COMPRESSED FACTS
VR Systems, Inc.
Headquarters: 2408 Mercury Ave., Odessa, TX, 79763, (800)478-0011
Sales Office: 13310 Leopard St., Ste.6, Corpus Christi, TX 78410 (361)241-5348
NOV/DEC 2000
Published 06/07/01
For Print Copy (MSWord)Click Here
Natural Gas Updates from the EIA
Specifying Inlet and Discharge Pressures for Your Compression Application
OPEC Output Cuts 'Almost Certain' If Prices Keep Falling
Iraq Resumes Oil Exports After 12-Day Break
EPA's LMOP Program Reports: "Green Power Programs Spur US Renewables"
Natural Gas Updates from the Energy Information Administration Back to Top
If you are looking for a direct link to updates about natural gas storage levels or gas prices, bookmark http://www.gascompressor.com/news.htm. There you'll find a link to the EIA's Natural Gas Update which contains data on natural gas storage levels and a summary of natural gas prices for the previous week. The updates are published weekly and are a good way to stay abreast of natural gas market activity.
Specifying Inlet and Discharge Pressures for Your Compression Application Back to Top
If you have had the opportunity to utilize our Request for Quote form for a budget price or firm estimate at www.gascompressor.com/requestquote.htm, then you've probably asked yourself, "Is all of this information really required?"
Although we can assume some conditions to provide you with a simple budget estimate, two of the most vital pieces of data you must provide to us in your Request for Quote are the inlet and discharge pressures. As designers we must know what you expect the compressor to do and what specific conditions must be met in order to provide you with a compression system that best meets your application's needs.
Let us explain what is required of your pressure data.
Pressure is expressed as a force per unit of the area exposed to the pressure. Since weight is really the force of gravity on a mass of material, the weight necessary to balance the pressure force is indicated as a measure (ie. psi, lb/sq. ft., gr/sq. cm., -Kg/sq. cm.). Pressure is usually measured with a gauge.
The pressure measured by the gauge, gauge pressure, is the pressure above atmoshperic pressure as shown on the dial of a pressure gauge in pounds per square inch (psiG). Gauge pressure does not indicate true total gas pressure (pressure above zero) because it does not include the current atmospheric pressure. Absolute pressure on the other hand does indicate the true total of gas pressure, as it is the pressure shown on a pressure gauge plus atmospheric pressure (psiA). (At sea level, atmospheric pressure is 14.7 pounds per square inch). Thus for appropriate design of a compression system, absolute pressure should be used in all calculations including inlet and discharge pressures.
To review VR Systems Request for Quote form or for a budget price or firm quote on your compressor application visit our website: http://www.gascompressor.com/requestquote.htm
OPEC Output Cuts 'Almost Certain' If Prices Keep Falling Back to Top Source: Oil & Gas Journal
The UAE Oil Minister Obeid bin Saif Al Nasiri has cautioned that OPEC's next meeting on January 17 in Vienna could result in production cuts depending on price levels and crude stocks.
The Oil Minister commented "all options are open - we don't rule out any possibility of production cuts when we meet next month," and went on to speculate on a future drop in oil prices, saying: "The fall in the prices is possible especially if production rates continued at their current rates...It is for the next OPEC meeting to discuss means of avoiding a major slump similar to that witnessed during 1998 and early 1999."
These views were reiterated by Kuwaiti Oil Minister, Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah, who recently was quoted as saying: "OPEC members will examine a decrease in production at their next meeting...if prices continue to sink at the current rate...It is almost certain that an agreement on a reduction in production will be reached during the meeting. About one million bpd will be taken away if it is necessary, especially with the coming of spring and summer, which bring a reduction in consumption levels and the worldwide demand for oil.". Back to Top
Iraq resumes oil exports after 12-day break
Back to Top DUBAI, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Iraq resumed oil exports on Wednesday when the Indian Oil Corp began to load a cargo -- putting an end to a 12-day suspension of Iraq's United Nations-monitored sales.
"The Jade is definitely loading and the Nikolaos is about to berth," an Iraqi official told Reuters by telephone from Baghdad. Both tankers are chartered to IOC for lifting from Iraq's Gulf port of Mina al-Bakr.
Iraq had kept 2.3 million barrels a day (bpd) of oil sales on hold from December 1 after customers under the United Nations oil-for-food exchange, an exception to Gulf War sanctions, declined to meet Iraqi demands for special payments.
At least in IOC's case, Baghdad appears to have dropped its demand for a 40-cent per barrel surcharge.
"We're not violating any U.N. sanctions. India will not violate any U.N. sanctions," an industry official in India told Reuters.
The Iraqi oil official declined to say whether Baghdad had abandoned its surcharge demand.
"You know we cannot talk about such things," the official said.
Any payments direct to Iraq would contravene U.N. rules that demand revenues be deposited in a U.N. escrow account.
Iraq's demand for a fee paid into a Baghdad-controlled account had been seen as one of the boldest moves yet by the country to wrest back some control over its oil export revenues from the U.N.
OTHERS WAIT TO SEE IF SURCHARGE DROPPED
It remained to be seen whether Baghdad would excuse a string of other customers waiting to load Basrah Light crude oil at Mina al-Bakr from the surcharge.
Industry sources said about eight vessels are queued up behind the IOC tankers.
No action was seen at the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, Iraq's second U.N. authorised export outlet, which customers deserted when Iraq stopped exports on December 1.
Market sources reckon loadings of Kirkuk crude from Ceyhan might not get under way until December 19.
It was also uncertain whether Iraq would enact its threatened boycott of companies supplying states hostile to Iraq.
The United States, held in contempt by Iraq, has been lifting about 750,000 bpd through third parties. REUTERS
EPA's LMOP Program Reports: "Green Power Programs Spur US Renewables" Back to Top
Source: EPA's LMOP
Utilities in states that have yet to undergo electric utility restructuring are leading the way in selling green power, according to a new report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Green pricing programs, under which utilities sell electricity generated from renewables at a premium price, grew by 24 new utility programs in 1999, according to NREL. This brings the total to 52, nearly double the number of programs offered in 1998. These programs have led to the development of 73 MW planned. Meanwhile, competitively marketed green power in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and some New England states has led to 53 MW of new renewable energy installations, with another 60 MW in the works.
Gas Compressor Association
Sixth Annual Expo & Conference
February 6-8, 2001
Omni Bayfront Hotel
Corpus Christi, TX
361-887-1600
For more information or to register, visit www.gascompressor.org or call 972-518-0019.
Above: Sliding Vane Compressor for Vapor
Recovery being prepared for shipment to West Texas location. Design Conditions: 0-30 PSI (250
MSCFD); Process: Vapor Recovery---70.7% Carbon Dioxide with other gas
mixtures; Package Description: (1) 30 HP electric motor driving an AC Ro-Flo 8DB sliding
vane compressor.
"Small or large application? Rest assured knowing you have placed your job into the hands of experienced professionals at VR Systems!"
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Compressed Facts is published bi-monthly by VR Systems, Inc., 2408 Mercury Ave. Odessa, Texas, 79763, strictly for customers and vendors of VR Systems, Inc. Send any contact e-mail address changes or updates to: VR Systems, Inc., 13310 Leopard St., Ste.6, Corpus Christi, Texas, 78410 or e-mail to ebeaudoin@gascompressor.com Comments are welcomed and should be addressed to the editor at the above e-mail or by phone at (361)241-5348 or fax (361)241-5386.