Oil Exploration - The Guyana-Suriname Basin: An Emerging Petroleum Province

Once in a while, a new petroleum province appears in a previously under-explored frontier or blind spot, broadening the horizon of the explorers and security analysts alike, lending fresh hopes to both oilmen and the local economy, and offering new opportunities to the E&P industry as well as investors. Onshore, the shale play in the Permian Basin is one of such revolutionary new discoveries - perhaps a case of rejuvenation, to be exact. Offshore, such new frontiers were West Africa in the 2000s, East Africa in early 2010s, and Guyana in late 2010s.

In this report an in-depth look at the emerging Guyana-Suriname Basin, including its geology and resource potential, exploration history, discoveries made so far, to lay a foundation for future discussions on how we as security investors can profit from the rise of this frontier.

Read more at: The Guyana-Suriname Basin: An Emerging Petroleum Province | Seeking Alpha
 
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Alternatve energy: Wind Power Onshore wind farms could blow in EURO 2bn of savings- by Mitchel Krog

Building more onshore wind farms could save consumers EURO 2 billion on their energy bills, the industry claims in a new study.

Cost reductions mean that new projects could offer electricity more cheaply than the market price, the analysis suggests.

About 7,000 onshore wind turbines have been built in the UK, capable of generating up to 12 gigawatts of power. They are commercially viable thanks to subsidies paid on energy bills..

 Read more:Onshore wind farms could blow in £1.6bn of savings | Business | The Tim

China: Wind Power: China kicks off wind farm construction

China started construction of the country's first 10-gigawa wind power base in Jiuquan of northwest Gansu province on Saturday as Beijing seeks more clean power to fuel its fast economic growth.

China, the world's second-largest energy user, has said it would bring its total wind power capacity to 100 GW by 2020 from the current 12 GW, part of a broad energy target to generate 3 percent of total electricity from non-hydro renewable energy.

To that end, the National Energy Administration (NEA) has planned six 10GW-level wind power bases in areas rich in wind resources such as Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang, Hebei and Jiangsu.

The Jiuquan mega wind power base will be built in two phases. The first one, a 3.8 GW base comprising of 18 200-MW and two 100-MW wind farms, is developed by 20 developers and will be completed by 2010, Feng Jianshen, vice governor of Gansu, told reporters.

Chinese power firms Huaneng Power International and Datang International Power are among the developers, which also include six foreign firms, Feng said, without giving the names of the foreign investors.

Construction for the second phase, consisting of 40 200-MW wind farms will kick off in 2010 and be open to foreign investment, he said.

The installed wind power capacity of Jiuquan will jump to 5.16 GW by 2010, 12.71 GW by 2015 and 20 GW by 2020 from the current level of 660 MW, Feng said.

In the future, Jiuquan's wind power capacity could hit 40 GW, he added.

Read more: China kicks off wind farm construction - 4C Offshore

Offshore oil exploration: Turkish PM visits Greece amid tensions over Cyprus energy rights

The Turkish Prime Minister has begun his two-day visit to Greece amid tensions over energy exploration rights around Cyprus.

Ahmet Davutoglu called for an agreement over exploiting hydrocarbon deposits in the eastern Mediterranean after the issue caused the breakdown of peace talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in October.

“Our aim is the further development of Greek-Turkish relations and in order for this goal to be achieved our governments have pledged to continue cooperation at a steady pace,” commented the Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

“We do not wish any tension either in the Aegean or in the eastern Mediterranean. We can solve all our problems through dialogue. Whatever our differences or our different approaches are we should continue to talk,” the Turkish prime minister added.

Read more: Turkish PM visits Greece amid tensions over Cyprus energy rights | euronews, world news

Financial Industry: EU proposed Transaction Tax on "dubious financial deals" could reduce Britain's treasury income by euro 4 billion

The European Union on Feb. 14 unveiled its proposal for a 0.1 percent levy on stock and bond deal trades and 0.01 percent on derivative trades with ties to participating countries.

The measure exempts primary offerings of government bonds, though includes secondary market trades. The EU estimates the move could raise as much as 35 billion euros ($45 billion) a year. To become law, the proposal has to be approved by all the nations that agree to participate, which currently stands at 11 countries including Germany, Spain and France.

The effective tax rate would be 10 times the EU levy on bonds because the tax would be repeatedly charged at each step in the settlement of a trade, the report said. That “cascade effect” could cripple trading in the debt-securities markets, London economists say.

To stop traders from escaping the levy by operating outside the tax’s zone, the EU plan invokes “residence” and “issuance” ties to firms in participating nations. That means, for example, that a French bond traded in London would still be affected.

Approximately half of European investment-banking activity is conducted through London and British financial firms and it has generated almost 12 percent of the country’s tax revenue from 2011 to 2012, according to TheCityUK, a British bank lobbying group

The new EU Transaction Tax is seen by many Governments and central banks in Europe as a major first step- in curbing  some of the financial industry's  speculative  practices which resulted in one of the world's worst recessions ever experienced.

EU-Digest

EU Offshore Wind Having Best Year Ever, but Turbine Orders Slowing - by Stephen Lacey

Battling severe economic headwinds, Europe’s wind industry has picked up the pace and substantially increased offshore projects developed in the region.

According to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), developers connected 132 turbines to the grid in the first half of this year. Those turbines, which have the cumulative capacity to generate 523 megawatts, represent a 50 percent increase over the first half of 2011.

As EWEA points out:  2012 has turned into a surprisingly good year for offshore wind in Europe: 2012 could turn out to be the best year ever for offshore wind energy in Europe, as a further 160 turbines, totaling 647.4 MW, are built but awaiting grid connection. But this is subject to weather conditions at sea and grid connection delays.

Read more: EU Offshore Wind Having Best Year Ever, but Turbine Orders Slowing - CleanTechnica