Barnett Shale

California Senate rejects advance notice on fracking

Platts reports that the California Senate narrowly voted down a measure that would have required advance notice to landowners before hydraulic fracturing could take place. The story is here.

-- Jim Fuquay

Exxon CEO sees more gas demand from power industry

Natural gas will continue to displace coal for power generation, and represents the best opportunity for the natural gas industry to boost domestic demand, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said Wednesday.Speaking after the company’s annual shareholders meeting in Dallas, Tillerson predicted that “as additional electricity capacity has to be built out, there’s going to be a substantial increase in natural gas-fired power generation,” both when replacing older coal-fired power plants and when used as a complement to wind power’s fluctuating output.

Tillerson addressed the demand issue in relation to the Irving-based company’s acquisition of Fort Worth-based XTO Energy two years ago. While Exxon expected natural gas prices to weaken from their levels at the time of the purchase, the weak economy has further depressed prices by stalling demand growth, he said.During the shareholder’s meeting, Tillerson also repeated Exxon’s interest in exporting natural gas from North America, where a supply glut has produced the lowest prices in a decade. He said the company continues to study the prospects of a Gulf Coast terminal and a western Canada terminal to ship liquefied natural gas to overseas markets, where the fuel draws a considerably higher price than in North America.

In other actions at the annual meeting, shareholders rejected two environmental proposals, one calling for further disclosure of risks involved with hydraulic fracturing and another for setting goals for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

-- Jim Fuquay

 

New York fracking regs effective, study says

A peer-reviewed report by the University of Buffalo concludes that New York State's proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing would be effective many preventing negative environmental impacts. A local newspaper report is here.

-- Jim Fuquay

Latest EPA tests say Dimock water safe

The Environmental Protection Agency's latest round of tests of a dozen more water wells indicate the water is safe in Dimock, the little Pennsylvania community that has become a flash point in the hydraulic fracturing debate. One of the 12 wells showed elevated methane, but chemicals were not at unsafe levels, the agency said. The results were quickly attacked by drilling opponents. The Associated Press story is here.

-- Jim Fuquay

California hearings on hydraulic fracturing begin

It's more than a little surprising, but California has no regulations governing hydraulic fracturing. Regulators are starting a statewide tour of hearings to collect input on the process, which the Bakersfield Californian reports "has been used in Kern County for decades, and many expect it will become much more common as local oil producers gear up to tap the potential huge Monterey Shale reservoir believed to underlie a large swath of the Central Valley." The story is here.

-- Jim Fuquay

DOE official from Fort Worth heads federal committee on unconventional oil and gas development

Christopher Smith, a 1986 graduate of Southwest High School and now deputy assistant secretary for  oil and natural gas at the U.S. Department of Energy, heads a newly created steering committee charged with the safe development of the nation's shale and other unconventional petroleum reserves. Smith was in his hometown Thursday, where he addressed a breakfast group and planned a tour of the Fort Worth manufacturing facility of Frac Tech, a maker of hydraulic fracturing equipment. Smith told us the purpose of the committee is to set the priorities of environmental and technical concerns that its six members, two each from DOE, EPA and U.S. Geological Survey, should pursue. President Barack Obama issued an executive order establishing the committee in April with a mandate to create a multi-agency research plan "using each agency's core competencies" to advance the prudent development of U.S. oil and gas resources.

"This is a resource that can be developed safely," said Smith, a West Point graduate who holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge and previously worked for Texaco and Chevron. The goal is to "scientifically quantify" the risks and rewards of shale development.

-- Jim Fuquay

New rules on fracturing on public lands released

The Department of Interior today proposed its rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, calling for the disclosure of chemicals used, but not until after the well is drilled. That's a change from an earlier version that called for 30-day advance notice. The New York Times report on the rules is here.

--Jim Fuquay

 

Weir Group sees growth in fracturing equipment worldwide

Weir Group, a Scottish company with a big Tarrant County pump manufacturing operation, says it expects the world market for pressure pumping equipment used in hydraulic fracturing to double worldwide in the next three years. Weir SPM employs about 1,000 people at its White Settlement facility, which it acquired in 2007 and which has grown from just 400 workers in 2009. The company's CEO made the projection at Houston's Offshore Technology Conference, as reported here by Bloomberg News.

-- Jim Fuquay

Sand is also fracking hazard, researcher says

Fine sand particles suspended in the air during hydraulic fracturing is a bigger health risk to well workers than exposure to hazardous chemicals, a safety researcher said Monday. Sand dust can lodge in the lungs and cause silicosis, Eric Esswein of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health told a Monday conference sponsored by the Institute of Medicine, an independent health advisory group that is part of the National Academies.

A report by Bloomberg News is here.

-- Jim Fuquay

Reaction to Armendariz resignation continues

Today's resignation of Al Armendariz, Dallas region administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, sparked new reactions that began last week with the release of a 2010 video that shows Armendariz comparing the agency's enforcement efforts with those of Roman conquerors who crucified several random inhabitants to control occupied communities. Here is a sampling of responses issued today.

Texas Council on Environmental Quality:

"While we approve the decision by Dr. Armendariz to step down from his position as Region 6 Director, we are under no illusions that this will change the direction of the EPA.  That comes from EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C.  In the video that led to his resignation, Dr. Armendariz says as much, stating, “…that’s our general philosophy.”

This EPA administration has been unwavering in its determination to impose new regulations and new costs on Americans and American industry, often without any real scientific determination that new laws will result in any environmental benefits. Dr. Armendariz’s mistake was that he slipped and unveiled the EPA’s questionable and draconian enforcement philosophy.  The TCEQ hopes that perhaps the resulting nationwide cry of outrage will be heard in Washington, D.C."

Ken Kramer, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter director

“The resignation of Dr. Al Armendariz as Region 6 EPA administrator is a major loss for Texas. He brought a breath of fresh air – literally and figuratively – to Texas in his vigorous enforcement of the federal Clean Air Act. He took the bold steps that have been needed for decades to move our state forward to achieving a clean and healthy environment for Texans. Dr. Armendariz was one of the best Region 6 EPA administrators who have served since the post was created in the 1970s. The only people who will celebrate this resignation are the polluters who continue to foul Texas air and the politicians who serve those special interests.”

Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter

“In March, when the EPA vacated the emergency order against Range Resources, I called for the resignation of Dr. Armendariz. The EPA’s faulty science in persecuting Range
Resources, compounded by his inflammatory and prejudicial comments about
crucifying oil companies, is a very clear indication that Dr. Armendariz
is not the right person for such an important position.”

Steve Everly, Energy In Depth

"There’s a role for activists and there’s a role for regulators. When one becomes the other, that’s when you can run into problems. The bigger story here was always that his comments weren’t just made in isolation – they were made just before his agency did exactly what he described in this video, grabbing the first company he saw and issuing a groundless endangerment order, which would later be proven as such. We're hopeful that the next administrator’s decisions will be based more on actual science than the political stuff."

James Inhofe, R-Okla.

"It was only right for Administrator Armendariz to resign today, but his resignation in no way solves the problem of President Obama and his EPA’s crucifixion philosophy."

-- Jim Fuquay