Shale Drilling Supporters Attacked Online Say Apology Not Accepted – “PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A state lawmaker accused of using fake names online to criticize supporters of gas drilling is saying he’s sorry. KDKA Investigator Andy Sheehan broke the story about Rep. Jesse White of Washington County. But the targets of the online attacks say the apology is not accepted. First he denied our findings, and then he stonewalled. “I have no comment on the repeated personal and political attacks put on me by the propaganda wing of the natural gas industry,” said Rep. White. But now, in a Facebook post, anti-drilling state Rep. White concedes that he did in fact use fictitious names and aliases on the Internet to attack pro-gas supporters. White called his actions an “error in judgment” that he regrets, and he offered apologies to two of the people he attacked, but they were having none it. “I don’t think it’s sincere,” said Janice Gibbs, a Marcellus Shale supporter. “He did something wrong and now he’s trying to backtrack and he thinks this is going to make it right.”… The fictitious poster “Harold” called pro-drilling grandmother Gibbs names like “an uneducated yinzer,” “dumber than a box of rocks” and “an embarrassment to her community.” Then, White used the name “Janice Gibson” and Gibbs’ real name, “Janice Gibbs,” to call her names like “local mole.” To Gibbs, this is inexcusable. “You don’t use people’s names. I don’t think he would appreciate it if someone used his name,” said Gibbs. “I think he would be totally outraged with it and that’s how I feel right now is outraged and hurt.” “He’s gone as far as actually insulting me, insulting my intelligence,” said Donald Roessler, a farmer. White’s post also apologizes to Roessler who he attacked under the name “Prouder American.” White also identified Roessler’s farm and advised people to boycott his crops. On the phone, Roessler said he also would not accept White’s apology, and said he – like Gibbs – would not accept an invitation from White to meet. “I have one word for Jesse White,” Roessler told KDKA. “Resign.”” (KDKA)

Why California Oil Country Lags in US Shale Boom – “California, historically a major force in alternative energy, is also home to one of the best-kept secrets of the U.S. fossil fuel renaissance—the Monterey shale, a formation that houses the country's largest supply of proven reserves. The word "prolific" is often used to describe Monterey's shale bounty, which according to Energy Information Agency estimates holds at least three times the reserves contained within the Bakken and Eagle Ford formations—currently two of the hottest regions in the U.S. shale boom. Yet despite sitting atop what the U.S. Geological Survey estimates is about 15 billion barrels of oil, the Golden State has yet to tap Monterey with the same fervor that North Dakota has developed Bakken, or in the way Pennsylvania is moving rapidly to explore the Marcellus shale. A patchwork of byzantine regulations, environmental concerns and geological factors have stunted development of a region in the heart of the state's San Joaquin Valley that is ripe for exploration. "The economics of producing oil in California are tough," said Tupper Hull, a spokesman for the Western States Petroleum Association, a public policy advocacy group. He said unlike Bakken or Eagle Ford, the Monterey terrain lacks uniformity and consistency conducive to natural gas and oil production. "It's fair to say there's a fair amount of exploration taking place, and companies are trying to figure out how to cost-effectively [drill]. With the challenges of the geology, they are still in the process of working those issues out," Hull added… "California is late in the shale game," said Anthony Ingraffea, an engineering professor at Cornell University. Moves to exploit shale "started in Texas nearly 20 years ago, and in Pennsylvania about six to seven years ago." With no fewer than 10 separate pieces of shale-related legislation working their way through the state's legislature, "California is rushing to figure out what to do," he added. Observers, however, see Monterey as a dicier proposition than its counterparts. Barriers to its full-scale development include its being situated near an earthquake prone and geologically sensitive region, ravenous U.S. energy needs that outstrip Monterey's estimated reserves and regulatory uncertainty. "The geology in Monterey is significantly more variable than in the other major plays," Frank Wolak, an economics professor and expert on sustainable development at Stanford University, said in an e-mail to CNBC. He also cited environmental concerns over hydraulic fracturing that are "not based on experience or scientific evidence, but emotion." For most environmental lobbyists, BP's 2010 disaster in the Gulf of Mexico still looms large, and is frequently cited as a major argument against domestic oil production. For its part, California is debating a fracking moratorium, among other measures that could put new roadblocks on Monterey's road to becoming the next Bakken.”” (CNBC)

California Lawmakers Turn Down Moratorium on Fracking – “California (STOCA1) lawmakers rejected a bill that would have stopped drillers from using hydraulic fracturing to free oil and natural gas from shale beds until state regulators implement rules for the controversial practice… The proposed moratorium was among at least seven bills up for votes this week in the Legislature to strengthen state oversight of fracking, which forces millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals deep underground to break up rock formations. Environmentalists say it may contaminate water and harm air quality. “The safety of this method of oil extraction has come into question,” said Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell, a Democrat from Culver City, who sponsored the bill. Opponents said it would be irresponsible to shut down an entire industry on unproven fears of pollution. California is the fourth-largest oil-producing state. “Fracking takes place miles and miles and miles below the well surface,” said Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, a Republican from Bakersfield. The measure failed on a 35-24 vote. The state’s Conservation Department, which oversees oil and gas production, is developing rules for storing and handling fracking fluids, its composition and notice of such drilling. In the Senate, lawmakers earlier approved a bill that would direct the state to complete an independent scientific study by Jan. 1, 2015, of fracking risks, and would deny permits if the study is not finished in time. The measure, offered by Senator Fran Pavley, a Democrat from Agoura Hills, also requires public notice before drilling and the disclosure of chemicals. “I am pleased my colleagues want to hold oil-well operators accountable and answer critical questions about groundwater quality, water supply, earthquakes and air quality,” Pavley said in a statement. The Senate on May 28 approved legislation offered by Senator Lois Wolk, a Davis Democrat, that would require drillers to file a $100,000 indemnity bond for each well. Companies operating at least 20 wells would be permitted to file a blanket indemnity bond of $5 million, which would include bonds or fees required for idled sites. Lawmakers set aside until next year a measure offered by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, that would have required state officials to monitor the transportation and disposal of hazardous waste water produced by fracking.”” (Bloomberg)

Illinois House passes fracking bill – “The Illinois House passed legislation Thursday evening that would regulate horizontal hydraulic fracturing in the state in a 108 to 9 vote. The legislation now moves to the Senate, the final hurdle for the bill before it reaches Gov. Pat Quinn, who urged the Senate to send the bill to his desk "as soon as possible." "Today's passage of hydraulic fracturing legislation in the House brings good news for jobs, economic development and environmental protection in Illinois. This legislation will unlock the potential for thousands of jobs in Southern Illinois, while ensuring that our state has the nation's strongest environmental protections in place for this industry," Quinn said… Under the legislation companies who wish to "frack" for oil and gas in Illinois will be subjected to some of the toughest disclosure laws in the country. The state is preparing itself for a potential oil boom. Proponents say fracking will bring jobs, tax dollars and investment to parts of the state that desperately need them and that the drilling can be done safely. Energy companies have leases on land that is more than triple the size of Chicago, hoping that fracking technology can unleash billions of dollars worth of oil trapped beneath southern Illinois in the New Albany shale formation. Most said they were waiting to invest in drilling operations here until regulations were known. The Natural Resources Defense Council disclosed evidence this week that at least one energy firm  already has engaged in fracking in Illinois… Environmental groups who helped hash out the bill say they would have preferred a moratorium on fracking. The law does not allow for decision-making on fracking issues by counties, which has ruffled some feathers in southern Illinois because fracking is expected to occur in mostly unincorporated areas. And while the law would impose new taxes on oil drillers, most tax dollars wouldn't reach communities until at least a year after drilling begins, according to an analysis performed for the Tribune. What's more, rural communities with fracking operations would receive fewer taxes than would flow into the state's coffers.”” (Chicago Tribune)

‘Marcellus Shale,’ a Look at Fracking, at La MaMa – “In Paul Zimet’s “Marcellus Shale,” when the church ladies get together to pray for “those who are sick and suffering,” the list of names goes on and on and on. Auggie (Joel Leffert), whose cows all died, has been in a wheelchair since his stroke and spends his days watching television and reading Ayn Rand. Eugene (Harlan J. Alford) has to use an oxygen tank to breathe but insists that fracking (hydraulic fracturing) has had no effect on the drinking water; his ill health, doctors assure him, is “just one of those things.” The townspeople have lost their sense of smell. Some try just to sit back and enjoy the monthly checks from the gas company, but that isn’t always easy… Mr. Zimet has something politically significant to say, but this production has problems. Most of its songs (by Mr. Zimet and Ellen Maddow, who is also the sound designer) are performed by the church ladies (Suli Holum, Tina Shepard and Ms. Maddow), seated at a kitchen table, and sound like rewrites of familiar hymns. Anna Kiraly’s video design, which includes a horror-movie-mirror effect, is ambitious and sometimes good looking but not always clear in intent or sure in execution. Mr. Zimet may want to rethink some of his directorial choices, too: loud does not equal heartfelt. “Marcellus Shale,” said to have been inspired by Dostoyevsky’s “Demons,” includes some inventive touches, though. Like the Men in Sunday Suits (Steven Rattazzi, Mr. Alford and Mr. Leffert) — mysterious, often silent religious figures. The cast is nicely age-diverse. One marijuana-smoking dad (David Smilow) joins the youngsters (John Kurzynowski, Mike Mikos and Linda Tardif) in a plot to blow up the pipeline. The disillusionment is intergenerational, too. Mr. Rattazzi’s character Tom, a former farmer, says he has learned a lesson: “Nobody’s going to give you anything for free. They just hide the cost.”” (New York Times)

Estonia eager to teach world about oil shale – “AUVERE, Estonia (AP) — Home to the creators of Skype and the first country to use online voting, Estonia relishes its image as a technological pioneer. But the tiny East European country's most far-reaching economic achievement could come from how it has learned to squeeze oil from a rock. About 200 feet (60 meters) below ground in northeastern Estonia, very close to the Russian border, miners drill holes in a gray-brown limestone wall as they prepare a series of blasts that will free up a soft brown sedimentary rock that contains oil. This oil shale is then scooped up and sent by conveyer to crushing mills above. From there, the shale will either be burned to create electric power or processed further to produce shale oil, a liquid fuel. Estonia, a country of 1.3 million people, gets more than 90 percent of its electricity needs from oil shale — by far the world's most shale-dependent country. With interest in non-conventional energy resources surging globally, Estonia wants to carve its own niche by perfecting the technology needed to produce cleaner electricity and high-grade fuel products from oil shale — know-how it wants to export to distant places such as Jordan and the U.S. But environmentalists in Estonia are concerned that large-scale shale mining could cause pollution and contaminate underground water supplies. Estonia's oil shale resources are very different from the shale deposits that are now yielding enormous amounts of oil and gas throughout the U.S. Oil shale is rock that contains organic matter known as kerogen that, when heated, can produce a liquid oil very similar to crude oil. The shale formations now being tapped in the U.S. are something else altogether. They contain natural gas, crude oil other liquid hydrocarbons that drillers can just bring to the surface and sell without much processing. Estonia's shale industry directly employs about 6,500 people, or 1.1 percent of the country's workforce, and accounts for up to 3 percent of the nation's economy, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. "We have almost a 100 years' experience working with oil shale in Estonia. If you know something, and if there's a market, you try to sell it," said Tarmu Aas, a board member at Eesti Energia, a state-owned utility that accounts for nearly all the country's shale and electricity production. By 2016, the country also hopes to begin mass-producing high-quality automotive diesel, a technology that would significantly boost the commodity's value… One litmus test for shale oil will be Jordan. With Estonia's help, the Mideast country plans to build an oil-shale fired power plant by 2017 and later a refinery for shale-based oil products. Oil shale could become a boon for Jordan, which imports about 97 percent of its oil and gas needs, crippling its economy with enormous trade deficits. The country sits on an estimated 34 billion barrels of shale oil. Eesti Energia, which markets itself internationally as Enefit, estimates that the Jordanian venture, in which it owns a 65 percent stake, will be profitable as long as world oil prices stay above $60 per barrel. Worldwide, approximate shale oil reserves amount to 4.8 trillion barrels, according to the London-based World Energy Council. This is four times more than all known crude oil reserves, and experts say this estimate is conservative since historically so little exploratory work has been carried out with shale.”” (AP)

Global sells Texas shale assets for $510,000 – “LONDON--Global Petroleum Ltd. , an oil company presently focused on emerging plays in Africa, Tuesday said it has agreed to sell its Eagle Ford Shale interests in Texas, U.S. to Millennial Energy, LLC for $510,00 in cash. MAIN FACTS: -Subject to final due diligence, Global will sell its 7.939% working interest beneath the Olmos formation including the Eagle Ford Shale and the two Eagle Ford wells in which it has a 5.95% beneficial interest in production. -The transaction is expected to complete within 2 months. -The sale is in line with the Board's strategy to focus on its current portfolio of projects in Africa and new opportunities which will enhance shareholder value. -The company's principal assets are exploration blocks located offshore Namibia and offshore Juan de Nova Island, a French territory in the Mozambique Channel. -Shares at 0723 GMT flat at 6.75 pence.” (Market Watch)

IN NORTH DAKOTA, THE DREAMS AND DARK SIDE OF SHALE GAS "BLACK GOLD RUSH" – “WILLISTON ­- Corey Driver, 21, had never seen snow in his life. Back home in Jacksonville, Florida, nobody wears boots in April. When he got off the Greyhound bus at Williston, North Dakota, the epicenter of the new shale oil frenzy, the cold night had already taken hold. And he only had $30 in his pocket. His bag was stolen during the 51-hour long trip. He had no place to sleep and the streets were covered in snow. In Williston, someone told him about the Concordia Church, the only place that provides shelter for the homeless in this little town on the verge of implosion. Every day, hundreds of unemployed people arrive in Williston from all over the country, and you would be lucky to find a seedy motel for $130 a night. The next day, Corey Driver bought the necessary $25 pair of boots and filled out a job application at the nearest Pizza Hut. “The guy told me: ‘that won’t be necessary,’ and asked me how much I was making by the hour back home. He told me that I could start tomorrow and that I was going to earn twice as much – $15.” Here in Williston, the black-gold rush fever has increased everything: population, wages, prices, traffic, work accidents, single men, sexual assaults and delinquency in general. This agricultural town was dying five years ago. Now it’s expanding by the day with its warehouses, prefab buildings, fast-food joints and hotels – spreading far into the huge prairie that surrounds the city, and which has been transformed into a Swiss cheese of oil wells and easy money.  International jets now fly into the city, which has absorbed the airport – that used to be just a country shed. Cereal silos are left to rust while derricks and oil drills are taking possession of what used to be a vast Sioux territory. Today the battle is played out three kilometers below the surface, in the Bakken formation, this super deep North Dakota rock formation that is filled with oil, and that hydraulic fracturing – fracking – makes accessible. By injecting huge quantity of highly pressurized water, sand and toxic substances into the rock the “badlands” of North Dakota have been transformed into an Eldorado of shale gas potential…” (WorldCrunch)

OPEC EYES U.S. SHALE OIL BOOM – “NEW YORK – OPEC could be facing a new internal clash on how it chooses to respond to the increasing U.S. output of shale oil, reports the Wall Street Journal. “Rising American output is rewriting global oil-trade patterns and deepening existing fault lines within the powerful exporters' group, limiting its ability to mount a collective response — including possible production cuts — ahead of a crucial meeting in Vienna Friday,” writes the newspaper, adding that although no change is expected during the meeting to OPEC’s oil production, it will mark “the first stage of a thorny debate on shale's oil's impact that is already showing signs of dividing the group.” Nigeria, for example, has deemed U.S. shale oil “a grave concern.” Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke told the newspaper that shale oil “has been identified as one of the most serious threats for African producers.” The newspaper writes that U.S. crude production has increased to a 21-year high, thanks to new technologies that are tapping into large resources of oil from shale rock in North Dakota and Texas. At the same time, however, exports from three of OPEC's African members, Nigeria, Algeria and Angola, to the U.S. have dropped to their lowest level in decades: 41% in 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. In contrast, Saudi Arabia oil shipments to the U.S. increased 14% in 2012. OPEC is taking some steps to address this new problem, notes the newspaper, adding that behind closed doors, the group is preparing studies to evaluate the impact of U.S. shale oil on demand for its crude, a topic that will also be discussed at Friday’s meeting.”” ( NACS)

GE says it is investing billions to improve fracking – “One of America's corporate giants is investing billions of dollars in the new boom of oil and gas drilling, or fracking. General Electric Co. is opening a new laboratory in Oklahoma, buying up related companies, and placing a big bet that cutting-edge science will improve profits for clients and reduce the environmental and health effects of the boom. "We like the oil and gas base because we see the need for resources for a long time to come," said Mark Little, a senior vice president. He said GE did "almost nothing" in oil and gas just over a decade ago but has invested more than $15 billion in the past few years. GE doesn't drill wells or produce oil or gas, but Little said the complexity of the fracking boom plays into the company strengths. Wells are being drilled horizontally at great depths in a variety of formations all around the country, and that means each location may require different techniques. There are also big differences in how surrounding communities view the boom. There's been little controversy in traditional oil and gas states such as Oklahoma, but nearby landowners in Pennsylvania, Colorado and other states have complained of environmental and health effects. "My own view is there things can be managed," Little said of concerns about drilling, adding they need to be managed carefully. He drew a parallel to GE's work with the aircraft industry, since many decades ago flying was considered a risky business, but the industry evolved so that even as the speed, distance and number of flights increased, overall safety improved greatly. Little also pointed out that GE has significant experience in wind energy, solar, and in nuclear power. "I think the world needs all of these kinds of systems," Little said…"It's exciting to see. I think it is a positive response to legitimate public concerns about the environmental impacts" of the fracking boom, said Michael Shellenberger, one of the founders of Oakland's Breakthrough Institute. He added that other companies are working to reduce and clean up wastewater, use more benign fracking methods, and reduce air pollution related to drilling. "It's the kind of continuous improvement of technologies that's needed," Shellenberger said. Little said the GE strategy ultimately comes down to looking at "minds and machines together." For example, they have devices that can literally be put down into a well to give people on the surface information about exactly what's happening a mile or two below ground. "We'll get more information than ever before," he said, and that can be used to help improve production and profits, and to monitor and reduce environmental impacts. One scientist said that the approach makes sense, and that there are past examples of success. Modern cars are "incomparably cleaner" than older ones, said Neil Donahue, a professor of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "There are some real technical issues that these folks at GE might be able to make real progress on." But Donahue added that GE's research is separate from — and can't address — the issue of how society should regulate fracking. He said it's likely that over time, GE will be able to look back and "say we've made it safer."” (Fox News)

Thousands of Romanians protest Chevron fracking – “Thousands of Romanians protested on Monday against plans by the US company Chevron to explore for shale gas in eastern Romania. “I have three children and I want them to grow up within a safe environment with clean water. Exploring for shale gas threatens to contaminate ground water,” Alina Secrieru, a 39-year old nurse from the Barlad region told AFP. “No fracking”, “Chevron go home”, “We say no to shale gas”, read some of the banners carried by protesters who came from Barlad and surrounding villages. Chevron obtained a vast concession in this poor and rural area of Romania to prospect for shale gas. “This area survives on agriculture. If our water gets contaminated by the extraction of shale gas, agriculture will die and this area as well,” said Constantin, a water specialist who was among the protesters…”” (Raw Story)

Chesapeake Energy selects Robert Douglas Lawler as CEO – “Chesapeake Energy has tapped an executive with experience in the Marcellus Shale region as its new chief executive officer. Robert Douglas Lawler, a petroleum engineer who was most recently an executive at Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum, will lead the Oklahoma City company starting June 17. Mr. Lawler, 46, inherits a company with significant holdings in Pennsylvania and surrounding states, but one that has been troubled by shareholder disapproval over how it has handled those assets. Mr. Lawler most recently served as the senior vice president in charge of Anadarko's international and deepwater operations, and before that headed up the firm's work in Appalachia. As the vice president of operations for Anadarko's southern and Appalachian region from March 2009 to July 2012, he led the development of company holdings in the Marcellus Shale and three other domestic fields. Anadarko was one of the earliest drillers in the Marcellus formation, concentrating its activity since 2006 in Pennsylvania's gas-rich northeast corner. Chesapeake leases significant acreage in the southwestern section of the state. It remains the top driller in Ohio's Utica Shale, though it put more than 94,000 acres there up for sale in April. The company has been divesting of hundreds of thousands of acres in recent months as it tries to raise cash following a shareholder revolt in 2012. Stock prices fell after a controversial loan program involving Chesapeake co-founder and former CEO Aubrey McClendon raised questions about how the firm was raising money. Mr. McClendon stepped down as CEO and left the board in April after an internal review of his conduct found nothing improper… Chesapeake shares closed at $20.80 on Tuesday, up 53 cents.”” (Post-Gazette)

Poland Shale Boom Falters as State Targets Higher Taxes – “Poland’s shale gas boom is threatened even before it gets started after some wells failed and the government sought to increase taxes on profits. Of 39 wells planned for 2013, just two were drilled by May, Environment Ministry data show. The government plans to require that explorers take a state-run company as a production partner. It has also proposed raising taxes to almost 80 percent of profit, according to Ernst & Young estimates. The measures, announced in October, haven’t become law. “What’s been done here is what Poles call dividing up the bear hide before you’ve shot the bear,” said Tom Maj, who led the Polish operations of Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM), the Canadian explorer that pulled out of Poland earlier this month. “This has been hugely damaging to the shale gas project as evidenced by the negligible number of wells of the past few months.” Prospectors had come from the U.S. and Canada to drill what was billed as Europe’s richest shale-gas deposits. The dream for Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government was to find domestic natural gas through an estimated $4.5 billion in exploration projects undertaken by explorers such as Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Canada’s Nexen Inc. At stake is a strategic goal to cut dependency on imports from OAO Gazprom, the Russian supplier of about two-thirds of the fuel to Poland. While many explorers including Chevron (CVX) remain and say they expect their projects to run for years, the disappointment of some of the earliest entrants has caused at least three to pack their bags… Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) pulled out of the country in June after its first wells produced disappointing results. Talisman left Poland following a change in its strategy. Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) said May 7 it was pulling out and looking for options to dispose of its 11 licenses after its search failed to produce commercial results. Nexen (NXY), bought by China’s Cnooc Ltd. (883), owns minority stakes in 10 of Marathon’s licenses… The nation granted more than 100 licenses to about two dozen drillers including Exxon and Chevron that proposed at least 300 exploration wells that may cost as much as $4.5 billion. In 2011, the U.S. Energy Information Administration ranked Poland as Europe’s biggest holder of technically recoverable shale gas reserves, with 187 trillion cubic feet, more than one-fifth of the agency’s estimate for the U.S… “Who’s going to come and invest billions of dollars to monetize this gas if the government is talking about taking huge profit margins away from the companies?” said John Buggenhagen, who resigned yesterday as exploration director in Poland for San Leon Energy Plc (SLE). Buggenhagen, who spoke in an interview in Warsaw on May 8, yesterday reiterated his remarks and said his departure was for “personal” reasons… “Exploration in a new basin is always an extremely risky and expensive venture,” said Maj, who closed the company’s Warsaw office for good on May 10. “Nevertheless, the geological data gave some ground for optimism. Furthermore, the surrounding environment was attractive: relatively high gas prices in Europe, access to markets and infrastructure and, of course, a sense that the project had strong domestic support for geopolitical reasons.”” (Bloomberg)

FrackNation, Controversial Fracking Documentary, To Air On AXS TV – “Mark Cuban's AXS TV has announced it will air the controversial "pro-fracking" documentary FrackNation the night after HBO premieres Gasland 2, Josh Fox's sequel to the Oscar-nominated anti-fracking documentary Gasland. FrackNation explores the implications of hydraulic fracturing -- a process that involves the high-pressure injection of undisclosed chemicals into rocks containing oil or natural gas -- and argues that media portrayals of the issue have been largely "exaggerated hyperbole." "We are delighted that AXS TV will show FrackNation the night after Gasland 2 premieres on HBO," said Phelim McAleer, one of the directors of the documentary. "Now the people of America will be able to look at both sides of the story. More information about fracking will enable people to distinguish between scare stories and true stories." The rival documentaries will air in early July, with Gasland 2 premiering on July 8 on HBO and FrackNation airing on AXS TV on July 9. AXS TV has used this counter-programming strategy before. It first aired FrackNation in January after Matt Damon's anti-fracking film Promised Land was released in theaters. "Of course the timing is relevant,” Cuban told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “We want people talking and using #AXSTV when they watch and discuss it.”” (Huffington Post)

Fracking wastewater still in the market for a solution – “Every time a new frackwater treatment technology comes to town, I wonder: isn't this market saturated? Isn't all the wastewater recycling an indication that producers have found their preferred solutions? And every time the companies pushing those technologies sound an emphatic no to both. And even to the recycling part. Today's no comes from Jim Wood, CEO of ThermoEnergy Corp. in Massachussets, which is trying to hook contracts in the Marcellus Shale and talking with operators in Canonsburg. Like other companies competing in this space, Wood compares the cost of his water treatment units not to the expense of other technologies but to the cost of trucking wastewater to injection wells in Ohio. That is still standard for the industry, he told me, judging from his conversations with potential clients in the Marcellus. That's likely due to the slow pace of drilling. If many wells need to be fracked, there's a market for recycled flowback and produced water. If not, the water still has to go somewhere, he reasoned. ThermoEnergy has mobile units that separate produced water into steam and a concentrated sludge of solids (metals). It's called a vacuum-assisted flash evaporation system, and it's the same basic idea as boiling off the water and collecting the stuff left over. Except in a vacuum, the water flashes to steam at a much lower temperature. The company's technology was first developed to treat wastewater from metal plants that used to plate their products with chrome and zinc. The point was the separate the water from the chrome and zinc and reuse the metals in future operations. For gas well produced water, the concentrated solids would be taken to disposal wells in Ohio, Wood said, but that would be only a fraction of what the drillers would be hauling without treatment. "I would say I'm modestly optimistic that we have things to offer that others don't," Wood said. "Consol was telling me — this is the year of water."” (Pittsburgh Business Times)

Analysis: At margins of shale oil boom, a tempered euphoria – “(Reuters) - For the past three years, the boom in the U.S. shale oil industry has outstripped all expectations. Production surged far faster than any forecasts; drillers raced to secure space in new pipelines to get their crude to market. Now, at the periphery, that may be changing - at least for a while. News from two of the country's less developed shale plays in Colorado and Ohio last week offer a reality check for the wave of euphoria that has washed across the industry. The stumbles mark a break from the past few years, when nearly every new project was an overnight success and output grew and grew. On Thursday, Ohio, home to the Utica shale, finally released annual data on 2012 production that showed the state pumped less than 700,000 barrels of oil from its shale wells -- barely enough to fill a small oil tanker. North Dakota's Bakken shale pumps more than that every day. Even state officials said it the result was "lower than initially estimated." The day before, NuStar Energy LP had said it would shelve a plan to reverse a pair of underused refined products pipelines to ship crude from Colorado's Niobrara shale oil play to Texas. It failed, twice, to garner enough commitments from potential customers to justify investing in the conversion. Neither development was a surprise to industry experts, and both were likely affected by extenuating circumstances… "The bottom line is that this stuff is down there, it's just figuring out the sweet spot of where to get it and the right conditions to get it out." For now, few are questioning the notion that the booming Bakken and Eagle Ford and Permian Basin in Texas will keep growing, driving domestic oil production beyond its highest in two decades and shrinking America's reliance on imports. But the breakneck pace of the past three years was unlikely to last forever. "The companies have established their acreage positions, they have established sweet spots, but there are still a number of really enormous challenges in understanding how to most efficient and effective ways to maximize production in the long run," Pete Stark, senior research director at IHS… Just two years ago, Chesapeake Energy's former CEO Aubrey McClendon put the Utica on the map, proclaiming it could hold a $500-billion bounty and that it would be the "biggest thing to hit Ohio since the plow". Oil companies including Total spent billions of dollars buying drilling rights. State geologists estimated that it could hold between 1.3 billion and 5.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, a vast sum. "The Utica has failed so far to live up to its hype," said Ed Morse, managing director of commodity research at Citigroup. According to Reuters calculations, the average oil production per well per days the well was active, was 80 barrels per day - about one-tenth what it is in North Dakota. Jonathan Garrett at Wood Mackenzie in Houston says the Utica may yet prove to be a successful natural gas development, with close proximity to the East Coast demand center. But with natural gas trading at a low $4 per million British thermal units for the foreseeable future, that is not the outcome drillers had hoped for a few years ago… In Colorado, where oil production has risen by less than 100,000 bpd since serious development began on the Niobrara several years ago, NuStar's biggest problem was likely competition -- from other pipelines and railways. SemGroup Corp is building a 527-mile (848-km) crude pipeline to move oil from Colorado to the U.S. crude futures hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, by the first half of 2014, and already has twice expanded its capacity. Plains All American Pipeline LP is expanding and building new rail capacity in Colorado to haul oil out by train later this year. Those projects combined will be able to move 230,000 bpd, on top of 30,000 to 40,000 bpd of Niobrara crude that already goes to Suncor Energy's 93,000 bpd refinery in Commerce City, Colorado. "We're at a point now where we're going to see some of these lower-quality projects weeded out," said Bradley Olsen, director of midstream research at Tudor Pickering Holt & Co in Houston.”” (Reuters)

Number of women landing jobs in oil, gas industry growing – “As a paid engineering intern the last two summers at Exxon Mobil's Joliet Refinery in Channahon, Ill., Megan DeGraaf worked on projects that her full-time colleagues considered low priority. But the results she produced on equipment and pipe designs were solid enough that the oil giant offered her a permanent position. In August, the recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh will join Exxon Mobil as a mechanical contact engineer at the Joliet downstream refinery where oil is processed for retail consumption. Though she didn't set her sights on a career in energy when she enrolled at Pitt, Ms. DeGraaf joins a steadily growing number of women landing jobs in the burgeoning oil and gas industry. Of 3,900 positions added in oil and gas nationwide in the first quarter of 2013, almost half or 1,800, were filled by women, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was the 13th straight quarter of job creation in the oil and gas sector. Not all of the new jobs were in engineering; the industry also hires people to work on drilling rigs and pipelines, and individuals qualified for research, sales and marketing positions… University engineering officials say the demand for female engineers in these fields is so strong that even those who don't specialize in the types of engineering most often associated with oil and gas -- such as chemical and petroleum -- can expect job offers. "The companies want them, and when we start to discuss a recruiting relationship, they always want to know the statistics about women. The companies want to have a balanced workforce; it's a big societal issue," said Don Shields, director at Pitt's Center for Energy in the Swanson School of Engineering. "Women don't have nearly the need to prove themselves as a decade ago," said M. Granger Morgan, director of the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation and head of the department of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Of 379 students scheduled to graduate with bachelor's degrees today from CMU's engineering school, 127, or about one-third, are female. The women account for just over half of the 74 students whose degrees are in chemical engineering. At Pitt, of an estimated 2,400 undergraduates in the 2012-13 class that graduated last month, about 23 percent were women. But while employers and universities may seek them out, women remain a minority in the engineering job ranks because relatively few have entered the traditionally male-dominated profession. In a study released last year by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers found women may not believe their own technical skills are strong enough to pursue engineering careers. And some found they weren't taken seriously during internships and were relegated to stereotypical female roles such as note-takers. Those are the kind of perceptions that advocates for women in the so-called STEM fields -- science, technology, engineering and math -- are trying to dispel. "There are a whole slew of potential obstacles, but they are not insurmountable," said Gabriella Gonzalez, a social scientist at Rand Corp. whose research focuses on STEM issues. She spoke Tuesday at CMU at a panel discussion on jobs in the energy industry. "It's sort of obvious that you stand out as a woman in engineering simply because of the numbers," said Casey Canfield, 25, a doctoral student in engineering and public policy at CMU. "There's still a novelty factor -- very few women end up doing engineering accidentally, so it tends to be a very purposeful path."… While earning her degree, she also completed coursework for a minor in material science and for Pitt's certificate in nuclear engineering. "That makes them very attractive in the job market," Mr. Shields said of students who earn the nuclear certificate. Besides a boom in the energy industry fueled by drilling in the Marcellus and other shale regions, new grads of both genders are benefiting from an aging engineering workforce. "A whole bunch of people are right on the edge of retiring," said Mr. Morgan, who also spoke at CMU's energy jobs panel. "It's good in the sense of opportunity. But the problem is that implicit knowledge needs to get transferred" from the older generation of engineers to the new hires. To that point, a Westinghouse engineer on the same panel said the Cranberry-based company that builds nuclear reactors is hiring engineers in almost every specialty -- including nuclear, materials, chemical, electrical, mechanical, civil, computer and systems -- because so many of its engineers are over 50 years old. "There's an aging workforce in the nuclear industry," said Dave Vaglia, a principal engineer for Westinghouse. Following the meltdown in 1979 at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor near Harrisburg, he said, growth in the nuclear power sector slowed considerably as the industry coped with safety and regulatory issues. "So now we have a lot of new engineers and old engineers. People are retiring so jobs are out there."” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Insight: The fight for North Dakota's fracking-water market – “(Reuters) - In towns across North Dakota, the wellhead of the North American energy boom, the locals have taken to quoting the adage: "Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting." It's not that they lack water, like Texas and California. They are swimming in it, and it is free for the taking. Yet as the state's Bakken shale fields have grown, so has the fight over who has the right to tap into the multimillion-dollar market to supply water to the energy sector. North Dakota now accounts for over 10 percent of U.S. energy output, and production could double over the next decade. The state draws water from the Missouri River and aquifers for its hydraulic fracturing, the process also known as fracking and the key that has unlocked America's abundant shale deposits. The process is water-intensive and requires more than 2 million gallons of water per well, equal to baths for some 40,000 people… The co-op has decided to sell 20 percent of its water to frackers to help keep prices low and pay back state loans. That has not gone down well with the Independent Water Providers, a loose confederation of ranchers, farmers and small businesses that for years has supplied fracking water. Since opening in January, the co-op has tried to limit the power of the confederation with an aggressive legal and lobbying strategy. The Independent Water Providers have fought back, arguing that the co-op shouldn't be selling fracking water at all. The state legislature stepped in with a law last month designed to quell the tension and nurture competition, but industry observers expect the acrimony to continue. "When all of us had nothing (before the oil boom), there was nothing to fight about," said Dan Kalil, a longtime commissioner in Williams County, home to many oil and natural gas wells. "Now, so many friendships have been destroyed because of water and oil." Jeanie Oudin, an analyst with energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, predicts the competition could push down North Dakota fracking water prices at least 10 percent in the next few years, or roughly $170,000 per well. That's a sizeable savings in a state where fracking costs are the highest in the country (remoteness meant there was little infrastructure in place). The water accounts for 20 percent of the roughly $8.5 million it costs to drill a North Dakota oil well. "Regardless of where operators get their water from, the growth in active water depots should increase the availability of raw water for hydraulic fracturing and ultimately bring down costs," Oudin said. The depots are where energy companies buy most of their fracking water… Fracking water depots, which cost roughly $200,000 to build and can gross more than $700,000 per year, are typically small metal buildings on concrete slabs filled with pumps and small tanks connected to the Missouri River or local aquifers. They can have two to six hookups and fill water trucks with as much as 7,800 gallons of water per visit. The government-backed co-op has nine water depots to hold the fresh water that is piped from the treatment plant in Williston, about 45 miles north of Watford. It plans to build four more depots throughout the Bakken and hugely expand its pipeline system to bring fresh water to more homes. Small lines from the new pipelines will connect directly to some oil wells. On the other side, Independent Water Providers member JMAC Resources will build more water depots in the region and a massive pipeline just south of the Missouri River to supply oil wells. Other members of the group have also applied for depot permits. North Dakota water suppliers do not pay for water, and the state legislature rejected a proposed water tax earlier this year. Each side's plans will rapidly increase the options that energy companies have to access water, further depressing prices…. In Watford City, a dust-caked community of 2,000 dotted with oil-workers' run-down RVs, the sodium level of the drinking water had been 18 times higher than the level recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "You would drink (it) and get high blood pressure," said Mayor Brent Sanford. The high chemical content convinced Watford City officials in 2010 to support the co-op as it was being organized, Sanford said. By selling 20 percent of its water to frackers, the government-backed co-op hoped to keep water prices for homes low and generate enough revenue to pay back $110 million in state loans for the project. The co-op sells water to frackers at roughly 84 cents a barrel, compared to 21 cents a barrel for homes. (One barrel equals 31.5 gallons, about 119 liters.)… Steve Mortenson, the Independent Water Providers' chairman, says he supports the co-op's clean-water mission but believes private industry is best equipped to provide fracking water. "We don't feel we should have state-backed competition," he said. "We never expected they would use the leverage of government to oppose private business." Confederation members can chose at what price to sell their water; most sell at 50 cents to 75 cents per barrel. Mortenson sells at 65 cents per barrel at his depot in Trenton, a bedroom community on the state's western edge.”” (Reuters)

Pennsylvania landowners can get cash on spot for mineral rights – “You've heard of house flipping. Now, lease flipping has come to Pennsylvania's natural gas fields. A wave of investment firms hoping to cash in on drilling in the Marcellus Shale is appearing in deed books across the region. They operate much like traditional land agents, negotiating with landowners to secure rights to the lucrative shale gas underneath the acreage. The difference? The landowners have already leased access to the land to gas drillers, and signing away the rights now can mean forfeiting any future royalties that may come with gas production. "It's a gamble," said Martin Schardt, executive vice president of the American Association of Professional Landmen. "The landowner can get the money right now, or the company could drill on that land and it could be a real barn-burner." The practice has its roots in the early days of the drilling boom, when companies from around the world began leasing land as fast as they could -- locking the property into five-year deals that kept competitors at bay. Then, as drilling picked up, the increased supply of natural gas led to a record-setting drop in prices. Suddenly, it wasn't as easy to turn a profit on a well. Many companies pulled out of neighborhoods where rigs had been planned, leaving those leases behind in the process. That left many landholders unsure when -- if ever -- they'd see a well on their property that would bring a steady stream of royalty checks with it. The investment firms moving into the region are offering to buy those left-behind mineral rights. Landowners get money for that vacation home today, and the investment firm gets access to the royalty payments that may -- or may not -- come later. If there's one word associated with the practice, it's risk -- risk for the company that might acquire useless mineral rights, and risk for the landowner who could miss out on lucrative royalty payments in the future… Make no mistake: The practice carries a substantial amount of risk for the landowner as well, who rolls the dice on missing out on lucrative royalty streams in the future. That was the decision made by Curt and Rhiannon Brodmerkel, a couple in Karns City, Butler County, who leased their 40 acres of woods and horse trails to a driller in the early days of the boom. Any potential drilling activity, they thought, would probably come if their smaller plot was placed in a larger unit with adjoining properties. Then, late last year, notices started arriving in the mail from Fort Worth, Texas-based Bounty Minerals about how the couple could make money on the royalty stream today. "We asked for ridiculous money per-acre and never thought it would be sold," said Mrs. Brodmerkel. The company looked at the request and said OK… "In two or five years, could it plummet? Or could it increase?" said Mrs. Brodmerkel. "That's the risk you take."” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

EU energy chief says EU to look at fracking this year – “(Reuters) - Environmental concerns over the practice of hydraulic fracturing to tap shale gas will be on the European Union's agenda this year, EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told a German newspaper. "It is absolutely right to seek to protect areas where there is drinking and ground water, like at Lake Constance. At an EU level the topic of fracking and environmental protection will be looked at more closely this year," Die Welt quoted Oettinger as saying in an article published in its online edition on Monday... Oettinger repeated his warning that Germany should not be too quick to reject fracking as an option, according to Die Welt, saying the country "should see the potential that shale gas has and create the necessary legal framework for demonstration projects and practical tests." "If we allow test drilling we will be much smarter in a few years and know more about the costs, too. That would be very advisable for an engineering country like Germany," he said. Companies including ExxonMobil and BASF's oil and gas arm Wintershall are pushing to explore possibilities for fracking in Germany, and industrial gas consumers say they could benefit as they need a secure supply at reasonable prices. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has voiced reservations, saying risks to people and the environment needed to be evaluated carefully.”” (Reuters)

Foreign companies join in U.S. project to export natural gas – “LONDON -- In a sign that the United States shale gas boom is making global waves, two Japanese conglomerates and a big French energy player signed agreements Friday to invest as much as $7 billion in a liquefied natural gas project in Louisiana. The companies -- Mitsui and Mitsubishi of Japan and GDF Suez of France -- each plan to take a 16.6 percent stake in the gas export plant being developed at Hackberry, La. The complex is being built by Sempra Energy, a San Diego-based company with annual revenue of about $10 billion. The companies agreed last year to help develop the project. GDF Suez predicts that the plant will begin operations in 2017. It said the companies' final decision to make their investment will depend on the project's receiving necessary permits. International companies -- responding to a ravenous global appetite for natural gas, particularly in Japan and Europe --want access to shale gas from the United States, which has emerged as an important new source over the past few years. But because the United States has only recently shifted from being a gas importer to being self-sufficient in the fuel, the government has not yet agreed to allow exports, except in a few cases and to the 20 nations with which it has free-trade agreements, including Panama and Costa Rica. Export approval, under Energy Department consideration for several projects, will be necessary before the potential of shale gas can be realized fully. On Friday, the department approved a Texas project called Freeport LNG. It has also signed off on a facility being built by Cheniere Energy at Sabine Pass in Louisiana that is expected to start exporting in 2015. But international companies are investing all the same, betting that U.S. shale gas will eventually be able to go onto the global market. In a statement, Sempra Energy estimated that the foreign partners would be putting up $6 billion to $7 billion, in return for just under half the equity in the project, which is forecast to yield 12 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas annually for 20 years. In return, they will receive all the gas. Sempra will retain a stake of just more than 50 percent. "These agreements represent a major step forward in the development of our LNG export project," Sempra's president, Mark A. Snell, said in a statement… Japan's liquefied natural gas imports have surged after the nuclear power shutdown in the wake of the Fukushima disaster and were up by 11 percent last year. Japanese imports account for about one-third of the world's total liquid gas market, according to a recent study by Bernstein research. Japanese utility executives have said they want to reduce the prices they are paying by tying them to U.S. supplies. "It is a win-win situation," said Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer in New York. Such deals will help stabilize global fuel prices over the long term and benefit the U.S. economy, he said. A big worry in the industry is whether U.S. exports could contribute to lower prices around the world, eroding profits. "It will give buyers a choice, something they have never had before," said Jonathan Stern, gas program chairman at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. But industry executives think that surging demand, especially from Asia, will easily absorb the exports the U.S. government might eventually permit. U.S. gas "won't have a material effect on long-term pricing," Martin Houston, BG's chief operating officer, said in a recent presentation on the company's website.”” (New York Times)

Could fracking in China be a climate game changer? – “Here's the idea: it's time to help China master fracking safely. By now it's clear that fracking (the process of extracting shale gas) has dramatically lowered America's CO2 emissions. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2006, a fifth of our electricity came from natural gas, while almost 50 percent came from coal. By 2012, natural gas had increased its share to 30 percent of our electricity. Coal's share dropped to 37 percent. The change was because of fracking: over that same period, shale gas production grew 800 percent. The reason this shift is important is that coal is the world's dirtiest source of energy – both in its emissions of CO2 and particle pollutants. Thanks in large part to our reduced dependency on coal, U.S. CO2 emissions hit an 18-year low in 2012. U.S. emissions fell over the last five years by more than all of Europe's did. So – and this is the first hitch – environmentalists have to understand that, whatever the fantasies, natural gas is in reality producing a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions. But now the second hitch. Why is it a good idea to help what some consider our greatest rival catch up with us? Why should we help China copy our winning formula? The answer is simple: it's a win-win scenario. In the past two decades, despite global investments in clean energy, the International Energy Agency says that net-net, the world's energy consumption has gotten cleaner by only 1 percent. We've essentially made no progress. Why? Well in large part, it is because of the means by which China is powering its super-fast growth. IEA data shows that if you exclude China, global consumption of coal has increased only slightly in the past decade. China, by comparison, has more than doubled its consumption. It now burns nearly as much coal as the rest of the world, combined. And it won't stop there. Every week, it opens new coal plants, leading to increasingly polluted and hazardous air. This, of course, is not just China's problem…but the whole world's problem. As it turns out, we're not the only ones sitting on top of a shale gold mine: China actually has shale gas reserves that are nearly 50 percent larger than ours. Beijing is going to try and mine these reserves in every way it can.  But many experts worry that China lacks the experience and technology to frack effectively. As important, it really has no understanding of how to frack safely. Here in the United States, we have environmentalists and a free press to push authorities to regulate and monitor this very new industry. China, on the other hand, may not have the same checks and balances. This is why the United States needs to share its expertise, not keep it secret. One of the perennial dilemmas at any climate summit is how to wean developing countries off of the dirtiest forms of energy. China can – understandably – argue that its overriding priority is growth. As the last few decades have shown, a fast-growing China translates to a fast-growing world. A cleaner China would have a similar impact.”” (CNN – Global Public Square)