Energy In Depth: Today’s News
GarCo votes against regs on fracturing by the feds. Grand Junction Sentinel. “In a decision being cheered by the energy industry and lamented by some area residents, the leading natural-gas-producing county in Colorado has come out against legislation to federally regulate hydraulic fracturing of wells. Garfield County commissioners voted 2–1 Monday in opposition to legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver. The bill would subject fracturing to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and require disclosure of chemicals used in the process. … “Every time the federal government gets involved, the cost goes up,” Samson said. “I know of nothing that the federal government does for us that does not cost money.” … The Colorado Oil & Gas Association said in a news release that Garfield Co. joins Delta, Mesa, Moffat, Morgan, Rio Blanco, Washington, Weld and Yuma counties in opposing DeGette’s bill.” NOTE: Click HERE to view COGA’s release.
Garfield County withholds FRAC Act support. Glenwood Springs Post Independent. “Despite evidence of significant sentiment to the contrary among the electorate, two Garfield County commissioners voted this week to oppose federal legislation which would put the oil and gas industry partly under the control of the Environmental Protection Agency. The lone Democrat on the Board of County Commissioners, Trési Houpt, declared her support for what is known as the FRAC (for Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals) Act, introduced in both houses of Congress last summer. … “Do you want to have the federal government come in and tell you what’s going to happen?” he asked the crowd of 25 or so at the meeting, or should it be left to what he called “the local voice”?”
Range posts Marcellus safety drill video. Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter. “Range Resources Corp. said Monday it has posted a video to its Web site, www.rangeresources.com, describing a first-of-its kind, large-scale safety drill in the Marcellus Shale play recently conducted in Lycoming County. The company said in a news release that state Sen. Gene Yaw filmed and produced the video and is sharing it with multiple outlets to benefit first responders across the state. Yaw is a member of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and represents Lycoming, Bradford, Susquehanna, Union and Sullivan counties, where drilling is occurring in the Marcellus Shale play.” NOTE: Click HERE to view this video.
Oilman says ND reserves could be double estimates. Associated Press. “Billionaire oilman Harold Hamm believes North Dakota’s oil reserves are double the federal government’s estimates. Hamm was the keynote speaker Monday at an energy conference in Bismarck. He said the U.S. Geological Survey’s estimate of 4.2 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken shale formation could be “100 percent off.” Hamm is the chairman and chief executive officer of Continental Resources Inc., an independent oil and gas company based in Enid, Okla. His company was one of the first to tap the Bakken formation in North Dakota’s oil patch 20 years ago. … Hamm also said he believes domestic reserves are growing, and not just in North Dakota.”
Let Me Get A Big ‘Shale, Yeah’. Wall Street Journal. “Shale and other types of unconventional gas production account for about 40% of overall U.S. gas production, up from around 10% in 1990, thanks to advancements in horizontal drilling and rock-cracking, as chronicled in a recent Wall Street Journal report. At least three shale-related private equity transactions were announced last week. EnCap Investments LP, Flatrock Energy Advisors LLC and TPH Partners have launched a new company, Meritage Midstream Services, focused on the Eagle Ford Shale in south Texas. Meritage will provide oil and gas producers with services like gathering and treating gas, oil, condensates and water. It also will provide carbon dioxide sequestration.”
Environmental agency facing $58M loss responsible for monitoring gas-drilling boom. Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter. “As the state Department of Environmental Protection works its way through a $58 million funding cut, its press secretary said last week that the agency will be able to maintain its oversight over natural gas well drilling activities in the state’s Marcellus Shale play across Pennsylvania. … Range Resources spokesman Matt Pitzarella said the company went from paying about $80 for a drilling permit to about $2,000. “It was set up in such a way so that as drilling levels go up, the inspector numbers go up,” he said. “It’s a self-funding mechanism.”
LOGA president pledges support for DeSoto road solution. Shreveport Times. “Louisiana Oil & Gas Association President Don Briggs got a personal tour Monday of DeSoto Parish’s roadways that are disintegrating under the weight and volume of truck traffic generated by the Haynesville Shale play. And he saw the complaints from parish officials are justified and magnified beyond what he expected based on what he’s been hearing at his Baton Rouge office. “There’s no question that this is a major issue,” Briggs told DeSoto police jurors following his afternoon road trip with Superintendent Clinton Sharpley. “It’s much more so than I realized.”
