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Pennsylvania driller fined for gas leak

Cabot was fined $76,546 by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for an incident at its Huston well in the northeast part of the state. DEP said the January incident was the result of the failure of a subcontractor to follow standard operating procedures that would have led to a proper valve closure on the well. Furthermore, DEP said the presence of frozen sand in the well may have led to a false positive indicating the well was closed off. DEP Director of Oil and Gas Operations Johns Ryder said his department ensured there was no significant environmental impact from the accident. "In this incident, mostly gas was released, which dissipated quickly to background levels within 100 feet from the well," he said in a statement Tuesday. Cabot told DEP it couldn’t determine how much gas was released during the 27-hour incident. There was no statement from the company […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Gas transportation system key to boosting power sector’s gas use: Oglethorpe

A US Environmental Protection Agency proposal to increase the capacity factor of natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plants to 70% by 2030 is "doable," but only if the country’s gas transportation system is strengthened, officials with a large Georgia generation and transmission cooperative said Wednesday. Oglethorpe Power, which supplies wholesale power to 38 electric cooperatives in the state, could comply with language in EPA’s June proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the generation sector 30% below 2005’s level by 2030 in part by increasing the use of gas-fired units to the 70% level, CEO Mike Smith said in a second-quarter earnings call. But Smith said transitioning to an era when combined-cycle units provide much of the nation’s baseload power would require a significant expansion of the existing network of gas pipelines. EPA’s proposed rule is "very bullish" on natural gas and would put the fuel into a "very dominant" […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Gas transportation system key to boosting power sector's gas use: Oglethorpe

A US Environmental Protection Agency proposal to increase the capacity factor of natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plants to 70% by 2030 is "doable," but only if the country’s gas transportation system is strengthened, officials with a large Georgia generation and transmission cooperative said Wednesday. Oglethorpe Power, which supplies wholesale power to 38 electric cooperatives in the state, could comply with language in EPA’s June proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the generation sector 30% below 2005’s level by 2030 in part by increasing the use of gas-fired units to the 70% level, CEO Mike Smith said in a second-quarter earnings call. But Smith said transitioning to an era when combined-cycle units provide much of the nation’s baseload power would require a significant expansion of the existing network of gas pipelines. EPA’s proposed rule is "very bullish" on natural gas and would put the fuel into a "very dominant" […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Europe could learn from U.S. shale success

Europe may be on the cusp of developing a shale natural gas sector that could mimic the expansion in the United States, analysis from finds. Developments in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and horizontal drilling have led to exponential increases in U.S. natural gas production since at least 2005. Geological complexities have presented obstacles to a replication of the phenomenon outside the United States. Robert Clarke , director of research into the area for Wood Mackenzie, said U.S. shale gas production has evolved from operations in easy-to-reach and highly productive basins to what he’s describing as "unconventional 3.0" — a phase characterized by a lessons-learned approach to areas once considered too difficult for commercial drilling. "Europe is one of the best areas outside of the United States for this to occur," he said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. His report says countries outside the United States — notably Mexico, Russia, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Construction on Russian gas line to China slated for September

Construction on a natural gas pipeline meant to feed the Chinese market is set for the beginning of September, a Russia official said Tuesday. A pipeline contract between Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp. is for 30 years and calls for 1.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year. Russian energy company Gazprom said it started working on the infrastructure necessary for the pipeline almost immediately after signing a contract for gas to China in May. A Russian source told state news agency RIA Novosti construction on the pipeline should begin next month. "Sept. 1 is a tentative date, and it will all depend on the schedules of the country’s leaders," the source said Tuesday. Gazprom has been looking to expand into the growing Asian market in an effort to diversify an asset base tied to a European economy still struggling to grow. Ongoing disputes over gas debt […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s National Effort in Oil and Gas Fracking Fails

China’s “economic miracle” faces an existential threat now that the nation is the world’s largest importer of oil. The Chinese central authorities mandated a $275-billion crash investment in fracking to develop cheap energy from China’s 30 trillion cubic meters of natural gas trapped in the world’s largest shale fields. But China’s effort to knockoff America’s oil and gas fracking boom appears to have failed. China seems doomed to continue to destroy its industrial competitiveness by relying on high-cost energy imports. The head of China’s National Energy Administration (CNEA) quietly admitted last week that the country’s bold effort to follow the United States’s lead in launching an oil and gas boom based on hydraulic fracking of shale is failing. CNEA central planners promised domestic fracking would produce 80 billion cubic meters of cheap natural gas a year by 2020. But CNEA’s estimate for domestic gas production has been revised down […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China's National Effort in Oil and Gas Fracking Fails

China’s “economic miracle” faces an existential threat now that the nation is the world’s largest importer of oil. The Chinese central authorities mandated a $275-billion crash investment in fracking to develop cheap energy from China’s 30 trillion cubic meters of natural gas trapped in the world’s largest shale fields. But China’s effort to knockoff America’s oil and gas fracking boom appears to have failed. China seems doomed to continue to destroy its industrial competitiveness by relying on high-cost energy imports. The head of China’s National Energy Administration (CNEA) quietly admitted last week that the country’s bold effort to follow the United States’s lead in launching an oil and gas boom based on hydraulic fracking of shale is failing. CNEA central planners promised domestic fracking would produce 80 billion cubic meters of cheap natural gas a year by 2020. But CNEA’s estimate for domestic gas production has been revised down […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US Energy Dept Finalizes Overhaul Of Natural Gas Export Reviews

WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Department has finalized a plan to revamp its process for approving liquefied natural gas exports, and as originally proposed the changes eliminate conditional approvals for LNG projects. Beginning Thursday, the department will only issue final rulings on whether exports are in the public interest after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or another authorized agency, has completed an environmental review of the project. The move will likely shift focus from the Energy Department, which has been criticized for moving too slowly, to the more costly FERC process, which assesses the safety and environmental impacts of LNG export facilities. Making an export application with the DOE costs about $20,000 but companies pay up to $100 million to complete the FERC process, an investment that separates serious projects from those without the financial backing to actually construct what are often multibillion-dollar facilities. The new […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EU considers gas talks with Russia, Ukraine

European Commission President said future trilateral talks with Kiev and Moscow would focus on energy and national security issues. Barroso said he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the overall context of the situation in Ukraine . Ukraine and Russia have historic differences over natural gas. Russian energy company Gazprom in 2006 and 2009 cut gas supplies through Ukraine, jeopardizing downstream supplies to Europe , in response to contractual woes. That problem was exacerbated when in late 2013 Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, started tilting toward the European Union through an association agreement. "It was agreed to hold consultations between the presidents of Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission on the issues related with the implementation of the association agreement as well as on the supply of gas, in parallel with the efforts to stabilize the political and security situation," Barroso’s office said in a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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It Is My Shale Gas and I Want It Now!!!

The shale gas that lies beneath the surface of Upstate New York belongs to real people who need it now. It’s time they stood up for themselves! I recently read a comment on an online anti-drilling site that made me laugh out loud.  I have made and read many comments on many articles, but surely this one deserved first place in three specific categories; Most Ignorant, Most Thoughtless and Most Typical. The writer was complaining about a pipeline that will deliver natural gas to other peoples’ homes. Here is the substance of the comment: Pipelines are a bad thing. They have to cut down lots of trees through the woods. During construction of one near my home, traffic was bad due to the many trucks and equipment being used to build the pipeline. If I knew that pipeline was going by my home I wouldn’t have built my “Log Cabin” in Lycoming County. It makes you wonder if […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple