Absent

The Town Council of Chapel Hill, NC, has approved a resolution voicing its opposition “absent guaranteed public health and environmental protections” to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) because of potential threats to local water supplies. Creedmoor, NC, and the Town of Cary, NC, have also taken steps to regulate fracking locally (see Shale Daily, Jan. 9). In separate statements, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue and the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources have said they believe fracking can be done safely if it is properly regulated (see Shale Daily, March 26; March 19). The North Carolina Geological Survey believes that technically recoverable gas exists in the state’s Sanford sub-basin (including Lee, Chatham and Moore counties in central North Carolina) and possibly the Dan River sub-basin (including Stokes and Rockingham counties in northern North Carolina).

After rebranding itself last year and finishing a transformation into “a significant resource play company,” SM Energy Co. plans to step up development in the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas and the Bakken-Three Forks formation while it hopes to sell down Eagle Ford assets, secure a joint venture (JV) partner in the Haynesville Shale and exit the Marcellus Shale.

The natural gas industry may have been absent from the negotiating table when the House drafted its landmark climate change legislation, but it and its supporters are expected to be front and center when the Senate takes up a companion bill this fall, Washington, DC, sources say.

The natural gas industry may have been absent from the negotiating table when the House drafted its landmark climate change legislation, but it and its supporters are expected to be front and center when the Senate takes up a companion bill this fall, Washington, DC, sources say.

With the significantly colder weather that had largely been absent from the forecast for Tuesday due to show up Wednesday in several regions, along with a little added boost from the previous day’s 9.4-cent futures advance, cash prices recorded gains at a large majority of locations Tuesday.

Absent the necessary technology, the aggressive carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction targets in the Senate climate change legislation will result in large-scale utility fuel switching that could send natural gas prices soaring during the next decade, according to an analysis of the bill conducted by energy research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.

Absent an existing and future supply of affordable low carbon-intensive energy, such as natural gas, carbon emission caps would significantly damage the domestic economy and manufacturing competitiveness, said top energy and environmental experts from 31 manufacturing companies in a report issued Monday.

Oil and natural gas issues were noticeably absent from the energy legislative agenda that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee unveiled last Monday. The focus of the committee in the new Congress will be on nontraditional energy.

Oil and natural gas issues were noticeably absent from the energy legislative agenda that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee unveiled Monday. The focus of the committee in the new Congress will be on nontraditional energy.