Monitoring shale gas drilling has been a central technology question for oil and gas companies seeking to take advantage of huge potential reserves in the US.
“A technology to remotely monitor conditions at energy-rich Marcellus Shale gas wells to help insure compliance with environmental requirements has been developed through a research partnership funded by the US Department of Energy,” the department announced today. Keep reading →
Pennsylvania’s newly passed bill imposing fees on natural gas drillers charges the industry far too little, doesn’t do enough to protect the environment, and was drafted in secret by Republican lawmakers who sought to curtail public debate on the measure, Democrats in the state claim.
House Democrats, who lost the decisive vote on the measure last week, argued that Republicans kept the 174-page bill under wraps until less than 24 hours before it was debated on the House floor because they were concerned that parts of it would be so unpopular among the public that it would fail to pass the legislature. Keep reading →
Pennsylvania lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that would impose fees on natural gas companies drilling in the state’s Marcellus Shale formation and allow the revenue to be used by local communities to offset the impact of the state’s booming shale-gas industry.
If signed into law as expected by Governor Tom Corbett, the bill will end Pennsylvania’s status as the only US gas-producing state that does not impose any kind of levy on energy companies for natural gas drilling. Keep reading →
The hydraulic fracturing technology that opened vast US natural gas shale resources could be snared in what one analyst calls “a regulatory race to the top.”
The industry is arguing that regulation of hydraulic fracturing should stay at the state level, where it is traditionally managed. Environmentalists disagree, saying the states’ record is spotty and tougher federal standards are needed. The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the issues, and aims for proposed rules in 2014. Keep reading →
When the US EPA found water contamination from hydraulic fracturing in Pavilion, Wyoming, the natural gas industry cried innocence.
Many pointed out that in the Wyoming case, hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) took place in very shallow areas close to fresh water aquifers. In most fracking locations, including the Marcellus shale, natural gas is extracted from shale thousands of feet below the fresh water, with rock separating the two layers. Keep reading →
Plans to tax the booming natural gas industry in Pennsylvania were the focus of dueling bills among state lawmakers on Wednesday, with proposed tax rates varying between one and three percent of revenue from production.
A bill passed by the Republican-controlled Senate late Tuesday would tax the industry at about 3 percent, while a House amendment being debated Wednesday seeks a rate of 1 percent, which would be the lowest of any gas-producing state. Keep reading →
