EPA's Unreasonable Fuel Standards

Tomorrow is 9/11.  Join with good people in Lamar, Colorado and throughout the nation as we strive  to, "never forget".

Today, an Alaska World Affairs luncheon presentation by Arctic Ambassador David Balton (NGP Photo) will convene at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel. 

Students will receive free lunches courtesy of BP and the University of Alaska will provide hosted lunches for faculty and staff.  (See our earlier report and comment regarding Arctic policy.  This should be an important, educational forum and we hope for a series of penetrating questions dealing with the White House's position on a proposed, restrictive Beringia agreement and Ocean Policy Task Force impacts on Alaskan/American consumers.   -dh)

EPA Applies Unreasonable Fuel Standards Policy To Alaska Tourism

Federal regulators violated the clear terms of the Endangered Species Act, by adding a healthy species – the polar bear – to the ESA list.

Watch PLF President Rob Rivett discuss: Polar Bears Costing Americans Jobs

The Alaska Travel Industry Association (ATIA) joined a growing chorus of Alaskans opposed to Alaska’s inclusion in the Emissions Control Area (ECA). At its convention last month, ATIA passed a strongly worded resolution asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to “exempt Alaska until such time as reasonable fuel standards can be proposed based on actual data and a balanced policy be developed that considers the economic impact on all of Alaska’s resources.”  While some shipping interests have recently negotiated compromises with federal officials, we are concerned that throughout this process Alaskan consumers of goods carried by ocean going vessels and tourist customers of cruise ships, and thousands of jobs throughout the country have been so little included in the Federal government's calculus.  We hope that in the future, primary consideration is given to actual economic effects–not just web page lip service to 'common sense economic principles' backed up by loose reference to 'scientific literature' and 'computer modeling'.  When so many federal agencies are now basing their initiatives on the 'proven science' of global warming at a time when the Arctic ice sheet — and polar bear populations — are increasing in size, consumers need to know the true basis for the sacrifices the government is asking them to pay for new environmental rules (i.e. higher fuel, transportation, utility and food prices).  -dh

Polar Ice Cap Has Increased by Over 900,000 Square Miles 
The London Daily Mail has some fun with the tax-funded BBC, which in 2007 predicted the disappearance of the polar ice cap. Over the last year, the polar ice cap has increased by over 900,000 square miles. A chilly Arctic summer has left nearly a million more square miles of ocean covered with ice than
[…] READ MORE

See Our Commentary: The Overreaching EPA

News Miner by Jeff Richardson.  Some miners in the Fortymile mining district are angry about a series of field investigations of the area last month, saying the presence of armed federal officers was an intimidating and unnecessary intrusion.    

* * *  

The Examiner.  The EPA is now part of an Alaska Environmental Crimes Task Force that is armed to the hilt to investigate “environmental crimes” by Alaska miners. Apparently, a dirty water discharge has now risen to the level of the use of deadly force against the offending miner.

Hydraulic Fracturing comment and links by Energy In Depth:

  • AUDIO: EID’s Dave Quast talks HF in California on the Center for Industrial Progress Powerhour (link)

NATIONAL

Niles reconsiders HF ban. Tribune Today. Shawn Bennett, field director for Energy in Depth, called the legislative bans ''boiler plate'' and ''color by number'' approaches by groups opposed to drilling. The measures, in reality, cannot be enforced and are unconstitutional, he said. Bennett said the legislation as it stands has ''unintended consequences,'' like prohibiting the transportation of items used in the drilling process – concrete, sand, water – through the city. Also, the legislation supercedes state law, which gives the Ohio Department of Natural Resources the sole power to permit and regulate the industry, Bennett said.
 
Niles may revise drilling ordinance. WFMJ News. The problem with the Niles ordinance is that it also bans doing commerce with the oil and gas industry.  A spokesman for Energy In Depth said that sends the wrong message to an industry that's worth multi-millions of dollars. "What it does is it essentially bans any company who wants to do business with the oil and gas industry" said Shawn Bennett of Energy In Depth.
 
Council may rescind ordinance banning oil and gas drilling. Youngstown Vindicator. Shawn Bennett, field director for Energy In Depth, an outreach group funded by the oil and gas industry, told council that the Niles ban violates state law, which gives the authority for well permits solely to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. “There are unintended consequences in the Community Bill of Rights,” Bennett said. As an example, he cited a provision that bars storing or transporting “produced” water through the city. “This would stop the city from selling water to energy companies or to other municipalities,” Bennett said. “If you do that, you would be in violation of your own ordinance.”
 
Niles officials get HF lesson. WKBN 27. “I hope they understand they were fed a bill of goods by groups who promote this bill of rights.  Again, it does nothing more than it’s just a piece of paper and the letters written on it aren’t worth more than the piece of paper.  What Rhonda Rita did very well was educate them on the oil and gas industry and I think they needed that,” said Shawn Bennett, a spokesman with Energy In Depth. NOTE: Read EID’s post on Niles’ bill of rights HERE.
 
The natural gas boom may be America's best antipoverty program. Wall Street Journal, Editorial. Thanks to the lower price for natural gas, families saved roughly $32.5 billion in 2012. (That's 7.4 billion MMBTUs of residential use of natural gas times the $4.40 reduction in price.) The windfall to all U.S. natural gas consumers—industrial and residential—was closer to $110 billion. This is greater than the annual income of all of the residents in 14 states in 2011.
 
Seismologist: HF doesn't cause earthquakes. Associated Press. A University of Texas seismologist says human activity associated with oil and gas production can sometimes cause earthquakes, but hydraulic fracturing isn't the problem. Cliff Frohlich told scientists gathered in Morgantown for a National Research Council forum that when quakes do happen, they're typically linked to the disposal of drilling fluids in underground injection wells.
 
Open the door to shale gas exports. Lebanon Daily News, Editorial. The advent of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – also known as fracking – have led to domestic shale gas and oil production increases of 50 percent annually since 2007. This acceleration could create as many as 1.7 million jobs by 2020, according to a report by the McKinsey Global Institute, a consulting firm.
 
Scale of West Coast HF Probed. Wall Street Journal. Brian Petty, executive vice president for government and regulatory affairs at the International Association of Drilling Contractors, said all forms of fracking are safe, and that fracking offshore doesn't present any additional risks. "Above all, our position is that it's safe and effective," he said. "It's just like they're out there in Kansas, except there's an ocean on top."
 
Chesapeake drops fight to extend 200 NY gas leases. Associated Press. Members of landowner coalitions in southern New York have grown increasingly frustrated as Gov. Andrew Cuomo has continued the moratorium on the technology that has brought areas in other states new jobs and economic growth and flooded the market with low-cost natural gas.
 
LDC Panel: HF Ban Only Possible Hurdle for Gas Growth. NGI's Shale Daily (sub req’d). The only possible land mine for continued robust growth in U.S. natural gas supplies in the next five years would be an outright ban or oppressive national regulation of the use of hydraulic fracturing in America's revitalized oil/gas fields, according to a panel of bullish experts assembled on the opening day of the LDC Gas Forum Mid-Continent in Chicago Monday.
 
Industry mulls best ways to take advantage of shale gas boom. Platts. With the shale revolution well-entrenched, natural gas industry observers on Monday debated the direction the nation should take in order to best exploit the abundance of gas currently hitting the North American market, which some pointing to transportation and others to power generation.
 
INTERNATIONAL

How HF can work in Britain. The Guardian, Column. Britain's shale gas resource is a valuable national asset and could contribute to our prosperity. Chemically speaking, shale gas is extremely similar to the UK's so-called conventional North Sea gas. It is not only valuable as a source of relatively clean energy but also for use in chemical processes: in the United States more than a third of natural gas is used to make products like plastics, fertiliser, anti-freeze and even fabrics.
 
Shale Gas Won't Hurt Climate Targets, U.K. Government Study Says. Bloomberg. The research by David Mackay and Timothy Stone was published after anti-fracking protesters disrupted drilling by Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. in Balcombe, England. It’s a rebuke to critics of fracking who say greenhouse-gas emissions may be exacerbated by the technique that extracts gas and oil by grinding underground rocks with water and chemicals. NOTE: UPI and E&E News (sub req’d) also report.
 
Shale: A key to Israel's future. The Jewish Chronicle, Column. When we consider whether it is worthwhile to develop Israel’s shale resources, it is important to stress that the Government of Israel has declared that reducing the world’s dependence on OPEC oil is of strategic importance to Israel. And so, it has established a special division in the Prime Minister’s office to mount a government-wide effort to help the world find alternatives for fueling transportation (including advanced biofuels, natural gas and electric vehicle technologies).
 
Shale gas endorsed by UK energy secretary. BBC News. A senior government minister has thrown his weight behind the exploitation of shale gas.It is suggested that south Wales has huge reserves that could be tapped by a process called fracking.
 
Petronas Close to Selling Shale Gas Stake to Indian Oil for $1.1 Billion. Wall Street Journal. Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd, or Petronas, is close to selling 10% of the shale gas assets from its recently acquired Progress Energy Resources Corp. to state-owned refiner Indian Oil Corp. for around $1.1 billion, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
 
An overlooked gas source gets new attention amid anti-HF furor. E&E News (sub. req’d).  Methane captured from disused coal mines has been a minor source of energy in the United Kingdom for decades. But new technologies are broadening the field of coalbed methane, or CBM, which means tapping into unworked seams to release the gas trapped in the coal.

CALIFORNIA
 
HF and future of energy. Santa Maria Times, Editorial. We are a state and a nation that runs on oil, and will for the foreseeable future. Hydraulic fracturing is a method that can increase domestic oil production. But it must be done safely, and so that everyone can be assured that irreparable damage is not done.

COLORADO

Enhanced gas production is a must, but safeguards critical, says Hick. Denver Post. Gov. John Hickenlooper said Monday he welcomes the increasing production of natural gas in Colorado while holding the oil and gas industry to "highest standards" to prevent any negative effects of fracking. "I know horizontal drilling works for us, not against us," said the governor.
 
Governors rally state regulators to 'lead the way' on HF rules. E&E News (sub. req’d). Colo. — Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) is supposed to be co-hosting a National Governors Association conference on shale energy and state policies here, but at times, it seems as if he's practicing his stand-up routine.
 
Municipalities energized for HF votes. Colorado Statesman. Five Colorado communities — Fort Collins, Loveland, Lafayette, Boulder and Broomfield — are expected to vote in November on whether to impose a ban or enact lengthy moratoriums on the controversial hydraulic fracturing drilling process.
 
Colorado grandparents deliver anti-HF letter. The Boulder Weekly. A day after National Grandparent's Day, grandparents from around Colorado will deliver a letter to Gov. John Hickenlooper and other governors protesting against the oil and gas drilling process known as fracking.

NORTH DAKOTA

Wyden sees North Dakota oil, gas, other energy activity first-hand. Oil & Gas Journal. US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ronald L. Wyden (D-Ore.) saw more than oil and gas operations when he visited North Dakota Sept. 6-7 for an up-close look at energy activity in the state. His itinerary, which the office of committee member John Hoeven (R-ND) helped arrange, included an ethanol biorefinery with a unique partnership with a coal-fired power plant, and a model mined-land reclamation site.
 
Whiting Petroleum offers $1.8 billion in notes. Denver Business Journal. Whiting Petroleum Corp. will offer $1.8 billion in senior notes due in 2019 and 2021, allowing the company to repay all its outstanding debt. The money also will be used to fund its $260 million purchase of mineral rights in Williston Basin and retire its $250 million of outstanding 7.0 percent senior subordinated notes that are due on 2014.
 
As gas continues to go up in the air, N.D. moves to tighten loose flaring rules. E&E News (sub. req’d). The North Dakota Oil and Gas Division is writing rules that will offer a tax incentive to reduce the amount of gas flared, although state regulators and environmental groups say flaring is likely to continue.

NORTHEAST
 
Drilling in the forest should be beneficial. Charleston Daily Mail, Editorial. Experience in Pennsylvania and West Virginia shows fracking can be done safely without harming the environment. Instead of a moratorium, the Forest Service should consider the facts.  
 
Pennsylvania ranks 9th in economic growth potential. Philadelphia Business Journal. A new survey ranks Pennsylvania 9th in the nation in economic growth potential. The Business Facilities ranking report hailed Pennsylvania's natural gas industry as a big economic catalyst. Here's what it had to say: “We expect the economic benefits from natural gas fracking operations in the Marcellus Shale formation to start paying dividends in PA and OH in terms of spurring economic development in both states.”
 
Natural Gas Is Fueling This Growing Industry. Motley Fool. Range Resources, Chesapeake Energy, and EQT Corporation all operate branch offices in southwestern, Pennsylvania, self proclaimed Energy Capital of the East. Why? Because the heart of the Marcellus Shale, the most productive gas field in America, spans the region, state, and nearby borders.
 
Intertek Expands Marcellus and Utica Shale Oil & Gas Services. The Enquirer Herald.  Intertek, the leading quality solutions provider to industries worldwide, has expanded their Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania facility to support growing oil and gas related activity in the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays.
 
Chesapeake drops fight to extend 200 NY gas leases. Associated Press. Chesapeake Energy has dropped its two-year legal battle to force an extension of 200 expired gas-drilling leases covering 13,000 acres in southern New York, the law firm representing the landowners said Monday.
 
N.Y. panels to debate HF ban. Farm and Dairy. Experts in fracking, land use and the law will convene for Fractured Communities: Hydraulic Fracturing and the Law in New York State at Albany Law School Sept. 24.
 
WVU Hosts National Research Council on Shale-Gas Drilling. WBOY-TV. West Virginia University is hosting a two-day National Research Council workshop. It focuses on regulation, technical, and environmental issues in shale-gas drilling. Industry, academic, and government agencies from across the United States came to WVU to discuss the uncertainties that come along with shale-gas drilling.
 
OHIO
 
Shale drilling appears to be ramping up, as the wells in that phase increase. Farm and Dairy. Drilling appears to be taking center stage in Harrison and Belmont counties. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, there are now 68 wells in some sort of drilling phase, which increased from 52 in July. And in Belmont County, seven wells went from the permitted stage to a drilling phase
 
HF will hit the ballot in Youngstown. E&E News (sub. req’d). This fall, voters in Youngstown, Ohio, will have the opportunity to choose whether they want to allow hydraulic fracturing in their city. A May poll showed 56 percent of voters are fine with the oil and gas extraction technique, but opponents have collected signatures to push fracking back on the ballot.
 
Shale drilling appears to be ramping up, as the wells in that phase increase. Farm and Dairy. Drilling appears to be taking center stage in Harrison and Belmont counties. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, there are now 68 wells in some sort of drilling phase, which increased  from 52 in July. And in Belmont County, seven wells went from the permitted stage to a drilling phase.
 
Environmentalists draft rules on HF. Coshocton Tribune. An environmental interest group says Ohio’s regulation of the burgeoning high-tech oil and gas industry has serious faults, leaving the state’s environment and land owners unprotected.

TEXAS

You can get a degree in the ‘Eagle Ford’ now. Houston Chronicle/Fuel Fix. Palo Alto College is launching a new associate degree program in oil and gas technology – part of a response to a need for skilled workers in the Eagle Ford Shale.
 
Sanchez Energy to snap up more Eagle Ford Shale assets. Houston Chronicle/Fuel Fix. Houston-based Sanchez Energy Corp. is again expanding its Eagle Ford Shale position with a deal to buy 3,600 net acres in South Texas for $220 million in cash.
 
What’s driving high-dollar shale play transactions? Houston Business Journal. Among the past six weeks worth of Houston energy transactions, roughly $2 billion of shale assets have changed hands.
 
East Kelly set to double its rail cargo this fiscal year. San Antonio Business Journal. “Success at East Kelly Railport is the result of having the right location at the right time and working with the right partners to capture market opportunities,” Rico adds in a written statement. “When the Railport was launched a few years ago, we saw steady, moderate growth. (The) Eagle Ford has been a game-changer and provides logistics firms at the railport a strong future.”
 
Senator Uresti appointed to the Energy Council working group. San Antonio Business Journal. State Sen. Carlos Uresti, whose district includes part of the Eagle Ford Shale, was last week appointed to the Energy Council, a top energy-policy working group.
 
What's driving high-dollar shale play transactions? Houston Business Journal. Among the past six weeks worth of Houston energy transactions, roughly $2 billion of shale assets have changed hands.Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) just bought more acreage in the Bakken Shale, which almost doubled its holdings in the liquids-rich play, for $1.5 billion