Energy in Depth: Today’s News
PA Congressman: Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Drilling Critical for State’s, America’s Economic Future. Energy In Depth, Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson. “Clean, safe, responsible, well-regulated Marcellus natural gas production in Pennsylvania has already paid dividends for our region and Commonwealth. According to a recent Penn State study, Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling last year generated 29,000 jobs, added $2.3 billion to the economy and generated $240 million in state and local taxes. For 2009 the estimates are 48,000 jobs, $400 million in tax revenues and economic output will top $3.8 billion. Without the environmentally safe and proven 60-year old drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, the clean-burning natural gas could not be produced from the Marcellus or any other place in the country. … The Marcellus Shale presents a tremendous opportunity to expand and grow Pennsylvania’s economy, get people back to work, decrease our debt and lessen our dependence on imported energy. I will continue to work to help ensure that happens through maintaining support for the state regulation of hydraulic fracturing, and opposing legislation that would impede Pennsylvania’s safe, clean, and well-regulated development of energy.”
Garfield County commissioner gets into fracking debate with oil/gas rep. Aspen Times. “Kathy Hall, of the Western Slope Oil & Gas Association, told the board of county commissioners on Monday that the procedure known as hydraulic fracturing, or “frac’ing,” is “a very safe process,” and ended up in a short debate with commissioner Trési Houpt on a variety of frac’ing-related topics. Hall said there is an effort by anti-industry forces, using “anecdotal evidence” and “scare tactics,” to convince Congress to create federal rules governing the procedure. Hall urged the BOCC to check out such informational sources as the “Energy In Depth” website, which is sponsored by a consortium of oil and gas producers, “to find the research that is accurate … on frac’ing.” She stressed that the oil and gas industries are “critical” to ending U.S. dependence on foreign energy sources, and that frac’ing as a technological process is vital to the industry’s capacity to get oil and gas out of the ground.”
Brigham shares up after positive Bakken well production results. Reuters. “Shares of oil and natural gas company Brigham Exploration Co rose as much as 24 percent on Tuesday, a day after the company reported promising initial production results from one of its wells in the Bakken shale. Brigham said the Anderson 28-33 well produced about 2,154 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) during its early 24-hour flow back period. About 85 percent of production was oil. ‘It means in the Bakken, there is no such thing really as a bad well, there’s just under-exploited wells,’ Jefferies and Co analyst Subash Chandra said by phone. In April, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated about 3 billion to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, recoverable crude oil in the North Dakota and Montana Bakken shale play.”
Eastern Saskatchewan shale gas hunt starting. PennEnergy. “Hunt Oil Co., Dallas, and Nordic Oil & Gas Ltd., Winnipeg, Man., signed a strategic development agreement regarding gas exploration in east-central Saskatchewan. Nordic will have the opportunity to earn an interest in 153,600 acres of Hunt-owned land at Preeceville, 130 miles northeast of Regina, Sask. The ensuing exploration work on the lands will result in Hunt having the option to participate on a 50-50 go-forward basis with Nordic, or allow Nordic to retain a 100% interest in the land with Hunt earning a gross overriding royalty.”
