Monday, September 11, 2017
Kerry B. Collison Asia News: Rockefeller and the Demise of Ibu Pertiwi now avai...
Kerry B. Collison Asia News: Rockefeller and the Demise of Ibu Pertiwi now avai...: https://www.amazon.com.au/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/357-7654018-3622210?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=rockefeller+and+the+de...
Rockefeller and the Demise of Ibu Pertiwi now available on KINDLE
I have to thank the Dennis Jones team for their tremendous
support in having the book already available on Kindle.
Thanks team
Cheers
Kerry
Kerry B. Collison Asia News: Order your autographed copy of “Rockefeller and th...
Kerry B. Collison Asia News: Order your autographed copy of “Rockefeller and th...: Order your autographed copy of “Rockefeller and the Demise of Ibu Pertiwi” Email author@sidharta.com.au RRP A$24.95 (po...
Order your autographed copy of “Rockefeller and the Demise of Ibu Pertiwi”
Order your autographed copy of “Rockefeller and the Demise of Ibu
Pertiwi”
Email author@sidharta.com.au
RRP A$24.95 (postage free within Australia – international orders buy
online)
In 1961 and one month following the disappearance of Michael C.
Rockefeller off the southern coast of what was then known as Dutch Western New
Guinea, Indonesia invaded, annexed and commenced the systematic slaughter of
indigenous Papuans, to pave the way for a massive wave of transmigrated
Javanese.
With the meteoric rise of the new powerhouses China and India,
Indonesian-occupied West Papua’s wealth of oil, gas and minerals precipitates
an international power-play for control over the vast, untapped natural
resources.
Decades have passed since the twenty-three-year-old Rockefeller disappeared
– long presumed dead, when sightings of the heir are widely reported.
Demands for West Papuan independence gains momentum and Australia is
again drawn into military conflict with the Indonesian Motherland, “Ibu Pertiwi”.
In Europe,
there is growing support for the international community to revisit the flawed
1969 West New Guinea plebiscite. Some member
nations of the European Community, including The Netherlands
And, more
recently, driven by anti-Australian sentiment the groundswell has become
evident amongst Western Pacific island states which, in concert with their African
counterparts such as Zimbabwe, have become increasingly vociferous in their
calls for such a U.N. resolution. And, surprisingly, the lead has now been
taken up by Ireland.
However, the
situation is more than problematic for Australians.
Should the United
Nations support a call for a new plebiscite to be held in West Papua, such
action would undoubtedly become the genesis of any future confrontation between
Australia and Indonesia – fertile ground, indeed, for the growing number of
militant religious groups (both Christian and Moslem) that fester throughout
the great archipelago that is Indonesia, referred to lovingly as “Ibu Pertiwi”.
China's plans for floating nuclear reactors
China Nuclear Group model for
a floating reactor
You know that thing
where Australians don't want nuclear reactors built in our own backyard? Yeah,
China doesn't have that. It's well on its way to becoming a world leader in
nuclear power; its 37 reactors are already producing 32.4 gigawatts of
electricity, and more than 20 more reactors are currently under construction
And
now China wants to take the lead in building nuclear power plants in open
waters. These floating plants could power oil rigs and islands off the coast,
or travel to disaster-struck coasts to provide relief.
Bobbing
nuclear power plants are often mounted on a broad-beamed hull, and typically
have 25 percent the capacity of their larger, land-based brethren. Those
floating reactors can be positioned to coastal and offshore areas that quickly
need power (such as areas devastated by tsunamis), or rented out to customers
who urgently need a ready supply of electricity.
China
National Nuclear Power
China
National Nuclear Power (CNNP) is partnering with Chinese shipyards and electric
machinery companies to develop a $150 million project. The combination
of nuclear reactor suppliers and a shipyard suggests that floating nuclear
reactors are going to be the main focus of the joint venture.
China
Nuclear Group
The
project may later expand to include other nuclear-powered civilian ships, like
icebreakers, but right now sights seem to be set on floating reactors. China's
been planning ship-bound nuclear facilities for a while: China General Nuclear
Power Group, CNNC's main domestic competitor, announced in January 2016
that it would build a floating ACPR50S reactor to enter service
in 2020, with a thermal output of 200 megawatts and electrical output of 60
megawatts.
CNNC,
for its part, signed a 2015 agreement with Lloyd's Register for regulatory
support in developing a sea-based, 100-megawatt version of its ACP100
reactor, which is likely the joint venture's intended launch project.
Floating
reactors can support offshore drilling and production rigs by providing them
with large amounts of power, thus reducing the need to store extra fuel on
board for power generation. That means a much safer rig.
China
Nuclear Group
Vice
Director Wang Yiren of the National Defense State Administration for Science,
Technology, and Industry said that China would prioritize the development
of floating nuclear reactors in order to provide offshore oil and gas
rigs with power, as well as to operate desalination plants and equipment
on remote islands, such as disputed features in the South China Sea.
The
floating nuclear reactors could also power Chinese underwater mining
operations, in which China has already invested heavily, and deepwater
logistical bases for naval usage.
Putting
nuclear reactors on a ship to supply power to remote islands, offshore
facilities, and coastal areas isn't a new idea. The U.S. Army built
the world's first floating reactor, the SS Sturgis MH-1A, a 10-megawatt
converted Liberty Ship, in 1967. It supplied power to the Panama Canal
Zone from 1968 to 1975, before being defueled in 1977. Decades later, in
2010, Russia launched the 21,000-ton, 70 megawatt Akademik Lomonosov, which is
expected to deploy in 2018 or 2019 to Vilyuchinsk, on the remote Kamchatka
Peninsula.
Of
course, floating nuclear reactors have many issues. They're expensive, for
one, and anti-nuclear popular opinion could make deployments controversial—all
the more so if to contested areas like the South China Sea. Additionally, a
floating nuclear reactor would almost definitely require a substantial crew and
security force to protect against accidents and malicious actors.
CNNP
hopes to have the first of these floating reactors in operation around 2020.
Lloyd's Registry will assist with regulatory and safety issues.
China
National Nuclear Power
So
why all the hoopla about floating nuclear reactors? They point to the scale and
ambition of Chinese security and infrastructure projects in the coastal and
high seas, as well as a broader vision of future Chinese maritime power.
Article from Popular Science
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Kerry B. Collison Asia News: False dawn over Indonesian mine mire in WEST PAPUA...
Kerry B. Collison Asia News: False dawn over Indonesian mine mire in WEST PAPUA...: Government and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold's recent announcement of new "understanding" in their protracted co...
False dawn over Indonesian mine mire in WEST PAPUA
Government
and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold's recent announcement of new
"understanding" in their protracted contract dispute over the world's
most profitable mine was mere window dressing
The
enigmatic expression on Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s face as she
sat between Mines and Energy Minister Ignasius Jonan and US-based Freeport
McMoRan Copper & Gold chairman Richard Adkerson spoke volumes about last
week’s purported breakthrough in contract talks between the Indonesian
government and the US mining giant.
The
agreement, announced at an August 27 Jakarta press conference, was anything but
a final settlement to a protracted contractual dispute over Grasberg, the
world’s most profitable mine based in the Central Highlands of westernmost
Papua province.
Dismissed
by one former Indonesian mines minister as “window dressing,” it was clearly an
effort to show Indonesians that Freeport, as one headline put it, had “caved” to
government demands. Freeport has worked the Grasberg, the world’s largest gold
and second largest copper mine, since the late 1980s.
The
optics would have pleased President Joko Widodo, a populist whose single-minded
pursuit of a second term in office led him to recently change eastern
Indonesia’s Masela gas-field project from an offshore to onshore development in
what could be the worst economic decision of his presidency.
But as
the president’s designated point-person, Indrawati knows better than anyone
that while Freeport appears to have made significant concessions, the company’s
shareholders will have the last word on what it can and will ultimately accept.
So far,
there has only been agreement in principle to subsidiary PT Freeport Indonesia
divesting 51% of its shares, converting its current Contract of Work (COW) to a
special mining license known as an IUPK, and building a new smelter to process
the balance of its concentrate.
The joint
announcement said they had “reached an understanding on a framework to support
Freeport’s long-term investment plans” until 2041. But Adkerson made it clear
there will be an uphill battle to overcome the same hurdles that have always
stood in the way of a settlement.
Still to
be resolved is an additional stipulation that Freeport pays more state revenue
and royalties from its operations than it has done under the current 20-year
contract of work, which the Indonesians want replaced with an IUPK before it
expires in 2021. Freeport has long been the country’s biggest tax payer.
Analysts
were left to wonder whether the accord was in fact a mechanism to put off
Freeport’s threat of international arbitration, a step Adkerson is reluctant to
take even if his shareholders aren’t, and give the government a reason to
extend the firm’s permit for concentrate exports beyond next month’s deadline.
The
government withdrew Freeport’s export permit for concentrate in January,
forcing a partial closure of the mine and the retrenchment of hundreds of
workers, before issuing another temporary export permit in April.
Introduced
three years ago, the export restrictions on raw and semi-processed ore –
designed to provide a boost to a cherished local processing industry — have put
a severe dent in Freeport’s bottom line and reduced tax revenues the government
needs to head off a ballooning budget deficit.
Widodo
considers the 51% divestment sacrosanct, but whether he likes it or not the
negotiation has become a bellwether for future green-field investments, which
are crucial if Indonesia is to grow beyond 5% and avoid what economists fear is
a looming middle-income trap.
Despite
the announcement of 16 deregulation packages since Widodo came to power in
2014, foreign investment has remained sluggish in the face of contradictory
nationalist-minded policies and what businessmen complain is an inexorable
shift towards more state and bureaucratic control.
Valuation
was always going to be the biggest problem, considering the difficulty the
cash-strapped Indonesians will have in raising the billions of dollars it will
cost to buy the remaining 42.64% stake in the mine. The government currently
holds a 9.36% stake.
The
Indonesians have put the price at US$3 billion, less than half of what Freeport
sees as “fair market value”, saying on its corporate website that the deal
would have to be structured “so that (Freeport) will retain control over the
operations and governance” during a promised two 10-year contract extensions.
Freeport values the whole mine at around US$18 billion.
But last
week’s joint statement made no reference to fair market value, which is
reportedly favored by Indrawati, a former World Bank managing director with
extensive knowledge of how international business works, but not by State
Enterprise Minister Rini Soemarno.
The
government has said it will turn state-owned aluminum company PT Inalum into a
holding company to purchase the stake, but it still needs to issue a regulation
making it the legal umbrella for the Freeport stake as well as three state
mining companies.
The
government also continues to insist that Freeport can’t include the Grasberg’s
copper and gold reserves in its valuation because under Article 33 of the
country’s constitution they are considered to belong to the people of Indonesia
and not to what amounts to a foreign contractor.
That
position confounds investors and stock market analysts, who can hardly value a
firm on simply its assets when it has spent billions of dollars to develop
Grasberg and still must spend at least US$15 billion more to convert it from an
open pit to an underground operation, at the government’s request.
Despite
the announcement of 16 deregulation packages since Widodo came to power in
2014, foreign investment has remained sluggish in the face of contradictory
nationalist-minded policies and what businessmen complain is an inexorable
shift towards more state and bureaucratic control
The only
way around the dilemma is to base the Freeport valuation on anticipated
earnings over a set period, similar to what transpired when US-based Newmont
Mining was contractually compelled by the government to divest its shares in
Sumbawa’s Batu Hijau copper and gold mine in 2011.
It isn’t
clear whether that concept was raised during the latest round of negotiations,
but lawyers say it would likely be based on estimated earnings, less taxes and
royalties, over the remaining four years of Freeport’s COW — and possibly the
extensions guaranteed under that 1990 contract.
This is
consistent with the recognition that CoW or IUPK holders become the owners of
the minerals they extract and produce once all applicable taxes due to the
state have been paid in full.
At least
for now, the reference in the announcement to “Indonesian nationals” suggests
the government is adamant about shutting the door on raising capital through an
initial public offering because it would mean foreign investors may buy into
the venture.
Officials
fear that would create an opening for Freeport surrogates to ensure the company
retains a controlling interest, along the lines of what Newmont did before it
finally sold out to a Chinese-funded Indonesian consortium last year.
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