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President Obama

Shale Boosts U.S. Economy from Coast to Coast
We all know that responsible oil and natural gas production has been an economic boon to regions across the country, and as the Wall Street Journal highlights this week, the economic growth emanating from developing natural gas from shale is not limited solely to those areas lucky enough to have the formations underneath them.

We all know that responsible oil and natural gas production has been an economic boon to regions across the country, from communities throughout Pennsylvania benefiting from Marcellus Shale development to the rapidly expanding housing business in south Texas. And, of course, North Dakota boasts the lowest unemployment rate in the country, thanks in large part to the development of the Bakken Shale.

But the story doesn’t end there. Indeed, as the Wall Street Journal highlights this week, the economic growth emanating from developing natural gas from shale is not limited solely to those areas lucky enough to have the formations underneath them:

The economic benefits of rising energy production are spreading far beyond the traditional oil patch, to Ohio and Pennsylvania, Nebraska and New York, North Carolina and Idaho. Truck drivers from pretty much anywhere can find work related to the surging energy business. Private-equity firms completed $24.8 billion of energy deals of all types last year, up from $8.5 billion in 2010, according to data tracker Preqin. Manufacturing plants are returning to the U.S. to take advantage of cheap natural gas, spurring major investments in petrochemical and steel production in the Gulf Coast and Midwest.

Landowners in huge swaths of the country where shale is found are raking in money for leasing their mineral rights. Consumers throughout the U.S. are paying lower bills for heating and electricity because of cheap natural gas. Even the U.S. balance of payments with other countries is improving because of the new energy economy.

“This is probably the biggest stimulus we have going,” says Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, a consultant based in Amherst, Mass. Some $145 billion will be spent drilling and completing U.S. wells this year, up from $13 billion in 2000, estimates Spears & Associates Inc., an oil-field market research firm.

[...]

The growth in energy exploration and production is due to the widespread use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Horizontal drilling allows energy companies to extract gas and oil up to a mile away from the actual well. Meanwhile, fracking—which involves pumping millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals to break open dense rocks and release hydrocarbons—has enabled the industry to tap into energy-rich shale formations once overlooked by petroleum geologists.

In Nancy County, Nebraska — a largely agricultural county west of Omaha — demand has picked up so much for the area’s sand deposits that a local company has expanded its workforce by nearly ten-fold. As a member of the county board of supervisors described the situation, “This deal here is like winning the lottery.” Similarly, in western Wisconsin, the number of sand mines has increased substantially, creating over 1,000 jobs in just the past four months.

Of course, as the Journal also highlights, areas that have a long history of oil and natural gas development are also reaping significant benefits. (Houston became the first major metropolitan area to regain all of the jobs it lost during the recession, thanks to increased exploration for oil and natural gas in shale.) But these benefits extend beyond job creation and (enormous) economic growth:

Beyond simply adding jobs, communities from Pennsylvania and Ohio to Colorado and Texas that are home to this energy boom are experiencing a new emotion: optimism. Jeff Dahl, chief executive of MTR Gaming Group Inc., which operates a casino and resort in Wheeling, W.Va., says he is seeing consumer confidence rising as landowners get leasing bonuses of thousands of dollars and companies compete for workers.

“People are beginning to believe this is a game changer for the region,” says Mr. Dahl. The result is more spending on dining out and entertainment.

It’s little wonder, then, why investment in shale grew by 55 percent last year, not to mention why President Obama has taken notice of shale in a big way.

Of course, this economic revival is also paving the way to increased energy security, as domestic output of oil and natural gas reach new highs and reliance on OPEC becomes less necessary. Turns out we’re producing so much that energy prices are falling, which means consumers pay less for utility bills and manufacturers can invest more in the United States … all of which, in turn, means more capital to invest in U.S. businesses and the ability to create even more U.S. jobs.

*UPDATE* The President’s Big Shout Out to Shale
According to most geologists, shale has been a natural geological feature of the earth’s outermost crust for about two billion years now, give or take a couple hundred million. But would you believe it? In all that time, the word "shale" had never been mentioned in a State of the Union address...

UPDATE (Jan. 26, 10:26am ET): A document on the White House website (found here) entitled “Blueprint for an America Built to Last” reiterates the President’s support for natural gas development and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it will create. It is indeed telling (and little wonder) that developing natural gas from shale plays so prominently in a plan to create jobs while also reducing environmental impacts.

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According to most geologists, shale has been a natural geological feature of the earth’s outermost crust for about two billion years now, give or take a couple hundred million.  But would you believe it? In all that time, the word “shale” had never been mentioned in a State of the Union address delivered by an American president (in fairness, the office of U.S. president hasn’t been around quite that long).

Well, it had to happen eventually. And last night, that two-billion-year-long-no-mention streak finally came to an end, with President Obama devoting a significant segment of his nationally (and internationally) televised address to touting the promise and potential of developing America’s enormous natural gas resources — particularly those in “shale rock” — as the foundation for an energy policy that’s “cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.” From the speech:

“We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years,” the President stated, “And my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy.  Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade.” The President went on to say that expanded natural gas development will “create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy.”

But unlike the numerous throwaway lines in all too many political speeches and presidential statements, the president’s words about natural gas were clearly a major component of his address, and news outlets from across the country took notice. Below is a snapshot of what major media had to say about the speech, specifically the president’s endorsement of the responsible development of natural gas from shale:

President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged support for the U.S. shale gas boom, but said government must focus on safe development of the energy resource.

In his State of the Union address, Obama called for government to develop a roadmap for responsible shale gas production and said his administration would move forward with “common-sense” new rules to make sure drillers protect the public.

“America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk,” Obama said.

Obama, in his State of the Union address Tuesday, said natural gas was one of the foundations for U.S. energy security. He said there’s enough natural gas in the country to meet domestic demand for 100 years but companies working to exploit those reserves must do so responsibly.

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Obama spoke optimistically about the bounty of unconventional natural gas under the eastern United States. “We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years,” Obama said, “and my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy.” This is good news, pretty much no matter where you land on the political spectrum.

President Barack Obama pushed drilling for gas in shale rock and support for cleaner energy sources to boost the economy in his final State of the Union address before facing U.S. voters in November.

Hydraulic fracturing, the process of injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to free gas trapped in rock, could create more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade, Obama said yesterday. The process, called fracking, is among a list of energy policies Obama said would fuel economic growth.

“We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years, and my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy,” Obama said.

Obama also highlighted the economic potential from tapping into the nation’s natural gas supplies, citing independent reports showing the industry could support about 600,000 jobs over the next decade…”This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy — a strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper and full of new jobs,” Obama said to rousing applause from Republicans in the House chamber.

Cleaner. Cheaper. More affordable. And insanely abundant. At a time when most folks on Capitol Hill today can’t even agree on what they disagree on, responsible development of American energy resources represents that rarest of ideas in Washington that appear to make sense to just about everyone across the political continuum. Heck, even Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), previously (and currently?) a critic of Marcellus development in his state, told reporters after the speech that he “was glad for the focus on natural gas. It’s a big benefit to Pennsylvania. We’ve got a great natural resource with lots of jobs.”

And he wasn’t the only one talking shale last night. Click around below to see what other folks had to say:

Virginia “Gigi” Lazenby, Chairman, Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA):

“Our industry, made up of mostly very small- and medium-sized businesses, applauds the president for his stated commitment to expanding the responsible development of job-creating American oil and natural gas. As the president made clear this evening, job creation and the restoration of the American dream is a shared goal that exceeds political boundaries. As the president underscored, our nation continues to increase its domestic oil and gas production, creating thousands of well-paying, private sector jobs, providing much-needed relief and savings for struggling consumers and stimulating an otherwise anemic economy.”

Jack Gerard, President and CEO, American Petroleum Institute:

“The administration has an opportunity to turn energy policy in a direction that could provide huge benefits to our economy. And if the President is sincere in this, our industry will work very hard with him to make it happen.” (NOTE: Gerard also added, “If the President is serious about creating more jobs and more energy, allow America’s oil and natural gas companies to produce more of our energy at home, and we’ll put people to work and deliver more revenue to the government. That’s what the American people want.”)

Statement from America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA):

“Tonight’s speech builds on the White House report earlier this month documenting the broad impact that natural gas production can have on investment and job creation across leading sectors of our economy. A range of U.S. industries and their workers are more competitive today thanks to our nation’s vast, affordable natural gas supplies. Along with these opportunities come lower energy costs for consumers and cleaner air.”

Kathryn Klaber, President, Marcellus Shale Coalition:

“We are encouraged that President Obama recognizes the tremendous energy security, environmental, and economic benefits associated with job-creating American shale gas development fueled overwhelmingly through private investment on privately-owned lands. And while presidents of both parties have made a clarion call for more American energy over the past four decades, it is our genuine hope that President Obama’s remarks tonight are reflected in his Administration’s policies that are rooted in sound science and move forward with an aim of leveraging our nation’s abundant natural gas resources on behalf of consumers, families, and small businesses. American natural gas will continue to make our nation stronger and more secure.”

Dave McCurdy, President and CEO, American Gas Association:

“If there was ever a fuel in the right place at the right time, it is natural gas in 2012 and beyond. We’re glad to see the President acknowledge the many benefits natural gas provides for our energy future, not just in the State of the Union Address but also in his latest jobs report…By continuing to increase the use of natural gas, we can make progress on our national priorities of helping to improve our economy, reduce environmental impacts and secure our nation’s energy future.”

Brad Gill, Executive Director, Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York (IOGA of NY):

“In his State of the Union Address Tuesday, President Obama spoke of the important role domestic oil and natural gas will have in securing the nation’s energy future and economic recovery. Using newer technologies to harvest homegrown energy is a vital component in job creation and commerce by powering businesses and ‘factories that are cleaner and cheaper’… The President’s energy policy acknowledges the 600,000 jobs that natural gas production will help create over the next decade. His messages must be heard and considered in New York as the state moves toward allowing safe natural gas development in the Southern Tier.”

Dan Fitzsimmons, President, Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY):

“In tonight’s SOTU address, President Obama affirmed that we don’t have to choose between our economy and the environment in developing shale gas.  The president committed the Administration to taking ‘every possible action to safely develop this energy.’  The landowners of NY state stand ready to support this call to action.”

The Amazing Energy Future that the Federal Government Wants to Prevent

Shale oil development in places like North Dakota means ‘OPEC’s days are numbered,’ but federal regulators pursue alternative future with potentially devastating results.

In 2004, North Dakota was the ninth largest oil producing state in the country, producing less than half as much oil per year as the state of New Mexico. In 2010, a mere six years later, North Dakota had climbed to the fourth largest, surpassing energy rich Oklahoma and Louisiana. What happened?

Two words: shale oil. The Bakken formation in the western part of the state, which the U.S. Geological Survey predicted in 1995 had only 151 million barrels of oil, turned out to be one of the largest onshore oil fields ever discovered in the United States — in 2008 the USGS famously revised its estimate upward by an amazing 25-fold, projecting that the Bakken could hold more than four billion barrels of oil.

This incredible story was told in detail this weekend in the Wall Street Journal‘s weekend interview, ” How North Dakota Became Saudi Arabia,” which focused on Harold Hamm, the oil man credited with discovering the massive energy potential in the Bakken:

[S]ince 2005 America truly has been in the midst of a revolution in oil and natural gas, which is the nation’s fastest-growing manufacturing sector. No one is more responsible for that resurgence than Mr. Hamm. He was the original discoverer of the gigantic and prolific Bakken oil fields of Montana and North Dakota that have already helped move the U.S. into third place among world oil producers.

How much oil does Bakken have? The official estimate of the U.S. Geological Survey a few years ago was between four and five billion barrels. Mr. Hamm disagrees: “No way. We estimate that the entire field, fully developed, in Bakken is 24 billion barrels.”

Of course, none of this would have been possible were it not for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, both of which are needed to unlock the vast deposits of oil and natural gas in shale deposits across the country.

Yet even with this amazing success story, the America’s ability to reduce its reliance on OPEC is far from written in stone, and indeed seems to be under attack by federal regulators whose actions could undermine this renaissance just as its getting started. As the WSJ further explains:

[Hamm's] only beef these days is with Washington. Mr. Hamm was invited to the White House for a “giving summit” with wealthy Americans who have pledged to donate at least half their wealth to charity. (He’s given tens of millions of dollars already to schools like Oklahoma State and for diabetes research.) “Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, they were all there,” he recalls.

When it was Mr. Hamm’s turn to talk briefly with President Obama, “I told him of the revolution in the oil and gas industry and how we have the capacity to produce enough oil to enable America to replace OPEC. I wanted to make sure he knew about this.”

The president’s reaction? “He turned to me and said, ‘Oil and gas will be important for the next few years. But we need to go on to green and alternative energy. [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu has assured me that within five years, we can have a battery developed that will make a car with the equivalent of 130 miles per gallon.’” Mr. Hamm holds his head in his hands and says, “Even if you believed that, why would you want to stop oil and gas development? It was pretty disappointing.”

Washington keeps “sticking a regulatory boot at our necks and then turns around and asks: ‘Why aren’t you creating more jobs,’” he says. He roils at the Interior Department delays of months and sometimes years to get permits for drilling. “These delays kill projects,” he says. Even the Securities and Exchange Commission is now tightening the screws on the oil industry, requiring companies like Continental to report their production and federal royalties on thousands of individual leases under the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules. “I could go to jail because a local operator misreported the production in the field,” he says.

The impact of the “regulatory boot” and federal delays have a greater cost than hamstringing America’s capacity to produce energy. They also undermine the type of job creation and economic growth that a struggling economy so desperately needs:

Mr. Hamm believes that if Mr. Obama truly wants more job creation, he should study North Dakota, the state with the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 3.5%. He swears that number is overstated: “We can’t find any unemployed people up there. The state has 18,000 unfilled jobs,” Mr. Hamm insists. “And these are jobs that pay $60,000 to $80,000 a year.” The economy is expanding so fast that North Dakota has a housing shortage. Thanks to the oil boom—Continental pays more than $50 million in state taxes a year—the state has a budget surplus and is considering ending income and property taxes.

Less reliance on OPEC. More high-paying jobs. Budget surpluses. Lower tax burdens for everyone. These are undeniable benefits of responsible oil and gas production — particularly in states with significant shale resources such as Pennsylvania (Marcellus shale), Texas (Eagle Ford shale), Louisiana (Haynesville shale), and now Ohio (Utica shale) — that the federal government should be encouraging. Instead, members of Congress are pushing for the Environmental Protection Agency to ban hydraulic fracturing, thereby cutting off at the knees America’s energy revolution. The President, meanwhile, is threatening to curb domestic oil and gas production through higher taxes.

Instead of trying to shut down North Dakota’s model of more American energy production, more jobs, and more public revenue, maybe the federal government should be taking lessons from it.

Greens Beg President Obama to Ignore the Facts on HF

If a fact-free letter requesting a ban on American energy production falls on the President’s desk, does it make a difference? We’re about to find out.

An assortment of “green” groups, writing allegedly on “behalf of Americans who live in every US state and territory,” have written directly to the President to “employ any legal means to put a halt to hydraulic fracturing.” Signers include political heavyweights like Kids for Saving Earth, the anti-energy website DeSmogBlog, and a group that opposes the construction of a cement plant in North Carolina.

Keep Reading »

What To Look For From The President This Week

The White House announced today that President Obama will pivot this week from ongoing efforts in the Middle East to focus his energy, well, on energy. Tomorrow, as the Wall Street Journal reports, “President Barack Obama will outline a plan for America’s energy security on Wednesday [at Georgetown University].”

This too from whitehouse.gov: “The President will visit a UPS shipping facility in Landover, MD where he will view vehicles from AT&T, FedEx, PepsiCo, UPS and Verizon’s clean fleets and deliver remarks to the companies’ employees.” No word if Daniel Snyder has received a formal invite yet.

Many of these “clean fleet” vehicles are certainly powered by cleaner-burning, American natural gas. And the president, for his part, and his administration, have been mostly supportive of shale gas production, which is performed overwhelmingly by smaller, independent producers here in America. This from his January 25 State of the Union Address:

Some folks want wind and solar.  Others want nuclear, clean coal and natural gas.  To meet this goal, we will need them all — and I urge Democrats and Republicans to work together to make it happen.

You see, the United States is uniquely positioned to continue to be a global leader in natural gas producing — we have roughly a 100 year supply available. But misguided regulatory and legislative threats persist in Washington that could dramatically and unnecessarily thwart this production, which is helping to stabilize energy prices for struggling American consumers, driving down our dangerous dependence on unstable region’s of the world to fuel our economy and creating tens of thousands of good-paying, blue-collar jobs at a time when they’re most needed.

Hydraulic fracturing – a 60 year old oil and natural gas stimulation technology – remains at the core of this debate. Without this tightly-regulated and environmentally proven process, that abundant, 100 year supply of domestic, job-creating natural gas, as well as hundreds of millions of barrels of American oil, would remain out of reach.

The fact remains that individual energy-producing states close, ably and aggressively regulate well-casing standards and therefore fracturing and other completions technologies. So closely, ably and aggressively that fracturing has never impacted groundwater – but has been used to enhance American oil and natural gas production more than 1.1 million times.

Some in Washington, nonetheless, are seeking to fundamentally rewrite longstanding federal law with the goal of stripping individual states – and their highly-skilled technical experts – of their ability to ensure that fracturing is done safely. The impact could be devastating, both economically and from an energy security standpoint.

In a speech last week, Louisiana Oil and Gas Association president Don Briggs said this about this about these misguided, ‘Washington-knows-best’ efforts:

Briggs said the natural gas market is “coming on strong,” but there are some attempts to have the process of hydraulic fracturing controlled by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Currently, each state oversees the process.

“If the EPA controls hydraulic fracturing … then all you have to do is have one operator somewhere make a mistake, and they will shut down all exploration,” Briggs said.

“President Obama’s central focus is on stimulating economic recovery and helping America emerge a stronger and more prosperous nation,” reads the White House’s ‘Guiding Principles’, adding this: “President Obama’s first priority in confronting the economic crisis is to put Americans back to work.” Well, Mr. President, look no further than American independent oil and natural gas producers, who are helping to create tens of thousands of jobs. These jobs, however, are tied directly to hydraulic fracturing.

At A Glance: Hydraulic Fracturing-Related Economic Impacts

At a conference yesterday, according the Wall Street Journal, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this about shale gas development in his country: “The fruits of this debate will be what’s priceless: a feeling of security and a hope for the future for millions of people.”

President Obama has an opportunity to demonstrate real leadership on the issue of responsibly developing job-creating American oil and natural gas this week, just as Prime Minister Tusk and a host of other world leaders have in their countries. In fact, this production is “helping America emerge a stronger and more prosperous nation.”

Posts Tagged ‘President Obama’

Shale Boosts U.S. Economy from Coast to Coast

Friday, February 10th, 2012

We all know that responsible oil and natural gas production has been an economic boon to regions across the country, from communities throughout Pennsylvania benefiting from Marcellus Shale development to the rapidly expanding housing business in south Texas. And, of course, North Dakota boasts the lowest unemployment rate in the country, thanks in large part to the development of the Bakken Shale.

But the story doesn’t end there. Indeed, as the Wall Street Journal highlights this week, the economic growth emanating from developing natural gas from shale is not limited solely to those areas lucky enough to have the formations underneath them:

The economic benefits of rising energy production are spreading far beyond the traditional oil patch, to Ohio and Pennsylvania, Nebraska and New York, North Carolina and Idaho. Truck drivers from pretty much anywhere can find work related to the surging energy business. Private-equity firms completed $24.8 billion of energy deals of all types last year, up from $8.5 billion in 2010, according to data tracker Preqin. Manufacturing plants are returning to the U.S. to take advantage of cheap natural gas, spurring major investments in petrochemical and steel production in the Gulf Coast and Midwest.

Landowners in huge swaths of the country where shale is found are raking in money for leasing their mineral rights. Consumers throughout the U.S. are paying lower bills for heating and electricity because of cheap natural gas. Even the U.S. balance of payments with other countries is improving because of the new energy economy.

“This is probably the biggest stimulus we have going,” says Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, a consultant based in Amherst, Mass. Some $145 billion will be spent drilling and completing U.S. wells this year, up from $13 billion in 2000, estimates Spears & Associates Inc., an oil-field market research firm.

[...]

The growth in energy exploration and production is due to the widespread use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Horizontal drilling allows energy companies to extract gas and oil up to a mile away from the actual well. Meanwhile, fracking—which involves pumping millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals to break open dense rocks and release hydrocarbons—has enabled the industry to tap into energy-rich shale formations once overlooked by petroleum geologists.

In Nancy County, Nebraska — a largely agricultural county west of Omaha — demand has picked up so much for the area’s sand deposits that a local company has expanded its workforce by nearly ten-fold. As a member of the county board of supervisors described the situation, “This deal here is like winning the lottery.” Similarly, in western Wisconsin, the number of sand mines has increased substantially, creating over 1,000 jobs in just the past four months.

Of course, as the Journal also highlights, areas that have a long history of oil and natural gas development are also reaping significant benefits. (Houston became the first major metropolitan area to regain all of the jobs it lost during the recession, thanks to increased exploration for oil and natural gas in shale.) But these benefits extend beyond job creation and (enormous) economic growth:

Beyond simply adding jobs, communities from Pennsylvania and Ohio to Colorado and Texas that are home to this energy boom are experiencing a new emotion: optimism. Jeff Dahl, chief executive of MTR Gaming Group Inc., which operates a casino and resort in Wheeling, W.Va., says he is seeing consumer confidence rising as landowners get leasing bonuses of thousands of dollars and companies compete for workers.

“People are beginning to believe this is a game changer for the region,” says Mr. Dahl. The result is more spending on dining out and entertainment.

It’s little wonder, then, why investment in shale grew by 55 percent last year, not to mention why President Obama has taken notice of shale in a big way.

Of course, this economic revival is also paving the way to increased energy security, as domestic output of oil and natural gas reach new highs and reliance on OPEC becomes less necessary. Turns out we’re producing so much that energy prices are falling, which means consumers pay less for utility bills and manufacturers can invest more in the United States … all of which, in turn, means more capital to invest in U.S. businesses and the ability to create even more U.S. jobs.

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*UPDATE* The President’s Big Shout Out to Shale

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

UPDATE (Jan. 26, 10:26am ET): A document on the White House website (found here) entitled “Blueprint for an America Built to Last” reiterates the President’s support for natural gas development and the hundreds of thousands of jobs it will create. It is indeed telling (and little wonder) that developing natural gas from shale plays so prominently in a plan to create jobs while also reducing environmental impacts.

–

According to most geologists, shale has been a natural geological feature of the earth’s outermost crust for about two billion years now, give or take a couple hundred million.  But would you believe it? In all that time, the word “shale” had never been mentioned in a State of the Union address delivered by an American president (in fairness, the office of U.S. president hasn’t been around quite that long).

Well, it had to happen eventually. And last night, that two-billion-year-long-no-mention streak finally came to an end, with President Obama devoting a significant segment of his nationally (and internationally) televised address to touting the promise and potential of developing America’s enormous natural gas resources — particularly those in “shale rock” — as the foundation for an energy policy that’s “cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.” From the speech:

“We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years,” the President stated, “And my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy.  Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade.” The President went on to say that expanded natural gas development will “create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy.”

But unlike the numerous throwaway lines in all too many political speeches and presidential statements, the president’s words about natural gas were clearly a major component of his address, and news outlets from across the country took notice. Below is a snapshot of what major media had to say about the speech, specifically the president’s endorsement of the responsible development of natural gas from shale:

President Barack Obama on Tuesday pledged support for the U.S. shale gas boom, but said government must focus on safe development of the energy resource.

In his State of the Union address, Obama called for government to develop a roadmap for responsible shale gas production and said his administration would move forward with “common-sense” new rules to make sure drillers protect the public.

“America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk,” Obama said.

Obama, in his State of the Union address Tuesday, said natural gas was one of the foundations for U.S. energy security. He said there’s enough natural gas in the country to meet domestic demand for 100 years but companies working to exploit those reserves must do so responsibly.

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Obama spoke optimistically about the bounty of unconventional natural gas under the eastern United States. “We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years,” Obama said, “and my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy.” This is good news, pretty much no matter where you land on the political spectrum.

President Barack Obama pushed drilling for gas in shale rock and support for cleaner energy sources to boost the economy in his final State of the Union address before facing U.S. voters in November.

Hydraulic fracturing, the process of injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to free gas trapped in rock, could create more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade, Obama said yesterday. The process, called fracking, is among a list of energy policies Obama said would fuel economic growth.

“We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years, and my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy,” Obama said.

Obama also highlighted the economic potential from tapping into the nation’s natural gas supplies, citing independent reports showing the industry could support about 600,000 jobs over the next decade…”This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy — a strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper and full of new jobs,” Obama said to rousing applause from Republicans in the House chamber.

Cleaner. Cheaper. More affordable. And insanely abundant. At a time when most folks on Capitol Hill today can’t even agree on what they disagree on, responsible development of American energy resources represents that rarest of ideas in Washington that appear to make sense to just about everyone across the political continuum. Heck, even Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), previously (and currently?) a critic of Marcellus development in his state, told reporters after the speech that he “was glad for the focus on natural gas. It’s a big benefit to Pennsylvania. We’ve got a great natural resource with lots of jobs.”

And he wasn’t the only one talking shale last night. Click around below to see what other folks had to say:

Virginia “Gigi” Lazenby, Chairman, Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA):

“Our industry, made up of mostly very small- and medium-sized businesses, applauds the president for his stated commitment to expanding the responsible development of job-creating American oil and natural gas. As the president made clear this evening, job creation and the restoration of the American dream is a shared goal that exceeds political boundaries. As the president underscored, our nation continues to increase its domestic oil and gas production, creating thousands of well-paying, private sector jobs, providing much-needed relief and savings for struggling consumers and stimulating an otherwise anemic economy.”

Jack Gerard, President and CEO, American Petroleum Institute:

“The administration has an opportunity to turn energy policy in a direction that could provide huge benefits to our economy. And if the President is sincere in this, our industry will work very hard with him to make it happen.” (NOTE: Gerard also added, “If the President is serious about creating more jobs and more energy, allow America’s oil and natural gas companies to produce more of our energy at home, and we’ll put people to work and deliver more revenue to the government. That’s what the American people want.”)

Statement from America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA):

“Tonight’s speech builds on the White House report earlier this month documenting the broad impact that natural gas production can have on investment and job creation across leading sectors of our economy. A range of U.S. industries and their workers are more competitive today thanks to our nation’s vast, affordable natural gas supplies. Along with these opportunities come lower energy costs for consumers and cleaner air.”

Kathryn Klaber, President, Marcellus Shale Coalition:

“We are encouraged that President Obama recognizes the tremendous energy security, environmental, and economic benefits associated with job-creating American shale gas development fueled overwhelmingly through private investment on privately-owned lands. And while presidents of both parties have made a clarion call for more American energy over the past four decades, it is our genuine hope that President Obama’s remarks tonight are reflected in his Administration’s policies that are rooted in sound science and move forward with an aim of leveraging our nation’s abundant natural gas resources on behalf of consumers, families, and small businesses. American natural gas will continue to make our nation stronger and more secure.”

Dave McCurdy, President and CEO, American Gas Association:

“If there was ever a fuel in the right place at the right time, it is natural gas in 2012 and beyond. We’re glad to see the President acknowledge the many benefits natural gas provides for our energy future, not just in the State of the Union Address but also in his latest jobs report…By continuing to increase the use of natural gas, we can make progress on our national priorities of helping to improve our economy, reduce environmental impacts and secure our nation’s energy future.”

Brad Gill, Executive Director, Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York (IOGA of NY):

“In his State of the Union Address Tuesday, President Obama spoke of the important role domestic oil and natural gas will have in securing the nation’s energy future and economic recovery. Using newer technologies to harvest homegrown energy is a vital component in job creation and commerce by powering businesses and ‘factories that are cleaner and cheaper’… The President’s energy policy acknowledges the 600,000 jobs that natural gas production will help create over the next decade. His messages must be heard and considered in New York as the state moves toward allowing safe natural gas development in the Southern Tier.”

Dan Fitzsimmons, President, Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY):

“In tonight’s SOTU address, President Obama affirmed that we don’t have to choose between our economy and the environment in developing shale gas.  The president committed the Administration to taking ‘every possible action to safely develop this energy.’  The landowners of NY state stand ready to support this call to action.”

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The Amazing Energy Future that the Federal Government Wants to Prevent

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Shale oil development in places like North Dakota means ‘OPEC’s days are numbered,’ but federal regulators pursue alternative future with potentially devastating results.

In 2004, North Dakota was the ninth largest oil producing state in the country, producing less than half as much oil per year as the state of New Mexico. In 2010, a mere six years later, North Dakota had climbed to the fourth largest, surpassing energy rich Oklahoma and Louisiana. What happened?

Two words: shale oil. The Bakken formation in the western part of the state, which the U.S. Geological Survey predicted in 1995 had only 151 million barrels of oil, turned out to be one of the largest onshore oil fields ever discovered in the United States — in 2008 the USGS famously revised its estimate upward by an amazing 25-fold, projecting that the Bakken could hold more than four billion barrels of oil.

This incredible story was told in detail this weekend in the Wall Street Journal‘s weekend interview, ” How North Dakota Became Saudi Arabia,” which focused on Harold Hamm, the oil man credited with discovering the massive energy potential in the Bakken:

[S]ince 2005 America truly has been in the midst of a revolution in oil and natural gas, which is the nation’s fastest-growing manufacturing sector. No one is more responsible for that resurgence than Mr. Hamm. He was the original discoverer of the gigantic and prolific Bakken oil fields of Montana and North Dakota that have already helped move the U.S. into third place among world oil producers.

How much oil does Bakken have? The official estimate of the U.S. Geological Survey a few years ago was between four and five billion barrels. Mr. Hamm disagrees: “No way. We estimate that the entire field, fully developed, in Bakken is 24 billion barrels.”

Of course, none of this would have been possible were it not for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, both of which are needed to unlock the vast deposits of oil and natural gas in shale deposits across the country.

Yet even with this amazing success story, the America’s ability to reduce its reliance on OPEC is far from written in stone, and indeed seems to be under attack by federal regulators whose actions could undermine this renaissance just as its getting started. As the WSJ further explains:

[Hamm's] only beef these days is with Washington. Mr. Hamm was invited to the White House for a “giving summit” with wealthy Americans who have pledged to donate at least half their wealth to charity. (He’s given tens of millions of dollars already to schools like Oklahoma State and for diabetes research.) “Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, they were all there,” he recalls.

When it was Mr. Hamm’s turn to talk briefly with President Obama, “I told him of the revolution in the oil and gas industry and how we have the capacity to produce enough oil to enable America to replace OPEC. I wanted to make sure he knew about this.”

The president’s reaction? “He turned to me and said, ‘Oil and gas will be important for the next few years. But we need to go on to green and alternative energy. [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu has assured me that within five years, we can have a battery developed that will make a car with the equivalent of 130 miles per gallon.’” Mr. Hamm holds his head in his hands and says, “Even if you believed that, why would you want to stop oil and gas development? It was pretty disappointing.”

Washington keeps “sticking a regulatory boot at our necks and then turns around and asks: ‘Why aren’t you creating more jobs,’” he says. He roils at the Interior Department delays of months and sometimes years to get permits for drilling. “These delays kill projects,” he says. Even the Securities and Exchange Commission is now tightening the screws on the oil industry, requiring companies like Continental to report their production and federal royalties on thousands of individual leases under the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules. “I could go to jail because a local operator misreported the production in the field,” he says.

The impact of the “regulatory boot” and federal delays have a greater cost than hamstringing America’s capacity to produce energy. They also undermine the type of job creation and economic growth that a struggling economy so desperately needs:

Mr. Hamm believes that if Mr. Obama truly wants more job creation, he should study North Dakota, the state with the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 3.5%. He swears that number is overstated: “We can’t find any unemployed people up there. The state has 18,000 unfilled jobs,” Mr. Hamm insists. “And these are jobs that pay $60,000 to $80,000 a year.” The economy is expanding so fast that North Dakota has a housing shortage. Thanks to the oil boom—Continental pays more than $50 million in state taxes a year—the state has a budget surplus and is considering ending income and property taxes.

Less reliance on OPEC. More high-paying jobs. Budget surpluses. Lower tax burdens for everyone. These are undeniable benefits of responsible oil and gas production — particularly in states with significant shale resources such as Pennsylvania (Marcellus shale), Texas (Eagle Ford shale), Louisiana (Haynesville shale), and now Ohio (Utica shale) — that the federal government should be encouraging. Instead, members of Congress are pushing for the Environmental Protection Agency to ban hydraulic fracturing, thereby cutting off at the knees America’s energy revolution. The President, meanwhile, is threatening to curb domestic oil and gas production through higher taxes.

Instead of trying to shut down North Dakota’s model of more American energy production, more jobs, and more public revenue, maybe the federal government should be taking lessons from it.

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Greens Beg President Obama to Ignore the Facts on HF

Monday, August 8th, 2011

If a fact-free letter requesting a ban on American energy production falls on the President’s desk, does it make a difference? We’re about to find out.

An assortment of “green” groups, writing allegedly on “behalf of Americans who live in every US state and territory,” have written directly to the President to “employ any legal means to put a halt to hydraulic fracturing.” Signers include political heavyweights like Kids for Saving Earth, the anti-energy website DeSmogBlog, and a group that opposes the construction of a cement plant in North Carolina. (more…)

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What To Look For From The President This Week

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

The White House announced today that President Obama will pivot this week from ongoing efforts in the Middle East to focus his energy, well, on energy. Tomorrow, as the Wall Street Journal reports, “President Barack Obama will outline a plan for America’s energy security on Wednesday [at Georgetown University].”

This too from whitehouse.gov: “The President will visit a UPS shipping facility in Landover, MD where he will view vehicles from AT&T, FedEx, PepsiCo, UPS and Verizon’s clean fleets and deliver remarks to the companies’ employees.” No word if Daniel Snyder has received a formal invite yet.

Many of these “clean fleet” vehicles are certainly powered by cleaner-burning, American natural gas. And the president, for his part, and his administration, have been mostly supportive of shale gas production, which is performed overwhelmingly by smaller, independent producers here in America. This from his January 25 State of the Union Address:

Some folks want wind and solar.  Others want nuclear, clean coal and natural gas.  To meet this goal, we will need them all — and I urge Democrats and Republicans to work together to make it happen.

You see, the United States is uniquely positioned to continue to be a global leader in natural gas producing — we have roughly a 100 year supply available. But misguided regulatory and legislative threats persist in Washington that could dramatically and unnecessarily thwart this production, which is helping to stabilize energy prices for struggling American consumers, driving down our dangerous dependence on unstable region’s of the world to fuel our economy and creating tens of thousands of good-paying, blue-collar jobs at a time when they’re most needed.

Hydraulic fracturing – a 60 year old oil and natural gas stimulation technology – remains at the core of this debate. Without this tightly-regulated and environmentally proven process, that abundant, 100 year supply of domestic, job-creating natural gas, as well as hundreds of millions of barrels of American oil, would remain out of reach.

The fact remains that individual energy-producing states close, ably and aggressively regulate well-casing standards and therefore fracturing and other completions technologies. So closely, ably and aggressively that fracturing has never impacted groundwater – but has been used to enhance American oil and natural gas production more than 1.1 million times.

Some in Washington, nonetheless, are seeking to fundamentally rewrite longstanding federal law with the goal of stripping individual states – and their highly-skilled technical experts – of their ability to ensure that fracturing is done safely. The impact could be devastating, both economically and from an energy security standpoint.

In a speech last week, Louisiana Oil and Gas Association president Don Briggs said this about this about these misguided, ‘Washington-knows-best’ efforts:

Briggs said the natural gas market is “coming on strong,” but there are some attempts to have the process of hydraulic fracturing controlled by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Currently, each state oversees the process.

“If the EPA controls hydraulic fracturing … then all you have to do is have one operator somewhere make a mistake, and they will shut down all exploration,” Briggs said.

“President Obama’s central focus is on stimulating economic recovery and helping America emerge a stronger and more prosperous nation,” reads the White House’s ‘Guiding Principles’, adding this: “President Obama’s first priority in confronting the economic crisis is to put Americans back to work.” Well, Mr. President, look no further than American independent oil and natural gas producers, who are helping to create tens of thousands of jobs. These jobs, however, are tied directly to hydraulic fracturing.

At A Glance: Hydraulic Fracturing-Related Economic Impacts

At a conference yesterday, according the Wall Street Journal, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this about shale gas development in his country: “The fruits of this debate will be what’s priceless: a feeling of security and a hope for the future for millions of people.”

President Obama has an opportunity to demonstrate real leadership on the issue of responsibly developing job-creating American oil and natural gas this week, just as Prime Minister Tusk and a host of other world leaders have in their countries. In fact, this production is “helping America emerge a stronger and more prosperous nation.”

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