Tag Archives: BTU

Do it yourself

Blower Motor for Rudd UGPH-07EAUER, 1/2hp to 3/4

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By blinkyhunter

Hi all!
just a quick question I hope…
my Rudd 75000btu gas furnace has a 1/2hp blower motor which seems to work fine except that it takes forever to cool the house down in the summertime. I pretty much have to leave the fan on all the time to keep the house at a comfortable temp. The air temp seems cold enough, so I’m thinking that more airflow/pressure would solve the problem. From the manual, it looks like the 1/2hp and 3/4hp furnace models are identical, same BTU’s except more airflow of course. I’m wondering if this is a viable option? would any of the wiring change? control board? Any ideas??? manual says the blower motor is 11 x 7 for the 3/4hp instead of 11 x 6 for the 1/2. Where can I buy the larger motor…? Home Depot?
Thanks for any help!

…read more

Source: DoItYourself.com

Do it yourself

advice on new heating system, DHW & gas supply relocation

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By cyrus_pinkney

I recently purchased a 1750 sf 1950s raised ranch that’s currently being heated by its original, oil American Standard boiler that’s also supplying my DHW. We have recessed cast iron rads on the main living floor, with cast iron baseboards in the basement. Considering oil prices being what they are, we’re very much interested in replacing the system that’s currently operating at around 60% efficiency…which is probably being generous.

I have been shopping around for the best replacement setup for our needs, which I should outline now; we’re a young couple that have intentions of having children and possibly expanding the home down the line. The 6 gallon tank inside our boiler is barely supplying enough hot water (shocker) to our 2.5 baths. We have not even attempted heavy demand; 2.5 baths + dishwasher + clothes washer would be impossible to run within a few hours of one another. Being that it’s juts the 2 of us now and we’re already running out of water after consecutive showers, we’re hoping to eliminate the limited supply of hot water. The original, single-paned slider windows are still throughout the house, which will also be replaced eventually, but not before the boiler installation. Insulation throughout the house is average at best. The existing boiler is tied into a fireplace chimney in our basement that keeps us from utilizing the area in front of the fireplace (the oil boiler sounds like a jet when it kicks on), so we are also intending on installing the new boiler elsewhere in the basement, in all likelihood direct vented. When I purchased the home, there already was a 3/4″ gas line piped to where a dryer would go and where we were thinking about relocated the new system to–more on that below.

What does helps us is that I am an architect and pretty handy, so my intentions were to replace the boiler myself to help with my budget, which is a factor. Alsom, to pay for college, I was a plumber’s apprentice for a few summers and winters, so I am not really intimidated by the job, but rather making the right decision for my home for the next 30+ years. I have generated a manual-J for the house in Wrightsoft that is giving me around 67k BTU heat loss, so I am thinking of around an 80k BTU for a replacement. I was planning on a blower-door test, but I already know the house won’t fair all that well considering the windows and doors.

We’ve spec’d Navien combis units on a few buildings we’ve done in some urban multi-family buildings in northeast NJ which have given us nothing but trouble, but we believe it has a lot to do with shoddy installation. Our plumbers from that job has complained about the difficulty of getting Navien reps to take care of their issues and overall below average customer service. With that being said, I am still open to their product, just with a

Source: DoItYourself.com

Do it yourself

Window or Portable AC delimna?

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By radunn55

I’ve to chose between a portable AC or window AC: window ac – GE_AEW10AQ 10k BTU 10.2 EER or portable – Edgstar AP14001HS 14k BTU, EER 11.5. The area being cooled is 23’x11′. The portable also serves as a dehumidifier; not certain about the window AC. Both are barely used and identically priced.

Is there an advantage one over the other; what do you recommend and why? In advance thank you for your time and support.

From: http://www.doityourself.com/forum/air-conditioning-cooling-systems/493643-window-portable-ac-delimna.html

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

3 Attractive Natural Gas Acquisition Targets

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By Tyler Crowe, The Motley Fool

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Several major integrated oil and gas companies are in a rough spot — they just can’t seem to meet production goals. In 2013, ExxonMobil expects total production to decline by about 1%, and it isn’t the only one hurting. The one distinct advantage these big oil companies have is a mountain of cash to buy a company or two. It is the fastest way to get a boost in production without rolling the dice on a new speculative play.

The one risk a company has with an acquisition is that it could overpay for the asset, and then the production gains would be offset by the price tag. Let’s take a look at a simple calculation that can help evaluate the value of a company, and then see what natural gas companies could be had for a deep discount.

Getting bang for your buck
While there are certainly some very complicated methods for evaluating an energy company, a quick and dirty method is to see how the enterprise value of the company (all equity and debt minus cash) compares to the total proved reserves on the company’s books. For example, when BHP Billiton bought independent gas company Petrohawk back in 2011, it paid $12.1 billion for a company that had 3.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in proven reserves. This means that the company paid about $3.55 per thousand cubic feet of natural gas for the company’s reserves. Based on an S&P Capital IQ screen of exploration and production companies with a total enterprise value of $1 billion-$15 billion, an average company in this space would have an enterprise value per thousand cubic feet equivalent of $6.65. So based on this metric, its seems as though BHP got a pretty good deal.

Since oil and gas price spreads have deviated so far from a BTU-equivalency basis, its not as effective to use this metric when evaluating oil-heavy companies. If you want to do your own calculations, be sure to use per-barrel oil equivalency for oil-heavy companies. Also, If you want to see a couple liquids-heavy assets that could be acquisition targets, click here. Based on this calculation, here are three natural gas companies trading at a deep discount:

Ultra Petroleum
Ultra certainly hasn’t seen any love lately. Natural gas prices have fallen, and so has the share price of Ultra. Despite being one of the low-cost producers in the space, Ultra has an enterprise value per thousand cubic feet equivalent of about $1.67. Not only is the company valued much lower than its peers, but it’s value is less than half of what a thousand cubic feet of natural gas trades for at the Henry Hub spot price. 

What is even more surprising about this low price tag is that the company may be sitting on much, much more gas than what is on its proven reserves. The company has just barely begun to tap its 260,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Natural Gas Will Never Knock Out Coal

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By Tyler Crowe, The Motley Fool

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Fans of Muhammad Ali should have an appreciation for the coal story. Much like the Rumble in the Jungle, where an older Ali faced a younger opponent in George Foreman, the coal industry has found itself up against a younger, cleaner opponent in natural gas. And despite the overwhelming odds in favor of the young upstart, coal, like Ali, is poised to come out of this fight as the reigning champion.

Let’s look at the scorecards and see why coal will take this fight in the long run.

The greatest in the world …
To look only at the U.S. and determine the prospects of coal would be very misleading. While low domestic gas prices have dragged the price of coal down with them, the same can’t be said overseas, for two distinct reasons:

  • Natural gas requires a much more robust infrastructure to be competitive, normally consisting of large pipeline networks and sophisticated liquefaction and regasification terminals, where coal can much more easily use existing roads, rail lines, and ports.
  • In several countries outside North America, natural gas prices are indexed to oil on a BTU equivalency. That has given North America a distinct advantage in selling natural gas, but it also enables coal to compete on the international stage much better than here.

Looking at the global market for coal, it appears there are no signs that natural gas will be able to take the title from coal. An International Energy Agency report back in January estimates that coal will pass oil as the most used energy source by 2017. In fact, the report projects that the U.S. will be the only country that will see its coal use decline between now and 2017. Just like almost every story in the energy space, the major drivers of demand will be China and India. Analysts project that the two countries’ total coal consumption for electricity generation will be almost double that of all member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, combined. Furthermore, coking coal for steel production should see a substantial gain as well. Total steel demand between now and 2020 is expected to double in India and continue to grow steadily in China.

With so much demand headed overseas, several coal companies in the U.S. will need to boost their export capacity. Peabody Energy has a deal in place with Kinder Morgan Energy Partners to use its export terminal in the Gulf of Mexico and on the East Coast. This agreement will increase Peabody’s export capacity in the Gulf region to a range of 5 million to 7 million tons per year. Also, as one of the leading exporters of U.S. coal, Alpha Natural Resources has the export capacity for about 25 million tons per year, which provides it plenty of room to run, considering the company exported only 14 million tons in 2011.

… just not in the United States
Despite the exploding global demand, the IEA does …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

3 Attractive Acquisition Targets for Oil Majors

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By Tyler Crowe, The Motley Fool

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For a major oil and gas company to meet its production growth targets, it takes a lot of capital and a little luck. If it can’t meet those production goals through exploration, the company may go out and buy a company or two. For example, when ExxonMobil wanted to get in on the shale plays in Alberta last year, it bought Celtic Exploration for $2.6 billion. The deal bolstered the company’s holdings in the area by about 139 million barrels of oil equivalent of proved and probable reserves, a much-needed boost for a company that has struggled to meet its production goals as of late.

Like investors, major oil companies are always looking to get value out of their purchases. Today, let’s look at a way to value a company for an acquisition and see if there are any companies that could be on he block for potential buyout.

Getting bang for your buck
While there are certainly some very complicated methods for evaluating an energy company, a quick and dirty method is to see how the enterprise value of the company (all equity and debt minus cash) compares to the total proved reserves on the company’s books. For example, Berry Petroleum , which was just acquired by LINN Energy for a final price tag of $4.3 billion, had just over 274 million barrels of oil equivalent in proved reserves. This means that the company paid about $15.33 per barrel of oil equivalent for the company’s reserves. Based on an S&P Capital IQ screen of exploration and production companies with a total enterprise value between $4 billion and $45 billion, an average company in this space would have an enterprise value per barrel of oil equivalent of $21.53. So based on this metric, it appears that LINN didn’t overpay for this asset.

There is also one thing to consider when using a metric like this. Companies evaluate barrel of oil equivalents based on a BTU equivalency, but gas and oil spot prices trade at very different rates than this basis. For example, a gas-heavy company like Ultra Petroleum would have a value of about $9.69 per barrel of oil equivalent. This is misleading because over 95% of its reserves are in gas. Keep this in mind if you do this kind of calculation on your own.

Using this method for evaluating companies, let’s take a look at a couple companies that could be selling at a deep discount.

Devon Energy
Some people might see Devon’s $11 billion in debt as a little too much bulk for a $28 billion. But with an enterprise value of $8.97 per barrel of oil equivalent, Devon could be a great deal for someone who wants a well-diversified portfolio. Overall, Devon itself is pretty well-diversified, with about 47% of proven reserves in oil and natural gas liquids. One of the possible reasons for the lower price tag may be that the company has 68% of all its proven …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Will "King Coal" Benefit From Rising Natural Gas Prices?

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By Taylor Muckerman and Joel South, The Motley Fool

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There’s been nowhere for coal companies to hide ever since the price of natural gas fell off a cliff as 2012 approached. Coal companies have been waiting for an inflection point and are hoping it’s finally arrived, as natural gas prices close in on $4 per million BTU.

At this price, coal in both the Powder River and Illinois basins should now be economically viable for utilities to use. Peabody Energy is a leading producer in both regions, so any continuation in natural gas’ price momentum will add to coal’s resurgent competitiveness. 

Why focus solely on the North American market? That’s a question Peabody asked itself a while back, and it’s clear they couldn’t come up with a reason. Record exports from the U.S. in 2012 helped buoy the company’s financial performance, and if it can combine a growing Asian market with increased U.S. demand, investors could finally start to be rewarded.

The Fool’s Taylor Muckerman has more in the following video.

Exports and low-cost domestic production will determine Peabody’s fate
The coal industry in the United States has been in a state of flux since the drop in natural gas prices. Exports are becoming a much bigger part of the domestic coal landscape, and Peabody Energy has deals in place to get its cheaper coal from the Powder River and Illinois basins to India, China, and the EU. For investors looking to capitalize on a rebound in the U.S. coal market, The Motley Fool has written a special new premium report detailing why Peabody Energy is perhaps most worthy of your consideration. Don’t miss out on this invaluable resource — simply click here now to claim your copy today.

var FoolAnalyticsData = FoolAnalyticsData || []; FoolAnalyticsData.push({ eventType: “TickerReportPitch”, contentByline: “Taylor Muckerman and Joel South“, contentId: “cms.26132”, contentTickers: “NYSE:BTU, NYSE:KMP, NASDAQ:JRCC”, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

News, Politics, Government

Will Natural Gas Stay Cheap Enough To Replace Coal And Lower US Carbon Emissions

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By Karl Smith, Contributor Via Brad Plumber, Eduardo Porter worries that the recent decline in carbon emissions will not last Will our carbon footprint continue to shrink? The Energy Department forecasts that CO2 emissions will tick up nearly 2 percent this year and 0.7 percent in 2014, as the economy recovers. Coal use in power plants is also expected to rebound as gas prices rise from their 2012 trough. Historical precedent is not promising. The drive for energy efficiency that started in the 1970s did not continue once oil prices fell in the 1980s; among other things, American drivers fell in love with S.U.V.’s and trucks. In 1981, the Ford F-series pickup truck became the nation’s best-selling light vehicle. In 1986, Ronald Reagan had the White House solar panels taken down. Whether Natural Gas continues to displace coal is a complex, but for the most part it hinges on to two questions: 1) How cheaply can drillers create a horizontally fractured gas well? 2) How robust is the demand for ethane and other natural gas liquids from Petrochemical Manufacturers? Cheap Drilling Traditional oil and gas wells are a long term capital investment similar to an office building.  It costs a lot to drill the well, but you continue to get a  slow stream of profits or rents for years to come. Hence, the key issues are the interest cost of financing the well and the certainty of the stream of profits. From that perspective the swings in both energy prices and interest rates during the 1970s and early 1980s was heart-stopping for drillers. Horizontial Fracking is a bit different. The enormous pressure of the shale formation sends oil and gas gushing out the well when it is first fracked. Fracked wells have been known to gush at 100 times the initial rate of an average vertical well. However, the inherit low porosity of the shale also implies that once the initial gush dies down, the flow will become a trickle. To some old-school analysts this makes fracking seem like a flash in the pan. From an big-picture economic standpoint, however, it makes fracking less like a capital investment and more like a service. You pay X for a fracked well and you get Y in oil and gas – today.  Not 20 or 30 years from now, but right now. Or as soon as you can build the infrastructure to take the fracked products to market. In recent years that has been the bottleneck. This means that well drilling and finishing costs – not financing or the future of energy prices, becomes the major determinate. Wells either pay for themselves in terms of today’s prices or they do not. George Mitchell, the father of fracking, got well costs down to about $4 per million BTU of natural gas for fracking the Barnett Shale. That made fracking economic and started the revolution. This also implies that unless new wells are much harder to drill, natural gas prices will have a hard time staying above $4 …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Natural Gas Prices Surging: Invest Here?

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By Joel South and Taylor Muckerman, The Motley Fool

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Natural gas prices are trading up around 30% this month, with April futures nipping at the $4-per-million-BTU mark not seen since the end of 2011. The late winter weather helped lower the weekly storage level by 18.5% year over year, but should we expect prices to move back toward $3 per million BTU once seasonal spring weather sets in?

Not likely. With record low gas prices in 2012, natural gas producers started withdrawing capital away from drilling natural gas wells and shutting down or overhauling rigs to tackle oil liquids plays. Total natural gas land rigs have been diminishing sharply since October, with March’s total gas rig count down 34.9% year over year, according to Baker Hughes.

With both small and large gas players moving capital away from dry gas wells for the past year and a half, gas prices should increase for two reasons. The first is entry time to recommit to drilling gas wells. It takes an incredible amount time to deal with labor, rig, and lease holding contracts. According to Ultra Petroleum Chairman and CEO Mike Watford, once capital is removed, gas prices become sticky, since companies are hesitant to recommit money and secure new contracts and get new drilling permits until natural gas prices are high enough to support re-entry for the long term.

Second, outside the view of low-cost natural gas producers, most E&P companies are focusing production on oil plays, and with crude prices ensuring healthy profits, no incentive remains for new entrants into the U.S. natural gas market. Natural gas insiders and analysts believe prices will stabilize between $4 and $5 dollars in North America for the long term, which will supply healthy margins for low-cost natural gas producers.

In the following video, Motley Fool energy analyst Joel South speaks with Taylor Muckerman about a few of his favorite low-cost natural gas players in this space.

With the swelling of the global middle class, energy consumption will skyrocket over the next few decades, so long-term investors know that you want exposure to this space now. We’ve picked one incredible natural gas company that presents a rare “double-play” investment opportunity today. We’re calling it “The One Energy Stock You Must Own Before 2014,” and you can uncover it today, totally free, in our premium research report. Click here to read more.

The article Natural Gas Prices Surging: Invest Here? originally appeared on Fool.com.


Joel South and Taylor Muckerman have no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Range Resources and Ultra Petroleum, owns shares of Ultra Petroleum, and has options on Ultra Petroleum. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell — March 11, 2013: Markets Recover Slightly from Low Open (BBY, BTU, SFD, ADBE, MT, CSIQ, CHYR, DKS, RENN, CVI, DMND, FCEL, URBN, BONT, SSI, BBRY, T, ZNGA, YHOO)

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By 24/7 Wall St.

Bull and Bear figures

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U.S. equity markets opened lower this morning after France reported a decline in industrial production and China reported consumer inflation up more than expected (more coverage here). There was no significant data reported in the U.S. today, so the weak opening eventually gave way to buying, pushing stocks into positive gains by around noon. The gains were modest with financial stocks leading the gains, while energy, technology, and telecom stocks trailed along. In Japan, the nominee for the central bank’s Board of Governors said he did not think that the current asset purchase plan was big enough to allow the country’s to reach its 2% inflation goal. The volatility index notched a six-year low today (more coverage here).

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.12% today, now at 82.589. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.3% at 648.81, with commodities prices mixed again today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.1% today, at $92.06 a barrel. Brent crude trades down 0.7% at $110.10 a barrel. Natural gas is up 0.4% today at about $3.65 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 0.1% today at $1,578.00 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 50 points to 14,447.22 (0.35%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 9 points (0.26%) to 3,252.87, and the S&P 500 rose 0.32% or about 5 points to 1,556.22.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) raised to ‘overweight’ at Piper Jaffray; Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) cut to ‘market perform’ at BMO; Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) raised to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) raised to ‘buy’ at UBS.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday resulted in several price moves today, including these: Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) is down 14.6% at $3.19 (more coverage here); Chyron Corp. (NASDAQ: CHYR) is up 8.6% at $0.93; and Renren Inc. (NASDAQ: RENN) is up 0.7% at $3.09.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from CVR Energy Inc. (NYSE: CVI), Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND), Fuel Cell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL), Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN), Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT), and Stage Stores Inc. (NYSE: SSI)

Some standouts among high-volume stocks today include:

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) is up 13.4% at $14.81. The mobile phone maker got a boost from an announcement that AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) would begin accepting pre-orders tomorrow for the company’s first touchscreen phone. More coverage here.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is up 10.6% at $3.95. The game developer’s shares jumped this afternoon following an analyst’s comment that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) may be interested in acquiring the company.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is down 10.9% at $45.11. The sporting goods retailer reported weak results and offered lower guidance than analysts were expecting. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Two Challenges Holding Back Natural Gas Vehicles

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By Arjun Sreekumar, The Motley Fool

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More than two-thirds of the oil consumed in America goes toward transportation and accounts for roughly a third of total greenhouse gases produced. With currently high oil prices, cheaper, cleaner-burning natural gas seems to be the most obvious solution to this problem.

Just a decade ago, natural gas and oil traded at a similar price on an energy equivalent basis. But now – courtesy of the shale gas boom – oil is about seven times as expensive as natural gas on a dollar-per-BTU basis.

Given this historically unprecedented disparity between the two energy sources, large-scale production of natural gas vehicles, or NGVs, would appear to be the next logical step.

Natural gas making inroads in trucking
Already, natural gas as a transportation fuel has gained considerable traction in the market for commercial trucks. Waste management and delivery companies, as well as others that have large fleets, are switching over to natural-gas-fueled vehicles to lower costs.

For instance, Waste Management expects that, over the next five years, four-fifths of the trucks it purchases will run on natural gas. By 2017, the company projects that its trucks will burn more natural gas than diesel. While these new trucks will run about $30,000 more than comparable diesel trucks, they should save the company $27,000 or more each year in fuel costs.

Other companies are also seeing tremendous opportunities in converting trucks and larger commercial vehicles to run on natural gas. Within a couple of years, truck manufacturer Navistar expects that a third of the trucks it sells will run on natural gas.

Yet despite these positive developments in the market for trucks and larger vehicles, overall usage of natural gas vehicles in the U.S. remains minimal. Currently, only about 0.1% of American vehicles use the cleaner-burning hydrocarbon as a fuel source. Adoption for natural gas passenger vehicles has been ever slower.

The biggest challenge has been in creating the right incentives for consumers and companies to make the transition. There are two main issues here: Natural gas vehicles are expensive and there is a dearth of refueling stations across the country.

High upfront costs
While natural gas and gasoline engines are quite similar, natural gas vehicles require more expensive fuel tanks. This is because natural gas has to be stored under high pressure, which requires fuel tanks that are heavier, larger, and sturdier than gasoline fuel tanks.

Since these are more expensive to build, the costs get passed on to the consumer. For instance, Honda‘s Civic GX, which is currently the only natural-gas-powered passenger vehicle available in the U.S. market, is about $5,200 more expensive than a comparable vehicle that runs on gasoline.

Still, private companies are working hard and investing heavily in research and development efforts aimed at reducing the costs of natural gas vehicles.

For instance, 3M and Chesapeake Energy joined forces last year to develop lighter and better natural gas fuel tanks. The tanks will have linings wrapped in ultra-light, carbon-composite materials, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Celanese Announces Advancement of MOU with PERTAMINA to Develop Fuel Ethanol Projects in Indonesia

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Celanese Announces Advancement of MOU with PERTAMINA to Develop Fuel Ethanol Projects in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia & DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Celanese Corporation (NYS: CE) , a global technology and specialty materials company, today announced it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Pertamina, the state-owned energy company of the Republic of Indonesia, and will begin the detailed project planning phase for the development of fuel ethanol projects in Indonesia.

In line with its long-term strategy to develop new and domestic energy capabilities, Pertamina is working with Celanese to jointly develop synthetic fuel ethanol projects in Indonesia utilizing Celanese’s proprietary TCX® ethanol process technology.

Celanese and Pertamina have successfully completed the objectives of the previously announced Joint Statement of Cooperation, which included identifying potential production locations, confirming coal supply options and developing an ethanol distribution strategy. The MOU outlines the parties‘ intentions to establish a joint venture partnership under which Celanese would maintain a majority share and would license its leading TCX® Technology to the joint venture under a separate technology licensing agreement. The detailed financial terms of the joint venture partnership and licensing arrangement have not been finalized; however, the capital investment and financial returns for the venture are expected to be consistent with those previously announced by Celanese for fuel ethanol projects.

Under the detailed project planning phase of the MOU, Celanese and Pertamina will select the first production location, initiate project permitting, and negotiate coal supply and other industrial partner agreements. Celanese and Pertamina expect to complete this phase of the MOU by the end of 2013.

Celanese and Pertamina expect the production of fuel grade ethanol to begin approximately 30 months after final investment decisions by each company and receiving all necessary government approvals.

“Celanese is pleased to support the Indonesian government‘s long-term objectives for the use of its abundant local resources, specifically lower BTU-content coal, to drive economic development. Working with Pertamina, we are excited to demonstrate how our TCX® Technology will help Indonesia achieve its objectives,” said Mark Rohr, chairman and chief executive officer, Celanese Corporation.

Karen Agustiawan, President Director and CEO, PT Pertamina (Persero), said: “The development of ethanol business is in line with the Government of the Republic of Indonesia‘s policy to implement Indonesian target in Energy Mix 2025. This initiative has triggered us, the National Energy Company of Indonesia, to develop clean, renewable energy and new energy for diversification, by increasing the contribution from gas and other non-fossil energy contribution, as well as liquefaction …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance