Audience

Government officials, environmentalists and industry representatives carried the debate on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to California’s south-central coast last Thursday in Santa Barbara County, and while there was no across-the-board agreement, local elected officials did voice surprise that fracking is a potential issue in their county where offshore oil/gas development has had a long-standing love-hate relationship with residents.

Domestic shale gas will increasingly be developed by the majors, an energy industry financier told an audience in Pittsburgh on Monday.

The shale industry might need to go on the offensive against its critics, the head of an advocacy group told an audience in Pittsburgh last Tuesday.

Limited demand for natural gas could keep 9 Bcf/d of production off the market over the next four years, a Bentek Energy LLC executive told an audience in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

The shale industry might need to go on the offensive against its critics, the head of an advocacy group told an audience in Pittsburgh Tuesday.

BP America Inc. President Lamar McKay last week told an audience of financial analysts in New Orleans that his career began in the Crescent City. While he said it was a pleasure to be back for the Howard Weil Energy Conference, McKay emphasized that neither he nor BP had forgotten how Louisiana’s shores were fouled last summer by oil from the company’s blown-out Macondo well.

When people talk about “getting it right” in shale development, they usually mean protecting the environment, and on Tuesday an audience in Pittsburgh heard various ways that the natural gas industry can get it right in the Marcellus Shale.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) told a field hearing audience in Pittsburgh last week that he plans to introduce legislation intended to improve emergency response services at oil and gas wells.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) told a field hearing audience in Pittsburgh Monday that he plans to introduce legislation intended to improve emergency response services at oil and gas wells.