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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (35763)	1/20/2004 11:34:30 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 89467

Jim...Thx for the info...... Re Golds... Watch SUR.V..(TSX)....SURBF.pk (US) same stock...diff name over the border sold my small holdings at 140%.... Looking to reenter..... T

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (35763)	1/20/2004 11:43:32 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 89467

At Least 23 Dead in Algeria Blast; Refinery Shut 1 hour, 42 minutes ago Add World - Reuters By Zohra Bensemra SKIKDA, Algeria (Reuters) - Rescue workers searched through rubble for missing workers at Algeria's largest refinery and export port Tuesday after a blast at a nearby liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant killed at least 23 people, officials said. The explosion devastated the vast petrochemical complex in the port city of Skikda, 310 miles east of the capital Algiers Monday evening, caused at least 74 injuries and shut down all activity at the oil and gas refinery complex. Nine workers were still missing, state radio said. A French and a Turkish worker were injured in the blast, officials told Reuters. Algeria is the world's second largest LNG exporter after Indonesia and a quarter of its shipments leave from Skikda, all to southern Europe. "We have halted the refinery of Skikda as a preventive measure to avoid problems that could result from the blast," Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil told state radio. He said the cause was not yet known. Khelil did not say whether the oil installations were damaged. State-owned energy group Sonatrach said pipelines to Skikda were unaffected. The blast boosted already strong oil prices. Brent crude jumped 55 cents to $31.12 a barrel. Skikda is also a major supplier to Europe of the oil products refined from crude. Traders said prices also jumped for naphtha, used to produce plastics and petrochemicals. The minister did not say when the 335,000-barrel-per-day refinery would reopen but stressed that the OPEC (news - web sites) member would honor its export commitments. A shipping agent said the oil port was shut. Skikda, Algeria's largest port, loads 84 percent of the 14 million tons of oil earmarked exports each year. Algeria exports more than 60 billion cubic meters of gas per year, of which more than 10 billion come from Skikda. Officials at the scene said they believed a boiler at one of the gas units was the origin of the blast, which was felt for kilometers and destroyed three of the refinery's LNG plants and one maintenance building. A Sonatrach statement said there would be minimal impact on LNG deliveries and the gas units that were not damaged will be restarted after inspections were completed. Algeria, which has been hit by a decade of Islamic rebel violence, has one of the world's largest natural gas reserves. It is a key supplier of gas to Europe and its $65 billion economy is almost entirely dependent on oil and gas exports. Officials told Reuters it was too early to evaluate the damage because it was so extensive, with metal, glass and concrete debris spread across the 227-acre site. It was the worst LNG accident since 1975 when about 40 people died in an explosion in Staten Island, U.S., Andrew Flower, an independent gas consultant, told Reuters. REFINERY ABLAZE, WORKERS ANGRY A Reuters reporter at the scene said fires were still burning at the Mediterranean refinery complex operated by state energy company Sonatrach, where 12,000 people work. "The place is covered in fumes and some fires are burning but they're small," the reporter said. "Rescue workers are searching under the rubble of one building where they expect more bodies are buried." Several workers, many crying and angry, met President Bouteflika at the site. An official inquiry has been opened. The workers complained that they had warned an accident would happen and that the boiler was faulty but no one listened. The head of security at one plant told state radio he heard vibrations and irregular noise at a boiler just before the blast.