Education

The University of Tennessee’s Institute of Agriculture (UTIA), which had spent three months in search of an industry partner to investigate the impacts of natural gas and oil exploration, as well as development from shale formations, has put the project on hold after receiving no bids for the proposed research project.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett fired Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Richard Allan on Thursday after he reportedly used offensive language in email messages, disparaging another government employee.

Suncor Energy Inc. is writing off $1.5 billion of the investment in the centerpiece of its $20.6 billion oilsands expansion, the Voyageur Upgrader, which would turn heavy bitumen into light oil, in part because of stunning production growth in U.S. oil shales.

Patrick French, 64, an advocate for the U.S. energy industry, died Saturday in Bethesda, MD. French was president of the Foundation for Energy Education and executive vice president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers (TAEP), which he joined in 2000 and helped to transform into a strong statewide network with members in 300 cities and 29 states. French was named an industry “legend” by Oil and Gas Investor Magazine in 2010. He wrote numerous articles and was a frequent energy industry commentator on television, with his efforts culminating in the ABC television pilot series, “The Hard Question,” which recently debuted in Dallas and Houston. French formed The Association Development Group in 1991 in Washington, DC, which worked with trade associations, including the Independent Petroleum Association of America. He also served on the board of directors of the Global Energy Management Institute at the University of Houston and on the board of directors of the National Corrosion Institute at Rice University.

Two graduate students at The Ohio State University say their state’s policymakers should levy appropriate taxes on the oil and gas industry, be wary of hidden shale extraction costs and commit to good governance if they want to avoid the perils of boom-and-bust cycles common to other regions of the country rich in natural resources.

Industry and government are getting an education about the tallest hurdle in the way of Canadian plans for new Asian energy export channels: aboriginal communities that occupy or claim vast tracts of northern Alberta and British Columbia (BC). The lessons are being taught by emerging commercial relationships and parallel regulatory cases on oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Industry and government are getting an education about the tallest hurdle in the way of Canadian plans for new Asian energy export channels: aboriginal communities that occupy or claim vast tracts of northern Alberta and British Columbia (BC).

An economic impact study released Tuesday by the Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP) found that more than 200,000 oil and natural gas jobs, generating $12 billion in wages and income, could be created in the Buckeye State’s portion of the Utica Shale by 2015.

The mayor of Dallas has directed city council to form a Gas Drilling Task Force and appointed a former council member to lead the body.