Ne base 18 april 2018 energy news issue 1161 by khaled al awadi-

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NewBase Energy News 18 April 2018 - Issue No. 1161 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
Bahrain oil find will drive private investments: Moody’s
Tradearabia News Service
The discovery of hydrocarbon deposits containing at least 80 billion barrels of tight oil and 10-20
trillion cubic feet of deep natural gas in a new offshore field off the west coast of Bahrain – if verified
by an international oil consortium as being technically and economically recoverable – could
stimulate private investment in the country's energy sector in the near term.
In the medium term it could increase government oil- and gas-related revenue and reduce the
country's fiscal and current account deficit, said international rating agency Moody’s.
In its report Moody’s said despite Bahrain's low oil and gas endowment relative to its GCC peers,
hydrocarbon-related revenue still accounted for 75 per cent of government revenue in 2017, down
from a recent high of 87 per cent in 2013.
A large increase in Bahrain's oil production, and associated fiscal revenue, could therefore
materially reduce Bahrain's budget deficit, which was as high as 17.8 per cent of GDP in 2016.
Bahrain's current account would also benefit. When oil prices declined after mid-2014, the dollar
value of Bahrain's oil exports dropped significantly and the country's current account swung from
surpluses averaging 8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13 to deficits averaging 3.7% of GDP in 2015-17.
Bahrain's current account deterioration has driven the large erosion of foreign exchange reserves
from a peak of $5.8 billion at the end of 2014 to a low of $1.3 billion in July 2017. The reserves have
since recovered somewhat on the back of large sovereign external bond issuances, including $3
billion in international bonds in September 2017 and $1 billion in international sukuk in April 2018,
the report said.
But with foreign reserves of $2.8 billion at the end of November covering only 1.4 months of imports
of goods and services and less than 10 per cent of Bahrain's short-term external debt, pressure on
Bahrain's pegged exchange rate regime is now at its highest since the formal peg of the dinar to the
dollar was introduced in 2001.

Saudi Arabia's first wind project receives four bids
The National - Jennifer Gnana
The kingdom is expected to tender nearly 4GW of renewable capacities this year
Saudi Arabia’s inaugural 400MW wind project has received four bids with the kingdom likely to
award the scheme late June as the world’s largest oil exporter incorporates more renewable into its
grid to free up crude for export.
Acwa Power of Saudi Arabia, France’s EDF Energies Nouvelles, Italy’s Enel Green Power and
France's Engie are the four bidders on the planned scheme at Dumat Al Jandal, in the northern Al
Jouf region, according to a statement from the Saudi energy ministry’s Renewable Energy Project
Development Office.
The bids will remain sealed until the opening bid ceremony, the statement said. Sources close to
the bid process told The National that the wind project is expected to be awarded in late J
Saudi Arabia, which largely burns oil to generate power, has set ambitious targets to add 9.5
Gigawatts of renewables by 2023, as it looks to sell more of its crude to export markets. The Saudi
energy ministry’s renewables office is expected to tender 3.25GW of solar and 800MW of wind
capacity this year alone.
Paddy Padmanathan, chief executive at Saudi renewables developer Acwa Power, said last month
that the kingdom would break ground on the wind project this year.
"The wind project should not only be awarded this year, it should go to construction this year. I
expect it to be awarded and in financial close this year,” he said in Dubai at the time.
Mr Padmanathan, whose company won the kingdom’s first 300MW solar photovoltaic project earlier
this year, said Saudi Arabia would likely tender the capacities in “11 renewables tenders” - eight for
PV and two for wind.

Saudi Arabia last month signed a $200bn deal to develop the world’s largest solar power
development project. The scheme is expected to have 200GW of solar power capacity and will be
developed in collaboration with Japan’s SoftBank.
The Public Investment Fund, the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, has committed to invest as much
as $45bn in Softbank's $100bn Vision Fund.
The planned scheme comes amid Saudi Arabia’s plans to develop a $500bn sustainable city called
Neom straddling the Egyptian and Jordanian borders.
Saudi Arabia is set to break ground on its first ever solar plant later this year.
The $302 million facility at Sakaka will be developed on the basis of an independent power producer
model and is backed by a 25-year power purchase agreement with the Saudi Power Procurement
Company.

Oman Oil to open service stations in Saudi Arabia
Oman times + NewBase
Oman Oil Marketing Company (OOMCO) is investing heavily in mega service stations in Saudi
Arabia, as it plans to push its services to a global level. The first super service station of its kind,
and the first outside Oman for Oman OilMarketing Co, will occupy 40,000 square metres on the
outskirts of Dammam in Saudi Arabia by the end of this year.
In an exclusive interview with the Times of Oman, on the eve of the anniversary of his first year as
CEO, David Kalife revealed the global ambitions of the group, already a household name in the
Sultanate.
Kalife said the planned service station
will include cafes, chill out areas and
five-star automated car washes. The
plans tie in with the company’s in-
country expansion as well, which
includes more and better equipped
mobile filling stations and a stronger
commitment to Omanisation,
mentoring the next generation of
professionals in the nation.
Saudi Arabian market
“Not only was it our plan to open the
biggest number of service stations in
Oman on a yearly basis, which will
again be the case this year, but to also go international; so, we decided to enter the Saudi Arabian
market,” said Kalife.
“We received our licence at the end of 2015 to operate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and we will
be opening in the fourth quarter of this year the first service station that we are currently building,”
he added.
“It will be much bigger than anything we currently find in Oman with a lot of new things in shop, food
and car services we will offer customers. There will be more and better innovations.”
Mega stations
While the first OOMCO station will be in Dammam, plans for more mega stations in Oman’s western
neighbour have already been drawn up and are in the pipeline.
“We have already targeted a few sites for expansion. For the moment, our geographic expansion is
going to be in Saudi, so let us first focus on this one and ensure we make it a success while creating
a delightful experience,” he added. “We are practical people and whatever we create is to bring
value to our customers and our shareholders. We also want to bring pride to Oman and all our
stakeholders”.
Quality services
Kalife reiterated Oman Oil Marketing’s commitment to always provide customers – whether in the Sultanate
or abroad – the best quality of services and goods, while “energising your journey”. Kalife concluded, “We
want to definitely make it happen, while making the customer visit a joyful memory. The opening is within six
months from now and we are all looking forward to it.”

Bangladesh: Unipec and ENOC place lowest offers in
Bangladesh oil import tender.. Reuters + NewBase
Energy traders Unipec and ENOC placed the lowest offers in a tender by Bangladesh Petroleum
Corp to buy up to 1.52 million tonnes of oil products for import in the second half of 2018, officials
said on Tuesday.
The state-owned company was seeking between 1.1 million tonnes and 1.28 million tonnes of
500ppm sulphur gasoil, 100,000 tonnes of jet fuel and 120,000 to 140,000 tonnes of 180-cst high-
sulphur fuel oil.
Unipec, the trading arm of China’s state-owned Sinopec, placed the lowest offer for the gasoil and
jet fuel cargoes, beating eight other traders, two BPC officials familiar with the matter said. It has
offered to sell gasoil to Bangladesh at a premium of between $3.05 and $3.08 per barrel to Middle
East quotes and offered jet fuel at a premium of $4.10 a barrel, they said.
Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC) made the lowest offer for fuel oil cargoes, against five other
companies. The trader a $17.80 a ton premium to Singapore spot quotes for high-sulphur furnace
oil.
“Unipec is likely to win the tender for both gasoil and jet fuel, and ENOC will get the tender for fuel
oil as they came up with the best prices,” one of the officials said. “The deal will be finalised by the
end of this month after verifying all other details,” the official added.
The tender closed on April 11 and was expected to be valid for 75 days to June 24. BPC resumed
issuing tenders for long-term contracts in February, 2016 after a 15-year hiatus, during which it
negotiated directly with suppliers of fuel products.
It wants to move away from direct deals as part of efforts to buy at cheaper rates. A shortfall in
supplies of natural gas has forced the South Asian country to burn oil, a costlier option, to generate
electricity.
Bangladesh typically imports about 3.2 million tonnes of diesel and 2.5 million tonnes of fuel oil
annually, making it one of the top 10 such importers in the region. Currently, BPC has term contracts
with 10 companies for refined oil product imports.
BPC also buys 700,000 tonnes of Murban crude from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co annually and
another 600,000 tonnes of Arab Light from Saudi Aramco for its only refinery. Bangladesh, with
more than 160 million people, also plans to tap currently cheap and plentiful global liquefied natural
gas (LNG) supplies to fill a domestic supply shortfall.
Bangladesh eyes gasoil, fuel oil cuts on looming LNG imports
Bangladesh is planning to cut its fuel oil and gasoil consumption from 2018 as regasified LNG
appears set to displace oil in the downstream power sector.
The country expects its first LNG cargo to be delivered in April, with S&P Global Platts Analytics
forecasting imports to reach 10.7 million mt/year by 2023. The government plans to gradually shut
old oil-fired power plants as more gas becomes available to reduce the country's electricity bill.

Bangladesh imports around 2 million mt of 180 CST high sulfur fuel oil and 0.05% sulfur gasoil to
run its power plants, mostly from Asia and the Middle East.
"Ultimately, Bangladesh's HSFO and gasoil consumption to generate electricity will be on a
downtrend after LNG imports start," state-owned Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd.'s
Managing Director Mohammed Quamruzzaman said late last week.
RPGCL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Petrobangla, is in charge of Bangladesh?s LNG purchases.
Article continues below...
The country's energy regulator has ordered the Bangladesh Power Development Board to
permanently shut four gasoil-fired power plants with a combined capacity of approximately 140 MW
by June. Gasoil consumption will decrease by around 150,000 mt/year as a result.
Electricity generation costs at these power plants, which were commissioned 30 years ago, have
soared to approximately Taka 40 ($0.50) per kWh -- double that at new gasoil-fired plants -- or Taka
6 billion annually.
Several other fuel oil-fired and gasoil-fired power plants would also be shut after LNG imports begin
in April, BPDB Chairman Khaled Mahmood said last week.
Another senior BPDB official said that approximately 3,000 MW of HSFO-fired and gasoil-fired
power capacity would be shut by 2021.

OIL IMPORT CUTS
Bangladesh's fuel oil and gasoil imports are likely to fall by at least 1.5 million mt/year by 2021 from
2 million mt/year currently, the source said. The drop in imports will be driven by rising natural gas
and coal consumption for power generation, and despite the construction of new oil-fired power
plants, the source added.
An additional 968 MW of fuel oil-fired power generation capacity and 800 MW of gasoil-fired power
generation capacity will be completed in May and will be operational for 15 years, Khaled said.
Bangladesh began increasing its oil-based power generation capacity in 2010 amid a gas deficit
due to depleting upstream reserves and rapid industrialization, bringing almost 40 new oil-fired
power plants online by the end of 2016, with an initial tenure of 3-5 years.
Bangladesh became an HSFO importer in mid-2010. Prior to that, it was a regular exporter of fuel
oil, with cargoes coming from state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation subsidiary Eastern
Refinery's 1.5 million mt/year (30,000 b/d) plant in Chittagong.
Since 2016, the power division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has
awarded contracts to build gas-fired and coal-fired power plants, but these have faced delays,
forcing the government to extend the contracts of around a dozen of its existing oil-fired plants.
Bangladesh has over 50 operational oil-fired power plants running on 0.05% sulfur gasoil and 180
CST HSFO with 3.5% sulfur combined, according to BPDB data. Bangladesh's overall power
generation capacity is currently around 8.5 GW against a demand of over 10 GW and it plans to
raise this to over 20 GW by 2021.
LNG IMPORT GROWTH
Rising LNG imports will help bridge the gap between gas production of around 2.7 Bcf/d and
domestic demand of around 3.30 Bcf/d.
According to a study by Copenhagen-based Ramboll, Bangladesh's existing gas reserves of around
12 Tcf are likely to be completely depleted by 2038, if no new exploration and discovery take place.
The share of LNG in the country's natural gas supply will grow from 17% in 2018 to 40% in 2023,
50% in 2028, and 70% in 2041, as a result, it added.
Bangladesh's first LNG import terminal, a 3.75 million mt/year floating storage and regasification
unit, is expected to be commissioned in April and another one, also with a capacity of 3.75 million
mt/year, in October.
The power sector is expected to consume at least half of the 1.4 Bcf/d of LNG due to be imported
in 2018, Petrobangla Chairman Abul Mansur Mohammed Faizullah said last week.
Bangladesh signed its first sales and purchase agreement with Qatar's RasGas in September for
the annual delivery of 2.5 million mt of LNG over 15 years.
The country is in negotiations with four other suppliers for long-term deals and is also eyeing short-
term and spot purchases.

NewBase April 18 - 2018 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Oil prices rise on fall in U.S. crude inventories, global supply risks
Reuters + NewBase + Bloomberg
Oil prices rose on Wednesday, lifted by a reported decline in U.S. crude inventories and by the
ongoing risk of supply disruptions.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $72.07 per barrel at 0659 GMT, up 49 cents, or 0.7 percent,
from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 49 cents, or
0.7 percent, at $67.01 a barrel.
In the United States, crude inventories fell by 1 million barrels last week, to 428 million barrels,
according to a weekly report by the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday. Official weekly
U.S. data will be published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
Outside the United States, oil markets have been receiving general support due to a sense that
there are high risks of supply disruptions, including a potentially spreading conflict in the Middle
Oil price special
coverage

East, renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran and falling output as a result of political and economic
crisis in Venezuela.
“Oil prices are holding near three-year highs (reached earlier in April) for the time being, and with
inventories back in line with normal levels, the supply glut of the last few years appears to be over,”
said William O’Loughlin, investment analyst at Australia’s Rivkin Securities.
Beyond voluntary supply restrictions aimed at propping up prices led by the producer cartel of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since 2017, O’Loughlin said falling
output in Venezuela due to its political and economic turmoil was supporting prices.
“OPEC production is currently lower than expected as a result of large declines in Venezuelan
output caused by a deterioration in the economic situation there,” he said. The lower OPEC supplies
come as demand is healthy, with China’s refineries processing a record 12.1 million barrels per day
(bpd) of crude oil in March.
Dutch bank ING said in a note to clients that Brent had risen back above $70 per barrel in April “due
to geopolitical risks along with some fundamentally bullish developments in the market”. It raised
its average 2018 price forecast for Brent to $66.50 a barrel from $60.25, and its 2018 WTI forecast
to $62.50 per barrel from $57.75.
For next year, however, ING expects lower prices due to rising U.S. crude output, which has jumped
by a quarter since mid-2016 to over 10.5 million bpd. The structure of the Brent and WTI forward
price curve also points to a tighter market this year than in 2019.
The premium for June 2018 over June 2019 prices for Brent and WTI is $5.50 and $6 per barrel
respectively, creating a market structure known as backwardation in which it is attractive to sell
crude immediately instead of keeping it in storage for later sale.
Industry Surprise Crude Draw
Oil edged higher after an industry report showed U.S. crude stockpiles and supplies at the nation’s
largest storage hub both declined.

Futures in New York climbed from the settlement Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute
was said to have reported U.S. crude inventories tumbled 1.05 million barrels last week. Supplies
at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub decreased for the first time since early March.
“It shows an underlying bullish U.S. supply-demand balance, despite the record production,” said
Kyle Cooper, director of research at IAF Advisors in Houston. “It shows a bullish supply-demand
balance globally for petroleum and that typically tends to support the market.”
Prices also gained during the session amid optimism that a Friday producer meeting may lead to
talks on an OPEC deal extension, in the midst of comments from Kuwait that producers will discuss
prolonging their deal to reduce output into 2019.
Energy ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Algeria, Kuwait and
others will attend a meeting Friday of a joint ministerial monitoring committee in Jeddah, according
to a person familiar with the matter.
The confab comes at a time when the U.S. is pumping oil at unprecedented levels. Production from
the world’s most prolific crude play, the Permian Basin, is expected to set new records as drillers
keep adding more wells.
Chatter on Cuts
“You’re also getting chatter that the OPEC members are considering extending the cuts. You should
start to see some support soon,” said Gene McGillian, a market research manager at Tradition
Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.
West Texas Intermediate for May delivery traded at $66.65 a barrel at 4:39 p.m. after settling at
$66.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded Tuesday was about 12
percent above the 100-day average.
Brent for June settlement rose 16 cents to end the session at $71.58 a barrel on the London-based
ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark crude traded at a $5.07 premium to June

WTI. Yuan-denominated futures for September delivery slid 0.7 percent to 425.1 yuan a barrel on
the Shanghai International Energy Exchange.
OPEC and allied producers including Russia will consider maintaining their production limits beyond
the end of the year when they meet in June to assess the market, Kuwait Oil Minister Bakheet Al-
Rashidi said. The API was also said to report that Cushing inventories fell 1.02 million barrels, while
both gasoline and distillate supplies also shrank.
In the U.S., crude stockpiles probably rose by 650,000 barrels last week, according to the median
estimate in the Bloomberg survey before government data is released on Wednesday. Stocks in
Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures, probably shrank by 650,000 barrels last
week after rising for five weeks through April 6.
U.S. Permian Oil Output to Scale New Heights as Drillers Add Wells
The Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico added 122 drilled-but-uncompleted wells in March,
compared with 130 the previous month, according to a report released Monday by the Energy
Information Administration. Output is forecast to reach 3.11 million barrels a day in April and 3.18
million in May -- the highest since the EIA began compiling records in 2007.
"The slowdown in legacy production is being offset by new-well drilling,” Andy Lipow, president of
Lipow Oil Associates LLC in Houston, said in relation to wells that have already been drilled and are
in production.
Drillers are still preoccupied with how they’re going to be able to bring new production to market
given pipeline constraints. “Existing pipeline infrastructure is rapidly filing up," Lipow added. “The
next tranche of new pipelines will only be coming online in 2019.”
Existing pipeline bottlenecks will widen the discount of West Texas crude to the same grade at
Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point of the NYMEX crude futures contract. The discount is
expected to sink toward $6 a barrel later this year from $3.50 at present, he said.

NewBase Special Coverage
News Agencies News Release April 18-2018
U.S. has no plan for new nuclear plants , Exelon official
CNBC - Alexa Lardieri ( + NewBase )
A SENIOR OFFICIAL WITH America's largest nuclear plant operating company is predicting a dim
future for nuclear power in the U.S.
William Von Hoene, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Exelon, said last week that he
doesn't foresee any new nuclear plants being built in the United States due to their high operating
costs.
"The fact is - and I don't want my message to be misconstrued in this part - I don't think we're building
any more nuclear plants in the United States.
I don't think it's ever going to happen," S&P Global quoted Van Hoene as saying at the annual U.S.
Energy Association's meeting in Washington, D.C. "I'm not arguing for the construction of new
nuclear plants. They are too expensive to construct, relative to the world in which we now live."
If the existing nuclear units in the U.S. can continue to operate and the technology can be developed
to store energy created by renewable resources, despite the current economic issues, "then we
won't need" new nuclear units and "we won't build them because they'll be too expensive," he said.
Exelon currently operates 23 reactors. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the
U.S. has 61 commercially operating nuclear power plants with 99 nuclear reactors in 30 states.
Together, they account for about 20 percent of the electricity produced in the U.S., per the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
Von Hoene described nuclear power as "a bridge to a different kind of carbon-free world."
"I think it's very unlikely that absent some extraordinary change in environment or technology, that
any nuclear plants beyond the Vogtle plant will be built in my lifetime, by any company," S&P Global
quoted Van Hoene as saying, referring to a plant currently under construction in Georgia.
Von Hoene says because of nuclear plants' sizes and the security required to monitor them, the
costs become prohibitive.
What Is the Future of US Nuclear Power Industry?

A containment building for unit two of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, S.C., is
shown during a media tour of the facility Sept. 21, 2016. Construction of the nuclear power plant
was halted on July 31, 2017 after $9 billion. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton/File photo)
As America’s nuclear power industry continues to suffer major economic difficulties, some are
questioning whether it can - or should - survive.
The latest setback came July 31, when state power companies in South Carolina halted
construction of two reactors. After spending about $9 billion, the companies decided that increasing
costs and repeated building delays did not make the project worth finishing.
U.S. energy company Westinghouse Electric had been building the nuclear plant, which it started
in 2012. In March, Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy, due in part to huge losses related to the South
Carolina project, as well as others.
Industry groups had hoped the South Carolina reactors would mark a new beginning for U.S. nuclear
power and show the benefits of the latest technology.
New reactor construction is shown at Plant Vogtle Nuclear
Power Plant in Waynesboro, Ga. Friday, June 13, 2014. (AP
Photo/John Bazemore)
The United States remains the world’s top producer of nuclear
power, according to the British-based World Nuclear
Association. The country’s 100 reactors provide nearly 20
percent of total U.S. electrical output.
However, only two new nuclear reactors are currently being
built in the United States – both of them in Georgia.
The reactors were the first large nuclear plants to be started in the United States in more than 30
years. And the future of those reactors is uncertain.

The project - currently about half-finished - has also suffered major cost overruns and delays. For
now, the company’s parent, Japan-based Toshiba, has promised to provide at least $3.7 billion to
finish the project.
Challenges for nuclear power industry
One of the main factors causing the industry’s economic problems is the country’s large, cheap
supply of natural gas. The supply became available due to widespread fracking operations.
There is also much lower demand in the U.S. for electricity than ever before. This came about after
many improvements in energy efficiency and success with conservation efforts.
President Donald Trump has called for a complete review of U.S. nuclear energy policy in an effort
to “revitalize” the industry. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has also said he sees nuclear power as
a very important part of future U.S. energy policy. There has also been support from both major
parties in Congress.
David Fedor is a researcher with the Hoover Institution’s Shultz-Stephenson Task Force on Energy
Policy. He says states and the federal government can take steps to help energize the U.S. nuclear
industry, mainly by providing financial assistance.
“Congress could increase the subsidies to nuclear to the level that they give to other power
generation technologies - like wind and solar - that have similarly desirable attributes, basically no
pollution and essentially no carbon emissions.”
Fedor said another action could be putting a “carbon tax” on plants fueled by coal, oil or natural gas.
The idea is that this could indirectly benefit the nuclear industry by making costs higher for
companies producing environment-harming emissions.
He also said the industry needs to be more efficient, reduce costs and sell the public on why nuclear
is still a good energy option.

“When you talk about these newer technologies that are sort of walk-away safe, then people shift in
their perspective and say, ok, this is something new. This is not the same old thing that we've been
talking about for the past 20 or 30 years. And so there's some excitement there.”
But some opponents say they’ve been hearing the same arguments in support of nuclear power for
decades.
Paul Gunter (right side walking inside tracks) leads demonstrators to the Seabrook nuclear power
plant construction site August 1, 1976, for the first non-violent civil disobedience by 18 members of
the Clamshell Alliance. (Photo: Lionel Delevingne)
Paul Gunter is a longtime anti-nuclear activist. He co-founded the Clamshell Alliancein 1976. The
group was formed to oppose the Seabrook Station nuclear plant in New Hampshire. He and
hundreds of other protesters were arrested during non-violent demonstrations against the project.
Gunter says his main opposition was that the licensing approval process was corrupt.
“For example, you couldn't raise the issue of, what are you going to do with all the nuclear waste
from Seabrook? And that question was not allowed in the licensing proceeding.”
Seabrook Station was eventually completed at a cost of about $7 billion and began operations in
1990. The Clamshell Alliance helped shape America’s anti-nuclear movement for many years to
come.

In this file photo, a portion of the more than 1000 anti-nuclear power demonstrators march toward
the front gate of the Seabrook nuclear power station construction site in this April 30, 1977 file photo
in Seabrook, N.H. (AP Photo)
Another defining moment came after the Three Mile Island plant accident in Pennsylvania in 1979 -
the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history. A series of mechanical and human mistakes sent one of
the reactors into a partial meltdown, sending large amounts of radiation into the surrounding area.
Gunter says even before that accident, there were clear signs the nuclear industry would not be
economically sustainable. Today, he says neither state utility providers nor large energy companies
are willing to put up money for risky nuclear projects.
“So the only way that you can revive nuclear power is going to be through socializing its financing
through the rate payer and the taxpayer. But at this point, we're seeing the rate payer become
the irate payer - when you waste billions and billions of dollars and decades on a predictable
outcome.”

Shown are the unit 2 cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown,
Pa., Monday, May 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Could this be the answer?
Some energy experts have suggested that one way to revive U.S. nuclear power is to completely
scale down the way reactors are currently designed and built. They say this approach could improve
efficiency and safety of plants while cutting costs.
Jacopo Buongiorno is a professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT). He says one option is to build small modular reactors. These reactors work
much the same way as large plants, but would greatly reduce building time and total costs.
Illustration of possible configuration of floating offshore
nuclear plant, based on design work by Jacopo Buongiorno
and others at MIT's Department of Nuclear Science and
Engineering. (Courtesy: Jake Jurewicz/MIT-NSE)
“They're small. They could be, in principle, built in factories
and then delivered to the site in larger pieces. So you are
shifting work from an environment which
is intrinsically expensive and low productivity – a
construction site - to an environment which is intrinsically high productivity, and less expensive.”
He added that these power generators could be built in 3-4 years, compared to 7-10 years or more
for larger reactors. Buongiorno is also studying the possibility of small nuclear plants that would float
in the sea. These could improve safety by being far away from population centers in case of
accident. The ocean water could also help the reactor’s necessary cooling process.

Staff members from the China National Nuclear Corporation attend foreign visitors as they look at
the models of oil tanker shaped floating nuclear reactors and oil rigs showcased at the display booth
of China's state-owned CNNC.
Despite the U.S. downturn, some parts of the world are expanding their nuclear power capability.
Asia currently has the most nuclear plants under construction, according to the World Nuclear
Association.
At the end of 2016, 20 of the world’s 61 nuclear power projects were in China, the organization
reported. Another 15 were being built in India, Pakistan and Russia.
In Europe, France operates by far the most reactors, 58. But new French energy policy aims to
reduce the country’s share of nuclear energy from 75 percent today, to 50 percent by 2025.

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
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khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 28 years of experience in
the Oil & Gas sector. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for
Emirates General Petroleum Corp. “Emarat“ with external voluntary Energy
consultation for the GCC area via Hawk Energy Service as a UAE operations
base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations Manager in
Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility & gas
compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great experiences
in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering & regulating
stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, & compiling gas
transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the local
authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the UAE
and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.
NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
NewBase April 2018 K. Al Awadi

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Your Energy Consultant for the GCC area
Khaled Al Awadi

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Ne base 18 april 2018 energy news issue 1161 by khaled al awadi-

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Ne base 18 april 2018 energy news issue 1161 by khaled al awadi-