Free Republic

Legislation to set standards for cities that wish to regulate the oil and gas drilling within their city limits passed the Texas House Friday with more than two-thirds approval. House Bill 40 heads to the Texas Senate Monday, where, if it can sustain the momentum that’s carried it this far, could soon become law. And that’s got some special interests groups in a tizzy. “If some Austin lawmakers are successful, oil and gas drilling could be coming to a school, playground of daycare center near you,” wrote Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas in an opinion piece published in the...

Siluria Technologies’ new ethylene plant is a 4-story-tall maze of pipes and valves and pressure vessels. If it were a standalone plant it might be impressive. But this one is tucked in among dozens of giant petrochemical complexes along the Houston Ship Channel and situated within a larger polypropylene site operated by Brazilian chemicals giant Braskem So how does this facility stand out? Because it’s unique. All the rest of the world’s ethylene is made the old-fashioned way: by breaking apart larger hydrocarbons such as naphtha (sourced from crude oil) or ethane (found in natural gas). In contrast, Siluria’s technology...

Celanese Corp. is considering expanding its South Texas chemical plant to produce methanol, the company has announced. Building a methanol unit at the plant in Bishop near Corpus Christi would be the latest move by the Dallas-based chemical company to capitalize on an abundance of cheap U.S. shale gas. Celanese has been building a new methanol unit in Clear Lake, southeast of Houston under a joint venture with Mitsui & Co., one of Japan’s largest generally traded companies. The project, which should be finished by October, will have the capacity to produce 1.3 million tons of methanol per year. Made...

At least five people were rushed to the hospital with burns after a “major gas line explosion” at the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office gun range, a department official said. The blast occurred about 2:30 p.m. behind the range in an area under construction, said Lt. John Zanoni. The injured did not include Sheriff’s Office employees, he said. No firearms were involved in the explosion. Fresno Fire Department spokesman Pete Martinez said witnesses reported a “ball of fire” that burned multiple people.

Wind energy in Michigan is approximately two-thirds fossil fuels (predominantly natural gas) used in a less than efficient way, coupled with one-third wind. Most people are unaware of that reality and misinformation flourishes as a result. Case in point: a new study claims to provide comparisons between wind and natural gas by treating them as if they were two totally separate and distinct forms of energy generation. The University of Michigan and Lansing-based consulting firm 5 Lakes Energy are touting a joint study based on a “model” produced at the university. The stated purpose of the study is to provide...

The U.S. should speed up its approval process for new liquefied gas export terminals if it wants to remain competitive against other countries eagerly preparing to supply the world with gas, a natural gas trade association argued Thursday. America’s Natural Gas Alliance on Tuesday called on the federal government to revamp its lengthy and expensive permitting process for projects aimed at exporting supercooled gas to foreign markets, arguing that such exports are in the country’s national interest. “The time is now for the U.S. to seize the day,” alliance President and CEO Marty Durbin said in a conference call with...

Access to images perhaps similar to those that captivated viewers in real time around the world during the Deepwater Horizon disaster would be standard procedure under a new set of proposed federal offshore guidelines. These include the live monitoring of deepwater and high-temperature/high pressure drilling activities, similar to what is currently used onshore. “The real-time monitoring requirement ensures that the operator has access to onshore technical expertise if needed and that there is ‘another set of eyes’ available during critical operations,” according to the statement. Houston personal injury lawyer Charles Herd, a partner at The Lanier Law Firm, which represented...

China plans to build a pipeline to transport natural gas from Iran to Pakistan in a move to alleviate the crippling burden of electricity shortage in Pakistan, a report said.  A deal is likely to be signed during the Chinese president’s visit to Islamabad this month, Pakistani officials were quoted as saying in the Tehran Times report. Pakistan has been negotiating for months for China to build the Pakistani portion of the pipeline, which will cost up to $2 billion, according to the report. “We’re building it,” Pakistani Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told The Wall Street Journal. “The process has started.”...

Ohio's energy mix is about to change, the Cleveland Plain Dealer points out, with six gas-fired plants on the drawing board and older coal-fired generation set to retire. The accelerated retirement of many coal plants is a nationwide trend, driven by low natural gas prices and EPA pollution regulations. About 60,000 MW of coal fired generators are expected to be offline by 2020, according to the EIA, due largely to the EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), and, once it is finalized, the carbon regulations under the Clean Power Plan. The state is also wrestling with energy efficiency standards,...

Falling oil prices and a slowdown in the energy sector have meant stagnant oil and gas wages, with workers in the Houston area taking the biggest hit, according to a new study. The oil and gas industry saw the lowest annual wage growth of any industry, just 0.8 percent based on first quarter figures analyzed by PayScale Inc., which tracks wage data. That number is in stark contrast from the historic wage growth of the industry. Since 2006, oil and gas workers have enjoyed a 19 percent increase in wages, the most of any industry. Houston’s wages also showed signs...

Russia is considering soon giving Greece funds based on future profits Athens would earn from shipping Russian gas to Europe as part of an extension of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project, a Greek government official said. Plans for the pipeline taking Russian gas from Turkey to Europe via Greece would be linked to lower Russian gas prices, the official added. Greece would pay back the Russian prepayment after the pipeline started operating, the official said.

Kremlin could provide cash-strapped Greeks a credit line and discounted energy supplies as Alexis Tsipras meets with Putin Russia could offer debt-ridden Greece controversial loans and discounts on supplies of natural gas in exchange for the country's "assets", according to reports in Moscow. Alexis Tsipras, Greece’s prime minister, is due to arrive in the city on Tuesday and will meet Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, on Wednesday. Athens overtures to Moscow have raised fears the Leftist government is pivoting east in search of alternatives sources of finance as it bids to avoid bankruptcy. Ahead of his visit, Mr Tsipras condemned economic...

Pipeline company files suit against W.Va. landowners By Tina Alvey REGISTER-HERALD REPORTER | Posted: Wednesday, April 1, 2015 6:30 pm A company seeking to run a massive natural gas pipeline through the state has followed through on a threat to take legal action against West Virginia landowners who have thus far refused to allow access to their properties. Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC, (MVP) filed a petition Friday in U.S. District Court in Beckley asking federal authorities to force three corporations and more than 100 other property owners residing in 10 West Virginia counties to permit the developer's agents to survey...

...destroyed three_buildings and killed two men in the East Village last week resulted from an attempt to hide the unauthorized siphoning of natural gas for tenants in one of the buildings. Their working theory is that one or more gas lines were surreptitiously tapped over several months; then the siphoning apparatus was dismantled or hidden on Thursday before Consolidated Edison conducted an inspection. As soon as the utility inspectors left, an attempt to resume the diversion of gas went awry, setting off the explosion, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of this working theory. That version of events...

As the Obama administration weighs where to sell offshore drilling leases from 2017 to 2022, the oil industry has a single plea: Stop ruling out potential prospects. Eight industry trade groups are delivering that message in comments set to be filed with the administration on Monday, ahead of a midnight deadline for the public to weigh in on the Interior Department’s draft proposed offshore leasing program for 2017 to 2022. “Considerable acreage has already been excluded at this early stage of the planning process, especially in the Atlantic, eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaska outer continental shelf,” said the groups,...

NEW YORK (AP) — More than seven months before an explosion and fire leveled three apartment buildings in Manhattan's East Village, utility workers discovered that the gas line to a restaurant in one of them had been illegally tapped, creating a hazardous situation, according to the company. On Aug. 6, a meter reader at the restaurant detected the smell of gas and reported it, said Consolidated Edison spokesman Allan Drury. A gas crew dispatched to the site found multiple leaks in a gas line that had been tapped, Drury said, adding that the restaurant was the only customer in the...

Last month the White House submitted President Obama’s annual economic report to Congress. Nestled in the findings is a compelling case for lifting the country’s antiquated ban on natural gas exports. “An increase in U.S. exports of natural gas, and the resulting price changes, would have a number of mostly beneficial effects,” the report states, for domestic employment, geopolitical security, our energy industry and the environment. The report ticks off numerous benefits — “create jobs in the short run,” “lower natural gas prices around the world,” “promote the use of cleaner energy abroad” — that make clear the question is...

For an average price of $8,732 per acre with 20 percent production royalties, the West Virginia Department of Commerce with allow Norway-based Statoil to frack for oil and natural gas thousands of feet beneath the Ohio River. The finalized lease agreement for drilling in state-owned mineral tracts under the river is in addition to those filed by Noble Energy and Gastar Exploration, which would pay the state $4.9 million and $749,000, respectively, in addition to the 20 percent royalties. These deals are not yet official, however, as the companies remain in negotiations with state leaders. "We are still finalizing agreements...

The boom in U.S. oil production over the past decade led thousands of workers to prairie cities from Texas to North Dakota. Now, Saudi Arabia hopes those workers—many of them casualties of the ongoing downturn in crude prices—will consider the deserts of the Middle East instead. Saudi Arabia has a long history of recruiting skilled workers from the West to develop its vast oil reserves. The country, however, also possesses shale oil deposits, and observers say the current oil market provides an opportunity for the Saudis to begin developing those resources. “With the layoffs, it’s a great time to do...