2/8/2013: Allegheny County Airport Authority inks $500 mill deal; Is the nation's latest oil boom at risk?

Consol Energy Inc. paying $500 million to drill on 9,263 acres surrounding Pittsburgh International Airport - "Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said it would include an upfront bonus payment of $50 million and an estimated $450 million in royalties over the next two decades...Mr. Fitzgerald said Cecil-based Consol also plans to invest another $500 million in drilling-related infrastructure and other costs." (Mark Belko and Jon Schmitz/Post-Gazette)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel creates coalition to establish rules on fracking - "So-called fracking outside of water-protection areas should be permitted pending completion of environmental impact assessments that take into account possible flow-backs of fracking liquids, a paper drafted by government lawmakers in the environment and economy working group showed...The opposition-controlled upper house passed a resolution on Feb. 1 urging the government to ban the use of substances that might harm the environment until all the risks have been assessed, a demand that would block fracking for the foreseeable future." (Stefan Nicola and Rainer Buergin/Bloomberg)

 

Watchdog warns U.S. to reverse policy of restricting crude oil exports  - Reported by the Financial Times