HEADING TODAY'S ENERGY NEWS CLIPS IS THIS STATISTIC — CONCERNING TO ALASKANS, UPLIFTING TO NORTH DAKOTANS AND RAILROAD INVESTOR WARREN BUFFETT:
U.S. moves more oil out of North Dakota by rail than the Trans-Alaskan pipeline.Scientific American. Currently, half of all oil coming out of the Bakken shale is transported by railroad (more than the third by pipelines). In its Draft Assessment of the Keystone XL Pipeline, the U.S. State Department estimates that by the end of this year 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil will be carried out of the Bakken on rail cars.
 

NATIONAL

Gasland II: Not Truthland. Resources for the Future, Blog. The second round of unabashed and one-sided bashing of the oil and gas industry, and in particular shale gas, played on HBO Tuesday. Gasland II opens with comments from Robert Howarth, a Cornell professor who has questioned the climate benefits of natural gas relative to coal with his own estimates, which wrongly assumed that all methane not accounted for as production was released into the air, rather than being captured or flared.
 
Natural gas helps Calif. survive heat wave. National Geographic. Yet when temperatures rose over a weeklong period to record highs throughout the Golden State—well above 110⁰F (43.3⁰C) in some places before the wave lifted July 5—the lights stayed on and air conditioners kept humming. How did California do it? It wasn't wizardry, but mundane moves to bolster supply and curb demand—a combination of natural gas, renewable energy, and conservation—that made California more resilient than some forecasters anticipated when the heat rolled in.
 

Interior Chief Uses Industry Know-How to Defend HF Rules. Bloomberg. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell drew on her experience as a former oil-industry engineer to defend proposed federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on publicly owned land. NOTE:E&E News (sub req’d) also reports.
 
Top Colo. regulator says fracking critics 'misinformed'. E&E News (sub req’d). Lepore said Tuesday during a panel discussion at the Northern Colorado Energy Summit in Loveland that banning the use of fracking essentially bans gas development, forcing the state to look to other sources such as coal for energy and driving up electricity costs that would be borne in some way by all the state's residents, according to the Coloradoan. Residents who "storm city hall and demand you protect their health, safety and welfare armed with misinformation" aren't considering the impacts to energy costs by banning fracking, Lepore is quoted as saying.

INTERNATIONAL

Gas prices could fall by a quarter with shale: Government. The Telegraph. Gas prices could fall by a quarter and help bring down household energy bills if Britain exploits its shale gas reserves, a report commissioned by Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary, suggests.
 
Argentine indigenous people protest against shale. BBC News. Members of the Argentine Mapuche community have protested against a deal struck between Argentina's state-owned energy company YPF and the US firm Chevron to extract shale oil and gas from one on the largest deposits in the world.
 
UK government over-estimating future fuel prices: Kemp. Reuters. Britain's government is basing its policy recommendations on outdated and unrealistically high projections of future fossil fuel prices – which could be causing it to over-estimate the cost of imports and threatening to skew cost-benefit analyses of alternative policies.
 
Chevron $1.24 Billion Deal Leads YPF Post-Repsol Shale Hunt. Bloomberg. Chevron Corp. (CVX), the world’s second-biggest oil company, signed the first agreement with Argentina’s government since it nationalized YPF SA (YPF) in 2012 to help develop shale oil and natural gas in Vaca Muerta.
 
UK Shale Will Help Chemical Producers Compete, Ineos Says. Bloomberg. The U.K.’s shale gas, an untapped resource that has polarized politicians and environmentalists, will help refiners and chemical makers be competitive by cutting costs and curbing imports from rivals, Ineos Group AG said.
 
No cowing shale. Buenos Aires Herald, Op-Ed. Tuesday’s shale fuel agreement between YPF and Chevron lends itself to more than one interpretation but only the staunchest environmentalist critic of fracking could fail to see the deal as good news.
 
Australian Millionaire Backs Shale-Owner AJ Lucas. Wall Street Journal. Australia’s Paul Fudge, who is valued at 685 million Australian dollars (US$623 million) according to BRW Magazine’s Rich List, has backed Australian energy-and-mining company AJ Lucas Ltd. , according to a filing.
 
Water companies warn over water quality. Utility Week. Water companies have issued a stark warning to the shale gas industry that the quality of drinking water "must be protected at all costs" and fracking must not harm public health.  The call came from Jim Marshall, policy and business adviser at industry body Water UK.

ARIZONA

Potential targets for shale-oil and shale-gas exploration in Arizona. Tucson Citizen.  In a previous post, “Shale oil potential of Arizona,” I reported on the Arizona Geological Survey's assessment of the Mancos Shale in the four-corners region of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.
 
ILLINOIS

Behind the HF boom, a sand mining rush. WBEZ News. LaSalle County, about 80 miles southwest of Chicago, has historically been the silica mining capital of the country. Now with the fracking process coming to some of Illinois’ downstate communities, the frac sand issue is grabbing a little more attention, although, as of yet, the downstate prospecting for natural gas wells has little effect on the sand mining industry in the northern part of the state.

LOUISIANA

Tuscaloosa Marine Shale viability remains in doubt. Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. Feliciana landowners waiting to see if they're sitting on the nation's next hot oilfield play likely will have to wait a little longer, says Gifford Briggs, vice president with the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association. "
 
MICHIGAN

Pros and cons of 'fracking' debated in Ottawa County. Michigan Live. More than 200 citizens showed up at a public meeting to hear the pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” at Ottawa County’s Fillmore Street Complex on Wednesday, July 17.

NORTHEAST

Pre-drill benefits: Consol Energy's airport prospects pay off now. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Marcellus Shale drilling won't start on Pittsburgh International Airport property for another year, but Allegheny County already is seeing dividends from a multimillion-dollar deal with Consol Energy.
 
Report outlines state's shortcomings to protect oil, gas leaseholders. Uniontown Herald Standard. In the event of fracking or drilling damages, Pennsylvanians and their communities may not be adequately covered financially when — or if — the bill comes, a new report says.
 
DEP: Cabot to plug well. Independent Weekender. A natural gas well in Dimock Twp. that is a focus of a state investigation into leaking methane has been deemed “unviable” and will be plugged after the investigation is finished, a Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman said Friday.
 
Chilean Energy Companies Eye Marcellus Shale. StateImpact PA. Chilean energy executives interested in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale natural gas are in the middle of a three-day trade visit to the state. The tour comes on the heels of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s own trade trip to Chile last April.
 
North Strabane Supervisors Poised to Vote on Marcellus Shale Gas Lease. Canon-McMillan Patch. North Strabane Township supervisors are poised to make a decision regarding a possible non-surface Marcellus Shale gas lease deal when the board meeting next week.
 
Revenue from shale dips in Murrysville, neighboring communities. Tribune Live. Compared to last year, most communities saw about a 10 percent dip in the amount of money doled out under Act 13, the state legislation enacted in 2012 that collects an impact fee from unconventional well drillers across the state.

OHIO
 
'Fracknation' will expose lies. New Philadelphia Times-Reporter. If you watched that liberal Josh Fox movie called “Gasland,” I would encourage you to watch “Fracknation.” They actually use hard science to expose all the lies Fox told in his movie.
 
Shale oil adds up to cash for pols. Marion Star. When Ohio Gov. John Kasich pitched his budget a few months ago, he made a big deal about a fracking tax that would bring billions of dollars to the state in the coming years.
 
Seminar stresses networking aspect of shale industry. Coshocton Tribune. Making her way around the room at a recent Utica Shale seminar, Charlotte Johnson had a smile, a handshake and a business card for everyone.
 
TEXAS

Railroad Commissioner will deliver Eagle Ford talk in San Antonio. San Antonio Business Journal.  Texas Railroad Commissioner David J. Porter will deliver the keynote address at Shale EnviroSafe, a conference in San Antonio focused on environmental, health and safety issues in domestic shale plays. Porter is scheduled to kick off the second-annual conference, which will run Oct. 14-16 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.
 
Eagle Ford Development Program partners with Alicians. Alice Echo-News Journal.  In the midst of the boom of the Eagle Shale Ford, the Eagle Ford Shale Community Development Program is offering to partner with Alice to make the most of this time of prosperity.
 
Broadband company signs contracts for its new Eagle Ford shale network. San Antonio Business Journal. Broadband provider ERF Wireless Inc. has signed multi-year contracts with oil and gas clients eager to transport data over its newly completed wireless network serving the Eagle Ford Shale.
Conservative group launches broad anti-carbon tax campaign
Zack Colman
July 16, 2013

A conservative energy group is rolling out a multi-pronged push ahead of the August congressional recess that aims to put the carbon tax in its deathbed.

 
“We’re hoping to put the final nail in the coffin on the carbon tax. The proposal should be dead on arrival by the time lawmakers come back from August recess,” Benjamin Cole, a spokesman with the Institute for Energy Research and its advocacy arm, the American Energy Alliance, told The Hill in an interview detailing the plan.
 
The effort includes a new poll of American opinion on a carbon tax and an advertising campaign centered on five House members, among other elements.
 
As early as Thursday, AEA will launch a two-week radio advertising campaign that targets five House lawmakers — four Democrats and one Republican. Click here for the full article.

From the Mississippi Energy Institute:

Mississippi Energy Institute and Sun Herald Offer Opposing Views on Offshore Drilling

On July 13, the Sun Herald published an op-ed by Mississippi Energy Institute President Patrick Sullivan on the prospects of energy production near the Mississippi Gulf Coast.The paper also ran its  opposing opinion.

Ben Zycher, economist for the American Enterprise Institute, provides his economic analysis of why President Obama's plan to create employment via carbon regulation is severely flawed.

Read our blog on this topic, "A Plan for Energy Scarcity".

CONSUMER ENERGY ALLIANCE CLIPS:

Businessweek: Interior Chief Uses Industry Know-How to Defend Fracking Rules – U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell drew on her experience as a former oil-industry engineer to defend proposed federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on publicly owned land.  Testifying to the House Natural Resources committee today, Jewell faced criticisms from Republican lawmakers, who said the department’s proposed rule on fracturing, or fracking, will lead to unnecessary production delays.

Newsworks: Chilean energy companies eye Marcellus Shale gas – Chilean energy executives interested in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale natural gas are in the middle of a three-day trade visit to the state. The tour comes on the heels of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett's own trade trip to Chile last April.  With great fanfare, Gov. Corbett cut a large ribbon with gigantic scissors at the site of Chile's new consulate in Philadelphia. But the real focus of the day's visit is Chile's interest in importing natural gas from the state's Marcellus Shale formation.

E & E News: OIL SPILLS: Crude mishaps on trains spike as rail carries more oil – The number of spills and other accidents from railroad cars carrying crude oil has skyrocketed in recent years, up from one or two a year early in the previous decade to 88 last year.  Only four of those were classified as serious by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), and none involved injuries. So they didn't even approach the human tragedy caused by a runaway oil train in Quebec earlier this month.

Los Angeles Times: California officials wrestle with handling trade secrets on fracking – State officials have been flooded with more than 20,000 comments and suggestions regarding proposed regulations of a controversial oil and gas drilling technique known as fracking, officials said Wednesday. Members of the California Water Commission voiced concerns of their own Wednesday about whether the state should treat the recipes for some fracking liquids as trade secrets, not to be disclosed to the public.

 

Los Angeles Times: US Air Force to study drilling for oil off California coast – The U.S. Air Force will consider leasing land on Vandenberg Air Force Base for private companies to extract offshore oil and gas from the central California coast, officials saidWednesday. The proposal would allow oil companies to use onshore equipment with new extended reach “slant drilling” technology to access deposits several miles offshore. Sunset Exploration and Exxon Mobil recently asked the Air Force to revisit their proposal to use the technology to build an oil and gas drilling project on the base near Lompoc, officials said.

Huffington Post: All of the Above – The Obama Administration's new climate action plan is meeting with mixed reactions in the environmental health and justice community. On one hand, support for climate action is a no-brainer for this field, given its bedrock values: respect for science, concern for public health, commitment to people and communities. Each new intense weather event offers painful proof that a warming planet threatens the health of people and places.

Huffington Post: Coloradans Urge Democratic Governors to Invest in Renewables, Reject Fracking – On Saturday, July 13, Frack Free Colorado joined Protect Our Colorado and dozens of other groups outside the Democratic Governors Association meeting in Aspen, Colo., to remind the state leaders, that good governors don't frack their people. The groups urged the attendees, some of whom are presidential hopefuls, to take the lead in building a sustainable, renewable energy future instead of continuing down the destructive path of fossil fuels.

The Hill: Interior chief defends ‘fracking’ rules amid GOP, industry attacks – Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, facing fresh GOP criticism, on Wednesday defended plans to impose new regulations on oil and gas “fracking” on public lands.  Republicans and industry groups say the planned regulations are not needed, arguing that state regulation of hydraulic fracturing provides safe oversight.

The Hill: Hoeven predicts efficiency bill will collapse without Keystone pipeline attached – Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) predicted Wednesday that bipartisan energy efficiency legislation heading to the Senate floor faces a grim future unless it eventually includes language to advance the Keystone XL oil pipeline.  A broad energy efficiency bill sponsored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is believed to be coming to the Senate floor in late July

Hot Air: Hitting the “blend wall”: Renewable fuel credit prices hit an all-time high – The Renewable Fuels Standard — that oh so ingenious method of creating a fake market for a not-green, not-clean, food-price-spiking, special-interest-serving and overall terrible product — requires that the nation’s refiners blend an ever-increasing volume of specified and so-called biofuels into the fuel supply.

Cincinnati.com: Oil, gas lobby shell out big money to defeat Ohio tax – Enquirer Reporter Dan Horn takes an in-depth look at what happened to the “fracking tax” Ohio Gov. John Kasich proposed when he pitched his budget a few months ago in a story out today. “An Enquirer analysis has found that 10 of the largest oil and natural gas companies and their main political action committee have pumped more than $660,000 into Ohio legislators’ campaign coffers since 2010,” Horn writes. “They’ve given mostly to Republicans, who got 91.5 percent of oil and gas contributions, and most often to Republicans in Ohio’s House, who would later decide the fate of the fracking tax.”