GENERAL
GOVERNMENT
Secretary Pena Announces Research Effort to Recycle Greenhouse Gases ....1
ENERGY POLICY AND FORECASTS
IEA Notes Trends In Fossil Fuel Demand ....1
BP Review of World Energy Shows Energy Consumption Increase of 3 Percent In 1996 ....3
ETSAP Energy Modeling Shows That Emissions Restrictions Reduce Energy Demand ....5
RDI Study Calculates Economic Risks of Reducing U.S. Electricity Supply ....6
Next Century to Bring an Expanding Role for Biomass ....7
TECHNOLOGY
Kentucky CAER Reviews Fischer-Tropsch Work ....8
HTI Process Yields Fuels From Coal, Oil and Waste Plastic ....9
Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells Complete Startup Test Series ....12
Fuel Cells Approach Commercial Status for Power Generation ....14
INTERNATIONAL
IEA Ministers Affirm Commitment to Energy Security ....16
ENVIRONMENT
WRI Says Climate Protection Plans Should Be Revenue Neutral ....17
WEFA Calculates Economic Impact of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Policies ....19
COMING EVENTS ....22
OIL SHALE
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
SPP/CPM and Suncor Sign "Unconditional Commitment" to Build Stuart Stage ....24
TECHNOLOGY
PAMA Patents Catalytic Process for Motor Fuels From Shale Oil ....24
Chemically Assisted In Situ Retorting of Oil Shale Studied ....24
Secondary Pyrolysis of Israeli Oil Shale Leads to High-Value Products ....26
INTERNATIONAL
Oil Shale Ash Finds International Applications In Cement and Concrete ....28
Emission Factors of Oil Shale-Fired Powerplants Tabulated ....28
RESOURCE
BLM Files White River Record of Decision ....29
OIL SANDS
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Suncor Plans to Increase Syncrude Production to Over 200,000 Barrels per Day ....32
UTF Project Reaches 55 Percent Recovery From First Well Pairs ....33
Suncor Brings Third Well Pair Into Production at Burnt Lake ....36
CORPORATIONS
Carbon Dioxide From Synfuels Plant to Increase Heavy Oil Production ....36
BHP Joins Shell Canada to Study New Oil Sands Mining Venture ....37
Shell Canada Plans New Upgrading Capacity ....37
United Tri-Star Resources to Purchase Solv-Ex Assets ....38
PDVSA Sees Orimulsion Promising But Not Yet Profitable ....38
Fountain Oil Operating Loss Increases to $3.9 Million for 6 Months Ending In June ....39
GOVERNMENT
Bitumen and Syncrude Lead Increased Hydrocarbon Output In Alberta ....40
TECHNOLOGY
World's Largest Excavator Will Be Mining Oil Sands ....41
Clay Reactions Result In Permeability Damage During Thermal Recovery ....41
Can Heavy Oil Be Upgraded By Simply Filtering? ....43
INTERNATIONAL
Orimulsion Production Exceeds 4 Million Tons In 1996 ....45
COAL
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Great Plains Signs Contract for Sale of Byproduct Carbon Dioxide ....48
Sasol Operating Profit Surges to 20 Percent ....48
SynCoal Celebrates One-Million-Ton Mark ....53
PFBC Pilot Plant Under Construction ....53
ENCOAL Project Reviewed ....3
SynCoal Project Reviewed ....57
CORPORATIONS
IEA Coal Research Outlines 1997-1998 Program ....59
ENERGY POLICY AND FORECASTS
Opportunities Noted for Early Commercialization of Indirect Liquefaction ....61
National Coal Council Vision 2020 Urges Clean Coal Technology Development ....62
ECONOMICS
DOE Sees Hydrogen From Coal at $3.50 and Electricity at $0.036 ....63
CoCo Concept Could Produce Liquid Fuels for $26 per Barrel ....67
TECHNOLOGY
Future Prospects Noted for Improving Direct Coal Liquefaction ....70
New Catalyst Improves Economics of Coal, Plastic Coprocessing ....72
Tire Oil Has Synergistic Effect On Coal Liquefaction ....74
Hot Coal Gas Cleaned With Carbon-Based Sorbents ....76
ENVIRONMENT
Sasol Issues First Public Environmental Report ....77
NATURAL GAS
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Phillips and Sasol Studying Gas-To-Liquids Plant In Qatar ....81
CORPORATIONS
Second Consortium to Pursue Ceramic Membranes for Syngas ....81
ECONOMICS
Shell MDS Process Commercially Viable In Local Circumstances ....81
Floating F-T Plants Could Be Key to Offshore Gas Recovery ....84
Gas to Liquids Looks Competitive for Alaska North Slope ....86
TECHNOLOGY
Catalytic Routes Defined for Transportation Fuels From Natural Gas Hydrates ....89
INTERNATIONAL
Giant Norwegian Methanol Plant Comes On Stream ....91
RESOURCE
Natural Gas Could Become Energy Problem Rather Than Solution ....91
USGS Estimates Gas Hydrate Resources at 300,000 Trillion Cubic Feet ....93
More Basic Research Needed On Gas Hydrates ....94
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