“The New Truck Stop” will feature natural gas pumps that will enable big rigs to take advantage of the abundant gas from shale.
More at National Geographic.Singapore Oil and Gas Report
“Singapore’s strategic location between the Indian and Pacific Oceans has allowed it to become one of Asia’s major petrochemical and refining hubs.”
More at Energy Information Administration.
Fracking with Coal Mine Water?
Lawmakers in Pennsylvania are discussing the use of water from abandoned coal mines for hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale.
More at The Republic.
Illinois Severance Taxes and Drilling Fees?
An article in the ShaleReporter reviews proposed drilling fees and a severance tax on wells that will use hydraulic fracturing to tap the New Albany Shale and similar rock units in Illinois.
More at ShaleReporter.com.
New TOC Map of the Utica Shale
With new data available the Ohio Geological Survey has published a new maximum total organic carbon map for the Upper Ordovician Shale interval of Ohio (Utica, Point Pleasant, Lexington and Logana).
More at Ohio Geological Survey.
Four Energy Analysts on Natural Gas Exports
Four energy analysts provide their views on what energy policy should be adopted by the United States on exporting natural gas.
More at The Motley Fool.
Onshore Natural Gas in Australia
The Cooper Basin in Australia’s outback has attracted major investments from several energy companies. Gas produced there would be sent by pipeline to an LNG facility on the coast for export.
More at Businessweek.
Colorado Oil Production at 50 Year High
In 2012 the Niobrara Shale helped propel Colorado to its highest annual oil production levels in 50 years.
More at Denver Post.
Exporting Natural Gas from Georgia?
Royal Dutch Shell and El Paso Pipeline Partners hope to develop a natural gas liquefaction plant near Savannah that will export LNG.
More at Reuters.com.
10BCF per Day from the Marcellus Shale in 2013?
Rising production from the Marcellus Shale could push the rock unit over the 10 billion cubic feet per day production milestone in 2013.
More at Seeking Alpha.
Slow Expansion of Tight Oil Beyond the USA
A VP of Statoil says that tight oil will not expand as rapidly in many parts of the world as it has in the United States because they don’t have entrepreneurial companies and private land ownership.
More at FuelFix.
Marcellus Shale in the Federal Reserve Beige Book
An article at the Akron Beacon Journal Online summarizes content related to economic activity attributed to the Marcellus Shale from the latest Federal Reserve Beige Book.
More at Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio.com).
Shale Gas in Georgia?
An article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on a few companies who are researching, leasing and drilling test holes in the shales of Georgia.
More at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
NORM from the Marcellus Shale
“Drill cuttings and other materials associated with oil and gas have occasionally triggered radiation monitors at landfills. DEP’s data indicates that less than half a percent of all drill cuttings produced by the Marcellus Shale industry in 2012 that were disposed of in landfills triggered radiation monitors. The cuttings did not contain levels of radioactivity that would be harmful to the public, and they were safely disposed of in the landfills.” Quoted from the DEP announcement.
More at Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Natural Gas Vehicle Sales Record
Last year Ford sold a record number of natural gas vehicles – four times as many as they sold in 2010. However, the number sold was just 11,600.
More at MiamiHearld.com.
Deep-Water Investments in the Gulf of Mexico
Even though most of the media attention in the United States is going to unconventional oil and gas plays, deep-water investments in the Gulf of Mexico are still being made.
Related: The World’s Tallest Structure [1]
[1] http://geology.com/stories/13/magnolia-oil-platform/
More at Louisiana Oil and Gas Association.
Chevron: Cooper Basin Shale Gas
Chevron will acquire rights to 810,000 acres of potential shale gas property along pipelines out of Australia’s Cooper Basin and connecting to natural gas export facilities on Australia’s eastern coast.
More at The Australian.
Cline Shale Oil Potential
Some people believe that the Cline Shale of West Texas could contain more recoverable oil than the Eagle Ford and Bakken Formation combined.
More at FuelFix.com.
Oil from the Marcellus in West Virginia
An article on the Ohio.com website reports that Chesapeake Energy has three wells in West Virginia that yield hundreds of barrels of oil per day from the Marcellus Shale. They are in the state’s northern panhandle.
More at Ohio.com.
China: Enormous Shale Gas Goals
The Chinese government believes that their country has about 25 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in shale formations. Although their present production rate is very low, they hope to be producing 60 billion cubic meters per year by 2020.
More at Scientific American.
How to Attract Shale Drillers to North Carolina?
“The legislation would provide a menu of sweeteners for energy companies to encourage developers to pick North Carolina for shale gas exploration over other states that have a history of energy exploration and known energy reserves.” Quote from the NewsObserver.com article.
More at NewsObserver.com.
Canadian and US LNG Export Projects Advance
Royal Dutch Shell received a license [1] to export LNG from a plant in British Columbia and in the United States Pangea LNG received permission [2] to export LNG from a planned location in Texas.
[1] http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/04/shell-lng-idUKL1N0B4D6T20130204
[2] http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/04/pangea-lng-brief-idUSL4N0B46OO20130204
Syria Oil and Gas Report
“Syria’s energy sector faces a number of significant challenges as a result of escalating sanctions and damage to the country’s energy infrastructure. Syrian oil production dropped by nearly 60 percent between March 2011 and October 2012, and oil exports from the country are virtually nonexistent.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country report.
More at Energy Information Administration.
Gabon Oil and Gas Report
“Since peak production in 1997, oil output in Gabon has declined by one-third, as large oil fields have matured. Consequently, Gabon has fallen from the third largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa to the sixth.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration.
More at Energy Information Administration.
Isolating Buildings from Earthquakes
An article on the ScienceMag.org website explains how drilling an array of holes around a building can disrupt the movement of seismic waves.
More at ScienceMag.org.
Thailand Oil and Gas Report
“Thailand has limited domestic oil production and reserves, and imports make up a significant portion of the country’s oil consumption. Thailand holds large proven reserves of natural gas, and natural gas production has increased substantially over the last few years. However, the country still remains dependent on imports of natural gas to meet growing domestic demand for the fuel.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration.
More at Energy Information Administration.
Working on an Oil Rig
Slate.com has a short article titled: “What its like to work on an oil rig” by Ryan Carlyle, BSChE Subsea Hydraulics Engineer. He says his experience isn’t typical because he works on the biggest, nicest rigs.
More at Slate.com.
Drilling for Gas Under an Airport
Consol Energy has reached an agreement that will allow it for drill for natural gas on 9,000 acres of land at the Pittsburgh International Airport. This isn’t the first time airport property has been drilled for natural gas. In 2006 land surrounding the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was part of a drilling deal.
More at Centre Daily Times.
Marcellus Slowdown in 2013?
Some experts believe that the pace of drilling and hiring in the Marcellus Shale natural gas play will slow during 2013. This will be a response to a lack of pipeline capacity and production capacity that either exceeds or is unavailable to new consum…
More at Washington Post.
Saudi Arabia: Oil and Natural Gas Report
“Saudi Arabia has almost one-fifth of the world’s proven oil reserves, and it is the largest producer and exporter of total petroleum liquids in the world. Saudi Arabia has the world’s fifth largest natural gas reserves, but natural gas production remains limited.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country report.
More at Energy Information Administration.
The Value of Natural Gas in Manufacturing
“When natural gas is not solely used as an export, and is used as a building block for manufactured goods, it creates eight times more value across the entire economy.” Quoted from Politico.com
More at Politico.com.
9 MMCFD of CO2 from Granite??
“Kinder Morgan hit an unexpected ‘gusher’ of carbon dioxide reportedly from fractures in granite in the St. John’s CO2-helium field in eastern Arizona.”
… And if you don’t believe that… they are going to pipeline it to New Mexico and West Texas! (Quote from the Arizona Geology Blog.)
More at Arizona Geology Blog.
Bakken Boom in Western North Dakota
The jobless rate in the 12 North Dakota counties over the Bakken Formation is less than 2% and employers are having a very difficult time attracting talented workers – even though the population of these counties is growing rapidly.
More at Fox Business.
Another Chevron Gas Find Off Western Australia
Chevron has made another major natural gas discovery off the west coast of Australia. This one is outside of the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG areas and could be the start of another LNG project.
More at FuelFix.com.
How Much LNG Will be Exported?
Members of congress are split over LNG exports. Republicans are generally supportive and Democrats are generally skeptical. Some experts believe that an export rate of about 6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day could be sustained.
More at Washington Post.
Federal Helium Reserve to Shut Down?
The Arizona Geology blog has two entries related to the federal helium reserve:
Bill would keep helium reserve open, promote competition [1]
Arizona could help avoid global helium shortage [2]
Related: Helium [3]: A byproduct of the natural gas industry
[1] http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/2013/02/bill-would-keep-helium-reserve-open.html
[2] http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/2013/02/arizona-could-help-avoid-global-helium.html
[3] http://geology.com/articles/helium/
South China Sea Oil and Gas Report
Many of the world’s most important energy trade routes pass through the South China Sea. The sea is underlain by significant oil and natural gas deposits, some of which are undeveloped.
Many of the islands in the South China Sea have competing claims of ownership, primarily because ownership of the island brings with it a claim to resources beneath the surrounding seafloor.
More at Energy Information Administration.
The Future of Russian Oil Exploration
Ernst & Young has released a report titled: The Future of Russian Oil Exploration.
It has interesting information on: reserve life of major companies, a forecast of declining oil production, drilling success rates, time between discovery and first oil, prospective oil areas map of the Arctic Ocean [1], foreign investment rates and more.
[1] http://geology.com/articles/arctic-ocean-features/
More at Ernst & Young.
Low Cost Wind Electricity
A new report reveals that generating electricity from wind in Australia costs much less than generating by natural gas or coal. This means that Australia might have even more coal and natural gas for export.
More at Bloomberg.
Expedited LNG for American Allies Act
The idea of exporting United States natural gas as LNG has not obtained unanimous support. Now a bill proposes LNG exports to NATO allies plus Japan.
More at The Hill.
