Unconventional Resources

U.S. Forces Prepare To Withdraw From Iraq After 8-Year Presence

Two timely research studies from think tanks inside the Beltway address energy security with particular focus on America’s new role in rearranging the established global energy order. This order is in flux precisely because of the renaissance in the American energy sector ignited by its shale (tight) oil and gas boom. Over the last decade,… Keep reading →

Fracking In California Under Spotlight As Some Local Municipalities Issue Bans

The story of the impact of oil and natural gas production story in Ohio is old – and new. Old in the sense the state was one of the country’s earliest producers of oil and natural gas. But also new, because development of the Utica Shale play in the past few years is responsible for… Keep reading →

Sydney's Water Babies

One emerging theme at CERA Week, currently underway in Houston, is the need for major oil companies to reduce capital expenditure amid range-bound oil prices and escalating costs. Chevron CEO John Watson reportedly said “One hundred dollars per barrel is becoming the new $20, in our business.” So ostensibly oil prices need to increase by… Keep reading →

Anti-fracking Protest Camp At Barton Moss

You can’t un-ring that bell, but Total CEO Christophe de Margerie laments the fact “hydraulic fracturing” became the widely accepted terminology for the controversial well completion technology. De Margerie’s dissatisfaction with the term appears to stem from a belief that it sounds overly complex and scares the general public. The French oil major’s chief made… Keep reading →

Scenes From Predominantly Muslim Region Of Xinjiang In China

In the past three years, Beijing’s projections for 2030 oil and gas output increased by a third to almost 700 million tons of oil equivalent, based on hopes of developing unconventional oil and gas. Production last year of oil and natural gas was 318.9 million tons of oil equivalent. With traditional oil production practically stagnant… Keep reading →

Nordic Combined - Day 14

A new estimate of marketable resources in Canada’s Montney Shale spanning Alberta and British Columbia suggests that the play holds enough gas to meet the entire country’s 2012 demand for well over a century. “Total Canadian natural gas demand in 2012 was 88 billion m3 (3.1 Tcf), making the Montney gas resource equivalent to 145… Keep reading →

Tasmanian Miners Found Alive

Australia has a lot going for it that other potential shale gas producers lack, like access to capital markets, existing infrastructure and a history of natural gas development. But natural gas development projects – conventional and unconventional – can be expensive and landed prices in Asia – despite proximity – could be higher than delivered… Keep reading →

George Osborne Visits Scotland

Energy and utility company use of aircraft has soared in recent months, jumping 35 percent in the first half of the year, Jet Support Services Inc. (JSSI), says. While that includes corporate jets, it also means pilots ferrying workers to oil rigs and other remote locations as companies continue to look farther afield for resources… Keep reading →

Google Opens New Berlin Office

By: John W. Schoen | CNBC.com Economics Reporter Corporate leaders give themselves a lousy grade on their efforts to develop sustainable supplies of natural resources strained by a growing global population and a rapidly expanding middle class of consumers. With demand for everything from food and water to rare earth minerals expected to continue to… Keep reading →

Oil Boom Shifts The Landscape Of Rural North Dakota

The US energy landscape today compared with 10 years ago is virtually unrecognizable, as the script with regard to import-dependent demand has been flipped to a potential export story. The seemingly moribund US natural gas industry characterized by decreasing reserves and production is now the apple of the world’s eye, with governments and private companies… Keep reading →