Barnett Shale

EPA proposes power plant CO2 standard

The Environmental Protection Agency has released its first limits on heat-trapping emissions from new power plants. The rules are expected to largely end the building of new coal-fired electricity generation, other than facilities using as-yet unproven carbon-capture technologies. The standard also sets the maximum permissible emissions as about the level of CO₂ emitted by a modern natural gas-fired power plant.

"The standard will check the previously uncontrolled amount (of carbon pollution) that power plants ... release into our atmosphere,” Lisa Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Tuesday in a conference call. But “it also creates a path forward for future facilities to use technology that burns coal, while releasing less carbon pollution." 

A link to the agency's explanation of the new standard is here.

-- Jim Fuquay

Texas Wesleyan energy law symposium nears

Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth sponsors its fourth annual energy law symposium Thursday and Friday. Sessions include legal specifics in states like Kansas, California, Ohio, Louisiana and the Appalachian region, along with aspects of offshore development, leasing and environmental problems. Cost for one day is $75, or $140 for both days. For more information, click here.

-- Jim Fuquay

Wall Street Journal serves up energy smorgasbord

Monday's Wall Street Journal has a 10-page special section titled ECO:nomics that includes takes on energy production, renewables, natural gas and hydraulic fracturing among other topics. The content is taken from a conference the newspaper sponsored last week in Santa Barbara, Calif. Fort Worth makes an appearance in an exchange involving Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon and Paul Gallay, president of Riverkeeper in New York state. McClendon states that "We've drilled over 1,000 wells in Fort Worth. There have been over 5,000 wells drilled there. Has anything wrong happened in Fort Worth? Not that I'm aware of." Gallay responds: "There are air monitors throughout Fort Worth, and 94 percent of them come up with a hell of a lot of benzene that wasn't there before you started fracking."

T. Boone Pickens also weighs in on the role natural gas can play in U.S. energy sources and Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown talks about nuclear energy and drilling in his state. Here's a link to the online version.

-- Jim Fuquay

Study pushes natural gas use for power generation

Texas electricity producers' move away from natural gas  as a fuel is costing the state billions, a new  study says. University of Houston professor  Michael Economides and consultant Philip Lewis maintain that even as the nation is using more natural gas for power, Texas generators' use of wind is rising much faster than the U.S. trend and their use of coal is declining more slowly than the U.S. The study's authors calculate that the differences from 2005 through 2011 translated into a $7.7 billion economic loss to the state.

 A copy of the study is availablehere:  Download Economides-Texas NatGas-fuelforgrowth. 

-- Jim Fuquay

The NY Times goes to Midland

Clifford Krauss, The New York Times' knowledgable Houston-based correspondent, and colleague Eric Lipton take a road trip to West Texas for a nice report headlined "US Inches Toward Goal of Energy Independence." Here's a quick exerpt from an extensive story:

•  Across the country, the oil and gas industry is vastly increasing production, reversing two decades of decline. Using new technology and spurred by rising oil prices since the mid-2000s, the industry is extracting millions of barrels more a week, from the deepest waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the prairies of North Dakota.

To read the rest, click here.

-- Jim Fuquay

Fire personnel investigate natural gas release

Arlington and Mansfield fire departments investigated a natural gas release this morning at Debbie Lane near Matlock Road after residents reported a loud hissing sound and a vapor cloud blanketing their neighborhoods. Arlington fire fighters arrived at the Carrizo Oil and Gas site at 1751 E. Debbie Lane in southeast Tarrant County about 7:44 a.m. and conducted air monitoring after detecting a natural gas odor, Lt. Darrel Whitfield said. The vapor released from the site was "mostly steam with some gas and at no time was anyone in danger of being harmed," according to Mansfield Fire Chief Barry Bondurant. The Arlington Fire Department did not detect measurable amounts of gas in the residential areas close to the location, according to a Mansfield Fire Department news release. The Arlington Fire Department provided the photo above.

For more, see the Star-Telegram report here, and a follow-up editorial here.

-- Jim Fuquay

U.S., Barnett active rigs decline

Active U.S. rigs were down 16 this week to 1,968, according to Houston-based Baker Hughes. There were 1,313 rigs were exploring for oil, down one, and 652 for natural gas, down 11. Three were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago there were 1,738 active rigs.

In North Texas’ Barnett Shale, there were 49 active rigs, down seven, according to RigData. Leading counties were Tarrant, with 11; Parker and Wise, seven each; Johnson, six; and Jack, five.

-- Jim Fuquay

 

Fort Worth Council still divided on injection wells

Even after numerous public hearings, the Fort Worth City Council appears no closer to reaching a decision on whether to lift its years-long moratorium on drilling wastewater injection wells. For more, see the Star-Telegram's report here.

-- Jim Fuquay

Natural gas supplies likely to rise

U.S. natural gas supplies rose last week, the earliest gain for this time of year since 2007, as above-normal temperatures crimped demand, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.

Inventories expanded by 9 billion cubic feet, or 0.4 percent, to 2.378 trillion cubic feet in the week ended March 16, based on the median of 13 estimates. The five-year average stockpile change for the week is a decrease of 17 billion, according to the Energy Department.

The Energy Department’s weekly supply report will be released tomorrow morning.

"All it does is add to the overall bearish picture in the market," Alan Lammey, an energy analyst with WeatherBell Analytics LLC, told Bloomberg.

Gas has tumbled 23 percent this year during the fourth-warmest U.S. winter on record, according to the National Climatic Center. Gas for April delivery fell 1.1 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $2.32 in late morning trading.

Meanwhile, oil prices moved up after a government report showed U.S. supplies unexpectedly declining last week. The Associated Press reports that oil supplies fell by 1.2 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration. Analysts expected supplies to grow by 2.1 million barrels.

The drop in supply mainly reflects a decline in crude oil imports to refineries. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 33 cents to $106.54 per barrel in New York in morning tarding, AP reported.

-- Steve Kaskovich

 

Fort Worth sets April 3 public hearing on saltwater injection wells

The Fort Worth City Council, which has a moratorium in place on saltwater injection wells, remains divided on the topic and will take public comment next month.

The council discussed the issue on Tuesday and set an April 3 date to take public comment. City staffers have said that lifting the moratirum would ease truck traffic in the city, but some are worried the injection wells could cause earthquakes or environmental problems.

Read the full story here. 

-- Steve Kaskovich