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EIA Sees 2014 US Natgas Output Up From 2013 Record High

More EIA Sees 2014 US Natgas Output Up From 2013 Record High NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday raised its estimate for domestic natural gas production in 2014, expecting output next year to be up more than 1 percent from 2013’s estimated record-high levels. In its November Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA said it expected marketed natural gas production in 2014 to rise by 0.74 billion cubic feet per day from 2013 to 71.03 bcf per day. That would be up 0.6 bcfd, or 0.9 percent, from its October outlook of 70.43 bcf daily. If the forecast is realized, it would be the fourth straight year of record production. The agency noted that output over the last few months has hit record high levels even as prices declined. Growth has mostly been driven by rising production from the Marcellus shale play in […]

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Wyoming formally adopts baseline water testing requirement

Wyoming’s state government formally adopted a requirement on Nov. 12 for oil and gas producers to test nearby water bodies before and after drilling their wells, effective Mar. 1, 2014. Landowners must give their consent for operators to sample the permitted or adjudicated water sources, the state’s Oil & Gas Conservation Commission said. These sources include domestic, stock, industrial, irrigation, municipal, or other permitted uses of water, it indicated. Gov. Matt Mead (R), who has made baseline water testing part of his energy strategy, thanked everyone who submitted comments, and specifically cited the Environmental Defense Fund and Petroleum Association of Wyoming for their constructive input. “This is another example of Wyoming leading the nation in striking the right balance between producing needed energy and protecting our natural resources,” Mead said. “We’re going to see how this rule is going to be implemented now. We know that since we have […]

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Redford sees rail problems entering the Keystone XL debate

Some US officials raised greenhouse gas concerns as increasing amounts of Alberta’s heavy crude oil move by rail while approval of the Keystone XL pipeline’s cross-border permit continues to be delayed, Premier Allison Redford said after concluding her fifth Washington visit to lobby for the project. “A lot of that product is being transported by rail at the moment, and that is something that is receiving quite a bit of attention in the United States, partly because we know that transportation by rail leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions than a pipeline would,” The Financial Post reported Redford as saying. The premier met with officials at the US Department of State , which is expected to conclude its environmental impact statement early in 2014 on TransCanada Corp.’s revised application for a cross-border permit, as well as US Senate and House leaders. The proposed 1,179-mile pipeline would move diluted bitumen […]

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Report blasts Wal-Mart for greenhouse-gas emissions

A new report is taking mega-retailer Wal-Mart to task over its alleged high level of carbon-dioxide emissions. Wal-Mart is one of the biggest and fastest-growing polluters in the nation, despite the company’s 2005 pledge to become an environmental leader, according to a report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR). The retail giant emits 45 million metric tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent), slightly more than Target, at 42 million metric tons, and significantly more than Costco, at 16 million metric tons, according to the report. “The scale of Wal-Mart’s energy efficiency and renewable power measures is not up to the scale of their business or their growth,” Stacy Mitchell, the author of the report, told Al Jazeera. “They been placing solar powers on the rooftops and getting some wind power and so on, but Wal-Mart only derives 4 percent of its energy from renewable energy sources.” Mitchell, a […]

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Railroads Seek Tank-Car Upgrades

The nation’s railroads are asking safety regulators to require that all existing tank cars that carry crude oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids be modified or upgraded to better withstand accidents or be “aggressively” phased out of service. They are stopping short of recommending a deadline for the changes to the U.S. tank-car fleet or estimating the cost of the retrofits, which would be needed on 78,000 older tank cars and modifications to some of the 14,000 newer cars that don’t already comply with its suggested changes. The groups said they would leave those deadline and cost details to the Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration, the federal agency responsible for regulating tank-car safety, which is beginning to craft new rules on tank cars. Trade groups representing the railroads—the Association of American Railroads and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association—plan to make their request Thursday. Two troubling […]

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Alaska mulls hydraulic fracturing rules

JUNEAU, Alaska, Nov. 13 (UPI) — Alaska state laws could be revised so companies can protect their trade secrets for hydraulic fracturing fluid, Cathy Foerster, a state drilling regulator said. Foerster, chairwoman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said the state could revise its rules on hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking, in early 2014. “We’ve made some changes in what we proposed earlier, the most significant being that we will allow hydraulic fracturing contractors to protect the proprietary formulas of their frac fluids as trade secrets,” she said in an interview with energy information provider Platts, published Tuesday. Foerster said advocacy groups would have to pursue chemical formulas by issuing a challenge in the state’s courts. Fracking is a controversial drilling practice used to produce oil and natural gas from shale. Some of the chemicals used in the process are considered toxic. Energy companies say they […]

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North Dakota natural gas wasted, lawsuit says

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 13 (UPI) — An attorney for landowners in North Dakota said a lawsuit against energy companies in the state could force them to stop wasting gas tied to oil production. Britton Monts of Austin, Texas, said the suit against companies that burn off some of the natural gas associated with oil production because there isn’t enough pipeline infrastructure to accommodate gas deliveries might force them to review their options. “There’s so much waste going on,” Monts said in a Dallas Morning News report. North Dakota landowners who lease their land to energy companies are seeking royalties they would receive if the gas wasn’t burned off. They sued 10 U.S. and international oil companies. Two of the companies, XTO Energy and Marathon Oil, have headquarters in Texas. XTO Energy spokeswoman Suann Lundsberg told the newspaper the company was “reviewing the specific allegations.” A 12-page report published in […]

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EIA: U.S. oil imports at historic lows

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) — The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday total petroleum imports into the United States were at their lowest level since February 1991. The EIA, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, said domestic oil production averaged 7.7 million barrels per day last month. “Monthly estimated domestic crude oil production exceeded crude oil imports in October for the first time since February 1995, while total petroleum net imports were the lowest since February 1991,” the agency said in its short-term market report. The agency said North America was the largest source of new oil production outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Including Canadian production, the EIA said it expects North American production to increase by 1.1 million bpd next year. For OPEC members, the EIA said its production declined by 800,000 bpd to 35.9 million bpd this year and should stay at that level […]

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U.S. Crude Production Beat Imports in October, EIA Says

U.S. crude oil production exceeded imports in October for the first month since February 1995, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said. Output averaged 7.74 million barrels a day, the Energy Department’s statistical unit said in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook . Crude oil net imports were 7.57 million, down from 7.92 million the previous month. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have unlocked supplies in shale formations in North Dakota , Texas and other states. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. crude benchmark, has dropped to below $95 from above $110 in September as domestic output reached a 24-year high. “It’s something we’ve been forecasting since earlier this year,” said Tancred Lidderdale , an economist with the EIA in Washington who helped write the report. “Crude-oil production from shale-oil has been steadily growing over the last few years and it’s expected to continue to grow.” For the year, production […]

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Insight: Russia fears return of fighters waging jihad in Syria

NOVOSASITLI, Russia (Reuters) – A scrawny 15-year-old this summer became the first from his deeply religious Muslim village in Russia’s southern Dagestan province to die fighting alongside rebels in Syria. Some regard him as a martyr for joining the rebels in the fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who is supported by Russia. Moscow now fears that hundreds of Russian-born militants it says are fighting in Syria will return experienced in warfare to join an insurgency in Dagestan and its other North Caucasus provinces by militants fighting for an Islamic state. Violence in the region claims lives almost daily. Fifteen men from Novosasitli alone have died in shootouts with Russian forces in the last four years, locals say. Analysts say fighters could also try to strike during the 2014 Winter Olympics in February in nearby Sochi. President Vladimir Putin, who has staked his reputation on the Games, has said […]

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