March Newsreel: Boomerang Tube Funds Texas Plant; Oil & Gas Execs Predict More 2010 Employment and more

Helping organize the event were Chris Greggs and Dave Tanner from McElroy, Joe Beffer from Midwestern, and Bobby Darby from Darby Equipment. Other Tulsa companies supported the event as associate sponsors including Braden/Paccar Winch, Allen Edwards Inc. and Boyd Metals.
More than 100 visitors attended tours and equipment demonstrations by the four primary participants and a networking dinner. Attendance was limited to ensure that the event ran smoothly. Plans are to hold another Tulsa Pipe Equipment Expo this year. No date has been selected yet.

Greenhouse Gas Services Expands Into Renewable Energy
Greenhouse Gas Services, a GE AES venture that invests in and develops projects that reduce greenhouse gases, has expanded into renewable energy and Canada by acquiring StormFisher Ltd. The acquisition of Toronto-based StormFisher - which builds, owns, and operates projects in North America that turn food or agricultural byproducts into natural gas and electricity - enables Greenhouse Gas Services to grow in markets outside the U.S. and particularly where governments support renewable energy, such as Ontario.

“Adding the StormFisher team and its pipeline of shovel-ready biogas projects expands Greenhouse Gas Services’ business line and complements our carbon platform,” said Mauricio Vargas, CEO of Greenhouse Gas Services. “As carbon and renewable energy policies continue to evolve, we see tremendous opportunity and growth for us in North America.”

Greenhouse Gas Services will break ground this year on its first biogas project, a 2.8-MW facility in London, Ontario that will convert more than 100,000 tons of organic materials from agri-food producers into renewable energy through anaerobic digestion. Electricity produced at the plant will be sold to the Ontario Power Authority.

Greenhouse Gas Services is developing other biogas facilities in Ontario, Wisconsin and California, which are expected to start operation by the end of 2011.

NGSA President Raps FY 2011 Budget Proposal
R. Skip Horvath, president/CEO of the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA), was deeply critical over the Obama administration’s FY 2011 budget proposal, saying it is “is out of balance with the nation’s economic and clean energy goals.”

“If the administration is serious about creating jobs and reducing greenhouse gases, it should be looking for ways to encourage natural gas production rather than further burdening the industry with billions of dollars in tax increases.

“Payments from natural gas producers are already one of the largest sources of revenue for the U.S. Treasury. The effective income tax rate on natural gas production, including production taxes, import duties and excise taxes, totaled more than 4% in 2008, significantly higher than the statutory U.S. tax rate of 35%. Above and beyond taxes, natural gas producers contributed in 2008 more than $7 billion to the federal government and nearly $1.5 billion to state governments in royalties and other non-tax payments.”