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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: 2MAR$ who wrote (99278)3/17/2013 11:23:10 AM
From: 2MAR$  Respond to of 218679
 
Chinese firm puts millions into U.S. natural gas stations

ENN Group Co Ltd, one of China's largest private companies, is quietly rolling out plans to establish a network of natural gas fueling stations for trucks along U.S. highways.

With plans to build 50 stations this year alone, ENN joins a small but formidable group of players -- including Clean Energy Fuels Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc -- in an aggressive push to develop an infrastructure for heavy-duty trucks fueled by cheap and abundant natural gas. Clean Energy is backed by T. Boone Pickens and Chesapeake Energy Corp.

The move is yet another example of China's ambition to grab a piece of the U.S. shale gas boom. Just last month, Sinopec Group said it would pay $1 billion for some of Chesapeake's oil and gas properties in the Mississippi Lime shale.


The natural gas bounty is also expected to help wean the U.S. transport industry off its dependence on diesel fuel made from imported crude oil, and the trucking industry is in a big push to use more of the domestically produced fuel.

The potential savings are huge: shippers can save around $2 a gallon by switching to natural gas from diesel.

Nearly half of the garbage trucks sold in the United States last year run on natural gas. They are able to refuel at dedicated stations at their home bases. To convince the far larger market for long-haul trucking to run on natural gas, truckers need to know they can refuel along their highway routes.

Enter ENN, led by billionaire energy tycoon Wang Yusuo. The company has already built natural gas stations in China, which is farther along in its adoption of natural gas trucks.

A TINY COMPANY IN UTAH

The average liquefied natural gas station costs around $1 million to build, according to industry experts, putting ENN's investment this year at about $50 million. The company's U.S. joint venture would not say how much it plans to spend.

Two years ago ENN began looking to put its expertise in natural gas equipment to work in the United States and first approached the top player in U.S. natural gas fueling, Clean Energy, about forming a partnership, according to people familiar with the matter. Clean Energy would not comment.

But when they rebuffed ENN, the Chinese firm reached out to a small Utah company, CH4 Energy Corp, which had opened a single LNG and CNG fueling station in Salt Lake City with the help of federal stimulus funds.

The deal created Transfuels LLC, which operates as Blu LNG. ENN has a majority stake in the joint venture and controls its board of directors, according to sources familiar with the deal.

Merritt Norton, who founded CH4, is Blu's chief executive, while Jun Yang is chairman and also the vice president of ENN Group.

Blu LNG's plans are bold and moving quickly.

"We have five stations in operation right now, and within I would say two weeks we will have another three stations," Norton said in an interview last week.

Eventually, ENN has said it also plans to build LNG plants.

A source close to the situation said the company "is just testing the market. You can call it an experiment."

As for the secrecy around its plans, the source said, "ENN Group is mindful of potential U.S. reaction to its expansion there because it would bring in more competition."

Blu had no comment on its ownership structure or the makeup of its board of directors. The company said it was not able to comment on behalf of ENN Group. Efforts to reach ENN Group in China were unsuccessful.

A NATIONAL NETWORK

Today there are 28 public LNG refueling stations in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

LNG is denser than compressed natural gas, which fuels many buses and garbage trucks. That means trucks require fewer fuel storage tanks to go the same distance. Also, LNG stations are cheaper to build than CNG stations because they do not tap into gas lines. Much like diesel, the liquid fuel is trucked in.

The number of stations Blu will open this year is about equal to the 50 to 60 stations Clean Energy is planning. Clean Energy already has 70 LNG stations, though most will only start operating when there are a sufficient number of trucks that need them. Shell has said it plans to build about 100 LNG fueling stations in the United States, but has not given a timeline.

Blu's eventual plan is to build about 500 LNG stations in the United States, according to another person familiar with their strategy. When asked about that figure, a Blu spokesman said the company was committed to building a network of fueling stations, but that the exact number would depend on a number of factors.

Most of Clean Energy's filling stations are located at truck stops run by Pilot Flying J. Shell said it is in the final stages of negotiations to work with another major U.S. truck stop operator, TravelCenters of America LLC.

Blu has no such deal with a national truck stop owner, but is working with some regional players, Norton said, adding that he did not view other players in natural gas as competition.

All of the company's current stations are in Utah, but it is expanding throughout the country. Blu has between 50 and 100 employees, Norton said, mostly at its headquarters in Salt Lake, but also in the Midwest, Southeast and Northwest.

Blu LNG isn't ENN's first foray into the U.S. market. The company in recent years has announced partnerships with power company Duke Energy Corp to develop green energy projects, though none have yet been built.

It has also been developing a $5 billion solar farm and manufacturing plant in Nevada for years, though the project still does not have a buyer for its power.

The company hopes to have better luck in natural gas. Last month ENN inked a global deal with natural gas engine maker Westport Innovations to collaborate on efforts to speed the proliferation of natural gas as a transportation fuel.

But Westport is not helping ENN with its U.S. LNG stations.

"They don't need us," said Husayn Anwar, president of Westport's China business. "They know what they are doing and they have the money for it."<>"With plans to build 50 stations this year alone, ENN joins a small but formidable group of players -- including Clean Energy Fuels Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc -- in an aggressive push to develop an infrastructure for heavy-duty trucks fueled by cheap and abundant natural gas. Clean Energy is backed by T. Boone Pickens and Chesapeake Energy Corp.

The move is yet another example of China's ambition to grab a piece of the U.S. shale gas boom. Just last month, Sinopec Group said it would pay $1 billion for some of Chesapeake's oil and gas properties in the Mississippi Lime shale."



To: 2MAR$ who wrote (99278)3/17/2013 11:41:04 AM
From: Robin Plunder  Respond to of 218679
 
those charts look sexy....but so often the chart morphs into something else...when do we break out and which way? Charles nenner, on financial sense this week, says gold breaks out and goes up in late april/early may...but who knows.

rp



To: 2MAR$ who wrote (99278)3/18/2013 6:41:57 AM
From: TobagoJack2 Recommendations  Respond to of 218679
 
Hello 2mar$, I have been a little busy working on matters to do with the Queensland gold mine n mill, the New South Wales gold n antimony mine n mill, and the Tasmania gold n silver tailings n mill projects.

All three projects have been taken down and properly bagged, with Queensland and Tasmania projects on the partners own account, and the New South Wales affair together w/ a funding partner as it is a bit large and require more.

I have also been working on my god's work teeth project, that which I have toiled alongside partners since 2004.

Today I finished preparation workings on some Old Testament work, that which dictates two eye balls, both ears, a nose, and all teeth in exchange for making my little ones cry back in April of last year.

The criminals are boxed in, having been stupid enough to file false word-for-word Statements, and one comically committed perjury last September.

The matter revolves around a traffic dispute, essentially all about selfish driver and cretin wife blocking public road for 15 minutes while waiting for a choke-filled parking lot to free up space, ... on a busy holiday weekend, under blazing hot sun, and in front of the car I was in.

Too bad for them to accuse one public-spirited citizen of causing criminal damage to their decrepit car, allegedly two (2) one (1)-centimeter marks w/ bare fists.

The eventual 'one said one said' trial lasted 4 hours, resulted in wrongful conviction based on judge's feelings, a ~usd 150 damage payment and a ~usd 150 fine, and given said public-spirited citizen brought out issues at trial supposedly on 'classic volunteering' basis, and expensed treasure to appeal on and won on all 5 grounds, the position now is super, situation excellent, and counterattack for the good of Hong Kong can commence - shooting tied-down crabs in a barrel, a shot gun barrel.

The high court appeal judge stated that he did not understand what the original trial judge was trying to say on repeated readings of a single paragraph, and had to conclude that ... well, never mind except to say people of lesser ... neh, never mind.

Now god's work can take matters to just conclusion.

The said public-spirited citizen won recovery of appeal cost from the authorities for their wrongful judgement, about the cost of half a new SUV, and aim to recover the cost of the original case from perjurers, about another half of a new SUV. But first, must file cases of perjury and filing false police statements, for which their are five (5), count them, five, witnesses. Including the now innocent and publicly-spirited citizen, six (6).

My daughter cried on the night I went off for extensive questioning, bar photography, fine finger-printing, and careful statement under caution. My son was scared. I told daughter how dada would fight, and how dada shall dole out punishment. I patted my son on the head, and promised him a better-still Hong Kong.

When dada happily lost a botched case, my daughter said nothing but gave me a silent hug.

I told daughter that the fight then just started, and explained why.

When dada won the appeal on all grounds appealed, I told daughter to watch what strategically happens next.

Filing false police statements and committing perjury are crimes slightly more serious than two marks acknowledged in court and by the court to be invisible (not practically or effectively invisible, but just simply invisible) on all large format police forensic color photos. There was no finger print evidence. There was no case except 'one said one said'. Comedy could not be funnier.

The less humorous cases to be now filed are somewhat simpler. 6 witnesses against 2 accused, and hard mathematic logic says the 2 cannot be physically correct, and therefore lied on a crucial point that the trial judge relied on even as the trial judge admitted he himself did not drive and do not know whether it is an offense to block a public road. Yes, it is really possible to have seriously ... well, never mind.

All 6 witnesses are credible.

All the years of watching the same perry mason episodes over and again paid off, shall enable new SUV or Mini Cooper, or more gold so that daughter and son can engage with minis later.

All the years of playing the game of Go and Chinese / international chess also helped.

Now, within sight, a public-spirited sees a call of duty, to stretch out right arm, thumb extended and at parallel to ground, to be turned up or down.

Public-spirited dada feels merciful, but only after compelled police investigation and doj soul-searching, to then offer a way easier out. Admit guilt, pay direct costs (legal fee at one new SUV) and write apology letter satisfactory to the wronged, else prospect of ~usd 600k fine, direct damages of one new SUV worth, and up to seven (7) years in jail, plus legal cost to try to defend against the impossible to defend.

Tomorrow I attend mines n money conference, only day 2, all about the getgold.

Day after would be powwow, drinks and dinner w/ the boyz who champion gold.

It is difficult to have a dull moment this day and age.

Speaking of which, let's talk Cyprus rather than turkey, and never mind where the beef is :0)

Cheers, tj