Point of personal privilege:  Our friend and former Valdez mayor, city councilman, businessman and Alaska public servant John Kelsey passed away Tuesday, Aug. 27. He was 93 years old.  (Kelsey was a longtime supporter of a pipeline/LNG project terminating in Valdez.  Another longtime LNG advocate for a Valdez project was former Governor Bill Egan, also of Valdez.    -dh) 

The Hill: REGULATION NATION: Obama rulemaking system seen as deeply flawed –  By Ben Goad and Julian Hattem 

Canada's Petroleum Institute for Continuing Education: a 3 month preview of upcoming courses.

Today's Energy In Depth Links: NATIONAL

Dallas City Council’s vote against HF a vote against quality of life. Dallas Morning News, EID’s Steve Everley. Hydraulic fracturing has improved our quality of life: lower energy bills, new jobs in a sluggish economy, and more tax revenue. Air pollution is down thanks to increased natural gas use. Ironically, in the same editorial, this paper complained about the health risks of air pollution from power plants in the Dallas area – the same pollution natural gas use has prevented elsewhere.
 
A tutor for Cuomo. New York Daily News, Editorial. Take it from the man who knows, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz: Fracking for natural gas is climate-friendly, environmentally safe and economically stimulating. Which is just what America and New York need.
 
Pain in the Gas. New York Post, Editorial. Even a visit by a Democratic president who boasts about how the increase in natural-gas drilling is benefiting America’s middle class and reducing our dependence on foreign oil has not embarrassed the state into action. In 2012, America produced more than 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas thanks to fracking — almost double what it was two years before. And the volume is only supposed to grow. But not in New York, where the watchword is: delay, delay, and then delay again.
 
Why Oil Companies Want to Drop Acid in California. Take Part. Dave Quast, California’s Energy in Depth representative tells TakePart that acidizing uses significantly less water than fracking: the total fluid volume is generally between 750 and 2000 gallons, 85 percent of which is water. In drought-prone California, that’s a point in its favor.
 
API, US Chamber separately question proposed federal fracing rules. Oil & Gas Journal. BLM has not even successfully made the case that federal fracing rules are necessary, the American Petroleum Institute and the US Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy separately said in Aug. 23 filings. It was the final day on which the US Department of the Interior agency accepted comments on its revised proposal. The Independent Petroleum Association of America and the Western Energy Alliance made similar points when they jointly submitted their comments a day earlier.
 
4 states' attorneys general dispute HF rules. Bloomberg. Attorney General Tim Fox said Thursday that Montana is joining Alabama, Alaska and Oklahoma in protesting Bureau of Land Management plans to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal land.
 
Shale Gas Production And High Decline Rates. Forbes, Column. Now with shale oil and gas production, pessimists have seized on decline rates to argue that optimist shale projections are “not hype, a hallucination”.  The much higher decline rates for shale wells are cited as evidence that shales can’t make a significant contribution to future production, even as production soars.
 
'Bakken blitz' sets up battle between oil producers, shippers. E&E News (sub req’d). The Obama administration's launch of a crude-by-rail safety inspection push dubbed the "Bakken blitz" could open fault lines between freight operators and oil producers that have turned to the tracks to tote a record-high volume of flammable fuel.
 
Federal proposal on key HF element sets up lobbying battle. E&E News (sub req’d). The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the oil and gas industry, said in a statement that it would review the proposed rule and submit comments to OSHA. "Safety is a core value for our industry, and we work closely with OSHA to protect our workers," the group said.
 
Waste pits anger Mt. Pleasant neighbors. Tribune-Review. “You're ultimately talking about traffic and nuisance impacts, but all of those things have been dramatically reduced because of these impoundments,” {Range Resources spokesman Matt Pitzarella} said.
 
Appeals court to weigh in on legality of local HF bans. E&E News (sub req’d). The New York State Court of Appeals announced Thursday that it will hear appeals from pro-fracking plaintiffs Noble Energy Inc. and Cooperstown Holstein Corp. against the towns that have limited their respective efforts to drill and earn money on natural gas leases.

INTERNATIONAL

Shale gas deposits in eastern region. BBC News, Video. Two councils in the eastern region have set up working groups to look at the fracking process.
 
US Water Lessons Applicable to Argentina Shale Development. Rigzone.  According to the report, Argentina is estimated to have 802 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of risked, shale gas in place out of 3,244 Tcf of risked, technically recoverable shale gas resources. The country is estimated to have in-place risked shale oil resources of 480 billion barrels, of which around 27 billion barrels of shale oil may be technically recoverable.
 
Backing fracing: UK government lays out shale gas incentives. Oil & Gas Journal. The UK government has demonstrated its commitment to the establishment of a shale gas industry by announcing details of proposed tax incentives to be offered to project developers.
 
Shale oil and gas exploration policy is ready: Petroleum Secretary. Economic Times. The petroleum ministry has finalized a shale oil and gas exploration policy, which will be tabled before the cabinet soon after the oil minister approves it, Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae said.
 
Update, unconventional oil and gas in the UK. Lexology. Since our last update (in June 2013), progress has been made on the key outstanding issues we identified; namely, geology, taxation, community benefits and planning.

ARKANSAS

HF documentary to be shown Sept. 10 at UCA. Arkansas Times. "Land of Opportunity," a locally produced documentary on fracking for natural gas in the Fayetteville shale, will be shown at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Reynolds Performance Hall.

CALIFORNIA
 
How the Monterey Shale came to be. Bay Nature. “It’s a formation that accumulated in deep structural basins during the mid-Miocene period,” says Erskine, an expert in the Monterey formation’s geography. “It’s very young. It’s six million years old or less.”
 
Lawmakers advance bill to halt HF. Santa Clarita Valley Signal. "For a moratorium to be introduced on something that has been safe for 60 years is something that I truly don't understand," said Paul Deiro, a lobbyist with the Western States Petroleum Association.
 
NORTH DAKOTA

ND protests federal 'one-size-fits-all' approach to oil, gas regulation. Dickinson Press. Arguing that states require flexibility in regulation and that North Dakota already has strong safeguards, the state’s congressional delegation has joined a list of oil- and gas-producing states in protesting rules that would regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal land.
 
NORTHEAST
 
Plastics maker protects, profits from gas wells. Philadelphia Inquirer. "All of these operators are taking every precaution to prevent reportable spills, which is great for our business," said Seth Alberts, 30, the third generation in the family firm. He heads Alberts Spray Solutions L.L.C., the subsidiary he and his father, Edward, formed to work with the shale gas industry. It now accounts for about 20 percent of the company's revenue.
 
WVU hosting shale gas workshop in Pa., will discuss using natural gas as power at drill sites. The Tribune. An oil and gas program at West Virginia University is hosting a two-day forum for the shale gas industry this week in Pennsylvania.
 
N.Y. energy firm wants to replace water with natural gas in frack jobs. E&E News (sub req’d). Expansion Energy's unusual approach, which it has yet to test in the field, uses what the company calls cold-compressed natural gas, mixed with other substances, to create a foam. Vandor said the company's strategy has some key advantages. "Certainly the natural gas that you use to create the process comes back," he said. "That's a good thing because what you've done is you've loaned the natural gas to create the process. You didn't use it up."
 
Possible Humanitarian Benefits to HF. WBGH News, Video. John Cuomo says some people believe that only a certain percentage of the population will benefit from fracking, while the others deal with truck traffic or other issues. Cuomo says landowners that he has talked with are in favor of actually giving back to their communities.
 
Labor: Future uncertain. Charleston Gazette, Editorial. Appalachia's coal field slowly is fading as thick seams are mined out, and cheap Marcellus Shale gas grabs fuel markets, and low-priced western coal undercut more-expensive Appalachian coal.
 
National Fuel finds itself in a natural gas sweet spot. Buffalo News. While New York puts the brakes on shale gas development, the natural gas boom from all the drilling that’s going on in Pennsylvania is transforming National Fuel Gas Co. And that’s just fine with Ronald J. Tanski, who took over the Amherst-based energy company’s chief executive officer in March.
 
Towns look beyond hydraulic fracturing. Victor Post. Representatives of six Ontario County towns expect to have drafts of local laws that address hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, ready to take back to their towns by the end of October.
 
In Pa., shale waste tripping alarms in landfills. Associated Press. But most of the flagged waste was eventually allowed past the gates. It was safe enough to be buried along with other waste as long as it stays below the annual limit, the Department of Environmental Protection and landfill operators deemed.
 
Q&A: Attorney highlights issues surrounding oil, gas industry. State Journal, Q&A. The State Journal posed a few questions to Armando Benincasa, an energy lawyer in Steptoe & Johnson's Charleston office, asking what new legal issues could come from this fast-growing field and if the Legislature has addressed questions.
 
OHIO
 
Oil and gas industry turns attention to Upper Devonian shale formation. Youngstown Vindicator. A mix of organic-rich shale and sandstone rock above the Marcellus formation, first tapped for natural gas in the early 1800s, is once again gaining the attention of exploration and production companies operating in both Ohio and Pennsylvania.
 
Ex-Chesapeake CEO heading new shale gas venture. Salem News. Aubrey McClendon has returned to Columbiana County after parting ways with Chesapeake Energy earlier this year. His new venture, American Energy Partners, has been running advertisements expressing its interest in securing oil and gas leases in Jefferson, Harrison, Guernsey, Noble, Belmont and Monroe counties.
 
Oil, gas industry has growth, responsibilities. Weirton Daily Times. "We do have to be careful with this shale stuff, make sure we maintain our basic economy while wages get bid up for the work force for shale," said Molinaro, president and chief executive officer for the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth, the regional economic development organization serving 25 counties in Southeast Ohio.
 
Landowner Discovers Explosives. Wheeling Intelligencer. Sandy Putorek is seeking answers as to why a Texas-based company conducting seismic testing in the local area did not seek her permission before placing explosive charges on her property. The charges are used to help locate deposits of natural gas.
 
ODNR leans toward shale industry on injection wells. Athens News, LTE. I am asking for a public hearing to be held in Athens County to record the public's concerns of health, safety and conservation issues in regard to this K&H permit application.
  
TEXAS

Eagle Ford Shale area facility on the market. San Antonio Business Journal. This special online feature details the real-estate sales, leases, new assignments and other deals that have recently taken place in San Antonio and other parts of Texas.
 
At the Wellhead: the latest field development to coax more oil out of the ground. Platts. It may not be sexy, or fodder for water cooler chit-chat, but one of the hottest things going right now in shale and unconventional plays is a development technique based on a savvy, complex set of calculations: well spacing.
 
Dallas City Council fails to secure drilling permits for producer. Platts. If Trinity East had won the right to drill, it would have marked the first gas drilling aimed at the Barnett Shale play to take place within Dallas city limits.