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Gas-Rich Marcellus Drilling Boosts Rigs to 5-Month High

Rigs targeting natural gas in the U.S. rose to the highest level in five months after those drilling horizontally for the fuel gained in the Marcellus formation of the eastern U.S. Gas rigs jumped by eight to 338, the highest level since March 14, data posted on Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) ’s website show. The oil count rose by 11 to 1,575 after sliding by 25 last week, the Houston-based field services company said. The Marcellus formation, the nation’s biggest onshore gas play, added the most rigs, gaining five drilling horizontally for gas and raising its total count to a two-month high. The energy rig count is surging in the U.S. as producers use horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to draw record volumes of oil and gas out of shale formations from North Dakota to Texas. The boom has raised domestic crude production to the highest level in 28 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pennsylvania says 243 private water wells contaminated by gas drilling since 2007

More than 200 private drinking water wells have been contaminated by natural gas drilling activity in Pennsylvania since 2007, according to documents released late Thursday by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP released a list of 243 well contamination complaints that led to investigations and, in most cases, some form of resolution. The number of complaints amounts to 2.8% of the 7,536 unconventional wells drilled since 2009. Between 2009 and 2010, during the land rush to the Marcellus, water complaints nearly doubled from 34 in 2009 to 61 in 2010, the record shows. About half drinking water wells were damaged by conventional drilling and half by unconventional, or horizontal, drilling, DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management Scott Perry said in a statement. Complaints declined 41% in 2011 to 36 contaminated wells and remained at that level until dropping again this year to 1.3% of the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EU wants interim solution to gas crisis

Russian energy company Gazprom this year cut gas supplies to Ukraine, citing mounting debt. Ukraine, for its part, has complained about the terms of its contract and is waiting for a ruling from international arbiters. Oettinger met in Moscow with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak to discuss finding an interim price mechanism that’s fair, ensuring all transit obligations are met and negotiating a repayment plan for unpaid gas debt. "Ukraine has to pay an account for the gas to be delivered in the months to come," he said in a statement. Europe gets about a quarter of its gas needs met by Russia, though most of that runs through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine. Ongoing crises in Ukraine have put European energy security at risk. "Our main goal is to secure gas supply to the European Union and its citizens, but also to the citizens in Russia, Ukraine, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EU Fails to Broker Russia, Ukraine Gas Truce

MOSCOW—The European Union has failed to broker a truce to resolve the long-running natural gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine at high-profile talks Friday, though the Kremlin said gas supply to Europe should be safe this winter. EU energy chief Günther Oettinger traveled to Moscow to discuss a possible interim deal with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak ahead of three-way talks, which it is hoped will take place next week. The talks coincide with a sharp escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. On Thursday, Ukraine accused Russia of invading the country , saying Russian troops seized the coastal town of Novoazovsk and other villages along the border. At Friday’s gas talks, Russia repeated its previous offer to sell gas to Ukraine at a discount of $100 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas, Mr. Novak said after meeting Mr. Oettinger. The offer puts the price of a 1,000 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Marcellus booming, Wood Mackenzie says

Energy consultant group Wood Mackenzie describes Marcellus as the largest natural gas basin of its kind in the world when based on production. The group said there may be more than $90 billion left in value in the play based on projected output from new wells. Jonathan Garret, a researcher in the exploration and production market in the United States, said the top 20 operators in Marcellus are expected to generate $86 billion in shale value. "These operators are forecast to spend nearly $110 billion in the play and to drill over 25,000 Marcellus wells through 2035," he said in a statement Wednesday. By 2020, Wood Mackenzie estimates Marcellus, centered largely in Pennsylvania, should produce an average of 20 billion cubic feet of equivalent per day, which it said would represent 25 percent of the total U.S. natural gas supply . Wood Mackenzie says the number of active rigs […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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New gas demand price driver, forecast shows

Bentek Energy, a forecasting unit of energy reporting group Platts, said non-traditional and recovering sources of gas demand could pass the 5 million cubic feet per day mark by 2019. These new sources of demand, from new export facilities for liquefied natural gas to more gas-fired power plants, could be a driver in a future North American shale market. Rocco Canonica, lead author of a 50-page report on demand, said the trends show an era where cheap energy reserves sourced from shale basins in North America may be drawing to a close . "If demand growth reaches its full potential, we could expect a tighter U.S. market and upward price pressure," he said in a statement Wednesday. The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the interests of the energy sector, said the U.S. economy would be better off with more natural gas production, particularly if producers could tap into export […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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North Dakota gets more gas processing capacity

"We remain committed to meeting the needs of our customers by building essential natural gas and natural gas liquids infrastructure in the Williston Basin," Terry Spencer, president and chief executive officer of ONEOK Partners, said in a statement Tuesday. The company, which has headquarters in Oklahoma, said its gas processing capacity in the area today is five times greater than it was four years ago. More gas processing capacity in the state means less gas associated with oil deposits is burned off, or flared. North Dakota lacks the infrastructure necessary to take full advantage of natural gas associated with oil reserves in the state at the heart of the shale oil and natural gas boom. The state government said, however, that gas processing capacity has increased from 200 million cubic feet per day to 1.3 billion cubic feet per day since 2006. ONEOK said it should have 1.1 billion […]

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IEA: U.S. LNG won’t matter much for Europe

International delegates are gathered for an annual energy conference in Stavenger, Norway. The theme for the ONS conference , organizers said, is change. Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said the glut of natural gas from North American shale is changing the dynamics of a global energy sector where demand centers are pivoting toward Asian economies. Van der Hoeven said time will tell how much of an impact exports in the form of liquefied natural gas will have on the global marketplace. For the European market, more LNG from North America is not the panacea "talked up by some" in Washington, she said. "As I’m sure many of you in this room already know, a few tens of [billion cubic feet] of LNG will not make much difference, given that OECD-Europe production continues to fall by similar quantities," she said during her Monday address. […]

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Siluria Technologies Turns Natural Gas Into Gasoline in Hayward, Calif.

Siluria Technologies says it can produce large quantities of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and chemicals at roughly $1 per gallon. The clear liquid flowing from a collection of pipes and wires in a Hayward, Calif., industrial park smells just like gasoline, and for all practical purposes, it is. But it wasn’t made from crude oil. Instead, it came from natural gas, the fuel whose sudden abundance in America is reshaping the country’s energy landscape. Siluria Technologies says it can produce large quantities of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and chemicals at a lower cost than traditional refineries and chemical plants. At today’s natural gas prices, Siluria’s technology could make gasoline at roughly $1 per gallon, according to the company. The oil industry has taken notice. Siluria reported Wednesday that its latest, $30 million fundraising round was led by Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company. For Aramco, the move may […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Grandmothers lead U.K.-wide wave of direct action against fracking

On a U.K.-wide day of action on Monday, anti-frackers locked-on to gates to defend planned fracking sites and occupied fracking companies. They closed down PR companies and blocked government departments. In total, 12 anti-fracking actions took place across the U.K. The coordinated protests aimed to highlight the dangers of fracking and the corrupt web of corporate and government power aggressively pushing the process forward despite widespread public opposition. Catalyzed by, and created within, the week-long Reclaim the Power camp taking place in Lancashire in North West England, the actions couldn’t have happened without grandmothers and mothers first occupying the land on which U.K. fracking giant Cuadrilla plans to begin drilling full-scale in earnest. Grandmothers and Mums Lead the Fight to Rid the U.K. of Fracking Twenty-five women, some retired, and three men met at a covert rendezvous point at 5 a.m. on August 7. Sporting camouflage, they rushed onto […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple