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To: Wyätt Gwyön who wrote (12727)	4/28/2004 1:30:03 AM
From: Elroy Jetson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

This is why Australia, which is self-sufficient in gas and an oil exporter, is planning to build an undersea gas pipeline from PNG (Papua New Guinea). They need to increase their supply of natural gas in order to expand their export industries of plastics, fertilizer, and products which use a gas feedstock. I'm fairly certain this represents the wave of the future. Products requiring gas feedstock will be produced close to the gas supply. It's dramatically less expensive to ship products like plastic pellets than it is to ship LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) in insulated ships. Mexico has been eager to place a LNG terminal in Baja California to supply the United States. The chances of placing an LNG terminal in a populated area is essentially zero. In spite of the many precautions, it is far too dangerous. One major accident can potentially flatten 20 or 30 square miles. It's my understanding that many companies, such as Dow and DuPont, who produce petroleum based products already see the writing on the wall and are involved in joint-ventures in petroleum exporting nations.

To: Wyätt Gwyön who wrote (12727)	4/28/2004 4:11:49 AM
From: Elroy Jetson	Respond to of 110194

Chevron-Texaco Says Australian Gorgon Project May Supply LNG to Zhejiang, Guangdong quote.bloomberg.com (The Gorgon LNG project is based in the north end of Western Australia based on Barrow Island near Port Hedland) April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Chevron-Texaco Corp., the second- largest U.S. oil company, said its proposed A$11 billion ($8.1 billion) Gorgon liquefied natural gas project in Australia may supply customers in Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces. Details of the Gorgon venture's agreement to sell LNG to China should be resolved this year, Neil Theobald, head of marketing for the project, said from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, at the end of a trade mission. Theobald and representatives from other Australian LNG projects were accompanying Western Australian State Development Minister Clive Brown. The Gorgon venture, which includes Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Exxon Mobil Corp., signed a preliminary agreement last year to sell between 80 million and 100 million metric tons of LNG from Gorgon to China over 25 years starting in 2008. The Woodside Petroleum Ltd.-led North West Shelf venture has a A$25 billion agreement to export LNG to the terminal being built in Guangdong. ``All the feedback we got from the various people we met during the minister's visits around China was very positive about the prospects for LNG,'' Theobald said. ``It's a strong possibility that some of (Gorgon) gas could go into Zhejiang, and we hope it does -- quite possibly some could go into Guangdong in an expansion of the first phase, or even into some of the other markets.'' Brown's visit included industry and governmental meetings in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Yiwu, the Western Australian government said in a statement on its Web site. Brown and the gas industry representatives met with China National Offshore Oil Co. and other companies and government officials, said Daniel Smith, a spokesman for the minister. Federal Trade Minister Mark Vaile also took part in some of the meetings, he said. Beijing Bill Bloking, BHP Billiton's North West Shelf general manager, Blair Sandison, chief representative, China, of North West Shelf Australia LNG, and Lucio Della Martina, Woodside's general manager of LNG marketing, took part in the talks, Theobald said. The Gorgon venture also opened a representative office in Beijing this week, he said. China, the largest energy user after the U.S., aims to quadruple its use of natural gas to 8 percent of household fuel by 2010. Zhejiang may be the third LNG import terminal built in China, after Guangdong and one proposed for Fujian. LNG is gas that's been compressed and cooled to liquid form so that it can be loaded onto a ship for transportation to markets that are too far for a pipeline.

To: Wyätt Gwyön who wrote (12727)	4/28/2004 12:35:10 PM
From: gregor_us	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

My Thoughts Exactly, Darffot. There's a PhD Candidate in my town who is doing something in Behavioral Economics (big fan of Khaneman and Tversky (sp.)). A bit of an oddball character but when we chat at the local cafe he often hammers away at a constant theme: That the dollar is essentially an oil-backed currency, or put another way, you just take all the dollars and all the oil and recognize there must be equilibrium between the two. He also hammers away at the Oil Cost of Food Production Theme. Anyway, I am with you when you say oil is money. If the dollar is not an oil-currency, then I guess the dollar is backed by the book value of property and labor in the United States, to the extent you can command either, with a dollar. But the dollar seems more interested these days in oil, than in the real assets of the United States. Much of our property and labor needs oil to be productive, to function. Oil futures have hit 37.975 this morning. I have been trying to put myself in the position of the large buyers who cannot do without the stuff, and the traders who do their buying. Worryingly, I conclude that oil is severely undervalued. I can't imagine China has not thought of National Stockpiling. China: So many dollars, so little oil. The other theme my curious PhD guy likes to hammer away at is the Great Game/Caspian Oil story.