Ten major natural gas export terminal projects are sparking a debate over the complicated balance between low domestic prices and the health of natural gas producers facing contracting returns on their investment in new production.
Would US exports of liquefied natural gas support an industry that’s struggling to produce the fuel at record-low prices, or would they deprive gas users of the benefits of those super-low rates? Keep reading →
The Obama administration tightened rules on hydraulic fracturing late last week, requiring the disclosure of chemicals used in the process when done on federal and American Indian lands. The new rules will also require additional testing of oil and gas well construction and require the industry to have a management plan for the water used in the process. “This proposed rule will strengthen the requirements for hydraulic fracturing performed on federal and Indian lands in order to build public confidence and protect the health of American communities, while ensuring continued access to the important resources that make up our energy economy,” the Interior Department said in a statement. The move is part of a broader administration effort to increase rules for the controversial practice. Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency tightened air pollution requirements for new oil and gas wells.
Natural gas exports are clearly in the US national interest, concludes a year-long Brookings Institution study, and the Department of Energy should approve the nine export applications now pending.
All the projects won’t get built because there’s not a big enough global market for all the liquefied natural gas they could produce, said Charles Ebinger, Director of the Brookings’ Energy Security Initiative, who led the study team. Keep reading →
Who has the power in the power industry?
Minority communities for years have seen large industrial facilities as environmental justice issues, says CASEnergy’s Patrick Moore, with high-impact plants built in their midst because they’re powerless to stop it, but he insists nuclear is different. Keep reading →
Plans to roll back parts of Pennsylvania’s controversial new law on natural gas development would make the state less attractive to energy companies seeking to develop the Marcellus Shale, one of America’s biggest gas fields, critics say.
Democratic lawmakers in the state House want to remove a measure in Act 13 that restricts the control of municipalities over gas development, and to cancel a section that requires doctors to sign a confidentiality agreement if gas companies disclose the identities of fracking chemicals to them. Keep reading →
Researchers at a Swiss science and technology university testing out which is the most cost-effective renewable energy source in developing countries have made a surprising discovery.
The team calculated the cost of generating a tenth of the electricity demand for each of six countries using either wind turbines or photovoltaic cells. The countries were: Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya, Nicaragua and Thailand. Keep reading →
The natural gas industry in Pennsylvania is trying to disprove criticism of its fracking practices by preemptively issuing new voluntary guidelines even as the sector comes under greater scrutiny.
A group representing the natural gas industry in the Marcellus Shale issued its first recommendations on industry best practices in an effort improve its conservation ethic and deflect criticism that operators are damaging natural landscapes with wells, roads and compressor stations. Keep reading →
Natural gas industry calls for relying on statewide standards of regulation received a setback when a Pennsylvania court placed a temporary injunction on a new law that limits local control over the industry.
Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Keith Quigley ordered on April 11 that local ordinances over zoning for oil and gas installations must remain in place for the time being, placing a temporary hold on part of Pennsylvania’s new Act 13, a wide-ranging law governing development of the Marcellus Shale, one of America’s biggest natural gas fields. Keep reading →
The Capital Building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
A new Pennsylvania law that soon goes into effect will require natural gas drillers to comply with stricter environmental sustainability and transparency measures. The law, called Act 13, was signed by Governor Tom Corbett in February of this year and goes into effect on April 16th. Keep reading →
A truck with the natural gas industry, one of thousands that pass through the area daily, drives through the countryside to a hydraulic fracturing site on January 18, 2012 in Springville, Pennsylvania.
In the continuing debate over whether fracking for natural gas contaminates drinking water, a new health center in the midst of Pennsylvania’s drilling country may provide fresh clues. Keep reading →
