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Natural gas output rising in five of six biggest US shale plays in April: EIA

Production in the Permian Basin is expected to increase by 39,000 Mcf/d to 5.369 Bcf/d in April from projected March output of 5.330 Bcf/d. Month-over-month gas output is projected to fall in one of the basins studied. In the Haynesville Shale play, gas production is expected to fall by 76 Mcf/d to 6.390 Bcf/d in April from 6.466 Bcf/d in March. The EIA report also shows that average per-rig gas production will increase in five of the six basins studied. The report projects that per-rig gas output in the Bakken Shale will increase by 9 Mcf/d to 497 Mcf/d in April from 488 Mcf/d in March. Per-rig production in the Eagle Ford Shale is expected to increase 8 Mcf/d to 1,280 Mcf/d in April from March gas output of 1,272 Mcf/d. In the Haynesville Shale, production from an average rig is expected to increase by 25 Mcf/d in April […]

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Chesapeake Accused of Underpaying Gas Royalties

Pennsylvanians who embraced the natural-gas drilling boom that has swept the state are starting to sour on one of the biggest names in the business: Chesapeake Energy Corp. Some property owners are accusing Chesapeake of shortchanging them on royalty payments for pumping oil and gas from their land. The public outcry has grown so loud that Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, a longtime industry supporter who has received campaign contributions from the company, wrote an open letter last month asking the state attorney general to investigate. Chesapeake declined to comment on the royalty disputes, but said in a recent letter to the governor that it is abiding by the terms of its contracts with landowners. In Bradford County, a rural area in northern Pennsylvania where a lot of the drilling has taken place, anti-Chesapeake sentiment is running high, said Doug McLinko, a county commissioner. "Bradford County is a pro-gas part […]

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ANR Pipeline joins other operators with plans to flow gas away from Marcellus, Utica

ANR Pipeline is taking bids through Friday on another binding open season to modify its Southeast Mainline System, this time specifically reversing flows on the line for up to 600,000 Dt/d of firm transportation capacity. In a open season notice issued March 7, ANR said it is seeking commitments for a more specific project: the reversal of 600,000 Dt/d from Zone ML3 to the ANR Southeast area Headstation Central Delivery Point, located in ML1 Tariff Rate Zone near Eunice, Louisiana. For the reversal, ANR expects to modify existing mainline facilities at compressor stations, including valves and yard piping, to enable bi-directional flow on ANR’s Southeast Mainline. The reversal project has an in-service date of March 1, 2015, earlier than the November 2015 service date for the pipeline’s prior binding open season, which was issued in late February. Article continues below… Request a free trial […]

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API says LNG answer to European energy woes

WASHINGTON, March 6 (UPI) — Ukraine and Eastern European allies could benefit for the U.S. shale gas revolution, but bureaucracy is in the way, the American Petroleum Institute said. API Upstream Director Erik Milito said exporting more liquefied natural gas from the United States could help allies in Europe who are dependent on Russia for their natural gas supplies. An "energy revolution" in the United States means the country is now one of the world’s leading natural gas producers. More exports in the form of liquefied natural gas could add a layer of security to the European energy market, he said. "Unfortunately, the slow pace of federal approval for U.S. LNG export facilities has stalled the construction of infrastructure, weakening our competitive position," he said in a statement Wednesday. The majority of Russian natural gas sent to European markets passes through the Soviet-era transit network in Ukraine. Russian energy […]

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Chesapeake, Encana face criminal antitrust charges in Michigan

Oil and gas giants Chesapeake Energy and Encana Corp. were charged on Wednesday with colluding to keep oil and gas lease prices artificially low in the state of Michigan, the state Attorney General Bill Schuette said. The announcement follows a lengthy investigation by Schuette’s office into whether the firms — the biggest land leasers during a speculative oil and gas leasing boom in Michigan’s Collingwood Shale region during 2010 — colluded to avoid prices from rising as they acquired land leases from landowners. Michigan began looking into the companies’ activities in 2012 after a Reuters investigation found that executives from the two firms discussed proposals to divide bidding responsibilities in the state for nine private landowners and counties in Michigan. "I will aggressively prosecute any company who conspires to break the law," Schuette said in a statement. The companies were charged with one count each of antitrust […]

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IHS CERAWeek: Shale gas gives US competitive advantages

The US holds ample reserves of natural gas to help supply rising world gas demand, particularly for gas-fired electric power generation in Asia, speakers told the IHS CERAWeek energy conference during the Mar. 5 opening gas keynote speech and the global gas plenary. “It’s clear that no country has found greater opportunity in recent years than the United States,” said Joe Kaeser, Siemans AG president and chief executive officer. “The US will most likely become the world’s largest oil and gas producer this year. That’s affordability, availability, and sustainability all in one.” An abundance of shale gas has reshaped advantages that the US can offer the global economy, he said. “I believe we are witnessing, and participating in, the reindustrialization of the United States,” Kaeser said during the opening keynote speech. “And I think it’s fair to say that the development of horizontal drilling may have been the biggest […]

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China could meet 2015 shale gas target on Sinopec, CNPC efforts: analysts

Recent progress at shale gas projects operated by China’s state-owned giants Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corp. suggest the country is on track to meet the 2015 production target set by the central government, analysts said Monday. China is targeting shale gas output of 6.5 billion cubic meters/year by 2015 and 60 billion-100 billion cu m/year (5.8-9.7 Bcf/day) by 2020 under its official plans. Analysts had earlier criticized these targets as unrealistic given the huge challenges facing operators in China’s nascent shale gas sector. The country’s total shale gas output in 2013 was just 200 million cu m, the Ministry of Land and Resources said in January. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: International Gas Report International Gas Report International Gas Report is a biweekly report that intelligently analyzes what is happening in the natural gas industry, improving your vision and sharpening […]

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Pennsylvania fracking-related jobs numbers questioned

Facing a daunting re-election year, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has been touting his all-out support for natural gas drilling as a job creator in his state. But economists and environmentalists are questioning his claim that the industry props up more than 200,000 Pennsylvania jobs. They say that the governor’s administration has greatly inflated the number and that it may be getting lower every day. A new analysis by The Allentown Morning Call  newspaper and published Monday indicates that growth in the industries associated with drilling in the Marcellus Shale — one of the country’s main areas for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking — fell by 29 percent from 2010 to 2013. There are now just under 30,000 that can directly be linked to the Marcellus. Industry supporters say that the decline is a temporary fluctuation and that ancillary jobs created and supported by shale gas development — including ones in […]

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Asian Tigers Stalk U.S. Gas as Louisiana Shale Profits Taper

DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, has a problem. The solution may lie 10,000 miles away in Jakarta. A rustic stretch of bayous and timberland, DeSoto and other communities in the Haynesville shale formation have become victims of the energy industry’s success in extracting natural gas from deeply buried rock. Even as U.S. gas production surges to a record, outpacing domestic demand, Haynesville output has slumped 40 percent since 2011 amid falling prices as companies shift rigs to reservoirs richer in lucrative oil and gas liquids. Tax revenue has tumbled by the same percentage over the past two years from a record $50 million in the parish, home to Civil War battlefields and Billy B’s Cajun Grill. In Jakarta, a city of 10 million, high-rise buildings crowd the skyline and auto-rickshaws, motorcycles and taxis vie for space on gridlocked roads. Indonesia’s energy use may more than […]

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Cuadrilla gearing up for new fracking campaign in England

British energy company Cuadrilla Resources said it was reaching out to the public to discuss new hydraulic operations planned near Lancashire, England. The company said its officials started speaking with local residents to discuss proposed exploration work in The Flyde, in western Lancashire. Cuadrilla said it plans to apply for a permit to conduct a hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, campaign and test for the flow of gas at two wells from two separate sites. Cuadrilla Chief Executive Officer Francis Egan said public engagement was part of a responsible business model. "There will be many more chances for people to contribute to the process and I hope that people will take those chances and get involved," he said in a statement. The company was the target of major demonstrations last summer when its work in the southern village of Balcombe was viewed as a prelude […]

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Chevron Natural-Gas Wells in Pennsylvania No Longer On Fire

Two Chevron Corp. natural-gas wells in southwestern Pennsylvania are no longer on fire after an explosion last week that left one worker missing, according to the company. Chevron said the flames had gone out Saturday afternoon at the well site in Dunkard Township, about 70 miles south of Pittsburgh. Workers were preparing to remove a charred crane above one well and stop the gas from flowing. A company spokesman said there is no word of the missing worker, a contractor. "It is premature to speculate on what caused the flames to go out," the company said, adding that the crane is now cool enough that it won’t cause gas flowing from the wells to ignite. The blast took place early on the morning of Feb. 11, as Chevron and its contractors were running tubes through the well to start producing natural gas. The fire heated the crane to such […]

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New Ohio shale gas well results show Utica fairway moving south

Magnum Hunter Resources’ Friday announcement of a prolific Utica Shale gas well in Monroe County, Ohio, highlights the migration of Utica drilling south out of its original core in Carroll County. Houston-based Magnum Hunter said its first dry gas well off the Stalder #3 pad was placed into production this week with a peak rate of 32,500 Mcf/d. The pad could eventually hold 18 wells, Magnum Hunter said. Analysts at energy investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt on Friday crowed about the "huge" well. "Well still cleaning up frack water and company believes sales rate will likely increase over the next few days. Stalder #3 drilled to a vertical depth of roughly 10,600 feet with a 5,000 feet lateral fracked with 20 stages," TPH said. The Stalder well moves the dry gas fairway of the Utica further east towards West Virginia, TPH said, and was […]

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Chevron's Pennsylvania Natural Gas Well Still Burning After Blast

A fire at a Chevron Corp natural gas well in western Pennsylvania was being left to burn on Wednesday after an explosion early Tuesday left one worker injured and another missing, state officials said. Flames shot from the head of the Lanco 7H well, which is 50 miles south of Pittsburgh in the Marcellus shale region and emergency workers were unable to get near on Wednesday. The fire could continue indefinitely as gas flows up the well from underground, said John Poister, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. "There’s a large amount of gas in the well, and it could burn, if we just sat there and watched it, for months or years," Poister said. Chevron said it did not know how long the fire would continue. Putting the flames out will probably involve some sort of smothering, possibly with foam […]

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Chevron’s Pennsylvania Natural Gas Well Still Burning After Blast

A fire at a Chevron Corp natural gas well in western Pennsylvania was being left to burn on Wednesday after an explosion early Tuesday left one worker injured and another missing, state officials said. Flames shot from the head of the Lanco 7H well, which is 50 miles south of Pittsburgh in the Marcellus shale region and emergency workers were unable to get near on Wednesday. The fire could continue indefinitely as gas flows up the well from underground, said John Poister, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. "There’s a large amount of gas in the well, and it could burn, if we just sat there and watched it, for months or years," Poister said. Chevron said it did not know how long the fire would continue. Putting the flames out will probably involve some sort of smothering, possibly with foam […]

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Getting real about regulation – why it won’t make fracking safe

The British government has acknowledged the potential harms of fracking for unconventional gas – yet claimed that regulation in Britain is more stringent than in other countries and that it is therefore possible to prevent negative impacts. In this article I will show that over a century of health and safety regulation in the UK gives no ground for confidence. On the contrary there has repeatedly been shameful disregard for public health and environment. Industrial and commercial interests have repeatedly overridden the right of the public to be protected and there is already evidence that we are seeing the same tragedy replayed – potentially on a more destructive scale than ever before. The truth is that in some cases British regulation is inferior to other countries – that is why the British government are fighting the European Commission to prevent European regulation of shale gas extraction. In the light […]

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Chesapeake Energy Predicts 2014 Capex Decline

Chesapeake Energy Corp. expects to spend less on capital improvements in 2014, as the natural-gas company works to trim costs after years of liberal spending. The company projected $5.2 billion to $5.6 billion in 2014 capital expenditures, representing a 20% reduction from the midpoint of 2013’s outlook. After adjusting for 2013 asset sales, the company expects to generate 8% to 10% production growth this year, consisting of 8% to 12% oil production growth, 44% to 49% natural gas liquids production growth and 4% to 6% natural gas production growth. Per-unit production and general and administrative expenses are expected to decline in 2014. The Oklahoma City company, which spent billions of dollars more than it made from operations in recent years, has started spending less, but its cost-control efforts have raised concerns among investors about the company’s growth prospects. New Chief Executive Doug Lawler has mapped out a strategy of […]

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Swarms of Earthquakes Shake Up Shale Gas Fields

Research  conducted by U.S. Geological Survey geophysicists suggests it was induced by injection into deep disposal wells in the Wilzetta North field. Photo Credit: Brian Sherrod, USGS. The locals call it “incoming,” and some compare the violence of the tremors to living in a war zone. Others say it’s like having their homes hit by a truck. The scene is north Texas, home to the Barnett Shale, the largest unconventional gas field in the United States. There, industry, often touted as the new engine of the U.S. economy, has punctured and fractured the landscape with 17,000 gas wells, as well as thousands of disposal sites to get rid of related toxic waste fluids. It’s in north Texas where the unconventional gas industry, together with what it calls the “safe and proven” […]

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North Dakota Flares $100m of Natural Gas a Month

It is well known that advances in technology have enabled the US to experience a huge boom in oil production over the past several years. Since 2007, oil production from North Dakota’s Bakken formation has increased by 4,000% , and turning the state into the second largest oil producer after Texas. The problem is that a natural by-product of oil extraction is natural gas, and due to the lack of infrastructure to store, transport, and compress the gas, nearly 30% has to be burned at the well in a process known as flaring. Think Progress reports that an estimated $100 million worth of natural gas is flared in North Dakota every month, depriving the US economy of a huge source of revenue, and also releasing vast amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. On Wednesday, the North Dakota Petroleum Council, comprised of hundreds of companies, promised to try and […]

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North Dakota governor backs plans for 375-mile natural gas pipeline

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple said building a 375-mile natural gas pipeline in the state will reduce the amount of gas wasted during oil production. Dalrymple said Thursday he backed plans by WBI Energy Inc., a subsidiary of MDU Resources Group, to build the pipeline to deliver natural gas from the Bakken reserve area in the west of the state to eastern North Dakota consumers. 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. Some of the natural gas associated with oil production is burned off, or flared, as a result. "We are committed to working with WBI Energy and the entire energy industry so that we continue to reduce flaring, add value to our energy resources and help meet the […]

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American Energy Partners Buys Utica Shale Gas Fields From Hess

American Energy Partners LP, led by Aubrey McClendon , continues to bulk up in Ohio’s Utica Shale, purchasing natural-gas fields from Hess Corp. for $924 million, according to people familiar with the matter. Hess said Wednesday it struck an agreement to sell 74,000 acres in the Utica to an undisclosed buyer. The company has sold more than $7.8 billion in assets over the past year to raise cash and narrow its focus on growing oil output in the U.S. Hess issued fourth-quarter financial results on Wednesday, reporting a profit of $1.93 billion, up from $374 million in the year-ago period. It will use the proceeds from the Utica sale to repurchase stock. American Energy Partners said on Wednesday that an affiliate had raised $500 million to invest in wells across the country, but a spokesman for the company declined to comment on the Utica deal. It was a year […]

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Fracking Boom Keeps Home Heating Bills in Check

Freezing temperatures are creating near-record demand for natural gas in the U.S. as shivering Americans turn up the heat and plug in their electric blankets. Natural-gas prices have jumped in response, topping $5 per million British thermal units for the first time since 2010 as fuel has been pulled from underground storage vaults to keep furnaces running and electric utilities humming. But compared with past cold snaps, such as in 2000, the price surge has been muted, according to utilities and other big gas users. That is good news for businesses and consumers. Manufacturers that consume large amounts of the fuel—steelmakers, for example—say they have trouble planning for sharp price changes. And homeowners on fixed incomes can be hit especially hard when utilities raise prices. In the short term, higher prices help gas drillers, many of which have been losing money on wells in a supply glut. Over the […]

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EU ‘invites’ members to practice safe fracking

European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said member states are "invited" to follow a minimum set of guidelines for shale gas exploration. Several Eastern European countries are said to be rich in shale natural gas deposits though the reserves are either too expensive to exploit or up against moratoriums against the controversial drilling practice called hydraulic fracturing. Potocnik said there are hopes shale can help address European energy needs but resource extraction is up against public criticism. "The commission is responding to calls for action with minimum principles that member states are invited to follow in order to address environmental and health concerns and give operators and investors the predictability they need," he said in a statement Wednesday. Hydraulic fracturing uses large volumes of water laced with trace amounts of chemicals seen as harmful to human health and the environment. The commission’s recommendations call on […]

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EU 'invites' members to practice safe fracking

European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said member states are "invited" to follow a minimum set of guidelines for shale gas exploration. Several Eastern European countries are said to be rich in shale natural gas deposits though the reserves are either too expensive to exploit or up against moratoriums against the controversial drilling practice called hydraulic fracturing. Potocnik said there are hopes shale can help address European energy needs but resource extraction is up against public criticism. "The commission is responding to calls for action with minimum principles that member states are invited to follow in order to address environmental and health concerns and give operators and investors the predictability they need," he said in a statement Wednesday. Hydraulic fracturing uses large volumes of water laced with trace amounts of chemicals seen as harmful to human health and the environment. The commission’s recommendations call on […]

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Victory for Britain and Poland as EU Issues Guidelines on Controversial Fracking Technique

BRUSSELS—Britain scored a victory Wednesday, when the European Commission shied away from earlier plans to put forward legislation on the exploration of shale gas. The European Union’s executive issued only guidelines for the technology after strong pressure from Britain and Poland, which are keen to forge ahead with the controversial technique of hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking,’ used to tap shale gas reserves. The commission said it was responding to calls for "minimum principles…to address environmental and health concerns and give operators and investors the predictability they need," said the EU’s environment chief, Janez Potocnik. Britain and Poland are keen to tap into potential shale gas reserves after seeing the U.S. become the world’s largest gas producer from its reserves. But public opinion in Europe is largely set against the technique, amid concerns over its impact on the quality of water, soil and air. France has put in place a […]

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Russia concerned by Ukrainian fracking

The Russian Natural Resources Ministry said Friday it was concerned hydraulic fracturing in neighboring Ukraine could pollute regional water supplies. The ministry issued a statement Friday saying it was concerned about the prospects for shale natural gas development in neighboring Ukraine. Hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking, uses large quantities of water mixed with potentially harmful chemicals to get at oil and natural gas deposits locked in shale formations. Environmental groups have expressed concern some of that water could eventually spoil drinking water supplies. Deputy Environment Minister Rinat Gizatulin said there are real concerns about contamination because potential drilling sites may be in close proximity to aquifers. He said Friday a letter was sent to his Ukrainian counterparts calling for a bilateral meeting to address the issue. Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell are among the energy companies interested in developing Ukrainian shale. The government […]

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Polish shale gas may be too hard to exploit

The geological characteristics in Poland means it may be hard for energy companies to duplicate the shale gas success in the United States, an analyst said. New drilling technologies used for shale deposits have given energy companies access to oil and gas reserves previously out of reach, putting the United States in a leadership position in terms of production of those resources. Paul Stevens, an oil analyst at London think tank Chatham House, told the New York Times it may be tough to replicate that success in Poland. “The geology has not worked out,” he was quoted as saying Tuesday. Chevron, which has headquarters in California, is one of the few energy companies still exploring the shale reserve potential in Poland. Marathon Oil, which has headquarters in Texas, gave up on its Polish shale ambitions in 2012 and Italian energy company Eni is said […]

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Polish auditors slam government for slow pace of shale gas development

Poland’s national auditing agency this week criticized the slow place of developing the country’s shale gas industry, blaming government inefficiency. The Supreme Audit Office, or NIK, Monday issued a report warning that high hopes for establishing shale gas as a viable Polish industry by 2015 are being imperiled by “irregularities” in awarding concessions and the painfully slow establishment of a law governing the sector, Polish Radio reported. In the meantime, several foreign energy firms that came into Poland seeking to tap its shale gas potential, such as Exxon Mobil, Marathon Oil and Talisman Energy, have pulled out due to mixed exploration results and the uncertain regulatory landscape. At the current rate, it will take 12 years before Poland’s shale gas potential can be properly tapped, the NIK said. “In order to carry this out, it would be desirable to have about 200 wells,” […]

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U.K. to Pay Up To $3M a Well to Councils Allowing Shale Gas

Prime Minister David Cameron will give millions of pounds to local authorities that allow shale gas developments to go ahead, part of a drive to create more jobs and encourage investment in the U.K. Councils will be allowed to keep 100 percent of the business rates they collect from shale gas sites, double the current 50 percent figure, in a move that may be worth 1.7 million pounds ($2.8 million) per site in central government funding per year, according to figures released by Cameron’s office. Business rates are taxes to help pay for local services, charged on most non-domestic properties. “That’s going to be quite a significant boost for that local council’s coffers,” Business Minister Michael Fallon told the BBC . “We want local councils and local people to benefit from this exploration. We expect 20-40 wells to be drilled in exploration over the next couple of years.” Research […]

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Court Finds Pa. Gas Drilling Rule Violates State's Constitution

Court Finds Pa. Gas Drilling Rule Violates State’s Constitution The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Thursday that several provisions of Act 13, signed last year by Gov. Tom Corbett to overhaul the state’s oil and gas laws, violates the Environmental Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution. The court ruled 4-2 that Act 13 violates Section 27 of the declaration of rights in Pennsylvania’s constitution, which states that citizens have a right to clean air, pure water and the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille noted that “we agree with the citizens that, as an exercise of the police power, Sections 3215(b)(4) and (d), 3303, and 3304 are incompatible with the Commonwealth’s duty as trustee of Pennsylvania’s public natural resources.” Justices Castille, Debra McCloskey Todd and Seamus P. McCaffrey stated in the ruling that Act 13’s zoning provisions, which […]

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Court Finds Pa. Gas Drilling Rule Violates State’s Constitution

Court Finds Pa. Gas Drilling Rule Violates State’s Constitution The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Thursday that several provisions of Act 13, signed last year by Gov. Tom Corbett to overhaul the state’s oil and gas laws, violates the Environmental Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution. The court ruled 4-2 that Act 13 violates Section 27 of the declaration of rights in Pennsylvania’s constitution, which states that citizens have a right to clean air, pure water and the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille noted that “we agree with the citizens that, as an exercise of the police power, Sections 3215(b)(4) and (d), 3303, and 3304 are incompatible with the Commonwealth’s duty as trustee of Pennsylvania’s public natural resources.” Justices Castille, Debra McCloskey Todd and Seamus P. McCaffrey stated in the ruling that Act 13’s zoning provisions, which […]

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British official: Shale could reduce Europe's dependence on imports

British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey said shale natural gas may help reduce the European energy sector’s dependence on Russia. It’s unlikely European countries would duplicate the U.S. shale progress because the geology and regulatory regimes are more complex "but exploiting shale gas Europe-wide has the potential to contribute significantly to energy security whilst reducing dependence on imports from outside the European Union, most notably from Russia," Davey said Thursday at University College London. Shale natural gas won’t be a "silver bullet" for members of the European community but will add diversity to the base of energy resources, he said. European consumers get about 20 percent of their natural gas needs from Russia. The British government this week published policy guidelines meant to provide energy companies with the information they need to exploit the country’s fledgling shale natural gas […]

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British official: Shale could reduce Europe’s dependence on imports

British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey said shale natural gas may help reduce the European energy sector’s dependence on Russia. It’s unlikely European countries would duplicate the U.S. shale progress because the geology and regulatory regimes are more complex "but exploiting shale gas Europe-wide has the potential to contribute significantly to energy security whilst reducing dependence on imports from outside the European Union, most notably from Russia," Davey said Thursday at University College London. Shale natural gas won’t be a "silver bullet" for members of the European community but will add diversity to the base of energy resources, he said. European consumers get about 20 percent of their natural gas needs from Russia. The British government this week published policy guidelines meant to provide energy companies with the information they need to exploit the country’s fledgling shale natural gas […]

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Pa. gas drilling decision leaves future uncertain

The energy industry and policy makers in Pennsylvania, the heart of the nation’s gas drilling boom, are thinking about their next moves after the state’s highest court threw out significant portions of a law that limited the power of cities and counties to regulate the industry. The state Supreme Court voted 4-2 on Thursday to strike down portions of a 2012 law that had been crafted by Gov. Tom Corbett and his industry-friendly allies in the Legislature. Republican leaders in the General Assembly said the decision raised more questions than it answered and could damage the growing industry. They said they were not sure, for example, what the ruling would mean for the millions in impact fees being collected under the law. Pennsylvania has over the past five years seen a boom in drilling and related industries rushing to exploit the deposits in the rock […]

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EIA: Pennsylvania Fastest Growing Gas Producer Thanks to Marcellus

Pennsylvania Fastest Growing Gas Producer Thanks to Marcellus Marcellus shale gas production boosted Pennsylvania from the seventh-largest to third-largest marketed U.S. natural gas producing state from 2011 to 2012, and may lift the state to the rank of second-largest natural gas producer this year, according to a Dec. 17 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The state’s marketed natural gas production, which includes natural gas plant liquids, rose by 72 percent from 2011 to 2012, according to the EIA report Natural Gas Annual 2012. Earlier this month, EIA said that the Marcellus shale gas area in the eastern United States may account for 18 percent of total U.S. gas production, United Press International reported Dec. 10. Texas topped the list for marketed natural gas in the top 10 producing states from 2011 to 2012, followed by the Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado, federal offshore, […]

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The Natural Gas Glut Is, Like, So Over. Price Soars!

Someone must have known something. Natural gas jumped over 2% this morning before the Energy Information Administration released its Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report at 10:30 a.m. The report would show how much natural gas was in underground storage nationwide on December 13, and how much had been withdrawn from storage during that week. Every Thursday, the report sends gas futures gyrating up or down. But today, they gyrated up from the start of trading. "Unusually" cold weather had swept parts of the country. Natural gas consumption reacts sharply to cold temperatures. So analysts surveyed by Platts had jacked up their estimates for a withdrawal of 260 to 264 billion cubic feet, far above the 70 Bcf during the same week last year and above the five-year average of 133 Bcf for the week. Gas has been rising in anticipation for days. When the EIA report hit at 10:30 […]

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Natural gas saves water, even when factoring in water lost to hydraulic fracturing

Natural gas saves water, even when factoring in water lost to hydraulic fracturing Page added on December 20, 2013 For every gallon of water used to produce natural gas through hydraulic fracturing, Texas saved 33 gallons of water by generating electricity with that natural gas instead of coal (in 2011). Credit: University of Texas at Austin A new study finds that in Texas, the U.S. state that annually generates the most electricity, the transition from coal to natural gas for electricity generation is saving water and making the state less vulnerable to drought. Even though exploration for natural gas through hydraulic fracturing requires significant water consumption in Texas, the new consumption is easily offset by the overall water efficiencies of shifting electricity generation from coal to natural gas. The researchers estimate that water saved by shifting a power plant from coal to natural gas is 25 to 50 times […]

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Noble Energy to target Colorado basin in 2014

Noble Energy Chief Executive Officer Charles Davidson said the bulk of his company’s spending next year will target the Denver-Julesburg basin in Colorado. "For the third consecutive year, production is projected to grow at strong double-digit rates," he said in a statement Tuesday. "We continue to accelerate development in the Denver-Julesburg basin, which will receive the greatest portion of our capital program, as well as the drilling program in the … Marcellus shale." The Marcellus shale is spread over parts of Pennsylvania and surrounding states. Noble, which has headquarters in Houston, said $2 billion of its $3.2 billion designated for developments in the United States will target the Colorado reserve area. About $1.1 billion will target the Marcellus formation. Combined, the company said it plans to drill more than 450 wells in the shale areas next year. Noble in October said production from the […]

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Signs of Baby Steps on Stanching Wasteful Flaring of Natural Gas

Visible even from space, more than 1,500 natural gas flares illuminate the prairie in the Bakken oil field in North Dakota, for lack of gas pipelines. Jim Wilson/The New York Times Visible even from space, more than 1,500 natural gas flares illuminate the prairie in the Bakken oil field in North Dakota, for lack of gas pipelines. I hope you’ll read “ Applying Creativity to a Byproduct of Oil Drilling in North Dakota ,” a valuable Clifford Krauss feature on baby steps taken by the oil and gas industry to stanch the wasteful, polluting flaring of natural gas from the country’s booming Bakken oil fields in North Dakota. (There’s no infrastructure for storing or transporting the gas and the oil is the quarry, given its much higher price.) Gas pipelines are rapidly being built. Companies like Statoil and General Electric are teaming up to develop and deploy new modular […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Britain opens up much of countryside to fracking

An area more than two-thirds the size of England is to be opened up to shale gas drilling and other forms of exploration under plans set out on Tuesday that ministers said could produce thousands of jobs and other economic benefits. However, if fracking companies rush to exploit shale deposits, some areas may also experience “significant negative effects”, according to an environmental assessment of the move by the Amec consultancy, including a “substantial burden” on wastewater treatment plants. Depending on how many sites are eventually drilled, towns and villages could see lorries hauling water and other materials along their roads up to 51 times a day, the consultants said, adding that up to 150 shale gas licences could end up being awarded around the country. In addition, fracking companies could consume nearly a fifth of the water currently supplied to energy, water and waste industries each year. These impacts […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Is This the Next Major Shale Gas Producer?

I’m talking about Poland.  In an attempt to broaden its energy portfolio and wean itself off Russian natural gas, a renewed push for shale development is kicking off. As of last month, new Polish Environment Minister Maciej Grabowski has made it a personal mission to turn Poland around and remove the red tape that previously pushed out some of the biggest names in the industry.  The reversal of high coal consumption will also be at the top of the agenda. shale gas 19 In his first news conference early this month, he said, “If I decide that amendments are needed, I intend to present a final version within weeks, not months,” according to Bloomberg. He added, “Investors have been waiting for this for a very long time and they […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. forecasts natural gas boom through 2040

fracking America’s energy boom will continue for decades, and natural gas will replace coal as the largest source of U.S. electricity by 2035, the Department of Energy forecast today. U.S. production of crude oil will increase through 2016, when it will approach the record set in 1970, before leveling off and then slowly declining after 2020. Natural gas production will grow steadily, jumping 56% from 2012 to 2040, according to an early release of an annual report by DOE’s Energy Information Administration. "Advanced technologies for crude oil and natural gas production are continuing to increase domestic supply and reshape the U.S. energy economy as well as expand the potential for U.S. natural gas exports," Adam Sieminski, EIA Administrator, said in releasing the Annual Energy Outlook 2014. This energy bonanza is largely due to the combined use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing or fracking, which releases oil and gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Chevron agrees to explore Polish shale gas potential

WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 13 (UPI) — PGNiG, a Polish state-owned energy company, said it reached a deal with a Chevron subsidiary to explore for shale natural gas in southeastern Poland. State-owned Polish Petroleum and Gas Mining, known by its Polish initials PGNiG, said the deal was signed in Warsaw with Chevron Polish Energy Resources. PGNiG President Jerzy Kurella said both sides would benefit by sharing the exploration risks, including the possible costs associated with development of the shale gas reserves in southeastern Poland. "We could benefit from the experience of Chevron in the exploration and production of shale gas around the world," he said in a statement Thursday. Chevron said if the exploration effort proves successful, both sides would form a joint venture for further operations in the license areas. Neither company offered an estimate of the reserve potential in the license areas. The Polish government estimates it has […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Natural Gas: Not All It’s Fracked Up to Be?

Natural gas is being touted as a “game changer” and a “bridge to a low carbon economy.” It is an abundant, made-in-America energy source.  It is about half as carbon intensive as coal when burned. The figure below suggests that a natural gas fueled transition to a less carbon intensive economy has already begun. Domestic, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions have declined 12 percent since the peak in 2007. An important driver of this trend is the substitution of natural gas for coal in electricity generation. Of course, this picture gets much more complicated when you look upstream and broaden your perspective to consider not just carbon dioxide -the most prevalent anthropogenic greenhouse gas- but also “fugitive” methane emissions. Methane, the primary constituent of natural gas, can escape during extraction, processing, and distribution. These emissions have the potential to eliminate the carbon advantage of gas over coal and oil. There […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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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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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 […]

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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 […]

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Marcellus shale gas Bradford Co Pennsylvania: production history and declines

From a standing start in 2009, natural gas production from the Marcellus Shale in Bradford County Pennsylvania (PA) now exceeds 2.2 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day from 728 wells (to end June 2013). To put this in perspective, the UK consumes about 8 bcf per day and so 4 Bradford counties (about 3000 wells) could make the UK self- sufficient. The catches are that Bradford County is a production sweet spot – you have to find the sweet spots before you can produce them. And to keep production going, over a hundred new wells need to be drilled every year. 6 charts below the fold show the production history, average well productivity and decline rates from Bradford County. Figure 1   This chart shows the production stack for 728 Marcellus shale gas wells, Bradford Co. PA. XL would only let me plot about 150 data series and so […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple