GENERAL
CORPORATIONS
Texaco Plans Big Increase in Gasification Activities ....1
Shell, Woodside and Methanex to Supply Natural Gas for Australian Syngas Facility ....1
GOVERNMENT
Energy Policy Act Goals Will Not be Met, According to GAO ....2
DOE Issues Solicitation for "Ultra-Clean" Fuels ....4
DOE Selects First Vision 21 Projects ....5
ENERGY POLICY & FORECASTS
World Base of 366 Gasifiers Projected to Increase ....7
Annual Energy Outlook Projects Steady Increase in Petroleum Demand for the Next 20 Years ....10
European Union Sees Renewables as Competitive ....14
Transportation Energy Demand in the EU Projected to Increase Without Alternative Fuels ....15
ECONOMICS
Economic Feasibility of Alternative Fuels Deemed Unlikely ....19
TECHNOLOGY
GE Advanced Gas Turbine Goes Commercial ....22
100-Kilowatt Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Passes One Year of Operation ....23
Catalysts are One Key to Improved Hydrogen Production ....24
Enzymatic Hydrogen Production Offers New Route for Renewable Resources ....25
COMING EVENTS ....28
OIL SHALE
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Stuart Project Reports Progress on Plant Commissioning ....30
Planning Continues for Stuart Stage 2 ....31
CORPORATIONS
Suncor Still Determined to Prove Shale Technology ....32
TECHNOLOGY
Outlet Arrangement Affects Ash Content in Shale Oil From 1,000-Ton per Day Retorts ....33
Jordanian Oil Shale Tested in Galoter Process ....33
Spontaneous Combustion of Estonian Dictyonema Argillites Studied ....33
Hydrotreating UK Shale Oil Reduces Polynuclear Aromatics ....35
ENVIRONMENT
Stuart Co-Venturers Undertake Large Reforestation Demonstration Project ....37
RESOURCE
Utah Oil Shale Lands Returned to Indian Tribe ....38
OIL SANDS
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
ExxonMobil Begins Production at Cerro Negro in Orinoco Belt ....39
Records Topple at Syncrude ....39
Review of Suncor’s Project Millennium Details Plant Configuration ....40
Suncor Training New Technicians for Upgrading Plant ....42
Suncor Plans to Expand Oil Sands Production to 450,000 BPD by 2008 ....43
Canadian Natural Resources Plans Huge Northern Lights Oil Sands Project ....45
Surmont Project Could Produce 100,000 Barrels per Day for 140 Years ....46
Dover SAGD Project Demonstrates 750-Meter Well ....46
AEC’s Foster Creek SAGD Project Could Lead to 100,000 Barrels per Day ....48
Protestors Removed From Coke Drum Bound for Suncor Oil Sands Plant ....50
Shell Buys Pumps for Athabasca Project ....50
CORPORATIONS
Husky Oil Puts Upgrader Expansion on Hold ....50
TECHNOLOGY
Complex Well Completions Developed for Orinoco Production ....50
ENVIRONMENT
Suncor Environmental Report Highlights Reductions in Emissions per Barrel Produced ....53
COAL
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Great Plains Gasification Plant Assured of Profitability for Next Year ....58
DOE Reports on Active CCT Demonstration Projects ....58
SGI Makes Deals to Buy ENCOAL Plant and Feedstock, and to Sell Products ....60
ECONOMICS
EPRI Finds Buggenum the Most Efficient Operating Large IGCC Plant ....61
TECHNOLOGY
DTI Summarizes Status of Coal Liquefaction Technology ....63
Membrane Technologies the Key to Gasification Advances ....72
University of Edinburgh Studying Calcium-Based Deposits in Gasifier ....74
Supercritical Extraction With Formic Acid Looks Good in Lab ....74
Tracer Tests at El Tremedal UCG Site Define Cavity Growth ....76
Catalysts are the Key to New Coal Conversion Processes ....79
INTERNATIONAL
DME Synthesis Could Unlock Remote Coal Reserves ....82
Trigeneration Gets Tryout in China ....85
NATURAL GAS
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Australia’s Sweetwater GTL Project Nails Down Gas Supply ....88
CORPORATIONS
Gas-To-Liquids Plant Proposed for Ethiopia ....88
Workshops and New Annex Support DME in Europe ....89
Conoco Will Build GTL Pilot Plant ....90
Anschutz Invests in Rentech ....90
DME to Become Powerplant Fuel in India ....90
Alliance Formed for Large-Capacity Syngas Plants ....92
Alaska Gas-To-Liquids Plant Proposed ....92
ENERGY POLICY & FORECASTS
Gas-To-Liquids Will Open Markets for Remote Gas Reserves ....94
ECONOMICS
Sasol Sees Potential Improvements in Gas-To-Liquids Economics ....96
SFA Predicts Improved Economics for Gas-To-Liquids Plants ....99
TECHNOLOGY
Methane Hydrates Could be the Fuel of the Future ....102
ENVIRONMENT
HEI Issues Report on Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Methanol ....104
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