The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has temporarily shut down a waste injection well that is suspected to have triggered earthquakes. The state has nearly 200 other injection wells that have not been associated with seismic activity.
More at The Columbus Dispatch.
Sinopec, a major Chinese oil and gas company also known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation Limited, will purchase a 1/3 share of Devon Energy’s holdings in five shale plays in the United States for $900 million in cash and contribute $1.6 billion towards future drilling expenses. Properties in the Utica Shale, Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, Niobrara Shale are included.
More at Business Week.
Many property owners are very surprised when the royalties that they receive from a natural gas well on their property decline sharply. They are learning about production decline curves.
More at Geology.com.
Total has an agreement to purchase a 25% stake in 619,000 acres of Utica Shale in eastern Ohio from Chesapeake Energy for $2.32 billion. That is an average price per acre of $14,991.
More at San Francisco Chronicle.
Rising production from the Bakken Shale has propelled North Dakota up to the fourth largest oil producing state behind Texas, Alaska and California.
More at Energy Information Administration.
Lots of factors contribute to the natural gas prices paid by residential customers. Long term contracts and distant supply sources can hold residential prices high even though natural gas is locally in abundance. Residential customers in Arkansas, Lo…
More at Energy Information Administration.
Noble Energy reports the discovery of a natural gas field of the coast of Cyprus that could hold up to 8 trillion cubic feet.
More at Business Week.
The Energy Information Administration reports that about 1/3 of the natural gas produced from the Bakken Formation of North Dakota is flared instead of marketed because natural gas pipelines are not present in the production area or they can not accept…
More at Energy Information Administration.
Jadela Oil recently used 5000 barrels of liquid propane and butane to frack a horizontal well in Maverick County, Texas. When gas is used for fracking it can be recovered and sold or recycled instead of being a disposal problem.
More at Caller.com.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow passage (about 35 miles wide) that connects the Persian Gulf with the Arabian Sea. It is strategically important because about 1/3 of the world’s seaborne oil shipments must pass through the Strait on their way to market. Today, the chief of Iran’s navy commented on English language television that Iran’s military could easily close the Straight. The U.S. Navy’s response was “that will not be tolerated”.
More at MSNBC.
An article on the Oregon Public Broadcasting website describes the proposed use of fluid injection as part of an enhanced geothermal system that will utilize wells drilled on the flank of Newberry Crater. The U.S. Department of Energy is putting $22 million into the project. USGS has a recently installed seismic array that will monitor earthquakes produced by the injection.
Related: A Department of Energy introduction to enhanced geothermal systems [1].
[1] http://www1.eere.energy.gov/geothermal/egs_animation.html
More at Oregon Public Broadcasting.
As environmental regulations hasten the closure of coal-fired power plants American Electric Power plans to build a 1bcf/day pipeline to deliver gas from wells in the Marcellus [1] and Utica Shales [2].
[1] http://geology.com/articles/marcellus-shale.shtml
[2] http://geology.com/articles/utica-shale/
“This
study
examines
how
several
key
unexplored
aspects
of
Marcellus
Shale
natural
gas
development
in
Pennsylvania
will
affect
the
overall
economic
impact
occurring
in
the
Commonwealth.
Where
leasing
and
royalty
dollars
are
actually
going,
and
how
they
are
being
spent,
has
not
been
examined
in
previous
economic
studies.” Quoted from the report’s abstract.
An article on the FuelFix.com website reports that Chesapeake Energy, Shell and other companies have leased hundreds of thousands of acres in southcentral Kansas with hopes of producing oil and gas from unconventional formations.
More at FuelFix.com.
Some of the first horizontal wells in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale of central Louisiana are yielding oil. Some researchers believe that the formation contains billions of barrels of oil.
More at FuelFix.com.
An article on the Boston.com website explores possible developments related to the Marcellus Shale in 2012. A new lease environment, geographic shifts in activity, price directions and more.
More at Boston.com.
The Energy Information Administration has a brief article on the rapid increase in natural gas production that has occurred in the northeastern United States since 2004. The largest gains were in northeastern Pennsylvania, southwestern Pennsylvania an…
More at Energy Information Administration.
Malaysia is a significant producer of oil and natural gas located along important ocean shipping routes of the energy industry. The country has enormous natural gas reserves and is the world’s third largest exporter of LNG.
More at Energy Information Administration.
The West Virginia legislature passed a bill known as the “Natural Gas Horizontal Wells Control Act [1]” by a vote of 92-5 in the House of Delegates and by a vote of 33-0 in the Senate. It addresses reclamation, fees that will generate millions in revenue, disclosure to surface owners, hydraulic fracturing chemicals, and much more. A summary [2] can be read on the MarketWatch website.
[1] http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb401%20eng.htm&yr=2011&sesstype=4X&i=401
[2] http://www.marketwatch.com/story/marcellus-bill-passes-west-virginia-legislature-in-landslide-ngis-shale-daily-reports-2011-12-14
Maryland’s Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Commission released a study that recommends a state severance tax on natural gas produced from the Marcellus Shale.
More at Platts.com.
Marathon Petroleum is preparing to refine oil produced from the Utica Shale of eastern Ohio and western Pennslyvania. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimates that the Utica Shale could yield between 1.3 and 5.5 billion barrels of crude.
More at West Virginia Business Journal.
A growing abundance of domestic natural gas and higher gas prices in other countries place the United States in a position to become a major exporter of liquified natural gas. An article on NASDAQ.com explores a number of events that could prevent tha…
More at NASDAQ.
Encana has responded to EPA’s draft report titled: Investigation of Ground Water Contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming.
More at Forbes.
An article on the PennLive.com website explores the diversity of jobs associated with development of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. Sue Mukherjee a directory with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry says: “The fastest 12 growing occupations in Pennsylvania are all directly related to Marcellus Shale.”
More at PennLive.com.
An article in Crain’s New York Business titled “Natural-gas drilling is a great divider” explores why natural gas drilling has enormous support and enormous opposition in the state of New York.
More at Crain's New York Business.
A number of people are reacting to EPA’s draft report: “Investigation of Ground Water Contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming” which links hydraulic fracturing to fresh water aquifer contamination. Hydraulic fracturing in they Wyoming study was done just 1200 feet below the ground while the fracturing done in the major shale gas plays in other parts of the country occurs and far greater depths.
More at FuelFix.com.
As natural gas companies buy, trade and sell leases with one another, property owners often don’t know who might show up to inspect, survey or drill on their land. When renewal time arrives the property owner might be presented with a very different deal. More on the Post-Gazette.com website.
In many parts of the Marcellus Shale gas play local residents are disappointed to see so many workers from over a thousand miles away getting high-paying jobs while local unemployment rates are very high. Letters similar to this one have been publishe…
More at Huntington News.net.
EPA has issued a draft report titled: Investigation of Ground Water Contamination near Pavillion, Wyoming. From the conclusions: “Using this approach, the explanation best fitting the data for the deep monitoring wells is that constituents associated with hydraulic fracturing have been released into the Wind River drinking water aquifer at depths above the current production zone.”
More at EPA.
ExxonMobile has release their 2012 Outlook for Energy. This annual publication always presents the company’s forward-looking ideas for world energy supplies and company opportunities and challenges. They believe that fossil fuels will continue to supply most of the world’s energy and in 2040 they will supply 80%.
More at ExxonMobil.
