NATIOANAL/EID

Shale Gas Hit Piece: New York Times (minus public editor Brisbane) Doubles Down on a Bad Bet. MasterResource, EID’s Tucker. When New York Magazine reported earlier this month that the national editor of  the New York Times had sent an internal memo laying out a “surprisingly detailed” defense of reporter Ian Urbina’s latest front-page attack on natural gas, the hope was that the memo would spur an equally detailed response by Arthur Brisbane, the Times’ public editor.

Penn State forecasts boom for Marcellus Shale. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Thanks to the Marcellus Shale development, the amount of natural gas produced in Pennsylvania could nearly triple within the next decade, according to an industry-funded report. The Penn State University report -- commissioned by the Marcellus Shale Coalition trade group at the cost of about $100,000 -- projects the number of Marcellus wells drilled will amount to about 2,500 in the next decade, depending on whether natural gas starts to trade at higher prices. NOTE: The Associated Press, Dow Jones, Reuters, Fox News, Tribune-Review, Observer-Reporter, Citizens Voice, KDKA-TV, State Impact/NRP, Oil & Gas Journal, SNL Energy and others report.

Study says US shale may weaken Iran, Russia. Houston Chronicle. The natural gas boom in the U.S. has weakened Russia's influence on European energy supplies and could keep Iran's influence in check for years to come, according to a new study from the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. The study, "Shale Gas and U.S. National Security," says the surge of drilling in shale formations will have an impact on global supply for years to come and limit the need for the U.S. to import liquefied natural gas, or LNG, for at least 20 to 30 years. NOTE: EID blogs; UPI.com also reports.

Government, academic experts defend long-range projections for U.S. shale gas production. The Oklahoman. Government and academic experts stood by their optimistic projections of domestic natural gas production Tuesday, telling a Senate committee shale gas was a “game-changer” for the nation's energy supply. “The data clearly show that shale gas has rapidly become a significant source of domestic natural gas supply,” Howard Gruenspecht, acting administrator of the U.S. EIA, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Obama's pick for Interior fish and wildlife chief feels heat; EPA water nominee cruises. E&E News. Yesterday's hearing showed that Rebecca Wodder made powerful enemies during her previous career. Inhofe's question centered on a statement Wodder made that was sharply critical of hydraulic fracturing, a controversial method of natural gas extraction that involves blasting water and chemicals deep underground to free gas trapped in rock formations. "Unless we stop the threat of rampant shale fracking, the drinking water for 17 million people across the Northeast will be threatened by toxic pollution," Wodder had said.

Exxon Mobil Seeks More Shale-Gas Acquisitions as Texas Wells Pump Profits. Bloomberg. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), the largest U.S. natural-gas producer since last year’s purchase of XTO Energy Inc., is evaluating more acquisitions with an eye toward expanding its gas holdings. Exxon is assessing targets in more than a dozen gas-rich shale rock formations worldwide, Jack Williams, president of the Irving, Texas-based company’s XTO unit, said yesterday in an interview.

EPA focuses on water in ‘fracking’. Buffalo News. As new proposals move ahead on possibly opening much of the state to a controversial natural gas drilling technique, federal environmental regulators are working on a study to examine how those methods will affect water supplies. But while the state’s rules, currently under review, could lead to the drilling of the first horizontal natural gas wells during the early part of next year, the study by the U. S. EPA isn’t expected to be completed until 2014. A draft of the EPA study will be available next year.

LNG does an about-face. Register-Guard (Oregon), Editorial. Oregon’s long-running battles over liquefied natural gas terminals have been turned upside down. The boom in U.S. and Canadian natural gas production has eliminated the need for natural gas imports, while the economic logic for LNG exports has become compelling — particularly from West Coast terminals. New conditions will require new thinking.

INTERNATIONAL

Exxon Preparing to Frack First Polish Natural-Gas Prospects. Bloomberg. Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest U.S. natural-gas producer since last year's acquisition of XTO Energy, plans to use hydraulic fracturing in Poland for the first time this year. Exxon recently completed a handful of exploration wells in Poland and is preparing to pump high-pressure jets of water, sand and chemicals into the holes to release gas from dense shale rock, Jack P. Williams, president of the Irving, Texas- based company's XTO unit, said in an interview today.

Beach Has Held Talks to Develop Australian Shale Gas Project. Bloomberg. Beach Energy Ltd. has held talks with “quite a few people” to help develop its shale gas fields in Australia, where prospects have already lured ConocoPhillips the third-largest U.S. oil company, and Hess Corp. Beach, which is studying a proposed A$1 billion ($1.1 billion) liquefied natural gas plant with Itochu Corp., has had “numerous inquiries,” Reginald Nelson, managing director of the Adelaide-based company, said in an interview.

'Really cheap' gas from fracking 'worth considering'. Business Day. While the environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) have attracted much attention, little had been said about shale gas’s potential as an affordable alternative to coal, nuclear and renewable energy, World Wide Fund for Nature living planet unit head Salim Fakir said yesterday. Shell SA is punting the potential carbon-saving aspect of its application to explore tens of thousands of square kilometres of the Karoo to determine whether it is economically viable to exploit the region’s shale gas beds.

New South Wales Extends Moratorium on Fracking for Coal-Seam Gas. Bloomberg. New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, said it is extending until the end of the year a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to extract natural gas from coal seams. A 60-day moratorium was due to end July 23, according to a statement posted on the state government’s website today. The use of certain chemicals in drilling will be banned, it said. These are benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene -- known collectively as BTEX.

Hydraulic fracturing concerns topic of public discussion. Truro Daily News. A public meeting is being held tonight to discuss the issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing and associated concerns. "My main point for doing a public event, I'm really just trying to raise awareness about the issue," said Heidi Verheul, an environmental educator with the Atlantic chapter of the Sierra Club and a former Belmont resident.

COLORADO

Weld County on pace for record year in oil and gas drilling permits fed by Niobrara shale. Associated Press. Weld County oil and gas drilling permits are taking over last year's pace, but that's just part of the picture. Oil and gas drilling activity is at one of the highest levels in years, not only when it comes to drilling permits, which are good for two years, but actual activity. Though evidence is apparent in the many oil and gas trucks burning a path along U.S. 85, it's also just as busy in the county recording office as it was last year.

NORTH DAKOTA

North Dakota Oil Patch back to record-setting pace. Grand Forks Herald. North Dakota’s Oil Patch has mostly geared back up from setbacks related to the wet spring and unusual flooding across the western part of the state. As of Wednesday, a record 184 rigs were drilling new holes, said Bruce Hicks, assistant director of the oil and gas division of the state’s Department of Mineral Resources, which regulates the Oil Patch.

Houston-based Company Hiring Oil Workers In Spokane Valley. KXLY-TV. Want a job? The North Dakota oil boom has one company searching for workers right here in Spokane. Cudd Energy Services based out of Houston, Texas specializes in completing and maintaining wells. They have representatives in town looking to hire around 50 people to work in the oil fields in Williston, North Dakota. Williston is one of dozens in North Dakota producing a record amount crude oil. Thanks to advances in technology, the state's oil production boomed about two years ago and it has yet to slow down.

State, industry work in harmony on air quality. Bismarck Tribune. North Dakota and owners of oil wells are working out a deal that could have owners paying a small fine for past air pollution unique to the Bakken formation in exchange for cleaning it up. This consent agreement is in negotiation and could amount to $1,000 for each of approximately 1,500 Bakken wells in the state.

NORTHEAST

MSETC Issues Statewide Workforce Needs Assessment. WOLnews.com. The Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center today released a study assessing the direct workforce needs required to support Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania from 2011-14. The total number of direct jobs needed to keep pace with the growth of the industry is expected to range from 18,596 to 30,684, including 9,800 to 15,900 new positions.

State asks drillers for wastewater verification. Leader Times. State environmental regulators are asking shale gas drillers to verify that they aren't sending Marcellus drilling wastewater to public water treatment plants anymore. DEP sent a letter to drillers last week asking for certified proof. Company representatives have to send a legal note back verifying they have reviewed their company's disposal plans and that they no longer send waste to 14 treat-and-dump plants.

Marcellus shale: Responsible benefits. Tribune-Review, Editorial. State data strongly suggest Marcellus shale natural gas drilling's benefits are real and growing. To sustain that momentum and maximize benefits, the industry must keep extracting gas safely. With 729 wells drilled since 2007, the industry remains in its infancy in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area. But it best explains positive employment, sales-tax and taxable-income trends, according to the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy.

Wastewater from gas drilling being used for area road maintenance. Elmira Star-Gazette. Several New York municipalities -- including communities in Chemung, Broome and Tompkins counties -- are using contaminated wastewater from natural gas drilling operations as part of their road and highway maintenance programs, according to an Ithaca-based environmental activist. The state DEC sanctions the use of the wastewater, with restrictions, through a "beneficial use determination" program.

Chemical makers back drilling rules. Albany Times Union. The makers of petrochemicals used in natural gas hydrofracking back proposed new gas drilling rules offered this month by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Members of the American Chemical Council, which represents makers of hydrofracking chemicals sold to drilling companies, were in Albany on Wednesday to meet with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office to express support for DEC rules that would open much of the state's Southern Tier to such drilling.

City drilling ban seems a shallow debate. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Brian O'Neill. The oil-and-gas guy says drilling in Pittsburgh isn't a good idea and the city councilman says it's a terrible idea. So, no problem then, right? Not on your autographed picture of T. Boone Pickens. Anything involving Marcellus Shale drilling is a controversy these days, and so we now may have Pittsburgh voters deciding whether to ban drilling in the city for all time.

Organization Advocates for Surface Owners' Rights‎. WTRF-TV. As the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection continues to issue Marcellus shale drilling permits and the Legislature considers new regulations, one organization advocates on behalf of landowners to protect their rights. The West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization began in 2007, before Marcellus shale drilling began in earnest.

No forced pooling. Tribune-Review, Editorial. By opposing "forced pooling," Gov. Tom Corbett is helping Pennsylvania strike the proper balance between the rapidly developing Marcellus shale natural gas industry and property owners' rights. Common in states with established oil and gas industries, forced pooling compels property owners to join neighbors in agreeing to gas leases.

Wilkinsburg council bans fracking from borough limits. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Wilkinsburg became the latest community in Allegheny County to ban Marcellus Shale gas drilling within its borders. Borough council voted unanimously Wednesday night to adopt an ordinance that prohibits drilling or "fracking" — a term used to describe the process by which drilling companies inject a mixture of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into a well in order to crack the shale and help gas to flow.

TEXAS

Fort Worth air study misses the mark on gas industry compressors. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Editorial. The three natural gas company representatives on Fort Worth's Air Quality Study Committee are angry about the $1 million-plus consultant's report that has resulted from the committee's work more than a year ago. They have a right to be mad. The report paints an unfair picture of potentially hazardous emissions from gas pipeline compressor engines.