Free Republic

While the economic boom brought on by the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas has no doubt brought attention and prosperity to the state, it’s brought on its fair share of complications, too. One such complication: industrial infrastructure in the Eagle Ford Shale. To remedy the challenges created by the large influx of oil and natural gas production in the state, numerous regional refineries are being overhauled to meet demand, and billions of dollars in new pipelines are being created as well. New Pipelines Transportation of oil and natural gas from the Eagle Ford Shale to local refineries has been...

CUSHING, Okla.— New pipeline projects are expanding the size of an Oklahoma crude oil hub that is already one of the most important oil storage facilities in the world. One new pipeline is in operation at the hub in Cushing, another is almost complete and a new project was announced earlier this month when Tulsa-based NGL Energy Partners revealed plans for the Grand Mesa Pipeline, a joint venture with Rimrock Midstream LLC, the Tulsa World reported Saturday. Grand Mesa, which will be open to oil producer commitments starting next week, will be a 550-mile system from Colorado to Cushing. Once...

Japan’s nuclear watchdog has given the green light for two reactors to restart but the operator still has to persuade local communities they are safe. sendai-plant Widespread anti-nuclear sentiment has simmered in Japan ever since an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 caused meltdowns at the Fukushima power plant, sparking the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl. The country’s nuclear reactors were switched off after the catastrophe. Two reactors were briefly restarted last year but all of Japan’s nuclear plants are currently offline. The go-ahead from the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) for two reactors at the Sendai plant (pictured) in southern...

Germany’s flagship Bard 1 offshore wind farm has been described as “a faulty total system” as technical problems continue to plague the project, casting major doubts on the feasibility of large scale offshore projects. The wind farm was officially turned on in August last year but was shut down again almost immediately due to technical difficulties that have still not been resolved – and now lawyers are getting involved. The wind farm comprises 80 5MW turbines situated 100 km off the north German coastline. The difficulty facing engineers is how to get the electricity generated back to shore. So far,...

PORT ARTHUR, Tex. — It is hard to imagine the desert sands of the Persian Gulf being any farther away than from this swampy refinery port known for Cajun food, sport fishing and being the birthplace of Janis Joplin. But right in the middle of town stands a strategic outpost for Saudi Arabia’s global ambitions, although one that the Saudis appear loath to publicize. The giant Motiva oil refinery, which just completed a $10 billion expansion that makes it the largest processor of gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products in the United States, is owned by Saudi Aramco and Royal...

The highly touted, government-subsidized, unreliable, intermittent and expensive "alternative power" schemes currently in vogue are nothing but a phenomenal waste of money

PUEBLO, Colo. - Black Hills executives heard another earful from its customers during a hearing on its proposed rate increase. "I'm mad as hell about these rate increases," said Frank Soudek. "Reasonably priced power. That's what we're asking for," said Lee Gladney. Black Hills wants to increase utility rates by 4 percent starting next year to make up for the construction cost of a wind farm in Huerfano County.

If Americans want some cheap fuel for the economy, it would be best to vote GOP this time around because only the GOP has a plan for inexpensive, reliable domestic energy production. Combined with a lifting of restrictions on exportation of unrefined oil, fuel prices could be significantly lower than they are now. And where they are now—lower—has helped the economy greatly in the last month. For years I’ve puzzled over how so many Americans have lost the connection between inexpensive, reliable energy sources and a robust economy. But this month’s retail sales numbers make the connection clear. Retail sales...

From Benny Peiser and The GWPF – [Conservative MEP] Miguel Arias Canete, Spain’s former agriculture and environment minister, was nominated as the European Union’s next commissioner for climate and energy, becoming the first single supervisor of those two policy areas. The new commission will take office as energy policy is moving up the EU agenda amid a crisis in Ukraine, the transit country for around half of Russian natural gas to Europe, and the unrest in Middle East. –Ewa Krukowska, Bloomberg 10 September 2014 Jean-Claude Juncker’s decision to group EU commissioners into teams serving under a vice-president has been...

Land-use conflicts between Barnett Shale wells and homes continues to pose a “major impediment” to Denton’s future quality of life and economic development, gas well administrator Darren Groth told the City Council Tuesday. The Council agreed, voting unanimously Tuesday to approve a moratorium on gas wells applications and permits through Jan. 20. This moratorium is separate from the Nov. 4 referendum to ban hydraulic fracking in the city of Denton, a first for Texas. The four-and-a-half-month extension gives city staff time to iron out problems with the city ordinance to prevent a repeat of what happened in the Vintage neighborhood...

If, when in February Victoria Nuland infamously launched a (not so) covert campaign to replace the ruling Ukraine president oblivious to the human casualties, resulting in a civil war in east Ukraine, NATO encroachment along the borders of Russia, and a near-terminal escalation in hostilities between Ukraine, Russian, and various regional NATO members, the US intention was to provoke the Kremlin so hard that the nation with the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources would jettison the US Dollar and in the process begin the unraveling of the USD reserve currency status (as much as Jared Bernstein desires...

Demand growth in the oil markets will be more subdued than previously expected, according to the International Energy Agency, which has once again downgraded its projections for the rest of the year. "The recent slowdown in demand growth is nothing short of remarkable," the IEA said in a new monthly report on Thursday morning. "While demand growth is still expected to gain momentum, the expected pace of recovery is now looking somewhat more subdued." Additionally, global oil demand growth for has been lowered to 900,000 million b/d in 2014 and 1.2 million b/d for 2015. The pronounced slowdown in demand...

Another chapter in the never-ending love/hate relationship between New York and fracking. The former has banned the latter, as we’re sure you know. First, let’s go back to 2010. East Resources, which is a privately held independent oil and gas company operating in the Marcellus, among other areas, sells a vast amount of acreage in the Marcellus and other areas to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion. Then go back to earlier this year. Ralph Wilson, the only man who ever owned the Buffalo Bills, dies in March. So his heirs put the Bills–who haven’t made the NFL playoffs since...

The heads of Iran and Russia’s state-run nuclear agencies discussed the construction of new nuclear plants in Iran during a meeting held on Friday around the same time that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, also sat down for a chat about Tehran’s ongoing nuclear negotiations with the West, according to regional reports. Behrouz Kamalvanda, a top official at Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) met early Friday with Sergey Kirivenko, the director general of Russia’s state-run nuclear company, Rosatom, to discuss way the two nations can “boost nuclear cooperation,” according to Iran’s state run news agencies....

Scotland’s oil and gas sector is facing a bright future as half of oil reserves remain to be exploited, the Scottish Government's Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Fergus Ewing said Wednesday, commenting on a new study. Earlier, world leading oil expert Professor Alex Kemp, by using detailed financial modelling, predicted significant discoveries in Scottish oil sector made over the next 30 years. “His new predictions – based on that modelling – show a bright future for Scotland’s oil and gas sector for decades to come – with 99 new economic discoveries over the next three decades,” Ewing told RIA...

The Barnett Shale generates $11.8 billion in gross product per year and 107,650 permanent jobs for North Texas, according to economist Ray Perryman.

FALL RIVER, Mass. – In May 2013, two environmental activists piloted a lobster boat close to the vast pile of coal at the Brayton Point Power Station, the hulking plant that overlooks this industrial inlet near the border between Massachusetts and Rhode Island. With the tiny boat, the two men – Jay O’Hara, 32, and Ken Ward, 57 – dropped anchor and for a day blocked a freighter with a 40,000-ton shipment of coal, and they were arrested and charged with conspiracy, disturbing the peace and other violations. The two were scheduled to be tried on Monday, and they planned...

A fall in gas flows from Russia to two Eastern European countries this week has sent a chill through the region as it prepares for possible energy shortages this winter. Slovakia's gas distributor SPP said Thursday its daily gas intake from Russia fell 10% below contracted levels starting late Wednesday. Polish gas company PGNiG said its gas flows from Russia had fallen 45% below its contracted daily volumes by Thursday.

President Obama, laying out his strategy last night to defeat the Islamist jihadists known as ISIS, stressed that “it will take time to eradicate a cancer” such as the terrorist group represents in the Middle East. One hurdle in the way of Obama’s intention to work with allies to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS (also known as ISIL and the Islamic State) is the brutal organization’s control of oil fields in Iraq and Syria. ISIS uses that oil wealth to help finance its terror operations. According to the Iraq Energy Institute, an independent, nonprofit policy organization focused on Iraq’s energy...

The University of Texas at San Antonio and the Southwest Research Institute say they have found an inexpensive way to treat the water that flows back to the surface after hydraulic fracturing. A team of researchers used a plant matter called biochar to remove impurities from the flowback water. UTSA and Southwest Research Institute say it’s a low-cost method that could help address the issue of the millions of gallons of water use and disposal – per well – in new oil and gas fields such as the Eagle Ford Shale. Hydraulic fracturing pumps a mix of water and chemicals...