Chemical

The availability of cheap and plentiful natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) from shale formations in the United States has led to more than $100 billion of investment in the nation’s chemical industry, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) said Thursday.

Operators in North Carolina — should oil and gas drilling eventually be allowed in the state — will not be required to disclose all of the chemical additives used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but they will be required to prove certain chemicals should be deemed trade secrets.

The U.S. shale gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) revolution has launched 136 domestic chemical industry projects worth a combined $91.2 billion, with 54% of that investment coming from foreign entities, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) late December tally. The unprecedented growth is far from over, industry experts say.

The only thing holding back the country’s tremendous opportunity in shale gas is permitting — for petrochemical facilities, liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects and drilling in some states — according to ExxonMobil Chemical’s President Stephen D. Pryor.

The only thing holding back the country’s tremendous opportunity in shale gas is permitting — for petrochemical facilities, liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects and drilling in some states — according to ExxonMobil Chemical’s President Stephen D. Pryor.

North America’s copious natural gas resources have led to a “competitive resurgence” driving low-cost ethylene production, but the growth has created challenges in the Middle East, where operators are facing the “opposite and unfamiliar challenge of ethane supply limitations,” according to IHS Chemical.

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids spilled in 2007 from natural gas wells are believed to be the cause of “widespread death or distress” of an aquatic species in a small Appalachian creek in Kentucky, based on a joint study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

A membrane-based filtration system being developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) could improve the efficiency of mobile water recycling systems used in conjunction with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities.

Chevron U.S.A. Inc.’s lease with a Marcellus Shale landowner in Fayette County, PA, allows the producer to construct an 11-acre freshwater impoundment to assist in drilling for natural gas, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.