U.S. Coal Companies Scale Back Export Goals - NYTimes.com
... when the federal government tried to auction off a two-square-mile tract of land in Wyoming's Powder River basin, a region once poised to grow with exports to Asia, not a single coal company made a bid. ..."Global coal prices right now are not supportive of large-scale U.S. coal exports," said Anthony Yuen, a Citigroup energy analyst. ..."We are in a dip," said Colin Marshall, chief executive of Cloud Peak Energy, a major United States coal company. But he added in an interview, "If history means anything, the world in a few years will need more commodities, both metals and energy including coal." Several export terminals in the Pacific Northwest are still being proposed, but local political opposition and years of regulatory hurdles put their future in doubt. "It's understandable that lenders would be getting a little bit nervous about those projects," said Trevor Houser, head of energy and natural resources research at the Rhodium Group. "I don't expect coal prices to return to the frothy levels of over the past decade." But it is China, experts say, that most defines coal's future. Energy experts project that China, with its increasingly restrictive policies, may no longer be a net importer by 2015. This year is a "watershed year for global coal markets," a Goldman Sachs report said. "The window for thermal coal investment is closing."
Big hearing planned Tuesday on Longview coal export terminal - Portland Tribune The proposed Millennium Bulk Terminals coal terminal in Longview — one of the three surviving coal export projects proposed in the Northwest — gets its first big public airing Tuesday, Sept. 17. The Washington Department of Ecology will hold an all-day session at the Cowlitz Expo Center in Longview, and supporters and opponents are expected to be out in force. Ambre Energy North America and Arch Coal submitted an application to convert the former Reynolds Aluminum smelter into a coal export facility capable of handling 44 million metric tons of coal annually
Cowlitz tribe announces opposition to coal terminals - TDN Cowlitz Indian tribal officials announced Monday they are opposing proposed Pacific Northwest coal docks, specifically the Millennium Bulk Terminals project west of Longview. ... "We don't see anything good for us or for our future generations with the proposed coal terminals," William Iyall, chairman of Longview-based Cowlitz Tribe, said in a written statement.
When Coal Comes To Town: Western Communities Brace For Coal Export Explosion | ThinkProgress BILLINGS, MONTANA — ...Today, Minnesota Avenue and Montana Avenue are the heart of a small but thriving retail, entertainment and residential loft district, part of a spreading urban transformation that has brought new vitality to Billings — a revitalization that some residents fear may be in jeopardy as coal mines operating in the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana could in the near future begin shipping massive quantities of coal to export terminals in the Pacific Northwest.
Billions to be spent on crude-by-rail facilities in Western Canada: report - Oil | Platts News Article & Story Capital spending on new oil rail terminals and tanker cars in Western Canada will total about C$6 billion ($5.7 billion) over the next two years, Calgary-based investment dealer Petersand Co. has predicted. In a report issued Tuesday, the firm said investments in terminals are tagged at C$1 billion, with up to C$5 billion earmarked for new cars as rail capacity out of Western Canada is expected to increase this year to 500,000 b/d from 200,000 b/d