Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
FMC Technologies, Noble Energy Bolster Deepwater GOM Ties
by FMC Technologies, Inc.
January 07, 2009
FMC Technologies, Inc. recently signed a five-year frame agreement with Noble Energy, Inc. making FMC Technologies the preferred subsea equipment supplier for Noble Energy's deepwater Gulf of Mexico developments.
FMC Technologies' scope of supply includes the manufacture of subsea production systems including enhanced horizontal subsea trees and related installation services. FMC will also provide required controls, manifolds and tie-in systems as part of the agreement.
"Earlier this year we manufactured two 15,000 psi subsea tree systems for Noble Energy," said John Gremp, Executive Vice President of FMC Technologies. "This frame agreement strengthens our existing relationship and also provides a budgeting and forecasting plan to assist Noble Energy with their deepwater Gulf of Mexico developments."
Grenland Group to Construct Subsea Equipment for Ekofisk Field
by Grenland Group
January 21, 2009
Grenland Group has signed a contract with FMC Technologies valued at approximately NOK 50 million for the construction of subsea equipment for the Ekofisk field.
The contract includes procurement and construction of two wellhead systems, two water injection manifolds and one subsea protection structure.
The equipment is part of FMC Technologies' contract with ConocoPhillips, announced in June 2008, for the supply of equipment and services for a subsea water injection development in the Ekofisk field. Located in the Greater Ekofisk Area, this water injection development is a replacement of the existing Ekofisk 2/4 W injection platform at the southern part of the Ekofisk Complex.
Manufacture of the equipment is already in progress at Grenland Group's yard in Langesund. Initial deliveries to FMC Technologies are scheduled to occur in the first quarter of 2009 and the remaining scope will be delivered throughout 2009.
FMC Technologies has an option in the contract for an additional seven wells and future provisions for up to 50 wells
FMC Sees Strength of Subsea Backlog Buoying Business in 2009
by Other Regions Company News News
February 17, 2009
FMC Technologies has reported record fourth quarter 2008 revenue from continuing operations of $1.2 billion, up 13 percent over the fourth quarter of 2007. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations were $0.74, up 16 percent from $0.64 per diluted share in the prior-year quarter.
Fourth quarter operating profit increased 39 percent in Energy Production Systems and was up 4 percent in Energy Processing Systems compared to the fourth quarter of 2007. The acquisition of a 45 percent interest in Schilling Robotics, LLC was completed on December 26, 2008. Schilling Robotics is a leading manufacturer of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), ROV manipulator systems, and control systems for use in subsea oil and gas exploration and production.
Full Year 2008 Results
Full year 2008 revenue of $4.6 billion increased 25 percent from $3.6 billion in 2007. This growth was led by subsea systems revenue which increased 32 percent to $3.0 billion. Full year 2008 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.72 were up 39 percent from 2007 diluted earnings per share of $1.95. Energy Production Systems' operating profit increased 46 percent and Energy Processing Systems' operating profit increased 16 percent over the prior year.
"We are very pleased with our results in 2008," said Peter D. Kinnear, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We enter 2009 in the midst of an uncertain macroeconomic environment but with a solid base for future business. We expect the strength of our subsea
backlog will help offset declines in our other businesses in 2009. Overall, we estimate 2009 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to be in a range of $2.40 to $2.65."
Review of Operations -- Fourth Quarter 2008
Energy Production Systems
Energy Production Systems' fourth quarter revenue of $972.8 million increased 12 percent over the prior-year quarter due to increased subsea systems sales. Revenue for subsea systems was a record $788 million for the quarter, up 15 percent from the prior-year quarter. Surface wellhead revenue decreased slightly from the fourth quarter of 2007.
Energy Production Systems' record operating profit of $119.1 million increased 39 percent over the prior-year quarter. The increase was due to higher volume and operating margin in subsea systems. Operating margin in the segment was a record 12.2 percent for the quarter and 11.5 percent for the full year.
Energy Production Systems' inbound orders of $401.5 million in the fourth quarter were adversely impacted by backlog translation due mainly to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus the Norwegian Krone and Brazilian Real. Full-year subsea system orders were $2.1 billion. Backlog for Energy Production Systems was $3.3 billion and included $3.0 billion in subsea backlog at the end of the fourth quarter.
Energy Processing Systems
Energy Processing Systems' fourth quarter revenue of $229.6 million was 9 percent higher than the prior-year quarter. The revenue increase came primarily from the material handling systems business. Energy Processing Systems' fourth quarter operating profit of $40.7 million was 4 percent higher than the prior-year quarter. Energy Processing Systems' inbound orders were $167.4 million for the fourth quarter and backlog was $313.2 million.
Corporate Items
Corporate expense in the fourth quarter of 2008 was $9.1 million, a decrease of $0.8 million from the third quarter. Other expense, net, was $21.8 million, an increase of $34.7 million from the prior-year quarter. The net impact of foreign exchange gains and losses in the fourth quarter was a net loss of $8.3 million as compared to a net gain of $11.9 million in the prior-year quarter. The company also had a net increase from the fourth quarter of 2007 of $7.2 million in pension related expenses due to executive retirements and an increase of $4.6 million in LIFO inventory costs.
The company ended the quarter with net debt of $154.9 million. Net interest expense was $0.7 million in the fourth quarter. Depreciation and amortization for the fourth quarter was $19.2 million, up from $18.5 million in the prior-year quarter. Capital expenditures during the fourth quarter totaled $47.2 million, down from $73.2 million in the prior-year quarter due to lower spending on subsea capacity additions and light well intervention assets.
The company recorded an effective tax rate of 26.8 percent for the quarter.
Summary and Outlook
FMC Technologies reported diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.74, up 16 percent from the prior-year quarter. Energy Production Systems' and Energy Processing Systems' operating profits were up 39 percent and 4 percent, respectively, over the fourth quarter of 2007.
FMC Technologies reported diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.72 for the full year 2008, up 39 percent from the prior year. Subsea systems' revenue grew 32 percent in 2008 to $3.0 billion. The company provided an estimate for 2009 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations in a range of $2.40 to $2
FMC Technologies to Supply Subsea Equipment for Angola Deepwater Projects
by West Africa Contract Awards News
January 26, 2009
FMC Technologies has signed a contract with BP for the manufacture and supply of additional subsea equipment for ongoing deepwater projects offshore Angola. The contract is valued at approximately $80 million in revenue for FMC.
FMC's scope of supply includes six subsea trees, control systems, wellheads, tubing hangers, well jumpers and flow bases. The equipment will be manufactured at FMC's Kongsberg, Norway and Dunfermline, Scotland facilities and will be delivered in 2009
FMC Snags Subsea System Orders for BP's GOM Projects
by Gulf of Mexico Contract Awards News
February 02, 2009
FMC Technologies has received orders from BP for the manufacture and supply of additional subsea systems for their projects in the Gulf of Mexico. The awards, valued at approximately $82 million in revenue, are call-offs from a frame agreement that was signed in November 2006.
Under these call-offs, FMC's scope of supply will consist of nine subsea trees including controls, an installation and workover control system and other related equipment. All equipment will be designed and manufactured at FMC's Houston facility. Deliveries will commence in mid-2009 and will continue through 2011.
"We are pleased to be a part of BP's notable deepwater projects," said John Gremp, Executive Vice President of FMC Technologies. "Today's announcement complements our recent awards from BP for the development of subsea systems for deepwater West Africa."
FMC to Supply Subsea Tech for Petrobras' Roncador Module III Project
by South America Contract Awards News
February 10, 2009
FMC Technologies has received an award from Petrobras to engineer and manufacture four subsea manifolds and controls for its Roncador Module III project. This project will also incorporate FMC's All-Electric technology in Brazilian waters. The contract is valued at approximately $75 million in revenue for FMC.
FMC's scope of supply consists of two, six-slot subsea manifolds to distribute gas lift injection to 12 wells. These manifolds will also contain 12 subsea control modules that will provide electro-hydraulic functions to operate the manifolds and subsea trees. The company will also supply two additional manifolds for water injection that will utilize FMC's proprietary All-Electric actuators for the operation of the chokes. The equipment will be engineered and manufactured at FMC Technologies' facility in Rio de Janeiro with deliveries expected to commence in 2010.
"We are pleased that a leading operator, Petrobras, recognizes the value of our All-Electric technology and our subsea systems," said John Gremp, Executive Vice President of FMC Technologies. "We have manufactured systems for Petrobras' Roncador field since 1999, and to date we have supplied all three existing subsea manifolds as well as related controls and equipment."
FMC Technologies' products have been present in the Brazilian oil industry since 1961, and the company's operations in Brazil have supplied subsea solutions to the region since 1978. With two facilities in Rio de Janeiro and one service base in Macae, FMC's capabilities in Brazil include local engineering, project management, manufacturing, integration testing, installation and customer support.
Roncador
The Roncador Field was discovered in 1996 at water depths ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 m (4,900 to 6,600 ft) in the Campos Basin. It is 125 km (80 miles) from the coast. The Roncador Field was a major breakthrough for many reasons, including the world's first drill pipe riser, subsea tree and early production riser (EPR) rated for 2,000 m (6,600 ft). The first well, RJS-436, produced to the FPSO Seillean from 1999 to 2001 using the EPR at a world water-depth record of 1,853 m (6,077 ft) with the GLL TLD 2000 subsea tree.
The first phase of this full-scale project was put on stream in May 2000 when the semi and FSO P-47 began operation. An accident caused P-36 to sink in March 2001, when six (6) wells were in production. After the accident, Petrobras chartered a production unit called FPSO Brasil to temporarily substitute the P-36 platform. For a period of 5-1/2 years, eight (8) production and three (3) injection wells will be connected to the chartered FPSO.
In 2006, the second phase of Module IA involved operating twenty (20) production wells and ten (10) injection wells, including those that had been connected to FPSO Brasil. These wells were tied to P-52, a brand new semisubmersible with capacity to produce 180,000 bopd. This unit will be one of the largest in the world, with a total displacement of 80,000 metric tons. The feasibility studies for the other three (3) modules of Roncador are currently under way
FMC to Supply Subsea Tech for Petrobras' Roncador Module III Project
by South America Contract Awards News
February 10, 2009
FMC Technologies has received an award from Petrobras to engineer and manufacture four subsea manifolds and controls for its Roncador Module III project. This project will also incorporate FMC's All-Electric technology in Brazilian waters. The contract is valued at approximately $75 million in revenue for FMC.
FMC's scope of supply consists of two, six-slot subsea manifolds to distribute gas lift injection to 12 wells. These manifolds will also contain 12 subsea control modules that will provide electro-hydraulic functions to operate the manifolds and subsea trees. The company will also supply two additional manifolds for water injection that will utilize FMC's proprietary All-Electric actuators for the operation of the chokes. The equipment will be engineered and manufactured at FMC Technologies' facility in Rio de Janeiro with deliveries expected to commence in 2010.
"We are pleased that a leading operator, Petrobras, recognizes the value of our All-Electric technology and our subsea systems," said John Gremp, Executive Vice President of FMC Technologies. "We have manufactured systems for Petrobras' Roncador field since 1999, and to date we have supplied all three existing subsea manifolds as well as related controls and equipment."
FMC Technologies' products have been present in the Brazilian oil industry since 1961, and the company's operations in Brazil have supplied subsea solutions to the region since 1978. With two facilities in Rio de Janeiro and one service base in Macae, FMC's capabilities in Brazil include local engineering, project management, manufacturing, integration testing, installation and customer support.
Roncador
The Roncador Field was discovered in 1996 at water depths ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 m (4,900 to 6,600 ft) in the Campos Basin. It is 125 km (80 miles) from the coast. The Roncador Field was a major breakthrough for many reasons, including the world's first drill pipe riser, subsea tree and early production riser (EPR) rated for 2,000 m (6,600 ft). The first well, RJS-436, produced to the FPSO Seillean from 1999 to 2001 using the EPR at a world water-depth record of 1,853 m (6,077 ft) with the GLL TLD 2000 subsea tree.
The first phase of this full-scale project was put on stream in May 2000 when the semi and FSO P-47 began operation. An accident caused P-36 to sink in March 2001, when six (6) wells were in production. After the accident, Petrobras chartered a production unit called FPSO Brasil to temporarily substitute the P-36 platform. For a period of 5-1/2 years, eight (8) production and three (3) injection wells will be connected to the chartered FPSO.
In 2006, the second phase of Module IA involved operating twenty (20) production wells and ten (10) injection wells, including those that had been connected to FPSO Brasil. These wells were tied to P-52, a brand new semisubmersible with capacity to produce 180,000 bopd. This unit will be one of the largest in the world, with a total displacement of 80,000 metric tons. The feasibility studies for the other three (3) modules of Roncador are currently under way
yes joe, and these ships are from his news letter too
here some pictures of some ships,http://www.shipsandoil.com/ShipInformation/0Shipinfo.htm
here some history on mr.lins
The objectives of the company are the operation, the agency and the management of vessels owned or chartered in coastal navigation, offshore support, port operations, as well as the chartering and or operation of special vessels for towing, anchor handling, ROV and diving support, survey, launching and maintenance of rigid and flexible lines, fire-fighting, dynamic positioning, etc. During the past twenty seven years the company has operated its own fleet, as well as being an operator and representative for several worldwide offshore companies. It has operational agreements with SEACOR MARINE, for supplying of fast aluminum suppliers and crew boats, with CAL DIVE INTERNATIONAL, for laying of flexible lines, maintenance and repair of underwater equipment, with SHELL, ESSO, and ELF, for supplying offshore services, with EMBRATEL, for maintenance of optical cables. Besides operating normal offshore support vessels, DELBA MARITIMA has also operated diving support vessels (DSV) and remotely operated vehicles support vessels (RSV), subcontracting services as deep diving, ROV operations, inspection and repair of underwater installations, etc. History DELBA MARITIMA is one of the main offshore support companies in Brazil and the oldest of them performing marine support to oil activities in Brazilian waters. Its history begins in 1968 with the arrival in Brazil of the first offshore drilling unit, the jack-up "Vinegaroon", when the group Newton Lins brought from ASTROMARINE and supplied to PETROBRAS the first four support vessels for the offshore drilling operations in Brazil, two of them for supply and towing, the vessels "Jupiter" and "Gemini", and two for transport of personnel, the crew boats "Venus" and "Mercury". The company was created in 1975 and in 1976 acquired the first five offshore Brazilian flag vessels, which were chartered to PETROBRAS, becoming the first Brazilian private company to buy offshore vessels. In 1978, 40% of the equity of the company was sold to JACKSON MARINE (a member of the Halliburton group). In 1982, the equity of Jackson Marine was transferred to Brazilian citizens, and the company capital became 100% Brazilian. The objectives of the company are the operation, the agency and the management of vessels owned or chartered in coastal navigation, offshore support, port operations, as well as the chartering and or operation of special vessels for towing, anchor handling, ROV and diving support, survey, launching and maintenance of rigid and flexible lines, fire-fighting, dynamic positioning, etc. During the past twenty seven years the company has operated its own fleet, as well as being an operator and representative for several worldwide offshore companies. It has operational agreements with SEACOR MARINE, for supplying of fast aluminum suppliers and crew boats, with CAL DIVE INTERNATIONAL, for laying of flexible lines, maintenance and repair of underwater equipment, with SHELL, ESSO, and ELF, for supplying offshore services, with EMBRATEL, for maintenance of optical cables. Besides operating normal offshore support vessels, DELBA MARITIMA has also operated diving support vessels (DSV) and remotely operated vehicles support vessels (RSV), subcontracting services as deep diving, ROV operations, inspection and repair of underwater installations, etc. Among the several contracts performed with success, the following should be pointed out: - Contract PETROBRAS DEPRO-032/85: Two-year contract for chartering and operation of the "Diving Support Vessel (DSV) M/V Shearwater Sapphire", its belongings and other equipment, as well as the accomplishment of services of fire fighting, dynamic positioning, deep diving up to 450 mts, radio-location, helicopter operations, heavy lifts, ROV (remotely operated vehicle), anchoring operations, inspection and repair of submarine facilities, and other operations. - Contract PETROBRAS SEGEN-2-184-044-0-86: Contract of the consortium MOT - MICOPERI / DELBA / SERTEP, to charter and operate support vessels and to render technical services for transportation and installation the fixed platforms oil fields Pargo (PPG-1A and PPG-1-B), Carapeba (PCP-1 and PCP-2) and Vermelho (PVM-1, PVM-2 and PVM-3), and installation of rigid lines in Campos Basin Northeast Pole. DELBA MARITIMA was in charge of the whole marine support and all logistic operations, including helicopter services, subcontracted from her sister company AEROLEO. - Contract PETROBRAS DEPRO-101.2.011.87.5: Three-year contract for chartering of the "Remotely operated vehicle Support Vessel (RSV) M/V Highland Heel", as well as the accomplishment of services of fire fighting, dynamic positioning, radio-location, helicopter operations, heavy lifts, ROV (remotely operated vehicle), anchoring operations , inspection and repair of submarine facilities, and other operations. - Contracts EMBRATEL C. DRT-010/98 and C. DCT.1-382/99: Contracts with the telephone company EMBRATEL, a MCI subsidiary, executed in joint venture with SCHAHIN TELECOM, for the maintenance of optical cables around the Brazilian coast. These contracts require the use the special vessel "D'Diana", owned by DELBA MARITIMA, with ROV, and all equipment required to recover, repair and launch several types of optical cables. The company has signed, until today, more than 160 chartering contracts, most of them long-term engagements, as follows: - 75 contracts for Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessels (AHTS) - contract average duration of 2.3 years. - 30 contracts for Supply Vessels - contract average duration of 3.0 years. - 8 contracts for Crew Boats - contract average duration of 2.6 years. - 43 contracts for Utility Vessels - contract average duration of 2.4 years. - 3 contracts for Diving Support Vessels (DSV) - contract average duration of 1.2 years. - 3 contracts for ROV Support Vessels (RSV) - contract average duration of 2.3 years. - 2 contracts for Maintenance and Repair of Optical Cables - contract average duration of 4.4 years. - 1 contract for Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) - contract duration of 1 year. DELBA MARITIMA has a highly qualified staff and crews, with operational bases and agents in all the places where there is exploration of oil in Brazilian waters. A training program focusing the safety procedures, the protection of the environment and learning of foreign languages as English and Spanish was implanted several years ago to qualify the management and the crew members for the new globalization requirements. Considering that the largest reserves of oil in Brazil are in deep waters, the company decided to renew its own fleet with vessels designed for deep water operation. In keeping this objective, in the last years the company sold seven vessels which were designed for shallow waters and operation closer to the shore. The program for new buildings comprises considerable investments. The fleet started to be renovated in 2000 at which time we were the winning bidders of a Petrobras tender for building 03 AHTS (Anchor Handling Tug Supply) type vessels. These vessels are being built by the BRASFELS (formerly VEROLME) shipyard and are currently at an advanced building stage. The first vessel has already been launched and shall be delivered to Petrobras to start operating in October of 2003; the others will be delivered in March 2004 and July 2004. In keeping with its growth policy, DELBA MARITIMA associated itself with the French Group BOURBON in April 2001. Through its offshore division, the Bourbon Group operates various types of vessels with its main presence in the countries of West Africa. ACTION PLAN for 2004: Anticipated beginning of operation of the 3 (three) AHTS type vessels presently undergoing the final building stages; Participation in all new tenders of Petrobras; Start of the work of conversion and jumborization of vessel N.S. Loreto to transform the same in a PSV 1500; Investment in crew training, to qualify the same to safely operate the new AHTS type vessels; and Implementation of requirements and certification of the company to meet standards OHSAS 18001/ISO 14001. DELBA MARITIMA NAVEGACAO S/A. HEAD OFFICE: Street address: Ladeira de Nossa Senhora, 163 - Gloria 22211-100 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ BRAZIL Telephone: +55 21 3235 9300 Telefax: +55 21 3235 9382 +55 21 3235 9384 E-mail: delba@delbamaritima.com.br Web page: www.delbamaritima.com.br Copyright Visao Virtual 2002
Shell Gas Plant in Nigeria Attacked by Militants (Update2)
Email | Print | A A A
By Dulue Mbachu
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria’s main militant group said it attacked a gas plant operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s second-largest oil company.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, attacked the Utorogun site today, it said in an e-mailed statement. Precious Okolobo, a Shell spokesman in Nigeria, confirmed the attack. “We’re carrying out checks on the plant,” Okolobo said by phone from Lagos.
MEND says it is fighting for the poor in the Niger Delta who have yet to benefit from the region’s oil wealth. Assaults by the group and other armed militants have cut Nigeria’s oil exports by more than 20 percent since 2006. The country holds Africa’s largest hydrocarbon reserves and is the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.
Forces in charge of oil-region security “repelled the attackers,” killing three and capturing one, military spokesman Colonel Rabe Abubakar said by phone from the town of Warri in the delta, adding that the plant was undamaged. MEND said all its fighters had “returned to base.”
Utorogun produces 244 million standard cubic feet of gas a day, supplying power stations run by the state-owned utility and industrial users. The plant is part of a joint venture in which Shell owns 30 percent, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. 55 percent, Total SA 10 percent and Eni SpA 5 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dulue Mbachu in Lagos at dmbachu@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 7, 2009 12:29 EST
Val Kilmer ponders run for N.M. governor in 2010
Related Advertising Links What's This?
Advertisement
Val Kilmer ponders run for N.M. governor in 2010
Updated 26m ago | Comments 106 | Recommend 11 E-mail | Save | Print |
Enlarge By Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY
I like Iceman?: Val Kilmer, who's starred in Top Gun, The Doors and Batman Forever, is considering running for governor in his adopted home state of New Mexico.
QUICK QUESTION
Yahoo! Buzz Digg Newsvine Reddit FacebookWhat's this?By Deborah Baker, Associated Press
SANTA FE — Holy hornet's nest, Batman! The New Mexico governor's mansion?
Fresh from the inauguration, actor Val Kilmer is pondering running for governor in 2010, when Democrat Bill Richardson's second term ends.
"I'm just looking for ways to be contributive," Kilmer told The Associated Press on Thursday. "And if that ends up being where I can make a substantial contribution, then I'll run."
But there's no decision yet.
"It's really day to day," he said over tea at a local restaurant.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Barack Obama | New Mexico | Los Angeles | Bulgaria | Bill Richardson | Oliver Stone | Doors | Top Gun | Val Kilmer | Jim Morrison | Batman Forever | Lt. Gov. Diane Denish
Kilmer, 49, grew up in Los Angeles but has called New Mexico home for more than two decades. He's currently registered as a Democrat and said he cast a ballot for Barack Obama from Bulgaria, where he was filming.
A Kilmer candidacy could throw a monkey wrench into the well-oiled Democratic machine of Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who's already running for the job.
Kilmer's screen credits include Batman in Batman Forever in 1995, brash fighter pilot Lt. Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky in the 1986 hit Top Gun, and rock icon Jim Morrison in the 1991 Oliver Stone film, The Doors.
Kilmer said if he ran it wouldn't have to be a conventional campaign. While the actor decides, he's getting out and about and has been listening to people — something he says he's pretty good at.
"What I do for a living is listen," he said, making a bold prediction: "If I run, I'm going to be the next governor."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
Wall Street CEOs, investment bankers charged prostitutes on corporate cards, madam says
John Byrne
Raw Story
February 6, 2009
Visa, Mastercard or American Express? Or maybe a credit card from JP Morgan Chase?
Wall Street CEOs, lawyers, bankers and media executives chalked up thousands of dollars in prostitution charges on their corporate credit cards — swiping their cards for $2,000 an hour prostitutes, according to a New York madam who pleaded guilty last year.
Kristin Davis, the madam in question, went public to ABC News this week; ABC will be broadcasting her interview Friday at 10 pm. Davis says she has a list of 9,800 clients, many of whom she says New York prosecutors deliberately avoided when taking her case, even though she offered them her annotated client list.
In what’s sure to create a media firestorm parallel to that of when a Washington, DC madam announced that she was publishing her client list (which included at least one senator), Davis’ comments come at a time where incredible ire is already focused on Wall Street and banking executives. The pressure for her to release the list will certainly be immense.
But the pressure from New York’s finest prosecuting team was nearly zero, Davis said.
“They showed no interest,” Davis quipped, alleging that they ignored that numerous corporate titans had used her services.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
“Some of these guys, I was invoicing on corporate credit cards,” she said. “I was writing up monthly bills for computer consulting, construction expenses, all of these things, I was invoicing them monthly so they could get it by their accountants.”
District attorney Robert Morgenthau’s spokesman was said to have “no comment” on the handling of Davis’ case or her allegations.
Davis provided the network with a print-out of her computerized client list, the same one she says that she offered the district attorney.
Among the names the network says it confirmed
* a vice president of NBC Universal (owned by General Electric)
* the part owner of a Major League Baseball team who “loves Kelsey”
* the CEO of one of the country’s largest private equity firms who met “Cameron” at the Peninsula Hotel
* a major New York real estate developer who, according to the list, “will come to the door wearing women’s panties”
* a partner at the Wall Street law firm Cravath Swaine Moore “looking for a party girl to come fully equipped” and spent a total of $20,000
* an investment banker from Lehman Brothers who saw “Kelsey and Keely together” and later saw “Aria and Skyler at the same time”
* an investment banker at JP Morgan Securities who “loves Brooke” and spent $41,600
* an investment banker at Goldman Sachs who “only wanted all-American girls” and spent $27,000
* a managing director from Merrill Lynch who saw “Lana” using the name “Nataly”
* a managing director from Deutsche Bank “who called about seeing Nataly again”
ABC said in their broadcast that for the individuals mentioned above, they could not confirm that the payments were made on corporate cards.
Davis told the network she disguised the charges in various ways so they would appear to be legitimate business expenses when accountants sifted through credit card statements. One CEO, she said, ordered her to send him invoices for “roof repair on a warehouse” to disguise the charge for prostitutes from corporate funds.
Davis says she hasn’t yet decided whether to release the full 9,800-name list publicly.
Research related articles:
Wall Street falls sharply on employment worries, bleak corporate outlooks
Can you trust a Wall Street veteran with a Wall Street bailout?
Wall Street Bankster Behavior Not Likely to Change
Emanuel one of the biggest recipients of Wall Street money in Congress
22,000 Jobs Cut on Wall Street, With More to Come
White Powder Mailed to Wall Street Journal
Congress Considers Wall Street “Regulation”
McCain’s War Street Bankers
House of Cards: Consumers Turn to Credit Cards Amid Mortgage Crisis, Delaying Inevitable Defaults
Main Street turns against Wall Street
Wall Street Fears Next Great Depression
Paulson Doles Out $125 Billion to Wall Street Elite
: Deepwater spend will top US$160 billion
February 6, 2009
CANTERBURY, ENGLAND — A study published today by energy business analysts Douglas-Westwood forecasts that the deepwater oil and gas sector will spend US$162 billion over the period 2009 to 2013. West Africa, the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil will account for about 75 percent of the global expenditure, according to the report.
Commenting on the report, The World Deepwater Market Report 2009-2013, Douglas-Westwood Oil & Gas Manager Steve Robertson said, ”Overall, despite more moderate levels of expenditure during 2009 and 2010 relative to 2008, the deepwater sector is forecast to continue its growth trend, with annual expenditure reaching over $35 billion by 2013. The bulk of deepwater developments are being led by major oil companies and well-placed NOCs that we believe will not be hit by the economic downturn and turmoil in the debt markets to the same extent as most smaller players.”
Robertson noted that some impact on the sector may be felt through deepwater operators that are reliant on external project finance, and some project delays are inevitable until the financial markets become more settled.
“Oil prices appear to be less of an issue at present, Robertson added. ”Our survey of deepwater operators indicates that most are planning against conservative assumptions and expect oil prices to recover to $50-70/bbl in the medium-term.”
Douglas-Westwood Analyst Thom Payne said that while the so-called “Golden Triangle” of Africa, the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, account for the bulk of the expected expenditures, the emergence of Asia as a significant region for deepwater activity should not be overlooked. Douglas-Westwood forecasts that expenditure in the region over the 2009-2013 period will increase by 90 percent when compared to 2004-2008, accounting for 9 percent of the forecast global spend.
Payne said, “Three main elements dominate spend over the forecast period, namely pipelines, the drilling and completion of development wells, and platforms. Pipelines and control lines will continue to play a vital role in providing the necessary infrastructure for deepwater developments. The opening up of reserves further from the coast and the incorporation of satellite fields into deepwater hubs will drive expenditure with a total forecast spend of US$57.7 billion. Expenditure on the drilling and completion of subsea development wells will amount to US$53.8 billion. These two components of activity account for nearly 70 percent of all expenditure.”
Payne notes that the number and cost of deepwater floating production platforms is also set for major growth, with a total of 86 units forecast at a cost of US$38.2 billion.
“Overall, we retain a positive outlook on the deepwater sector; ultimately this is where the majors need to play to secure significant reserve replacement and incremental production and there are simply not enough world-class opportunities elsewhere,” Payne said. “We believe those that are currently active in this sector are most sheltered from the financial and economic turmoil and that as a result the sector will continue to be a promising long-term business area throughout the oil sector value chain
AFXM, THANK YOU, U CAN GET MORE INFORMATION ON YAHOO MESSAGE BOARD. HERE THE POPE AGAINST STEM CELL, LOOK UP THE BOOK BY MARIE MONK, SHE WAS A CATHLOC NUN, OUT OF CANADA. YOU BE SHOCK HOW MANY KID'S SHE HAD TO ABORT FROM THE PREST'S.
Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009
Stem Cell Research: The Quest Resumes
By ALICE PARK
Scientific inspiration can come from anywhere — a person, an event, even an experiment gone awry. But perhaps nothing can drive innovation more powerfully than the passion born of tragedy. Or, in Douglas Melton's case, near tragedy. The co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) is one of the leading figures in the search for cures for presently incurable diseases, and his breakthrough work is challenging many long-held beliefs about the ways biology and human development work.
But it was a very personal experience that brought Melton to stem cells, one that 17 years later he still finds difficult to discuss. When his son Sam was 6 months old, he became ill with what his parents thought was a cold. He woke up with projectile vomiting and before long began taking short, shallow breaths. After several hours, he started to turn gray, and Melton and his wife Gail brought the baby to the emergency room. For the rest of that afternoon, doctors performed test after test, trying to figure out what was wrong. "It was a horrific day," says Melton. (See the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2008.)
It was not until that evening that a nurse thought to dip a testing strip into Sam's urine and they finally got a diagnosis. The boy's body was flooded with sugar; he had Type 1 diabetes. Then, as now, the disease had no cure, and patients like Sam need to perform for themselves the duties their pancreas cannot — keeping track of how much glucose they consume and relying on an insulin pump to break down the sugars when their levels climb too high. The diagnosis changed not only Sam's life but the lives of his parents and older sister Emma as well. Throughout Sam's childhood, Gail would wake every few hours during the night to check his blood sugar and feed him sugar if his concentration fell too low or give him insulin if it was too high. "I thought, This is no way to live," says Melton. "I decided I was not just going to sit around. I decided I was going to do something."
Trained as a molecular biologist in amphibian development, Melton began the work he pursues today: trying to find a way to make insulin-producing cells by using stem cells. "It was a courageous thing to do because he was at the pinnacle of his career," says Gail. "He brought home textbooks on the pancreas to figure it all out." Nearly two decades later, Melton is convinced that stem cells will be a critical part of new therapies that will treat and maybe cure not only diabetes but also other diseases for which there are no answers today.
Melton's confidence is testament to the extraordinary advances in stem-cell science, some of which have brought the promise of breakthrough therapies for conditions like diabetes, Parkinson's and heart disease closer than ever before. The cells filling petri dishes in freezers and incubators in Melton's lab and others around the world are so vastly different — in provenance, programming and potential — from the stem cells of just two years ago that even the scientists leading this biological revolution marvel at the pace at which they are learning, and in some cases relearning, rules of development. Until recently, the field has revolved around either embryonic stem cells — a remarkably plastic class of cells extracted from an embryo that could turn into any of the body's 200 tissue types — or their more restricted adult cousins, cells taken from mature organs or skin that were limited to becoming only specific types of tissue. On Jan. 23, after nearly a decade of preparation, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first trial of an embryonic- stem-cell therapy for a handful of patients paralyzed by spinal-cord injuries.
But today the field encompasses far more than just embryonic and adult stem cells; it has expanded into the broader field of regenerative medicine, and Melton's lab at Harvard is at the vanguard, bringing the newest type of stem cells, which do not rely on embryos at all, closer to the clinic, where patients will actually benefit. Last summer, Melton stunned the scientific community with yet another twist, finding a way to generate new populations of cells by reprogramming one type of fully mature cell so it simply became another, bypassing stem cells altogether. "If I were in high school, I can't imagine anything more interesting than stem cells," says Melton. "This is so cool. It's so amazing that cells in the body have this potential that we can now unlock by asking question after question."
A Battle Joined
That hidden power in each of us did not become obvious until 1963, when Canadian researchers Ernest McCulloch and James Till first proved the existence of stem cells, in the blood. These cells possess the ability to divide and create progeny — some of which will eventually expire, others that are self-renewing. The pair irradiated mice, destroying their immune cells. They then injected versatile bone-marrow cells into the animals' spleens and were surprised to see a ball of cells grow from each injection site. Each mass turned out to have emerged from a single stem cell, which in turn generated new blood cells.
That discovery led, 35 years later, to James Thomson's isolation of the first human embryonic stem cells, at the University of Wisconsin in 1998. And that milestone in turn inspired researchers to think about directing these cellular blank slates to eventually replace cells that had been damaged or were depleted by disease. The key lay in finding just the right recipe of growth factors and nutrients to induce a stem cell to become a heart cell, a neuron, an insulin-making cell or something else. It would take decades, the researchers all knew, but new therapies were sure to come.
Then, in 2001, everything changed. The use of discarded embryos made embryonic-stem-cell research deeply controversial in the U.S. Citing moral concerns, then President Bush restricted federal funding for the study of human embryonic stem cells. Under the new policy, U.S. government funds could be used only to study the dozens of embryonic cell lines already in existence — many of which proved not to be viable.
Read Stem Cells: The Hope and The Hype.
See the Year in Health, from A to Z.
The decision sent some leading scientists abroad, to Britain, Singapore and China, where the governments were more receptive to their work. Others who stayed behind but lacked private funding shifted their attention from embryos to the less versatile adult stem cells. Federally backed scientists, like Melton, who continued embryonic work were forced to adopt a byzantine system of labeling and cataloging their cell cultures and equipment so that government money was not used to grow forbidden cells — and government microscopes were not even used to look at them.
Those days may soon be over. Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to lift the research ban and support "responsible oversight" of the stem-cell field. For scientists, that means "we can stop the silliness," says Melton.
As welcome as that change will be, it may be less urgent now — owing primarily to the work of scientists like Melton. While embryonic stem cells remain the gold standard for any treatments that find their way into the clinic, newer techniques using the next-generation stem cells may soon surpass the older ones.
The Fighter
In looks and demeanor, Melton is the quintessential professor, soft-spoken and thoughtful, someone who appears more mentor than maverick. Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, he developed an early fascination with animal development; that curiosity led to a bachelor's degree in biology at the University of Illinois in 1975, then a second undergraduate degree, in the history and philosophy of science, at Cambridge University on a Marshall Scholarship. Melton remained there for his Ph.D. work, studying under Sir John Gurdon — the first to clone a frog. At Harvard, Melton teaches a frequently oversubscribed undergraduate course on science and ethics, in which he uses his keen sense of logic to provoke. When the class discussed the morality of embryonic-stem-cell research, Melton invited Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to present arguments against the field. Melton asked Doerflinger if he considered a day-old embryo and a 6-year-old to be moral equivalents; when Doerflinger responded yes, Melton countered by asking why society accepts the freezing of embryos but not the freezing of 6-year-olds.
Clearly, Melton does not shrink from a fight. As Washington's squeeze on stem-cell research tightened in the early part of this decade, he decided to take action, providing life support for what remained of the U.S. stem-cell community. Not convinced that an entire field could make much progress relying on a few dozen cell lines of questionable quality, in 2004 he used funds HSCI receives from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, as well as from Harvard alumni, and developed a more streamlined method for generating stem-cell lines from embryos. He created more than 70 new ones and has since distributed 3,000 copies to scientists around the country for free.
"Doug drew a line in the sand," says Alan Trounson, president of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the organization charged with dispensing state money for embryonic-stem-cell research. "He turned the tables on an Administration that was incredibly negative toward stem cells and showed [it] we are not going to tolerate being put out of this field by ideological views that we don't think are correct." Melton's motivation was, again, both professional and intensely personal. Two months after Bush announced his ban, Melton's daughter Emma, then 14, also received a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes.
In part owing to the restrictive U.S. policy, the momentum in stem-cell research seemed to shift overseas. In 2004, South Korean researcher Hwang Woo Suk announced that he had generated the first human embryonic stem cells from healthy people — and in the following year, from afflicted patients themselves — using an abbreviated cloning method. The latter feat would mean that cardiac patients could essentially donate themselves a healthy new heart without fear of rejection.
The news was huge — but it was also a lie. In 2006, Hwang admitted he had falsified his results. (Melton's colleague at HSCI, Kevin Eggan, finally created embryonic stem cells from patients in 2008.) Although Hwang became a pariah, he had the right idea. Melton and others had been trying to do just what the Korean scientist claimed to have done — grow a new population of a patient's own cells. The key to the process is a supply of fresh, good-quality human eggs, which incubate skin cells taken from a patient. Building up such a stockpile, however, proved practically impossible. The egg-extraction process is invasive and carries certain risks; after the state of Massachusetts prevented donors from being compensated for their eggs, out of fear the women would feel coerced, HSCI ended up with only one volunteer out of more than two years of recruiting.
Melton faced mounting political pressure too. In 2004, voters in California approved a measure providing $3 billion in state funding to embryonic-stem-cell research. That threatened to draw scientists in the stem-cell community west, and Melton took pains to foster a "band of brothers" mentality. "I tried to create a cocoon here," he says, "and tell people that your job is to focus on the science. Don't worry what the politicians say." By then, Melton's team was one of only a handful in the country working on embryonic stem cells and was making headway in teasing apart the myriad critical steps needed to guide these impressionable cells into becoming insulin-generating cells. Both as a scientist and as a father, Melton remained convinced that the federal restrictions simply could not survive. He continued to insist that "the science is so significant that it will change the policy."
And then, astonishingly, it did. In June 2006 a modest researcher from Japan made a startling announcement at the International Society for Stem Cell Research conference in Toronto. Shinya Yamanaka quietly described a study in which he took skin cells from a mouse and stirred them in with varying genetic cocktails made from a recipe list of 30 genes known to be important in development. When he hit on the right four genes and inserted them into the cells aboard retroviruses, he wiped the cells clean, reprogramming them and returning them to an embryo-like state without ever creating the embryo. Four genes, he told his audience, was all it took to undo a lifetime's worth of delicate genetic tapestry. No need for eggs, no need for embryos. Could it be that easy? Were the debate and controversy over embryonic stem cells now rendered moot? "It was unquestionably unexpected," says Melton of the breakthrough.
Read a TIME cover story on Stem Cells.
See the Year in Health, from A to Z.
A year later, Yamanaka followed up his work by reporting success with the same four factors in turning back the clock on human skin cells. At about the same time, in Wisconsin, Thomson achieved the same feat using a different cocktail of genes. With those studies, what became known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) were suddenly a reality. Never mind the frustratingly fickle process needed to create embryonic stem cells; this was something any molecular-biology graduate student could do. "We figured somebody would have success with reprogramming. We just thought that somebody would come along a generation from now," says Dr. David Scadden, Melton's co-director at HSCI. "Yamanaka threw a grenade at all of that, and now all of the doors are open."
Beyond Stem Cells
Melton, for one, isn't wasting any time before running through those doors. The iPS technology is the ultimate manufacturing process for cells; it is now possible for researchers to churn out unlimited quantities of a patient's stem cells, which can then be turned into any of the cells that the body might need to repair or replace.
Before that can happen, however, Melton wants to learn more about how diseases develop. And iPS cells make that possible too. For the very first time, he can watch Type 1 diabetes unfold in a petri dish as a patient's cells develop from their embryonic state into mature pancreatic cells. The same will be true for other diseases as well. "There is a good reason we don't have treatments for diseases like Parkinson's," says Melton. "That's because the only way science can study them is to wait until a patient appears in the office with symptoms. The cause could be long gone by then, and you're just seeing the end stages." No longer. Now the major steps in the disease process will be exposed, with each one a potential target for new drugs to treat what goes wrong. "This is a sea change in our thinking about developmental biology," says Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, director of the Institute for Regeneration Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. "I consider it a real transformative moment in medicine."
The true power of reprogramming, however, does not stop with the stem cell. This summer, Melton flirted with the rules of biology once again when he generated another batch of history-making cells, switching one type of adult pancreatic cell, which does not produce insulin, to a type that does — without using stem cells at all. Why, he thought, do we need to erase a mature cell's entire genetic memory? If it's possible to reprogram cells back to the embryo, wouldn't it be more efficient in some cases to go back only part of the way and simply give them an extreme makeover? Using mouse cells, Melton did just that, creating the insulin-producing pancreatic cells known as islets. "The idea now is that you can view all cells, not just stem cells, as a potential therapeutic opportunity," says Scadden. "Every cell can be your source."
Realizing that potential — and with it, the prospect of successful treatments for conditions like Parkinson's or diabetes — may still be a few years away. Even iPS cells have yet to prove that they are a safe and suitable substitute for the diseased cells they might eventually replace in a patient. Ensuring their safety would require doing away with dangerous genes that can also cause cancer, as well as the retroviral carriers that Yamanaka originally used. Melton's team has already replaced two of the genes with chemicals, and he anticipates that the remaining ones will be swapped out in a few years. There are also hints that the iPS cells' short-circuited development makes them different in some ways from their embryonic counterparts. In mice, embryonic stem cells can generate a new mouse clone; iPS cells from the animals have so far stopped short of the same feat, aborting in midgestation, suggesting that some development cues may be missing. "It certainly makes me cautious," says Eggan.
Even if iPS cells do not prove as stable and as versatile as embryonic stem cells when they're transplanted into patients, they remain a powerful research tool. And if nothing else, they will have opened our eyes to the remarkable plasticity of biology and made possible new ways of thinking about repairing and replacing damaged tissues so we may consider not only treating but also curing disease. "It's a wonderful time," says Scadden. "Keep your seat belt on, because this ride is going to be wild."
For patients like Sam and Emma Melton, that ride carries with it the possibility of being free of the insulin pumps and injections they endure to keep their blood sugar under control. "I definitely think about how my life would be different if there is a cure," says Sam. His father is keenly aware that the ability of stem cells and reprogramming science to provide that cure is far from guaranteed. But his initial confidence in the power of the technology hasn't waned. "Everything we learned about stem cells tells us this was a really powerful approach," he says. "It would be a great shame if we let it wither and just go away." Melton, for one, is determined not to let that happen.
Science in Steps
A decade of conflicts and breakthroughs
1998
James Thomson, U of Wisconsin, isolates human embryonic stem cells
2001
President Bush restricts federal funding for research on human embryonic stem cells
2004
Douglas Melton of Harvard creates more than 70 embryonic-stem-cell lines using private funding and distributes free copies of the cells to researchers around the world
2006
Shinya Yamanaka, Kyoto University, turns back the clock on mouse skin cells to create the first induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, or stem cells made without the use of embryos. He uses only four genes, which are inserted into a skin cell's genome using retrovirus vectors
2007
Yamanaka and Thomson separately create the first human iPS cells
2008
July
Kevin Eggan at Harvard generates the first patient-specific cells from iPS cells — motor neurons from two elderly women with ALS
August
Melton bypasses stem cells altogether and transforms a type of mouse pancreatic cell that does not produce insulin into one that does
September
Konrad Hochedlinger at Harvard creates iPS cells in mice using the common-cold virus rather than retrovirus vectors — an important step in making the technology safer for human use
October
Melton's team makes human iPS cells by replacing two of the four genes, known to cause cancer, with chemicals. All four must be swapped out before iPS-generated cells can be transplanted into people
October
Yamanaka creates mouse iPS cells using safer plasmids of DNA instead of retrovirus vectors
Read Stem Cells: The Hope and The Hype.
See the Year in Health, from A to Z.
Click to Print Find this article at:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1874717,00.html
when the time is right, dpdw will move up by it self. u heard it here first, dpdw is in a holding get ready to zoom.
my view is Petrobras will make dpdw wheel barrel's of cash this what i agree on.
New Pipelay System Offers J-lay and Reel-lay Capabilities
by Cecon ASA Cecon ASA
January 30, 2009
Cecon ASA has finalized the detail engineering of the Pipe Lay Ramp for one of the most versatile systems in the industry. Flexible pipes and rigid pipe will be deployed through the same pipe lay ramp. The main advantage however is that the system offers both J-lay and reel-lay capabilities for laying rigid pipes.
The effective Reel Lay method will be employed in areas with good infrastructures served by spool bases such as the North Sea basin and the GOM while the J-lay method will be employed in remote areas when transit time and loading capacity is critical. The full advantage of the system is particularly emphasized for SCRs (Steel Cantenary Risers) when fatigue sensitive parts require the J-lay method while the rest can be installed by the reel lay method. Conversion between J-lay and reel-lay mode can be done within one to two days.
Pipe Lay System:
The main components of the lay spread are the following:
The main ramp supporting the bulk of the pipe lay equipment including the 200 Te tensioner
The Pipe Handling Tower for bringing the pipes from the storage area to the firing line
The pipe storage area for 4500 Te of pipe with its pipe handling system
The 2400 Te carousel under deck for flexible, umbilicals and power cables
The 1500 Te capacity reel for rigid and flexible pipes
Two A&R systems; up to 80 Te and between 80 and 200 Te
The 250 Te AHC crane to 2500 m water depth
System capabilities:
The system can operate in shallow to deep water only limited by the top tension capacity of 200 Te.
Flexible pipes ranging from 100 to 700 mm diameter
Rigid pipes ranging from 4 inch to 24 inch by the J-lay method
Rigid pipes ranging from 4 to 12 inch with the Reel-Lay method
J-lay method designed to handle triple joints (38 m sections)
PLETs/PLEMs/Connectors and In-line Ts weighing up to 30 Te
The system can be easily converted between the J-lay and reel-lay mode by exchanging the straightener unit with the welding enclosure.
World's First Drilling FPSO Heads to Congo for Azurite Deepwater Operations
by Prosafe Production
January 29, 2009
The world's first Floating, Drilling, Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FDPSO), which is owned by Prosafe Production, has left Keppel Shipyard in Singapore on January 24, 2009. After a short stay at anchorage, it will head for the Republic of Congo where it will be deployed at Murphy West Africa Ltd's (a subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corporation) deepwater Azurite development in the Mer Profonde Sud Block.
In November 2007, Prosafe was awarded a $400 million contract for the conversion and operation of a Floating Drilling, Production, Storage and Offloading unit. Named the Azurite, this first of its kind FPSO with drilling capabilities incorporates a design that is cost efficient and effective for drilling and producing deepwater fields.
The vessel is equipped with a modular drilling package that can be removed and reused elsewhere when the production wells have been drilled. The Azurite has a storage capacity of 1.4 million barrels of oil and a process capacity of 60,000 bfpd/40,000 bopd and will be spread-moored at a water depth of 1,400 meters.
Prosafe Production has been responsible for the FPSO conversion, while Murphy West Africa Ltd (Murphy) has been responsible for the drilling scope. After conversion, Prosafe Production is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the vessel, while Murphy is responsible for drilling operations.
Azurite Development, Mer Profonde Sud Block
Murphy’s Mer Profonde Sud Azurite field development is located in 1,400 m (4,600 ft) of water and approximately 80 nautical miles offshore the Republic of Congo. The project consists of a subsea drill center producing back to the FDPSO. Development well drilling and all subsequent work will be performed via a compact rig located on the FDPSO. Product will be off loaded via conventional tanker moored in tandem, and associated gas will be utilized for fuel.
First Subsea to Moor Deepest STP Buoy at GOM's Chinook Cascade Field
by Advanced Production and Loading AS
January 29, 2009
Advanced Production and Loading (APL) AS has awarded subsea mooring specialist, First Subsea, a contract to supply mooring connections for a disconnectable Submerged Turret Production (STP) Buoy in the Chinook Cascade field in the Gulf of Mexico. Moored in 2,500 meters of water, the project will be the deepest application for a STP buoy supplied by APL so far.
The STP buoy will be used by a FPSO vessel supplied and operated by BW Offshore, on behalf of Petrobas, due to come into operation in 2010. First Subsea is supplying 11 Series II ball and taper Ballgrab mooring connections with a minimum breaking load (MBL) of 6,600kN. The buoy will feature Ballgrab female uni-joint connectors on its underside.
Once the STP buoy has been positioned in the field, all the male mooring line connections, linked by chain to the sea bed, are connected to the female connectors subsea by ROV avoiding the need for divers. This is a safer connection technique than traditional surface connection methods.
Pre-installing the Ballgrab female connectors on the buoy will also make it easier to lift the buoy from the installation vessel into the water, without the need to support mooring lines.
Final delivery of APL's STP buoy system for the Chinook Cascade field is expected in April 2009 and the installation campaign will commence soon after.
S.Korean bio firm says dog cloning to be cheaper 29 Jan 2009 05:47:30 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Jon Herskovitz
SEOUL, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Cloning a Chow Chow is expected to be easier and perhaps as much as 50 percent less costly, a South Korean biotech firm said on Thursday as it unveiled a new cloning technology.
But pet owners -- who have to shell out $100,000 or more to clone a pet dog -- will still have to pay tens of thousands of dollars if they want to clone their beloved dogs and should be prepared for long waits because most commercial canine cloning is for working animals including sniffer dogs at airports.
RNL Bio said it has developed a new method to clone dogs using stem cells derived from fat tissue that greatly increases the likelihood of success.
It added the new technology can also help in studying treatments of genetic disorders in canines that have similarities to human illnesses including diabetes.
"If we fully develop this technology, dog cloning will be much easier than now. We can reduce the cost for cloning," said Ra Jeongchan, the chief executive of Seoul-based RNL Bio.
Ra, which is applying for a patent, said two cloned beagle puppies were born in the past week using this method which could reduce the cost of cloning a pet dog to about $50,000 within three years.
Canines are considered one of the more difficult mammals to clone because of their reproductive cycle that includes difficult-to-predict ovulations.
Scores of dogs have been cloned using so-called somatic cell nuclear transfer, a technique for hollowing out the nucleus of a donor egg and injecting it with the donor's genetic material, which is typically skin tissue taken from the ear.
Ra said stem cells from fat tissue are far easier to reprogramme and there is about a 20 percent chance a manipulated cell will result in a clone, an improvement over the previous method where the success rate was in the single digits.
South Korea's Customs Service said it paid about 60 million won ($43,840) to clone sniffer dogs with RNL, which is affiliated with Seoul National University (SNU) and cloned the dogs at a reduced cost for the government.
The SNU lab was once led by disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk, who is now standing trial on charges of fraud and embezzlement. Hwang now has his own lab called Sooam Biotech Research Foundation that also clones dogs commercially. (Additional reporting by Shin Ae-lin; Editing by Sugita Katyal) ($1 = 1368.6 Won)
AlertNet news is provided by
the future is near,1. pbr. What is the Company’s capital expenditures plan for the next few years?
ANSWER:
According to the 2006-2010 Business Plan, total investments of $56.4 billion have been foreseen for the period, of which $34.1 billion are to be applied in the Exploration and Production (E&P) activities; $11.4 billion in Downstream; $6.7 billion in Gas & Energy; $1 billion in Distribution; $1.1 billion in the Corporate segment; and $2.1 billion in Petrochemicals. Check out the Company’s Strategic Plan.
the future of dpdw http://www2.petrobras.com.br/ri/ing/Comu...
The latest from the Subsea & Underwater news - Global sub sea reports, underwater resources. Updated Daily
New SEA-MATE Wet-Mate ROV Connector
Posted Wednesday, January 28, 2009
As a distributor for SEA CON (europe) Ltd, Bowtech Products are pleased to announce a new addition to the popular SEA-MATE underwater electrical wet-mate connector range. Adapted from the stan...
Deep Down Expanding Buoyancy Facilities to Serve Growing Deepwater Market
Posted Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Deep Down, Inc. today announced expansion plans of its buoyancy manufacturing facility and flotation testing services in response to recent orders and anticipated demand for its drilling riser...
Helix Enters Stock Sale Agreement with Cal Dive
Posted Monday, January 26, 2009
Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. reports that it has entered into a definitive stock repurchase agreement with Cal Dive International, Inc. a majority-owned subsidiary, pursuant to which it ...
EurOceanique workshop for faster service in Southern Europe
Posted Wednesday, January 21, 2009
EurOceanique, part of the MacArtney Underwater Technology Group, has opened a large workshop in Rousset near Aix en Provence in Southern France. This modern and fully equipped workshop offers ...
Applied Acoustics on an Arctic Roll
Posted Monday, January 19, 2009
Applied Acoustic Engineering’s range of sub-bottom profiling equipment has recently won critical acclaim during a number of operations in the harsh working conditions north of the Arctic Circl...
Deepwater sensors from ClampOn to the Jubilee discovery
Posted Thursday, January 15, 2009
ClampOn has received a substantial order for subsea detectors for the Jubilee field. The Jubilee field is located off Ghana and is currently estimated to hold between 500 million and 1.8 billi
in this market we are in now where did you ever hear of a 14 cent stock expanding. how much of a clue do you need.
Saipem America's New Build Wraps Up First Gig in GOM
by Saipem
January 26, 2009
The HOS Mystique, Saipem America's new 250 ft. class II DP ROV support vessel, has completed its first job and is currently mobilized in Fourchon, LA for immediate work.
The HOS Mystique completed a pod change on a well located in the Gulf of Mexico Green Canyon area in water depth of approximately 2,600 feet. Saipem America recently signed a three year charter agreement with Hornbeck Offshore Services for the new build HOS Mystique vessel.
The HOS Mystique is a U.S. Flagged, Class II DP ROV support vessel with a healthy 4,354 sq.-ft. of usable deck area and a permanently installed 70 ton active heave compensated NOV knuckle-boom crane. The vessel features two lounges, one gymnasium and private conference rooms along with accommodations for 50 personnel. The configuration of the HOS Mystique provides a large, stable platform for survey activities for offshore construction and subsea intervention tasks such as surveys, seabed topography and geophysical sampling, platform and pipeline inspections, touch down monitoring, light construction and well intervention work.
The HOS Mystique features two heavy work class ROVS with the vessel spread. An Innovator® Leviathan, a 250Hp ROV and one Innovator®, a 150Hp ROV, have been fully integrated into the vessel to maximize the effectiveness of the HOS Mystique. The ROVS have the ability to handle a suite of support tools and large intervention packages, thus expanding the capabilities of the vessel for the clients
By Andrew C. Schneider, Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter
January 20, 2009RELATED FORECASTS HELPFUL LINKS Kiplinger Recommends: "What Obama Faces Abroad"
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "Foreign Policy for the Next President"
Council on Foreign Relations, "President Obama and the World"
EDITOR'S PICKS Bank Branch Buildup Headed for a Slowdown
A Horrid Year for Commercial Property
Barack Obama takes office with an enormous amount of international goodwill, in part because many nations are hoping for a more constructive, less one-sided relationship with the U.S. The risk is that the global expectations are so high that disappointment is inevitable, the more so because there are plenty of areas of foreign policy where Obama differs from outgoing President George W. Bush more in rhetoric than in substance.
Obama’s star power, if used well, will make a difference in achieving U.S. goals. “He has to appeal to the self-interest of other nations, and he's an extraordinarily persuasive man,” says Richard H. Kohn, an expert on the presidency and a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kohn says the new president will be particularly well served by having Hillary Clinton in the State Department. “Between the two of them, they have more buzz, more visibility and more international standing and respect than any duo you could name, probably going back to Truman and [General George] Marshall.”
The western European allies are likely to give the new president a lengthy honeymoon. They recognize that there are things they’d like the U.S. to do that Obama won’t be able to accomplish immediately -- closing the Guantánamo Bay detention camp being a prime example. They can also expect tension with Washington as the new administration asks for more support in Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, the change in style will go a long way toward smoothing transatlantic relations. U.S. leadership in resolving the global financial crisis and U.S. participation in global efforts to combat climate change will help extend that good mood.
But there are plenty of regions where Obama will find little, if any, patience. In the wake of the Gaza war, Arab countries will be looking for the new U.S. administration to jump into the Middle East peace process early. And while this fits with the new president’s own plans, it’s unlikely the Arab street will find much consolation in the U.S.’ position. No U.S. president is likely to be as resolutely pro-Israel as Bush has been, but Obama won’t lean on Israel to take any steps that would put its security at risk.
With Obama shifting the U.S. military’s main effort away from Iraq and toward fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and President Asif Ali Zardari’s government in Pakistan will both be nervous. Obama will demand that Karzai crack down on the rampant corruption in the Afghan government, and he’ll press Zardari to step up the fight against Islamist militants on his own soil. Such moves by either will put their fragile governments at risk, and neither will thank Obama for putting them in such a position.
Farther afield, the new administration will face not just impatience but active opposition. “Most world leaders, particularly those antithetical to the U.S., see Obama as a neophyte and will be playing serious hardball,” says Peter Zeihan, vice president for analysis at Stratfor, a private intelligence firm. On this front, Iran and Russia will be among the hardest to deal with.
Obama, no less than Bush, wants to keep Iran from becoming a nuclear power. At the same time, he needs to keep Iran from stirring up trouble in Iraq as he draws down U.S. forces there. And he’ll want Iranian cooperation in Afghanistan, which has a significant Shiite Muslim, Persian-speaking minority.
Iran wants U.S. recognition of the Islamic Republic, including a formal repudiation of any threat of regime change, and acceptance of its position as a major regional power. How Obama can manage this while keeping up the pressure on Iran to give up its nuclear capabilities is a puzzle. Many U.S. allies in Europe and the Arab world are nervous about any change in U.S. policy toward Iran that would potentially strengthen Tehran.
From Russia, Obama wants cooperation in keeping Iran from going nuclear as well as acquiescence in U.S. use of Central Asian supply routes for its troops in Afghanistan. But he also wants the Kremlin to pull its troops out of Georgia and to stop threatening its other former Soviet neighbors. “The Obama administration will have a very hard choice to make: the war in Afghanistan or laying the foundations for a restoration of the Soviet empire,” says Zeihan, “a fun prospect to have drop on your desk on day one.”
Even in areas where Obama might expect to have some grounds for agreement with the Kremlin, such as on a new round of arms control talks, he faces problems. As part of any such negotiations, Russia would demand that the U.S. ditch plans to build missile shield facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic. In the context of Russia’s expansionist behavior, such a move by the U.S. would leave the eastern European members of NATO feeling vulnerable and would potentially damage U.S. ties with the region.
Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela will prove a lesser but persistent thorn, as far as Obama’s relations with Latin America go. Obama’s recent criticism of Chávez over the latter’s support for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) prompted Chávez to level the same accusations of imperialism against Obama that he has routinely done against Bush. But Chávez will have a harder time winning support elsewhere in Latin America, particularly if, as expected, Obama loosens restrictions on travel and monetary remittances to Cuba from relatives in the U.S.
Much of the rest of the world is simply holding its breath. China, Japan, India and others that got on well with the Bush administration are prepared to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, but no more or less so than they would any other new U.S. president. Kim Jong Il’s North Korea, while no friend to any U.S. administration, appears to be reserving judgment in much the same way.
Invariably, some countries will wind up disappointed, in part because Obama cannot deal with every crisis simultaneously. “The problem is that the in-box is so full,” says Paul J. Saunders, executive director of the Nixon Center. “How do you pick what to do, and how do you minimize the damage in the areas where you just can't focus, for lack of time? This makes the process of setting priorities one of the most important decisions the new administration will make coming in
Robert Rubin Insider Trading
Published by MG Dunganat January 21, 2009 in Wall Street, bailout and scandals.
In the first of a series of articles, which could easily become the-rest-of-my-life’s work, I will be examining high-profile lawsuits and indictments, such as—what’s happening with the federal lawsuit against Robert Rubin for insider trading—and others.
On December 4, 2008, the New York Post reported: “A new Citigroup scandal is engulfing Robert Rubin and his former disciple Chuck Prince for their roles in an alleged [CDO-related] Ponzi-style scheme that’s now choking world banking. [The two] are named in a federal lawsuit for an alleged complex cover-up of toxic securities that spread across the globe, wiping out trillions of dollars in their destructive paths.” However—and here’s the indictable offense, worldwide Ponzi scheme not likely being one—before Citi’s stock collapsed, Rubin and other top insiders cashed out of more than $150 million in “suspicious stock sales” according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of investors.
On December 11, 2008, this item was picked up by an online news service out of Phoenix, phxnews.com. The only other comment was mine for BlownMortgage.com: Growth Industry 2009: Criminal and Constitutional Law, on December 23, 2008. Not only did these three publications have the scoop, but apparently there was nothing left to be said.
And then . . . on January 9, 2009, Citi announced that Robert E. Rubin retired as Senior Counselor effective that day and he would not stand for re-election as Director. Mr. Rubin would continue to serve as a Director until his current term expires at Citi’s next Annual Meeting. Hadn’t he been on the short list for Treasury Secretary as well?
On that very same day, WSJ’s MarketWatch asked readers: “How will people remember the Robert Rubin era at Citigroup? Right now, the smart money is on “a nightmare.” For all of his supposed prowess in financial markets, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker and U.S. Treasury Secretary presided over an era of scandal and risk overload during his nine years as a director and consultant at Citigroup . . . which ended “after a humiliating 18 months that has seen Citi oust Weill-successor Charles Prince, take $83 billion in writedowns, raise $36 billion in investor cash, take $40 billion from taxpayers, and get the government to backstop more than $250 billion in risky assets on its balance sheet . . . and a 90% decline in stock price.” ***Keep in mind that this article was dated January 9th. Today is January 21st so the bailout numbers are higher and the stock price lower.***
Anyway, it sounds like they could be on to something.
Then, on January 13, 2009, David Weidner wrote a piece about Rubin for MarketWatch pointing out that during Rubin’s time as Treasury Secretary, he and then Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan “oversaw the most sweeping deregulation movement in the history of Wall Street, the pinnacle of which was the elimination of Depression-era laws that made it illegal for a company to have both commercial banking and investment banking on a large scale.” This allowed the merger of Citicorp with Travelers insurance in 1998. Only a year later, Rubin left the Treasury and became Director and Senior Counselor of Citigroup. “There, he made $150 million (not including stock options) and, depending on whose account you believe, was either a tireless worker or a once-a-month visitor to the corporate headquarters.” Weidner sums up with “Robert Rubin is out at Citigroup Inc., and it only cost about $300 billion in committed taxpayer money.” ***Worldwide Ponzi scheme strikes me as tireless worker, but then Weidner doesn’t seem to know about the federal suit.***
One more try. Googled the story again today; you’d think by now someone must be on to it. And there it was, on January 16, 2009, an article on Bloomberg by Michael Lewis, author of Liar’s Poker. ***Now you’re talking, he’s the insider’s whistle blower.*** No, it turns out Rubin has published his memoirs and Lewis wrote a book review. In a very poorly written piece, Lewis says, Rubin is “an acute and decent man . . . and . . . the world’s a better place for having him in it
President Obama Wears Bullet-Resistant Suit at Inaugural
By Jose Fermoso January 21, 2009 | 6:00:30 AMCategories: Apparel, Security
Barack Obama had more than the Presidential 'beast' limo taking care of his safety yesterday.
According to some reports, he wore a suit made by a clothier specializing in bullet-resistant clothing during the inauguration ceremonies.
While no one from the U.S. Secret Service have yet to mention any details about the garment's structure, some are speculating it may have come from the line by Colombian designer Miguel Caballero. As we noted last year, Caballero is well known for his super tough but flexible and business appropriate clothing (see pic at right), such as the $7,500 polo shirt that can stop a shot from a 9-mm revolver.
Due to some of the unfortunately rising levels of dangerous conflicts in Colombia and other parts of Latin America, the need for this type of clothing has also led to a spike in sales.
According to Caballero, many of his garments offer more than three levels of ballistic protection and they are about seven times more flexible than the Kevlar vests that are usually worn. Designers that use Kevlar tie together dense strands of the material (500 to 1,500 filaments per strand of yarn, according to Slate), which is then weaved into the clothing.
With close to 2 million people on hand to watch the president-elect take the Oath of Office, the level of security was understandably tight and every precaution was taken to ensure safety for all.
Earlier this month, we noted that President Obama will be using the safest Presidential limo ever built, the so-called Cadillac One (or simply, "The Beast"), whose toughness rivals a tank and seals off like a bank vault in the event of a potential attack
Roadblock thrown in way of Clinton's confirmation
By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press
Jan. 20, 2009, 9:37AM
Share Print Email Del.icio.usDiggTechnoratiYahoo! BuzzWASHINGTON — The confirmation of Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of state will be held up for at least a day due to the objection of a single senator.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is blocking a unanimous vote on Clinton for Tuesday because he is not satisfied with Clinton's responses to concerns over foreign donations to her husband Bill Clinton's foundation, his office said.
Cornyn's spokesman Kevin Mclaughlin said the senator is not trying to block her confirmation, but is seeking more debate on the donation issue.
Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that if a voice vote is blocked there will be a roll call vote Wednesday. He predicted that "she will receive overwhelming bipartisan support at that time."
The Senate does plan to confirm several of President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet by unanimous vote later Tuesday.
Several Republicans raised questions at Clinton's confirmation hearing about possible conflicts of interest from Bill Clinton's fundraising work and his acceptance of large donations from foreign countries and companies.
Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, urged Clinton to improve transparency in her husband's fundraising activities. He said the former president's foundation should stop taking foreign contributions while Clinton serves as secretary of state. McLaughlin said Cornyn has asked Clinton to take similar steps
Phase II Starts on Chevron's Tahiti, Cameron Catches Subsea Contract
by Cameron Corp. and Rigzone
January 20, 2009
Cameron has received an order worth approximately $83 million for the supply of subsea production systems for Phase II of Chevron's Tahiti subsea development in the Gulf of Mexico. The project includes eight 15,000-psi subsea trees, production control systems, connection systems, engineering and project management services and related equipment. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2009 and to continue through 2012.
Cameron President and Chief Executive Officer Jack B. Moore said, "We welcome the opportunity to continue our support of the Tahiti development as part of our ongoing Advanced Supplier Relationship with Chevron."
Tahiti
Believed to be one of the Gulf of Mexico's biggest discoveries, the Tahiti field is located in Green Canyon Blocks 596 and 640, approximately 190 miles southwest of New Orleans in 4,000 feet of water. The Tahiti field is estimated to hold 400-500 MMbbl at more than 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) below the seabed.
The field is being developed by (operator) Chevron with 58%, Total with 17% and StatoilHydro with 25%. To develop the field and construct the facility, it cost Chevron $3.5 billion.
In 2003, Tahiti's appraisal drilling resulted in one of the most significant net pay accumulations in the history of the Gulf of Mexico with one well encountering more than 1,000 feet of net pay in high-quality sandstone. The two-well appraisal program also confirmed that the reservoir in Tahiti spreads across three miles. The appraisal wells were drilled simultaneously using two rigs, the Glomar Explorer and the Transocean Discoverer Deep Seas, each drilling a vertical well with a sidetrack in more than 4,000 feet of water.
Field Development
The Tahiti field is being developed from two subsea drill centers producing to a floating production facility supported by a truss spar. The first phase of development began in August 2005 at a cost of more than $1.8 billion.
The Tahiti floating production truss spar is located on Green Canyon Block 641, approximately 190 miles southwest of New Orleans. It has the capacity to produce 125,000 bopd and 70 MMcf/d of gas and treat 120,000 bwpd of produced water. The platform has oil and gas processing equipment but does not have a drilling rig or surface wellheads
Bill Clinton Donor List make you wonder who side he on????????
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read More: Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton Donor List, Clinton Donor List, Clinton Foundation, Clinton Foundation Donors, Politics News
Show your support.
Buzz this article up.
Buzz up!
In this Oct. 28, 2006, file photo former President Bill Clinton speaks at a benefit gala for the Clinton Foundation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The foundation disclosed the names of its 205,000 donors on a Web site Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008, ending a decade of resistance to identifying the sources of its money. Clinton agreed to release the information after concerns emerged that his extensive international fundraising and business deals could conflict with America's interests if his wife became Obama's top diplomat. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File)
Get Breaking News Alerts
never spam
Share Print CommentsWASHINGTON — The world opened its wallet for Bill Clinton. Governments, corporations and billionaires with their own interests in U.S. foreign policy gave the former president's charity millions of dollars, according to records he released Thursday to lay bare any financial entanglements that could affect his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton as the next secretary of state.
Saudi Arabia, Norway and other foreign governments gave at least $46 million, and donors with ties to India delivered millions more. Corporate donors included the Blackwater security firm, at risk of losing its lucrative government contract to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq, and Web company Yahoo, involved in disputes over surrendering Internet information to Chinese authorities that led to the imprisonment of dissidents there.
Other high-profile Clinton donors don't suggest inevitable collisions between U.S. policies and their giving. Celebrities Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg, Paul Newman, Carly Simon and Chevy Chase all gave. Sports figures included New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, Formula One driver Michael Schumacher and owners of the Indiana Pacers basketball team.
The records account for at least $492 million in contributions to the William J. Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit created by the former president to finance his library in Little Rock, Ark., and charitable efforts in dozens of countries to reduce poverty and treat AIDS. President-elect Barack Obama made Hillary Clinton's nomination as secretary of state contingent on her husband revealing the foundation's contributors, to address questions about potential conflicts of interest.
The foundation disclosed the names of its 205,000 donors on its Web site Thursday, ending a decade of resistance to identifying them. It released only the names of donors and the range of their contributions. It did not identify each contributor's occupation, employer or nationality or provide any other details. The foundation said separately Thursday that fewer than 3,000 of its donors were foreigners but it did not identify which ones.
Presidents typically do not release the names of donors to their foundations, and the Clintons were no different. There also was no legal obligation for them to do so.
The foundation notified all donors by letter within the last 10 days to let them know their names would be published on its Web site. Almost no one objected, and none asked to have their donations refunded rather than have their names released. The foundation has a robust fundraising operation that solicits money by e-mail and direct mail. It said 90 percent of the donations to the foundation were $250 and under.
Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for Obama, said the agreement with the Clinton Foundation meets the "goals of transparency and goes above and beyond in preventing conflicts." Past donations to the foundation have no bearing on Hillary Clinton's prospective tenure as secretary of state, he said.
Story continues below
"Going forward, all donors will be disclosed on an annual basis, and new donations from foreign government will be scrutinized by government ethics officers," Vietor said.
It was not immediately clear whether the disclosures will raise any serious challenge to Hillary Clinton's nomination to be secretary of state. The two senior lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., wrote to colleagues on Thursday and said the list's disclosure "is designed to establish greater transparency and predictability with regard to the activities of the Clinton Foundation in the context of Sen. Clinton's service as secretary of state."
Shortly after the documents were released Thursday, Hillary Clinton made another appearance at the State Department for meetings with transition aides, officials said. The trip was the latest of several to the building for the former first lady since she was nominated by Obama. Her first visit was Dec. 8, after which she had dinner with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
After negotiations with Obama's transition team, Bill Clinton promised to reveal the contributors, submit future foundation activities and paid speeches to an ethics review, step away from the day-to-day operation of his annual charitable conference and inform the State Department about new sources of income and speeches.
According to Clinton's list, Saudi Arabia gave $10 million to $25 million to the foundation. Other government donors include Norway, Kuwait, Qatar, Brunei, Oman, Italy, Jamaica and Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The Dutch national lottery gave $5 million to $10 million.
The Blackwater Training Center donated $10,001 to $25,000. The State Department will have to decide next year whether to renew Blackwater Worldwide's contract to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq. A U.S. grand jury has indicted five Blackwater guards on manslaughter and weapons charges stemming from a September 2007 firefight in Baghdad's Nisoor Square in which 17 Iraqis died.
"Blackwater frequently supports charitable organizations and we were honored to make a donation to this one, long before Senator Clinton became the Secretary of State-designee," said Blackwater spokeswoman Anne E. Tyrrell.
Donors also include Yahoo; its co-founder Jerry Yang; Yahoo board member Frank J. Biondi and former Yahoo chief executive Terry Semel, who stepped down in June 2007. Another company where Yang serves on the board, Alibaba.com, does extensive business in China and contributed separately to the foundation.
Eager to tap into China's lucrative markets, Yahoo has fallen under bitter criticism _ one congressman publicly called Yang a moral "pygmy" _ after the company handed over e-mails that helped the Chinese government identify and ultimately imprison two Chinese journalists. Yang later expressed regret over the incident and urged Rice _ who would become Hillary Clinton's predecessor _ to negotiate for their freedom.
The foundation's list also underscores ties between the Clintons and India, which could complicate diplomatic perceptions of whether Hillary Clinton can be a neutral broker between India and neighboring Pakistan in a region where Obama will face an early test of his foreign policy leadership. Tensions between the two nuclear nations are high since last month's deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Amar Singh, a donor in the $1 million to $5 million category, is an Indian politician who played host to Bill Clinton on a visit to India in 2005 and met Hillary Clinton in New York in September to discuss an India-U.S. civil nuclear agreement.
Also in that category was Suzlon Energy Ltd. of Amsterdam, a leading supplier of wind turbines. Its chairman is Tulsi R. Tanti, one of India's wealthiest executives. Tanti announced plans at Clinton's Global Initiative meeting earlier this year for a $5 billion project to develop environmentally friendly power generation in India and China.
Two other Indian interests gave between $500,000 and $1 million each: the Confederation of Indian Industry, an industrial trade association; and Dave Katragadda, an Indian capital manager with holdings in media and entertainment, technology, health care and financial services. Ajit Gulabchand, chairman of the Hindustan Construction Co., gave $250,000 to $500,000.
Other foreign governments also contributed heavily to the foundation.
AUSAID, the Australian government's overseas aid program, and COPRESIDA-Secretariado Tecnico, a Dominican Republic government agency formed to fight AIDS, each gave $10 million to $25 million. Norway gave $5 million to $10 million. Kuwait, Qatar, Brunei and Oman gave $1 million to $5 million each. The government of Jamaica and Italy's Ministry for Environment and Territory gave $50,000 to $100,000 each. The Tenerife Island government donated $25,000 to $50,000.
The biggest donations _ more than $25 million each _ came from two donors. They are the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, a London-based philanthropic organization founded by hedge fund manager Chris Hohn and his wife Jamie Cooper-Hohn and dedicated to helping children, primarily in Africa and India; and UNITAID, an international drug purchase organization formed by Brazil, France, Chile, Norway and Britain to help provide care for HIV-AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis patients in countries with high disease rates.
The foundation's donor list includes many overseas business interests:
_Saudi businessman Nasser Al-Rashid gave $1 million to $5 million.
_Friends of Saudi Arabia and the Dubai Foundation each gave $1 million to $5 million, as did the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office.
_The Swedish Postcode Lottery gave $500,000 to $1 million.
_China Overseas Real Estate Development and the U.S. Islamic World Conference gave $250,000 to $500,000 apiece.
_The No. 4 person on the Forbes billionaire list, Lakshmi Mittal, the chief executive of international steel company ArcelorMittal, gave $1 million to $5 million. Mittal is a member of the Foreign Investment Council in Kazakhstan, Goldman Sachs' board of directors and the World Economic Forum's International Business Council, according to the biography on his corporate Web site.
_Simon Barcelo, chief executive of Barcelo Hotels & Resorts, gave $500,000 to $1 million. The company's holdings include hotels in Cuba, a communist country subject to U.S. trade sanctions.
_Victor P. Dahdaleh, who gave $1 million to $5 million, is a Canadian investor and philanthropist involved in aluminum production. His business ties have brought allegations of fraud and bribery in a lawsuit filed by a Bahrain aluminum company. The suit seeks more than $1 billion in damages for what it alleges is Dadaleh's involvement in questionable deals in the Middle East, and the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the matter. Dahdaleh has vowed to vigorously contest the charges.
Among other $1 million to $5 million donors:
_Harold Snyder, director for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the largest drug company in Israel. His son, Jay T. Snyder, serves on the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, which oversees State Department activities, and served as a senior U.S. adviser to the United Nations, where he worked on international trade and poverty. Jay Snyder donated between $100,000 and $250,000 to the foundation.
_No. 97 on the Forbes billionaire list, Ethiopian-Saudi business tycoon Sheikh Mohammed H. Al-Amoudi.
_Issam Fares, a former deputy prime minister of Lebanon.
_Mala Gaonkar Haarman, a partner and managing director at the private investment partnership Lone Pine Capital.
_Lukas Lundin, chairman of oil, gas and mining businesses including Tanganyika Oil Company Ltd., an international oil and gas exploration and production company with interests in Syria, and Vostok Nafta Investment Ltd., an investment company that focuses on Russia and other former Soviet republics.
_Victor Pinchuk, son-in-law of the former president of Ukraine. Clinton spoke in 2007 at an annual meeting of Yalta European Strategy, a group Pinchuk founded to promote Ukraine joining the European Union.
The top ranks of Clinton's donor list are heavy with longtime Democratic givers, some notable for their staunch support of Israel.
_TV producer Haim Saban and his family foundation, who donated between $5 million and $10 million, splits his time between homes in Israel and California. "I'm a one-issue guy and my issue is Israel," he told The New York Times in 2004.
_Slim-Fast diet foods tycoon S. Daniel Abraham, a donor of between $1 million and $5 million, has been a board member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which promotes Israel's interests before the U.S. government.
_The American Jewish Committee and the United Nations Foundation donated $100,000 to $250,000.
Clinton thanked his donors in a statement for being "steadfast partners in our work to impact the lives of so many around the world in measurable and meaningful ways."
The former president agreed to step away from direct involvement in the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual charitable conference where businesses and many foreign governments pledge donations to help ameliorate AIDS, poverty and other social ills. He will continue serving as CGI's founding chairman but will not solicit money or sponsorships. The CGI will cease accepting foreign contributions and will not host events outside the United States.
Clinton started raising money for his library before leaving the White House. Over the years, the Clintons repeatedly refused to identify all the foundation donors, and continued to do so during Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
Names surfaced nonetheless. Several news organizations unearthed foreign-government donors, and in 2001, Bill Clinton turned over a list of 150 top foundation donors to a House committee investigating his pardon of fugitive businessman Marc Rich, whose ex-wife, Denise Rich, gave the library foundation at least $450,000.
___
On the Net:
Clinton Foundation contributors: http://www.clintonfoundation.org/contributors
____
Beth Fouhy reported from New York. Associated Press writers Ted Bridis, Jim Drinkard and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report
Forbes- Why Wall Street Could Go To Jail... 19-Jan-09 01:49 pm A list of "misleading" statements from execs (AIG, FNM,BSC...)from recent (catastrophic) corporate failures. ex. "Our liquidity and balance sheets are strong...We don't see any pressure on out liquidity, let alone a liquidity crisis." - Bear Stearns CEO Alan Schwartz to CNBC on March 12, 2008. -- Less than 36 hours later,,,Sought Emergency funding from Federal Reserve on March 13, 2008, and then sold to JP Morgan. NO active SEC / DOJ inquiry. (?) -- SOX "rules"...an exec who certifies an inaccurate report 10 years jail / $1 Million fine ... an exec who "willfully certifies" a false statement 20 years jail / $5 Million fine. - So what happened? http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fort...
here all of them???????????? Archive For writedowns and distress
Citigroup - $601.2B+$125B=$726.2(TARP-$25+$20B) (7)
Posted on December 4, 2008 10:53 AM
Goldman Sachs - $98.5B (3)
Posted on December 2, 2008 5:15 PM
JP Morgan Chase - $20.1B (3)
Posted on November 13, 2008 2:15 PM
BNP Paribas - $10.4B (0)
Posted on November 5, 2008 11:01 AM
UBS - $225B (2)
Posted on November 4, 2008 11:22 AM
Commerzbank - $32.1B (1)
Posted on November 3, 2008 10:08 AM
Fifth Third Bancorp - $3.6B (1)
Posted on October 28, 2008 11:50 AM
Mizuho MFG - $5.5B (0)
Posted on October 27, 2008 2:09 PM
Mitsubishi Financial Group - $760M (0)
Posted on October 27, 2008 12:54 AM
US Bancorp - $3.0B (0)
Posted on October 22, 2008 12:13 PM
Merrill Lynch - >$115.4B (1)
Posted on October 17, 2008 8:49 AM
Wells Fargo - $27.4B (2)
Posted on October 16, 2008 6:01 AM
Morgan Stanley - $78.0B (0)
Posted on October 13, 2008 4:38 PM
CIBC - $10.7B (0)
Posted on August 27, 2008 11:44 AM
Bank of Montreal - $1.2B (0)
Posted on August 26, 2008 1:02 PM
Deutsche Bank - $155.1B (1)
Posted on August 25, 2008 10:02 PM
Societe Generale - $30.1B (1)
Posted on August 5, 2008 10:08 PM
HSBC Bank - $27.7B (0)
Posted on August 4, 2008 1:12 PM
Credit Suisse - $94.5 B (0)
Posted on August 3, 2008 12:20 PM
SunTrust - $2.0B (1)
Posted on July 22, 2008 3:33 PM
Barclay’s PLC > $15.0 B (1)
Posted on June 30, 2008 6:02 PM
Royal Bank of Canada - $1.4B (0)
Posted on May 29, 2008 6:07 PM
Bayern LB - $9.8B (0)
Posted on May 19, 2008 7:42 AM
WestLB AG - $4.8B (0)
Posted on May 19, 2008 7:35 AM
Natixis - $3.4B (1)
Posted on May 19, 2008 7:31 AM
Credit Agricole SA-$13.8B (0)
Posted on May 12, 2008 5:18 PM
Bank of NY Mellon - $118M (0)
Posted on April 9, 2008 11:19 AM
Sovereign Bancorp - $1.580B (0)
Posted on April 8, 2008 1:29 PM
DZ BANK AG - $2.1B (0)
Posted on March 7, 2008 9:52 PM
HSBC - $26.5B (0)
Posted on March 5, 2008 5:25 PM
Bank of America - $72.1B (4)
Posted on January 7, 2008 12:02
Writedown-Rundown & General Distress:Name - $Pain Factor [writedowns and charge-offs + capital raised + loan loss reserves growth + L2/3 growth]
Citigroup - $601.2B+$125B=$726.2(TARP-$25+$20B)
Goldman Sachs - $98.5B
JP Morgan Chase - $20.1B
BNP Paribas - $10.4B
UBS - $225B
Commerzbank - $32.1B
Fifth Third Bancorp - $3.6B
Mizuho MFG - $5.5B
Mitsubishi Financial Group - $760M
US Bancorp - $3.0B
more...
basserdan, did you think i made this up. i do not like to type so i have to look up from another screen and copy and paste
Bank of America conspired with the Treasury to embezzle $50B from American taxpayers
On the same frantic weekend as Lehman Brothers lost everything, Bank of America conspired with the Treasury to embezzle $50B from American taxpayers.
It was on that weekend that John Thain wiggled his way into Bank of America’s bosom. The prevailing thought of the day was that Thain executed a masterpiece of negotiations, but it appears now, like anything else on Wall Street, that it may be his Goldman Sachs pedigree and insider connections which served him best.
Knowing that investors were worried about Merrill, John A. Thain, its chief executive and an alumnus of Goldman Sachs and the New York Stock Exchange, and Kenneth D. Lewis, Bank of America’s chief executive, began negotiations. One person briefed on the negotiations said Bank of America had approached Merrill earlier in the summer but Mr. Thain had rebuffed the offer. Now, prompted by the reality that a Lehman bankruptcy would ripple through Wall Street and further cripple Merrill Lynch, the two parties proceeded with discussions.
Who could have known at the time that those discussions included provisions to disguise the theft from the Treasury to Merrill Lynch as a merger or buyout of Merrill Lynch into Bank of America? Who could not know it now? Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch for $50B in September, but the deal was not finalized until January 1, 2009 by which time Merrill’s meltdown had significantly heated up. Any CEO worth his salt would have dumped the deal, but Lewis clung to it.
Mr. Lewis said that as Merrill’s fourth-quarter losses mounted, he did re-evaluate whether he should close the deal and whether he could renegotiate the price for Merrill. But, he said, regulators implored him to complete the transaction and said they would provide support.
“The government was firmly of the view that terminating or delaying the closing of the transaction could lead to significant concerns and could result in significant systemic concerns,” Mr. Lewis said. “We did think we were doing the right thing for the country.”
Oh, he did it for the country. Silly me. Who’d have thought he was so patriotic! So let’s see if we get can this straight: Lewis did it for the country, but then made the country pay for it.
In the conference call, Bank of America executives also discussed the government assistance that was announced overnight to help them complete the merger with Merrill.
Two weeks after closing its purchase of Merrill Lynch at the urging of federal regulators, the government cemented a deal at midnight Thursday (January 16, 2009) to supply Bank of America with a fresh $20 billion capital injection and absorb as much as $98.2 billion in losses on toxic assets, according to people involved in the transaction.
So, Bank of America defrauded the taxpayer for another $20B, moved up its reporting date, then promptly reported its first loss since 1991, which conveniently did not include the dead weight of $15B of unexpected Merrill Lynch losses.
Bank of America Corp. swung to a fourth-quarter loss on Friday after accepting $20 billion in aid from the U.S. government to help it absorb troubled Merrill Lynch & Co.’s piles of souring loan-backed securities.The Charlotte, N.C., banking giant, which disclosed its results two business days earlier than expected, posted a net loss of $1.79 billion, or 48 cents a share, but still managed to turn in a profit of $4 billion for all of 2008. Widening losses of more than $15 billion at the bank’s latest purchase, Merrill Lynch, however, overshadowed the bank’s full-year profit.
In the quarter, Bank of America did the things that losing banks do: it accepted fresh capital, marked down $5.5B in bad loans, cut its dividend and increased its loan-loss reserves.
The U.S. had already injected $15 billion into Bank of America and $10 billion into Merrill to bolster the combined company against the credit crunch.
Bank of America charged off $5.54 billion of loans as uncollectible, equal to 2.36 percent of total average loan and leases, compared with 0.91 percent a year earlier, the statement said. The provision for loan losses increased to $8.5 billion from $6.45 billion in the third quarter because of “economic stress on consumers,” the bank said.
But even as Bank of America writhes in pain, BoA CEO Ken Lewis seems more concerned with Merrill Lynch. Why might that be?
About three-quarters of the federal aid is intended to cushion Merrill’s losses, with the rest for Bank of America, Chief Financial Officer Joe Price told investors during today’s conference call.
It’s the thing that naturally happens when a government suffering from a horrible banker infestation looks for the rodents rather than the people. In this case Merrill Lynch’s precious insiders were in real danger of actually having to fork over a dime, but now thanks to the bailout disguised as a merger with Bank of America, it’s only the working class forking over a third of its income. Thank goodness we still have Wall Street!
“The additional funds provided to B. of A. is the only reason why the dollar is rallying against the Japanese yen, and why we are seeing a recovery in all of the higher-yielding pairs such as the euro/dollar and pound/dollar,” said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT.
As Bank of America acts as a cash conduit to Merrill Lynch, investors head for the exits and you and me get to pick up the
here what i heard on fox news, b.o. is going open private bank, take all the garbage paper from all banks and book into the private bank. hire some hot pro's to fix the problem. sound good who know's.
Washington Mobilizes 42,500-Strong Security Force for Inaugural
Email | Print | A A A
By Jeff Bliss
Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- When senior FBI official Joseph Persichini takes his 5 a.m. jog down Washington’s National Mall, he imagines everything that could go wrong at Barack Obama’s inaugural next week.
He said he thinks about the possibility of a sleet storm, bombing, chemical attack or -- perhaps hardest to guard against -- the lone gunman bent on turning a celebration into a national tragedy.
“I’m thinking about what the schedule is, and what we’re doing, and what are the issues we’re facing,” said Persichini, assistant director in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office. “You don’t understand the magnitude until you go out there right on the Mall.”
As many as 2 million people -- double the number for any previous inauguration -- are expected to fill the Mall on Jan. 20 to witness the swearing-in of the first black president.
While officials said they haven’t received any credible threats, they have prepared an unprecedented security effort. It will be overseen by the U.S. Secret Service and will include 7,500 active-duty soldiers, 10,000 National Guard troops and 25,000 law-enforcement officers, security officials said. Federal officials haven’t projected the total cost, though Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia said they are spending tens of millions of dollars.
Finding Gaps
For the past six months, security officials have been trying to identify gaps in their planning, and for the past month officials have been testing their responses to scenarios with table-top exercises.
Many days, Persichini and other federal, state and city law-enforcement authorities are on the phone by 4:30 a.m. to discuss security concerns.
On Inauguration Day, the city will be honeycombed with communication command centers staffed with officials from the Secret Service, FBI, police and fire departments, intelligence agencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department is working with 99 federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies to double its force of 4,100 officers. The FBI will have 600 agents on duty, a 20 percent increase from the 2005 inauguration. All 1,600 Capitol Police officers will be on duty.
Chemical, Biological
The U.S. Army will have a brigade at Fort Stewart, Georgia, ready to respond to a chemical and biological attack. Within 48 hours, hundreds of planes and helicopters could fly to the Washington region if needed.
Even the ceremonial guards at the inauguration are prepared to change out of their dress uniforms to help out in the event of a security event.
The effort will even include inspectors, behavioral experts, air marshals and canine teams from the Transportation Security Administration, who are usually deployed at airports. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is sending bomb experts and dog handlers.
Helping to monitor crowds will be 94 surveillance cameras spread throughout the city as well those in subway stations and in helicopters, Washington Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
The 16 U.S. intelligence agencies are providing a stream of information on overseas terrorist groups.
Obama supporters drawn to the president-elect’s promise to make government more transparent and welcoming may be jarred when they see the Mall, which in the days preceding the event is beginning to resemble a fortress wrapped in fencing and fortified with concrete jersey barriers. Security officials said the record crowds will make these security measures essential.
“No one should be in an environment that they’re losing their life for celebrating the inauguration of the president of the United States,” said Major General Richard Rowe, commander of the U.S. Army Military District of Washington.
City of Charter Buses
Inaugural activities will be spread over four days for the first time. They begin with a concert Jan. 18 featuring Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce Knowles and will culminate in with 10 official balls and a plethora of unofficial celebrations on the night of Jan. 20.
So far, 3,000 charter buses have registered for parking spaces; officials said as many as 10,000 may come.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority will provide rush-hour service from 4 a.m. on Jan. 20 through 3 a.m. the next day, City Administrator Dan Tangherlini said. The Metro usually closes at midnight on weekdays.
Jumbotron TVs
More than 20 Jumbotron TV screens will be set up on the Mall and along the parade route so people won’t crowd parts of the city for a better view, officials said.
Lanier said city officials realized they would need a different plan from previous inaugurals after the spontaneous response to Obama’s victory on Election Night.
Thousands took to the city’s streets, setting off sparklers and shouting from cars. Although “they were hugging police officers,” the size of the crowds signaled potential problems, she said.
Anyone wishing to stand along the route of the inauguration parade will have to go through some type of screening, including metal detectors, said Mark Sullivan, director of the Secret Service.
On Inauguration Day, two bridges connecting Washington to Virginia will be closed to all traffic except tour buses, emergency vehicles and pedestrians. Vehicles also will be restricted within a seven-block section west of the White House.
Parade-Route Balconies
Security officials are taking special care with buildings near the festivities. Parking garages in some will be shut down the day before. Guests attending the Air Transport Association’s party at its Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters -- along the parade route -- will have to be pre-cleared because the building has balconies, spokesman David Castelveter said.
While most of the crowds are expected to be in a celebratory mood, the Washington Peace Center is staging a rally of 3,000 outside the FBI building, calling for President George W. Bush’s arrest.
The group is protesting the Iraq invasion and the use of interrogation techniques on terror suspects that critics said amounted to torture.
At the other end of the political spectrum, the Westboro Baptist Church, a Topeka, Kansas-based group known for its anti- gay slogans and its description of Obama as “an antichrist,” will picket at a Washington park.
White Supremacists
Mark Potok, director of the intelligence project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization in Montgomery, Alabama, that monitors racist and extremist groups, said white supremacists angered by Obama’s election are likely to stay home rather than tangle with hordes of his supporters.
If you’re a racist in such a crowd, “you might not come back with your nose intact,” he said.
Officials are asking those attending the inaugural to send text messages rather than call. They are concerned that if too many people send pictures from their cell phones, the mobile communications network could be overloaded.
Public officials also are warning anyone who comes to the city to be prepared for cold weather and lots of walking.
“This is not throwing the family in the van and heading down for a visit at the Air and Space Museum,” Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley told reporters this week. “You need to have a plan.”
One resident said he felt hemmed in by the security and expected crowds.
“Everyone is very concerned about the ability to move around,” said Wright Andrews, whose lobbying firm on Pennsylvania Avenue is hosting an inaugural party. “We’re not making as big a deal of it as usual” as a consequence.
For his part, Rowe, the Washington military commander, said he would sleep on an air mattress in his office to ensure that he is at his post on Jan. 20.
Security officials said the measures may seem like overkill, though they would rather do too much than too little.
In the event of an incident, “we would be criticized heavily after the fact for not taking precautions up front,” Lanier said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Bliss in Washington jbliss@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: January 16, 2009 00:01 EST