San Angelo Standard Times: DAVID HOLT (NGP Photo): Promote, don't hinder, safe and responsible energy production Refugio County, Texas is a small, close-knit, ranching community. Local butcher and county commissioner Stanley Tuttle, owner of Tuttle’s Grocery and Market, said most residents of the 10-square-mile southeastern region are either retirees or workers who travel extensive distances to Corpus Christi or Victoria for work. “If you weren’t involved with farming or ranching or something of that aspect, there just wasn’t a whole lot more things to do around here,” Tuttle recalled. That’s not the case anymore.
KBYR – Anchorage: Morning News and Comment with Chris Story
Mississippi Energy Institute: Texas Governor Rick Perry to Deliver Keynote Address at Governor’s Energy Summit in Jackson
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas and 2012 Presidential Candidate, will deliver the keynote address at the 2014 Governor’s Energy Summit October 8th at the Jackson Convention Complex. In its third year, the summit’s goal is to highlight the inextricable relationship between energy and the economy. Energy development has been a major area of focus for Governor Bryant’s Administration.
Houston Chronicle: Oil industry group pushes for drilling off U.S. Atlantic coast
Oil development in Atlantic waters from Africa to Canada should encourage the Obama administration to sell drilling leases in waters hugging the U.S. East Coast, a leading industry group said Wednesday. The American Petroleum Institute made the plea for new offshore drilling options in comments filed with the Interior Department and in a conference call with reporters.
Oil and Gas Journal: API leads industry call for more OCS access in next 5-year program
The Obama administration should consider all parts of the US Outer Continental Shelf for leasing in the 2017-22 OCS program it has begun to prepare so future national energy policy options can be maximized, the American Petroleum Institute and 10 other oil and gas trade associations jointly said.
WAMU: Virginia Republicans Cheer Plan For Oil, Gas Exploration Off Atlantic Coast
The Obama Administration recently announced it's going to allow sonar testing off the coasts of Virginia and Maryland to see how much oil and gas is out there. Lawmakers in the region are divided over a change they sense coming to the moratorium on drilling off the commonwealth's coast.
The Star: Alberta asked U.S. PR firm to help ‘blunt’ criticism about Keystone pipeline
The Alberta government hired a former Hillary Clinton aide to reframe a public relations war about the Keystone XL pipeline project and “blunt” criticism from environmentalists, documents show. Records released by the U.S. Department of Justice under a federal public disclosure law show that Alberta paid about $54,000 to FeverPress, a New York public relations firm that was co-founded by Hilary Lefebvre, a former journalist who served as director of Clinton’s broadcast media strategy for her presidential campaign.
The Hill: Former Hillary aide sought to ‘neutralize’ greens on Keystone
A former spokeswoman to Hillary Clinton worked for the Canadian province of Alberta to “neutralize the environmentalist arguments” against the Keystone XL pipeline, new filings with the Justice Department reveal. Hilary Lefebvre, who served as the director of broadcast media for Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid, was paid $53,725 during the 10-week contract, according to the documents.
Haynesville.com: Keystone XL pipeline needs Obama’s OK, not more excuses
If President Obama is still looking for reasons to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, he hasn’t found it — and he won’t. Specifically, he should ignore a study by the Stockholm Environment Institute that claims the pipeline would produce four times more carbon pollution than the U.S. State Department has estimated.
National Review: Debunking the New Keystone XL Study
The alarmists were pretty excited a few days ago when a new study from Nature Climate Change found that building Keystone XL “could be worse for global warming than previously believed.”
Edmonton Journal: New oilsands testing uncovers higher levels of air pollution
Warnings about higher levels of air pollution in the oilsands have emerged in a new provincial air quality report that calls for further investigation into possible pollution sources. The report shows polluting emissions in 2012 did not surpass the legal limit set out in the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan. (Just two substances, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, were measured). But air pollution rose to levels two and three on a scale of four at several monitoring sites, mostly between Fort McMurray and Fort McKay.
New York Post: Gov. Cuomo bets against fracking
More and more Democrats around the country — Democrats — are saying yes to fracking. But in New York, the top Dem, Gov. Cuomo, is instead doubling down on casinos, even as they’re starting to fold elsewhere. Doesn’t he see the disconnect? Bucking environmentalists on the left, Colorado’s up-and-coming Democratic Rep. Jared Polis killed two ballot initiatives that would’ve blocked fracking in the state. With the public clearly behind the industry, the measures had threatened the re-election hopes of two other Democrats — Gov. John Hickenlooper and US Sen. Mark Udall.
LA Times: Diesel is used in fracking without permits, report says
Energy companies have used thousands of gallons of diesel to frack for oil and gas without obtaining the necessary permits required under federal law, according to a new report by the Environmental Integrity Project. The watchdog group's review of industry and federal data from 2010 to 2014, released Wednesday, found 351 wells in 12 states that used diesel in fracking.
Natural Gas Intelligence: Science Favors Fracking in Water Debate, Two Experts Say
Contrary to common perceptions, there is no clear evidence that hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has contaminated water supplies, given closer scientific scrutiny of recent high-profile cases, according to two geology/hydrology experts speaking at a seminar Tuesday in Los Angeles
Fuel Fix: Eagle Ford to cross 1.5 million daily barrels in September
The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects that the Eagle Ford Shale will produce 1.51 million barrels of crude oil and other liquids daily in September. It would be a gain of around 31,000 daily barrels over August production for the South Texas field, according to the EIA’s latest Drilling Productivity Report, released this week. The EIA data track the major U.S. shale fields — the Eagle Ford, Permian Basin, Bakken, Marcellus, Haynesville and Niobrara. This month the agency added the Utica region in eastern Ohio, a rapidly growing natural gas field, to its Drilling Productivity Report.
The Spirit of Arkansas: Oil & Gas Commission balks at report alleging illegal fracking practices
A new report raises concerns about fracking in the Natural State. The report conducted by the Environmental Integrity Project claims that dozens of hydraulic fracturing wells in Arkansas are drilling with diesel illegally. The state Oil and Gas Commission said the report is flawed and there’s no reason for concern. Fracking is big business in Arkansas, but a report entitled, Fracking Beyond the Law, alleges that some companies are cutting corners when it comes to hydraulic fracturing. “Without obtaining a Safe Drinking Act permit, injection of diesel is against the law,” said Mary Greene, author of the report.
The Desert Sun: Marcellus, Permian Basin Shales Project Enormous Oil, Natural Gas Future Expansion
While analyzing the basis of U.S. crude oil growth, projected eventually to expand well past the 10 million barrels per day mark, approached by conventional drilling more than 50 years ago, it’s incumbent on future projections to be based on current results.
The Denver Post: Pro-fracking decisions protect Colorado's middle class
What if someone came to your house, told you it would be torn down to allow for a new highway, and expected you to leave it without compensation? That would be unfair and a violation of your property rights. Longmont and Fort Collins royalty interest owners and mineral owners, unable to develop their minerals, found themselves in a similar situation due to fracking bans and moratoria throughout Colorado. The state cannot put the rights of some of the citizens above others.
Quad City Times: Anti-fracking groups protest at Democratic breakfast
Armed with a 15-foot puppet of Gov. Pat Quinn, groups hoping to stop fracking in Illinois attempted to disrupt a breakfast meeting of top state Democrats Wednesday. An estimated 100 people opposed to what is known as hydraulic fracturing descended on a gathering of more than 1,000 Democrats in town for Governor's Day festivities at the Illinois State Fair. The group marched and chanted outside of the meeting in a capital city hotel until officials asked them to disperse. They plan on staging a similar protest during Republican Day activities at the fair.
Observer-Reporter: White introduces impact fee legislation
State Rep. Jesse White, D-Cecil, this week introduced legislation that would preserve the Marcellus Shale municipal impact fee if a severance tax on natural gas production is enacted. The impact fee, which was enacted in 2012 as part of the state’s natural gas drilling law, Act 13, brought in an estimated $225.7 million in 2013. The lion’s share of the impact fee goes to municipalities and counties most heavily impacted by drilling to mitigate road and infrastructure damage, and other effects from natural gas development.
Washington Times: 2 Virginia agencies to coordinate fracking reviews
Two state agencies will coordinate their reviews of potential permits for hydraulic fracking for natural gas in Virginia’s coastal plain. Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Wednesday that the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy and the Department of Environmental Quality have signed a Memorandum of Agreement. McAuliffe said the move will help ensure the state focuses on protecting the Potomac Aquifer, which supplies about half of Virginia’s water.
Associated Press: New natural gas pipeline planned for W.Va., Ohio
A company is planning a $1.75 billion project that includes laying 160 miles of natural gas pipeline in West Virginia and Ohio. Columbia Pipeline Group announced the investment in a news release Tuesday. The proposal would help transport up to 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. Columbia expects to start construction in fall 2016 before putting the pipeline in service in the second half of 2017.
International Buisness Times: Texas Regulators Strengthen Fracking Wastewater Disposal Rules Following North Texas Earthquake Swarm
The U.S. oil and gas boom is prompting concerns in several states about earthquakes related to wastewater disposal wells. The latest response comes from Texas, where oil and gas regulators are proposing tougher guidelines for well operators following the recent seismic outbreak in North Texas.
Dallas News: Editorial: Waste not, want not
Water and oil still don’t mix — especially in Texas. Hydraulic fracturing has freed volumes of trapped natural gas and fueled an energy revolution. But it’s come at a cost — the high use of water, a precious resource in a perpetually drought-stricken state. Ask a rancher or farmer, and they’ll tell you how badly they need water for their herds and crops. Ask new housing developers, and they’ll say that without water, there is is no subdivision. Such is the conundrum that continues to shadow hydraulic fracturing: How to remove oil and gas from the ground without running through the millions of gallons of water needed for the process.
Dallas Observer: Texas Is Actually Considering (Slightly) Tighter Fracking Regulations
Just a few weeks after Denton failed to pass a ban on fracking, the Texas Railroad Commission is proposing tighter regulation on oil and natural gas drilling in response to the north Texas earthquakes. At its monthly meeting yesterday, the commission accepted a new set of rule proposals regarding regulation of injection wells. Among the rule changes, drillers seeking new permits would have to provide a history of seismic activity in the area they would propose to drill. The Commission could deny a permit if there is a history of seismic activity, or terminate a permit if seismic activity begins to occur.
Washington Examiner: Why opponents don't like the EPA's climate-change math
On paper, the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed power plant rule is an obvious bargain: A cost of no more than $8.8 billion, with benefits reaching between $55 billion and $93 billion by 2030. But opponents of the rule have complained that those numbers aren't exactly comparable.
E & E Publishing: Coal-fired rural co-ops dig in against EPA emission rules, but a few mavericks flirt with renewables
After spearheading a 3 ½-year effort to build what is now the largest solar farm in Iowa, Warren McKenna is optimistic about his rural electric cooperative's renewable energy goals in Frytown — a tiny, unincorporated town in the southeast corner of the state.
Columbian Tribune: Blunt touts congressional lawsuits as way to rein in executive power
The latest Republican legislative plan to block federal rules and executive orders the GOP is unable to stop through action in Congress is to enact a law allowing lawsuits against the executive branch when members believe federal laws are not being properly enforced.
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