--(www.USEquityNews.com)-- 07/28/2008 - Uranium Exploration industry alert provided by U.S. Equity News. An Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) subsidiary and BHP Billiton on Friday announced plans to spend $1.25 billion to tap oil and gas reserves in Bass Strait off southern Australia. The joint venture will build an offshore platform off Victoria state at a site called the Turrum field, and aims to extract about one trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 110 million barrels of oil and gas liquids, the companies said. The Turrum project is expected to start producing from 2011, with gas sales from 2015. ExxonMobil Australia chairman Mark Nolan said the Turrum project had enough resources to supply the energy needs of a city of one million people for longer than 20 years. The announcement comes seven months after ExxonMobil and BHP Billiton approved the $1.1 billion development of the Kipper gas project nearby.
USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) has submitted its application for a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to fund construction of the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. DOE invited nuclear energy projects to submit loan guarantee applications on June 30, 2008. The omnibus fiscal year 2008 appropriations act authorized DOE to issue $38.5 billion worth of loan guarantees through the end of fiscal year 2009, with $2 billion for advanced "front-end" nuclear fuel cycle facilities. USEC believes the American Centrifuge Plant (ACP) fully qualifies under the loan guarantee selection criteria established by DOE. Among other things, the project represents the early commercial use of a new or significantly improved technology, and it significantly reduces emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE: ACI) recently reported net income of $113.0 million, or $0.78 per fully diluted share, in the second quarter of 2008 compared with net income of $37.6 million, or $0.26 per fully diluted share, in the second quarter of 2007. Income from operations more than tripled to $169.0 million in the quarter just ended, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") more than doubled to a record $240.9 million. The company also recorded $785.1 million in consolidated revenues during the second quarter of 2008, an increase of more than 30 percent from the year-ago quarter. Arch Coal, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2008 Results
Strongbow Resources, Inc. (OTCBB: STBR), a uranium exploration and development company, through its CEO Darren Hayes, recently announced that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Holloman Minerals, Ltd. of Perth, Australia to Farm-in up to 98% of seven (7) exploration license areas in the Frome Embayment near Lake Callabonna in South Australia covering an area of approximately 3,792 square kilometers (937,000 acres) known as the Cameron's Corner Palaeochannel Project (CCP Project). All of these areas are considered to be prospective for uranium and will form the basis for exploration activities. The Company's initial focus will be to explore the CCP Project Area by stages. The first stage will be an airborne electromagnetic survey to map channels and structure throughout the region with infill in the areas where channels or structure are indicated from previous work. Based on the results from this airborne survey and interpretation of existing data, the Company expects to target favorable structural belts and channels for follow up drilling. For a full report visit www.stocksjournal.com
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