Maley's Energy Blog

“If seen, call the Dept of Homeland Security, Wash., D.C. Ask for Janet.”

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/2013/Pemex:-14-dead,-80-injured-in-office-building-explosion-at-Mexican-oil-company-headquarters/id-238887293b76433eb7f7e5ffe30fb4d1

MEXICO CITY (AP) — An explosion at the main headquarters of Mexico’s state-owned oil company in the capital Thursday heavily damaged three floors of the building, sending hundreds into the streets and a large plume of smoke over the skyline. Local media reported that at least one person had died and about 40 were injured.

Guillermo GutierrezFirefighters belonging to the Tacubaya sector and workers dig for survivors after an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of Mexico’s state-owned oil company PEMEX, in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. A large explosion occurred in the lower floors of the building and dozens have been reported injured so far. (AP Photo/Guillermo Gutierrez)
APImages.com More photos »

There was no immediate cause given for the explosion which occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the iconic, 52-story tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.

“It was an explosion, a shock, the lights went out and suddenly there was a lot of debris,” employee Cristian Obele told Milenio television, adding that he had been injured in the leg. “Co-workers helped us get out of the building.”

The tower, where several thousand people work, was evacuated. The main floor and the mezzanine of the auxiliary building, where the explosion occurred, were heavily damaged, along with windows as far as three floors up.

Billions in gas drilling royalties transform lives

[I hate the title, because the royalty is payable on gross production, not “drilling”. – Ed.]

“Nationwide, the [National Association of Royalty Owners] estimates, natural gas royalties totaled $21 billion in 2010, the most recent year for which it has done a full analysis. Texas paid out the most in gas royalties that year, about $6.7 billion, followed by Wyoming at $2 billion and Alaska at $1.9 billion.

“Exact estimates of natural gas royalty payments aren’t possible because contracts and wholesale prices of gas vary, and specific tax information is private. But some states release estimates of the total revenue collected for all royalties, and feedback on thousands of contracts has led the royalty owners association to conclude that the average royalty is 18.75 percent of gas production.

“ ‘Our fastest-growing state chapter is our Pennsylvania chapter, and we just formed a North Dakota chapter. We’ve seen a lot of new people, and new questions,’ said Jerry Simmons, the director of the association, which was founded in 1980 and is based in Oklahoma.

“Simmons said he hasn’t heard of anyone getting less than 12.5 percent, and that’s also the minimum rate set by law in Pennsylvania. Simmons knows of one contract in another state where the owner received 25 percent of production, but that’s unusual. [Bet that’s Louisiana. – Ed.]

“By comparison, a 10 to 25 percent range is similar to what a top recording artist might get in royalties from CD sales, while a novelist normally gets a 12.5 percent to 15 percent royalty on hardcover book sales.”

Note: The Federal government owns no land in Texas, so that $6.7 billion is largely payable to private landowners, although a large swath of West Texas is designated “University Lands” – all royalties benefit the University of Texas system. Most of Wyoming is comprised of Federal lands. All of the minerals in Alaska are held by the state, under the state constitution.

Take that, Matt Damon!

When reached for comment, Carla Fitzsimmons, who played the voice of Charlie Brown’s teacher, had this to say: “Wah-wa-wa-waaah, wa-waaah-Wah-wa-Wah!”

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The man who was the voice of Charlie Brown in several “Peanuts” television shows was charged Wednesday with stalking and threatening his former girlfriend and a plastic surgeon who gave her a breast enhancement that he paid for before the relationship ended.

Peter Robbins pleaded not guilty Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court to two counts of stalking and 10 counts of making criminal threats.

Prosecutors said the 56-year-old voice actor best known for his portrayal of Charlie Brown on the TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas” repeatedly threatened his former girlfriend, calling her as many as 37 times in a 24-hour period on her cellphone and telling her he would kill her and her son if she did not give back his dog and car.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/24/voice-of-charlie-brown-arrested-for-stalking-other-charges/#ixzz2IxMOeNVF

http://thehayride.com/2013/01/sadow-maybe-the-state-should-stop-subsidizing-its-crooked-ex-politicians/

“As if Louisiana and simultaneously its wasteful motion picture tax credit need any more black eyes, it turns out the reality television show starring Prisoner #03128-095 wants to make a go at it by pilfering Louisiana taxpayers. And maybe it’s something state policy-makers ought to do something about that also will improve its overall ethics climate.

“Already being produced by the A&E Network, “The Governor’s Wife” features the former Gov. Edwin Edwards, his latest wife Trina, and their challengingly-blended family. Not only does the show wish to catch the eyeballs of the public with its slow-down-to-look-at-the-car-wreck premise, but also hopes to drain the state’s revenue sources by use of the credits. The producers likely will not use much of them; the rest they will sell at a discount to others at with demonstrated appetite (like this guy) to reduce their Louisiana tax burdens – money that otherwise would have been collected and used for state services, or to return to taxpayers if policy-makers wanted to use those funds as a basis for a tax cut.

“Regrettably, these credits cost the state more than $7 for every $1 they bring in, having cost the state nearly $500 million more than the small revenues they have brought in since their inception. So it seems that the only thing worse than publicizing the activities of a geezer who brought disgrace on the state is that the state subsidizes others to do it.”

Amen, brother.

Relatedly: The Silver Zipper Rides Again!

”The Washington Post has a front page story today reporting on how the Mafia came to dominate Italy’s renewable energy sector:

… Roughly a third of [Sicily]’s 30 wind farms — along with several solar power plants — have been seized by authorities. Officials have frozen more than $2 billion in assets and arrested a dozen alleged crime bosses; corrupt local councilors and mafia-linked entrepreneurs. Italian prosecutors are now investigating suspected mafia involvement in renewable energy projects from Sardinia to Apulia.

…

“Why are green energy programs so susceptible to organized crime? New Zealand Climate Science Coalition economic panel chairman Bryan Leyland explains:

So, to my knowledge, carbon trading is the only commodity trading where it is impossible to establish with reasonable accuracy how much is being bought and sold, where the commodity that is traded is invisible and can perform no useful purpose for the purchaser, and where both parties benefit if the quantities traded have been exaggerated. … It is, therefore, an open invitation to fraud and that is exactly what is happening all over the world.”

Read the whole thing at the Washington Examiner.

Happy 32nd Anniversary, Paula!