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Shale energy exploration, the growing practice of deep horizontal drilling to harvest oil and natural gas previously beyond reach, has changed America’s energy industry and overall economy. The fact that natural gas prices are at a ten-year-low is a strong indicator of this positive change. And in the areas where the actual drilling occurs– Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Louisiana and North Dakota– there are even more direct economic impacts of what has been called the “shale boom.” Benesch, an Ohio based firm with expertise in transportation law, recently collaborated with National Tank Truck Carriers in Washington, D.C. and the Ohio Trucking...

When it comes to reversing the economy’s fourth-quarter growth decline, shale gas is the answer, says Wilbur Ross, chief of private equity firm WL Ross. “The best way to overcome the negative gross domestic product figures that were just released would be to encourage the exploitation of shale gas both for domestic and for international purposes,” he tells Fox Business Network. The clean energy concerns that have stifled permit issuance for shale gas extraction can easily be solved, Ross notes. “The greenies worry that shale gas would drive the price of electricity down and make sun power and wind power...

PITTSBURGH - Private landowners are reaping billions of dollars in royalties each year from the boom in natural gas drilling, transforming lives and livelihoods even as the windfall provides only a modest boost to the broader economy. In Pennsylvania alone, royalty payments could top $1.2 billion for 2012, according to an analysis by The Associated Press that looked at state tax information, production records and estimates from the National Association of Royalty Owners. For some landowners, the unexpected royalties have made a big difference...

A new study out by the Huntington Bank finds that nearly 60 percent of consumers in shale gas exploration regions are confident the industry will provide opportunity in their area. The Midwest Economic Index surveyed across Huntington Bank's service area – from West Virginia through Michigan. The new survey is the first of its kind conducted by Huntington. "Huntington commissioned the survey by an independent research firm because we are committed to helping our customers understand the economy in our markets," said Steve Steinour, chairman, president and CEO of Huntington Bank. "While many inside and outside of the energy industry...

TOWANDA, Pa. -- In the backyard of the Marcellus Shale natural gas formation, another petroleum retailer is entering the natural gas business. This Friday, Dandy Mini Marts is debuting its first compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling location in a grand opening at its Towanda, Pa., c-store, with local dignitaries and industry representatives in attendance. The site--said to be the first public CNG fueling site in Northern Pennsylvania--has been open for the past month (see slideshow below), with a second site under construction in Sayre, Pa., due to open around the beginning of March, and third location slated for Elmira, N.Y....

The Utica and Marcellus shale plays in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York could represent more than $10 trillion in new economic activity when fully developed, says a new report from a bond rating firm. But the analysis by Kroll Bond Rating Agency in New York also cautions that the oil and natural gas shale boom is “fraught with a multitude of environmental and health issues” related to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. It said concerns over methane escaping during drilling, water use in fracking operations and potential contamination issues all need to be adequately addressed. New York has banned...

Chemical producers abandoned the U.S. in droves. Cheap natural gas is luring them back. People predicting a manufacturing renaissance in the United States usually imagine whirring robots or advanced factories turning out wind turbines and solar panels. The real American edge might be in something entirely more mundane: cheap starting materials for plastic bottles and plastic bags. The plummeting price of natural gas, which can be used to make a vast number of products, including tires, carpet, antifreeze, lubricants, cloth, and many types of plastic, is luring key industries to the United States. Just five years ago, natural gas prices...

“Promised Land,” the anti-fracking film written and produced by Hollywood stars Matt Damon and John Krasinski, was made in part by a production company owned by the government of Arab oil emirate Abu Dhabi – a state in direct competition with American oil and gas producers. The film is financed in part by Image Nation Abu Dhabi, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media which is owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, one of 13 Arab emirates that makes up the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and serves as that country’s capitol.Abu Dhabi media was created by the Abu Dhabi government...

The release of a conveniently long-lost report showing that fracking is safe puts New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo in a tight spot: continue to appease environmentalists by delaying further the development of the rich Marcellus Formation under his state, or letting the free market extract those resources and generate thousands of jobs and millions in revenue to the state. Fracking Is OK, Says Buried Report From New York State's Health Department The New American 04 January 2013 A report favoring fracking that was buried for nearly a year was given to the New York Times yesterday by a...

ALLENTOWN, Pa.-The new movie "Promised Land" digs into the fierce national debate over fracking, the technique that's generated a boom in U.S. natural gas production while also stoking controversy over its possible impact on the environment and human health. Written by and starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski, the film comes at an opportune time for a big-screen exploration of the issues surrounding the shale gas revolution, with cheap natural gas transforming the nation's energy landscape and "fracking" now a household word. But viewers shouldn't necessarily expect a realistic treatment of drilling and fracking. It's not that kind of film...

A word of warning: It’s impossible to review Promised Land, the new movie written by Matt Damon and John Krasinski and directed by Gus Van Sant, without giving away its twist ending. Though the plot turn is fumbling in its execution, it is the slyest tactic in the movie’s clumsy crusade against fracking, the process of injecting high-pressure chemicals, water, and sand into the ground to access vast quantities of otherwise inaccessible natural gas.Here’s the premise: Steve Butler (Damon) is a corporate salesman who draws on his rural roots to persuade farmers to sell their land to a fracking...

The Huffington Post published a stern rebuke to celebrities attacking the process of fracking one day before the release of Hollywood's most strident anti-fracking feature. "Promised Land," starring and co-written by Matt Damon, pits a small Pennsylvania town against a very big, very evil natural gas company looking to gobble up fracking-friendly land. The film is getting lukewarm reviews at best, with even Time Magazine's liberal film critic Richard Corliss calling out "Land's" unabashed biases. Left-wingers in the mainstream media — by which I mean me — are supposed to lap up a movie that plays to our farm-loving, tree-hugging...

The shale energy revolution is likely to shift the tectonic plates of global power in ways that are largely beneficial to the West and reinforce U.S. power and influence during the first half of this century. Yet most public discussion of shale’s potential either focuses on the alleged environmental dangers of fracking or on how shale will affect the market price of natural gas. Both discussions blind policy makers to the true scale of the shale revolution. The real impact stems from its effect on the oil market. Shale gas offers the means to vastly increase the supply of fossil...

Coal is likely to rival oil as the world’s biggest source of energy in the next five years, with potentially disastrous consequences for the climate, according to the world's leading authority on energy economics. One of the biggest factors behind the rise in coal use has been the massive increase in the use of shale gas in the US. Coal consumption is increasing all over the world—even in countries and regions with carbon-cutting targets—except the US, where shale gas has displaced coal, shows new research from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The decline of the fuel in the US has...

Three hours west of Washington, D.C., U.S. Route 50 emerges from the West Virginia forest in a gentle curve. On the south side of the highway rises an enormous natural gas drilling rig. To its left and slightly behind it is a gas separation plant under construction. This is the “wet gas” portion of the Marcellus shale-gas play that underlies Appalachia. The separation plant will divide the wet gas into propane, pentane, butane and the like. In front of the rig and closest to the highway is a kind of filling station with color-coded fittings instead of hoses on the...

Think about how a new IEA projection – that our vast shale resources will let the U.S. overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s largest oil producer by 2020 – fits with last week’s decision by the administration to remove more than 1.5 million western acres from oil shale development. Short answer: Not very well. Although we’re talking about two different shale resources – one that yields oil and/or natural gas when fractured and one containing solid material that converts to liquid oil when heated – this is about two approaches to America’s energy future and what’s possible if...

Risk perception isn’t what it used to be. Ask the swelling ranks of Canadian junior oil and gas companies braving high-risk venues like Sudan, Iraq and even Yemen. Technological advances and the shale revolution are making risk easier to digest. And political risk is no longer limited to developing countries. Plus, risk is increasingly relative: Ask anyone who’s been caught up in the politics of the Keystone pipeline. Sudan is a case in point. While instability and a very fragile peace with South Sudan remains a threat, there is also growing optimism. The philosophy is this: Sudan and South Sudan...

The future looks bright, but Hector Rivero is worried. The demand for energy workers is up, driven by the shale oil and gas boom and the coming surge of retiring baby boomers, which could force some companies to replace up to half of their workers within the next 15 years. That means a need for everything from technicians and maintenance workers to engineers and CEOs. “It’s a good problem to have,” said Rivero, president of the Texas Chemical Council. “But we’re concerned. We see challenges in the education system.” He thinks the state’s emphasis on academics over vocational education has...

The United States' unconventional shale plays have begun to transform the nation's economy and energy future. But that transformation can only continue as long as the U.S. federal government doesn't get in the way, said government and industry officials at the Consumers Energy Alliance-Texas 2012 Energy & Jobs Forum Wednesday in Houston. The number of jobs in the U.S. oil and gas sector has grown as other industries have shed jobs in the economic recession. However, the U.S. federal government has launched a war on oil, gas and coal of the likes not seen previously, with the administration seeking to...

Analysts say that the Utica Shale, which is nearly equal to the size of the Eagle Ford play in Texas could become the third-largest shale play in the United States, producing as much as 250,000 to 500,000 barrels of oil a day. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources estimates that the Utica’s potentially recoverable reserves could range from 3.75 TCF of gas and 1.31 billion barrels of oil to 15.7 TCF gas and 5.5 billion barrels of oil. In comparing the Utica to the Eagle Ford, the following: TVD in the Utica can be as shallow as 4,500 feet versus...