Category:

EPA Takes First Step Toward Regulating Fracking Chemicals

The Obama administration began a process that may result in the first federal regulation of chemicals used in fracking, a drilling technique that has transformed energy production while eluding oversight sought by environmentalists. After three years of delay, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said today it’s considering rules requiring oilfield service companies such as Halliburton (HAL) Co. to send it details on the health and safety of the chemicals used. The agency said it may decide to stop short of rules, and use incentives or voluntary steps. “It’s unfortunate that this process has taken so long, as it addresses a critical need to ensure the safety of chemicals used in fracking,” Richard Denison, the lead scientist of the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a blog post. “This is only the first baby step toward initiating the rulemaking process EPA said it would undertake.” Environmental groups have been pressing the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Parnell signs off on gas infrastructure bill

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell signed a bill that aims to facilitate the construction of a natural gas pipeline and put that state in co-ownership of the project. Parnell signed Senate Bill 138, which moves plans for a large-diameter natural gas pipeline forward. Under the legislation, the state would become an owner in the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas Project and put local Alaskans to work. "Alaskans’ dream of a natural gas pipeline is now closer to becoming reality," he said in a statement Thursday. "For the first time, we have alignment among the necessary parties, authorization from the Legislature, and the beginning of engineering and design work on a project that will create thousands of Alaska jobs, and fuel Alaska homes and businesses for decades to come." Parnell’s signature moves the project to the preliminary engineering and design phase. Construction of the project could begin […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

North Dakota plans LNG processing facility

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple announced startup company North Dakota LNG will build a gas processing plant in Tioga, the first of its kind for the state. North Dakota LNG said they’d start construction at the Tioga liquefied natural gas processing plant this summer. First phase operations will produce 10,000 gallons of LNG per day. Phase two operations, scheduled for 2015, will bring production levels to more than 76,000 gallons per day. The company has a contract with Hess. Corp. to receive residual gas for the Tioga feedstock. Dalrymple said LNG from the facility will be used for commercial fuel. "This is an exciting day for North Dakota," he said in a statement Wednesday. The company’s chief executive officer, Patrick Hughes, said the facility will give oil and gas operators in the Bakken oil region of the state access to a reliable alternative […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Obama to Lay Out Proposals on Cutting Carbon Pollution

President Barack Obama on Friday will trumpet new executive actions and public- and private-sector commitments aimed at cutting carbon pollution and improving energy efficiency as he continues to make the pitch that the impacts of climate change must be addressed. In a speech in California, the president will focus on clean-energy objectives he can accomplish without Congress’s help, laying out a list of modest proposals, as well as pledges to expand the deployment of solar power. The initiatives are wide-ranging but small-bore—from training workers for jobs in the solar industry to strengthening commercial energy building codes and from making federal buildings more energy efficient to setting new efficiency standards for walk-in coolers and freezers. But administration officials argue that cumulatively, the efforts could have a significant impact. Dan Utech, special assistant to the president on energy and climate change, said the initiatives would help cut pollution, save businesses money […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Recycling is the primary energy efficiency technology for aluminum and steel manufacturing

The production of iron, steel, and aluminum is a highly energy-intensive process, accounting for 10% of total manufacturing energy use . The use of recycling in the manufacturing process of these metals has been a main driver of improvements in energy efficiency within the industry. Primary production, in which steel is made from iron ore and aluminum from bauxite ore, is energy intensive. However, secondary production, which involves the use of recycling scrap to make steel and aluminum, is much more energy efficient. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that secondary steel production uses about 74% less energy than the production of steel from iron ore, while the U.S. Department of Energy reports that secondary aluminum production requires 90% less energy than primary production. Secondary production accounts for nearly 60% of U.S. aluminum production (counting both old and new scrap), while primary production accounts for almost 40%. Similarly, recycling is […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shift from rail drops Bakken pipeline differentials to 2014 low

The two main Bakken pipeline markets weakened for the seventh time since April 30, bringing differentials to their lowest levels of the year. Bakken crude oil prices fell across the board on Friday, as high stocks in Canada drove down differentials for both heavy and light grades. Williston Basin Bakken fell 10 cents/barrel, while Bakken at Guernsey and at Clearbrook were assessed down $1.05/b at the calendar month average of NYMEX light sweet crude (WTI CMA 1st month) minus $5/b and WTI CMA minus $7/b, respectively. After rising slightly on April 29, the pipeline markets have fallen by $3.50/b over the past week and a half, bringing each to their largest discount since December 31 when Guernsey hit minus $7.10 and Clearbrook hit minus $9/b. "Bakken weakness at Clearbrook is a reflection of train disruptions causing oil to tend back to the more reliable markets (pipelines), parity in pricing, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

California prepared for summer electricity demand: ISO

While California should have sufficient electricity demand this summer, unforeseen circumstances such as heat waves, power plant outages or wildfires that threaten transmission could test the southern part of the state, the California Independent System Operator said Friday in a statement. The ISO is expecting peak demand this summer at about 47,351 MW, about 646 MW above 2013, but below an all-time peak of 50,270 MW set in 2006. The grid operator is expecting to have 53,950 MW of power capacity available this summer, up about 3,243 MW compared with last summer. Article continues below… Megawatt Daily provides detailed coverage of power prices in major US and Canadian electricity markets, up-to-date information about solicitations and supply deals, and information about complex state and federal power regulations. In-state hydroelectric generation is predicted to be around 1,370 MW to 1,669 MW for the summer because of well-below-normal water conditions across the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Baker Hughes: US drilling rig count edges up to 1,855

The US drilling rig count edged up a unit to 1,855 rigs working during the week ended May 9, Baker Hughes Inc. reported. A 5-unit gain in offshore rigs to 59 more than offset a 4-unit decline in land rigs to 1,782. Rigs drilling in inland waters were unchanged from a week ago at 14. Oil rigs increased a unit to 1,528. Unchanged were gas rigs at 323 and rigs considered unclassified at 4. Horizontal drilling rigs fell 4 units to 1,243 while directional drilling rigs lost 3 units to 208. Canada’s rig count relinquished 18 units to settle at 145 total, which is 27 more than this week a year ago. Oil rigs lost 13 units to 54 and gas rigs subtracted 5 units to 91. Major states, basins Several of the major oil- and gas-producing states reported modest gains during the week. Texas, adding 3 units, now […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EIA estimates average Eagle Ford EUR at 168,000 bbl/well

The average estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of wells drilled during 2008-13 in the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas was 168,000 bbl/well, according to the US Energy Information Administration . But the estimates vary greatly among regions within the play and even well to well, especially wells of different ages. The median EUR across all 32 Eagle Ford counties over the study period was 103,000 bbl/well. The Eagle Ford analysis, by Dana Van Wagener, appears as part of EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2014 in a report illustrating assumptions for shale and tight oil plays in forecasts of total US production of crude oil. For each tight or shale well with initial production in 2008 or later and for which at least 4 months of production data are available, the analysis fits monthly production to a decline curve that begins hyperbolic but shifts to exponential after the decline rate reaches […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Is the US Tight Oil Market 'Too Robust to Bust'?

The current crude oil price environment – in the vicinity of $100 per barrel (bbl) – comfortably exceeds the break-even economics of U.S. Light Tight Oil (LTO) production from the Bakken, Eagle Ford and other shale formations. But what proportion of LTO reserves would remain economic at, say, $75/bbl? According to Wood Mackenzie, the answer is a significant majority – at least 70 percent. "There is not much U.S. producers can do to influence global oil prices," Harold York, Wood Mackenzie’s principal downstream research analyst, said in a late-March communique from the consultancy. "Supply and demand fundamentals and non-market dynamics around the globe keep the price environment well above the break-even economics levels of several U.S. tight oil plays." "With Brent crude oil pricing in the late-2013 range of $108 per barrel of oil … in early 2014, almost all tight oil proven reserves are commercially viable, even if […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple