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Channel 11, Special Report, 8-31-04, 10 Pm


UrbaNerd

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Well, earlier, when I woke up, I saw this commercial on Channel 11 about Houston possibly experiencing a massive economic boom in the bery near future. The report is on at 10 PM. Watch it, everyone!

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Well, earlier, when I woke up, I saw this commercial on Channel 11 about Houston possibly experiencing a massive economic boom in the bery near future.  The report is on at 10 PM.  Watch it, everyone!

Is probibly gonna show pictures of around town, an exchange of 10 sentences with a news caster, reporter, or an interview... I hate these things, we think its all going to be good, but I bet its just going to talk about condo development, and 2 mill in 20 years... Stuff we probibly know about. But prove me wrong, and I'll drink to that. Ch. 11 has had some good reports. I just wish they would show possible skyscraper developement. Man, if oil prices where this high in the 80s, I bet BoTSWT would have been built, along with many more...

Its a shame Pittsburg isn't booming, the price of steel is skyrocketing...

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Well, let's all watch it anyway- ya never know exactly what they are going to show...

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Snickers,

Welcome to HAIF.

Usually KHOU has a summary on their website after airing a feature story - I'll post a link if they do.

Another site you might enjoy is Houston - it's worth it!, a renegade campaign promoting our city. Be sure to click on the "read why it's worth it" responses - it will help you to get a better feel for the place.

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Up Close: Oil, natural gas light up Houston's future

10:00 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 31, 2004

By Dan Lauck / 11 News

KHOU-TV

Experts expect the first diesel fuel, refined from natural gas, to reach the market in about three years.

The oil boom of the 1970's -- when life was good, and it seemed as if everyone wanted a piece of Houston.

It appears, according to some experts, that those days are on the horizon once again.

Oil now sells at $43 a barrel, and predictions of going over $50 a barrel are now common. Always looming, of course, is the threat of terrorism.

"If we see something like this, then all bets are off," said Professor Michael Economides.

No wonder the Earth quakes.

For 28 of the last 30 years, analyst John Olson has followed the supply and demand of oil with some predictability.

"The forecasts from the various technicians out there say oil could go as high as $67 a barrel," Olson said.

Even at $43 a barrel, life is changing -- for consumers, for companies and for entire countries.

"We are beginning to see a real scramble for oil," said Olson.

"There's going to be a lot of pain," Economides said.

In the rest of the world, and in the rest of the country, yes; but not in Houston.

"We will have the most dynamic economy in the country for the next five years," said Olson.

"In another five years, I hope we will have shut down our office in New Orleans and moved everything here," said Patrice Chemin, VP of Torch Offshore.

Torch Offshore, which lays pipelines across the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, just moved into its new Houston offices Friday.

Five years ago, it had one employee in Houston. Now there are 25 people managing the company's deep-water contracts.

Chemin believes this is where the whole company needs to be. "98 percent of our customers are here in Houston," she said.

"We make a mixture of C-O and hydrogen," said Houston Professor Jim Richardson. "This is called reforming."

This is the chemical process of what may be the emerging fuel of the next 30 years. It is created by breaking down natural gas into diesel fuel.

"80 percent diesel and 20 percent gas," said Professor Richardson.

There's nothing new about this process.

"This is the old German technology, which fed on coal, which has been refined enormously," Professor Richardson said.

Actually, it's World War II technology.

The Germans, with no oil of their own to speak of, figured out a way to convert coal into diesel for their tanks.

When the Arab oil embargo threatened U.S. in the 1970's, University of Houston Professor Jim Richardson, and others, refined the process to use natural gas.

Then the embargo ended, and this technology was essentially shelved, only to be revived today.

"The bright spot in this whole oil nightmare is really the emergence of natural gas," said Economides.

Professor Economides, who writes and lectures around the world, said Houston is poised to lead the transition to natural gas. "We have the storage facilities, we have the ports, we have the technology and we have the people for this transition," he said.

They expect the first diesel fuel, refined from natural gas, to reach the market in about three years.

In the meantime, there is no need to worry about the world's oil companies running out of crude -- not at $43 a barrel.

"Those refineries are minting money right now," said Olson.

And they will be, for years to come.

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Snickers,

Welcome to HAIF.

Usually KHOU has a summary on their website after airing a feature story - I'll post a link if they do.

Another site you might enjoy is Houston - it's worth it!, a renegade campaign promoting our city. Be sure to click on the "read why it's worth it" responses - it will help you to get a better feel for the place.

Hi!

Thanks for the link - I loved the intro on the site...listed every reason people up here tell us not to move down there! ;)

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It's all very optomistic, but there's a big problem with natural gas -- it's hard to move around. There aren't enough pipelines and especially terminals to handle the gas demand now. Every time a new terminal is proposed, it gets shut down by one lobbying group or another. I suspect the domestic coal producers have a lot to do with it. They have some powerful friends (Senators Rockefeller and Byrd). I don't see that changing any time soon.

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