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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BigBull who wrote (61488)	3/5/2000 3:23:00 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Is it gas? Is it liquids? It's both, and it's big - Houston Business Journal, Feb.21 ... There has been a flurry of gas-to-liquids activity in the last year or so. Arco, Enron, Marathon and Texaco have secured licenses to use the gas-to-liquids technology of Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Syntroleum Corp. Shell is also reportedly looking at gas-to-liquids technology. "Gas-to-liquids is a very promising technology. It's going to be a big deal," says George Eynon, a director of Cambridge Energy Re-search Associates. "When you have gas you can't get to market, you can't monetize that asset, so any way of doing that is going to be pursued by companies with those assets," he says. CONVERSION CHALLENGE The search for an economical gas-to-liquids technology has become a hot pursuit of oil and gas exploration companies in the last couple of years for several reasons. There are estimated to be at least 900 trillion cubic feet of so- called "stranded" natural gas reserves worldwide that are located far away from markets. Venezuela, for example, is sitting on 160 trillion cubic feet of stranded natural gas, and there is more in Trinidad and offshore West Africa. Converting the gas to a liquid would make it transportable to markets via pipelines, trucks or ships. But another driving force is the fact that oil production on the North Slope of Alaska has been dropping off substantially and eventually will idle the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. There are vast natural gas reserves on the Slope, and the U.S. Department of Energy has said that using the Alaska Pipeline to transport liquified forms of North Slope gas could add 25 years to the life of the pipeline. But perhaps the biggest driving force behind GTL is the fact that it produces environmentally clean synthetic fuel which could be an answer to federal demands for stricter vehicle emissions standards. "The potential market for GTL fuel is huge because it is sulfur-free, and there is a hue and cry worldwide to remove sulfur from the air," says John Ford, spokesperson for Syntroleum. Indeed, automaker DaimlerChrysler is working with Syntroleum on developing "designer fuels." Another potentially big market for synthetic gas-to-liquids fuels is fuel cell technology. Syntroleum's synthetic gasoline and diesel fuels recently were tested by Northwest Power Systems, a manufacturer of fuel cell components. The fuels were found free of sulfur, aromatics and metals, meaning these fuels could significantly lower the cost of manufacturing and operating fuel cells. But the challenge has been to come up with a conversion process that is cheap enough to be cost-effective. "Conoco clearly believes their technology is better than any others," says oil and gas analyst Irene Haas of Sanders Morris Harrison investment banking firm. "Conoco inherited some excellent catalyst technology from DuPont," says Bill White, chairman of Howe-Baker and CEO of Wedge Group Inc., a Houston holding company that owns Howe-Baker. White was deputy secretary of energy from 1993 to 1995. Howe-Baker specializes in design and construction of plants that convert natural gas to hydrogen, a critical element in the process for making liquid petroleum. "We believe our process is the most economical in the world," he says. Conoco's technology makes gas-to-liquids conversion economical at mid-$20 per barrel oil prices, he says. "Synthetic petroleum is closer than people realize. By 2010 there could be $10 billion worth of these plants in development worldwide producing a couple million barrels of oil a day. It could be a multi-billion-dollar industry." Full article: amcity.com

To: BigBull who wrote (61488)	3/5/2000 3:47:00 PM
From: packwood	Respond to of 95453

So You can put NJ back in your poll..... Filled up my SUV in Atlanta last night with reg unleaded @ 129.9. Georgia has a very low gas tax.

To: BigBull who wrote (61488)	3/5/2000 4:28:00 PM
From: stevedhu	Respond to of 95453

BigBull, people always talk about transportation costs being figured into the price at the pump, well if that was true then gas in Houston should be somewhat lower than most places. Shell has a gas station the other side of a chain link fence from the Shell refinery on the Houston ship channel and gas is $1.519, so much for that excuse. Take Care Steve

To: BigBull who wrote (61488)	3/5/2000 7:50:00 PM
From: Roebear	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

BigBull, Sorry, was driving all day and missed your gas poll. Prices varied from 1.399 regular 1.479 midgrade 1.569 at a discount station in a local town known for cheap gas prices to 1.499-1.589-1.639 in Hershey, always a little higher due to tourist trade. I wasn't paying close attention but the Philly area seemed similar to Hershey prices. The Harrisburg Patriot ran a front page story on the "ridiculous price of gas" and statements from many folks on how they are going to curtail their driving. Based on the traffic on the Turnpike, Sheerkill Expressway etc., I'd say that was mostly huff and puff consumers blowing smoke. Non truck traffic was close to normal for a Sunday. 18 Wheeler traffic was down noticeably however, even for a Sunday. Average speed of traffic was down slightly. Whenever I go down to Philly (not really enough for an scientific study) I count the truck traffic in the opposite lanes (which shows I am either a compulsive oil company investor or something, ggg). Truck traffic on Interstate 81 was close to normal, with more trucks driving in 70's "convoy" fashion, probably to save fuel, I'd guess. As for the riddle, obviously the night clerk was a relative of a member of the Federal Reserve and the five dollars was just "created" anyway, as a favor from Uncle Al to help out a nephew in a bind. The real moral of the story is if the three guys had any business smarts, they could have complained enough about being overcharged to get the room for half price at most. VBG Edit, OOPS, I got my "BIGS" mixed up with the hotel story! Roebear