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Colorado Gearing Up for Fracking Ballot Measures

Coloradans are poised to vote on multiple ballot measures related to fracking and other forms of energy development this fall, setting up a bitter and expensive election fight. With a deadline looming Monday to qualify measures for Colorado’s November ballot, three initiatives already have enough signatures to appear before voters, backers say. Two measures supported by environmental groups would require new oil and gas wells to be drilled at least 2,000 feet from homes and schools, and give local governments more power to regulate energy projects. A third initiative supported by the oil-and-gas industry would bar communities that prohibit energy development from receiving industry revenue administered by the state. The initiatives to rein in energy development are being sponsored by a group called "Safe. Clean. Colorado." The measures are backed by Rep. Jared Polis, a wealthy Boulder Democrat who favors greater local control over fracking, a high-pressure drilling technique […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Shale work in Ukraine on hold, Shell says

Operations in shale acreage in eastern Ukraine can no longer continue as planned, the chief executive officer at Royal Dutch Shell said. Shell released strong earnings for second quarter 2014. In a conference call to explain the report, CEO Ben van Beurden said some of the company’s operations in Europe may be influenced by ongoing crises in Ukraine. The European community is trying to diversify an energy sector influenced heavily by Russia. The European market gets about a quarter of its gas needs met by Russia, though most of that runs through the Soviet-era gas transit network in Ukraine. Russia’s role in conflict in eastern Ukraine prompted Western powers to issue harsh sanctions against the Kremlin. Van Beurden said his company wasn’t as vulnerable to those sanctions as other companies, but said the sanctions pressure had changed the game in terms of an investment perspective. In Ukraine itself, the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Wyoming Regulators: Setbacks between Wells, Housing May Be Widened

The spacing between oil and gas wells and residential homes has been an issue that several states have taken up as fracking becomes more widespread and moves closer to existing neighborhoods. Wyoming is the latest state to take up the issue. However, before the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the state’s regulative entity on oil and gas, even comes out with its proposal, residents and the energy industry are already critical. The current spacing in Wyoming between homes and oil wells is 350 feet, according to the Casper Star Tribune. That is less distance than in most other municipalities. The setback in North Dakota and Colorado is 500 feet, while Texas leaves it up to municipalities to decide the distance. Fort Worth requires a spacing of 600 feet, while in Dallas, the distance is 1,500 feet. In Coppell, Texas, wells are prohibited 1,000 feet from a residential or […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Hess plans IPO to fund Bakken plans

Hess Corp. said Wednesday it would use a new corporate structure to support its growth objectives in the Bakken oil reserve area of North Dakota. The company said it would form a master limited partnership that would make an initial public offering in the first quarter of 2015. "Hess intends to use the master limited partnership as the primary midstream vehicle to support its Bakken production growth," the company said in a statement . Hess in January said it plans to spend $2.85 billion of the $5.8 billion budgeted this year for exploration and production on exploiting shale reserves, mostly in North Dakota. The company said the master limited partnership would work largely toward development of a natural gas processing plant and rail terminals in North Dakota. Oil production from the Bakken and Three Forks area of North Dakota topped the 1 million barrel per day mark for the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Kemp: Forecasts for Higher Oil Prices Misjudge the Shale Boom

The world of energy may have changed forever," according to Professor James Hamilton of the University of California. "Hundred dollar oil is here to stay." Hamilton, who is one of the most respected economists writing about oil, made his bold prediction in a paper on "The Changing Face of World Oil Markets", published on July 20. "Old hands in the oil patch may view recent developments as a continuation of the same old story, wondering if the high prices of the last decade will prove another transient cycle with which technological advances will eventually catch up," he wrote. "But there have been dramatic changes over the last decade that could mark a major turning point." The shale revolution will turn out to be only a pause in the upward […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. shale helps Canada's Encana grow

Canadian energy company Encana said Thursday it had a strong second quarter on the back of an acquisition of assets in the Eagle Ford shale area. "We had a strong second quarter off of the back of a very good first quarter and we’re meeting or exceeding our targets in every area of our business," Encana President and Chief Executive Officer Doug Suttles said in a statement . The company in May spent $3.1 billion to acquire 45,500 acres in the Eagle Ford shale area in Texas. Describing it as a "bold strategic move," Encana said the 53,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day expected from Eagle Ford will almost double its current oil production capacity. In announcing its second quarter performance, Encana said the 34,200 barrels of oil produced per day on average represents a 49 percent increase year-on-year. Encana said it expects total production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. shale helps Canada’s Encana grow

Canadian energy company Encana said Thursday it had a strong second quarter on the back of an acquisition of assets in the Eagle Ford shale area. "We had a strong second quarter off of the back of a very good first quarter and we’re meeting or exceeding our targets in every area of our business," Encana President and Chief Executive Officer Doug Suttles said in a statement . The company in May spent $3.1 billion to acquire 45,500 acres in the Eagle Ford shale area in Texas. Describing it as a "bold strategic move," Encana said the 53,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day expected from Eagle Ford will almost double its current oil production capacity. In announcing its second quarter performance, Encana said the 34,200 barrels of oil produced per day on average represents a 49 percent increase year-on-year. Encana said it expects total production […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Air quality a concern near North Dakota fire

North Dakota’s Health Department said it’s surveying air quality near the site of a fire at an industrial park in Williston, the heart of the state’s oil patch. Chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing caught fire at an industrial warehouse in Williston. Officials said they’re going to let the fire burn out on its own because pouring water on the blaze would create a secondary problem for nearby waterways. The North Dakota Department of Health said it’s monitoring air quality around the industrial park for any threats to public health. "The fire in the industrial park has resulted in a plume of smoke that may adversely affect air quality in the surrounding area, and may cause health concerns," it said in a statement Tuesday. North Dakota oil production is growing as a result of the advances in drilling technology for shale reserves. The state government said oil production for May, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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BHP Billiton lifted by U.S. shale oil

Australian natural resources company BHP Billiton said Wednesday onshore operations in the United States helped boost its oil production by 4 percent. BHP said total petroleum production for the fiscal year ending June 30 was up 4 percent year-on-year to 246 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. The Australian company said in a financial report operations in U.S. shale helped boost the output. "Onshore U.S. liquids production increased by 23 percent in the June 2014 quarter and we expect to carry strong momentum into the 2015 financial year as shale liquids volumes are forecast to increase by over 17 million boe in the period," the report said. The company said the bulk of its onshore investments targeted the Eagle Ford shale play in the southern part of the United States. Roughly 75 percent of the $4.2 billion in drilling expenses targeted that play. Eagle Ford output during the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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North Dakota’s Oil Bonanza Is Unsustainable

A decade ago, North Dakota was a wind-swept also-ran in the oil industry. Wildcatters struck oil there in the 1950s, but the rock was too dense to get most of it out, and the fields never amounted to much. The state produced about 30 million barrels of oil in 2004, enough to satisfy U.S. demand for about a day and a half. Then everything changed. In the mid-2000s, companies in Texas had figured out how to extract natural gas from dense shale rock near Fort Worth. A few enterprising oil men figured the same approach might work in North Dakota’s oil fields, and after a few false starts, they proved correct. Between 2004 and 2008, North Dakota’s oil production doubled. Then it doubled again. And again. This month, the Energy Information Administration said North Dakota produced 30 million barrels of oil in April — as much as it had […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple