Category Archives: Fracking/Shale Gas

WindTurbines Regularly Fail In Weather Extremes

Posted on December 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

The 12th of December was a cold day in the UK.  Power demand was up, about 20% more than normal.  How much contribution to the total load did renewable wind power provide—–0.6%.  That amounts to about 3% of the wind renewable’s rated capacity.   The fact that these wind farms failed to come through when the weather was cold is nothing out of the ordinary.  It happens all over the world.  The wind farms also fail to provide power in the hotest weather.  This is owing to the fact that during very cold and very hot weather, the wind is very likely not blowing. Read this posting from the Institute for Energy Research to see performance during weather extremes. 
And this from a previous posting on Climate Change Sanity   
 
The Brits are mandated to have, by 2020,  30% of their electrical energy provided by renewables.  For the year 2011,  renewables provided 9.7% of the total.  Wind’s contribution to that was 4.4% and solar’s 0.1%.   To read the full posting “Just Enough To Boil The Kettle” the blog that provided most of this information, click here.
 
I wish them the best, which means, that they elect politicians that recognize that the current course is unsustainable.   
cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, Alternative Energy, Environment, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Government Regulations, Renewable Energy, Windpower

President Obama’s War On Fossil Fuels Slips Into High Gear

Posted on November 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) summarizes some major Obama Administration regulations (economically significant rules that impose annual costs of $100 million or more) that are soon to be released.  These are largely rules written earlier this year but held up because they were potential liabilities for the Obama presidential campaign.  Now that he has won re-election,  its Katy bar the door.  This posting will feature those that affect energy.  There are others that will also have a very big impact such as Obamacare.  The WSJ’s summary of those can be seen by clicking here.   
The Obama Administration’s war on fossil fuels goes on.  Fracking is not safe even though it has the potential of lifting the economy out of the dole drums.  One has to wonder where the President’s priorities lie.  Is it bring about a recovery or to bring about a socialist state?
The WSJ Energy Rules Summary: 
 
• Energy. In the lead-up to November, the Environmental Protection Agency stood down under White House pressure, delaying rules for ozone air quality and industrial boilers, and deferring carbon standards. Now EPA chief Lisa Jackson has the run of the place.
She will resume the Administration’s anti-carbon agenda through “new source performance standards,” which will set greenhouse gas emissions for new power plants so low as to prevent their construction. Look for this early in 2013.
She’ll follow with standards for “existing” sources that make coal-fired plants uneconomic to run. Inside of a decade, Ms. Jackson may wipe out what used to make up more than half of U.S. power generation. Environmentalists will write books about it, even if her agenda has received almost no public scrutiny or debate.
The oil and gas industry is also targeted, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in particular. The EPA has already issued a rule on shale production emissions and has one coming on diesel fuel in fracking. The Interior Department is promulgating rules on fracking on federal lands, and other rules can’t be far behind, probably using the pretext of drinking water under the Clean Water Act.
The EPA’s sleeper issue is the National Enforcement Initiatives agenda, which is designed to use the agency’s existing legal powers for inspections, requests for information, penalties and so forth to make new de facto rules. The EPA now blackmails businesses into “super compliance,” or settlements far more stringent than the law requires, or else risk years of expensive litigation.
 
cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, Alternative Energy, cap and trade, Domestic Energy, Energy Development, Environment, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Government Regulations, US Manufacturing Companies

“US Energy Independent By 2035”-International Energy Agency

Posted on November 14, 2012 | Leave a comment

The International Energy Agency (IEA) released their 2012 edition of the World Energy Outlook (WEO) on Monday, 12 November 2012. The take-away from the report is:
The WEO finds that the extraordinary growth in oil and natural gas output in the United States will mean a sea-change in global energy flows. In the New Policies Scenario, the WEO’s central scenario, the United States becomes a net exporter of natural gas by 2020 and is almost self-sufficient in energy, in net terms, by 2035. North America emerges as a net oil exporter, accelerating the switch in direction of international oil trade, with almost 90% of Middle Eastern oil exports being drawn to Asia by 2035.  
 
The new oil and natural gas production in the US will not only result in lower domestic prices for gasoline, electricity and heating oil, it could result in delivering our nation from the endless traumata that are the turbulent Middle-Eastern nations.  Will we feel it necessary to defend shipping routes any more?  Will we need to provide F-16 fighter planes to Saudia Arabia? I wonder if the European or perhaps the Saudis, are becoming nervous thinking that they might have to do for themselves what we have been doing for them.  Maybe the Chinese will take up the slack.  I’m not sure that is a comforting thought.  

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Posted in AGW, Alternative Energy, CO2, Energy Development, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Global Temperatures, Middle East Resources, Nuclear Energy, Oil and Gas Exploration, solar cells, Windpower

Best Fracking Video–Shows How It Is Done

Posted on November 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

The best video describing the fracking process that I have seen.   Made by MIT, it is well done.

Click here to see the video.

cbdakota

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Posted in Domestic Energy, Energy Development, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Oil and Gas Exploration

Chemicals Manufacturing Looks For Booming Business–Only Obama Can Put This Good News Down.

Posted on November 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

The price of natural gas has plummeted and chemical manufacturing firms are going to take advantage of the low cost feedstock.   A Forbes posting by Agustino Fontevecchia leads with this:

The $3.5 trillion chemicals industry provides a good vantage point from which to observe the state of the global economy, as many of its products stand at the beginning of the supply chain. From consumers to construction, the chemicals industry is set to boom in the U.S. given the explosion of shale plays and the cheap price of natural gas compared to the rest of the world, according to Anton Ticktin, a partner at chemical industry focused M&A advisory investment bank Valence.

“Chemicals go into everything, they are the part of the first step into the creation of so many different products,” explained Ticktin, “the gives you insight into the state of so many industries and sectors” such as the consumer, through plastic bag volumes for example, and construction, through sales of paints and coatings.

The low priced natural gas will result in many industries improving their balance sheet.  Ticktin adds:

And investors can get a cut of the action. Years ago, major chemical companies like Du Pont and Dow Chemical began to move their operations overseas. But today, companies with access to feed stocks that are associated with the production of natural gas, such as propane and ethane, will see a boost in their performance. Major oil and gas companies like Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Royal Dutch Shell are well positioned to benefit.

Companies in the coatings and paints business will also do well, according to Ticktin. Sherwin-Williams and PPG, for example, are trading near their 52-week highs, while Du Pont and Dow Chemical are on their way back.

The bottom line is that through the lens that is the chemicals industry, Ticktin is seeing the U.S. recovery strengthening vis-à-vis the rest of the world. While GDP is still lagging, the rise in volume and sales seen in the chemical industry should be a good omen for the broader economy.

Team Obama wants to kill fracking.  The EPA is moving forward with a study to determine the safety of Fracking.  The EPA has chosen not to select, as members of this committee, anyone from industry.  To say it another way, if you know anything about fracking and how safe it is and how it can continue to be that way, they DON’T want you.  API Executive Vice President Marty Durbin makes the case regarding the Science Advisory Board (SAB) being assembled by the EPA:

It’s a perspective the SAB panel needs as it delves into hydraulic fracturing issues. Unfortunately, EPA has declined such expertise in the past. Durbin:

“From our perspective, critical opportunities to leverage the tremendous knowledge and experience base offered by industry have been repeatedly missed.”

For example, no industry experts were selected for SAB’s hydraulic review panel announced in January 2011. Instead, while members were technical experts in their respective fields, most had virtually no relevant knowledge or understanding of oil and natural gas operations in general and hydraulic fracturing in particular related to their respective areas of expertise. Durbin:

“API, therefore, strongly recommends that the ad hoc Panel members have direct experience working in the modern oil and natural gas industry. … We note that industry representatives have a long record of valuable, unbiased participation in many other SAB Communities and Panels. It is those very individuals, with extensive field experience and first-hand knowledge of the techniques used in drilling and completions, who are critical to the examination of the very specialized processes and the research addressing those processes.”

See more from this  posting by clicking here.

cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, Alternative Energy, Domestic Energy, Energy Development, Environment, EPA, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas

New Technologies To Increase Oil Recovery From Shale Studied.

Posted on November 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

Currently fracking wells recover less than 10% of the oil in the North Dakota’s Bakken fields.  Bismarck, North Dakota TV station KFYR aired a program discussing new technologies that might result in a major boost in the amount of oil recovered per well site.  KFYR said that two technologies are under study.

Walking rigs – Used on Eco-pads that have several well bores at one location and can be moved from one well head to the next in a matter of hours instead of days.

CO2-enhanced recovery – The process has been used at other oil plays but would be new to the Bakken and could extend the life of wells there by 20 to 30 years.

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Posted in AGW, CO2, Domestic Energy, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Oil and Gas Exploration, Peak Oil

Matt Damon’s Anti-US Oil Companies Film Financed by Abu Dhabi

Posted on September 29, 2012 | 2 comments

The documentary film “Gasland” had set the tone. The town of Dimock, Pa had been featured in a scene where fire was blasting out of the sink faucets –all because the natural gas companies were using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of the subsurface shale to release the trapped natural gas. The presumption was that somehow this fracturing was resulting in leakage of natural gas into the subsurface water from which the locals drew their drinking water.

It seemed like a good idea for a movie script, especially when it would bash those thieving rascals that run those evil oil and natural gas companies.  So, Matt Damon andJohn Krasinski said they would make the movie and it would be about “American identity . . . and what defines us as a country.” Whatever that means.  They planned to title the movie, “Promised Land”.  According to the NY Post, the story line was to have Damon, the big oil and natural gas company representative, exposed by an environmentalist.  The environmentalist would reveal the Damon’s (oil company’s) plan to “exploit, pollute and leave” the small community. 

The wheels began to come off the movie story-line when tests by the State of Pennsylvania and the EPA found that the Dimock water was not contaminated. In addition several other stories were reported further ruining the narrative that Damon, et al had chosen. Again, from the Post:

“There was Wolf Eagle Environmental Engineers in Texas, a group that produced a frightening video of a flaming house water pipe and claimed a gas company had polluted the water. But a judge just found that the tape was an outright fraud — Wolf Eagle connected the house gas pipe to a hose and lit the water.   Other “pollution” cases collapsed in Wyoming and Colorado. Even Josh Fox, who with his Oscar-nominated documentary “Gasland” first raised concerns about flammable water, has had to admit he withheld evidence that fracking was not responsible.”

Surely, the Hollywood crowd will come up with something and you want to know why?  Because Abu Dhabi, one of the oil rich United Arab Emirates, is providing part the financing for this movie.   

Do you suppose that Abu Dhabi has an interest in slowing or stopping fracking altogether? Fracking is propelling the United States to a condition of oil and natural gas self-sufficiency.   The consequence will probably be to cause crude oil prices to drop. Because the Emirates’ economic life is predicated on sales of crude oil, this is a logical conclusion. 

But Damon is smart enough to make that connection.  Yet he is smearing US OIL AND GAS COMPANIES in order to stop fracking.  Liberals, seesh.

Click on the link below to read the entire NY Post story:

www.nypost.com/f/print/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/for_his_next_escape_x46uFSONrAaCey67ZzZV0I

To read more of the Foundry Posting on Abu Dhabi financing the Damon picture  click here: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/09/28/matt-damons-anti-fracking-movie-financed-by-oil-rich-arab-nation/

 

cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, Domestic Energy, Energy Development, Environment, EPA, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Oil and Gas Exploration

State By State Study Shows Unconventional Gas Is A Major Boon For The US Economy

Posted on September 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

A  previous posting, “Fracked Natural Gas Changing The US Economy”,  discussed the impact that fracked gas (aka, shale gas) is having and will continue to have on employment, investment, natural gas (NG) price (current and future), and Governmental Income in the US.  That discussion was based upon a study by IHS Global Insight that they released in December, 2011, This posting will review the details of a new IHS study released in June 2012 which totals all the sources of  unconventional NG— shale gas, tight sands gas and coal bed methane—and projects the total impact these unconventional NG sources have on the Nation and each of the lower 48 States plus DC.

There are 20 States in the lower 48 that are considered unconventional NG producers.  In addition to the TOP 10 employment producers shown in the chart below, the other ten are Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Virginia and West Virginia,  The other 28 plus DC are considered non-producers of unconventional NG.

Let’s begin with employment resulting from the exploitation of the unconventional NG. 

TOP 10 UNCONVENTIONAL OIL PROUDUCING STATES
 EMPLOYMENT CONTRIBUTION  
Number of Workers    
 

2010

2015

2035
State      
Texas

288,222

385,318

682,740
Louisiana

81,022

124,782

200,555
Colorado

77,466

126,525

127,843
Pennsylvania

56,884

111,024

270,058
Arkansas

36,698

53,919

79,723
Wyoming

34,787

45,763

78,792
Ohio

31,462

41,366

81,349
Utah

30,561

36,593

50,839
Oklahoma

28,315

41,763

69,261
Michigan

28,063

37,926

63,380
       
Top 10 total

693,481

1,004,979

1,704,541
Prod States

826,355

1,195,346

2,007,902
       
US Total

1,008,658

1,463,450

2,438,877
 

 

 

 

The order of ranking is based upon the 2010 employment numbers. I have a little trouble with the display as it uses numbers down to the single digits out of millions; however, it does not take away from the forecast of an impressive growth rate.  The “US Total” includes the induced jobs in the non-producing States that benefit from the low-priced plentiful NG.   

IHS uses the following system to develop their results: The analysis of unconventional gas development and its contribution to the US regional economies was conducted using a top-down/bottom-up approach. The contribution was assessed separately for direct, indirect, and induced contributions defined as follow:

• Contributions of unconventional gas are those activities required to explore, produce, transport, and deliver natural gas to consumers or to provide critical supplies or onsite services that support unconventional gas activity.

• Contributions are defined as activities in outside industries that supply equipment, material and services for the development of unconventional gas and its tier suppliers.

• Contributions are the economic effects caused by workers spending their wages and salaries on consumer goods and household items.

Their study forecasts that nearly $3.2 trillion in investments will be made to  develop  unconventional gas  between 2010 and 2035.

The following IHC charts show other effects from their study,

 

CONTRIBUTION TO GOVERNMENT REVENUE
         
        $ million  
   

2010

2015

2035

 2010to2035
Producing States

28,034

41,090

71,806

1,255,034
Non-Producing States

5,758

8,246

13,317

243,701
           
US Total  

33,793

49,335

85,123

1,498,734

These monies in this chart are derived from the expected Federal, State and Local tax revenues and from royalty payments.  The last column is the cumulative no. of dollars for the period 2010 to 2035.

US VALUE ADDED      
      $Millions  
   

2010

2015

2035
         
Producing States

118,077

174,037

295,897
Non-Producing States

15,328

22,479

35,831
         
US Total  

135,405

196,516

331,831
     

 

 

 

IHC defines this chart as follows: The commonly used measure of GDP, which is simply the sum of the value added across all products and services produced in the United States, is generally considered the broadest measure of the health of the US economy. Value added to US GDP is defined as the sum of labor incomes, corporate profits, indirect business taxes paid, and depreciation. Annual value added to GDP from unconventional gas activities was more than $133 billion in 2010 and, by 2015, is projected to approach $200 billion. The majority of the value added to GDP—nearly 90%—over the 25-year forecast horizon is generated by unconventional gas production activities that take place in the 20 producing states.

IHC concludes that: Unconventional gas activity is expected to make a significant contribution to all of the economies of the lower 48 states over the next 25 years. Traditional oil and gas producing states like Texas and Louisiana will continue to lead the way in terms of their absolute contributions to the US economy. But many new and emerging energy states will drive much of the growth in the coming years, and the economic activity generated by this increase in unconventional gas activity will also reach well beyond the traditional unconventional producing states.

The full report can be seen by clicking here.

cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, Alternative Energy, Domestic Energy, Energy Development, Fracking/Shale Gas, Government Revenues, Oil and Gas Exploration, Peak Oil, US Manufacturing Companies