By: HAMISH MACDONELL AND STEPHEN MCGINTY

CONSTRUCTION work began on Europe's biggest wind farm yesterday, amid increasing concern that Scotland may not be able to cope with many more developments of such a size and scale.

Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry Secretary, cut the first turf on the Whitelee wind farm at Eaglesham Moor, south of Glasgow, hailing the 140-turbine development as a "major contribution" to Britain's commitment to renewable energy.

by Adam Plowright
Sun Oct 8, 5:48 PM ET

Nuclear power is poised for a renaissance as governments turn to the technology to face down fears about global warming and energy security, the head of the Nuclear Energy Agency believes.

In an interview with AFP, NEA director-general Luis Echavarri explained how changes in the political climate have cast nuclear energy in a new light, putting a number of countries on the path to vast new investment programmes.

SEATTLE - An engineering firm raised a red flag more than four years ago about BP's monitoring of its Alaska oil pipelines, documents show.

The draft report by Seattle's Coffman Engineers, published in November 2001, is among documents being reviewed by a federal grand jury in Anchorage that is investigating a March oil spill of more than 200,000 gallons from a pipe on the western side of the Prudhoe Bay oil field.

Edward Tapamor, ResourceInvestor
PARIS -- The venerable and entertaining Matthew Simmons of Simmons International investment banking has managed to tweak the ear of the media once again this week. This time however it is not those nasty Saudi Arabians about which Simmons has written so much. Instead it is about pipelines.

Apparently because BP [NYSE:BP; LSE:BP] has had serious corrosion at its Prudhoe Bay North Slope Alaska operations we are heading for $300 crude. Not surprisingly he did not specify a time frame for that.

David Robertson, UK TImes
THE oil industry is hushing up the extent to which corrosion is eating into pipelines and hitting production, the head of the Royal Society of Chemistry has told The Times.

Richard Pike, who spent 25 years working for BP before becoming a consultant to a number of global oil and gas companies, said that some of the world’s largest oilfields had cut production or been shut down recently so that corroded pipelines could be fixed before they leaked.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - BP Plc said on Wednesday that oil production at its Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska, already running at half capacity due to pipeline corrosion, has been cut by 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) for several days due to a technical fault. A company spokesman said output at the biggest oilfield in the United States had been reduced to 110,000 bpd after a natural gas compressor in Gathering Center 2 failed.

By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING - Venezuela plans to export 500,000 barrels of oil a day to China within five years, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday.

Chavez arrived in Beijing earlier in the day at the start of a trip aimed at forging stronger energy ties between the two countries. He plans to sign agreements to boost China's investment in oil-rich Venezuela with joint projects in petroleum, telecommunications, farming and railways.

By Georg Mascolo

The Canadian province of Alberta contains massive amounts of oil sands. But extracting the petroleum contained in them is costly and harmful to the environment. Still, the sands are a temptation oil companies can't resist. They're investing billions in order to secure the abundant source of energy.

You would have to be a firm believer that a boom is coming to stick around for long in Fort McMurray, high up in the wilderness of northern Canada. On bad days you'll wait 45 minutes for your coffee at Starbucks, and foul-smelling smog clouds begin darkening the sky every afternoon, long before sunset. On the better days you can at least find a place to sleep. But if you want to live here, it's a different story: A couch in the basement will set you back at least 500 Canadian dollars a month.

Pipeline crisis 'could halve flow of oil'
By Saeed Shah
Published: 22 August 2006

The price of crude oil could hit $300 (£158) a barrel if BP's pipeline corrosion crisis in Alaska turns out to be an endemic problem for the industry, according to the leading oil industry analyst Matthew Simmons.

Mr Simmons, a US-based industry commentator and financier, said BP's discovery of unexpectedly severe corrosion in its pipelines at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, could just be the tip of the iceberg. He described the sudden emergence of the issue as the "Pearl Harbour Day" for energy.

Trust Eroding in Oil Pipelines Close to Home
After the trouble in Alaska, some question the safety of California's aging network. Officials are addressing the public's fears.
By Elizabeth Douglass, Times Staff Writer
August 21, 2006

The pipeline problems that shut down the largest U.S. oil field early this month brought a chilling reminder of what can go wrong with the extensive, aging maze of pipelines that carries volatile fuels across the nation.