With the number of large companies taking stakes in the United States shale gas plays will a glut of natural gas develop? An article on the Reuters website reports that Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, says he does not see the world swamped with natural gas.

An article on the Reuters website argues that the TransCanada Pipeline will still be need – after several major US gas plays are rapidly being developed.

From the Alabama Geological Survey’s Conasauga Formation Shale Gas Play website.: “The Conasauga Shale Gas Pool should initially be defined as that interval of the Conasauga Shale productive of hydrocarbons between 1,946 feet and 6,944 feet as indicated on the Array Induction-GR Density-APS log of the Dominion Black Warrior Basin, Inc. Newman 27-07-06 Well, Permit No. 14495 including those strata productive of hydrocarbons which can be correlated therewith, and all zones in communication therewith, and productive extensions thereof. However, the upper and lower productive limits of the Conasauga Shale Gas Pool in the proposed field have yet to be fully defined. Said pool constitutes a separate and distinct gas producing pool in said field, separate and distinct from any other producing pool in said field.”

From the Alabama Geological Survey website: “To assist in the development of emerging gas shale plays in Alabama, the Geological Survey of Alabama is conducting a three-year study on the geology and development potential of gas shale in the Black Warrior basin and Appalachian thrust belt of Alabama. These areas contain a diversity of emerging gas shale plays in Cambrian through Mississippian strata.”

Some legislators in Harrisburg are trying to raise more revenue from the Marcellus Shale while others are trying to put on the brakes to reduce environmental impacts. More in an article at Philly.com.

An AP article in the Charleston Daily Mail says that “gas drilling in Appalachia yields a foul byproduct” – in reference to the wastewater associated with hydraulic fracturing.

“During the past four years, more than twenty wells were drilled or re-entered in Lamar, Pickens, Tuscaloosa, Blount, and Cullman Counties, Alabama, to attempt completions in the Mississippian Floyd Shale or Devonian Chattanooga Shale.” More at the Alabama Geological Survey website.

An article on the Oil and Gas Journal website reports that the Sumitomo Corporation of Japan is considering a stake in the Marcellus Shale gas play. Last year they invested in Barnett Shale acreage.

Natural gas prices can vary significantly from one state to another. Supply, demand, delivery costs and regulatory environments can all have an impact on the price of natural gas. The prices shown below are residential rates from 2009 but you can download a diversity of current and historical prices at the Energy Information Administration website.

Exxon Mobil has made some major recent investments in onshore natural gas that have some people asking if the company is changing directions. An article on the Houston Chronicle website reports on comments by David Rosenthal, Exxon Mobil’s VP of Investor Relations that address these questions.

“The Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management launched several reforms to the onshore oil and gas leasing process in an effort to improve protections for land, water, and wildlife and reduce potential conflicts that can lead to costly and time-consuming protests and litigation of leases. In addition, Secretary Salazar issued a Secretarial Order creating a new Energy Reform Team.” Quoted from the DOI website.

An article on the RigZone website reports: Although California has an improved natural gas supply situation, the state senate is still considering bills that relate to new LNG facilities that might come to the state.

A Houston Chronicle article reports that a proposed pipeline to carry natural gas from the North Slope, through Canada and on to markets in Alaska and the 48 states could cost up to $41 billion. A competing project would carry the gas to a proposed LNG facility at Valdez.

Just a few years ago Russia invested heavily in the Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea with the intent of exporting that gas as LNG to the United States. Now the US has several giant shale gas fields and the Russians have all of that Shtokman gas plus opportunities to develop their own shales. More at the United Press International website.

In China, the Ministry of Land and Resources hopes to raise the country’s annual shale gas production to 15-30 billion cubic meters by 2020. More in a SmartMoney.com article.