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Hydraulic Fracturing: Staying Afloat in Times of Tightening Water Supply

Rigzone Staff 4/16/2014URL: One of the criticisms levied against hydraulic fracturing, particularly during recent periods of drought, is the amount of water used in the process. However, energy companies are seeking to reduce water use during hydraulic fracturing, even as research shows more water is used in other activities. The numbers put things into perspective. The amount of water used to frack a well varies, but most reporting entities put the figure in a range of about 3 to 6 million gallons of water. In Pennsylvania, the average amount of water per well is about 4.4 million gallons, according to State Impact Pennsylvania, a reporting project of National Public Radio (NPR). Using a range of 3-5 million gallons of water per well in the Marcellus Shale, the State College Borough Water Authority calculated that about 12-20 million gallons of water were used in the formation each day. In Texas, the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pro-Russian Insurgents Balk at Terms of Pact in Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine — An American-backed deal to settle the crisis in eastern Ukraine fell flat on Friday as pro-Russian militants vowed to stay in occupied government buildings, dashing hopes of a swift end to an insurgency that the authorities in Kiev portray as a Kremlin-orchestrated effort to put Ukraine’s industrial heartland under Russian control. But the agreement, reached in Geneva on Thursday by diplomats from the European Union, Russia, Ukraine and the United States, appeared to arrest, at least temporarily, the momentum of separatist unrest in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking east. Armed pro-Russian militants, who have seized buildings in at least 10 towns and cities since Feb. 6, paused their efforts to purge all central government authority from the populous Donetsk region. It was clear all along that for the pact to have a chance of success, the Kremlin would have to pressure the militants to leave the buildings they had […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shell Plans Russian Expansion With Putin Support for Sakhalin-2

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) plans to expand the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in Russia’s Far East , the country’s only producer of liquefied natural gas, as it seeks to boost its presence in the Asian energy market. Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden won a promise of support for the plan from President Vladimir Putin today at a meeting at the Russian leader’s residence near Moscow. Putin is pushing to add oil and gas routes for Russia to supply Asia, to tap growing demand and ease the country’s reliance on Europe. Shell and state-run OAO Gazprom, its partner in the Sakhalin venture, are looking at expanding capacity by 50 percent before a new wave of supply reaches markets. “We are very keen to grow our position in the Russian Federation,” van Beurden said to Putin today. “We look forward with anticipation and confidence on a very […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Oil Futures Finish at Six-Week High

Oil futures advanced to a six-week high Thursday as traders turned their focus from rising U.S. stockpiles to the continued drawdown of supplies from a storage hub in Oklahoma, where the benchmark U.S. contract is priced. Light, sweet crude for May delivery settled up 54 cents, or 0.5%, at $104.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest price since March 3. Prices rose 0.5% on the week. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange lost 7 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $109.53 a barrel. Prices are up 2% for the week. Both the Nymex and ICE trading floors are closed Friday. U.S. crude-oil stockpiles rose by 10 million barrels last week, the biggest one-week increase since 2001, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. However, supplies fell in Cushing, Okla., a key storage hub and the delivery point for the Nymex contract. Cushing stocks […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas Makes Biggest Gain in Two Months

Natural-gas prices on Thursday posted their biggest one-day gain in two months after a smaller-than-expected increase in U.S. inventories reignited fears that supplies are too low. Producers added 24 billion cubic feet to stockpiles in the week ended April 11, less than the 34 billion cubic feet average forecast by analysts and traders in a Wall Street Journal survey. Gas supplies are coming off an 11-year-low after a frigid winter boosted demand to burn it for home heating. The slow rise for inventories since the arrival of warmer weather is raising questions about whether producers will replenish the country’s stockpile in time for next winter. Prices shot up after the data, with gas for May delivery ending up 4.7% at $4.741 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the biggest percentage gain since Feb. 19. "We’re talking about a massive storage deficit that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran: Rouhani talks peace, outreach at army parade

Iran’s president underscored his moderate policies and outreach to the West in a speech Friday during a military parade on the country’s National Army Day. Referring to the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the world powers over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran has shown it has no hostile intentions toward anyone in the world, including the United States, which has long been considered an enemy. "During the talks, we announced to the world and we say so again … we are not after war, we are after logic, we are after talks," Rouhani said. He touted Iran’s diplomatic outreach and said the backing of the military and the nation was crucial. "Support by the armed forces and support by our brave people have empowered the officials in charge of the talks on the diplomatic front." The Iranian president made no mention […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Farmers Seeking Heat Relief Signal Brazil Climate Peril

Brazil may see a mass migration of crops and farm workers from huge swaths of currently tillable lands to more temperate zones as global warming takes hold, according to leading climate experts in the country. Longtime Brazilian climate researcher Hilton Silveira Pinto points to the drought that’s cutting grain and coffee output this year as an indicator that rising global temperatures may already be impacting the country’s crops. “This is a taste of what is to come in the future,” said Pinto, a professor at the Center for Meteorological and Climate Research Applied to Agriculture at the University of Campinas. A study co-authored by Pinto that looks at projected warming trends shows Brazil’s soybean production may drop by as much as 24 percent and wheat output as much as 41 percent by 2020 as climate change reduces areas where the crops can grow. Because Brazil is increasingly helping to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple