First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas (FCG)
This product offers exposure to natural gas indirectly, investing in companies that derive a substantial portion of their revenues from the exploration and production of natural gas. The underlying index is an equal-weighted index that considers, among other factors, historical correlation to natural prices in selecting component stocks. FCG holds over 85% of its assets in U.S. equities, with the other allocations going to companies in Canada, the UK, and Norway. The passing of NatGas could be major boost for FCG, as many of its 31 holdings would be eligible to receive a tax benefit based on their production and manufacturing on natural gas.
E-TRACS Alerian Natural Gas MLP Index (MLPG)
MLPG is an exchange-traded note linked to the Alerian Natural Gas MLP Index, which provides investors with a benchmark for the infrastructure component of the natural gas industry. Top holdings in this product include Copano Energy LP, ONEOK Partners LP, and El Paso Pipeline Partners LP, companies that are engaged in the pipeline transport primarily of natural gas. Increased usage of natural gas would boost demand for the assets owned by MLPG components, potentially allowing these companies to charge higher “tolls” to transport fuel through the tollways (i.e., pipelines) they own. While many products in the MLP ETFdb Category are involved in the storage and transfer of petroleum-based products, MLPG is a purer play on natural gas.
[For more ETF ideas sign up for our free ETF newsletter]
Disclosure: Photo courtesy of Adam E. Moreira. No positions at time of writing.
ETF Database is not an investment advisor, and any content published by ETF Database does not constitute individual investment advice. The opinions offered herein are not personalized recommendations to buy, sell or hold securities. From time to time, issuers of exchange-traded products mentioned herein may place paid advertisements with ETF Database. All content on ETF Database is produced independently of any advertising relationships. Read the full disclaimer here.
Are you enjoying ETF Database?
Get more articles like this one via our free daily e-mail newsletter or RSS feed.
Related News Stories
Natural Gas ETFs: Seven Ways To Play
Natural Gas ETFs: Investing In The Fuel Of The Future
WCAT: Another Alternative To UNG
UNG vs. FCG: A Better Natural Gas ETF?
UNG Springs A Leak
Comments on this entry are closed.
http://etfdb.com/2011/three-etfs-for-natgas-act-2011/
This is article petey should pay close attention too.....
http://editorial.autos.msn.com/how-and-why-the-middle-east-is-buying-into-europes-car-companies?icid=autos_0695>1=22034
How (and Why) the Middle East is Buying into Europe's Car Companies
Qatar, Bahrain, and others have taken stakes in major automakers.
By Ray Hutton of Car and Driver
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Illustration by Jonathan Williams
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This past January, a Boeing 747 loaded with 11 Volkswagen Phaetons landed at Doha, the capital of Qatar, in the Persian Gulf. The cars and their drivers had been sent there for one day to chauffeur Volkswagen's senior executives and members of its supervisory board, including chairman Ferdinand Piëch and chief executive Martin Winterkorn. The high-level delegation came to Qatar to attend the country's first auto show and the Middle East Automotive Summit.
By international standards, the Qatar show is a minor regional event. Qatar is a small desert state with a population of about 1 million and a new-car market of ?just 40,000 units a year. It has no vehicle manufacturing, but it does have a lot of oil and natural gas; because of that, Qatar has a lot of money.
It was that money — more than $7 billion of it — that brought the most senior people from Europe's largest car company to Qatar. Qatar Holding, LLC, owns 17 percent of the massive Volkswagen Group.
Qatar started investing in Porsche when the Stuttgart sports-car maker ran into trouble after its audacious attempt to take over Volkswagen. Porsche sold 10 percent of ?its voting shares to Qatar. Now the tables are turned, and VW is bringing Porsche into the Volkswagen Group, with Qatar as its largest shareholder. But Qatar isn't the only Middle Eastern state investing oil riches in the car business.
Actually, the Persian Gulf has been putting money into car companies since the 1970s. In the wake of the first oil crisis, nearly four decades ago, Mercedes-Benz's parent company, Daimler-Benz, benefited from funds from newly rich Kuwait. Since then, Middle Eastern money has become an increasingly important factor for top-end European carmakers. But now, amid political and social turmoil in the region, some of those companies are beginning to feel uncomfortable.
An important chapter in the story dates back to 1977, when Gianni Agnelli, chairman of ?Italy's biggest industrial group, sought outside financing to support Fiat's then-struggling car business. With oil prices on the rise, Middle Eastern producers had money?to spare. Italy's strongest links in the region were with its former colony Libya. The Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company paid some $400 million for a 15-percent stake in the Fiat Group and appointed two directors to the Fiat board.
This became problematic for Fiat when the el-Qaddafi regime was identified as a sponsor of international terrorism. In 1986, Fiat persuaded a reluctant Libya to sell back its shares. To the likely -discomfort of Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and the current Fiat management, Libya later acquired — and continues to own — a new stake in Fiat amounting to about two percent.
As with the efforts of ?Middle Eastern countries to raise their status in the world by hosting major sporting events and tourist attractions, buying into car companies is strictly business. These investments look to a post-oil future.
Elsewhere in the Gulf . . .
Ferrari, a Fiat company, has formed a close association with Abu Dhabi, one of the wealthiest and most stable Gulf capitals. In 2002, during a dip in Fiat's fortunes, Ferrari sold 34 percent of its shares to the bank Mediobanca, which in turn sold five percent of Ferrari for $114 million to Mubadala, a state-supported investment firm in Abu Dhabi. Over the past three years, Fiat has bought back both Mubadala and Mediobanca's Ferrari shares, but the Abu Dhabi connection is maintained by the companies' joint involvement in the Yas Marina Formula 1 circuit and the Ferrari World park. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Mubadala's CEO, is a member of ?Ferrari's board.
In 2005, Mubadala took a 17-percent share of the fledgling Spyker sports-car business, which took over Saab Automobiles from General Motors five years later. This February, the Abu Dhabi investment in Spyker-Saab stood at 20 percent.
In 2009, Aabar Investments, a stock fund owned by the Abu Dhabi government, invested $2.7 billion in Daimler. In connected deals, Aabar also took a 30-percent interest in Brawn GP, the world-champion Formula 1 team that was renamed Mercedes Grand Prix, and became a four-percent investor in electric carmaker Tesla Motors.
Kuwait quickly bounced back from the instability caused by the Iraqi invasion in 1990. By 2007, its financial institutions were building a portfolio of luxury properties. Two of them, Investment Dar and Adeem Investment, paid $848 million to the Ford Motor Company for its stake in Aston Martin. Investment Dar also owns 40 percent of Prodrive, the British engineering specialist (run by David Richards, Aston Martin's chairman) that builds Aston's race cars and World Rally Championship Minis for BMW.
KIA — the Kuwait Investment Authority, not the Korean car company — continues to have a stake in Daimler but has been overtaken by Abu Dhabi as its biggest shareholder; Aabar has 9.1 percent of the German company.
Competition seems to be growing between the oil-rich states to become part of the auto industry. Bahrain, the tiny state that neighbors Qatar, likes to claim automotive leadership in the Middle East and is promoting its country as an ideal environment for research and development. Ruf, the German Porsche tuner, has set up a small manufacturing facility there.
The Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company is building up to a 50-percent stake in the McLaren Group, which includes the Formula 1 team, and currently owns 50 percent of the McLaren Automotive production-car subsidiary that has just started building the MP4-12C. When McLaren Automotive was established in 2009, managing director Ron Dennis said that he and his longtime partner TAG CEO Mansour Ojjeh (a Saudi Arabian-born entrepreneur) wanted to sell 49 percent of the shares in the new subsidiary. They didn't do so, and the rumor is that the most eager investors were from other Gulf states, which wouldn't sit comfortably with Mumtalakat.
Whether the Bahrain government's appetite for investments will be affected by recent civil unrest remains to be seen, but the Bahrain Grand Prix, opener of the 2011 Formula 1 season, was canceled in March.
The money is in middle east not alabama wow petey is comical lmao!!!
Alabama broke on bonds, worst in us history mmmmmmmmmm where does petey plan to get that money lmao!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/113207/facing-hit-over-debt-alabama-wsj?mod=bb-budgeting%20&sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=Facing a Hit Over Debt in Alabama
by Michael Corkery
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
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In a move to avoid the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, holders of more than $3 billion in debt issued by Jefferson County, Ala., are working on a rescue that would leave them with steep losses.
The offer calls for bondholders to forgive about $1 billion of the $3.14 billion in sewer debt owed by Alabama's most populous county, which has about 665,000 residents, a person familiar with the matter said.
Banks, hedge funds and mom-and-pop investors that own the sewer bonds are scrambling to agree on concessions before a Thursday meeting, where officials in Jefferson County, which includes Birmingham, might decide to file for bankruptcy.
As of late Tuesday, the situation remained fluid, and it was possible the last-ditch offer would fall apart.
John S. Young, a court-appointed receiver who is participating in the talks, said bondholders still "have a way to go."
The deal being worked on also includes money that would be set aside to help struggling Jefferson County residents pay their sewer bills, a person familiar with the matter said.
[More from WSJ.com: California Counties Reel From Tax Hit]
If bondholders walk away from about a third of what they are owed by Jefferson County, it would be one of the biggest "haircuts" ever in the U.S. municipal-bond market. County commissioners previously asked for $1.3 billion in concessions, demanding a response by this week. Jefferson County Commissioner Jimmie Stephens said Tuesday afternoon that officials are likely to put off the bankruptcy-filing discussion if bondholders go through with the $1 billion offer.
The county's financial fate has been up in the air for about three years. The sewer debt involved a complex series of interest-rate swaps and other terms that severely strained Jefferson County's bottom line. A handful of county officials have been convicted of wrongdoing related to the mess. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM - News) paid $75 million in penalties and fees and agreed to forfeit an additional $647 million in termination fees to settle federal securities charges related to the sewer debt. The bank settled without admitting or denying the SEC allegations related to the Alabama debt.
Because of its role in arranging the deal, J.P. Morgan has offered to absorb the biggest loss of any bondholder as part of a $1 billion offer, according to a person familiar with the situation. Bondholders also want insurers that back payments on some of the bonds, including Syncora Holdings Ltd. (SYCRF - News) and Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., to make good on at least some of their promised payouts. A Syncora spokesman declined to comment, and FGIC officials couldn't be reached.
[More from WSJ.com: Dunkin' to Fuel Coffee Wars]
A spokesman for New York state's insurance regulator, which is part of the Jefferson County talks because it oversees the insurers, declined to comment Tuesday.
Meanwhile, hedge funds that bought the county's bonds on the cheap are angling in the talks for the biggest possible profit. Individual investors are expected to get all their money back, according to Mr. Young.
On-again, off-again negotiations among bondholders, county officials, Alabama officials and other parties have revved up in recent weeks. A "standstill" period aimed at reaching a deal expires Friday, and county officials have said they want to decide once and for all whether to file for bankruptcy. "This issue has affected our state economy and our local economy," said Mr. Stephens. "It's time we brought this to resolution."
If bondholders agree to reduce the outstanding principal on Jefferson County's sewer debt, the county would seek to refinance debt it still owes into a lower interest rate. But that may not be enough to reverse huge increases in sewer bills forced by the crisis, Mr. Stephens said.
Any deal hinges on whether Alabama officials agree to guarantee the new debt and pledge the state's "moral obligation" to pay bond investors in case Jefferson County can't do so. Alabama's legislature would have to approve such a guarantee.
[More from WSJ.com: Post-Office Closure List Sent]
A spokeswoman for Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, a Republican, said his office, which is involved in the rescue talks, has "received some information from the creditors, but we're waiting for more." The delicate discussions are being coordinated by Mr. Young, the receiver, who is a civil engineer by training. He is working the phones in Birmingham, Alabama's capital city of Montgomery and New York.
Talks were expected to last through the night. Earlier Tuesday, Jefferson County officials took another step toward a potential bankruptcy filing, hiring bankruptcy lawyer Kenneth Klee of Los Angeles firm Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP. Mr. Klee represented Orange County, Calif., in the last major U.S. municipal bankruptcy, in 1994.
Write to Michael Corkery at michael.corkery@wsj.com
see i told this zgoldies he was going to come out with lame excuses I cant wait till september to see what lame pr petey is going to put out for RVGD,....... the plot thickens lmao!!!!
Bill Clinton Steps in After Congress Fails
Author: Jimmy Zuma
Published: June 30, 2011 at 3:17 pm
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So it has come to this. In another example of the real US Exceptionalism we’ve now become the only first-world nation to need a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) intervention. CGI is organized to “devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.” This year, that’s us.
Am I the only person this bothers?
That’s not to say a Clinton intervention is unnecessary; just the opposite. Despite the spiteful and blustery rhetoric from the Republican-controlled House, this Congress seems unable to fix anything. They haven’t created a single job – not one. Their economic strategy consists entirely of fawning over the rich as if they were the precious thing that makes us all worthy.
Didn’t we already try that?
Yet this is Republican science in a nutshell. They practice faith-based economics – start with a moral belief, ignore all evidence and be blind to bad results. When whatever you believe in doesn’t work, just do it more. Then double down. Comparing these Republicans to either Sasha or Malia finds them several years wanting in maturity and comparatively without any sense. Either Obama kid could surely do better at creating jobs.
There is no jobs program, no tech investment program, no worker retraining program, no business creation investment fund, no new Small Business Administration technical assistance initiative, no manufacturing development loan fund, and no green jobs program. They’ve taken that Reagan “can’t do-ism” to a level that would frighten even old Ronnie himself.
The Democratically-controlled Senate, as usual, remains paralyzed by its filibuster and supermajority rules. The Senate is actually controlled by the tyranny of one. It’s certainly no excuse, but even if that formerly august body could manage to accomplish anything, they’d run into a roadblock just south of the Dome.
Today’s Congress is made up of collective senility on the north side and complete nutbaggery to the south.
So these things are left to international philanthropists. Until now, these folks had concerned themselves with third world countries like Haiti and Namibia. Last year they focused on healthcare and education for girls and on bringing technology into the outback. The year before that it was about building canals and railroads. And the year before that? Well, you get the idea.
This latest Clinton Global Initiative, dubbed “CGI America” is focused on job creation. Here. In the United States. Let that sink in for a moment…
Bill Clinton Steps in After Congress Fails - Page 2
Author: Jimmy Zuma
Published: June 30, 2011 at 3:17 pm
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The meeting convened with an opening session called “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.” It was devoted to “supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, strengthening American industries, building the infrastructure for a clean energy economy, equipping students with the skills needed for the 21st-century workforce, and ensuring America’s fiscal sustainability.”
In the opening session, speaking to over 700 sector leaders from business, governments and nonprofits, President Clinton announced the first three “Commitments to Action.” These are a feature of CGI in which sponsors make financial and administrative commitments to accomplish initiatives.
The first commitments were by Kiva, Visa, Onshore Technology Services, and the AFL-CIO. They promised to expand access to microfinance, train workers, and fund infrastructure development. “When these commitments are fully funded and implemented, 140,000 people will receive access to job training, 1,000 information technology jobs will be created in rural America, and $3.5 million will be loaned to small businesses in the U.S.,” said President Clinton.
Kiva is a nonprofit provider of international micro loans. Microfinance, of course, is the loan strategy pioneered in third world countries to spur business creation. It hasn’t been tried here. Historically, Kiva’s average loan is $384. Visa will provide $1 million to support Kiva activities in Detroit.
Onshore Technology Services organizes the outsourcing of corporate tasks to vendors in rural Missouri. AFL-CIO will invest $10-20 million dollars in real-estate investment funds that underwrite energy efficient retrofits of commercial, industrial, institutional, and public buildings.
With the exception of micro loans, The CGI ideas look an awful lot like President Obama’s plan. There is a concerted focus on new energy, energy retrofit, and the technology sector to create new-economy jobs. And they also want to develop new and replicable strategies for improving the availability of jobs. These ideas are commonly held views about how to fix the economy. Yet to Republicans, they are as alien as climate change. “How is helping workers going to create jobs” you can imagine them saying. “Only rich people can create jobs.”
During the meeting, ten working groups will focus on: Green Buildings, the Healthcare Workforce, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Rural Renewal, Service Corps, Startups, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Education, Veteran Employment, and Workforce Development.
This is all good stuff. All of it is sadly needed. And all of it, tragically, is the kind of stuff that would be done by our Congress — if we had one.
Read more: http://technorati.com/politics/article/bill-clinton-steps-in-after-congress/page-2/#ixzz1Qp2hekUc
Read more: http://technorati.com/politics/article/bill-clinton-steps-in-after-congress/#ixzz1Qp2bwrLs
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43539470/ns/business-us_business'Enron moment': Insiders sound alarm amid a natural gas rush
Natural gas companies have been placing enormous bets on the wells they are drilling, saying they will deliver big profits and provide a vast new source of energy for the United States.
But the gas may not be as easy and cheap to extract from shale formations deep underground as the companies are saying, according to hundreds of industry e-mails and internal documents and an analysis of data from thousands of wells.
In the e-mails, energy executives, industry lawyers, state geologists and market analysts voice skepticism about lofty forecasts and question whether companies are intentionally, and even illegally, overstating the productivity of their wells and the size of their reserves. Many of these e-mails also suggest a view that is in stark contrast to more bullish public comments made by the industry, in much the same way that insiders have raised doubts about previous financial bubbles.
“Money is pouring in” from investors even though shale gas is “inherently unprofitable,” an analyst from PNC Wealth Management, an investment company, wrote to a contractor in a February e-mail. “Reminds you of dot-coms.”
“The word in the world of independents is that the shale plays are just giant Ponzi schemes and the economics just do not work,” an analyst from IHS Drilling Data, an energy research company, wrote in an e-mail on Aug. 28, 2009.
Company data for more than 10,000 wells in three major shale gas formations raise further questions about the industry’s prospects. There is undoubtedly a vast amount of gas in the formations. The question remains how affordably it can be extracted.
The data show that while there are some very active wells, they are often surrounded by vast zones of less-productive wells that in some cases cost more to drill and operate than the gas they produce is worth. Also, the amount of gas produced by many of the successful wells is falling much faster than initially predicted by energy companies, making it more difficult for them to turn a profit over the long run.
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If the industry does not live up to expectations, the impact will be felt widely. Federal and state lawmakers are considering drastically increasing subsidies for the natural gas business in the hope that it will provide low-cost energy for decades to come.
Video: The battle over natural gas drilling
But if natural gas ultimately proves more expensive to extract from the ground than has been predicted, landowners, investors and lenders could see their investments falter, while consumers will pay a price in higher electricity and home heating bills.
Environmental implications
There are implications for the environment, too. The technology used to get gas flowing out of the ground — called hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking — can require over a million gallons of water per well, and some of that water must be disposed of because it becomes contaminated by the process. If shale gas wells fade faster than expected, energy companies will have to drill more wells or hydrofrack them more often, resulting in more toxic waste.
The e-mails were obtained through open-records requests or provided to The New York Times by industry consultants and analysts who say they believe that the public perception of shale gas does not match reality; names and identifying information were redacted to protect these people, who were not authorized to communicate publicly. In the e-mails, some people within the industry voice grave concerns.
“And now these corporate giants are having an Enron moment,” a retired geologist from a major oil and gas company wrote in a February e-mail about other companies invested in shale gas. “They want to bend light to hide the truth.”
Others within the industry remain optimistic. They argue that shale gas economics will improve as the price of gas rises, technology evolves and demand for gas grows with help from increased federal subsidies being considered by Congress. “Shale gas supply is only going to increase,” Steven C. Dixon, executive vice president of Chesapeake Energy, said at an energy industry conference in April in response to skepticism about well performance.
Studying the data
“I think we have a big problem.”
Deborah Rogers, a member of the advisory committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, recalled saying that in a May 2010 telephone call to a senior economist at the Reserve, Mine K. Yucel. “We need to take a close look at this right away,” she added.
A former stockbroker with Merrill Lynch, Ms. Rogers said she started studying well data from shale companies in October 2009 after attending a speech by the chief executive of Chesapeake, Aubrey K. McClendon. The math was not adding up, Ms. Rogers said. Her research showed that wells were petering out faster than expected.
“These wells are depleting so quickly that the operators are in an expensive game of ‘catch-up,’ ” Ms. Rogers wrote in an e-mail on Nov. 17, 2009, to a petroleum geologist in Houston, who wrote back that he agreed.
“This could have profound consequences for our local economy,” she explained in the e-mail.
Fort Worth residents were already reeling from the sudden reversal of fortune for the natural gas industry.
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In early 2008, energy companies were scrambling in Fort Worth to get residents to lease their land for drilling as they searched for so-called monster wells. Billboards along the highways stoked the boom-time excitement: “If you don’t have a gas lease, get one!” Oil and gas companies were in a fierce bidding war for drilling rights, offering people bonuses as high as $27,500 per acre for signing leases.
The actor Tommy Lee Jones signed on as a pitchman for Chesapeake, one of the largest shale gas companies. “The extremely long-term benefits include new jobs and capital investment and royalties and revenues that pay for public roads, schools and parks,” he said in one television advertisement about drilling in the Barnett shale in and around Fort Worth.
To investors, shale companies had a more sophisticated pitch. With better technology, they had refined a “manufacturing model,” they said, that would allow them to drop a well virtually anywhere in certain parts of a shale formation and expect long-lasting returns.
Wall Street holy grail
For Wall Street, this was the holy grail: a low-risk and high-profit proposition. But by late 2008, the recession took hold and the price of natural gas plunged by nearly two-thirds, throwing the drilling companies’ business model into a tailspin.
In Texas, the advertisements featuring Mr. Jones disappeared. Energy companies rescinded high-priced lease offers to thousands of residents, which prompted class-action lawsuits. Royalty checks dwindled. Tax receipts fell.
The impact of the downturn was immediate for many.
“Ruinous, that’s how I’d describe it,” said the Rev. Kyev Tatum, president of the Fort Worth chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Mr. Tatum explained that dozens of black churches in Fort Worth signed leases on the promise of big money. Instead, some churches were told that their land may no longer be tax exempt even though they had yet to make any royalties on the wells, he said.
That boom-and-bust volatility had raised eyebrows among people like Ms. Rogers, as well as energy analysts and geologists, who started looking closely at the data on wells’ performance.
In May 2010, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas called a meeting to discuss the matter after prodding from Ms. Rogers. One speaker was Kenneth B. Medlock III, an energy expert at Rice University, who described a promising future for the shale gas industry in the United States. When he was done, Ms. Rogers peppered him with questions.
Might growing environmental concerns raise the cost of doing business? If wells were dying off faster than predicted, how many new wells would need to be drilled to meet projections?
Mr. Medlock conceded that production in the Barnett shale formation — or “play,” in industry jargon — was indeed flat and would probably soon decline.
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“Activity will shift toward other plays because the returns there are higher,” he predicted. Ms. Rogers turned to the other commissioners to see if they shared her skepticism, but she said she saw only blank stares.
Bubbling doubts
Some doubts about the industry are being raised by people who work inside energy companies, too.
“Our engineers here project these wells out to 20-30 years of production and in my mind that has yet to be proven as viable,” wrote a geologist at Chesapeake in a March 17 e-mail to a federal energy analyst. “In fact I’m quite skeptical of it myself when you see the % decline in the first year of production.”
“In these shale gas plays no well is really economic right now,” the geologist said in a previous e-mail to the same official on March 16. “They are all losing a little money or only making a little bit of money.”
Around the same time the geologist sent the e-mail, Mr. McClendon, Chesapeake’s chief executive, told investors, “It’s time to get bullish on natural gas.”
In September 2009, a geologist from ConocoPhillips, one of the largest producers of natural gas in the Barnett shale, warned in an e-mail to a colleague that shale gas might end up as “the world’s largest uneconomic field.” About six months later, the company’s chief executive, James J. Mulva, described natural gas as “nature’s gift,” adding that “rather than being expensive, shale gas is often the low-cost source.” Asked about the e-mail, John C. Roper, a spokesman for ConocoPhillips, said he absolutely believed that shale gas is economically viable.
A big attraction for investors is the increasing size of the gas reserves that some companies are reporting. Reserves — in effect, the amount of gas that a company says it can feasibly access from its wells — are important because they are a central measure of an oil and gas company’s value.
Forecasting these reserves is a tricky science. Early predictions are sometimes lowered because of drops in gas prices, as happened in 2008. Intentionally overbooking reserves, however, is illegal because it misleads investors. Industry e-mails, mostly from 2009 and later, include language from oil and gas executives questioning whether other energy companies are doing just that.
The e-mails do not explicitly accuse any companies of breaking the law. But the number of e-mails, the seniority of the people writing them, the variety of positions they hold and the language they use — including comparisons to Ponzi schemes and attempts to “con” Wall Street — suggest that questions about the shale gas industry exist in many corners.
“Do you think that there may be something suspicious going with the public companies in regard to booking shale reserves?” a senior official from Ivy Energy, an investment firm specializing in the energy sector, wrote in a 2009 e-mail.
A former Enron executive wrote in 2009 while working at an energy company: “I wonder when they will start telling people these wells are just not what they thought they were going to be?” He added that the behavior of shale gas companies reminded him of what he saw when he worked at Enron.
Production data, provided by companies to state regulators and reviewed by The Times, show that many wells are not performing as the industry expected. In three major shale formations — the Barnett in Texas, the Haynesville in East Texas and Louisiana and the Fayetteville, across Arkansas — less than 20 percent of the area heralded by companies as productive is emerging as likely to be profitable under current market conditions, according to the data and industry analysts.
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Richard K. Stoneburner, president and chief operating officer of Petrohawk Energy, said that looking at entire shale formations was misleading because some companies drilled only in the best areas or had lower costs. “Outside those areas, you can drill a lot of wells that will never live up to expectations,” he added.
Although energy companies routinely project that shale gas wells will produce gas at a reasonable rate for anywhere from 20 to 65 years, these companies have been making such predictions based on limited data and a certain amount of guesswork, since shale drilling is a relatively new practice.
Most gas companies claim that production will drop sharply after the first few years but then level off, allowing most wells to produce gas for decades.
Gas production data reviewed by The Times suggest that many wells in shale gas fields do not level off the way many companies predict but instead decline steadily.
“This kind of data is making it harder and harder to deny that the shale gas revolution is being oversold,” said Art Berman, a Houston-based geologist who worked for two decades at Amoco and has been one of the most vocal skeptics of shale gas economics.
The Barnett shale, which has the longest production history, provides the most reliable case study for predicting future shale gas potential. The data suggest that if the wells’ production continues to decline in the current manner, many will become financially unviable within 10 to 15 years.
A review of more than 9,000 wells, using data from 2003 to 2009, shows that — based on widely used industry assumptions about the market price of gas and the cost of drilling and operating a well — less than 10 percent of the wells had recouped their estimated costs by the time they were seven years old.
Terry Engelder, a professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, said the debate over long-term well performance was far from resolved. The Haynesville shale has not lived up to early expectations, he said, but industry projections have become more accurate and some wells in the Marcellus shale, which stretches from Virginia to New York, are outperforming expectations.
Sense of confidence
Many people within the industry remain confident.
“I wouldn’t worry about these shale companies,” said T. Boone Pickens, the oil and gas industry executive, adding that he believes that if prices rise, shale gas companies will make good money.
Mr. Pickens said that technological improvements — including hydrofracking wells more than once — are already making production more cost-effective, which is why some major companies like ExxonMobil have recently bought into shale gas.
Shale companies are also adjusting their strategies to make money by focusing on shale wells that produce lucrative liquids, like propane and butane, in addition to natural gas.
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Asked about the e-mails from the Chesapeake geologist casting doubt on company projections, a Chesapeake spokesman, Jim Gipson, said the company was fully confident that a majority of wells would be productive for 30 years or more.
David Pendery, a spokesman for IHS, added that though shale gas prospects had previously been debated by many analysts, in more recent years costs had fallen and technology had improved.
Still, in private exchanges, many industry insiders are skeptical, even cynical, about the industry’s pronouncements. “All about making money,” an official from Schlumberger, an oil and gas services company, wrote in a July 2010 e-mail to a former federal regulator about drilling a well in Europe, where some United States shale companies are hunting for better market opportunities.
“Looks like crap,” the Schlumberger official wrote about the well’s performance, according to the regulator, “but operator will flip it based on ‘potential’ and make some money on it.”
“Always a greater sucker,” the e-mail concluded.
Robbie Brown contributed reporting from Atlanta.
This story, "Insiders Sound an Alarm Amid a Natural Gas Rush," originally appeared in The New York Times.
Brands that have stood the test of time for decades are falling by the wayside at an alarming rate. For instance, Pontiac, a major car brand since 1926, is gone, shut down by a struggling GM.
RVGD still trying to sell pontaic lmao!!!!
yeah right GM struggling to stay live why would i do that lmao wow pita keep up with the jokes the whole board will be laughing soon lmao!!!
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112989/brands-disappear-2012-247
pitadog your hilarious no car on the market goes for 10mg lmao very funny!!!
I see well the real honest truth Petey has FTD (Failure to Deliver) to RVGD shareholders this stock hasnt moved dramatically high since November 2009. Even if Petey could not have secured SBA loan he defintely should have had oppurtunity to get a grant, which wouldnt need any bank assistance. Now that the real honest truth!!!
wow i cant believe that graph that's insane!!! there crooks alright!!
if shale gas is booming what happened to HTOG???
South Texas enjoys major boom from oil fracking
Desolate South Texas towns enjoy first major oil boom in rush to frack Eagle Ford shale
In this May 16, 2011 photo, a drilling rig is installed down the road from a Chesapeake Energy storage tank, near Dilley, Texas. The Oklahoma City-based company has signed a deal with a Chinese company giving them a 33 percent stake in the 600,000 acres Chesapeake has leased to extract oil and gas from Texas’ tightly locked Eagle Ford shale formation. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press, On Sunday June 12, 2011, 2:06 pm EDT
COTULLA, Texas (AP) -- Bill Cotulla's hand rests on the handle of his great-grandfather's cane, his gravelly voice recounting the changes in the small town his ancestor founded and named for himself some 130 years ago. Almost overnight, it has transformed from a South Texas backwater to the hub of a major oil boom.
"You can't be choosy," the 75-year-old muses, considering the expanse of new RV parks, hotels and restaurants. "The oil companies that are putting up buildings are keeping nice yards."
For generations, Cotulla has been a town where even the paved roads had the aura of the dusty, saloon-lined paths from old Western movies. Cowboys, ranchers and shop owners tied their livelihood to the hunting season. Young people left to escape double-digit unemployment and poverty rates.
Now, the challenge is all the people pouring in. Cotulla, about 90 miles south of San Antonio, and nearby towns are rushing to house hundreds of workers and approve plans for apartment complexes and industrial parks to keep up with the development of the Eagle Ford shale formation, one of the most plentiful new oil fields in the country. After several years of preliminary work, the project is fully under way and sales tax revenues are soaring. Municipalities are paving roads, laying water lines and creating parks while trying to avoid being overextended when the boom tapers off.
"There's still more people coming," said Jerry Cox, owner of JJ's Country Store, a restaurant and convenience store on the main highway that runs through the town. "It's like Davy Crockett at the Alamo. You gotta think, are they ever going to stop coming?" he added, referring to the onslaught of Mexican soldiers who overwhelmed the fort.
The economic transformation is the result of a new drilling method, hydraulic fracturing, combined with horizontal drilling, that allows companies to extract oil and gas from impermeable layers of shale. Major industry players have joined the Eagle Ford project, including Anadarko, Range Resources and Shell. Chesapeake Energy of Oklahoma City signed a multi-billion dollar deal with the Chinese state-owned oil company to raise cash to drill in the shale.
No solid estimate of likely production has been made, but the American Petroleum Institute said the field should yield billions of barrels of oil. The project already supports 12,600 fulltime jobs, and by 2020 could account for $11.6 billion and nearly 68,000 jobs in a 24-county area, according to study in February by the University of Texas' Center for Community and Business Research.
Initially, some residents were skeptical about the windfall. In this barren land of mesquite trees, cactus bushes, rattlesnakes, feral hogs, coyotes and bobcats, oil booms-- the real ones-- always happened elsewhere. But the fat bonus checks and royalties rolling in to mineral rights' owners have changed attitudes.
Cox renovated the kitchen in his restaurant and put down new flooring. He desperately wants to hire at least six people. A friend who began building a Best Western on the Cotulla highway had all the rooms booked before construction was complete. People are driving around town in new cars.
Larry Dovalina, interim city administrator of Cotulla, home to barely 3,500 people, said new requests for water and sewer services are coming in daily. The power system is overburdened. Sales tax revenue rose from $445,000 in 2009 to more than $600,000 last year.
Some residents, like Mariane Hall, manager of the Cotulla Chamber of Commerce, are worried about possible side effects from the boom, especially ground water contamination. The development uses a technique known as fracking, which injects chemical-laced water into the shale to push out the minerals. Environmental groups and the Environmental Protection Agency have expressed concerns about the method. But the industry insists it is safe, and residents generally say they'll rely on federal and state agencies to enforce environmental regulations and provide oversight.
Similar booms have happened in other shale regions -- most notably Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. In the places with mostly natural gas, however, production is slowing as the price of natural gas drops.
In South Texas, oil courses through the Eagle Ford's geologic layers -- just as the price per barrel lingers at or above $100.
The area, home to barely a half-million people in some three dozen counties, has been one of the nation's poorest. Several counties have poverty rates over 30 percent -- three times the national average.
"We've gone through a long dry spell," said Jill Martin, owner of Ben's Western Wear shop in downtown Cotulla.
At times, Martin thought she might have to close. The store relied on online sales and the hunting season, when hundreds descend on the area for its white-tailed deer.
Now she knows she should stay open later and on weekends but can't find enough employees. "It's just been amazing from no activity to ...," Martin says, gesturing at the commotion in the small shop packed with cowboy boots and plaid shirts, along with the steel-toed boots and flame resistant clothing coveted by the oilfield workers.
Sixteen miles north, Dilley, sits just off the shale. Yet plans for a 60- to 90-room hotel have been approved, city administrator Melissa Gonzalez said. Three RV parks are going up. Recently, a man offered to buy the town's airport.
Forty miles away in Carrizo Springs, 72-year-old Doris Jackson's RV park has grown from 42 units to 125 in the past two years. The supermarket is packed and runs out of food. She has one well and is getting thousands of dollars in royalties every month. And she's about to get a second well on her property.
"What are we gonna do with all that money?" Jackson says shaking her head. "I'll still buy my clothes in the second-hand shop like I've always done."
Follow Plushnick-Masti on Twitter at http://twitter.com/RamitMastiAP
Plus another thing, he says he cant get any capital is this guy serious??? if his business plan was legit as much as he says he would be able to get easy access to Small business adminstration loan which would inform Dept of Energy, and also have people who are venture capitalist invest in RVGD, which would give him millions therefore his business plan must be flawed since he has a hard time finding investment partners for this organization! he never stated any PR that he has released legitimate money from federal government,now move then ever there are millions available for start up companies so I find it very hard to believe!!
I said there will another 6 months when Petey decides to release another lame PR or poor excuse claiming he cant get any funds for RVGD when there are so many hedge fund billionares who are giving out money worldwide!!! is this guy actually serious lmao!!!
Yeah your absolutely correct there are no paid bills because no cars have been sold!!! has Petey sold anything for RVGD???? completely zero!!!! wow what a CEO!!!LMAO!!!
simply hilarious lmao!!
no need to be perplexed you know very well he will come with lame PR within next 6 months you have to give him time, Petey has consisent track record of FTD LMAO for RVGD Shareholders!
You have to wait for the excuses by peter I give him another 6 months to come out with lame PR, let see what excuse he has for this coming year 2012 NAIAS auto show in detroit, this will be sight to see!!
This is something Revenge should learn how to do!
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Chrysler-lines-up-75-billion-apf-1220028555.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=
Chrysler lines up $7.5 billion to repay loans
Chrysler lines up $7.5 billion to repay US and Canadian government loans
tweet1EmailPrintCompanies:Ford Motor Co.General Motors Company
FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2011 file photo, Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne is seen at a news conference at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Chrysler has lined up investors to help it refinance $7.5 billion in loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments, three people briefed on the matter said Wednesday, May 18, 2011. Under the deal, the company would take out $2.5 billion in bank loans and sell $3.5 billion worth of bonds to investors. Italy's Fiat, which has management control of Chrysler, would kick in $1.3 billion more to raise its stake in the U.S. carmaker. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
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{"s" : "f,gm","k" : "a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00","o" : "","j" : ""} Tom Krisher and Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Auto Writers, On Thursday May 19, 2011, 6:52 pm
DETROIT (AP) -- Chrysler Group LLC could repay most of its government loans as early as next week after raising $7.5 billion from bank loans and bond sales.
The company said last month that it intended repay the U.S. and Canadian governments during the second quarter. It announced the financial details on Thursday. Chrysler could repay the government as early as Tuesday if the deals close as expected.
Under the plan, Chrysler will issue $3.2 billion worth of bonds to investors in two tranches: $1.5 billion in eight-year notes with an 8-percent interest rate and $1.7 billion in 10-year notes with an 8.25-percent interest rate. Chrysler also will take out $4.3 billion in new bank loans, including a $3 billion term loan and a $1.3 billion revolving credit facility.
Chrysler had hoped the package would include $3.5 billion in bank loans and $2.5 billion in bonds. But when CEO Sergio Marchionne and other executives went on the road pitching the debt deal in recent weeks, the bonds were popular and interest in loaning money to Chrysler wasn't as strong. Chrysler wanted more loans because they carry a lower interest rate.
The Detroit automaker also will use a $1.3 billion investment from Italian automaker Fiat SpA to repay its loans. Fiat, which has had management control over Chrysler since it emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2009, paid that amount last month to increase its stake in Chrysler to 46 percent.
Chrysler took $10.5 billion from the U.S. government to survive two years ago, and it has repaid some of the money. The refinancing will allow it to retire a $5.9 billion balance on the U.S. loans and $1.6 billion to the governments of Canada and Ontario.
The company has said it is eager to separate itself from the government and improve its image, which was tarnished by the bailout in some customers' eyes. It also has said that the government's interest rates -- which average 12 percent -- are costing it more than it would have to pay on the open market.
The government loans cost Chrysler $1.2 billion in interest last year, or more than $3 million per day. The new loans allow Chrysler to borrow money at 4.75 percent over the London interbank offered rate, subject to a Libor floor of 1.25 percent. That would put its interest rates around 6.
Chrysler's action is the latest in the long comeback of the Detroit auto industry after the recession put its future in doubt. General Motors Co. got a $49.5 billion U.S. bailout in exchange for a 61 percent federal equity stake in the automaker after it emerged from bankruptcy protection. The Treasury Department now owns 26.5 percent of GM after selling part of the stake in November.
The third of the Detroit Three, Ford Motor Co., didn't seek a bailout.
Chrysler spokeswoman Shawn Morgan said Chrysler hasn't announced the date it will repay the government, but it could transfer funds to the U.S. Treasury as early as Tuesday if the deals close as expected.
Even with the repayments, Chrysler will still owe the U.S. government around $2 billion. Some of that could be recouped when the government sells its 8.6 percent ownership stake in Chrysler. Fiat has an option to buy the stake, or it could be sold in a Chrysler initial public stock offering that could come later this year or in 2012.
Canada got a 2.2 percent stake in Chrysler and could get more cash in the public stock sale.
Earlier this month Chrysler announced first-quarter net income of $116 million, its first profitable quarter since 2006. Its sales are up nearly 23 percent this year because of new models, such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee sports utility vehicle.
A company that was in bankruptcy came back and now profitable to shareholders mmmmmmmmm I wonder what happened to RVGD!
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/With-gas-costs-high-Obama-to-apf-475286155.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=
With gas costs high, Obama to speed oil production
Obama plans steps to speed up US oil production but moves won't calm gas prices any time soon
FILE- In this April 28, 2011 file photo, John Magel pumps gas at a station in Wethersfield, Conn. Consumers paid more for gas and food in April, lifting inflation to its highest level in two and a half years. But inflationary pressures have begun to ease in May 2011, and analysts say some prices could taper off by summer. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, file)
Darlene Superville and Dina Cappiello, Associated Press, On Saturday May 14, 2011, 3:06 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Amid growing public unhappiness over gas prices, President Barack Obama is directing his administration to ramp up U.S. oil production by extending existing leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska's coast and holding more frequent lease sales in a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska. But the moves won't calm spiraling prices at the pump any time soon.
Obama said Saturday that the measures "make good sense" and will help reduce U.S. consumption of imported oil in the long term. But he acknowledged anew that they won't help to immediately bring down gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon in many parts of the country, and an oil industry analyst agreed.
"There is practically nothing that Washington can do that would materially change the price of fuel in this country," said Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov, noting that the United States produces about 5 percent of the world's petroleum while consuming about 20 percent. "Given that imbalance, there is simply no policy shift that could plausibly come from the federal government that can significantly change that dynamic."
An oil industry group praised Obama's move as a first step with a "couple of positive nuggets" but contended that more was needed to boost oil production. Erik Milito, upstream director for the American Petroleum Institute, called in a statement for more access to key shale reserves and construction of a pipeline that would import crude from Canadian oil sands.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who is opposed to drilling off the Atlantic coast, expressed concern about possible dangers to the environment. "I think it is disappointing he would pursue a strategy that comes with considerable risk while offering no hope of driving down gas prices," Menendez said in a statement.
Obama's announcement followed passage in the Republican-controlled House of three bills -- including two this week -- that would expand and speed offshore oil and gas drilling. Republicans say the bills are aimed at easing gasoline costs, but they too acknowledge that benefits won't come fast.
The White House had announced its opposition to all three bills, which are unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, saying the measures would undercut safety reviews and open environmentally sensitive areas to new drilling.
But Obama is adopting some of the bills' provisions.
Answering the call of Republicans and Democrats from Gulf Coast states, Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address that he would extend all Gulf leases that were affected by a temporary moratorium on drilling imposed after last year's BP oil spill. That would give companies additional time to begin drilling.
The administration had been granting extensions case by case, but senior administration officials said the Interior Department would institute a blanket one-year extension.
New safety requirements put in place since the BP spill also have delayed drilling in Alaska, so Obama said he would extend lease terms there for a year as well. An oil lease typically runs 10 years.
Lease sales in the western and central Gulf of Mexico that were postponed last year will be held by the middle of next year, the same time period required by the House. A sale off the Virginia coast still would not happen until 2017 at the earliest. But Obama said he would speed up environmental reviews so that seismic studies to determine how much oil and gas lies off the Atlantic Coast can begin.
To further expedite drilling off the Alaskan coast, where such plans by Shell Oil Co. have been delayed by an air pollution permit, Obama said he would create an interagency task force to coordinate the necessary approvals. He also will hold annual lease sales in the vast National Petroleum Reserve on Alaska's North Slope. Officials said the most recent sale was last year, but that they had not been held on any set schedule.
The moves come as Americans head into the summer driving season and gas prices remain high. A gallon of regular cost $3.97 on average nationwide Saturday, according to the AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's up from $3.81 a month ago and $2.88 a year ago, but it's about a penny less than a week ago.
The price of gasoline increased every day between March 23 and May 6 for a total of about 30 percent, essentially tracking a 35 percent rise in crude oil prices that started in mid-February as investors pushed more and more money into commodities. Refinery shutdowns also contributed. And gas prices tend to rise every spring as refineries follow federal regulations to produce summer gasoline blends that evaporate less readily but are more expensive to make.
Molchanov said global oil prices also have risen because the global supply and demand picture has tightened the past few months due to volatility in the Middle East and North Africa.
Even if the U.S. government started offering new leases in Alaska and new areas of the Gulf or off the East Coast, it would probably take at least a year to start drilling and then another five years for that to translate into barrels of production, the analyst said. Wells that can produce quickly tend to be small.
"Even if all that works out, it still would not materially change global oil supply, and therefore would not materially change fuel prices in this country or any other," Molchanov said. "In the grand scheme of things, none of this changes the reality of $4 gasoline at the pump."
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings of Washington, sponsor of the three measures that recently passed the House, said it was "ironic" that Obama "is now taking baby steps in our direction" after the White House and congressional Democrats criticized the bills.
"The president is finally admitting what Republicans have known all along, that increasing the supply of American energy will help lower prices and create jobs," Hastings said.
Philip Johnson, a petroleum engineer and University of Alabama professor, cautioned that new leases offer no guarantee that a company will find oil. Leases give a company permission to explore an area and set limits for what the company can do.
"You've got strong suspicions because you know what the underground structure looks like," he said. "But until you stick a hole in it you don't know what's in that structure."
Johnson noted, for instance, that while there are about 3,000 producing wells in the Gulf of Mexico in U.S. waters, about 50,000 wells have been drilled including many that have been emptied.
Obama on Saturday also reiterated his call on Democrats and Republicans to vote to eliminate $4.4 billion in taxpayer subsidies to oil and gas companies. Industry advocates, including most Republicans in Congress, have argued that doing away with the tax breaks will raise companies' cost of doing business, crimp their investment in exploration and production and lead to higher gas prices.
The 41 U.S. oil and gas companies that break out their federal taxes said they paid Uncle Sam $5.7 billion in 2010, more than any other industry, according to data compiled by Compustat. Exxon alone paid $1.3 billion.
The industry's federal tax bill would rise 70 percent without the subsidies, but it would remain highly profitable: Oil companies' combined pre-tax profits could hit $200 billion this year.
In the weekly Republican message, Alabama Rep. Martha Roby said it's time for Washington to get serious about the challenges facing the country, including straightening out its finances and tackling the gas price issue. She praised the House for passing measures to expand domestic energy production "because when we're talking about energy, we're talking about jobs."
"The greatest threat to our economy, job creation, and the future of our children is to do nothing," Roby said. "We have to act. It is what we were sent to Washington to do."
AP Business Writers Laura Impellizzeri in San Francisco and Tom Murphy in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
I agree
LMAO some people are not competent enough to be CEO
Well there are several people who are younger than him and turning themselves into billionares and shareholders are becoming very wealthy. Peter has no excuse today there too many billionares in America and overseas who are looking to either purchase the company or even invest millions of dollars.
Former Chief Executive Officer of Small Cap Company Convicted in Market Manipulation Scheme
Following three weeks of trial, a federal jury in Brooklyn yesterday returned guilty verdicts against Kamal Z. Abdallah, the former chief executive officer at Universal Property Development and Acquisition Corp. (UPDV), on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. These charges arose out of his participation in a scheme to artificially inflate UPDV’s stock price. When sentenced by United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco on June 17, 2011, Abdallah faces a maximum sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment on the most serious charge.
The guilty verdicts were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
The government’s proof at trial established that the defendant served as UPDV’s chief executive officer from 2005 to 2008. During that time, he obtained hundreds of millions of shares of UPDV stock, some of which he received at no cost as part of his compensation. Shortly before Abdallah left UPDV, the company defaulted on over $14 million in loans, and one of its subsidiaries bounced approximately $2.5 million in checks to its suppliers. Neither the defendant nor anyone else at UPDV disclosed these financial problems to UPDV’s shareholders or the investing public.
Beginning in June 2009, the defendant orchestrated a scheme to unload as many of his UPDV shares as possible before the company went out of business. Due to a lack of demand for UPDV’s stock, the defendant paid cash kickbacks to a co-conspirator in exchange for the coconspirator’s creating false demand for UPDV’s stock, which, in turn, increased UPDV’s share price and allowed the defendant and another conspirator to sell tens of millions of UPDV shares at artificially high prices. The defendant’s co-conspirator created the false demand by fraudulently inducing several stock brokerage houses to purchase a total of more than 200 million shares of UPDV. The co-conspirator telephoned each of these brokerage houses, falsely identified himself as a representative of an actual client of the broker, and placed orders to buy large blocks of UPDV common stock. After the brokerage houses purchased the stock, the co-conspirator ceased contact with the brokerage houses and failed to pay for the shares he had caused the brokerage houses to purchase.
The false demand enabled the defendant and another conspirator to sell over 70 million UPDV shares for approximately $300,000. In exchange for the creation of the false demand, the defendant paid his co-conspirator approximately $40,000 in secret kickbacks from his UPDV sale proceeds.
Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York, the agency responsible for leading the government’s criminal investigation, and thanked the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance.
The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Scott Klugman and David Woll.
UPDATE http://www.usamoney.org/news.php?extend.455
Former Chief Executive Officer of Small Cap Company Convicted in Market Manipulation Scheme
Following three weeks of trial, a federal jury in Brooklyn yesterday returned guilty verdicts against Kamal Z. Abdallah, the former chief executive officer at Universal Property Development and Acquisition Corp. (UPDV), on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. These charges arose out of his participation in a scheme to artificially inflate UPDV’s stock price. When sentenced by United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco on June 17, 2011, Abdallah faces a maximum sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment on the most serious charge.
The guilty verdicts were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
The government’s proof at trial established that the defendant served as UPDV’s chief executive officer from 2005 to 2008. During that time, he obtained hundreds of millions of shares of UPDV stock, some of which he received at no cost as part of his compensation. Shortly before Abdallah left UPDV, the company defaulted on over $14 million in loans, and one of its subsidiaries bounced approximately $2.5 million in checks to its suppliers. Neither the defendant nor anyone else at UPDV disclosed these financial problems to UPDV’s shareholders or the investing public.
Beginning in June 2009, the defendant orchestrated a scheme to unload as many of his UPDV shares as possible before the company went out of business. Due to a lack of demand for UPDV’s stock, the defendant paid cash kickbacks to a co-conspirator in exchange for the coconspirator’s creating false demand for UPDV’s stock, which, in turn, increased UPDV’s share price and allowed the defendant and another conspirator to sell tens of millions of UPDV shares at artificially high prices. The defendant’s co-conspirator created the false demand by fraudulently inducing several stock brokerage houses to purchase a total of more than 200 million shares of UPDV. The co-conspirator telephoned each of these brokerage houses, falsely identified himself as a representative of an actual client of the broker, and placed orders to buy large blocks of UPDV common stock. After the brokerage houses purchased the stock, the co-conspirator ceased contact with the brokerage houses and failed to pay for the shares he had caused the brokerage houses to purchase.
The false demand enabled the defendant and another conspirator to sell over 70 million UPDV shares for approximately $300,000. In exchange for the creation of the false demand, the defendant paid his co-conspirator approximately $40,000 in secret kickbacks from his UPDV sale proceeds.
Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York, the agency responsible for leading the government’s criminal investigation, and thanked the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for its assistance.
The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Scott Klugman and David Woll.
http://www.cleanvehiclesolutions.com/blog/2011/04/01/updatepresident-obama-urges-passage-nat-gas-act
UPDATE…PRESIDENT OBAMA URGES PASSAGE OF NAT GAS ACT
Posted on April 1, 2011
Washington, D.C. (April 1, 2011)–President Obama’s call this week for the passage of the NAT GAS Act as part of his new federal energy blueprint, is a call to action for supporters of compressed natural gas vehicles. According to the President: “Last year, more than 150 Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle proposed legislation providing incentives to use clean-burning natural gas in our vehicles instead of oil. They were even joined by T. Boone Pickens, a businessman who made his fortune on oil. So I ask them to keep at it.”
“With the increasing price of gasoline, natural gas is an important domestic fuel at our disposal that can replace foreign oil to power heavy-duty fleet vehicles. Converting heavy-duty trucks and high-fuel use commercial fleet vehicles to natural gas can reduce our OPEC dependence now while we wait for technology to power the vehicles of tomorrow,” said T. Boone Pickens.
Increased use of natural gas will not only reduce our dependence on foreign oil while also reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution, while saving consumers and fleets money.
Last year, natural gas vehicles displaced 360 million gallons of petroleum in the U.S. With encouragement and incentives from the federal government, this could grow to 1.6 billion gallons by 2015.
The NAT GAS Act, which was introduced in the last Congress, would provide incentives for using natural gas in vehicles, purchasing NGVs, installing natural gas refueling stations and producing natural gas vehicles in America. U.S. Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK) announced this week that the NAT GAS Act of 2011 will be introduced in the current Congress on April 6.
Other NGV-related initiatives called for by the President are:
Leading by Example –With the Federal Fleet calls directing agencies to ensure that, by 2015, all new vehicles purchased for the federal government fleet of 600,000 will be alternative fuel vehicles. The natural gas vehicle industry already produces a wide – and growing — variety of vehicles powered by natural gas for the U.S. market, from a Honda Civic to 18-wheeler tractors.
Developing Alternatives to Oil, Including Biofuels and Natural Gas–Availability of renewable natural gas (or biomethane) which is produced from landfill gas, sewage and animal, crop and industrial waste – could grow quickly here in America with the proper federal governmental support. Biomethane use is rapidly expanding around the world, and has been shown to be the most economic of all biofuels for vehicles.
About Clean Vehicle Solutions
A leader in the compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle industry, Clean Vehicle Solutions is a full service, end-to-end alternative fuel solutions provider supporting fleet operations with extensive consultative, financial, production, maintenance and training services required to support the development and effective operation of an alternatively fueled fleet. To learn more about Clean Vehicle Solutions, please visit www.cleanvehiclesolutions.com
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top securities regulator pledged a rigorous review of potentially outdated private securities trading rules, but stopped short of endorsing changes being advocated by Republican lawmakers.
At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro was pressed to make regulatory changes to help small and medium-sized companies more easily raise capital without going public.Republicans want the SEC to raise the 500 shareholder threshold, or else change the rule so that more sophisticated investors who understand the markets will not count toward the total. They say the cap is too low and forces companies to raise capital only with large sophisticated investors and harms the ability of smaller investors to get a piece of the action. They also fear it creates costly logistical challenges for companies as they seek to manage the shareholder total so they do not hit the 500 mark.
"These folks are very sophisticated," said Representative Patrick McHenry. "For heaven's sake, if you look at these substantial institutional players, they've got better research and information than the SEC and the government," he said.
Schapiro sought to strike a balance between lowering regulatory barriers for companies and protecting investors from fraud, telling McHenry that sophisticated investors "are no less deserving of the protections of the securities laws."
She and SEC Corporation Finance Division Director Meredith Cross assured lawmakers the SEC is exploring whether to exempt certain investors from the 500 shareholder rule as part of the SEC's broader review into private securities trading. They also said they are exploring if the 500 number is the right one.
In addition, Cross said the SEC is thinking about soliciting input from the public about potential changes to general solicitation rules.
Some Democrats on the panel expressed skepticism about overhauling rules designed to protect investors.
"I fully support helping U.S. firms access additional capital, but I also believe this must be done without sacrificing critical protections," said the Elijah Cummings, the committee's top Democrat.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top securities regulator pledged a rigorous review of potentially outdated private securities trading rules, but stopped short of endorsing changes being advocated by Republican lawmakers.
At a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro was pressed to make regulatory changes to help small and medium-sized companies more easily raise capital without going public.Republicans want the SEC to raise the 500 shareholder threshold, or else change the rule so that more sophisticated investors who understand the markets will not count toward the total. They say the cap is too low and forces companies to raise capital only with large sophisticated investors and harms the ability of smaller investors to get a piece of the action. They also fear it creates costly logistical challenges for companies as they seek to manage the shareholder total so they do not hit the 500 mark.
"These folks are very sophisticated," said Representative Patrick McHenry. "For heaven's sake, if you look at these substantial institutional players, they've got better research and information than the SEC and the government," he said.
Schapiro sought to strike a balance between lowering regulatory barriers for companies and protecting investors from fraud, telling McHenry that sophisticated investors "are no less deserving of the protections of the securities laws."
She and SEC Corporation Finance Division Director Meredith Cross assured lawmakers the SEC is exploring whether to exempt certain investors from the 500 shareholder rule as part of the SEC's broader review into private securities trading. They also said they are exploring if the 500 number is the right one.
In addition, Cross said the SEC is thinking about soliciting input from the public about potential changes to general solicitation rules.
Some Democrats on the panel expressed skepticism about overhauling rules designed to protect investors.
"I fully support helping U.S. firms access additional capital, but I also believe this must be done without sacrificing critical protections," said the Elijah Cummings, the committee's top Democrat.
I agree 100% truth!!
this is comical one thing I know for certain GM shareholders are reaping profits that actually have cars on the market being sold!!! how much profit are RVGD shareholders have receieve???? any cars produced??? where is the real location of the RVGD plant??? rvgd has nothing on GM, there not even listed on real exchange pink sheet is not going to cut it.
THERE is major difference between GM and RVGD, shareholders are actually going to be able to reap the rewards of their company because they are on NYSE, when was the last time RVGD shareholders recieve any monetary gain ??????, FTD FAILURE TO DELIVER!!
Peter has proven track record for FTD (FAILURE TO DELIVER) to shareholders period!
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/volt-goes-1-000-miles-between-fill-ups--says-gm.html
How does Petey plan to compete with Chevy Volt?????
Volt goes 1,000 miles between fill-ups, says GM
Volt drivers averaged about 1,000 miles per tank of gas in March. But car shoppers need to remember that electricity's not free either.
By Peter Valdes-Dapena, senior writer | CNNMoney.com – 10 hours ago.. .
Related Content.
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2011 Chevrolet Volt
NEW YORK -- The electric-powered Chevrolet Volt is averaging 1,000 miles on each tankful of gas, according to General Motors.
The Volt's gas tank holds 9.3 gallons, so that means drivers are averaging about 111 miles per gallon. As a result, Volt drivers are stopping to fill their gas tanks only about once a month, GM said.
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GM collected the fuel economy and fill-up data through the vehicles' OnStar system, spokesman Rob Peterson said.
As of Friday, there were about 2,000 Volts in customer hands, he said. While there's no reason to doubt GM's claim -- 1,000 miles a tankful could be easily achievable if drivers recharge their cars' batteries frequently -- it doesn't necessarily mean drivers are really paying a lot less per mile to drive, said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the automotive website Edmunds.com.
"What's not being stated is that Volt drivers who go 1,000 miles between gasoline fill-ups are also charging their vehicles with electricity each night and incurring the cost of electricity," he said.
The Volt can travel about 35 miles on a fully charged battery, according to EPA estimates. If the battery becomes depleted, a gasoline engine comes on to generate electricity for continued driving.
Electricity generally costs less, per unit of energy, than gasoline. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates it would cost $2.75, on average, to drive a Chevrolet Volt 25 miles on gasoline but just 99 cents to drive that far on electricity.
There are some places in the United States, however, where electricity is extraordinarily expensive. In those places, that cost gap would be narrower and could, in some cases, even go the other way.
"It's a good marketing claim, but it's not a practical point of comparison," Anwyl said of GM's 1,000-mile-a-tankful figure.
What do women want? Above all, a caBut real-world fuel economy figures like this could help GM's marketing efforts by helping consumers understand its benefits. Up to now, there has never been a simple, straightforward fuel economy figure for the Volt as there is for almost every other car.
While the Toyota Prius, for instance, gets overall fuel economy of 50 miles per gallon, according to the EPA, the Volt gets two separate EPA figures -- 93 miles per gallon equivalent on electricity and 37 miles per gallon on gasoline -- and consumers are left to figure out for themselves how that translates into real driving.
GM's 111-mpg figure, while based on real driving and not formal testing, at least offers something easily comparable to other vehicles. While it's less than half the 230 mpg the automaker unveiled to much fanfare in the summer of 2009, it's still much better than any other gasoline-powered car on the road.
"I think it does help to maybe put the Volt into perspective a little bit," said Alec Gutierrez, an analyst with the auto website Kelley Blue Book.
so are you stating that peter has signed up for another magic motor with this alleged inventor for water engine???, lol I have to see this one wow peter guess better and better every year!!