Queensland Oil Shale Refinery Closes - Environmental & Economic Fiasco

[hatrack]

"A decision by Queensland Energy Resources Ltd (QERL) to wind down its controversial shale oil extraction operation near Gladstone spells the end for the project, according to environmental group Greenpeace. QERL on Wednesday presented the closure of Stage 1 as a precursor to further research for the next phase of its Stuart program in Queensland, however environmental group Greenpeace said it was confident the project had run out of steam.

QERL does not currently have environmental permission from state or federal government to proceed beyond stage 1.

"Stage 1 is not a success, it's more than four years behind schedule and more than $130 million over budget, has had repeated technical problems, has never run at full capacity and has never made a profit despite being propped up by millions of dollars of government subsidies," Greenpeace climate campaigner Gareth Walton said.

EDIT

Meanwhile, having stood down 100 operational staff, QERL chairman Ross Dunning said he was confident in the future of the company. "Over the past several years, Stage 1 has produced over 1.5 million barrels of oil. This success shows that large volumes of oil can be produced from the Stuart deposit," he said."

EDIT

http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=communique&newsid=6111

Wow. A whole 1.5 million barrels of oil over "the past several years." Ooh.

[phantom power]

1. any amount of subsidizing, propping, tax-breaks, etc, are OK....

as long as it's an oil company.

[Boomer]

2. Over 1.5 million barrels of oil

And just how many barrels of oil were used to fuel the extraction? Since the process requires energy, then oil was probably used to create that energy. So what was the true gain after you deduct that figure? Hmm?

[brokensymmetry]

3. So another great hope to avoid Peak Oil problems

ends in failure.

A couple nights ago, I saw T. Boone Pickens on TV, talking about Peak Oil. When that happens, I've got to conclude that a bumpy ride is coming. Soon.

[hatrack]

4. Pickens was talking about it?

Not necessarily authoritative, but certainly interesting!

[brokensymmetry]

5. Very interesting.

He was on ABC news...I think it was 2 nights ago? Anyway, here's a link to some discussions about it:

http://www.betterworld.com/getreallist/article.php?story=20040127012438295

He's made something like 127% profit on his oil mutual fund in 3 years - that's huge.

At the link above, you'll find another link where he's talking about oil in Fortune magazine; unfortunately, only an excerpt is available for free.

The point is, people are starting to realize there's a problem; it's too late to avoid a great deal of economic pain, but I really think eyes are starting to open.

It's too bad more people didn't listen to Jimmy Carter....