WASHINGTON, Dec 4- U.S. miners who are booking big profits on coal sales to Asia are enjoying an accounting windfall to boot. "We are committed to collecting every dollar due," said Patrick Etchart, spokesman for the Office of Natural Resources Revenue, which collects federal royalties.
*China to announce tender winners soon. BEIJING, Dec 4- Non-oil companies may have won most of the blocks offered in China's second shale gas auction, media and industry officials say, which may mean lucrative opportunities for service companies such as Schlumberger, Halliburton and China's Anton Oilfield Services Group.
*Railway says will not extend line into Wyoming, Montana. TORONTO, Dec 3- Canadian Pacific Railway will take a C $180 million charge to abandon plans to expand into the Powder River coal-mining region in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Montana, citing weakness in the thermal coal market.
Despite the cries for green energy solutions, coal as a fuel is more popular now than it has been in many years, primarily because it is cheap and easy to ship. The NYT reports.
Treasury yields are much lower today as traders worry about the looming fiscal cliff, with CNBC's Bertha Coombs; and Moody's decided it will not immediately downgrade the U.S. if the country goes over the fiscal cliff. And, a look at how to protect your money, with Tom Lee, JPMorgan Chief U.S. Equity Strategist.
Following the second debate between President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney, the idea that a win by either candidate would make a difference for the coal industry is nonsense, Joe Terranova of Virtus Investment Partners said Wednesday on CNBC.
Coal stocks are looking increasingly attractive as the price of natural gas rises, commodities trader Dennis Gartman said Friday on CNBC.