tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81453939554516554492024-02-24T00:52:16.083-08:00GeoPete's ViewThis is about oil and gas exploration and production. The intent is to share information and help inform people about current events, and timely issues such as hydraulic fracturing, horizontal drilling, and related issues. Readers comments and contributions welcome.Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.comBlogger234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-6747276862963911682013-07-15T20:34:00.000-07:002013-07-15T20:39:22.368-07:00Fracking Can And Is Being Done Safely, Cleanly, And EfficientlyLet's think this through.<br />
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Recycling is a good thing, right? This word has been around for quite a while now. People understand it and consider it a good thing. We are familiar with the "recycling" of aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles, newspapers and plastic bags. In fact many of us have been dutifully separating these items from our trash and putting them out for waste pickup on a regular basis for years. Most of us make nothing from doing this, and even though it requires a bit of effort and forethought, we have learned to do it "for the good of the environment". It makes sense. These materials can be re-used and turned into other useful products and by doing so reduce the burden on our landfill waste disposal sites. It is a "win-win" situation for those modern motivators and business planners.<br />
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So why not recycle the water used in the "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing of rocks containing oil and gas? (See the many other articles in this blog explaining the hydraulic fracturing process.) Often when a well is drilled and used to produce oil and gas it also produces a lot of "formation water". This is water that has been trapped in these underground rocks for thousands, millions, tens and even hundreds of millions of years. Why not re-use this water to fracture rocks and produce more oil and gas? After all, the concern over water usage and "pollution" is used as the primary motivator by the so-called "environmentalists" so actively opposed to fracking. Recycling makes sense, so why is it not more widely embraced and practiced?<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">The reason why opponents of fracking won't admit it can be done safely and without destroying our precious freshwater sources, is because the opponents of fracking don't really care that much about water. They have other motives.</span> Dig into an article. Read farther than the headlines, which are always emotionally charged, and usually written from a politically liberal viewpoint. In this case here is a quote from the following article:<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="background-color: white;">"The practice scales down the amount of freshwater used for fracking, but environmentalists say it does nothing to assuage concerns about groundwater contamination, and only facilitates the extraction of fossil fuels that produce climate-warming gases."</span></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
So there it is, the real underlying motivation of "banning fracking" is to stop or limit the production of fossil fuels and the alleged link to "climate warming gases". So the concern about safe drinking water is an emotional ploy. Clean water is something everyone needs and desires. It is a clever trick, and in my opinion, evil, because it deprives people all around the world of something else everyone needs and wants: inexpensive energy. We cannot all ride bicycles and walk wherever we want to go. Nobody likes being deceived, and I see it going on all around. The only solution to this intentional misinformation is education. So here we are.<br />
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Another poorly understood benefit for using formation water, or re-used water in the fracking process is the water is usually in "equilibrium" with the rocks that are being fracked. After all, the water has been sitting there in the pore spaces of the rocks to be fracked for a long time. It has time to come to chemical equilibrium. Pumping it back underground during the fracking process does nothing to harm that balance.<br />
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There are more benefits to recycling. It saves money, tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars on the cost of drilling and completing a well. It reduces the cost and damage caused by the need of trucks hauling water. It reduces the cost of disposing of waste water. The water used comes from the deep oil and gas producing rock formations, thus it is by definition and usage, "polluted". So why not use it, and put it back where it came from and leave our much shallower drinking and irrigating water alone. This is truly a win-win situation, something everyone can be happy with.<br />
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Oil and gas companies and their service companies, like Baker Hughs and Halliburton, and Schlumberger, have been drilling and completing wells in similar ways for decades. They are very, very competitive with one another. Read the remainder of the article below. Why is this recycling not publicized and done more? Think government regulation. Think government politically motivated interference. Think environmental groups lobbying (bribing) politicians. Think big businesses promoting "alternative" energy like solar and wind, (which are fine in certain circumstances). Think corruption, like Solyndra. Think of ignorance. Think of those making and seeking to make Billions of dollars on "carbon taxes" and "carbon credits". Think Al Gore, and others acting as parasites on the public. Who suffers? You and I, us, the public, in the form of higher energy prices, which increase the cost of everything.<br />
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What do you say we fight back against the darkness and danger or ignorance. Spread the word.<br />
Peter<br />
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Analysis: Fracking water's dirty little secret - recycling</h1>
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<span style="font-size: small;">By Nichola Groom</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The oil and gas industry is finding that less is more in the push to recycle water used in hydraulic fracturing. Slightly dirty water, it seems, does just as good a job as crystal clear when it comes to making an oil or gas well work.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Exploration and production companies are under pressure to reduce the amount of freshwater used in dry areas like Texas and to cut the high costs of hauling millions of barrels of water to oil and gas wells and later to underground disposal wells.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">To attack those problems, oilfield service companies like Halliburton, Baker Hughes and FTS International, are treating water from "fracked" wells just enough so that it can be used again. Smaller companies like Ecosphere Technologies Inc have also deployed similar methods.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">"It is a paradigm shift," Halliburton's strategic business manager of water solutions, Walter Dale, said.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Until recently, many companies considered recycling too expensive or worried that using anything other than freshwater would reduce well output.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">But oil and gas companies are increasingly treating and reusing flowback water from wells, which unlike freshwater is very high in salt, with good results.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The practice scales down the amount of freshwater used for fracking, <span style="background-color: yellow;">but environmentalists say it does nothing to assuage concerns about groundwater contamination, and only facilitates the extraction of fossil fuels that produce climate-warming gases.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: yellow; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">"It doesn't lessen the potential for groundwater contamination, and it can increase the amount of contaminants that you are exposing the groundwater to," said Myron Arnowitt, Pennsylvania director for Clean Water Action.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Read the remainder or the article here:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/analysis-fracking-waters-dirty-little-165146500.html"><span style="font-size: small;">http://finance.yahoo.com/news/analysis-fracking-waters-dirty-little-165146500.html</span></a></div>
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Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-49410482119616296692012-09-14T06:19:00.001-07:002012-09-14T06:19:52.052-07:00Wyoming Says "Back Off Jack" To The Feds<div class="cnbc_blghdln">
<span style="font-size: small;"><em>Why get the Feds involved when state and local entities know what is best for their areas? </em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><em>Centralized control never works for a national economy. Ask those from the former Soviet Union.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><em>Peter</em></span></div>
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Wyo. gov. to Interior: Back off on fracking rules</h1>
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Wyoming Gov. Matt
Mead has asked the Interior Department to scale back — or abandon altogether —
proposed rules that would require petroleum companies to disclose the chemicals
they inject down well bores during hydraulic fracturing.</div>
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<span id="byLine"></span>The proposed U.S. Bureau of Land
Management rule resembles one already in place in Wyoming. For two years now,
Wyoming has required companies to disclose the ingredients in their "fracking"
chemicals.</div>
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<span id="byLine"></span>Having similar rules on both the
federal and state level is duplicative and unnecessary, Mead wrote Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar on Monday.</div>
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<span id="byLine"></span><span style="color: yellow; font-size: large;"><strong>"The effect is fewer jobs, less
economic development and a dangerous precedent for future regulatory actions,"</strong></span>
the governor wrote.</div>
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Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-17224857960970028742012-09-14T05:20:00.000-07:002012-09-14T05:20:38.165-07:00Drilling On A Large Scale....The Future Is Here<em>Innovation, efficiency, economy, safety, progress....the American way. Hats off to all the hard-working people in this industry who make such things possible.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<a href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=7910#"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Pad drilling and rig mobility lead to more efficient
drilling</span></strong></a></div>
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<img alt="Three-dimensional representation of oil or natural gas development of a large underground area, from four drilling pads on the surface, as described in the article text" src="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/images/2012.09.11/drillingpads2.png" />
<div class="source">
<span style="line-height: 110%;"><strong>Source:</strong> U.S.
Energy Information Administration, reproduced with permission from <a class="b_list" href="http://www.statoil.com/en/About/Worldwide/NorthAmerica/USA/Pages/ShaleGasMarcellus.aspx" jquery17106901442495616091="27">Statoil</a>. <br /><strong>Note:
</strong>Three-dimensional representation of oil or natural gas development of a
large underground area, from four drilling pads on the surface (depicted within
the red ovals).</span></div>
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Developments in drilling methods and technology are leading to efficiency
gains for oil and natural gas producers. For example, "pad" drilling techniques
allow rig operators to drill groups of wells more efficiently, because <a class="b_list" href="http://www.drillingcontractor.org/rig-mobility-on-the-fast-track-10666" jquery17106901442495616091="28">improved rig mobility</a> reduces the time it
takes to move from one well location to the next, while reducing the overall
surface footprint. A drilling pad is a location which houses the wellheads for a
number of horizontally drilled wells. The benefit of a drilling pad is that
operators can drill multiple wells in a shorter time than they might with just
one well per site. <br />
Moving a drilling rig between two well sites previously involved
disassembling the rig and reassembling it at the new location ("rigging down"
and "rigging up") even if the new location was only a few yards away. Today, a
drilling pad may have five to ten wells, which are horizontally drilled in
different directions, spaced fairly close together at the surface. Once one well
is drilled, the fully constructed rig can be lifted and moved a few yards over
to the next well location using hydraulic walking or skidding systems, as <a class="b_list" href="http://www.rangeresources.com/getdoc/52dd1ec3-83d9-425c-ac86-7a5b0c81aee4/Walking-Rig-Time-Lapse.aspx" jquery17106901442495616091="29">demonstrated by Range Resources</a>.<br />
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In the picture above, each of the four drilling pads hosts six horizontal
wells. Pad drilling allows producers to target a significant area of underground
resources while minimizing impact on the surface. Concentrating the wellheads
also helps the producer reduce costs associated with managing the resources
above-ground and moving the production to market.<br />
<br />
Bentek Energy, LLC analysis shows that drilling operators are achieving
efficiency gains in the well-drilling process. In June 2012, operators in the <a class="b_list" href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=5950">Eagle
Ford</a> shale formation averaged about 19 days to drill a horizontal well, down
from an average of 23 days in 2011. Reducing the time it takes to drill wells
can save oil and gas producers a significant amount of money. In the <a class="b_list" href="http://wwwdev.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=2500" jquery17106901442495616091="30">North Dakota section of the Bakken</a>
formation, the increase in drilling rigs in the area has begun to slow, but
production levels continue to reach record highs each month.<br />
<br />
Recent studies by the <a class="b_list" href="http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/10484/1/PittMarcellusShaleEconomics2011.pdf" jquery17106901442495616091="31">University of Pittsburgh</a> and <a class="b_list" href="https://rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=108179" jquery17106901442495616091="32">Rigzone</a>, as well as analysis of financial
reports from E&P companies Abraxas, EQT, and El Paso, show that drilling
costs alone are only a portion of the total drilling and completion expenses
that producers face. EIA analysis of average Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Marcellus
well-related expenses finds that total costs per horizontal well can vary
between approximately $6.5 million and $9 million. The cost of completing and
hydraulic fracturing typically exceeds the cost of drilling the well.<br />
<br />
One of the industry's more recent innovations, pad-to-pad moves, underscores
the efficiency gains from rig mobility and pad drilling. During the drilling
operation pictured below, rig operator Nabors Industries transported a
fully-assembled drilling rig about one mile between drill sites. The cost of
rigging down and rigging back up can be high enough that producers may find it
more efficient to build a road between two pads, transport the rig intact, and
have it arrive ready to drill the next well. <br />
<img alt="image of a fully constructed rig being moved between two drilling pads, as described in the article text" src="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/images/2012.09.11/rigmove.png" />
<div class="source">
<span style="line-height: 110%;"><strong>Source:</strong>
Reproduced with permission from <a class="b_list" href="http://nabors.com/Public/index.asp" jquery17106901442495616091="33">Nabors
Industries Ltd.</a> </span></div>
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Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-66751932583376345082012-09-06T07:11:00.001-07:002012-09-06T07:11:56.882-07:00Get The Facts About Methane In Groundwater In New York<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" id="twttrHubFrameSecure" name="twttrHubFrameSecure" scrolling="no" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.html" style="height: 10px; position: absolute; top: -9999em; width: 10px;" tabindex="0"></iframe><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" id="twttrHubFrame" name="twttrHubFrame" scrolling="no" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/hub.html" style="height: 10px; position: absolute; top: -9999em; width: 10px;" tabindex="0"></iframe><em>Before flying off the fracking handle, opponents of natural gas development need to learn the facts about the natural occurrence of gas in the environment compared to the effects of drilling and such things as hydraulic fracturing. The USGS is about as "unbiased" a source of information as there is, but bear in mind, even the USGS must be politically correct. Consider who funds them.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Dissolved methane in New York groundwater, 1999-2011</span></strong></h1>
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2012, Kappel, William M.; Nystrom, Elizabeth A.</div>
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USGS Open-File Report: 2012-1162</div>
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<h2>
Abstract:</h2>
New York State is underlain by numerous bedrock formations of Cambrian to Devonian age that produce natural gas and to a lesser extent oil. The first commercial gas well in the United States was dug in the early 1820s in Fredonia, south of Buffalo, New York, and produced methane from Devonian-age black shale.<span style="color: lime;"> <strong>Methane naturally discharges to the land surface at some locations in New York.</strong>.</span><span style="color: lime;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: lime;">At Chestnut Ridge County Park in Erie County, just south of Buffalo, N.Y., several surface seeps of natural gas occur from Devonian black shale, including one behind a waterfall. Methane occurs locally in the groundwater of New York; as a result, it may be present in drinking-water wells, in the water produced from those wells, and in the associated water-supply systems (Eltschlager and others, 2001).</span></strong> <br />
<br />
The natural gas in low-permeability bedrock formations has not been accessible by traditional extraction techniques, which have been used to tap more permeable sandstone and carbonate bedrock reservoirs. <span style="color: red;"><strong>However, newly developed techniques involving horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing have made it possible to extract previously inaccessible natural gas from low-permeability bedrock such as the Marcellus and Utica Shales. </strong></span><br />
<br />
The use of hydraulic fracturing to release natural gas from these shale formations has raised concerns with water-well owners and water-resource managers across the Marcellus and Utica Shale region (West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and parts of several other adjoining States). Molofsky and others (2011) documented the widespread natural occurrence of methane in drinking-water wells in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. In the same county, Osborn and others (2011) identified elevated methane concentrations in selected drinking-water wells in the vicinity of Marcellus gas-development activities, although pre-development samples were not available for comparison. <br />
<br />
In order to manage water resources in areas of gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing in New York, the natural occurrence of methane in the State's aquifers needs to be documented. This brief report presents a compilation of data on dissolved methane concentrations in the groundwater of New York available from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Information System (NWIS) (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis).</div>
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ofr20121162</div>
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Additional Publication Details</div>
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<tr><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen12">Publication Type</td><td>USGS Numbered Series</td></tr>
<tr class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-tr-even" id="ext-gen3"><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen13">Title</td><td>Dissolved methane in New York groundwater, 1999-2011</td></tr>
<tr><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen14">Author</td><td>Kappel, William M.; Nystrom, Elizabeth A.</td></tr>
<tr class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-tr-even" id="ext-gen4"><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen15">Year</td><td>2012</td></tr>
<tr><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen16">Series</td><td>Open-File Report</td></tr>
<tr class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-tr-even" id="ext-gen5"><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen17">Series Number</td><td>2012-1162</td></tr>
<tr><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen18">Language</td><td>English</td></tr>
<tr class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-tr-even" id="ext-gen6"><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen19">Publisher</td><td>U.S. Geological Survey</td></tr>
<tr><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen20">Publisher Location</td><td>Reston, VA</td></tr>
<tr class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-tr-even" id="ext-gen7"><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen21">Contributing Office</td><td>New York Water Science Center</td></tr>
<tr><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen22">Description</td><td>6 p.</td></tr>
<tr class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-tr-even" id="ext-gen8"><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen23">Lat Bound N</td><td>0450042</td></tr>
<tr><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen24">Lat Bound S</td><td>0402940</td></tr>
<tr class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-tr-even" id="ext-gen9"><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen25">Lon Bound E</td><td>-0715725</td></tr>
<tr><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen26">Lon Bound W</td><td>-0794554</td></tr>
<tr class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-tr-even" id="ext-gen10"><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen27">Country</td><td>United States</td></tr>
<tr><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen28">State</td><td>New York</td></tr>
<tr class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-tr-even" id="ext-gen11"><td class=" pubs-citation-detail-info-container-td-odd" id="ext-gen29">Comments</td><td>Prepared in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation</td></tr>
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<tr> <td>Abstract:</td><td>New York State is underlain by numerous bedrock formations of Cambrian to Devonian age that produce natural gas and to a lesser extent oil. The first commercial gas well in the United States was dug in the early 1820s in Fredonia, south of Buffalo, New York, and produced methane from Devonian-age black shale. Methane naturally discharges to the land surface at some locations in New York. At Chestnut Ridge County Park in Erie County, just south of Buffalo, N.Y., several surface seeps of natural gas occur from Devonian black shale, including one behind a waterfall. Methane occurs locally in the groundwater of New York; as a result, it may be present in drinking-water wells, in the water produced from those wells, and in the associated water-supply systems (Eltschlager and others, 2001). The natural gas in low-permeability bedrock formations has not been accessible by traditional extraction techniques, which have been used to tap more permeable sandstone and carbonate bedrock reservoirs. However, newly developed techniques involving horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing have made it possible to extract previously inaccessible natural gas from low-permeability bedrock such as the Marcellus and Utica Shales. The use of hydraulic fracturing to release natural gas from these shale formations has raised concerns with water-well owners and water-resource managers across the Marcellus and Utica Shale region (West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and parts of several other adjoining States). Molofsky and others (2011) documented the widespread natural occurrence of methane in drinking-water wells in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. In the same county, Osborn and others (2011) identified elevated methane concentrations in selected drinking-water wells in the vicinity of Marcellus gas-development activities, although pre-development samples were not available for comparison. In order to manage water resources in areas of gas-well drilling and hydraulic fracturing in New York, the natural occurrence of methane in the State‘s aquifers needs to be documented. This brief report presents a compilation of data on dissolved methane concentrations in the groundwater of New York available from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Information System (NWIS) (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis).</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Genre: </td><td>USGS Numbered Series</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>ProdID: </td><td>70039792</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Author: </td><td>Kappel, William M.; Nystrom, Elizabeth A.</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Contributing Office: </td><td>New York Water Science Center</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Datum: </td><td></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Day: </td><td></td> </tr>
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<tr> <td>Citation Language: </td><td>English</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Larger Work Title: </td><td></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation LatN: </td><td>0450042</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation LatS: </td><td>0402940</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation LonE: </td><td>-0715725</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation LonW: </td><td>-0794554</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Month: </td><td></td> </tr>
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<tr> <td>Citation Number Of Pages: </td><td></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Online Only Flag: </td><td></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Phsyical Description: </td><td>6 p.</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Projection: </td><td></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Public Comments: </td><td>Prepared in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Publisher: </td><td>U.S. Geological Survey</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Series: </td><td>Open-File Report</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Series Code: </td><td>OFR</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Series Number: </td><td>2012-1162</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Search Results Text: </td><td>Dissolved methane in New York groundwater, 1999-2011; 2012; OFR; 2012-1162; Kappel, William M.; Nystrom, Elizabeth A.</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Start Page: </td><td></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Volume: </td><td></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Citation Year: </td><td>2012</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Type: </td><td>citation/reference</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Text: </td><td>Dissolved methane in New York groundwater, 1999-2011; 2012; OFR; 2012-1162; Kappel, William M.; Nystrom, Elizabeth A.</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>URL (THUMBNAIL): </td><td><a href="http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/ofr_2012_1162.gif" target="_blank">http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/ofr_2012_1162.gif</a></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>URL (INDEX PAGE): </td><td><a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1162" target="_blank">http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1162</a></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>URL (DOCUMENT): </td><td><a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1162/pdf/fs2012-1162_kappel_nystrom_methane_508_08292012.pdf" target="_blank">http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1162/pdf/fs2012-1162_kappel_nystrom_methane_508_08292012.pdf</a></td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Date Other: </td><td>Tue, 4 Sep 2012 00:00 -0600</td> </tr>
<tr> <td>Publisher: </td><td>U.S. Geological Survey</td> </tr>
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<!-- /footer panel -->Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-40732916140180912922012-08-13T08:11:00.002-07:002012-08-13T08:11:46.160-07:00Association of American State Geologists Declares Fracking To Be Safe<span lang="en-US">Could those groups scaring everyone about the dangers to our water supply caused by fracking be exaggerating? To put it politely, YES. The Association Of American State Geologists position statement on hydraulic fracturing is as follows:</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="en-US"><a href="http://www.stategeologists.org/temp/AASG%20Hydraulic%20Fracturing%20statement.pdf">http://www.stategeologists.org/temp/AASG%20Hydraulic%20Fracturing%20statement.pdf</a></span><br />
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<a class="style2" href="http://www.stategeologists.org/temp/AASG%20Hydraulic%20Fracturing%20statement.pdf" target="_blank"><strong>AASG on Hydraulic Fracturing</strong></a><br /><span style="color: #008800;"><span class="style5">August 12, 2012 | Association of American State Geologists</span></span><strong>“After decades of </strong><a href="http://geology.com/articles/hydraulic-fracturing/" title="hydraulic fracturing"><strong>hydraulic fracturing</strong></a><strong>-related activity there is little evidence if any that hydraulic fracturing itself has contaminated fresh groundwater. No occurrences are known where hydraulic fracturing fluids have moved upward from the zone of fracturing of a horizontal well into the fresh drinking </strong><a href="http://geology.com/water/" title="water"><strong>water</strong></a><strong>.” Quoted from the Association of American State Geologists statement.</strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: xx-small;"><div align="LEFT">
Hydraulic fracturing as applied in the oil and gas industry (commonly referred to as "fracking," "fracing," or "hydrofracking") is</div>
<div align="LEFT">
the process of pumping a mixture of water, sand or similar material, and chemical additives, under high pressure, to create small</div>
<div align="LEFT">
interconnecting fractures to increase permeability in targeted subsurface rock formations. Oil and gas companies perform</div>
<div align="LEFT">
hydraulic fracturing after a well is drilled, cased and cemented, to increase the well’s productivity. Sand is used to prop open the</div>
<div align="LEFT">
fractures, and chemical additives reduce friction, control bacteria, decrease corrosion, and serve other purposes. More than 50</div>
<div align="LEFT">
percent of the natural gas, and a growing percentage of the oil, produced in the U.S. comes from hydraulically fractured</div>
<div align="LEFT">
reservoirs. The following statement describes hydraulic fracturing in the oil and gas industry, discusses environmental concerns</div>
<div align="LEFT">
about the practice and associated activity, and expresses the position of the Association of American State Geologists (AASG).</div>
<div align="LEFT">
For an oil or gas well to be productive, hydrocarbons must flow through the rocks in which they are contained (the reservoir) into</div>
<div align="LEFT">
the well and to the surface. Much of the oil and gas resource in the U.S. resides in "tight" rock formations, rocks so impermeable</div>
<div align="LEFT">
that they do not allow oil and gas to flow easily through the rock to the wellbore. Reservoir rocks are fractured to enhance their</div>
<div align="LEFT">
permeability and enable oil and natural gas to flow. Hydraulic fracturing is employed on both traditional vertical wells and on</div>
<div align="LEFT">
horizontal wells, which are increasingly common. Most of these wells would not flow at rates that would make the drilling of the</div>
<div align="LEFT">
well worthwhile without hydraulic fracturing. The combination of horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing has led to increasing both</div>
<div align="LEFT">
oil and natural gas production and the addition of large new reserves in the United States after years of decline.</div>
<div align="LEFT">
Hydraulic fracturing was first used in the oil and gas industry in the U.S. in 1947. Since then, more than one million oil and gas</div>
<div align="LEFT">
wells have been hydraulically fractured in the U.S., and hydraulic fracturing has become a common well-stimulation technique.</div>
<div align="LEFT">
The application of hydraulic fracturing to horizontally drilled wells uses higher volumes of fluids than more traditional applications.</div>
<div align="LEFT">
Today’s accumulated geological and engineering knowledge and improved technology are used to protect public health and the</div>
<div align="LEFT">
environment while producing larger volumes of oil and gas. Modern wellbore casing and cementing are designed to isolate</div>
<div align="LEFT">
freshwater aquifers from hydraulically fractured oil and gas reservoirs, which are generally thousands of feet below the aquifers.</div>
<div align="LEFT">
Casing and cementing are required and regulated by state regulatory agencies and have performed as intended in the oil and</div>
<div align="LEFT">
natural gas wells already drilled and currently operating in the U.S.</div>
<div align="LEFT">
Environmental impacts are a concern for any activity on or below the land’s surface, including drilling and hydraulically fracturing</div>
<div align="LEFT">
an oil or gas well. Constant vigilance is imperative to insure the quality of air, land, and water. Environmental issues raised in</div>
<div align="LEFT">
association with hydraulic fracturing and other drilling and production operations include the potential for contamination of fresh</div>
<div align="LEFT">
groundwater, water consumption, earthquakes triggered by injecting fluids, venting or flaring methane, and the disposal of fluids.</div>
<div align="LEFT">
When they occur, most of these problems are not related to hydraulic fracturing, but to the drilling, casing and cementing of the</div>
<div align="LEFT">
well, or disposal of fluids.</div>
<div align="LEFT">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT">
After decades of hydraulic fracturing-related activity there is little evidence if any that hydraulic fracturing itself has contaminated</div>
<div align="LEFT">
fresh groundwater. No occurrences are known where hydraulic fracturing fluids have moved upward from the zone of fracturing of</div>
<div align="LEFT">
a horizontal well into the fresh drinking water. In a single case currently under investigation, contamination may have occurred</div>
<div align="LEFT">
when a vertical well was hydraulically fractured in a zone just a few hundred feet below the base of the freshwater. In most cases,</div>
<div align="LEFT">
however, freshwater aquifers are near the surface, and are thousands of feet above deeply buried oil- or gas-bearing formations.</div>
<div align="LEFT">
Under these geologic conditions, it is highly unlikely that a connection would develop between a hydraulically fractured oil or gas</div>
<div align="LEFT">
reservoir and a freshwater aquifer. To further minimize the chance of such a connection, it is important to locate and plug any</div>
<div align="LEFT">
abandoned wells that could provide a conduit between reservoir rocks and shallower freshwater aquifers, although no cases are</div>
<div align="LEFT">
known where this has led to groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing fluids. Contamination has occurred, however,</div>
<div align="LEFT">
from spills or mishandling of hydraulic fracturing fluids on the surface. Sound professional and regulatory practices therefore</div>
<div align="LEFT">
should be diligently followed when handling fluids on the surface to minimize or eliminate this source of contamination.</div>
<div align="LEFT">
Known instances of methane migration associated with well drilling are unrelated to hydraulic fracturing and could occur while</div>
<div align="LEFT">
drilling any kind of well. All wells should be carefully cemented and tested properly to avoid methane migration. In some areas,</div>
<div align="LEFT">
methane occurs in water wells because there is a natural source of methane within or just beneath the aquifer and in these cases</div>
<div align="LEFT">
methane was present in water wells long before drilling or the use of hydraulic fracturing. It is important for oil and gas regulatory</div>
<div align="LEFT">
agencies to determine if methane in freshwater wells has increased following drilling activities. This can only be done if baseline</div>
<div align="LEFT">
water quality testing is carried out before oil and gas drilling. Also, enhanced practices and regulations may be required to</div>
<div align="LEFT">
minimize release of methane, a greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere.</div>
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial-Black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial-Black; font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial-Black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial-Black; font-size: large;"><div align="LEFT">
Introduction</div>
</span></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: xx-small;"><div align="LEFT">
The Association of American State Geologists (AASG) represents the State Geologists of the</div>
<div align="LEFT">
50 United States and Puerto Rico. Founded in 1908, AASG seeks to advance the science</div>
<div align="LEFT">
and practical application of geology and related earth sciences in the United States and its</div>
<div align="LEFT">
territories, commonwealths, and possessions.</div>
</span></span><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow; font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialNarrow; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow; font-size: large;"><div align="LEFT">
www.stategeologists.org</div>
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial-Black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial-Black; font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial-Black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial-Black; font-size: large;"><div align="LEFT">
AASG statement</div>
</span></span><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: ArialMT; font-size: xx-small;"><div align="LEFT">
State geological surveys are important sources of information and expertise related to subsurface geology, water resources, and</div>
<div align="LEFT">
energy. AASG members regularly monitor and discuss issues related to hydraulic fracturing. Several state surveys have been</div>
<div align="LEFT">
engaged in investigations of potential freshwater contamination that may have been caused by recent hydraulic fracturing-related</div>
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activities; others are undertaking research on, and providing information about, hydraulic fracturing. The following points constitute</div>
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AASG’s position on hydraulic fracturing:</div>
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• AASG advocates that comprehensive public information based on sound science and open processes be utilized when</div>
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formulating energy and environmental policy. We encourage a balanced, independent, fact-based analysis of controversies</div>
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regarding natural resource development.</div>
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• AASG supports and encourages the disclosure of hydraulic fracturing fluids and chemical additives on FracFocus, the</div>
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hydraulic fracturing chemical registry website, developed by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) and the</div>
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Groundwater Protection Council (GWPC).</div>
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• AASG advocates for better understanding and scientific documentation of our subsurface geology and aquifers, which will</div>
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result in improved geologic models to help all parties avoid problems that might occur during drilling and hydraulic fracturing</div>
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activities of oil or gas reservoirs, especially in new fields. This will allow safer and enhanced production of oil and gas.</div>
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• AASG is committed to protecting the nation’s public safety and the natural environment, including groundwater and</div>
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surface-water resources. AASG supports the wise and prudent production of oil and gas resources to help fulfill the nation’s</div>
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energy needs.</div>
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• AASG recognizes the economic and social importance, and the abundance, of oil and gas resources that only can be</div>
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recovered if reservoir rocks are hydraulically fractured.</div>
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• AASG maintains that state oil and gas regulatory agencies are best equipped, through statutory authority, expertise, and</div>
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experience, to ensure that hydraulic fracturing and all other operations associated with oil and natural gas development</div>
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proceed in a manner that protects the natural environment, including public safety as well as groundwater and surface-water</div>
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resources.</div>
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• AASG recognizes that the environmental record of hydraulic fracturing activities over the past 60 years has been</div>
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overwhelmingly positive. AASG also maintains that operators who do not follow regulatory requirements should be</div>
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appropriately sanctioned and, where appropriate, barred from conducting further oil and gas operations.</div>
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• AASG notes that geologic data generally show a significant vertical separation between most oil and natural gas reservoirs</div>
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targeted for hydraulic fracturing and the shallower freshwater aquifers. In areas where targets of hydraulic fracturing are</div>
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comparatively close to freshwater aquifers, thorough geologic characterization of the area is warranted and even greater</div>
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caution should be exercised by operators and regulatory agencies.</div>
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• AASG recognizes the fast pace of recent drilling for oil and natural gas and the associated hydraulic fracturing activities. AASG</div>
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suggests that caution and careful attention to community relations be exercised by operators, contractors, and regulators in the</div>
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design, review, approval, documentation, implementation, and verification of plans for the drilling, completion, stimulation and</div>
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production of oil and gas wells.</div>
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• AASG encourages continuing work to acquire and maintain local pre-drilling water quality assessment and ongoing information</div>
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on groundwater quality, and recommends that casing and cementing operations in hydraulically fractured wells be carefully</div>
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documented by operators, contractors, and regulators.</div>
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Water used for hydraulic fracturing is generally obtained from nearby water wells, lakes, streams and rivers. Although a</div>
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substantial amount of water is used in hydraulic fracturing, this represents a one-time use, and the amount is considerably less</div>
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than the volumes required in other common ongoing uses, such as agriculture, municipal supplies, and industrial processes. Oil</div>
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and gas operators must follow state laws in the acquisition and use of water and make sure that they do not negatively impact</div>
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local (individual, city, or county) water supplies. The industry is working to reduce their freshwater needs, including recycling the</div>
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water they use in hydraulic fracturing operations.</div>
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Much of the water used in hydraulic fracturing flows from the well along with gas, oil, and saline water during normal production</div>
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operations. That "wastewater," or “flow-back water," must be recycled or disposed of properly. Disposal is generally through deep</div>
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wells drilled specifically for that purpose. In some locations, injecting returned water into deep wells has triggered small earthquakes</div>
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(generally less than Magnitude 3.0), a phenomenon called triggered seismicity or induced seismicity. Proper well siting</div>
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away from faults and using managed injection rates and pressures can minimize or eliminate triggered seismicity.</div>
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With new technologies, exploration has expanded into areas and communities that have seen little oil and gas drilling, or have</div>
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not seen it recently. That has created a variety of new issues--some positive, some negative. Caution, good judgment, and sound</div>
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regulatory practices must be exercised in areas where less information is available about the subsurface geology.</div>
</span></span><b><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow-Bold; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow-Bold; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow-Bold; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow-Bold; font-size: xx-small;"><div align="LEFT">
Co-Chairs, Energy Committee Co-Chairs, Environmental Policy Committee</div>
</span></span></b><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow-Bold; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow-Bold; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: ArialNarrow; font-size: xx-small;"></span></span><br />
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Scott W. Tinker Nick Tew Karl Muessig David K. Norman</div>
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scott.tinker@beg.utexas.edu ntew@gsa.state.al.us karl.muessig@dep.state.nj.us dave.norman@dnr.wa.gov</div>
Texas State Geologist Alabama State Geologist New Jersey Geological Survey WA Div. of Geology and Earth Resources</span></span>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-39133832316521119612012-08-06T14:10:00.000-07:002012-08-06T14:10:14.984-07:00While The Overall Economy Is Looking Dark, Oil And Gas Industry Is Looking Bright<em>Imagine what the production figures would look like if we had an Administration in Washington that actually supported the oil and gas industry instead of fighting it every step of the way?</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">An oil revolution is taking place in the US West and Mid-Continent</span></strong><br />
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<span class="articlepublicationdatecnt">July 1, 2012</span></div>
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<b>Fred Lawrence and Ron Planting</b>, IPAA, Washington, DC<br />
While the blockbuster plays in states such as Texas and North Dakota make the biggest headlines for increases in US crude oil production, there's no denying that developments in other states together add up to significant gains. Just like the other plays, many of these involved the technological advances of horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. The US map shown here indicates how widespread horizontal drilling has become.<br />
<h2>
<u>Oil states</u></h2>
After North Dakota and Texas, there is a significant tier of states where crude oil production is increasing on a steady basis (See Figure 1). Six states in the western half of the US combined have increased US oil production by about 240,000 barrels per day (b/d) since early 2007. These include:<br />
<ul>
<li class="first-graph-no-dropcap">Oklahoma – Crude oil production has risen about 70,000 b/d from January 2007 through February 2012 (the latest available from the Energy Information Administration).</li>
<li class="first-graph-no-dropcap">Colorado and New Mexico – Each saw increases of about 50,000 b/d over that period.</li>
<li class="first-graph-no-dropcap">Utah and Kansas – Each had 30,000 b/d increases.</li>
<li class="first-graph-no-dropcap">Wyoming – While Wyoming's net gain over the period was just 10,000 b/d, the state has seen a steady increase of twice that figure since bottoming out in mid-2009.</li>
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<img src="http://www.ogfj.com/content/dam/ogfj/print-articles/volume-9/Issue%207/z1207OGFJfla01.jpg" /></div>
Since January 2007, these six states have increased crude oil production from a little more than 650,000 b/d to almost 900,000 b/d, an increase of nearly 37% collectively over a five-year span. This is roughly equivalent to the amount of oil produced by Colombia and Indonesia.<br />
<br />
<em>To read the remainder of the article click on the following link.</em><br />
<br />
source: <a href="http://www.ogfj.com/articles/print/volume-9/issue-07/features/an-oil-revolution-is-taking-place.html">http://www.ogfj.com/articles/print/volume-9/issue-07/features/an-oil-revolution-is-taking-place.html</a></div>
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</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-23706526171977212972012-08-05T11:10:00.000-07:002012-08-05T11:10:57.474-07:00Fracking China<em>The following is an excerpt from the linked article on exporting shale oil and gas drilling and production technology. We need all the exports we can get.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/21/will-the-u-s-export-fracking-to-the-rest-of-the-world/">http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/21/will-the-u-s-export-fracking-to-the-rest-of-the-world/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Will the U.S. export fracking to the rest of the world?</span></strong><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXU6zMNcj4upRzEiG7LWOVoNoBT3HfWf9FdYUNeHmMPW551R0g5UjqSAAK2SS-UURNj6xZ6-h_VTowq6VOl-qSLSc8i5ZnJY9eKGFRE-XC9MVENK4yai13EbFl0BUyASbbZRBg7aLwaA/s1600/China+shale+plays.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXU6zMNcj4upRzEiG7LWOVoNoBT3HfWf9FdYUNeHmMPW551R0g5UjqSAAK2SS-UURNj6xZ6-h_VTowq6VOl-qSLSc8i5ZnJY9eKGFRE-XC9MVENK4yai13EbFl0BUyASbbZRBg7aLwaA/s320/China+shale+plays.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
"Fracking could also catch on in China, eventually. Jenny Mandel recently wrote a
<a href="http://www.eenews.net/public/energywire/2012/07/17/1">long and
comprehensive piece</a> in E&E News on the country’s growing interest in
U.S. shale gas technology. China is a tantalizing landscape for drillers — the
country has an estimated 1,275 trillion cubic feet of “technically recoverable”
gas, compared with 862 trillion cubic feet in the United States. But fracking
has been slow going. The geology is much more difficult to work in — many of
China’s shale formations are far deeper underground — and the lack of private
property rights has hindered development. (Meanwhile, the biggest shale gas
prize lies in the Tarim Basin out west in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous
province. But water is hard to come by in that arid region — and fracking needs
plenty of water.)"Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-35856482130822178922012-08-02T09:38:00.001-07:002012-08-02T09:38:16.011-07:00Bakken Oil Boom Continuing<em>Until there is a viable alternative to oil, the increase in production all over the United States, not just from the Bakken, can only be seen as good for America. The following are some of the numbers and facts, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Click on the following link to see more data and graphs.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<h1 style="color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 28px 0px 10px;">
The Bakken Oil Boom</h1>
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source: <a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/fedgazette/oil/index.cfm?goback=%2Egde_156898_member_141086409">http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/fedgazette/oil/index.cfm?goback=%2Egde_156898_member_141086409</a></div>
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The Bakken oil boom dwarfs previous oil production expansions in Montana and North Dakota. Explore a range of economic, demographic and financial data for the Bakken, and learn about factors driving jobs and other forms of development in the oil patch of North Dakota and Montana.</div>
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<div style="float: right; width: 250px;">
<img alt="Location of oil patch in the Ninth District" src="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/fedgazette/oil/images/oil_map_area_small.jpg" width="250" /></div>
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<li><a class="tabs_nav_selected" href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/fedgazette/oil/index.cfm?goback=%2Egde_156898_member_141086409#" id="oilproduction_tab"><span style="color: black;">Oil Production</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/fedgazette/oil/index_labor.cfm" id="labormarkets_tab">Labor Markets</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/fedgazette/oil/index_business.cfm" id="business_tab">Business</a></li>
<li class="tabs_nav_last"><a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/fedgazette/oil/index_banking.cfm" id="banking_tab">Banking & Loans</a></li>
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<strong>Oil Drilling Rigs</strong><br />
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<tr><th width="39%"></th><th width="22%">June 2012</th><th width="39%">Pct. change from a year earlier</th></tr>
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<tr><td>North Dakota</td><td>200</td><td>24%</td></tr>
<tr><td>Montana</td><td>21</td><td>108%</td></tr>
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Summary</div>
Oil drilling in Montana and North Dakota picked up beginning in 2004 until prices dropped below $60 per barrel in 2008, considered the break-even price for shale drilling and oil production at the time. Drilling accelerated again once oil prices recovered.</div>
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<strong>Production</strong> (millions of barrels)<br />
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<tr><th width="39%"></th><th width="22%">May 2012</th><th width="39%">Pct. change from a year earlier</th></tr>
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<tr><td>Bakken Oil Counties</td><td>18.9</td><td>79%</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest of Montana</td><td>0.6 </td><td>-24%</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rest of North Dakota</td><td>2.0 </td><td>1%</td></tr>
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Summary</div>
The Bakken area represents most of oil production in Montana and North Dakota.</div>
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<h3>
The Bakken area</h3>
Detailed map of the oil patch in the Ninth District</div>
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<strong>Definition for oil production:</strong> North Dakota production is from Bakken, Sanish, Three Forks and Bakken/Three Forks Pools as reported by the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources. Montana production is total production from Richland, Roosevelt and Sheridan counties. <br />
<strong>Definition for economic indicators:</strong> <em>North Dakota counties</em>: Billings, Burke, Divide, Dunn, Golden Valley, McKenzie, Mountrail, Stark, and Williams. <em>Montana counties</em>: Richland, Roosevelt, and Sheridan.</div>
<img alt="Oil map" border="0" src="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/fedgazette/oil/images/oil_map_detail.jpg" width="715" /></div>
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<a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/fedgazette/oil/bakken_activity_June20-2012.pdf"><strong>Data on Demographic, Economic and Financial Activity in the Bakken</strong></a> [pdf]<br /> This document reviews a range of demographic, economic and financial data for the Bakken. We compare the Bakken with the rest of Montana and the rest of North Dakota, as of June 20, 2012.</div>
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<h3 style="padding-bottom: 8px;">
More about oil in the Ninth District</h3>
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<a href="http://minneapolisfed.typepad.com/roundup/2012/07/on-average-railroads-are-four-times-more-fuel-efficient-than-trucks-in-west-central-wisconsin-which-is-in-the-midst-of-a-f.html"><strong>Frac sand mining spurs rural rail </strong></a><br /><em>fedgazette</em> Roundup, July 19, 2012<br />
<a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=4921"><strong>Sand surge</strong></a><br /><em>fedgazette</em>, July 16, 2012<span class="gray_666"><br /> In Minnesota and Wisconsin, frac sand mining has lifted local economies—and stirred opposition</span><br />
<a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=4852"><strong>Desperately seeking workers in the oil patch</strong></a><br /><em>fedgazette</em>, April 18, 2012<span class="gray_666"><br /> Jobs go begging in booming western North Dakota and northeastern Montana</span><br />
<a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=4853"><strong>No room at the inn</strong></a><br /><em>fedgazette</em>, April 18, 2012<br /><span class="gray_666">For newcomers to oil country, their first job is finding a place to live</span><br />
<a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=4853"><strong>Faces and places from the oil patch</strong></a><br /><em>fedgazette</em>, April 18, 2012<br /><span class="gray_666">Slideshow</span><br />
<a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=4271"><strong>After the oil rush</strong></a><br /><em>fedgazette</em>, September 1, 2009<br /><span class="gray_666">In the Williston Basin, less drilling activity has created uncertainty about the future</span></div>
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<h3>
Location of the Bakken in the Ninth District</h3>
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<a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/12-04/jobs_map_img1_large.jpg" rel="lightbox" title="Location of the oil patch within the Ninth District"><img alt="Location of oil patch in the Ninth District" src="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/fedgazette/oil/images/oil_map_area.jpg" width="350" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="footnote">
<a href="http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/12-04/jobs_map_img1_large.jpg" rel="lightbox" title="Location of the oil patch in the Ninth District">Large Image</a></div>
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Jobs in the oil patch</h3>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="221" id="ytiframe" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CPL_ii6BbJ0?title=" title="YouTube video player" width="350"></iframe><br />
<strong>Video: <em>fedgazette</em> Senior Writer Phil Davies talks about jobs in the oil patch</strong></div>
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</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-29533144917472253082012-08-02T09:10:00.000-07:002012-08-02T09:15:05.921-07:00Conserving Water While Fracing<em>The following link will take you to an excellent article about how fracing is being done with minimal water usage, simply by recycling . Anyone who has a swimming pool knows the water is kept clean by removing debris like leaves and grass, regularly using chemicals to kill bacteria and algae, (mainly chlorine), and continually filtering the water. Basically, the same thing can be done with the water used to frac oil and gas wells. It may not be "rocket science", but it works, it is safe, and it greatly reduces the amount of water used. That you can take to the bank and use as one more weapon against the opponents of fracing.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<table _yuid="yui_3_1_1_8_1343919848030200" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
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<tr _yuid="yui_3_1_1_8_1343919848030198"><td style="padding-top: 8px;" valign="top" width="152"><a href="http://links.mkt4049.com/ctt?kn=16&ms=NDU4MjA1MwS2&r=MTUxNzUzNDk0ODgS1&b=0&j=NDk3NjAyOTYS1&mt=2&rj=NDk3NjAyOTYS1&rt=0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="" border="0" src="http://www.epmag.com/Images/2012/07/water2.jpg?w142" width="142" /></a></td>
<td _yuid="yui_3_1_1_8_1343919848030197" style="padding-top: 8px;" valign="top"><a _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_1343919848030150" href="http://links.mkt4049.com/ctt?kn=16&ms=NDU4MjA1MwS2&r=MTUxNzUzNDk0ODgS1&b=0&j=NDk3NjAyOTYS1&mt=2&rj=NDk3NjAyOTYS1&rt=0" rel="nofollow" style="color: #005d7f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"><span _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_1343919848030149" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1343922537_1">Water
Demands Spark Improved Technology For Fracing</span></a>
<br />
<div _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_1343919848030154" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 6px 0px 0px;">
The fracing industry has long considered
water a nuisance. But water reclamation and treatment companies see H2O as
liquid gold, and the technologies they bring to the game will play a pivotal
role in the shale boom.</div>
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Here is the link to the article: <a href="http://www.epmag.com/Production-Completion/Water-Demands-Spark-Improved-Technology-Fracing_104445?utm_source=sp&utm_medium=em&utm_campaign=4582053-August%2002,%202012&utm_term=EP%20Buzz%20Aug%202%202012%20Auto%20(1)&utm_content=578623&spMailingID=4582053&spUserID=MTUxNzUzNDk0ODgS1&spJobID=49760296&spReportId=NDk3NjAyOTYS1">http://www.epmag.com/Production-Completion/Water-Demands-Spark-Improved-Technology-Fracing_104445?utm_source=sp&utm_medium=em&utm_campaign=4582053-August%2002,%202012&utm_term=EP%20Buzz%20Aug%202%202012%20Auto%20(1)&utm_content=578623&spMailingID=4582053&spUserID=MTUxNzUzNDk0ODgS1&spJobID=49760296&spReportId=NDk3NjAyOTYS1</a></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-87233941995526098812012-08-01T11:14:00.000-07:002012-08-01T11:14:13.892-07:00Marcellus Shale Gas Development Update<em>Everyone should follow the Marcellus Shale Coalition which regularly puts out a newsletter containing information and news such as the following. Here is their contact information:</em><br />
<br />
<div _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_134384380469492" id="yiv385260804cke_pastebin" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_134384380469495" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Marcellus Shale Coalition | 24 Summit Park
Drive | Pittsburgh, PA 15275 | </em><a href="http://www.marcelluscoalition.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>www.marcelluscoalition.org</em></a></span></span></div>
<div _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_134384380469492" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt;"><span _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_134384380469495" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><em></em></span></span> </div>
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<br />
<em>America needs to become productinve again. We can not just be consumers. Eventually that credit card gets "maxed out" and the shopping game is over. It's time to get back to work. Developing our shale gas (and oil) is a very good beginning.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
<br />
<div _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_134384380469480" align="center" class="yiv385260804MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 13pt;"><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">What They’re
Saying: American Natural Gas Drives “Economic Growth and
Prosperity”</span></b></span></span></b><br /> </div>
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<div _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_134384380469477" class="yiv385260804MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Pittsburgh,
Pa.</strong></span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> –
It’s difficult to go an entire day – or hour – without a reminder of the
economic difficulties facing America, especially for the millions looking for
work. This week, the <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/1c152ef0ab" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Associated Press</span></a>
reports that “<i>As U.S. hiring as declined, so has consumer and business
confidence.</i>” The <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/9357775bbb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Associated Press</span></a> also
recently reports that “<i>High unemployment isn't going away</i>” in the United
States. These are historically challenging times. For its part, though, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/b2c0ce37f4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">America’s natural gas
producers</span></a> – along with a robust supply chain – continue to make
critical investments leading to expanded economic growth, private sector job
creation and strengthened energy security all while protecting the environment.
Here’s what they’re saying.</span></span><br /><br /><span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #0070c0;">BUILDING A STRONG, LOCAL WORKFORCE, BETTERING
COMMUNITIES</span></b></span></span></span><br /> </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Help Wanted: Trucking Jobs
Widely Available in the Marcellus</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: [PGT Trucking Inc. CEO Pat]
Gallagher said <u>recent developments with Marcellus shale drilling in the area
have created more opportunities for drivers to seize local driving jobs</u> that
will have them home every night. <u>“Most people in Beaver County who want a
trucking job will have one,”</u> Gallagher said. (Beaver Co. Times, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/e133f6e68d" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/29/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Lt. Gov. Cawley says
Marcellus Shale Creating Jobs in Blair Co.”</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: Marcellus Shale natural gas
is helping to create family-sustaining jobs in Blair County and across
Pennsylvania, Lt. Governor Jim Cawley said today during a tour of New Pig
Corporation in Tipton. <u>"Whether it is at one of the drill sites in the
southern end of the county or right here at New Pig, Marcellus Shale is creating
good, family-sustaining jobs.</u> Governor Tom Corbett and I want to see more of
this happen across the state," said Cawley. Cawley cited recent Department of
Labor and Industry statistics showing that 29,000 people are working in the
drilling industry in the state with average annual earnings of $81,000. <u>There
are about 238,000 people working in related industries</u>. He also noted that
<u>natural gas drilling has produced $1.6 billion in state tax revenues since
2006 and helped to reduce energy costs across Pennsylvania</u>. (Release, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/1a6871538d" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/26/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Gas Co. Donation Ensures
Safety”</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">:
<u>Thanks to one of the companies constructing a pipeline in Dallas Township,
Back Mountain emergency personnel have a new tool at their disposal to help
respond to calls related to the natural gas industry. PVR Partners, formerly
Chief Gathering LLC, recently donated a Polaris Ranger 800EF all-terrain vehicle
to Dallas Fire & Ambulance Inc</u>. … Mark Van Etten, president of Dallas
Fire & Ambulance Inc., said the organization has been looking for ways to
better equip personnel to respond to natural gas emergencies as the industry
continues to move into the area. … PVR Partners Vice President Mark Casaday, a
Dallas High School graduate, said it is the company’s policy to aid the
communities in which it does business. … <u>“It’s our policy to help out.”</u>
(Dallas Post, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/d3ef3d3479" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/29/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Job-Creating Shale Gas
Creating “Optimism”</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: Local business leaders have
been enthusiastic in their embrace of fracking. <u>"That's a long time coming,
and that creates optimism,"</u> said Thomas Humphries, president of the
Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. <u>The industry has already created more
than a thousand jobs in the region thanks in part to a European company called
Vallourec SA, whose V&M Star unit will soon begin operating a new $650
million mill to manufacture the steel tubes used in extracting the natural
gas</u>. Regional homeowners, meanwhile, are cashing in by selling their mineral
rights. (CBS News, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/3a61382eeb/tag=mncol;lst;6" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/24/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Marcellus Summer Camp Held
at Mansfield University”</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: The first ever Marcellus
Summer Camp was held at Mansfield University July 8 to 10. <u>Twenty-one
students in grades 10 to 12 from Tioga, Bradford, Clarion and Indiana counties
in Pennsylvania were joined by students from New York State for an introduction
to the natural gas industry and possible career paths</u>. Throughout the event,
campers were introduced to many of the 150 occupations within the industry and
the educational opportunities available in our area. They gained real world
knowledge of a well site and had the opportunity to interact with faculty
members from various educational institutions as well as industry professionals.
… <u>"We were excited to offer high school students the opportunity to explore
different career options within the natural gas industry,"</u> Lindsey Sikorski
said. (Sun-Gazette, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/dcbc642b98" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/30/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Shale Gas Helping to Drive
“Economic Growth and Prosperity”</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: <u>Cheap energy is vital to
the manufacturing sector</u>, lowering the overall cost of goods which increases
consumption. That <u>drives economic growth and prosperity</u>, but it does so
without government involvement, direction and stimulus. (Washington Times
editorial, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/5442bd6c39" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/27/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Local University Training
Next Generation of Natural Gas Leaders</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: The Tioga Co. Development
Corp. celebrated 21 years of accomplishments with its 19<sup>th</sup> annual
meeting at the university on Monday. … Featured was the <u>[Mansfield]
University's new Marcellus Institute, which was established in February to
develop new academic programs focused on expanding the shale gas industry</u>.
Since then, <u>the university has developed two degree programs in just a few
months</u>. (Sun-Gazette, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/13892ff557/nav=5011" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/31/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">SHALE GAS
GENERATING MUCH-NEEDED CONSUMER SAVINGS</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Columbia Expects Abundant
Supplies” of U.S. Natural Gas, Lower Consumer Prices</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: In announcing its average
budget payment plan amount for 2012-13, the natural gas utility said it foresees
<u>abundant supplies of gas that should keep consumers' costs in check</u>. The
utility calculated the average monthly payment at $66 -- down $9 a month from
last winter and <u>among the lowest amounts of the last decade</u>. … Columbia
Gas said <u>plentiful gas supplies have helped drive prices down by more than
half in recent years</u>. For example, the August, 2008, projected budget plan
amount was $133 a month. (Toledo Blade, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/9ac04555d7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/31/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Columbia to Lower Price for
Natural Gas”</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: <u>Natural gas is plentiful
and its price is low, which yesterday brought good news for Columbia Gas of Ohio
customers</u>. Columbia yesterday announced rates for its budget-billing
customers. For the year starting in August, the average customer will pay $66
per month per household, down $9 from last year. It’s the lowest in more than
five years. <u>“We think it’s a really good thing for consumers,”</u> said
spokesman Ken Stammen. <u>“Any time you can lower costs, it’s a good thing and a
welcome thing.”</u> … Gas prices are low because of the growing supply of energy
from U.S.-based shale deposits, among other factors. (Columbus Dispatch, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/2bbbc18ee9" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/31/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“More Pa. Drivers Converting
to Compressed Natural Gas”</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: O-Ring CNG Fuel Systems in
Punxsutawney has been operating its compressed natural gas station for a year.
Compressed natural gas is currently $2 a gallon at that station. Bob Beatty, the
founder of the company, believes that <u>using compressed natural gas will
continue to become more popular</u>. He predicts that in five years compressed
natural gas will not exceed $2.25 a gallon. Beatty said that <u>there is
currently an abundance of natural gas</u>, and he believes there is enough in
Pennsylvania to last the next 150 years. For Beatty, he said business has been
successful. <u>Over the last year he has opened stations in Punxsutawney,
Coolspring and Rimbersburg. His Punxsutawney station has about 85 customers.
Another station is slated to open near Interstate 80 in Clarion County</u>.
(WJAC-TV, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/e835e41aa4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/31/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Columbia: Gas Bills Going
Down for” Consumers</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: Columbia Gas of Ohio says
its average budget payment plan for this year has gone down, and is <u>among the
lowest rates offered in the last decade</u>. … The company states that
<u>abundant new supplies of natural gas have helped drive prices down by more
than half in recent years</u>. (WYTV, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/f0eadf5499/rss=3107&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/30/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">More American Natural Gas =
More Consumer Savings</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: Expanded <u>shale gas
production is “making it far less expensive for consumers to heat their homes
during the winter and power their appliances throughout the year.”</u>
(Washington Times editorial, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/b6929b931c" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/27/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">JUST THE
FACTS ON SAFE SHALE GAS PRODUCTION</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Shale ‘Revolution’ Is More
Than Hyperbole for Capitol Hill”</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: <u>Energy policy is being
transfigured alongside the energy economy by technology advances that have
allowed access to enormous reserves of natural gas</u>. … It is hard to argue
with the reality: The American Gas Association says <u>reserves estimates have
risen to 2,100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas as of the end of 2011, a
century’s worth of supply</u>. … Greater use of natural gas is a stated aim of
the Blue Dog Coalition of self-declared fiscally conservative Democrats, and
Democratic governors in Colorado and North Carolina have enthusiastically
endorsed more natural gas development. (Roll Call op-ed, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/615a3bc6c8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/31/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_134384380469483">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Facts Must Prevail Over Scare
Tactics</span></b><span _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_134384380469485" style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: <u>Opposition to fracking increasingly
seems to be relying on scare tactics</u>, with activists blithely repeating
factoids they like with little effort to check the raw data or even the
mainstream press. … <u>They also have the same responsibility to check their
facts</u>. As with any industrial activity, hydraulic fracturing of shale should
be done in an environmentally responsible fashion, and regulators should monitor
emissions. But <u>by making false claims, activists not only damage their own
credibility, they distract from actual environmental issues that require
amelioration</u>. (U.S. News & World Report op-ed, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/47bf0968e8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/30/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">NY Daily News Columnist
Highlights “Hypocrisy of The First Order”</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: A group of anti-fracking
foodies threw an interesting fund-raiser at the Brooklyn Winery last week. …
They call themselves Chefs for the Marcellus. Guests were treated to
eggplant-stuffed okra, smoked lamb belly with fermented tofu and whipped ricotta
jewel on toast — along with wines from the Finger Lakes and beers from
Cooperstown’s Ommegang brewery. <u>The only thing more delicious than the menu
was the irony, because many if not most of those dishes were cooked over the
bright blue flame of natural gas</u>. <u>That’s right, the Chefs for the
Marcellus saw nothing wrong with using the very same fuel they portray as a dire
threat to the upstate countryside</u>. Plus, there’s all the electricity they
needed to refrigerate the okra and air-condition the patrons who had paid $125 a
pop. <u>Most of those kilowatts, in New York City, were produced by gas-fired
power plants</u>. … But <u>too many anti-frackers are trying to have it both
ways — to completely ban the practice in their own backyard, while continuing to
take enjoy the food-cooking, house-warming, juice-generating benefits of gas
drilled elsewhere</u>. (NY Daily News op-ed, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/fc1b358966/print" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/31/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;"><span>·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">EPA - <i>Once Again</i> -
Confirms Dimock’s Water Quality</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: <u>EPA announced June 25
that extensive testing of Dimock wells revealed that “there are not levels of
contaminants present that would require additional action by the Agency.” This
confirms earlier EPA and Pennsylvania environmental officials’ tests,</u> whose
results were denied and decried by natural gas opponents. The silence from these
activists on EPA’s latest announcement so far has been deafening. (Forbes.com
op-ed, <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/2ba055bc40" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">7/31/12</span></a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="yiv385260804MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"># #
#</span></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv385260804MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></span></span><br /><span><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">NOTE</span></b><span style="font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;">: Please follow us on Twitter
(<a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/f36e2da8ef" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@MarcellusGas</span></a>) and <a href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?MarcellusShaleCoalit/2a578c1dd1/825fd8330c/96bcfff0e7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Facebook</span></a> for updates
on clean-burning American natural gas.</span></span></span></div>
</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-36238515669676554622012-07-26T07:39:00.000-07:002012-07-26T07:39:50.783-07:00Oil And Gas Industry Jobs: A Huge Positive<em>I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but the oil and gas industry is creating jobs, creating wealth, and making America more energy independent.......all without much government support......in fact, in spite of what the government does. Compare that to the Billions of taxpayers dollars wasted on failed "green energy" projects (Solar energy boondoggles, wind turbine folly, ethanol production from food sources like corn, and on, and on). It does make one wonder about our leadership in Washington, D.C.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
<br />
<h2>
<a href="http://blogs.epmag.com/rebecca/2012/07/24/need-a-job-energy-sector-producing-more-than-oil-gas/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Need A Job? Energy Sector Producing More Than Oil, Gas">Need A Job? Energy Sector Producing More Than Oil, Gas</a></h2>
<div class="postmetadata">
<small>July 24th, 2012 vaddison </small> Posted in <a href="http://blogs.epmag.com/rebecca/category/uncategorized/" rel="category tag" title="View all posts in Uncategorized">Uncategorized</a> | </div>
<div>
<span>By Velda Addison, Associate Editor</span><br />
<br />
<span><span style="color: red;"><strong>The oil and gas industry supports more than 1.92 million jobs in the US, and it has the potential to create 1.4 million new jobs in the next 15 years.</strong></span></span><br />
<br />
<span>Jamie Vazquez, president of W&T Offshore, presented the figures during the July 20 Decision Strategies’ Oilfield Breakfast Forum. Her talk was peppered with an array of statistics. There was even more informative data, left for those who attended the event, in the National Ocean Industries Association’s (NOIA) booklet that touted what the American offshore industry can do. Keeping the economy growing, putting Americans to work, and securing a reliable energy future were on the list.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Article continued here: <a href="http://blogs.epmag.com/rebecca/2012/07/24/need-a-job-energy-sector-producing-more-than-oil-gas/?spMailingID=4545580&spUserID=MTUxNzUzNDk0ODgS1&spJobID=49152564&spReportId=NDkxNTI1NjQS1">http://blogs.epmag.com/rebecca/2012/07/24/need-a-job-energy-sector-producing-more-than-oil-gas/?spMailingID=4545580&spUserID=MTUxNzUzNDk0ODgS1&spJobID=49152564&spReportId=NDkxNTI1NjQS1</a></span></div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-86415453206208374792012-07-26T07:28:00.000-07:002012-07-26T07:28:42.427-07:00Hess Improves Production And Technique In Completing Bakken Oil Wells<em>For those interested in some of the finer details of operations in producing oil from the Bakken Formation, horizontal drilling, completions, and hydraulic fracturing, the following article is interesting and valuable. Here is a link to the original article:</em><br />
<a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/722661-bakken-update-hess-has-made-a-big-change-to-its-completion-design?goback=%2Egde_156898_member_138170874"><em>http://seekingalpha.com/article/722661-bakken-update-hess-has-made-a-big-change-to-its-completion-design?goback=%2Egde_156898_member_138170874</em></a><br />
<br />
<em>The author, Mr. Filloon does his research and seems very knowledgeable about the oil and gas industry. I'm quite certain he obtains his information from publicly available sources. He provides his analysis as a service to the investment community.<br />Peter</em><br />
<br />
<div class="page_header_email_alerts" id="page_header">
<h1>
<span itemprop="name">Bakken Update: Hess Has Made A Big Change To Its
Completion Design</span> </h1>
<div id="article_info">
<div class="article_info_pos">
<span>July 16, 2012</span> <span id="title_article_comments"><span class="num_of_comments"> | </span></span><span class="author_name_for_print">by: Michael Filloon</span> |</div>
<div class="article_info_pos">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="no_big_gaps_main_content" id="main_content">
<div class="no_big_gaps_article_body_container" id="article_body_container" style="float: right;">
<div id="article_body" itemprop="articleBody">
<div class="big_table" style="width: 490px;">
<div class="zoom_table">
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="designed_table">
<>2011 Hess Southern Williams County Results
<br />
</><tbody>
<tr>
<td>Name</td>
<td>Date</td>
<td>Choke</td>
<td>Stages</td>
<td>Water</td>
<td>Proppant</td>
<td>60Day IP</td>
<td>120Day IP</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Weyrauch 154-93-1918H-3</td>
<td>10/11</td>
<td>30/64</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>488</td>
<td>369</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Frandson 154-93-2116H-3</td>
<td>8/11</td>
<td>28/64</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>84203</td>
<td>3986800</td>
<td>939</td>
<td>780</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Weyrauch 154-93-1918H-2</td>
<td>6/11</td>
<td>22/64</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>48161</td>
<td>1931448</td>
<td>501</td>
<td>367</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Weyrauch 154-93-1918H-1</td>
<td>4/11</td>
<td>22/64</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>40421</td>
<td>1097939</td>
<td>504</td>
<td>435</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Weyrauch 154-93-2932H-1</td>
<td>12/11</td>
<td>38/64</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>1101</td>
<td>825</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Weyrauch A-154-93-2017H-1</td>
<td>11/11</td>
<td>42/64</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>61305</td>
<td>3995800</td>
<td>653</td>
<td>479</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Weyrauch 154-93-3031H-2</td>
<td>12/11</td>
<td>34/64</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>71049</td>
<td>3991720</td>
<td>1003</td>
<td>787</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Weyrauch 154-93-3031H-1</td>
<td>12/11</td>
<td>30/64</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>41472</td>
<td>1741722</td>
<td>1148</td>
<td>837</td></tr>
<br />
<br />
</tbody></table>
</div>
<strong>Hess Corporation</strong> (<a href="http://seekingalpha.com/symbol/hes" symbolslug="HES" symboltitle="Hess Corporation" title="">HES</a>) is a very large and well-run oil producer. In 1957, it
discovered oil in North Dakota and has become one of its biggest players. I had
previously discussed Hess and its very conservative completion methods early in
2011. At this time, Hess was using 20 to 22 stage fracs with lower amounts of
water and proppant. This was also consistent with <strong>Continental Resources,
Inc.</strong>'s (<a href="http://seekingalpha.com/symbol/clr" symbolslug="CLR" symboltitle="Continental Resources, Inc." title="">CLR</a>) well design,
which I covered in this <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/712541-bakken-update-increased-stages-have-shown-marked-ip-rate-improvements-year-over-year" sasource="froma">article</a>.<br />
The table to the top of this article shows a change from these lower number
of stages to 38. This is consistent with <strong>Brigham </strong>(<a ajaxloading="false" href="http://seekingalpha.com/symbol/sto" over="false" symbolslug="STO" symboltitle="Statoil ASA" title="">STO</a>), which I covered in
this <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/713751-whiting-s-recent-sanish-field-results-increased-stages-without-increased-proppant-and-water-volumes" sasource="froma">article</a>. Not only was this a big move, it has improved
results significantly, and in some cases doubled old IP rates. One issue I had
in researching Hess' results, was its lack of documentation with respect to well
design. For those specific wells, I place N/A in the appropriate space.<br />
In the second half of 2011, it used varying amounts of water and proppant.
This variance has not always produced better results with increased water and
proppant, which I found somewhat puzzling. Well orientation and lateral length
are different for each well, sometimes by 1,000 feet. Another finding is Hess'
move to a more moderate choke, which is consistent with <strong>Newfield
Exploration Co.</strong>'s (<a href="http://seekingalpha.com/symbol/nfx" symbolslug="NFX" symboltitle="Newfield Exploration Co." title="">NFX</a>) well design, which I covered <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/720831-bakken-update-newfield-may-be-one-of-the-top-bakken-operators-in-2012" sasource="froma">here</a>. This has also been consistent with other Bakken
operators.<br />
In the table below, we see even more changes to design as Hess has used more
than 100,000 barrels of water. It has also moved to above 3.2 million pounds of
proppant. This move is consistent of Brigham, <strong>Kodiak Oil & Gas
Corp</strong> (<a href="http://seekingalpha.com/symbol/kog" symbolslug="KOG" symboltitle="Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp" title="">KOG</a>) and
<strong>Exxon Mobil Corporation</strong> (<a href="http://seekingalpha.com/symbol/xom" symbolslug="XOM" symboltitle="Exxon Mobil Corporation" title="">XOM</a>).<br />
<div class="big_table" style="width: 490px;">
<div class="zoom_table">
</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="designed_table"><>2012 Hess
Southern Williams County Results
</><tbody>
<tr>
<td>Name</td>
<td>Date</td>
<td>Choke</td>
<td>Stages</td>
<td>Water</td>
<td>Proppant</td>
<td>IP Rate</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Weyrauch C-154-93-2932H-2</td>
<td>3/12</td>
<td>22/64</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>34396</td>
<td>1995429</td>
<td>60Day=911</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Madisyn 154-94-0607H-1</td>
<td>5/12</td>
<td>27/64</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>93122</td>
<td>3137554</td>
<td>41Day=892</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Thompson Trust 154-94-1930H-1</td>
<td>4/12</td>
<td>36/64</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>54Day=1548</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>En-Weyrauch A154-93-2017H-2</td>
<td>1/12</td>
<td>33/64</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>60Day=801</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Ca-Halvorson 154-95-0409H-1</td>
<td>5/12</td>
<td>34/64</td>
<td>38</td>
<td>101929</td>
<td>3203698</td>
<td>32Day=1610</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
In summary, Hess is moving forward at a quick pace to increase IP rates and
EURs. It is not surprising as many operators are spending more per well in the
hopes of increasing profits in the short and long term. The surprise isn't the
change, but the amount of change. Hess' move has been much quicker than others
in the Williston Basin, so it is my guess that Hess believes it is important
enough to make a bigger move. These results could be different in other areas
such as Mountrail or McKenzie counties, but this will take more research.<br />
<strong>Disclosure: </strong>I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and
no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.<br />
<strong>Additional disclosure:</strong> IP Rates are measured in barrels of
oil per day. Water volumes are measured in barrels. Proppant amounts are
measured in pounds. N/A is used on any well without sufficient information. This
is not a buy recommendation.</div>
</div>
</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-32676219276887739662012-07-26T06:32:00.000-07:002012-07-26T06:32:23.253-07:00Sierra Club Speaks With Forked Tongue<h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"><em>So the Sierra Club is confused and promoting nonsense? That is nothing new, they've been doing it for years (like pushing the myth of man-caused global warming down our throats).</em></span></h2>
<em>Peter</em><br />
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
<a href="http://blogs.epmag.com/guests/2012/07/24/key-democrats-to-sierra-club-you%e2%80%99re-wrong-about-natural-gas/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Key Democrats To Sierra Club: You’re Wrong About Natural Gas">Key Democrats To Sierra Club: You’re Wrong About Natural Gas</a></h2>
<div class="postmetadata">
<small>July 24th, 2012 sweeden </small> Posted in <a href="http://blogs.epmag.com/guests/category/uncategorized/" rel="category tag" title="View all posts in Uncategorized">Uncategorized</a> | </div>
<div>
By Julia Bell, Researcher, <a href="http://www.energyindepth.org/key-democrats-to-sierra-club-youre-wrong-about-natural-gas/">Energy in Depth</a><br />
As a fuel source, natural gas represents a rare combination of benefits: affordable, abundant, and clean. The White House has acknowledged this on several occasions, touting also the<a href="http://www.energyindepth.org/the-presidents-big-shout-out-to-shale/"> enormous job creation</a> potential that responsible natural gas development can deliver.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>But for some, denying the facts about natural gas has become a profitable enterprise. The most notable example? The Sierra Club, which recently launched its “Beyond Natural Gas” campaign to stop development of this important source of energy.</strong></span><br />
<br />
Ironically, it was also the Sierra Club that was touting the environmental benefits of natural gas just a few short years ago, back when natural gas was expensive and considered in short supply – we’ll let our readers extrapolate the meaning of that.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>Nonetheless, the facts are still the facts, and it’s telling that the Sierra Club’s new efforts against natural gas not only butt heads with well-established scientific facts about the processes used to extract it, but also with folks that they used to consider their allies – including President Barack Obama, whom the Sierra Club has cheerfully endorsed for reelection.</strong></span> <br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.energyindepth.org/u-n-sierra-club-wrong-about-natural-gas/">United Nations</a> has even pointed out that expanded natural gas use can help the world’s poor and foster a cleaner global environment.<br />
<br />
And just this week, the Sierra Club received even more pushback for its activism against natural gas, this time from US Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and US Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).<br />
Discussing specifically the Sierra Club’s anti-natural gas campaign, Rep. Markey delivered a fairly clear rebuke: “I think environmentalists should want natural gas on the table as an option,” Markey said, adding later that he thinks it would “be wise for us to not take natural gas off the table.”<br />
When Sen. Wyden was asked about the Sierra Club’s “Beyond Natural Gas” campaign, he issued a similarly unequivocal rejection: “This is what I tell environmental folks: natural gas is really important to a lot of renewables, solar and wind, ensuring that option is out there.”<br />
<br />
In describing the environmental benefits, Wyden added, “Natural gas is the cleanest of the fossil fuels, so you start with that as your basic proposition.”<br />
<br />
So for those keeping score at home, those acknowledging the safety and benefits of natural gas development include President Obama, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Energy, <a href="http://www.energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/EID_State-Regulators.pdf">state regulators</a> from across the country, independent experts from respected universities, and now even prominent members of Congress who are widely recognized for their work on environmental issues. Heck, even a <a href="http://www.energyindepth.org/lights-out-sierra-club-funded-study-finally-puts-discredited-cornell-paper-to-bed/">study funded by the Sierra Club</a> found natural gas to be a comparatively clean source of energy.<br />
<br />
On the other side? Hollywood, <a href="http://www.energyindepth.org/for-josh-fox-the-sun-also-rises/">Josh Fox</a>, and the Sierra Club.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>Gee, I wonder who we should believe?</strong></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://blogs.epmag.com/guests/2012/07/24/key-democrats-to-sierra-club-you%e2%80%99re-wrong-about-natural-gas/?spMailingID=4545580&spUserID=MTUxNzUzNDk0ODgS1&spJobID=49152564&spReportId=NDkxNTI1NjQS1">http://blogs.epmag.com/guests/2012/07/24/key-democrats-to-sierra-club-you%e2%80%99re-wrong-about-natural-gas/?spMailingID=4545580&spUserID=MTUxNzUzNDk0ODgS1&spJobID=49152564&spReportId=NDkxNTI1NjQS1</a>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-74030089522514009162012-07-26T06:10:00.000-07:002012-07-26T06:10:28.715-07:00Shale......The Game Changer?<br />
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<span><a class="UIShareStage_InlineEdit inline_edit" href="http://www.blogger.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">Shale Could Become Game-Changing Catalyst For US</span></a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.epmag.com/Exploration/Shale-B">http://www.epmag.com/Exploration/Shale-B</a>...</div>
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<a class="UIShareStage_InlineEdit inline_edit" href="http://www.blogger.com/">If the US proves successful in unearthing natural gas from shale formations, the geopolitical structure with the world’s top energy producers could shift in the nation’s favor.</a></div>
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<strong>One slide in his presentation showed a map of the world that highlighted areas with high energy usage. Another slide showed the location of major shale developments near those areas. “[Shale gas] basically sits right in our backyard,” he said. “It’s not just about where the resources are located. It’s also about regulatory infrastructure that’s in place that promotes the development of this resource.”</strong></blockquote>
</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-37150856190951681082012-07-25T13:30:00.001-07:002012-07-25T13:30:33.472-07:00Shocking News.........<em>The following article about fracking and how the truth is distorted is not new news, nor is it shocking. People calling themselves "environmentalists" have a long and shameful history of "distorting the facts" when criticizing or protesting everything from climate change, to mining activity, to farming, to wildlife management, and now the process of hydraulic fracturing of underground rock formations to enhance the production of oil and gas. More often than not they resort to emotional fear tactics and leave science by the wayside.</em><br />
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<em>The late, great author Michael Crichton even wrote an excellent book on the subject, titled "State Of Fear". For more about that book go here:</em> <br />
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<a class="gs-title" href="http://petesplace-peter.blogspot.com/2008/07/michael-crichton-interview-with-charlie.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2288bb;"><b>Michael Crichton</b> Interview With Charlie Rose -
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Michael Crichton does not believe it is. He makes some
very astute comments. Also, I highly recommend Crichton's book, "State of Fear".
There is much more about Michael Crichton on this blog, do a search on his
name.</div>
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Michael Crichton Gone. What a shame, what timing. His
writing, his insight, his intellect remain. Do a search on this blog and read
more. In tribute, a humble hats off. Peter More on Michael Crichton: Predicted
Demise of MSM <b>...</b></div>
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Michael Crichton: Our Environmental Future. I wish I could
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read it all here: http://www.crichton-official.com/speeches/npc-speech.html. In
the speech <b>...</b></div>
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Michael Crichton Speech: Environmentalism As Religion. I
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Crichton is worth reading and saving and contemplating. He sees environmentalism
as <b>...</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Experts: Some fracking critics use bad science</strong></span></div>
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By KEVIN BEGOS, Associated Press–
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PITTSBURGH (AP) — In the debate over natural gas drilling, the companies are often the ones accused of twisting the facts. But scientists say opponents sometimes mislead the public, too.<br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>Critics of fracking often raise alarms about groundwater pollution, air pollution, and cancer risks, and there are still many uncertainties. But some of the claims have little — or nothing— to back them.</strong></span><br />
For example, reports that breast cancer rates rose in a region with heavy gas drilling are false, researchers told The Associated Press.<br />
<br />
Fears that natural radioactivity in drilling waste could contaminate drinking water aren't being confirmed by monitoring, either.<br />
<br />
And concerns about air pollution from the industry often don't acknowledge that natural gas is a far cleaner burning fuel than coal.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>"The debate is becoming very emotional. And basically not using science"</strong></span> on either side, said Avner Vengosh, a Duke University professor studying groundwater contamination who has been praised and criticized by both sides.<br />
<br />
Shale gas drilling has attracted national attention because advances in technology have unlocked billions of dollars of gas reserves, leading to a boom in production, jobs, and profits, as well as concerns about pollution and public health. Shale is a gas-rich rock formation thousands of feet underground, and the gas is freed through a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in which large volumes of water, plus sand and chemicals, are injected to break the rock apart.<br />
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Continued: <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jCUQcMjaT-TJqizs7WRB1zIw8rzA?docId=cef00570f618477d8e9fcb53579af91c&goback=%2Egde_156898_member_138056030">http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jCUQcMjaT-TJqizs7WRB1zIw8rzA?docId=cef00570f618477d8e9fcb53579af91c&goback=%2Egde_156898_member_138056030</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/slideshow/ALeqM5jCUQcMjaT-TJqizs7WRB1zIw8rzA?docId=cef00570f618477d8e9fcb53579af91c&index=0" id="ss-image-anchor"><img alt="" id="ss-image" itemprop="image" src="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5hBGFwRlkrlT-cXV2MbAAfPYtzYYA?docId=24736028b7dd436dac93982924e522b5&size=s2" /></a></div>
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<tr><td colspan="3" id="ss-caption">FILE - In this file photo from Nov. 3, 2010, documentary filmmaker Josh Fox speaks at a rally of protesters against Marcellus Shale drilling and hydraulic fracturing in Pittsburgh. <span style="color: red;"><strong>Researchers say the claim that fracking has been linked to increased cancer rates in Texas is simply wrong</strong></span>. Fox, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker who uses the claim in a new film, declined to acknowledge the error when told of researchers who say <span style="color: red;"><strong>he's doing a disservice to people with cancer by misrepresenting health data.</strong></span> (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)<br />
<br />
<em>(A "disservice" to people is too kind. He's lying to the public for his own personal gain. In my mind that is despicable. Peter)</em></td></tr>
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</table>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-68638143065948878402012-07-21T10:16:00.000-07:002012-07-21T10:16:35.432-07:00Boone Pickens Likes Fracking<em>Not that Boone Pickens has a lot of credibility left, but he is at least repeating what a lot of people active in the oil and gas industry are recognizing. I wonder how long it will take the mainstream media, voters and the people in Washington, D.C. to catch on to the enormous changes taking place in the U.S. and around the world. I say we have some good times coming. We may actually be able to climb out of this massive pit of debt we are in.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Boone Pickens says we have more energy than he imagined, thanks to fracking</span> </span>
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By ELIZABETH SOUDER </div>
<span class="author vcard" style="display: none;"><span class="fn">ELIZABETH SOUDER</span></span> <span class="source-org vcard" style="display: none;"><span class="org fn">The Dallas
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Staff Writer </div>
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<a href="mailto:esouder@dallasnews.com">esouder@dallasnews.com</a> </div>
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<span class="label">Published:</span> 19 July 2012 09:56
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T. Boone Pickens, who used to regularly warn Americans about running out of
oil, said Thursday <span style="color: red;"><strong>the world has far more energy than he ever imagined, thanks
to fracking.</strong></span></div>
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Since oil and gas companies figured out how to use hydraulic fracturing and
horizontal drilling techniques profitably, the amount of available fuel in the
U.S. has boomed. Pickens, who runs hedge fund company BP Capital, said at a
conference Thursday<span style="color: red;"><strong> this boom is about to fundamentally change the world.</strong></span><br />
<br />
“You, me and the rest of America are sitting on a huge change in energy
globally,” he said at the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute’s
Energy Summit in Irving. <br />
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries “isn’t going to have near
the power they have today in five years, maybe in three,” Pickens said.<br />
<br />
Pickens, who made his fortune trying, and failing, to buy big oil companies,
said: <span style="color: red;"><strong>“There’s a lot more energy in the world than I ever imagined there would
be.”</strong></span><br />
<br />
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting water and chemicals
into a well to crack the underground shale and release oil or gas. The process
has boosted domestic production, annoyed people living nearby, increased air
pollution in some places and worried many people about water contamination.<br />
<br />
Pickens has been trying since 2008 to persuade Americans to stop importing
oil from hostile countries and replace it with domestic energy such as natural
gas. He inspired a debate about imported oil but couldn’t persuade Congress to
offer incentives for truckers to switch to natural gas.<br />
“I thought I could sell this in no time. Wrong, wrong. I could not,” he said.
He said more Senate Democrats than Republicans voted for the bill.<br />
<br />
“You all have no idea how many millions of dollars I have put into
Republicans over the years, and I got six votes,” he said.<br />
<br />
He and Railroad Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman, who interviewed Pickens
at the event, agreed the U.S. doesn’t have a real energy plan. “We actually had
a plan, and it was called cheap and imported,” Smitherman joked.<br />
<br />
Instead, Pickens’ Clean Fuels company, which sells natural gas vehicle fuel
pumps, is installing pumps on its own. He said the lower cost of natural gas
compared with diesel is prompting truckers to make the switch.</div>
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</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-44211215968204614962012-07-20T07:26:00.000-07:002012-07-20T07:26:41.279-07:00Searching For The Truth About Fracking<em>Let's watch this and put forth some experienced commentary. Informed decision-making is needed about the issue of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), not mass hysteria.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
<br />
<strong><u><span style="color: #0066cc;">Truthland</span></u></strong><span style="color: #008800;"><span class="style5">July 20, 2012 | Truthland@YouTube</span></span><br />
The <a href="http://geology.com/news/category/natural-gas.shtml" title="natural gas">natural gas</a> industry has prepared a movie, “<a href="http://geology.com/news/2012/truthland.shtml" title="Truthland">Truthland</a>”, that responds to the HBO movie “Gasland”.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iTJaaeiuzSU?rel=0" width="400"></iframe>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-1959333258330383402012-07-19T06:44:00.000-07:002012-07-19T06:44:47.968-07:00Peak Oil? Not Yet, Not For A Long Time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<em>Here is some food (or oil) for thought. Just in case anyone wonders why ExxonMobil bought the horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing expertise of XTO a few years back, here's why. This is of big-time, world class importance. We should all pay close attention. Don't underestimate the Russian Bear.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<hgroup><h1>
Meet The Oil Shale Eighty Times Bigger Than The Bakken</h1>
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<a class="thumb" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2011/12/07/the-worlds-happiest-and-saddest-countries/"><span class="icon"></span><img alt="" src="http://specials-images.forbes.com/imageserve/0eencmTg5rafI/176x176.jpg?fit=scale&background=FFFFFF" /></a><a class="vp_text" href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2011/12/07/the-worlds-happiest-and-saddest-countries/"> The World's Happiest (And Saddest) Countries </a><cite class="box_byline clearfix"><a href="http://blogs.forbes.com/christopherhelman/"><img alt="Christopher Helman" class="avatar" src="http://blogs-images.forbes.com/assets/images/avatars/chelman_40.jpg" /><strong>Christopher Helman</strong><span class="desc">Forbes Staff</span></a></cite><a href="http://blogs.forbes.com/christopherhelman/"></a></div>
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<a class="thumb" href="http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mef45ggld/1-saudi-aramco-12-5-million-barrels-per-day/"><span class="num_images">25 images<span class="icon"></span></span><img alt="" src="http://specials-images.forbes.com/imageserve/04ep0qa5H398h/176x176.jpg?fit=scale&background=FFFFFF" /></a><a href="http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mef45ggld/1-saudi-aramco-12-5-million-barrels-per-day/"><span class="label">Photos: </span>The World's 25 Biggest Oil Companies</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.daylife.com/image/06VBejtbTK9r5?utm_source=zemanta&utm_medium=p&utm_content=06VBejtbTK9r5&utm_campaign=z1"><img alt="An oil drilling rig is seen September 29, 2010..." class="zemanta-img-configured" height="213" src="http://blogs-images.forbes.com/christopherhelman/files/2012/07/300x2135.jpg" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Drilling the Bakken. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)</div>
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Everyone has heard about the Bakken shale, the huge expanse of oil-bearing rock underneath North Dakota and Montana that billionaire <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2011/06/27/tycoon-says-north-dakota-oil-field-will-yield-24-billion-barrels-among-worlds-biggest/" target="_blank">Harold Hamm thinks could yield 24 billion barrels</a> of oil in the decades to come. The Bakken is a huge boon, both to the economic health of the northern Plains states, but also to the petroleum balance of the United States.<span style="color: red;"><strong> From just 60,000 barrels per day five years ago, the Bakken is now giving up 500,000 bpd, with 210,000 bpd of that coming on in just the past year.</strong></span> Given the availability of enough rigs to drill it and crews to frack it, there’s no reason why the Bakken couldn’t be producing more than 1 million bpd by the end of the decade, a level that could be maintained for halfway through the century.</div>
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But as great as the Bakken is, I learned last week about another oil shale play that dwarfs it. It’s called The Bazhenov. It’s in Western Siberia, in Russia. <span style="color: red;"><strong>And while the Bakken is big, the Bazhenov — <a name='more'></a>according to a report last week by Sanford Bernstein’s lead international oil analyst Oswald Clint — “covers 2.3 million square kilometers or 570 million acres, which is the size of Texas and the Gulf of Mexico combined.” This is 80 times bigger than the Bakken.</strong></span></div>
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Getting access to the Bazhenov appears to be a key element in both ExxonMobil and <a href="http://www.forbes.com/companies/statoil/">Statoil</a>‘s <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2012/05/07/in-russian-oil-deal-norways-statoil-follows-exxons-lead-on-hostage-taking/" target="_blank">big new joint ventures with Kremlin-controlled</a> <a href="http://www.forbes.com/companies/rosneft/">Rosneft</a>. Exxon’s recent statement says the two companies have agreed “to jointly develop tight oil production technologies in Western Siberia.”</div>
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No wonder. The geology of the Bazhenov looks just as good if not better. Its pay zone averages about 100 feet thick, and as Clint points out, the Bazhenov has lots of cracks and fractures that could make its oil flow more readily. The couple of test wells that he cites flowed at an average of 400 barrels per day. That’s in line with the Bakken average.</div>
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This Siberian bonanza might be news to most of us, but it’s old news to Big Oil. The conventional oil fields of Siberia have been producing millions of barrels a day for decades — oil that originated in the Bazhenov “source rock” then slowly oozed up over the millenia. From the looks of it, <span style="color: red;"><strong>geologists </strong></span><a href="http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=6595825" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><strong>have been looking</strong></span></a><span style="color: red;"><strong> at the Bazhenov for </strong></span><a href="http://www.onepetro.org/mslib/servlet/onepetropreview?id=00015612" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><strong>more than 20 </strong></span></a><span style="color: red;"><strong>years.</strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>It’s only in the last five years that the technology and expertise has been developed that will enable drillers to harvest it</strong></span>. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/companies/lukoil/">Lukoil</a>‘s president Vagit <a href="http://www.pennenergy.com/index/petroleum/display/4341284811/articles/oil-gas-journal/exploration-development-2/20100/march-2011/lukoil-eyes_siberian.html" target="_blank">Alekperov said a year ago </a>that his company was also experimenting with the shale.</div>
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Analyst Clint figures that it won’t be hard for Big Oil to export their shale-cracking techniques to Siberia. They will be challenged, however by summer weather in Siberia, which softens the ground enough to prevent drilling for much of the season. If Russia can get its act together to deploy 300 drilling rigs to the play, Clint figures Bazhenov could be producing 1 million bpd by 2020.</div>
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This would, of course, have huge geopolitical implications. Russia, though it doesn’t have as many proved reserves as Saudi Arabia, had been outproducing the Saudis for years, averaging about 10 million bpd to Saudi’s 9 million bpd. This year, the <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-20/saudis-pass-russia-as-largest-oil-producer-in-march-jodi-says.html" target="_blank">Saudis are said to have surpassed Russia</a>, leading <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewhulbert/2012/05/20/riyadhs-russia-problem-oil/" target="_blank">some pundits</a> to speculate that Russian oil supply had peaked and was set to begin spiralling down.</div>
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Developing the Bazhenov could reverse that decline. Unlike the Kremlin’s much ballyhooed plan to drill for oil in ice-packed Arctic waters, <span style="color: red;"><strong>the beauty of the Bazhenov is that it is onshore and it underlies an area that is already criss-crossed with pipelines serving mature, conventional fields. No need for expensive icebreakers, cold-weather drillships and subsea pipelines.</strong></span></div>
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If Harold <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2011/06/27/tycoon-says-north-dakota-oil-field-will-yield-24-billion-barrels-among-worlds-biggest/" target="_blank">Hamm is convinced</a> the Bakken will give up 24 billion barrels, a play 80 times bigger like the Bazhenov would imply 1,920 billion barrels. <span style="color: red;"><strong>That’s a preposterous figure, enough oil to satisfy all of current global demand for 64 years, or to do 5 million bpd for more than 1,000 years.</strong></span> Rosneft, says Clint, has already estimated 18 billion barrels on its Bazhenov acreage. Either way, it looks like they’ll still be working the Bazhenov long after <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/vladimir-putin/">Vladimir Putin</a> has finally retired and the Peak Oil crowd realizes there’s more oil out there than we’ve ever imagined.</div>
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<br /><b> This article is available online at: <br /><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2012/06/04/bakken-bazhenov-shale-oil/">http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2012/06/04/bakken-bazhenov-shale-oil/</a></b></div>
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<a href="http://blogs.forbes.com/christopherhelman/">Christopher Helman</a><span class="desc">, Forbes Staff</span></div>
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I'm based in Houston, Texas, energy capital of the world. </div>
</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-38413503998358834182012-07-18T06:10:00.000-07:002012-07-18T06:10:59.091-07:00Oil Boom And Technological Miracles In North Dakota<em>The following is an excellent article explaining the oil shale boom in North Dakota and the fracking process, and aimed at the lay public.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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It’s not just an oil boom, it’s an industrial revolution</h1>
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<span class="author vcard"><span class="fn">By CLAY JENKINSON </span></span><span class="source-org vcard"><span class="org fn">BismarckTribune.com</span></span></div>
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<span class="pubdate">July 15, 2012 2:00 am</span> • <span class="byline"><a href="http://bismarcktribune.com/search/?l=50&sd=desc&s=start_time&f=html&byline=By%20CLAY%20JENKINSON">By CLAY JENKINSON</a></span></div>
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<em>Note: This is the first of several columns Clay Jenkinson will write about his recent tour of the Bakken Oil Fields.</em><br />
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Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Bakken oil fields north and west of Belfield with Ron Ness of the North Dakota Petroleum Council and Blaine Hoffman of the Whiting Oil and Gass Corporation. In the course of a long day we visited two oil rigs, a fracking operation at another site, a plant that collects the gasses that would otherwise have been flared at the well sites, and several Whiting properties in the Badlands that have been reclaimed after all oil extraction at the site has been concluded. It was an amazing, and amazingly generous, tour. I am immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to see the industrial profile of the oil boom through the eyes of such remarkable and dedicated professionals.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>I want to pause first to worship human technology</strong></span>. At some point not many thousand years ago we were wandering around the African savannah plucking berries from shrubs, beating off intruders with clubs, and trying not to let the fire go out because it was so darned hard to get it started again. Today, a guy with a joystick can direct steel well pipe 12,000 feet into the earth, and then TURN a 90 degree corner (with stiff steel pipe), so that, with the same joystick, he can feel his way to a 3-15 foot vein of oil bearing shale thousands of feet away from the turn. Think about this for a moment. We can send down a straw more than two miles into the earth, through some very dense and unyielding formations, and then turn a corner and wander laterally until we reach an exceedingly narrow formation that the entire population of North Dakota could never reach with shovels if they did nothing else for the rest of their lives.<br />
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And that’s just the beginning. Then we send water and a sand-bearing goo down that endless pipe at incredibly high pressure to fracture the oil bearing shale (like a window fan blowing open the pages of a closed book). This releases the oil that is bound up in that shale.<br />
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Two quick conclusions. First, humans must really have an infinite thirst for oil—they go to such lengths and expense to get to it. Second, human ingenuity and creativity (plus the opposable thumb) are magnificent evolutionary tools. We can deposit a live man on the surface of the moon, clone a living goat, talk to someone at the other end of the planet on a device no larger than a cigarette pack, and journey to the center of the earth with a metal probe. After spending a day in the presence of any cutting edge technology, it is virtually impossible not to conclude that human ingenuity is a limitless resource that can solve virtually any problem, and that as long as the United States continues to train and turn loose the human creative spirit at current (Steve Jobs) levels, we will be the masters of the world. There would seem to be a techno-fix for absolutely everything, and yet, as Woody Allen might say, we still can’t balance the budget or get a good pastrami sandwich in Duluth.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>The fracking technology is literally breathtaking</strong></span>. It is also very recent. It has allowed Ron Ness (and others) to project—using currently available technology—<span style="color: red;"><strong>that it will be possible to recover 12-20 billion barrels of oil in western North Dakota. If that is true, the state of North Dakota alone has as much oil as the nations of Qatar or Angola, and a fifth (possibly a quarter) as much recoverable oil as the nations of Iraq and Kuwait. If we come to extract a million barrels a day, that’s three years to a billion barrels. That would seem to indicate somewhere between 20 and 60 years of steady oil extraction before the North Dakota fields play out.</strong></span> And this only represents currently available technology, in a field where the technology is becoming more sophisticated almost by the month.<br />
It is going to require tens of thousands of fracking wells to get all that oil up out of the ground, not to mention storage and shipping facilities, pipelines, rail lines and spurs, refineries, plants to handle the derivatives, water storage and treatment facilities, much wider and more ruggedized roads, and a housing and amenities infrastructure that is going to stagger the imagination. Dickinson is probably going to be a city of 50,000 people (for decades), Williston more, and Watford City, Stanley, Killdeer, Belfield, and other formerly sleepy villages are going to be transformed into something never before seen on the plains of North Dakota.<br />
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You know the old Chinese curse: “may you live in interesting times.” While he was hunting in 1789, French king Louis XVI was told of the fall of the Bastille in Paris. “So it is a rebellion?” he said. “No, sire,” replied the Duke de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt "it is a revolution."<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>The first and most important thing you need to know about this oil boom is that it cannot and must not be compared to the previous booms in the 1950s and the 1980s. The volume is almost infinitely greater.</strong></span> The amount of industrial activity a fracking well requires, as opposed to a traditional well, is greater by magnitudes. It takes approximately 2,000 truck “events” to bring a single well to production. <span style="color: red;"><strong>At this point there is virtually no geological gamble in fracking. We know where the oil bearing shale is. All we have to do is thread our way to it and fracture it, and voila: black gold.</strong></span> In the Bakken boom, it would be more accurate to say we are mining the oil than drilling here and there in hopes of finding a pool (as in previous booms). Because fracking is a more exact science, the wells can be lined up along drilling corridors, every X-thousand feet. This creates remarkable efficiencies in service roads and pipelines, and enables the industry to collect the gasses that have previously been burned off (flared) at the wellhead. Thanks to the real or perceived global scarcity of oil, this boom is very unlikely to collapse. Indeed, this time OPEC does not have sufficient production slack to conspire to undercut the world oil price and lure us back into Saudi oil addiction.<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>For all of its disturbances, dislocations, and growing pains, if we manage this right and protect our people and our landscape to the maximum extent possible under the circumstances, Bakken oil is going to be one of the greatest gifts that ever came to the people of North Dakota.</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><strong>It’s not an oil boom. It’s an industrial revolution.</strong></span><br />
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(Clay Jenkinson is the Theodore Roosevelt Center scholar at Dickinson State University, as well as Distinguished Scholar of the Humanities at Bismarck State College and director of the Dakota Institute. Clay can be reached at <a href="mailto:Jeffysage@aol.com">Jeffysage@aol.com</a> or through his website, <a href="http://jeffersonhour.org/">Jeffersonhour.org</a>.)</div>
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</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-90826271525543481252012-07-18T05:46:00.000-07:002012-07-18T05:46:54.793-07:00$1 Billion Per Day Benefit To US From Oil And Gas<em>What have "green energy" and Obama's energy policy done for us lately, (other than waste Billions of dollars)?</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<img hspace="4" src="http://geology.com/a/united-states.gif" /><a class="style2" href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2012-07-11/natural-gas-finds-lower-energy-costs/56157080/1" target="_blank"><strong>$1 Billion/Day in Oil and Natural Gas Benefits</strong></a><br /><span style="color: #008800;"><span class="style5">July 17, 2012 | USA Today</span></span><br />
A Bank of America Merrill Lynch study reports that new domestic oil and <a href="http://geology.com/news/category/natural-gas.shtml" title="natural gas">natural gas</a> production is bringing a billion dollars in benefits to the United States every day.<br />
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read more here: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2012-07-11/natural-gas-finds-lower-energy-costs/56157080/1">http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/story/2012-07-11/natural-gas-finds-lower-energy-costs/56157080/1</a>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-53909562896027260222012-07-17T11:27:00.000-07:002012-07-17T11:27:27.114-07:00Economic Optimism For Ohio And Utica Shale Oil And Gas<em>It sure looks to me like Ohio and the rest of the "Rust Belt" could use some positive economic news. Let's hope the development of the Utica Shale (and the other shale formations) for oil and gas works out. The area has attracted a lot of industry interest, and usually these companies do not invest the amounts of money they have been putting into leasing up acreage in Ohio without being pretty certain of success. This is an emerging play to pay close attention to.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">BP CEO: In Early Stages Of Evaluating Ohio's Shale Potential</span></div>
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by Dow Jones Newswires</div>
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Source: <a href="http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=119393">http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=119393</a></div>
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BP PLC is in the early stages of evaluating Ohio's energy potential but believes the state--which is home to the emerging Utica shale--could be a significant contributor to the energy industry, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said Friday.</div>
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In a speech in Cleveland, Mr. Dudley said BP technicians are already on the ground "advancing a plan to safely appraise the resources" the company is prospecting in leases acquired about four months ago in the Utica and Point Pleasant shales, according to a transcript of the speech.<br />
The executive cited estimates by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that put the state's recoverable shale potential at up to 5.5 billion barrels of oil and 15.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.<br />
"In the coming months, we expect to acquire seismic surveys, prepare a development plan and survey land for initial wells to be drilled next year," Mr. Dudley said.<br />
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BP is one of several companies seeking to tap the unconventional oil resources that have revolutionized energy production in the U.S<br />
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Production of natural gas in the neighboring Marcellus shale, which underlies several northeastern states, has revitalized formerly depressed areas by providing cheap energy for steel manufacturing and low-cost feedstock for chemical products. The oil industry hopes that the shales underlying Ohio could have large deposits of profitable crude oil.<br />
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<span style="color: #aaaaaa; font-size: 8pt;">Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc</span></div>
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</tbody></table>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-16896968452246965992012-07-17T09:33:00.001-07:002012-07-17T09:33:57.256-07:00EnCana Success In The Mancos Shale In New Mexico's San Juan Basin<em>The Mancos Shale and its stratigraphic equivalents can be found containing oil and gas from New Mexico, north throught the American Rocky Mountains, into Canada, and actually up into the North Slope of Alaska. There's no reason a lot of it can not be productive. I think we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">The Next Oil Rich Shale on the Block? Encana Corp. releases first Mancos Shale results</span></strong> <br />
<a data-contentpermalink="http://www.daily-times.com/ci_20926726/encana-corp-releases-first-mancos-shale-results" href="http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=5623545353522384930&gid=3044492&type=member&item=128309589&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Edaily-times%2Ecom%2Fci_20926726%2Fencana-corp-releases-first-mancos-shale-results&urlhash=HOTr&goback=%2Emyg%2Egmp_3044492%2Egde_3044492_member_128309589" target="_blank">Encana Corp. releases first Mancos Shale results</a><span class="content-source">daily-times.com</span><br />
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FARMINGTON — Encana Corp. will drill a total of 12 wells targeting Mancos Shale oil after receiving encouraging results from its first test well, the company announced last week.</div>
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<br /><span style="color: red;"><strong>The well, Lybrook H36, yielded a 30-day initial production rate of about 440 barrels of oil per day, Encana disclosed to investors. </strong></span><br />An Encana spokesman said the initial production was enough to warrant further development. "That's an indication that we're pleased with the results we've seen to date," Encana's Doug Hock said. <br /><br />The figure is the first publicly released data from a test well targeting Mancos Shale oil. <br /><br />Geologists and industry officials have expressed hope that technological advances would enable wells to reach the oil-rich shale in the San Juan Basin, an area better known for producing natural gas. <br /><br />Encana is partnering with local firms, including Aztec Well Servicing Co. and Dugan Production Corp., to exploit leases in the southern portion of the basin targeting oil-rich formations. Aztec is drilling the wells, and Dugan has taken advantage of its property interests in the area. <br /><br />A sharp decline in natural gas prices has driven drillers to search for oil. <br /><br />"Our strategy as a company right now is to increase the amount of natural gas liquids and oil in our portfolio," Hock said. "Given that, our exploration in the San Juan Basin is a key part of that, and that's why you've seen the commitment there to explore that." <br /><br />Encana has a 174,000-net-acre position in the basin, the company said. <br /><br />A major firm based in Calgary, Alberta, Encana has four Mancos Shale wells producing oil and a fifth being drilled, the company disclosed. Lybrook H36 was drilled into the Gallup formation, part of the Mancos Shale, to a lateral length of 4,100 feet and at a cost of $4.3 million. <br /><br />The well is located about 50 miles south of Bloomfield in Sandoval County. <br /><br /><span style="color: red;"><strong>At current oil prices, the well is producing more than $35,000 a day.</strong></span> <em>(Beats a government subsidy all to heck. Peter)</em><br /><strong><span style="color: red;">The production is about 10 times what one would expect from a traditional vertical well in the Gallup formation, said John Byrom, president and CEO of D.J. Simmons Inc., a Farmington independent producer. </span></strong><br /><br />"I'd take it," Byrom said. <br /><br />Steve Dunn, drilling and production manager at Merrion Oil & Gas in Farmington, said the results are "very encouraging." <br /><br />Merrion also is active in the Mancos Shale, partnering with a larger company to drill four wells. Dunn said he cannot disclose the partner. Merrion plans to drill its wells in September, he said.</div>
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</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-38175002624756606202012-07-16T22:05:00.000-07:002012-07-16T22:05:48.742-07:00Challenging Russia With Shale Gas, Horizontal Drilling And Hydraulic Fracturing<div class="storyInnerContent">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><em>Here's one way for Europe to get out of debt.........a novel idea......produce something tangible.....like natural gas and sell it for more than it costs to produce.</em></span></h6>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><em>Peter</em></span> <span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></h6>
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<span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="font-size: small;"># Gator 2012-07-16 14:22 <br /> Yep, the evil capitalists of the evil empire are about to accidentally save the world, again! <br /> <br /> Kermit said it best, 'It ain't easy being green'. No, and it must be highly embarrassing... <br /> <br /> </span><a href="http://www.climatechangedispatch.com/home/10332-the-new-cold-war-over-shale-gas" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>http://</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>www.climatechangedispatch.com/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>home/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span><span>10332-the-new-cold-war-over-sha</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break"></span>le-gas</span></a></span></h6>
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<a href="http://www.climatechangedispatch.com/home/10332-the-new-cold-war-over-shale-gas"><span style="font-size: large;">The New Cold War Over Shale Gas</span></a><input name="charset_test" type="hidden" value="€,´,€,´,水,Д,Є" /><input autocomplete="off" name="fb_dtsg" type="hidden" value="AQBVTnxq" /><input autocomplete="off" name="feedback_params" type="hidden" value="{"actor":"100000016737990","target_fbid":"312095602220723","target_profile_id":"100000016737990","type_id":"17","assoc_obj_id":"","source_app_id":"0","extra_story_params":[],"content_timestamp":"1342499935","check_hash":"AQD6Nr7uLWpvM-Sl","source":"1"}" /><span class="uiStreamFooter"><span class="UIActionLinks UIActionLinks_bottom" data-ft="{"tn":"=","type":20}"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="author"> Written by Dr. Benny Peiser, GWPF </span> | <span class="created"> July 16 2012 </span></div>
<img alt="shalegas" height="182" src="http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9074/shalegas1.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" width="318" /><span style="color: red;"><strong>Almost all European countries have some shale gas deposits. If hydraulic fracturing can be used on a commercial scale in Europe, the price of natural gas there will plummet</strong></span>. <em>(Maybe...Peter)</em> It could force Russia to start working for a living and would have radical political repercussions. The challenge facing Gazprom is to convince nations that pay it exorbitant sums of foreign currency to forgo a technology that can save them a lot of money, create local jobs and support their political independence. This time, the mobilizing ideology is not anti-capitalism but environmentalism. Russia’s Mr. Putin has become a great champion of other countries’ environments. Gazprom and Russia pay directly or indirectly, through public-relations firms and environmentalist groups, for the creation of grand coalitions with authentic environmentalist groups. --Aviezer Tucker, <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/13/new-cold-war-over-shale-gas-russia-inflames-enviro/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Washington Times, 13 July 2012</a></li>
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>Moscow will do everything in its power to prevent shale developments for those perched close to its borders. Obviously this is all being couched in ‘environmental’ terms, but the underlying political reality is that Central European states are buckling under Russia pressure, most of whom remain entirely dependent on Moscow to keep warm in the winter.</strong></span> <em>(The caring but naive environmentalists are being duped, fooled and used again......Peter)</em> But by failing to take the free European shale pass, Russia now stands every chance of winning a new long terms lease of life. When they do, they’ll start thinking about developing their own enormous shale reserves that some think are around ten times larger than the entire European map. And as it just ‘so happens’, Exxon et al are already working on exactly that prospect in the giant Bazhenov and Achimov Russian fields. Phew; European shale doesn’t matter after all. We’ll have tonnes and tonnes of expensive Russian gas to keep us warm instead. Matthew Hulbert, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewhulbert/2012/07/12/why-european-shale-is-totally-fracked/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Forbes, 12 July 2012</a></li>
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>Geologically, the chances of finding shale gas in Europe are every bit as good as in America. France, Poland, Britain and Ukraine look promising, and decent quantities may yet be found in other countries. America’s EIA puts Europe’s recoverable reserves on a par with America’s.</strong></span> <strong><span style="color: red;">But there the similarities end. Perhaps the most important difference is in property rights. In America individuals generally own the minerals under their property. Since a gas strike will make them rich, they will generally be enthusiastic about extracting the stuff. <u>In Europe mineral rights mostly belong to the state</u></span></strong>. --<a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21558458" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Economist, 14 July 2012</a></li>
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>You may not have noticed, but there is something happening to the American electricity supply that we've never seen before. Not in 1973 or 1950 or even in 1900</strong></span>. As long as Americans have made electricity, they've gotten more of it from coal than from any fuel. While petroleum and natural gas have played huge roles in our energy system, coal's been responsible for more than 65 percent of the fossil-fuel electricity we've generated for most of the last 50 years. <span style="color: red;"><strong>But natural gas is in the process of overtaking coal as the top fuel in America -- and fast.</strong></span> The energy system, as you can see in the chart, tends to change slowly. But just look at the last three years in the chart below. That's the kind of growth that you tend to see in the high tech industry, not energy. That's an honest-to-goodness hockey stick. --Alexis Madrigal, <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/the-huge-shift-in-our-energy-system-thats-happening-right-now-in-1-chart/259823/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Atlantic, 13 July 2012</a></li>
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Here’s a tester for you. Which raft of energy policies gets proven ‘greener’ results? Is it the anti-fossil fuel, cap-and-trade regulatory regimes of socialist Europe? Or is it the path of technological innovation set by the ‘evil’ capitalists in the Kyoto-eschewing Bush White House? <span style="color: red;"><strong>In what has to be the irony of ironies, Europe’s consumption of coal grew by 3.3 percent in 2011. Over in the United States in 2012, however, coal burning to generate power continued to decline, primarily due to America’s switch to shale gas. U.S. levels of carbon emission are currently plummeting; a feat Europe has no chance of matching, not least as coal use is on the increase.</strong></span> It’s a situation that ought to bring the whole raft of EU market-interfering policies geared to reducing carbon emissions into sharper focus. Policies that can only be characterize by three S’s: sheer synchronized stupidity. --Peter Glover, <a href="http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm/11160/Irony-of-Ironies-Europe-Switches-to-Coal-as-US-Gas-Glut-Reduces-Emissions" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Energy Tribune, 13 July 2012</a></li>
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>With China having put shale gas near the top of the government agenda for energy security concerns, the scramble for this game-changing unconventional gas is gathering momentum.</strong></span> The Ministry of Land and Resources said that more than 70 companies have shown their interest in participating in the country's much talked about second tender for domestic shale gas blocks, which is estimated to kick off this month or next. The ever-growing shale gas fever in China, buoyed by the United State's revolutionary breakthroughs in the sector, has turned the new sector that has yet to take off into a new gold rush for companies in the country. --Zhou Yan, <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-07/16/content_15583281.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">China Daily, 16 July 2012</a></li>
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The French government may review its position on shale gas as part of the planned mining code revision, Les Echos reported, citing unidentified industry ministry officials. Energy Minister Delphine Batho will hold talks with non- governmental organizations and there could be some progress on the issue by the end of the month, the daily business newspaper said. The previous French government passed a law last year banning hydraulic fracturing of shale though “experiments aimed solely at scientific research” are still allowed, the newspaper said. --Steve Rhinds, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-16/french-government-may-look-again-at-shale-gas-les-echos-says.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bloomberg, 16 July 2012</a></li>
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Policies governing the European Union's drive towards a low- carbon economy should not lose sight of the need to retain the bloc's industrial base, Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said in a newspaper column on Monday. Oettinger, a German national, echoed rising concern about runaway power prices in his home country, where subsidising of fast-expanding green power is burdening industrial and household consumers. --<a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/07/16/europe-oettinger-industry-idUKL6E8IG19B20120716" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Reuters, 16 July 2012</a></li>
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</div>Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-72882845114144121812012-07-16T11:01:00.000-07:002012-07-16T11:01:59.073-07:00More Evidence That Fracking Not Harmful<em>It is very important to understand that every oil and gas well is different. It is equally, if not more important to realize the geology of every area where these wells are being drilled is different. There are a great number of variables affecting an area's groundwater and its usage. There are many naturally occurring "contaminants" in ground water. It is far from perfectly pure like the TV advertisements. Because of all these variables, there is no "one-size fits all" definition of how a well can be drilled, horizontally or otherwise, fracked (the process of hydraulic fracturing of the underground rock formation) and used to produce oil and or natural gas.</em><br />
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<em>The fact is, millions of wells have been drilled all over the United States, not to mention the world, millions(?) have been fracked, and very little of this activity has harmed the ground water being used for human activity. The few horror stories occurred in the early stages of development, decades ago. Even the terrible accident in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago is a rarity and occurred under unique circumstances. Facts are facts. If we can get past the politically-motivated, ideological fear-mongering taking place in the mass media, we'll see that fracking can be done in a safe and productive manner.</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">Duke study determines hydraulic
fracturing likely had no role in elevated salinity of Marcellus area water<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt;">The underlying geology seems
likely to be the cause of brine and methane migration into drinking water, as
the Duke team found elevated levels of methane contamination in drinking water
wells located within a kilometer of hydraulic fracturing, but found no evidence
of contamination from fracturing fluids."These results reinforce our
earlier work showing no evidence of brine contamination from shale gas
exploration," said Robert Jackson, co-author of the study. <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001JoiofCC__PgF1kJ_LLFzMAJG7G5kDXmQe2KcUHrmDtptAYyUy8HU4hxPDB3IHXRT5evY1THWJE8CNyGdt9FSDyBabtaAG_D76oRPlB8B7xJIX0vyRd3MWfvz61ePIhgIzpazeaHnK_phEN7zFS9EgDqs-g37924Kcuvb5F1oZP1ynIHxe4nvJcmJNuIrL7wgs-KQvlurOnmvMIgypaP2XrbUB2QYGytMCUqlE8sLYt7tG_O3cfX_Vw==" linktype="1" shape="rect" target="_blank" track="on"><span style="color: #336699;">Article
here</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt;"> <a href="http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/119218/Duke_Study_Fracking_Not_Likely_Behind_Higher_Marcellus_Water_Salinity">http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/119218/Duke_Study_Fracking_Not_Likely_Behind_Higher_Marcellus_Water_Salinity</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8145393955451655449.post-15978890618153007612012-07-16T10:34:00.001-07:002012-07-16T10:34:48.506-07:00Good News From The Marcellus<em>News of a great new well is always welcome. Congratulations Consul!</em><br />
<em>Peter</em><br />
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Consol says Pennsylvania Marcellus well is its most prolific</h1>
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Washington (Platts)--13Jul2012/323 pm EDT/1923 GMT</div>
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Consol Energy said Friday that a Marcellus Shale well it drilled in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, <span style="color: red;">achieved a peak 24-hour production rate of 17,900 Mcf, the highest of any well in the company's history. </span><br /> The Pittsburgh-based company also said it drilled 17 Marcellus wells in the second quarter and placed 18 online. <br /><br /> Consol said its 2012 gas production guidance is 157 to 159 Bcf net to Consol, with third-quarter gas production expected to be 40 to 42 Bcf. <br /><br /> The company, which is also a major Appalachian coal producer, said its gas division for the first time used water from coal mines for hydraulic fracturing. The three-well Morris 14 pad in southwestern Pennsylvania was fracked with a 10% blend of mine-sourced water. The pad came on line in early July and was producing at an initial rate of 18,000 Mcf/d.<br /><br />--Rodney White, rodney_white@platts.com --Edited by Linsey Isaacs, linsey_isaacs@platts.comPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12792460740514151650noreply@blogger.com0