Critical

Arctic cold that has gripped much of the nation this month has strained Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. (TCO) natural gas storage operations, but the company has seen only minor glitches — and sharply higher gas prices — as a result.

The House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday voted out a bipartisan bill that would prohibit the Department of Interior from enforcing federal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) regulations.

Natural gas is a critical part of Colorado’s “all of the above” energy strategy, and it is encouraging its increased development, including the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), in a safe and responsible way that can be managed between government and industry, said Gov. John Hickenlooper as part of a Western Governors’ Association (WGA) three-part energy report.

Natural gas is a critical part of Colorado’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, and it is encouraging its increased development, including the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), in a safe and responsible way that can be managed between government and industry, said Gov. John Hickenlooper as part of a Western Governors’ Association (WGA) three-part energy report (see related item).

Despite the shale revolution in North America transforming global energy dynamics, the United States is unlikely to disengage completely from the Persian Gulf because other nations still depend on the region and it will still affect the world’s oil prices, according to a draft report presented to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

A critical review of the energy industry’s FracFocus registry by the Harvard Law School’s Environmental Law Program last week was taken to the woodshed for allegedly including false statements and misrepresentations in its review.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has carved out a 94,000-acre tract in Ohio’s Stark and Portage counties to sell, land that represents roughly one-tenth of its leasehold in the Utica/Point Pleasant Shale.

Global oil demand growth will hit a wall sooner than many think, thanks in part to expanding substitution of natural gas for oil in multiple applications worldwide, said analysts at Citi Research, a unit of Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

Global oil demand growth will hit a wall sooner than many think, thanks in part to expanding substitution of natural gas for oil in multiple applications worldwide, said analysts at Citi Research, a unit of Citigroup Global Markets Inc.