Exists

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently approved plans by a subsidiary of LS Power to build a 900 MW natural gas-fired power plant about 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, bringing to nine the number of gas-fired plants proposed in and around the state’s Marcellus Shale resource.

Trunkline Gas Co. officials said last week they expect FERC to approve before the middle of next year plans to convert a multi-state natural gas pipeline to crude oil service.

Leases for oil and gas development along the southern fringe of the Piceance Basin in western Colorado are nearing their expiration as a citizens’ action and the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are blocking five exploration/production (E&P) companies, including a unit of Encana Corp.’s U.S. operations, spread over a five-county area.

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) can be done safely “as long as the right protections are in place prior to issuance of any permits for the practice,” according to a draft report from North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Two new reports by top international research companies have come in on the high side of the great Marcellus resources debate, producing estimates that range between 267 Tcf and 698 Tcf of possible production.

Preliminary findings from a study being conducted by The University of Texas at Austin’s (UT) Energy Institute suggest no direct link between hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and groundwater contamination, researchers said Wednesday.

Voters in New York still support natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale by a thin margin, 45-41%, because they believe the economic benefits outweigh environmental concerns, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) urged President Obama on Monday to authorize a comprehensive study of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) in the Marcellus Shale of six states and its potential effects on the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

An uncertain environment exists for North America’s oil and gas industry because of “sharp differences” in the economic strength between regions, development opportunities, a changing environmental landscape and the upcoming midterm elections, Ernst & Young LLP said in a report Friday.