Geology News
Oil and Gas Current Events

Tennessee Gas Pipeline plans to build a pipeline from the Utica Shale play in Ohio to an LNG export facility in Louisiana.

When natural gas prices rise heating a home with gas becomes more expensive. Many other activities become more expensive. One concern about exporting natural gas is that lots of people (and industries) will see their expenses go up. An article on the Christian Science Monitor website explores who will see higher prices.

“A new study by scientists at Duke University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) finds no evidence of groundwater contamination from shale gas production in Arkansas.” Quoted from the Duke University press release.

The UK is the largest producer of oil and the second largest producer of natural gas in the European Union; however, they still are a net importer of both of these fuels.

The Canadian government is spending millions of dollars to rally support for the Keystone XL pipeline from US lawmakers.

Exactly where the extra methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is coming from in Los Angeles has finally been identified. [...] The research explains why the estimates of methane given off by various sources are 35 percent lower than the levels that have actually been measured in the atmosphere.

Energy companies have submitted permit requests for 20 natural gas export projects. The projects will create jobs, income for natural gas companies and property owners, and improve our trade balance. Opponents believe that exports will increase prices and accelerate the landscape impact of drilling activity.

A RigZone.com article explains why the natural gas from shale boom that has occurred in the United States is not making much of a bang in many other countries.

Natural gas is cleaner and more economical as a fuel for passenger vehicles than gasoline, but sales of cars that run on natural gas have been very slow. A Washington Post article explains the problems.

The government of Alberta is looking into the possibility of shipping tar sand crude to foreign markets on tankers through the increasingly ice-free Arctic Ocean.

Royal Dutch Shell has made major investments in developing conventional and unconventional natural gas resources in several parts of the world, building LNG terminals to prepare it for distant markets, develop the first floating LNG facility and develop new methods to convert natural gas into liquid fuels.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided not to overturn over 100 years of property transactions in a case involving the ownership of natural gas produced from the Marcellus Shale. Shale gas is not to be treated differently from natural gas produced from a conventional reservoir.

“All the natural-gas industry needs is a gizmo in the basement of your house to convert your natural gas into electricity. “

The National Ground Water Association has published an information guide for people who have private water supply wells located near oil and natural gas drilling. They explain the types of water quality concerns that might be present and explain the options of water well testing.

Utility companies, city governments, county governments, school districts, and trucking companies are building CNG fueling stations in North Carolina. In addition to serving their owners, the pumps are available to dispense CNG to the public.

The amount of natural gas being imported from eastern Canada into the United States has dropped to about 1/2 of the average of the previous five years.

As recently as 2008, most of the drilling activity in the United States was being done with vertical wells. Today most of the wells being drilled are horizontal.

China has more oil and natural gas in shale than the United States but they have produced very little. Instead they are joint venturing with companies working in the United States to learn about the technology.

“The oil and gas industry pays the federal government approximately $86 million a day – or about $31 billion a year – in rents, royalties, bonuses and corporate taxes. That doesn’t even include the payments made at the local and state levels.”

Since 2008, foreign companies have entered into 21 joint ventures with U.S. acreage holders and operators, investing more than $26 billion in tight oil and shale gas plays.

A Royal Dutch Shell executive makes a case for exporting light crude oil instead of building new refining capacity.

The oil and gas industry in France is disappointed that the government banned hydraulic fracturing while the geothermal industry is allowed to use acid fracking to develop their wells.

Some oil industry experts believe that the potential exists for an enormous unconventional oil and natural gas field beneath parts of Alaska’s North Slope.

The Energy Information Administration reports on the falling natural gas production rates from the Gulf of Mexico and the plummeting share of United States natural gas being produced in the Gulf.

“Iraq has the fifth largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, and it passed Iran as the second largest producer of crude oil in OPEC at the end of 2012.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country report.

Even though oil production rates in the United States are climbing and the amount of gasoline being used by drivers is falling the price of gasoline remains high. An article in Bloomberg Businessweek explains why.

The Energy Information Administration has a database of natural gas export data that you can plot online or download for analysis in Excel or other programs.

Methane hydrate is the world’s largest natural gas resource. Japanese engineers recently became the first to produce methane hydrate from a well in the floor of the Pacific Ocean. NPR asks if this could become another natural gas boom?

Related: What is Methane Hydrate?

“Iran holds the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves and the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves. International sanctions are redefining the Iranian energy sector, and the lack of foreign investment and technology is affecting the sector profoundly.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration’s country report.

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