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New Delhi, May 9: India has told the United States to keep its hands off the issue of Iran gas pipeline and declared that it will take a decision in the matter in accordance with its energy needs and national interest. This assurance was given in Parliament on Tuesday by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora. He said India would not be cowed down by the threat of the US or any other country in pursuing its energy policy. Deora said the US Energy Secretary was recently in India and the Government told him that it was none...

Polish president Lech Kaczynski has said it is too early for the creation of an EU foreign minister post, following calls from Paris for a strengthened role for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Mr Kaczynski made his remarks in an interview with German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ahead of a two-day first visit to Berlin on Wednesday and Thursday (8-9 March). It is "too early for a European foreign minister," the Polish leader said, adding that the time is not ripe for the creation of a European diplomatic service either. The Polish stance comes amid French calls for quicker...

U.S. House committees approve legislation to open ANWR to oil and gas drilling; speed Alaska gas pipeline construction by limiting loan guarantee Rose Ragsdale Petroleum News Contributing Writer Proposals to open Alaska’s arctic coastal plain to oil and gas drilling and to place a two-year sunset on federal loan guarantees for the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline are part of new energy packages adopted Sept. 28 by U.S. House committees on Resources and Energy and Commerce. Congress is revisiting various energy proposals in response to the havoc wreaked by recent hurricanes on the nation’s energy supplies. With crude oil prices expected...

Alaska's environmental organizations, for the most part, say they support building a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope. One statewide coalition is even eager for construction to begin. "We are very anxious to see the natural gas pipeline built," said Tom Atkinson, executive director of the Alaska Conservation Alliance, a coalition of about 35 conservation organizations and 10 businesses across Alaska. ACA members include Trustees for Alaska, Denali Citizens Council and Tongass Conservation Society. "It's long overdue. It's a citizen resource that the citizens are not receiving the benefit of it yet," he said. "Nothing is ever black and...