Cuadrilla is looking for approval to frack the first horizontal well into shale rock in Britain – in Lancashire, to be precise – and it’s holding up Pennsylvania as an example of how it can be done without damaging a bucolic countryside. “Pennsylvania has the Marcellus Shale, which is one of the largest shale plays in the… Keep reading →
The central United States has undergone a dramatic increase in seismicity over the past 6 years. From 1973-2008, there was an average of 24 earthquakes of magnitude 3 and larger per year. From 2009-2014, the rate steadily increased, averaging 193 per year and peaking in 2014 with 688 earthquakes. So far in 2015, there have… Keep reading →
It holds the potential to cause problems, but so far hasn’t – that seems to be the thrust of a long-awaited government study on fracking and its impact on drinking water that was released on Thursday. Going back several years, this has been one of the hot-button issues involving hydraulic fracturing, a key technique that has helped unlock extensive… Keep reading →
Shale-Oil Producers Ready to Raise Production Wall Street Journal: After slashing production for months, U.S. shale-oil companies say they are ready to bring rigs back into service, setting up the first big test of their ability to quickly react to rising crude prices. Last week, EOG Resources Inc. EOG, -0.08% said it would ramp up… Keep reading →
As if being in the middle of Tornado Alley wasn’t enough, Oklahoma is now at the heart of Earthquake Country. “The earthquake rate in Oklahoma has increased so significantly that it raises the risk of a larger damaging earthquake….Oklahomans should be concerned about this increased risk.” — William Leith, senior science advisor for earthquake hazards… Keep reading →
Green groups are contemplating the next battle after the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline is over. While no one knows what the ultimate fate of the pipeline will be, the decision will come soon and activists will need to move on to other issues. Green groups including the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council,… Keep reading →
Tracking regulatory changes in the oil and gas industry is no minor undertaking. After all, when someone speaks of “the oil and gas industry,” that person isn’t simply referencing some narrowly defined zone of activity.
Countries across the globe like to talk a big game about developing their domestic shale oil and gas resources and sometimes utter lofty expectations of energy independence. Progress, however, has been very slow. The following map by the World Resources Institute (WRI) illustrates locations of the 20 countries with the largest shale gas and tight… Keep reading →
Obama’s Claim that Keystone XL Oil ‘Bypasses the U.S.’ Earns Four Pinocchios The Washington Post (Glenn Kessler): President Obama, seeking to explain his veto of a bill that would have leapfrogged the approval process for the Keystone XL pipeline, in an interview with a North Dakota station repeated some false claims that had previously earned him… Keep reading →
