New LNG facilities coming online in Qatar, Russia, Indonesia and other locations are in need of a market and US coastal areas not served by pipelines are natural targets. More in The State Journal.

Unconventional natural gas from shale has boosted the United States supply of natural gas so much that it now sits as a heavy weight on the wellhead price. This article in The Guardian explores current and near-future gas supplies and prices.

Pennsylvania Senator Gene Yaw whiles speaking at a meeting on natural gas in Williamsport said… “How many times in a lifetime does a state get an opportunity to attract an industry that could potentially create 80,000 jobs and billions of dollars in revenue for its citizens and provide some sense of energy independence for decades to come?” See more comments at zwire.com

An article that presents numerous environmental concerns and governmental actions related to development of the Marcellus Shale in New York is on the counterpunch.com website.

Thomas Gardner, research director for Simmons & Company International, says that natural gas companies have become the “victims of their own success”. They have discovered enough gas to depress the price. More at the Star-Telegram.com website.

More discussions on local governments getting into the natural gas business: The President of the Allegheny County Council (Pennsylvania) says that they should drill wells that deliver gas to heat county building complexes, generate their own electricity and sell the rest on the open market. More in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

An article in Pittsburgh Live focuses on new wastewater discharge standards developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection that oil and natural gas drilling companies will need to meet.

“The U.S. Department of Energy announces the release of Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: A Primer. The Primer provides regulators, policy makers, and the public with an objective source of information on the technology advances and challenges that accompany deep shale gas development.” Quoted from fossil.energy.gov. Download the .pdf

Local governments could use natural gas to fuel vehicles, produce electricity and heat buildings. A local government official in Pennsylvania thinks that they should cut out the middle men and drill the gas themselves. Article at BizJournals.

A CNN article reports that the Department of Interior’s five-year oil and natural gas leasing plan was rejected by a federal appeals court because it lacked the expected environmental diligence.

An article in The Daily Review has numerous quotes from Scott Rotruck, VP for Corporate Development at Chesapeake Energy that make Bradford County, Pennsylvania sound like a very promising part of the Marcellus Shale gas play.

An article in the Star-Telegram reveals how John Pinkerton, CEO of Range Resources, was gloating over the company’s early start in the Marcellus shale gas play in 2004 and how that enabled them to lock up a profitable 1.4 million net acres.

ALL Consulting has published a .pdf document that contains a very detailed description of the hydraulic fracturing process used in Marcellus Shale natural gas wells.

Ziff Energy Group has a press release on their website predicting that unconventional gas plays now active across North America will account for 53% of the continent’s gas production by 2020.

The Wayne Independent reports that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection pulled authority away from county agencies for issuing erosion and sediment control permits needed for the construction of Marcellus Shale drill pads, access roads, gas lines and other natural gas-related construction efforts.