Photo courtesy of Chattahbox News Blog Iraqi oil field near the Iranian border is not among fields foreign oil companies plan to further develop. Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan last month moved closer to pushing a new round of oil and gas infrastructure building in Iraq after signing an initial energy development deal with the oil ministry to process more than 700 cu ft per day of gas now flared at three domestic oilfields.According to an Associated Press report, the 25-year deal could be worth at least $12 billion, but it still must

The province of Alberta, Canada, agreed on July 27 to give $297 million toward a $1.6-billion project that will create synthetic gas out of coal in Whitecourt, Alberta, that can't be mined. Then, the gas will be used to generate 300 MW of electricity.Construction of the Swan Hills in situ coal-gasification project, 177 kilometers northwest of Edmonton, is projected to begin in 2013. By 2015, Edmonton, Alberta-based Swan Hills Synfuels expects to capture 1.3 million tons of carbon dioxide from the gasification. That CO2 will be used for enhanced oil recovery in the area.The Swan Hills Synfuels project will use

Image courtesy Bechtel Corp. Construction of a 120-hectare liquefied-natural-gas processing plant in Soyo, a coastal city, should be finished by the end of this year. Angola is revving up to start exporting liquefied natural gas, with a key phase of a 
$9-billion project nearing completion.Construction of a 120-hectare processing plant in Soyo, a coastal city in the southern African nation, is scheduled to wrap up in the first quarter of 2012, following the completion earlier this year of two offshore pipelines with a combined total distance of 385 kilometers.Bechtel Corp. is serving as the general contractor and construction manager. The

The House has approved legislation that would require the Obama administration to accelerate its decision on whether to build a $7-billion, crude oil pipeline that would run from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf Coast. But the White House opposes the bill, calling the measure "unnecessary," and some observers say the bill has little chance of passing the Senate.The State Dept. must issue a special permit for the 1,700-mile TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, because it would cross international boundaries. The measure, which the House approved on July 26 by a 279-147 vote, would require the State

Image courtesy Rio Tinto Alcan Rio Tinto Alcan plans to build a new aluminum smelter in northwestern British Columbia. Montreal-based Rio Tinto Alcan’s plan to invest $2.5 billion in a new aluminum smelter in northwestern British Columbia has created a stir among engineering and construction contractors in the region. Last month, 300 local contractors attended a meeting in Vancouver, where plans to rebuild the existing Kitimat plant were presented.Built in the 1950s and powered by the nearby Kemano generating station, the Kitimat plant is undergoing $300 million of preliminary work this year. The work includes a contractor village, cleaning and

Map by Shem Oirere/ENR Art Department The Inga III hydro plant will harness energy from the Congo River's Inga Rapids, located some 225 kilometers from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Construction of an $8-billion to $10-billion hydroelectric plant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may be delayed and cost more if its design remains unchanged, the African Development Bank said in late June.The Inga III hydropower project, on the Congo River's Inga Rapids, located some 225 kilometers from the capital, Kinshasa, is likely to be bogged down by its design. That design, by SNC-Lavalin, Quebec, entails

Map Shem Oirere/ENR Art Department Nava Bharat will start work this year on a new $650-million powerplant at the mouth of Zambia's biggest coal mine, Maamba Collieries. Singapore-based Nava Bharat will start work this year on a new $650-million powerplant at the mouth of Zambia's biggest coal mine, Maamba Collieries, about 410 kilometers southeast of the capital, Lusaka. The mine has been dormant since 1997, but it was re-opened by the country’s president, Rupiah Banda, on July 8.Construction of the 300-MW plant at the state-owned facility is scheduled to be finished by 2014. A second 300-MW phase could be built

Energy-industrial contractor CB&I had a good month of July on the heels of several large EPC contracts, particularly a $2.3-billion joint-venture award for a mechanical, electrical and instrumentation contract on the estimated $19-billion Gorgon liquified-natural-gas, or LNG project in Australia.Awarded to the joint venture of Netherlands-based CB&I and Australia-based Kentz, the work includes gas processing, compression and associated utilities, CB&I says. Set to finish in 2015, the project, a development of several international energy companies, could produce 15 million tons of gas a year. CB&I has a 65% stake in the JV. “This will be the largest LNG export facility

In a harsh critique of the nation’s current policy, or lack of policy, regarding spent nuclear fuel and other nuclear waste, a presidential Blue Ribbon panel said new storage options for nuclear fuel—in addition to Yucca Mountain—must be investigated, and that a new federal agency to deal with nuclear waste should be created. The committee also urged use of interim storage sites while a long-term repository or repositories are developed. “Put simply, this nation’s failure to  come to grips with the nuclear waste issue has already proved damaging and costly and it will be more  damaging and more costly the longer

Photo Courtesy of Barton Malow Co. DOE is offering a $730-million loan to Severstal to fund steel plants, such as this one, for fuel-efficient vehicles. DOE also has issued grants for more than 30 battery and component plants in 19 states. If the Obama administration can engineer it, one million hybrid and electric vehicles will hit American roads by 2015. The president's goal is to accelerate construction of manufacturing plants with federal loans and grants.In July, the U.S. Dept. of Energy made a $730-million loan commitment to Dearborn, Mich.-based Severstal North America to fund the construction and modernization of finishing