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On the one hand, many environmental and conservation groups are bitterly opposed to shale development. Ranged against them are those within and beyond the energy industry who believe that the exploitation of shale gas can prove not only vital but hugely positive for the British economy. Rather oddly, hardly anyone seems to have asked the one question which is surely fundamental: does shale development make economic sense? My conclusion is that it does not. That Britain needs new energy sources is surely beyond dispute. Between 2003 and 2013, domestic production of oil and gas slumped by 62pc and 65pc respectively,...

We Could Unlock More Than 267 Billion Barrels of Oil in America By Tyler Crowe | More Articles | Save For Later July 30, 2014 | Comments (0) Photo credit: WPX Energy If I had told you five or six years ago that America would be producing more oil than ever before and potentially becoming an exporter of crude within a decade, you probably would have had me institutionalized. Yet thanks to the advancements in drilling techniques, we have been able to access one of the most abundant resources we didn't think were possible: shale and tight oil. Today, oil...

Fracking in the state of Colorado during the year 2012 created 111,000 jobs whereas Barack Obama’s entire economy has only generated 110,000 jobs for Millennials since 2007. What is wrong with our president? Does he suffer from a migraine headache or is he simply refusing to think straight? His administration is spending up to $1,000 a day caring for illegal immigrant children carrying measles, mumps, scabies, lice, chicken pox, strep throat and tuberculosis. Meanwhile, legal American citizens with law degrees are living with their parents and struggling to find jobs that even pay minimum wage. Describing the influx of undocumented...

Charts and maps of America’s Amazing Shale Oil Revolution; and the new ‘Big Three’: Bakken, Eagle Ford and Permian Mark J. Perry | July 15th, 2014   Skip to Responses     Below are four charts and two maps that help tell the story of America’s Amazing Shale Oil Revolution:1. The Big Three. Yesterday, the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) updated its monthly “Drilling Productivity Report” with new estimates of oil production through August in America’s three, super-giant oil fields, the “Big Three”: the Bakken in North Dakota and Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin in Texas. As...

Republicans love fracking in Colorado — and it could help them flip a critical Senate seat this fall. The onslaught against Democratic Sen. Mark Udall (Colo.) reached a fever pitch this week when Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) had to cancel a special legislative session meant to keep two hydraulic fracturing initiatives backed by Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) off the November ballot. Udall, who had stayed out of the fray on the two measures, was forced to take a side much to the GOP's glee. Now, with Colorado as one of the top natural gas producing states in the nation,...

A North Texas community that sits on a large natural gas reserve could become the first city in the state to partially ban hydraulic fracturing, with city leaders in Denton set to vote early Wednesday on a citizen-led petition to outlaw new permits for the drilling method. The process, also called fracking, has led to significant economic benefits but also to fears that the chemicals could spread to water supplies, worsen air quality and even cause small earthquakes. Scores of other cities and some states have considered similar bans, but the proposal in Denton is a litmus test on whether...

Beaver dams have so far prevented about 1 million gallons of fracking wastewater discovered spilled July 8 from a rural North Dakota pipeline from spreading too far. But area residents, environmentalists and even a Republican state legislator all want more reliable measures. The spill of the toxic saltwater, a byproduct of hydraulic fracturing, came from gas extraction operations at the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and occurred days before it was discovered. The federal Environmental Protection Agency said the underground pipeline spilled about 24,000 barrels, or 1 million gallon, in North Dakota’s thriving oil and gas region. The water, which can...

At a recent town hall meeting in Edmond, Oklahoma, local citizens gathered to discuss the possible connection between fracking and increased seismic activity in their area. According to one published report, members of the audience left “disappointed” that no consensus had been reached linking fracking and seismic activity. According to the same report, many in the audience appeared to be “hostile to the oil and gas industry.” Even in this most oil-friendly of states, it seems, there is a rush to judgment linking fracking to every conceivable sort of damage.

Study links Oklahoma earthquake swarm with fracking operations By Hailey Branson-Potts [skip to the last paragraph if you want to skip the nonsense.] Oklahoma ... boom ... recent years: oil and gas production and earthquakes. To many residents, the timing .... Before the oil and gas industry started drilling... rare to feel an earthquake. Today, Oklahoma... second-most seismically active state .... Now ... fresh scientific evidence .... Researchers from Cornell University and the University of Colorado say a large swarm of earthquakes ... caused by ... disposal wells, ... wastewater from drilling operations ... hydraulic fracturing ... deep geological formations.......

BERLIN—Germany plans to halt shale-gas drilling for the next seven years over concerns that exploration techniques could pollute groundwater. "There won't be [shale-gas] fracking in Germany for the foreseeable future," Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks said Friday. The planned regulations come amid a political standoff with Russia, Germany's main natural gas supplier, and following intensive lobbying from environmentalists and brewers concerned about possible drinking-water contamination. The production of shale gas requires the application of the hydraulic fracturing technology known as fracking, which involves using a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemicals to break apart rocks to release the gas. The...

Why the Amazing Bakken Growth Story Isn't Over Yet By Callum Turcan | More Articles July 4, 2014 | Comments (0) As many energy investors know, North Dakota's oil production recently surpassed 1 million barrels a day. Does this mean that the growth story is now over and all the best locations have been drilled, or, as downspacing allows oil and gas companies to target the Three-Forks benches just below the Middle Bakken interval, is the growth story still underway? Only time will tell, but Oasis Petroleum (NYSE: OAS  ) is one E&P player trying to shake things up by targeting the deeper...

People will be more likely to support fracking if they have a direct commercial interest in the extraction of shale oil and gas beneath their land, Mayor of London says. British households should be given ownership of the oil and gas beneath their homes so that they have a commercial interest in supporting fracking, Boris Johnson has said. The Mayor of London said that the law should be changed so that “mineral rights” belonged to the landowner, rather than the Crown. Currently, the Government grants licences to companies to explore for and produce oil and gas, while the owners of...

"Crisis" may be a little hyperbolic. But shale production of oil and gas in America suddenly got a lot riskier this week. That's because of a landmark decision from one of the highest state courts in the land. Upholding the right of individual towns to regulate shale drilling, trumping state or federal regulatory regimes. The ruling came down yesterday in New York. Where the State Court of Appeals voted 5-2 to reject challenges to fracking rules imposed on the oil and gas industry by two municipalities in the state: Dryden and Middlefield. The saga started in 2011. When the two...

Motley Fool: The World Has 53.3 Years of Oil Left By Matt DiLallo | More Articles |  June 22, 2014 |   Photo credit: BP. BP (NYSE: BP  )  has provided an intriguing update to its global oil reserves estimate in the company's latest yearly review of energy statistics. BP raised its reserve estimate by 1.1% to 1,687.9 billion barrels, which is enough oil to last the world 53.3 years at the current production rates. However, there's likely a lot more oil left in the tank beyond what BP sees today. America's energy boom surgesA good portion of the growth in global oil reserves in BP's report comes from the...

There was a lot of hoopla last week over the news that the U.S. Department of Commerce had seemingly loosened rules governing the export of condensate — light weight hydrocarbons recovered from oil and gas wells. The excitement was palpable; shares in in oil refiners sold off. Was this the start of the big policy shift that oil producers have been dreaming of? An end to the 40-year oil export ban?

New York’s cities and towns can block fracking within their borders, the state’s highest court rules, upholding the dismissal of lawsuits challenging bans in two small upstate towns.The ruling could lead the oil and gas industry to abandon fracking in New York, or it could mean that a patchwork of rules eventually may govern whether exploration can take place across the state; the case also may invigorate local challenges to the practice in states across the U.S.Parts of New York sit above the Marcellus Shale, some of whose top producers are: CHK, RRC, RDS.A, RDS.B, TLM, APC, ATLS, COG, CVX,...

New York’s top court handed a victory to opponents of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas Monday by affirming the right of municipalities to ban the practice within their borders. The state Court of Appeals affirmed a midlevel appeals court ruling from last year that said the state oil and gas law doesn’t trump the authority of local governments to control land use through zoning. […] The court in a 5-2 decision stressed that it did not consider the merits of fracking, but only the “home rule” authority of municipalities to regulate their land use. The court said the towns of...

Energy boom fuels economic growth in Midwest states     The drilling rig floor is slick with grease and oil in Watford City, N.D., Dec. 17, 2013. Jim Gehrz / Minneapolis Star Tribune/MCT By Patrick Gillespie McClatchy Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- While the national business outlook remains tepid, the energy sector is driving fast economic growth in some states.A drilling boom for oil shale and natural gas has spurred prosperity throughout the middle of the United States. Despite having mostly smaller economies compared with coastal states, these states will continue growing for at least five more years, energy economists project,...

Peak Oil’s Revenge A slew of events over the past few months have driven the price of oil higher.The ISIS incursion in Iraq has set up the entire Middle East for a multinational civil war. It’s not hard to envision a reign of destruction across the Arab Peninsula to the oil producing regions of Iran.Russia, the world’s largest producer of hydrocarbons, is stirring up nationalism and sending rebel groups into Ukraine.China just sent four jack-up rigs into disputed waters off Vietnam to look for oil.And two days ago, the Obama administration made it legal to export very lightly refined crude...

Must-know: Recent activity and growth in the Permian Basin By Avik Chowdhury - Disclosure • Jun 25, 2014 1:00 pm EDT The Permian Basin and U.S. energy independenceAs we’ve seen, the Permian Basin has been one of the primary drivers of domestic oil growth and has been heralded as one of the pillars to move the U.S. closer to energy independence. The following statistics convey a sense of the recent growth and activity in the region.Recent growthThe chart below shows the growth in oil produced from the Permian Basin over the past few years. Production in the region had bottomed...