lecham Bank , Going under ?? Or being saved ??

Hurricane Ike slams Texas border

As Hurricane Ike bore down on the Houston area on Friday morning, the National Weather Service issued a stern warning to people living in small houses on Galveston Island that they faced “certain death” from flooding if they remained in their homes.
Waves crashed against the coastline in Galveston, Tex., on Friday.
Enlarge This Image
Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times
Amanda Stephens-Collins, Flagship hotel night manager, was the last person remaining after the hotel was evacuated as Hurricane Ike moved toward Galveston, Tex., Friday morning.
Forecasters said the wall of water being pushed onshore by the mammoth storm could cause floods of 15 to 22 feet above sea level, enough to cover many houses on the island, where a hurricane killed more than 8,000 people in 1900.
“Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single-family one- or two-story homes will face certain death,” the National Weather Service said in a local bulletin. “Many residences of average construction directly on the coast will be destroyed.”
The dire warning came as residents of Houston and Galveston rushed to board up their houses and move inland and Hurricane Ike moved closer to the two cities. By Friday morning, the unusually wide storm was more than 500 miles across and was rated Category 2, with 105 mile per hour winds at its center, churning across the Gulf of Mexico about 230 miles southeast of Galveston, according to The National Hurricane Center.
A mandatory evacuation was ordered for Galveston, and hurricane warnings were issued for a 400-mile stretch of coastline that stretched from south of Corpus Christi to Morgan City, La.
Thousands fled the island earlier in the day in private cars or on government-chartered buses, but a few diehards insisted they would stay in their homes. One was Denise Scurry, a 46-year-old pool hall employee who was sitting on a milk crate Thursday afternoon in downtown Galveston near her two-story home, reading “Thugs and the Women Who Love Them” and sipping brandy.
“It ain’t going to be nothing but wind and rain,” she said. “Everybody’s all excited about nothing.”
Larry Drosnes, who lives a half-mile from the beach, drove his black Ford Ranger to an elevated parking garage for safekeeping, and then returned to his house.
“The people that left are prudent, and those that are staying are reckless,” said Mr. Drosnes, 61, who has ridden out nearly every storm that has hit the island since 1948. “It’s pretty obvious which category I am in.”
The authorities ordered hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate low-lying areas from the Louisiana border to Corpus Christi. Traffic built up on highways leading from the coast; some gas stations ran out of fuel.
Forecasters predicted that Hurricane Ike would make landfall late Friday or before dawn on Saturday between the central Texas coast and southwestern Louisiana, with Galveston at the center of that track.
“I cannot overemphasize the danger that is facing us,” Gov. Rick Perry of Texas said at a news conference in Austin.
In the storm’s path lies one of the nation’s largest concentrations of oil refineries, the Johnson Space Center, the resorts on Galveston Island and Houston’s downtown of skyscrapers. More than four million people live in Houston and its suburbs.
The federal government moved swiftly to send rescue teams, generators, water and food into Texas and Louisiana, said Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security. Forty teams with helicopters and high-water trucks from the Coast Guard, the National Guard and the Defense Department were positioned to rescue people, Mr. Chertoff said.
Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have taken up positions in local emergency management offices, said the agency’s director, R. David Paulison.
Mr. Chertoff acknowledged that some people had become blasé about hurricane warnings, especially after Hurricane Gustav earlier this month turned out to be less damaging than predicted. He urged Texans not to let their guard down.
“This is not a storm to gamble with,” Mr. Chertoff said. “It’s large. It’s powerful.”
In Houston, the authorities hoped to avoid the traffic gridlock of three years ago when Hurricane Rita threatened, urging people who did not live in coastal floodplains to remain home.
“We are still saying: Please shelter in place, or to use the Texas expression, hunker down,” said Judge Ed Emmett, the chief administrator for Harris County, which includes Houston.
Over 1,000 feet off the Galveston coastline, Amanda Stephens-Collins was the last person remaining at the Flagship Hotel Over The Water, which sits on a pier extending into the Gulf. A night manager, Ms. Stephens-Collins was taking a break on Friday morning after checking that every room in the hotel had been emptied. “There was one guy last night who didn’t want to leave, and he asked how exactly I intended to get him gone,” she said. Ms. Stephens-Collins said she would call the police, and the man promptly left.
Greg Taveno was also not keen on leaving. Speaking in front of a nine-foot surf board stowed in his truck, Mr. Taveno said he wasn’t too worried about the 10 foot waves crashing in.
“If I can’t find a way to get out of the water, I’m not getting in,” he said, just before a gigantic wave washed over his truck and hit the highway behind him. “I suppose,” he said, “that is one way I could get out. Just get tossed.”

Live web cast Seaapan ( SSW )

Seaspan Corporation to Present at the RBC Capital Markets Passport 2008 Transportation Conference

To access the live audio webcast of the conference call, go to www.seaspancorp.com and click on "Investor Relations" then "Events & Presentations" for the link. The link to the webcast will be live just prior to the start of the presentation and will be available for on-demand replay within 24 hours. An archive of the webcast will also be available for a period of 90 days.
About Seaspan
Seaspan owns containerships and charters them pursuant to long-term fixed-rate charters. Seaspan's contracted fleet of 68 containerships consists of 31 containerships in operation and 37 containerships to be delivered over approximately the next three years. Seaspan's operating fleet of 31 vessels has an average age of approximately five years and an average remaining charter period of approximately seven years. All of the 37 vessels to be delivered to Seaspan are already committed to long-term time charters averaging approximately 11 years in duration from delivery. Seaspan's customer base consists of seven of the world's largest, publicly traded liner companies, including China Shipping Container Lines, A.P. Moller-Maersk, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Hapag-Lloyd, COSCO Container Lines, K-Line and CSAV.
Seaspan's common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SSW".
STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This release contains certain forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) concerning future events and our operations, performance and financial condition, including, in particular, the likelihood of our success in developing and expanding our business. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "projects", "forecasts", "will", "may", "potential", "should", and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views only as of the date of this presentation and are not intended to give any assurance as to future results. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places in this release. Although these statements are based upon assumptions we believe to be reasonable based upon available information, including operating margins, earnings, cash flow, working capital and capital expenditures, they are subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: future operating or financial results; our expectations relating to dividend payments and forecasts of our ability to make such payments; pending acquisitions, business strategy and expected capital spending; operating expenses, availability of crew, number of off-hire days, drydocking requirements and insurance costs; general market conditions and shipping market trends, including charter rates and factors affecting supply and demand; our financial condition and liquidity, including our ability to obtain additional financing in the future to fund capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate activities;
estimated future capital expenditures needed to preserve our capital base; our expectations about the availability of ships to purchase, the time that it may take to construct new ships, or the useful lives of our ships; our continued ability to enter into long-term, fixed-rate time charters with our customers; our ability to leverage to our advantage Seaspan Management Services Limited's relationships and reputation in the containership industry; changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities; changes in worldwide container demand; changes in trading patterns; competitive factors in the markets in which we operate; potential inability to implement our growth strategy; potential for early termination of long-term contracts and our potential inability to renew or replace long-term contracts; ability of our customers to make charter payments; potential liability from future litigation; conditions in the public equity markets; and other factors detailed from time to time in our periodic reports. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether because of future events, new information, a change in our views or expectations, or otherwise. We make no prediction or statement about the performance of our common and subordinated shares. Contacts:
Seaspan Corporation - Investor Relations Inquiries
r. Sai W. Chu
Chief Financial Officer
(604) 638-2575
Website: www.seaspancorp.com
The IGB Group - Media Inquiries
r. Leon Berman
(212) 477-8438

Here we go again higher oil & gas prices !

Oil, Gas, Gasoline Rise in Special Nymex Session Before Gustav
By M. Habiby
(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil, natural gas and gasoline rose in a special trading session today as Hurricane Gustav approached the Gulf of Mexico, halting most oil and gas output and shutting local refineries.
Gustav will make landfall along the Gulf Coast sometime tomorrow as a ``major'' hurricane, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It forced the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans and shut refineries operated by Valero Energy Corp., ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp.
``It's a huge storm, and it's got the potential to cause all kinds of problems,'' said Peter Beutel, president of energy consultant Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Connecticut. ``There's a lot of concern that this is something that could really, really damage infrastructure badly, and this could be another instance of Katria-Rita or worse.''
Crude oil for October delivery rose $2.21, or 1.9 percent, to $117.67 a barrel at 3:27 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 20 percent this year.
Natural gas for October delivery rose 0.7 cent to $7.95 per million British thermal units.
Gasoline for October delivery gained 9.08 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $2.945 a gallon on the exchange.
To see oil ``up two and a half dollars is a muted reaction to what they're calling the mother of all storms,'' Beutel said.
Electronic trading opened early today to allow traders to respond to Gustav. Trades will be dated Sept. 2 because of the U.S. Labor Day holiday tomorrow.
Gustav was about 270 miles (520 kilometers) from the mouth of the Mississippi River at 1 p.m. New Orleans time and was packing winds of 115 miles an hour. The storm, which may reach Louisiana as early as midday tomorrow, is forecast to strengthen as it crosses the Gulf.
Refinery Capacity
Gulf Coast refineries have cut at least 1.48 million barrels a day of production, 23 percent of regional capacity and 9.3 percent of the U.S. total. Seven refineries have announced shutdowns, and five have reduced capacity.
Personnel from more than 70 percent of the platforms and rigs in the Gulf have been evacuated as the storm approaches, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said today in a statement on its Web site. About 1.25 million barrels a day of oil, and 6.09 billion cubic feet of gas have been shut, or more than 96 percent of offshore oil output and 82 percent of gas production.
The Gulf of Mexico accounts for 26 percent of U.S. oil production and 14 percent of natural-gas output. The Gulf produces 1.3 million barrels of oil and an estimated 7.4 billion cubic feet of gas a day, according to the agency, part of the U.S. Interior Department.
``We're more prepared for this storm than we ever have been for any hurricane that I remember,'' said Phil Flynn, senior trader at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. ``We're better prepared, and demand isn't that strong anyway, so I'm about as optimistic as I can be in this type of disastrous situation.''
Katrina
Hurricane Katrina, which reached Category 5 status, the strongest type of hurricane, closed 95 percent of offshore output in the Gulf of Mexico. Almost 19 percent of U.S. refining capacity was idled because of damage and blackouts caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
``You get a couple of rigs shut down, keeled over from this hurricane, and this is going go take days or weeks to fix,'' said Brad Samples, a commodity analyst for Summit Energy Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky. ``The bigger problem is on the refining side and the potential impact on all the refineries that string along the Gulf Coast.''
Almost half of U.S. refining capacity is centered along the Gulf Coast, and refineries have been operating at less than 90 percent of capacity all year, according to the Energy Department.
Regular gasoline, averaged nationwide, rose 0.5 cent to $3.687 a gallon, AAA, the nation's largest motorist organization, said today. Prices reached a record $4.114 a gallon on July 17.
Gasoline cost $3.676 a gallon in Louisiana, up from $3.655 yesterday

When will we learn ?? cant we build more refineries and start drilling in Alaska And other coastal areas ??

Hurricane Gustav is threatening Gas prices ??

As America hits the road over the long Labor Day weekend, Hurricane Gustav is threatening to wreak havoc at the gas pump.


Gasoline prices have been falling nationwide for weeks, bringing drivers needed relief from this summer's record highs. But now Gustav has taken aim at the Gulf Coast, threatening to tear through the region's gasoline refineries and offshore oil platforms. More than one-quarter of all the oil produced in the United States comes from the gulf.
Forecasts show Gustav taking a path uncomfortably close to Hurricane Katrina's, which smashed into New Orleans three years ago and sent gasoline prices soaring throughout the country.
"It could be a big threat," said John Kingston, who directs oil coverage for the Platts energy information service.
If Gustav damages the gulf's network of oil wells, pipelines and refineries, the country could face another severe gas price spike. If Gustav veers from its expected course - a strong possibility with notoriously unpredictable hurricanes - prices will likely continue their slow slide.
"Even though the track has been pretty consistent, you just don't know," Kingston said. "Two hundred miles off isn't much for a hurricane."
California's gas prices are still falling, although the pace slowed this week. The state's average for a gallon of regular, which peaked in June at $4.61, dropped to $3.92 on Friday, according to the AAA auto club. In San Francisco, drivers pay an average of $4.10, in San Jose, $4.
The nationwide average ticked up by a penny Friday to hit $3.67, after falling steadily for weeks. But analysts blame that small increase on the holiday, not the hurricane.
"I'm not sure that's a huge worry or a signal that something's changing in the market," said Michael Geeser, spokesman for AAA of Northern California. "We usually do see a bump right before a holiday weekend."
Gasoline prices this year have followed the rise and fall of crude oil prices, which shot to record highs above $145 per barrel before tumbling. Oil sold on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose earlier this week as traders cast a nervous eye on Gustav, but by Friday, most of those fears had been factored into the price. Crude fell 13 cents on Friday to close at $115.46.
"The formation of Gustav has really put a stop to the drop in crude oil," said Denton Cinquegrana, who tracks West Coast gasoline markets for the Oil Price Information Service. "If we didn't have this storm, we could be talking about crude oil dropping below $110."
The hurricane's full effect on oil prices won't become clear until early next week. Friday's forecast from the National Weather Service showed the storm possibly making landfall west of New Orleans either late Monday or early Tuesday.
By Friday, most of the oil companies that operate in the gulf were evacuating employees from rigs and ships in the Gulf of Mexico, shuttling them to shore via helicopter. San Ramon's Chevron Corp., which has 3,000 employees in the gulf, reported Friday that it had shut some of its offshore oil fields because pipelines carrying crude from those fields had been closed.
"We don't like to say it's routine, but we've been through it many times," said Chevron spokesman Mickey Driver.
If Gustav misses the oil fields, gasoline prices may continue drifting downward, especially because prices typically drop in autumn. But they probably won't fall as low as they were a year ago, when California's average for regular gas was $2.80.
"We generally pay the lowest we pay for gas all year in the next few months, so barring a hurricane, drivers can probably look forward to that," Geeser said. "But remember, the trend of the last few years is prices never go down as far as they went up."

D. Baker

Oil Companies are getting ready for Hurricane Gustav

Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc plan to finish shutting oil and gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and Enbridge Energy Partners LP will close pipelines as Hurricane Gustav gains strength and moves toward the region.
Shell and BP aimed to complete the shutdown of the equivalent of 800,000 barrels a day of oil production today. Enbridge said it will halt Gulf gas shipments effective 9 a.m. local time. Oil producers have shut at least 6.6 percent of output in the Gulf of Mexico, according to U.S. government figures at midday yesterday. Shell plans to halt 510,000 barrels a day and BP said it will stop about 290,000 barrels.
Fields in the Gulf produce 1.3 million barrels a day of oil, about a quarter of U.S. production, and 7.4 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas, 14 percent of the total, government data show. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 closed 95 percent of regional offshore output and, along with Hurricane Rita, idled about 19 percent of U.S. refining capacity.
``We have to wait and see how this storm strengthens, but the industry can fare better than it did three years ago,'' Sara Banaszak, senior economist at the American Petroleum Institute, said on Bloomberg Television. Energy companies installed back-up electricity and purchased emergency supplies to avoid the kinds of disruptions caused by Katrina and Rita, she said.
Oil Prices
Crude oil futures in New York fell 13 cents to $115.46 a barrel in New York yesterday on speculation supplies will be adequate to meet demand after the storm passes. Natural gas futures fell 10.7 cents to $7.943 per million British thermal units on the exchange.
When a hurricane hits, it can curtail demand for oil and natural gas by damaging refineries, lowering temperatures, cutting power lines and reducing the need for power generation and closing businesses, said Kyle Cooper, an analyst at IAF Advisors in Houston.
``The question is, where does it hit, and how much demand does it take out when it does that,'' Cooper said.
Energy producers have idled 6.6 percent of oil output and 1.8 percent of natural-gas production in the Gulf because of Gustav, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said yesterday in a statement on its Web site.
Personnel from 17 rigs and six production platforms had been evacuated as of 12:30 p.m. yesterday in Washington, according to the statement. The shutdowns halted 86,000 barrels of oil and 136 million cubic feet of gas a day.
Storm Forecast
Gustav, now a Category 3 hurricane with winds of almost 115 miles (185 kilometers) per hour, picked up speed as it headed toward western Cuba and the U.S. Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center in said in a bulletin. The storm was about 255 miles east-southeast of the western tip of Cuba at 5 a.m. local time.
Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's biggest oil company, began evacuating non-essential personnel from oil and natural-gas platforms expected to be in the path of the storm. Other companies with operations connected to its platforms have shut in ``minimal'' production, the company said in a statement.
Exxon Mobil hasn't cut output at refineries and chemical plants along the Gulf coast, though it's preparing them to weather the storm, the company said.
Chevron Evacuations
Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. energy company, began evacuating essential personnel from oil and natural-gas platforms. Some production has been halted because of the shutdown of pipelines operated by other companies, San Ramon, California-based Chevron said yesterday on its Web site.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said it plans a full shutdown of all its drilling rigs and operated facilities by tomorrow. It plans to evacuate all non-essential personnel by today and all of its 600 employees and contractors currently working in the Gulf by tomorrow. It pumps more than 150,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent from the Gulf.
ConocoPhillips said it suspended drilling in southern Louisiana Aug. 28. It expected to complete the evacuation of Magnolia, its only offshore platform in the Gulf, by today. It shut the platform Aug. 28.
Swift Energy Co. planned to halt production from Cote Blanche Island yesterday, and said remaining output will be shut-in by tomorrow if storm conditions dictate, according to a company statement.
Helicopter operator ERA Helicopters LLC said it will complete its evacuations of offshore rigs and platforms today. It said evacuations for Hess Corp., Noble Corp., Helix Energy Solutions Group and ATP Gas & Oil Corp. were under way.
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the nation's biggest oil import terminal, is preparing to shut its marine operations today, said Barb Hestermann, a spokeswoman for the LOOP, as the port is known. The port will continue to make deliveries by pipeline from storage facilities, she said.
Murphy Oil Corp., Devon Energy Corp., and Apache Corp. were also working on evacuation plans.

Join Updown win $$$$$$$$$

Click on link above to sign up fror free !

Learn all about updown , play video !

Clean Energy expanding !

Clean Energy Fuels buys methane project developer
Clean Energy Fuels buys landfill gas project developer Dallas Clean Energy for $19.1 million

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Clean Energy Fuels Corp., which provides natural gas used to fuel vehicles, on Monday said it acquired Dallas Clean Energy LLC. for approximately $19.1 million in cash from U.K.-based Camco International Ltd.
Clean Energy is partnered with Cambrian Energy, a landfill gas project development and management company which owns 30 percent of Dallas Clean Energy.
Dallas Clean Energy owns the McCommas Bluff landfill gas processing plant, which processes methane from the landfill owned by the city of Dallas. Atmos Energy Pipeline Co. distributes the gas collected there.
The landfill, which opened in 1975 and is scheduled to close in 2042, is expected to produce pipeline-quality methane gas for about 30 years after the landfill closes, Clean Energy said.
To finance the acquisition and expected future capital improvements at the landfill, Clean Energy entered into a $30 million credit facility with PlainsCapital Bank in Dallas.
Andrew Littlefair, Clean Energy president and chief executive, said the deal is a "major strategic action" for the company.
"Use of biogas as a vehicle fuel has enormous potential to both reduce carbon emissions and reduce our dependence on foreign oil by displacing the use of petroleum fuel," he said in a statement.
Shares of Clean Energy Fuels rose 16 cents to $13.69 in morning trading.