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Shale gas boom to transform US into chemicals exporter

The US chemicals industry is planning a sharp increase in its exports as a result of the cost advantage created by the shale gas boom , putting pressure on higher-cost competitors in Europe and Asia. The American Chemistry Council, the industry association, predicts in forecasts published this week that US chemicals exports will rise 45 per cent over the next five years, as a result of a wave of investment in new capacity that will be aiming at overseas markets. The US has already shifted from being a net importer of chemicals in 2011 to forecast net exports of about $2.7bn this year, and the ACC expects that to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EIA: U.S. September Lower 48 Gas Output -0.8% Vs Record August Level

– U.S. natural gas out in the Lower 48 states dropped 0.8% in September from an August level that was revised downward, but remained at a record high, government data released Friday show. The Energy Information Administration data show September output of 73.91 billion cubic feet a day was up 1.7% from a year earlier. The EIA said September gas output declined from a month earlier due to maintenance work on facilities and “normal well decline” in Louisiana, and the shutdown for most of the month of a gas processing plant in Wyoming. The month-to-month decline was the first since March. August gas output was revised down by 0.4% from a month earlier, to 74.49 billion cubic feet. The EIA said output from Louisiana […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Chevron's $6.4 bln China gas project pushed back again-sources

A $6.4 billion gas project being built by Chevron CVN.X in China is facing further delays due to disagreements with partner PetroChina ( 0857.HK ) over how to develop the technically tricky fields, three industry sources said. The Chuandongbei project, the U.S. firm’s largest investment in China, is now not expected to deliver first gas until the second half of 2014, nearly 7 years after the firms clinched a 30-year deal to produce 7.6 billion cubic meters of gas a year. The latest setback follows a series of delays for Chuandongbei, which Chevron has described as one of its larger capital projects for 2013. PetroChina initially expected first gas to be delivered in 2010, while its parent CNPC forecast just four months ago that production would start by end-2013. China, the world’s top energy user, but the fourth-largest consumer of gas, is racing to unlock supplies […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Chevron’s $6.4 bln China gas project pushed back again-sources

A $6.4 billion gas project being built by Chevron CVN.X in China is facing further delays due to disagreements with partner PetroChina ( 0857.HK ) over how to develop the technically tricky fields, three industry sources said. The Chuandongbei project, the U.S. firm’s largest investment in China, is now not expected to deliver first gas until the second half of 2014, nearly 7 years after the firms clinched a 30-year deal to produce 7.6 billion cubic meters of gas a year. The latest setback follows a series of delays for Chuandongbei, which Chevron has described as one of its larger capital projects for 2013. PetroChina initially expected first gas to be delivered in 2010, while its parent CNPC forecast just four months ago that production would start by end-2013. China, the world’s top energy user, but the fourth-largest consumer of gas, is racing to unlock supplies […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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GE: The Age of Gas is Upon Us

Natural gas is poised to play a far greater role in the world’s energy mix, threatening to supplant oil and coal in many areas of industrial activity as well as in transportation and in the home, according to a report recently published by General Electric Co. In fact, the report  anticipates global gas consumption will increase by more than a third of its current global consumption by 2025. The findings of the GE report – “The Age of Gas & the Power of Networks” – echo a conversation that Rigzone had with Martin Haigh , energy advisor at Royal Dutch Shell plc’s Scenarios unit, a year ago. Back then, Haigh said that his team had identified that gas was set to play a more important role in world energy markets, driven both by the shale gas revolution and by the inherent flexibility of gas as a fuel. Indeed, Shell […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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What is the real cost of shale gas?

US shale gas production has grown from around 4 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day in 2007 to around 26 bcf/day in 2012 US gross natural gas production  has grown from a plateau of 2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) per month in the period 1995 to 2002 to 2.5 tcf per month in 2012 Some believe this is marching the USA towards energy independence while others believe, owing to costs and decline rates, that this may be an energy bubble At the end of 2011, shale gas accounted for 32% of total US natural gas production (EIA data)   Pre 2008 financial crash, there were roughly 400 rigs drilling oil in the USA and 1600 drilling gas. Today it is roughly 1400 drilling oil and 400 drilling gas The fall in US prices to  while in fact over-production caused a crash in the price in US natural gas to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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New York's Fracking Hypocrisy Underscores Energy Illiteracy

New York has issued a moratorium for hydraulic fracturing in the portions of the Marcellus Shale that fall within its borders, but the state is benefiting economically and environmentally from the fracking going on in neighboring Pennsylvania, as NPR reported. New York City, for example, has rolled out a program, “NYC Clean Heat, ” to encourage building owners to switch from heating oil to natural gas. One building owner told NPR that by switching, he expects to reduce his building’s energy costs by 50 percent. The abundance of natural gas produced by fracking in places like the Marcellus has driven down prices and made those savings possible. The irony, as NPR points out, is that most New Yorkers oppose fracking: In polls, New York City voters have opposed fracking. “It’s varied anywhere from 1- or 2-point margin of opposition to as much as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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New York’s Fracking Hypocrisy Underscores Energy Illiteracy

New York has issued a moratorium for hydraulic fracturing in the portions of the Marcellus Shale that fall within its borders, but the state is benefiting economically and environmentally from the fracking going on in neighboring Pennsylvania, as NPR reported. New York City, for example, has rolled out a program, “NYC Clean Heat, ” to encourage building owners to switch from heating oil to natural gas. One building owner told NPR that by switching, he expects to reduce his building’s energy costs by 50 percent. The abundance of natural gas produced by fracking in places like the Marcellus has driven down prices and made those savings possible. The irony, as NPR points out, is that most New Yorkers oppose fracking: In polls, New York City voters have opposed fracking. “It’s varied anywhere from 1- or 2-point margin of opposition to as much as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Bridge Out: Bombshell Study Finds Methane Emissions From Natural Gas Production Far Higher Than EPA Estimates

A major new study blows up the whole notion of natural gas as a short-term bridge fuel to a carbon-free economy. Natural gas is mostly methane (CH4), a potent heat-trapping gas. If, as now seems likely, natural gas production systems leak 2.7% (or more), then gas-fired power loses its near-term advantage over coal and becomes more of a gangplank than a bridge. Worse, without a carbon price, some gas displaces renewable energy, further undercutting any benefit it might have had. Fifteen scientists from some of the leading institutions in the world — including Harvard, NOAA and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab — have published a seminal study, “ Anthropogenic emissions of methane in the United States .” Crucially, it is based on “comprehensive atmospheric methane observations, extensive spatial datasets, and a high-resolution atmospheric transport model,” rather than the industry-provided numbers EPA uses. Indeed, the Proceedings of the National Academy […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Poland Eyes Shale-Gas Boom

Poland is planning to speed up its search for shale gas to reduce its dependence on its former overlord, Russia, following the departure of several major U.S. companies from Polish gas fields. Poland is one of the most promising exploration sites for shale gas in the European Union, with enough estimated reserves to allow for decades of production. But so far only several dozen wells have been drilled, with mixed results. The process won’t be without its challenges, though. The country faces stiff opposition from environmental groups that say the hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” of rock formations releases methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere and may pollute water tables. Similar opposition in France led the country’s constitutional court to ban the process in October. Germany also looks set to shelve its plans for shale gas as its center-right and center-left parties work on a compromise agenda for their […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple