New LNG Carrier for NYK, KEPCO Named LNG Sakura
A new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier jointly owned by NYK and Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc. (KEPCO) was officially named LNG Sakura during a ceremony at the Sakaide shipyard of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. LNG Sakura is the first vessel to be co-owned between NYK (30 percent) and KEPCO (70 percent), and after construction is completed, it will transport LNG sourced from shale gas fields in North America and various other locations, in a 20-year charter agreement. The new ship features a moss-type tank, the largest in the industry, having a capacity of about 177,000 m3, enabling highly efficient transport. In addition, the ship…
Leaky Equipment, Not Fracking, Behind Tainted US Water -Study
The contamination of water supplies near U.S. shale gas fields appears to be the result of leaky cement wells and casings and not the controversial production technique of hydraulic fracturing, according to a study released on Monday. So-called "fracking" is a way of extracting natural gas from deep layers of rock using high-pressure fluid injections. The method has triggered a surge in U.S. gas production, but raised fears that breaking up rock formations underground could allow gas to seep into drinking water. Scientists from several universities, including Duke, Ohio State, Stanford and Dartmouth, analyzed more than 130 drinking-water well samples overlying the Marcellus and Barnett shale gas formations and attempted to trace the source of any contamination, according to the study.
