Drilling brings economic highs and lows to North Dakota - "Oil extracted from wells ringing Williston, North Dakota, helped push the state’s surplus to a record $1.6 billion and generate the nation’s lowest jobless rate. Drilling also left the city broke. While the U.S. Census counts about 16,000 residents, Williston says it provides services to more than 38,000, including workers living in temporary camps, hotels, and even vehicles. Keeping up with the load is spurring budget gaps that will deplete rainy-day funds, according toStandard & Poor’s, which cut city debt to BBB+ in December, three steps above junk. The $5.8 million of debt the city sold in December for water and sewer work is a fraction of the $625 million officials say they need for roads, the airport, water supplies and other facilities to handle the Bakken oil boom. The issue, which is exempt from state taxes, included debt due in May 2019 priced to yield 1.5 percent, about 0.75 percentage point above benchmark municipal securities, data compiled by Bloomberg show. “Williston is the epicenter of this and it’s been, to some extent, destroyed,” said state Representative Robert Skarphol, whose district encompasses part of the city. The Republican has sponsored a bill that would return more oil revenue to Williston."" (Bloomberg)

Cuomo misses another fracking decision deadline - "As another deadline for enacting New York fracking regulations comes and goes with no action, environmental groups and other organizations are renewing their call for public participation in a health impact review. Wednesday is the deadline for the Department of Environmental Conservation to issue a final version of its proposed regulations for gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. But Commissioner Joe Martens has said the regulations won’t be completed until the state health commissioner concludes his review of health impacts. If new regulations are proposed, they’ll be subject to at least a 45-day comment period. A coalition of groups is holding a news conference Wednesday calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to conduct a state-specific health impact assessment with public participation." (Democrat and Chronicle)

EQT Corp. donates funds to Cambridge Firefighters Association - "The EQT Corp. is making its presence known in Guernsey County, not only for its gas and oil activities, but also because of its generous donations to local entities. Cambridge Firefighters Association, Local 910, was the latest beneficiary of EQT's generosity. This past week Mike Warner, president of the Cambridge Firefighters Association, accepted a check for $23,335 from Jessica Baker, community adviser for EQT, at the Cambridge Fire Department. "EQT is happy to support fire departments for their hard work and dedication within their communities," Baker said. "The check was a result of a grant from EQT's Foundation."..."There is no way we could afford the laptops without EQT's donation. The laptops are another tool for first responders and for the safety of the citizens of our county."" (The Daily Jefferson)

ConocoPhillips,  Canacol  to  Look  for  shale oil  in  Colombia  - "Canacol Energy Ltd, a Calgary, Canada, firm that operates in Colombia, said Wednesday it will explore for shale oil with ConocoPhillips (COP) in Colombia's Middle Magdalena basin. Under the terms of the deal, ConocoPhillips will pay $13.5 million in cash and carry the cost of the drilling, completing, and testing of up to 13 wells. In a statement, Canacol said the agreement between the two companies calls for exploration and potential development of the Santa Isabel contract, one of five contracts that Canacol has interest in totalling 334,000 net acres "that expose [Canacol] to a potentially large unconventional shale oil play as supported by recent drilling results." Texas' ConocoPhillips will get 70% of any shale oil found in the deeper areas while Canacol would retain the other 30% and keep 100% of the rights of shallower reservoirs." (Fox Business)

Japan wants U.S. to export shale natural gas - "When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met President Barack Obama in Washington last week he asked the US to permit exports of its gas to Japan. Tokyo has also announced up to Y1tn ($10.9bn) in credit guarantees to fund investments by Japanese companies in shale gas projects. That Japan is interested in US gas should come as no surprise. Japan is the world’s largest buyer of liquefied natural gas, and later this decade the US will start exporting some of its huge surfeit of domestically produced shale gas in the form of LNG. But the possibility of a new east-west trade axis has huge implications for the international gas market. The emergence of US export capacity is leading to a significant rethink of the way gas is priced – a development that is causing ructions throughout the LNG industry, affecting both producers such asExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell and consumers such as Mitsubishi and Tokyo Electric Power, Japan’s largest utility. “LNG has become a big political issue,” says one Japanese trading house executive.”” (Financial Times)

China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) strikes deal with Chesapeake for Okalhoma shale drilling rights - "Sinopec's $1.02 billion deal with Chesapeake Energy Corp. gives the Chinese energy producer a stake in an Oklahoma shale oilfield for less than one-third of its estimated value. China Petrochemical Corp., the Beijing-based energy giant known as Sinopec, will take a 50 percent interest in 850,000 acres Chesapeake controls in the Mississippi Lime formation, the companies announced Monday in separate statements. The price equates to $2,400 an acre, less than the $7,000 to $8,000 at which Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake valued the asset in a July presentation. The deal involves drilling rights across an area twice the size of New York City with wells that Chesapeake said were pumping the equivalent of 34,000 barrels of crude a day in the final three months of 2012..."This is the first joint-venture deal Chesapeake has ever done without a drilling carry," Hanson said. For Chesapeake, "this looks pretty underwhelming," he said."" (Tulsa World)

Russia considering shale - "The Russian Natural Resources and Environment Ministry will carry out an analysis and geological study of resources and reserves in non-traditional gas deposits, including shale gas. There is a lot of focus on extraction of shale oil and gas in the mineral material base preservation program, which was drafted by the Natural Resources Ministry. The document will be discussed at a government session Thursday..."In order to develop shale gas an analysis of Russia's shale deposits is envisaged and the development of methods for revealing gas filled zones, their classification, D1 resource evaluation, C1+C2 reserve categories and the development of technologies for extracting shale gas. In addition, development of shale gas deposits requires rational selection of optimum experimental and industrially developed facilities and a forecast on possible production volumes taking into account the impact on the environment," the [program draft] document says."" (KYIV Post)

Germany agrees on fracking regulations, with conditions - "German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government agreed on draft regulation to allow the tapping of shale gas via hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a practice the opposition says may harm the environment. The legislation would outlaw fracking in water protection areas and near drinking water wells and would make environmental impact studies mandatory for new projects, Environment Minister Peter Altmaier and Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said in a joint letter obtained by Bloomberg News. The measures would permit the technique in non-restricted areas and provide “a unified legal situation,” the ministers wrote. “This offers a good perspective for the future even if we should wait to see the actual progress,” Roesler said in a statement e-mailed today by his ministry in Berlin. While fracking offers “significant opportunities, we must always keep in view possible effects on the environment.”...Merkel’s government is keen to develop domestic energy sources as it closes nuclear plants by 2022 and shifts to renewable power. While a successful drilling campaign would redraw the energy map across Europe, a continent reliant on Russia for about a quarter of its gas, public opposition means little headway has been made on fracking in Germany...“Excluding drinking water protection areas is just for show,” Krischer said in an e-mailed statement. “It means that fracking is allowed on more than 80 percent of Germany’s landmass.” (Bloomberg)

Denham Capital Management wants to reenter shale industry - "The energy-focused private equity firm is considering another investment in the Marcellus Shale formation following a successful investment in 2009 alongside Alta Resources, Jonathan Shieber reports exclusively for LBO Wire. Parish Capital Advisors Partner Tracy Harris has joined Credit Suisse Customized Fund Investment Group as a vice president, focusing in part on NC Innovation Fund, a $230 million state-specific investment partnership the group manages for North Carolina Retirement Systems, Hillary Canada reports." (Wall Street Journal)

Phelim McAleer takes FrackNation to Congress - "McAleer will screen his film “FrackNation” at “an event for the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Subcommittee on Environment,” according to an email from McAleer... “It’s important that politicians educate themselves about fracking. It’s the future of American energy,” writes McAleer in the email promoting Tuesday’s screening. “With all the lies and misinformation out there, we’re excited to bring the truth about fracking to Capitol Hill.”...McAleer says Tuesday’s screening is closed to the public, “but many lawmakers and staffers will be in attendance.” (Politico)

Ukraine seeks shale deal with Chevron - Ukraine is seeking to sign a shale gas production-sharing agreement with Chevron Corp. (CVX) within two months after winning over local opposition to drilling for the fuel as the nation speeds up efforts to cut reliance on Russia. Local authorities in regions where Chevron plans to start drilling have withdrawn objections, on environmental grounds, to the development, Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Oleh Proskuryakov told a conference in Ukraine’s capital of Kiev. Chevron may start drilling at the field, in the western regions of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, by the year-end, Proskuryakov said. Ukraine, dependent on Russian natural-gas imports for more than 60 percent of its needs, is seeking to diversify supplies. Royal Dutch Shell Plc signed a production-sharing agreement to develop shale last month after Chevron won a license for the Oleske field in 2012. The government plans to sign an extraction deal for the Skifska field on the Black Sea with an Exxon Mobil Corp.-led group within six months, Proskuryakov said.  (Businessweek) 

Chevron taps into Australian shale - "Timing, as always, is the key to what’s happening in the Australian shale gas (and oil) industry which received a big vote of confidence earlier today when the U.S. oil major, Chevron, “farmed” into two central Australian exploration permits at a potential cost of $349 million. For that outlay, which incorporates an up-front payment and future exploration costs, Chevron can earn up to 60% of the two blocks covering 810,000 acres of Australia’s Cooper Basin which is largely a barren desert covering the country’s biggest onshore conventional oil and gas field...While Australia is the best part of 10-years behind the U.S. in terms of exploring for and developing its unconventional oil and gas potential it is a country which featured prominently in a 2011 analysis of world shale gas potential by the U.S. EnergyInformation Agency. Technically recoverable shale gas potential in Australia was put by the EIA at 390 trillion cubic feet of gas, about 45% of the 862tcf estimated for the U.S., but roughly double the estimate for France and Poland and 9-times the estimate for Ukraine which recently attracted an investment by Royal Dutch Shell." (Forbes)

Ukrainian Prime Minister sees energy independence through shale - "Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that there's enough natural gas in Ukrainian shale plays to satisfy the former Soviet republic's needs without imports."We have enough deposits of shale gas to satisfy Ukraine's demand for this kind of fuel," Interfax quoted him as saying. "What we are doing now involves a lot of hard work, which should bring about practical results in some five-seven years." "The main goal of any government is always to make not only short-term decisions but also decisions that have long-term effects for the country," Azarov said. US giant Chevron is negotiating a production-sharing agreement for shale exploration of the Olesska field towards Ukraine's western borders with the European Union. Royal Dutch Shell signed a $10 billion deal with the government for exploration of the Yuzivska field in eastern Ukraine last month." (KYIV Post)

Texas shale natural gas headed to Mexico - "Houston-based NET Midstream has announced it will construct a 124 mile pipeline to transport natural gas from the Eagle Ford Shale region to the Mexican border. The deal consists of a long-term agreement to transport 2.1 billion ft³/d of gas with MGI Supply Ltd, a subsidiary of Mexico's state-owned gas company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex). The 42 in. pipeline will be constructed by NET Midstream's subsidiary, NET Mexico Pipeline LP from a hub in Agua Dulce in Nueces County to a point near Rio Grande City in Starr County, Texas. “NET Mexico Pipeline will be an important source of supply to meet Mexico's growing demand for natural gas,” said Joe Gutierrez, Co-President of NET, in a recent statement. “NET Mexico is a natural next step in our pipeline system, as we connect abundant gas supply from the Eagle Ford Shale to expanding power generation and industrial markets in Mexico.” (Energy Global)

How the shale boom is impacting nuclear power - "Cheap natural gas is dominating. Wind and solar are growing. Coal is dwindling. Now we can add another trend to the list: Nuclear power is starting to decline. Since 2010, the amount of electricity generated from America’s nuclear reactors has fallen about 3 percent, or 29 billion kilowatt-hours. That’s a sizable drop: As John Hanger points out, we’d need to quadruple the number of solar installations in the United States just to make up the loss of that carbon-free electricity....This month, Duke Energydecided to close its Crystal River nuclear plant in Florida, offline since 2009, rather than pay $1.5 billion to repair a cracked dome. The reason? It was easier to build new natural-gas turbines to replace the lost electricity than repair the reactor. Last fall, Dominion Power announced that it would close its Kewaunee reactor in Wisconsin, also citing pressures from cheap gas. And that’s just the start: One energy analyst told Bloomberg that at least 4 of the 102 remaining U.S. reactors are now at risk of early retirement “due to new power market economics.” Perhaps more significantly, the cheap gas boom may be killing off future reactors, too: Back in 2011, NRG scrapped plans for two new nuclear units in Texas. Why? There were cheaper options available, including gas and wind." (Washington Post)

Oil industry and environmentalists praise new bill in Springfield, Illinois - "According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the bill before legislators would unleash a number of requirements on the oil and gas industry that currently don’t exist, including: - A requirement that chemical-laced water that flows back after being pumped into the ground be store in closed tanks, rather than in open pits. - Restrictions on venting and flaring of natural gas - A requirement that all fracking chemicals we disclosed to the public before fracking begins - The right for citizens to appeal permits granted to oil and gas drillers by the Department of Natural Resources and to hold public hearings regarding proposed permits. - The right to deny a permit during drought conditions - A state web site where detailed drilling applications will be posted and available to the public - The presumption that oil and gas drillers are liable for any environmental contamination near fracking operations unless proven otherwise...The 60,000-square-mile area encompasses parts of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates New Albany holds 11 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, approximately enough to meet the needs of about 5 million households for 30 years, according to the American Gas Association. The 94-page House Bill 2615, introduced Thursday by Rep. John Bradley and Rep. David Reis, is the result of weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations between legislators, the attorney general’s office environmental groups and lobbyists for the oil and gas industry." (Chicago Tribune)

Fracking emissions under review by EPA - "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed to more closely study air emissions from hydraulic fracturing after the agency’s auditor concluded its current data is insufficient to make policy decisions. The EPA has already begun an inter-agency study of methane, air toxins and other pollutants released when oil and gas are tapped using the process, called fracking, Gina McCarthy, the head of the agency’s air office, said in a letter to the Inspector General’s office that was released yesterday. “We have identified emissions information for oil and natural gas production as a critical need,” McCarthy said in her letter, which was dated Nov. 16. McCarthy is the leading candidate to be nominated by President Barack Obama to head the EPA, according to people briefed on the plans." (Bloomberg)