Category:

North Dakota rig data suggests stability

Rate of the decline in rig activity in North Dakota shale basins appears to be showing, data suggests. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/ekina BISMARCK, N.D., June 29 (UPI) — The exploration and production side of the North Dakota energy sector may be leveling off as the number of deployed rigs holds steady, state data show. State government data show 76 rigs in active service as of Monday, one less than the number reported one week ago. Oil production in April, the last full month for which data are available, was down nearly 2 percent from the previous month to 1.17 million barrels per day. An all-time high of 1.2 million bpd was reached in December. The rig count in late April was around 84, which was more than 125 lower than the historic peak reached in 2012. Energy companies are spending less on exploration and production in a weak crude […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Montana Considers Drilling Buffer

Montana Considering Drilling Buffers Montana’s Board of Oil and Gas Conservation is considering a proposal that will require buffers zones around homes to protect them from oil and gas drilling. Related: Dakota Access Pipeline Concerns The board heard almost two hours of testimony last week from farmers, environmentalists and oil companies who all wanted a say in whether setbacks are necessary. Many raised concerns about wastewater dangers, noise and trash that from active wells pads. Dale Nelson told local news agency that “The toxic smoke that comes out with a fire, there’s nothing you can do with it,” Nelson said. “Do you want your grandkids around something like that?” The Northern Plains Resource Council is asking for a quarter-mile setback between well pads and inhabited buildings. This is much greater than the 500 feet required by neighboring states of North Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. Montana joins other local and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Pennsylvania Governor and Fracking Sector Face Off on Budget, Regulations

A fracking rig drills for natural gas on a site in Washington Township, Pa. Since taking over from a Republican administration this year, Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf repeatedly has said he supports the state’s booming shale gas industry. But lately, the industry hasn’t been sure he really does. State regulators, who have begun reviewing dozens of environmental cases the previous administration didn’t take action on, recently imposed an $8.9 million fine for a gas well they said is contaminating drinking water—the largest ever against a gas operator in state history. The state is also proposing a raft of stricter drilling rules to prevent wastewater from contaminating drinking water sources. And industry officials are upset that the Wolf administration earlier this month slashed its estimate of Pennsylvania jobs supported by the shale-gas industry to 89,000 from the previous administration’s estimate of more than 200,000. Gov. Tom Wolf, right, listens […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Hawaii and Vermont set high renewable portfolio standard targets

graph of renewerable portfolio standard targets, as explained in the article text Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Note: The figure includes primary renewable targets and does not adjust for additional sub-targets. Republished June 29, 2015, 9:30 a.m. to correct an error in the map. Two states recently passed legislation that would require significant increases in renewable electricity generation. On June 8, Hawaii updated legislation setting a 100% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) by 2045. On June 11, Vermont passed a bill creating a 75% RPS by 2032. Both of these RPS target percentages are higher than any other RPS target in the United States. Renewable portfolio standards are state- or local-level policies that mandate all or certain types of electricity producers to supply a minimum share of their electricity from designated renewable resources. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have RPS policies , and an additional eight states have […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

US power industry divided over importance of Supreme Court MATS ruling

Electricity industry representatives and consultants were divided Monday on how much impact the US Supreme Court’s remand of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards to a lower court is likely to have on power markets and investments. Brian Walshe, managing director of ION Consulting in Denver, said he thinks the decision is likely to bring "significant" change in the electricity industry’s direction. "The biggest fallout will be to [Clean Power Plan] compliance strategies," Walshe said in an email. "Many utilities will now be forced to consider this ‘game of chicken’ strategy when CPP rules are announced, due to the enormity of their impact." But Tammy Ridout, American Electric Power spokeswoman, noted that the Supreme Court did not vacate the Environmental Protection Agency’s MATS rule. Article continues below… Sign up for Global Alert today. Platts Global Alert is a complete real-time information service for the global energy industry, providing breaking […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Michigan, Iowa utilities to go forward with coal retirements, conversions to gas

Despite the US Supreme Court’s ruling Monday against the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule, electric power utilities in Michigan and Iowa say they are moving forward with plans to close coal-fired power plants or convert existing coal burners to natural gas over the next several years. The Supreme Court Monday ruled the EPA erred by refusing to consider cost when deciding to regulate emissions of mercury from the power sector. The Michigan South Central Power Agency’s decision late last week to retire its 55-MW Endicott coal plant at Litchfield in June 2016, has nothing to with MATS, general manager Glen White said in a Monday interview. Endicott, which went into commercial operation in 1983, is equipped with a scrubber and already complied with MATS, which took effect in mid-April, White said. Article continues below… Platts Coal Trader provides the latest prices for key benchmark coals, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

On The Brink: Upstream Companies Increasingly Vulnerable To Collapse

Southeast Asian farmers have long battled wild monkeys tearing up their fields, devouring their crops and generally creating havoc. But that agriculture community has figured out a way to stop the primates in their tracks. Enter the Indonesian monkey trap. The farmer puts an apple in a cage with a hole just big enough for the monkey’s outstretched hand. Once the monkey grabs the apple, it can’t pull its hand out. The monkey may panic, but it won’t release the apple. It seems to believe that if it just keeps tugging, surely the cage will give way. All the monkey had to do was let go of the apple and it would’ve lived another day. And so it is with some energy companies that effectively “cannibalize” their future earnings instead of cutting their losses. Bob Gray, a partner in the energy transactions practice at Mayer Brown in Houston, used […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

For U.S. power firms, EPA ruling barely a bump on road to natgas

For big U.S. power companies like FirstEnergy Corp, the Supreme Court’s decision knocking back landmark rules reducing air pollutants from coal-fired plants has arrived too late for them to turn away from a natural gas-fueled future. Big coal-fired generators said on Monday that they would press ahead with facility upgrades and plant closures even after the court invalidated one of President Barack Obama’s major environmental initiatives, which would set new limits on the amount of mercury and other hazardous pollutants. In a 5-4 decision, the court found that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should have considered the compliance cost of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule. The EPA has estimated it would cost the power industry $9.6 billion a year to comply with the rule. While the prospect of a suspension in the rule – and increased demand for coal – cheered some investors on Monday, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Tire-integrated triboelectric generator harvests electricity from rolling tire friction; est. up to +10% fuel econ

« 4 more cities sign Global Clean Bus Declaration raising total to >40K ultra-low emission buses by 2020; London to trial BYD electric double-decker | Main A group of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers and a collaborator from China have developed a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that harvests energy from a car’s rolling tire friction. An innovative method of reusing energy, the nanogenerator ultimately could provide automobile manufacturers a new way to squeeze greater efficiency out of their vehicles. The TENG is a novel energy harvesting device to convert mechanical energy into electricity based on the universally known triboelectric principle—i.e., the generation of an electric charge resulting from the contact or rubbing together of two dissimilar objects. Specifically, the nanogenerator relies on the triboelectric effect to harness energy from the changing electric potential between the pavement and a vehicle’s wheels. The researchers reported their development in a paper in the journal […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Burket-Geneseo Shale: The Next Super Giant?

Located above the Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian Basin, the Burket-Geneseo Shale “could be the next super giant field,” but the play is still well in its infancy and the current Marcellus development could jeopardize the ability of operators going back in down the road to pull those additional reserves, according to Gregory Wrightstone of Wrightstone Energy Consulting. Speaking before a crowd at DUG East in Pittsburgh, PA, on Thursday, Wrightstone said the Burket-Geneseo, which could be classified as a super giant field — 30 Tcf or greater — is often overlooked and overshadowed by the Marcellus. The Burket refers to most of Pennsylvania and the West Virginia portions, while the Geneseo is considered to cover northeast Pennsylvania and southern New York. It lies just above the Marcellus, from less than 100 feet of separation in West Virginia to more than 800 feet in northeastern Pennsylvania. It is the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple