Barnett Shale

Dow Chemical CEO: Cheaper natural gas providing "tailwind" for U.S. economy

The U.S. economic recovery is gathering strength as cheaper natural gas drives business investments and boosts exports, says the CEO of Dow Chemical, which uses large volumes of gas to power its plants and as a raw material for hundreds of products such as polyethylene plastic.

Click here for the Bloomberg News report.

--Jack Z. Smith

North Dakota, aided by mild weather, may have hit all-time oil production record in January

North Dakota's oil production, which has quadrupled since 2005 as a result of the Bakken Shale boom, may have hit an all-time high in January as mild weather and lower-than-normal snowfall allowed drilling to increase.

Click here for the Bloomberg News report.

--Jack Z. Smith

Deal to close 2 Chicago coal-fired power plants

Chicago's two aging coal-fired power plants, long blamed for illnesses in two largely Hispanic neighborhoods, will shut down several years earlier than expected under a deal announced today by a coalition of environmental, health and community groups.

Click here for the Associated Press report.

--Jack Z. Smith

Barnett Shale production hits record high

Despite persistently low natural gas prices and a decline in drilling, production in North Texas' Barnett Shale hit a record high in November, averaging more than 6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, according to the Powell Shale Digest.

Click here for the Star-Telegram report.

--Jack Z. Smith

Tanking natural gas prices are cutting into the revenues of public entities in North Texas

Local governments, bolstered by more than $1 billion from the Barnett Shale over the past four years, are adjusting to diminished windfalls as the lowest natural gas prices in a decade have slowed drilling and reduced royalties.

Fort Worth recently lowered its estimate of income from gas-lease bonuses and royalties by nearly $334 million, or 32 percent, over 25 years.

Click here for the Star-Telegram report.

--Jack Z. Smith

A record $45 billion buyout of TXU Corp. has turned sour for Warren Buffett and others

The headline-making $45 billion leveraged buyout of TXU Corp. came in February 2007. Five years later, the Dallas-based power company, now known as Energy Future Holdings, is reeling from heavy debt and low natural gas prices.

America's most-famous investor, billionaire Warren Buffett, calls his $2 billion investment in EFH bonds "a big mistake" and says it is at risk of losing all its value.

Click here for the New York Times report.

--Jack Z. Smith

Exxon breaks silence over Kurdistan oil talks

Irving-based Exxon Mobil Corp. has disclosed its plans to explore for oil in Iraq's Kurdistan region in the company's annual report, breaking months of silence over the investment that has outraged Baghdad.

Click here for the Reuters report.

--Jack Z. Smith

Ohio fracking foes push water safety, while Republicans tout job gains from drilling activity

U.S. House Republicans went to eastern Ohio touting hydraulic fracturing of natural gas and oil wells as a way to add U.S. jobs and cut fuel costs.

Instead, the lawmakers met skeptical residents, highlighting the divide over environmental concerns about fracking, a process used in completion of wells to stimulate greater production.

Click here for the Bloomberg News report.

--Jack Z. Smith

Investors in oil giant BP say spill settlement could give boost to company's battered stock

Investors in BP Plc say progress toward a settlement with victims of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig disaster, which killed 11 workers and led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010, could help shrink the $44 billion plunge in the company's value since then.

Click here for the Bloomberg News report.

--Jack Z. Smith

Enlisting nanoparticles in effort to lower costs for converting vehicles to run on natural gas

There's a new technological development that could help pave the way for greater reliance on natural gas-powered vehicles in the U.S, according to this New York Times report.

--Jack Z. Smith