Oil Spill
Judge allocates time for start of oil spill trial
AP
A federal judge has set aside nearly seven hours for opening statements in
a trial over the deadly rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that resulted
in the nation's worst offshore oil spill.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/07/v-print/3735899/judge-allocates-time-for-start.html
BP hikes dividend after strong fourth quarter
AP
By ROBERT BARR
BP PLC has raised its quarterly dividend by 14 percent after posting
double-digit gains in profit and revenue in the last three months of 2011
despite further big payments to compensate for the disastrous oil spill in
the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/07/v-print/3735873/bp-hikes-dividend-after-strong.html
Congress members overseeing firms involved in gulf spill held oil, gas
stock
Washington Post
By Paul Kane and Karen Yourish, Published: June 16, 2010
Nearly 30 members of the congressional committees overseeing oil and gas
companies held personal assets in the industry totaling $9 million to $14.5
million late last year. That included at least $400,000 in the three
companies at the heart of the Gulf of Mexico oil-drilling disaster,
according to a Washington Post analysis of financial disclosure forms
released Wednesday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress-members-overseeing-firms-involved-in-gulf-spill-held-oil-gas-stock/2012/01/28/gIQAPEgbYQ_print.html
State News
MDEQ wants comprehensive waste disposal plan from county
By David A. Farrell
The Picayune Item
POPLARVILLE — The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has told
Pearl River County it wants a comprehensive waste disposal plan for the
county.
http://picayuneitem.com/local/x2009904135/MDEQ-wants-comprehensive-waste-disposal-plan-from-county
Dirt pit appeal denied
Sun Herald
By MELISSA M. SCALLAN
GULFPORT -- Harrison County supervisors on Monday denied an appeal by a
business to open a dirt pit on Mississippi 53.
http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/06/v-print/3735675/dirt-pit-appeal-denied.html
Positively Mississippi: Recycling pays off
WTVA
PONTOTOC, Miss. (WTVA) -- Recycling cans is a way to reuse aluminum energy
but some people in our area collect cans as a hobby or way to earn some
extra cash.
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Positively-Mississippi-Recycling-pays-off/vEJ5JDFrxU-WT5Xyznf_VA.cspx
Quake preparation: 'Shake out, don't freak out'
by Errol Castens
NEMS Daily Journal Oxford Bureau
02.07.12 - 07:30 am
At precisely 10:15 a.m., today, Mississippians will join their neighbors in
eight other states for the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut.
http://nems360.com/view/full_story/17424714/article-Quake-preparation--%E2%80%98Shake-out--don%E2%80%99t-freak-out%E2%80%99?instance=secondary_stories_left_column
ANALYSIS — Mississippi has big money invested in KiOR's financially
challenged project
Mississippi Business Journal
by Amy McCullough
The eyes of the international renewable-fuels community are fixed on KiOR
(NASDAQ:KIOR), a Texas-based company in which Mississippi has a large stake
— specifically a $75 million interest-free loan administered by the
Mississippi Development Authority. KiOR plans to build five plants in
Mississippi that should convert wood chips to renewable crude through a
process called pyrolysis, a feat only accomplished in test facilities.
Biofuels experts, like Sumesh Arora, director of the Strategic Biomass
Solutions division of the Mississippi Technology Alliance, laud KiOR as a
great fit for Mississippi, which has abundant biomass resources.
"KiOR's first location at the port in Columbus, Miss., lends itself well to
utilize the tremendous pine wood biomass resources in the state for
converting into next generation biofuels. KiOR features prominently in the
'Biofuels Digest' index of publicly traded biofuels companies, and I
believe that market forces will govern the success of this sector as we
move forward," Arora said, noting that KiOR's CEO Fred Cannon even ranked
No. 20 on this year's list of the top 100 people in bioenergy worldwide.
But some of those looking at the company strictly from a financial
standpoint are more skeptical.
On Jan. 13, CNBC's Stock Blog said KiOR was "bleeding cash" and investors
were looking at shorting it, or making money by betting the company's stock
price will continue to fall. "It needs upwards of $100 million more just to
get its two plants going and to reach profitability, and that assumes no
glitches," the report said.
The Columbus plant appears to have already experienced at least $15 million
in "glitches," with more cost overruns expected, based on regulatory
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. KiOR is in the site
selection process for its next Mississippi plant, which is set for Newton
County with an estimated cost of $460 million. The plant currently under
construction on a 22-acre site at the Columbus-Lowndes County Port was
originally estimated to cost $110 million, according to "Pointe
Innovation," an MTA publication. Based on KiOR's Sept. 30, 2011, financial
statements filed with the SEC, the company has already spent over $125
million on the construction of Columbus plant. The MDA says the facility is
expected to be in production by third quarter of this year.
In its SEC filing, KiOR explains that it is a "development stage
enterprise" and "expects to continue to incur operating losses through at
least 2013 as it continues into the commercialization stage of its
business. The Company's ultimate success is dependent upon the successful
transition of the Company from primarily a research and development company
to an operating company. There can be no assurance that the Company's
proprietary technologies will be successful on a commercial scale, that it
will be successful in funding its long-term expansion plans or that it will
be able to generate sufficient revenue in the future to sustain
operations."
For the nine months ending Sept. 30, 2011, KiOR reported no revenues and
realized a net loss to stockholders of $68.8 million. Although KiOR has yet
to record any revenue and management expects to continue to incur losses
through 2013, the company does maintain that it has the balance sheet to
support its continued investments. Management noted: "We (KiOR) believe
that our $152.2 million of cash and cash equivalents as of Sept., 30, 2011
and $35.6 million of remaining available borrowings as of Sept., 30, 2011,
under our $75 million interest-free loan from the Mississippi Development
Authority will enable us to meet our liquidity needs for the next 12
months."
Under the MDA agreement, KiOR made a commitment to make certain investments
in Mississippi by Dec. 31, 2015, including $500 million in property, plant
and equipment as well as wages and direct local purchases of $85 million.
KiOR recently received a cash infusion on Jan. 27 when it announced it
closed a new $75 million loan with a lender group comprised of an affiliate
of Vinod Khosla and two Canadian corporations owned by certain pension fund
clients of Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo).
KiOR could be overvalued, however. The company's current market value is
$1.3 billion (the sum of the outstanding common shares multiplied by the
Feb. 1, 2012, NASDAQ stock price), but the company only has $242 million in
stockholders' equity. KiOR's largest stockholders include Artis Capital
Management, L.P., Frontier Capital Management Company, LLC and William
Blair & Company, L.L.C. The company is part of Vinod Khosla's Khosla
Ventures portfolio.
KiOR is not a hot item on the stock market. It is thinly traded, meaning
few shares are swapping hands.
Risk to Mississippi
If KiOR doesn't work, Mississippians will be out the $75 million loaned to
them by authorization of the state Legislature via a special session called
by former Gov. Haley Barbour in August 2010. The plant in Columbus will be
collateral, the MDA has said.
If it does work, Mississippi will be on the map for hosting a successful
leader of the renewable energy world.
Investors in KiOR are feeling bullish, but green technology of this kind is
backed by venture capital firms because it's not what investors call
"bankable." The company would not be able to convince a bank to give it a
loan.
According to the company's business model, the price of oil must be $76 per
barrel or more for KiOR to be profitable.
http://msbusiness.com/2012/02/analysis-%E2%80%94-mississippi-has-big-money-invested-in-kiors-financially-challenged-project/
National News
Senators press White House to intervene in 'fracking' fight
The Hill
By Ben Geman - 02/06/12 03:05 PM ET
A pair of senators is urging the White House Office of Management and
Budget not to let the Environmental Protection Agency sully the reputation
of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," the controversial natural-gas
drilling method.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/208897-landrieu-portman-press-omb-to-intervene-in-fracking-fight
