Before

What a difference a year makes. When President Obama directed Energy Secretary Steven Chu last March to establish a subcommittee to assess the environmental impacts of shale gas drilling, industry interpreted this as bad news. But Tuesday members of the subcommittee touted the industry and criticized detractors of both hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and shale gas development.

A consortium of private equity investors is readying a $7.15 billion leveraged buyout of El Paso Corp.’s exploration and production (E&P) business, which includes an array of liquids-rich U.S. unconventional property that extends across Texas, Louisiana, the Raton Basin and the Rocky Mountains.

U.S. natural gas production rose 2.7% to 82.7 Bcf/d in November from the month before, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest production report. That total was up nearly 9% from the same month a year ago.

As the final days for public comment over proposed rules governing high-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) tick away, legislators in the New York State Assembly have introduced a flurry of bills on the practice, including one to extend a moratorium on it until June 1, 2013.

Just before the New Year holiday, separate federal court actions dealt body blows to stiffer air pollution limits on vehicles and power plants. Industry sources hailed the rulings as a break for consumers facing higher fuel and energy costs.

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is urging the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to adopt his proposal for an industry-funded program that would help pay for possible damages attributed to development in the Marcellus Shale.

People living near Barnett Shale gas production facilities could be at risk for immune system damage from toxic air emissions, and the risk is likely understated by an air quality study completed for the city of Fort Worth earlier this year, a state lawmaker warned Mayor Betsy Price in a letter.

As a Northeast marketer had predicted the day before, prices continued to move higher Friday (including several spikes) at citygates in his region, but moderate softness reigned in the rest of the market. The Northeast was bracing for a cold blast with temperatures bottoming out around freezing or lower. But although similarly frigid conditions were in the forecasts for the Midwest as far south as the Midcontinent and for the Rockies, those areas failed to find enough heating load to lift prices.

On the final evening of debate before state lawmakers recessed for the year, critics of a impact fee in Pennsylvania fought to increase the amount of revenue raised by the proposal.