ndependent South African company SA French, distributor of a range of internationally-recognised tower cranes, unveiled Potain’s Topless City Cranes in South Africa, in November last year. According to SA French MD Quentin van Breda, it is anticipated that this range of tower cranes will become as popular in South Africa, as they are internationally. “Although introduced less than two years ago to the international market, the Potain MDT range of Topless City Cranes has become extremely popular, with over 100 units already sold,” he says. Read more » »

Infrastructure

We must update and expand our energy infrastructure. Energy use in this country continues to be on the rise. The Department of Energy predicts that by the year 2025, U.S. oil and natural gas demand will rise by 46 percent. Modern conveniences and innovations, from medical advances to the technology upsurge, have improved our everyday lives, but our ability to produce energy domestically has been stretched to the limit. Read more » »

The fuel supply challenges facing us are only the most recent reminders that our nation has fallen far short of addressing our energy needs in a sustainable, strategic fashion.

We all have a stake in the successful implementation of a National Energy Strategy. Keeping our businesses running, our houses warm in the winter and cool in the summer, being able to get to where we want to go is important to us all, as is providing a secure source of fuel for our armed forces. Read more » »

API President Red Cavaney, in a letter to Congress dated 6/29, said that government should implement policies that allow access and encourage the application of private capital to develop existing and new sources of energy to ensure a diverse and robust supply. In a letter to lawmakers, Cavaney said that as an industry that annually reinvests more than its total net income in the search for new energy supplies for consumers, it is important that elected leaders resist the temptation to burden the industry with confiscatory and discriminatory taxation schemes that would reduce the industry’s ability to make the reinvestments necessary to deliver future energy to American consumers.

American Oil & Gas, Inc. (Amex: AEZ) announces the appointment of Joseph B. Feiten, CPA, MBA as its Chief Financial Officer, effective June 29, 2006.

Mr. Feiten served as CFO for publicly traded Tipperary Corporation from June 2002 until its acquisition by Santos, Ltd in October 2005, for $466 million. Tipperary was a Denver-based independent oil and natural gas exploration, development and production company. Mr. Feiten joined PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1974 and served for eighteen years as a national or global director in its energy & mining program. He is the co-author of the world’s leading reference book on US financial accounting rules for the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas. Read more » »

The world’s largest diversified miner, BHP Billiton, has given its backing to the view that the steel industry, which faced a torrid period at the turn of the century with overcapacity and rising costs, will remain ’stronger for longer’ - the company is a leading iron-ore and manganese producer, selling into the carbon-steel sector globally.

This continued growth will be underpinned by emerging economies such as Brazil, China, Russia and India. During its carbon-steel-materials briefing this week, marketing director of the division Peter Toth said, from London, that a once 800-million-ton-a-year industry was now producing at 1,1-billion tons a year. Read more » »

Gold was up around 1,7% on Friday above $600 as the dollar weakened after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates, as expected, but signalled it might take a break from a two-year campaign of rate increases.

Other precious metals also strengthened, with platinum hitting a three-week high of $1 215 an ounce and silver rising to its highest since June 13 to $10,80 an ounce.
Gold rose to its highest level in more than two weeks to $602 an ounce but dealers said selling pressure was building up ahead of a holiday in the United States next week. Read more » »

Particle Drilling Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDRT) today announced that it has been added to the Russell Microcap Index, which is being reconstituted today, June 30, 2006.

The Russell Microcap Index measures performance of the microcap segment, representing less than 3% of the U.S. equity market. The Russell Microcap Index includes the smallest 1,000 securities in the small-cap Russell 2000(R) Index plus the next 1,000 securities. Read more » »

Australian-based diamond company Elkedra Diamonds, which is listed on the AIM and Australian Stock Exchanges, has formally entered the ranks of international diamond producers after announcing the start of continuous 24 hour processing operations at its Chapada Diamond Project, in Brazil, and recovering its first diamonds.

Perth-based Elkedra said last week that it had recovered its first diamonds and the Chapada processing plant had been successfully commissioned at what is South America’s largest diamond mine. Read more » »

LS Power Group (”LS Power”) today completed the acquisition of the Griffith Energy Facility (”Griffith”), a 600 megawatt, gas-fired, combined-cycle power plant in Mohave County, Arizona.

On May 4, LS Power purchased its initial 50 percent interest in Griffith from Duke Energy North America, along with eight other merchant power plants in four states for approximately $1.7 billion. Today, LS Power closed on its acquisition of the remaining 50 percent of Griffith from PPL Corporation for approximately $115 million (subject to certain adjustments). Read more » »