The United States has a glut of natural gas and prices are much higher in other parts of the world – especially Asia. Should the United States begin exporting natural gas as LNG. That would generate income but would also raise the price of gas in the United States.
“A plume of smoke stretched across the Bering Sea on May 11, 2012, just off of far eastern Russia. [...] The smoke may have arisen from wildfires in the region around Lake Baikal, where numerous wildfires burned in early May.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
“Vietnam is an important oil supplier to regional and domestic markets and may emerge as a significant natural gas supplier in the next decade. Vietnam’s oil production has declined overall since 2004, after several years of steady increases and became a net oil importer in 2011.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country analysis brief.
Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron may receive rights to develop shale gas fields in Ukraine. The country currently imports most of its natural gas from Russia.
USGS has published: “Lineament Analysis of Mineral Areas of Interest in Afghanistan“. The report provides lineament maps that identify areas that warrant further investigation for optimal bedrock water-well placement within 24 target areas for mineral resources. The data may also support the identification of faults related to modern seismic hazards and support studies attempting to understand the relationship between tectonic and structural controls on hydrothermal fluid flow, subsequent mineralization, and water-quality issues near mined and unmined mineral deposits.
The Nevada Geodetic Laboratory has a map showing the displacement of Earth’s surface as measured by GPS stations during the March 11, 2011 Sendai M9.0 Earthquake. “Japan’s coastline has moved up to 5 meters (>16 feet), and the location of the North Pole has been estimated to have moved about 10 cm (4 inches).” Quote from the NGL blog post.
Just a few years ago terminals to import liquefied natural gas were being built on the eastern and Gulf coasts of the United States. Now, these terminals are idle or operating at fractional capacity. Some companies are interested in converting them into LNG export facilities.
China is thought to have a larger shale gas resource than the United States. Although it is not yet being tapped, China is expected to become a leading gas producer by 2020.
“The dust storm that started on March 17 continued its southward movement two days later, drifting off the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula and over the Gulf of Aden.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
An article on the CNN Money website gives an update on construction of the first liquefied natural gas export facility to be built in the lower 48 states.
Asia is now the world’s largest petroleum-consuming region. Between 1980 and 2010 Asian demand increased by 146%. During the same time interval North America’s petroleum consumption increased just 16%.
“Volcanic activity in the Zubair Island Group appears to have ceased. On December 19, 2011, satellites detected sulfur dioxide and a small volcanic plume in the area, and by December 23 a new island had formed in the Red Sea. The island continued to grow in early January, but stopped by January 15th.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory image release.
“From February 17 to 19, a severe storm blasted the Lebanese coast with 100-kilometer (60-mile) winds and dropped as much as 2 meters (7 feet) of snow on parts of the country! Temperatures dropped to near freezing along the coast, while snowplows struggled to clear the main roadway between Beirut and Damascus.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory website.
“In 2011, Yemen’s total oil production averaged about 170,000 barrels per day, down from 259,000 bbl/d estimated for 2010. Production has been declining steadily since reaching a peak of 440,000 bbl/d in 2001 due to a lack of sufficient new investment in exploration and inadequate maintenance of facilities.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country analysis report.
“Turkmenistan has some of the largest natural gas reserves in the world, yet the country faces a myriad of challenges in bringing those reserves to world markets.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration report.
“Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable, conventional petroleum resources for the Amu Darya Basin and Afghan–Tajik Basin Provinces of Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.” Quoted from the USGS publication release.
“A tiny mountainous region in southern Siberia may have been the genetic source of the earliest Native Americans, according to new research by a University of Pennsylvania-led team of anthropologists.” Quoted from the NSF press release.
“Nearly five months after severe flooding struck the region, in September 2011, parts of Pakistan’s Sindh Province remained flooded. In January 2012, patches of standing water occur east of the Indus River. The Rann of Kachchh, a salt marsh, holds far more water than in 2010. Water is, however, receding from flooded areas and shows improvement over previous months.” Quoted from the Earth Observatory website.
“Turkmenistan has some of the largest natural gas reserves in the world, yet the country faces a myriad of challenges in bringing those reserves to world markets. It is geographically far from end-use markets and lacks sufficient pipeline infrastructure to export more hydrocarbons.” Quoted from the EIA report.
“Uzbekistan has abundant oil and natural gas reserves. However, several factors such as lack of sufficient foreign investment and inadequate transportation infrastructure have deterred the country from becoming a major energy exporter.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration.
“Oil and gas development and export is central to Azerbaijan’s economic growth and the country is one of Caspian region’s most important strategic export openings to the West.” Quoted from the EIA report.
Kizimen Volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has been erupting since November 2010. Earth Observatory has a satellite image of the volcano showing ash-covered snow, a lava flow and steam plumes from the summit and a fumarole.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow passage (about 35 miles wide) that connects the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea. It is strategically important because about 1/3 of the world’s seaborne oil shipments must pass through the Strait on their way to market. Today, the chief of Iran’s navy commented on English language television that Iran’s military could easily close the Straight. The U.S. Navy’s response was “that will not be tolerated”.
Global coal demand has almost doubled since 1980. Demand in most parts of the world is flat to declining but the use of coal in Asia is growing rapidly.
“An international team of scientists drilling deep under the bed of the Dead Sea has found evidence that the sea may have dried up during a past warm period similar to predicted scenarios for climate change in coming decades.” Quoted from the University of Minnesota press release.
“After the recent great quakes that have swept away entire coastlines and cities in Japan, Haiti and Sumatra, scientists are now looking hard at the nation that may suffer the gravest threat of all: Bangladesh.”
We thought that this was an excellent video. Did you know that a magnitude 8 earthquake caused the Brahmaputra River to change course? Have you ever seen a human powered drill rig – made from bamboo – that can complete a 300 foot-deep well in one day?
Shell and PetroChina drilled two vertical wells to test the natural gas potential of shales in the Sichuan Basin. China is thought to have the largest recoverable shale gas resource in the world but it remains untested.
Chevron might spend $40 billion on a steam injection project that they hope will move an additional 5 billion barrels of oil from the Wafra Field along the Saudi Arabia – Kuwait border.
The Afghan Ministry of Mines has been inviting companies to bid on contracts to mine the copper and gold in portions of Badakhshan, Ghazni, Herat, Balkh and Sar-e-Pul Provinces. Billions of dollars worth of metals could be in these areas but there are significant infrastructure and security problems.
“Iran holds the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves and the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves. International sanctions and unfavorable investment terms, however, have impeded developments across the energy sector.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country analysis brief.
The land beneath Bangkok is subsiding, sea level is rising and that means flood risk for the Thai capital is rapidly increasing. An article in Discovery News explores the threat of flooding for the citizens, businesses and government of Thailand.
Pumps and sandbags are protecting the city of Bangkok, Thailand from rising floodwaters north of the city. Unfortunately, rising water is expected to overtop some of the sandbag levees and flood portions of the city.
This satellite image shows water-covered runways and stranded planes at the Don Muang Airport, a short distance north of downtown Bangkok. Nearly 400 people have been killed by the flooding and millions have been displaced.
The CEO of TransCanada Corporation says that the company is still focused upon delivering their natural gas overland to the United States rather than shipping it as LNG to Asia – but Asia is an option.
Alaska has an abundance of natural gas and there is a proposal in the state legislature for building a pipeline to the southcentral Alaska port where the gas would be condensed and shipped to Asian markets as LNG.
The Chao Phraya River is flooding and portions of Bangkok have below-sea-level elevations. Evacuation orders have been issued for residents of the Don Muang and Bang Phlat districts and thousands of people are now leaving the city.
Monsoon rains in Thailand are causing the worst flooding seen on the CDhao Phraya River in decades. Earth Observatory has an satellite image that shows extensive flooding in the city of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok.
Earth Magazine has a short article that explains some of the forces behind the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck eastern Turkey on Sunday.
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