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US official blasts big oil over Obama energy program
Washington (AFP) Nov 24, 2009 US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar blasted big oil trade groups Tuesday, accusing them of barring the way to a balanced US energy system that would create thousands of jobs. The oil and gas leasing program put in place by President Barack Obamas's administration is "robust" and "focuses on development in the right way, in the right places and with a fair return to the American taxpayer," Salazar said as he announced plans to auction 38 oil and gas leases next year. But, he told reporters: "You wouldn't know it if you listened to some of the untruths coming out of the corner of trade groups representing the oil and gas industry." Trade groups have complained that the Obama administration has sold fewer leases than other administrations, and of taking oil companies' money and then refusing to issue leases won at auctions because of "protests filed by environmental organizations opposed to any gas and oil development." "No other bidding system, from eBay to livestock auctions, allows a seller to withhold goods from a sale after someone has fairly won the bidding process," the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States (IPAMS) said. Most of nearly 80 leases in Utah, auctioned by the Bureau of Lands Management -- part of the Department of the Interior -- in December, were not issued to the successful bidders for reasons including their proximity to national parkland or because they were part of an animal species' habitat. Another trade group, the American Petroleum Industry (API), last week accused lawmakers, as they debated US energy policy, of killing oil and gas jobs in favor of green jobs. Salazar fired back Tuesday, saying oil and gas companies were themselves allowing 26 million acres of public land and 28 million acres of ocean that they bought at auction to stand idle. By not developing those leases, oil companies are missing a chance to "help our nation build a more balanced and comprehensive energy strategy and to create thousands of jobs," Salazar said. The Obama administration was committed to developing energy from fossil fuels alongside green energy, said Salazar. At the auctions planned for next year, leases found mainly in western states, including Utah, but also on the National Petroleum Reserves in Alaska will be sold. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Saboteurs hit Iraq oil pipeline: ministryBaghdad (AFP) Nov 24, 2009 Exports of Iraqi oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan were interrupted because of sabotage against a pipeline in northern Iraq, the oil ministry said on Tuesday. The sabotage occurred on Saturday evening, ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said, stressing that no fire had been reported as a result of the incident. "Exports have been suspended," he said. "Technical teams have been sent to the ... read more |
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