Concerning

Shale and other unconventional resource plays are getting their own information clearinghouse at the University at Buffalo (UB) College of Arts and Sciences geology department

In Mexico there is no debate about shale gas having potential, but there is an ongoing discussion in the federal government concerning whether to focus on finding out exactly what that potential might be. A relatively new government body, the National Commission for Hydrocarbons (CNH), is pushing other parts of the federal government to pursue a more diversified energy strategy.

Quebec’s shale gas could generate as many as 19,000 jobs and more than C$1 billion in annual royalties for the province, according to an economic benefits study issued on Friday.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Sec. John Hanger pointed to the cleanup problems the state continues to deal with concerning another abundant natural resource as a situation no one wants to face again. He believes drilling for natural gas in the huge Marcellus Shale reserve doesn’t occur without potential problems.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. has entered a consent order and agreement (CO&A) with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) concerning drilling and hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) activities in an approximately nine-square-mile area in Susquehanna County, PA, which requires the company to provide a temporary water supply or treatment device to 13 homes. The area was identified by DEP because of concerns about the presence of methane in groundwater supplies. None of Cabot’s activities outside the nine-square-mile area are affected by the agreement, officials said. By taking these precautionary measures, Cabot and DEP “are assured that the safety and health of the residents in the area are fully protected while the investigation of causes of methane in the groundwater continues,” the Houston-based producer said. In a separate incident Cabot in October was allowed to resume hydrofracing operations in Susquehanna County after DEP said the company had complied with the terms of an order that was issued after a hydrofrac lubricant was spilled three times over a one-week period at a company drilling site (see Daily GPI, Oct. 20).

The apparent lack of news concerning Utah’s energy resources could lead some to conclude that there’s not much happening in the Beehive state, but it’s actually buzzing with natural gas activity. Gas volumes don’t approach the numbers from better-known gas basins in Wyoming and Colorado, but with more producers exploring the Natural Buttes field in the Uinta Basin, the state issued a record 2,062 drilling permits in 2006, a 27% increase over the previous record set in 2005.

The apparent lack of news concerning Utah’s energy resources could lead some to conclude that there’s not much happening in the Beehive state, but it’s actually buzzing with natural gas activity. Gas volumes don’t approach the numbers from better-known gas basins in Wyoming and Colorado, but with more producers exploring the Natural Buttes field in the Uinta Basin, the state issued a record 2,062 drilling permits in 2006, a 27% increase over the previous record set in 2005.

CNX Gas Corp. obtained a favorable lower court ruling last week in a case concerning whether rival producer GeoMet Inc. has the right to construct natural gas pipelines and transport gas across a disputed 32-acre leasehold in southwest Virginia.

CNX Gas Corp. obtained a favorable lower court ruling this week in a case concerning whether rival producer GeoMet Inc. has the right to construct natural gas pipelines and transport gas across a disputed 32-acre leasehold in southwest Virginia.