Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: el_gaviero who wrote (51454)	1/25/2006 8:30:45 PM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ US Interior Dept Defends Acctg Method For Gas Royalties By Maya Jackson Randall Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A recent report alleging discrepancies in the U.S. Department of Interior's accounting methods for natural gas royalties "compares prices that are not comparable," according to the head of the department's Minerals Management Service. In a recent letter to key U.S. lawmakers, MMS Director Johnnie Burton defended the office's calculations, noting that MMS bases royalties on the value of the oil or natural gas at the wholesale level, while the prices companies report to the Securities Exchange Commission are based on the retail price, which includes the cost of processing and transporting the gas. The New York Times reported earlier this week that, despite soaring energy prices and industry profits, the U.S. government collected just a little more in royalty payments than it did five years ago and alleged that the government under-collected royalties from public lands. The report said natural gas companies provided the Interior Department with much lower sale prices than they reported to their shareholders. The article alleges that MMS should have collected an additional $700 million in royalties based on the prices reported to the SEC and the royalty values reported to MMS. In response, a number of lawmakers, fearing Americans are being short-changed, called for investigations of DOI's accounting practices and urged the department to explain its calculations. In her letter, Burton pointed out that the calculation of the value of the gas at the lease, where the gas is produced, has been used for over 70 years and codified by several rules. She also noted that companies that break the accounting rules are ordered to pay the correct amounts plus interest and sometimes civil penalties. "The long-standing regulations of the department allow for calculating value of gas at the lease, not at a market center downstream of the lease where gas may be sold," she said in the letter, which she sent to the lead Republican and Democratic members of the Senate energy and homeland security committees as well as the House committees dealing with energy and government reform issues. In addition, Burton highlighted the fact that the government's 2005 royalty data don't include data from some energy companies impacted by the hurricanes that recently hit the Gulf Coast. Data from those companies will appear in the fiscal year 2006 reports, she said. Another reason royalties haven't kept pace with gas prices is because MMS is seeking a larger share of production on areas, such as onshore or in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, with lower royalty rates. Since 1990, production from the more expensive offshore, shallow-water areas has fallen more than 50%, she said. MMS has also, over the years, started collecting more royalties as oil and gas instead of in cash. Burton said the office is taking 80% of the royalty oil and 20% of the royalty gas in the Gulf of Mexico in kind.

To: el_gaviero who wrote (51454)	1/25/2006 8:32:26 PM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ China Datang Power To Invest In CNY23.4B Nuclear Plant . HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Datang International Power Generation Co. (0991.HK), the second-largest Hong Kong-listed Chinese power producer by capacity, said it had agreed to invest in a planned nuclear power plant expected to cost CNY23.44 billion. Datang and Guangdong Nuclear Power Investment Co. will establish a joint venture, Ningde Nuclear Power Co., to build and operate the new plant. The plant, to be located in Ningde city in Fujian province, will have two 1,000-megawatt generating units, Datang said in a statement. Guangdong Nuclear will contribute 51% of the joint venture's capital and Datang Power 49%. The joint venture will have initial registered capital of CNY200 million. The proposal for the nuclear power plant has been submitted to the Chinese government for approval, Datang said.