Foundation

The latest Interior Department Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed plan on oil shale and oil sands leasing on western lands has come under attack from the chairman of a prominent House energy subcommittee.

A report issued by American Clean Skies Foundation last Thursday projects that technology-driven changes in oil and gas production since 2007 will lead to annual employment gains of 835,000 to 1.6 million new jobs nationwide by 2017 — more than the entire U.S. auto manufacturing industry — and increase the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by $167 billion to $245 billion net.

A report issued by American Clean Skies Foundation Thursday projects that technology-driven changes in oil and gas production since 2007 will lead to annual employment gains of 835,000 to 1.6 million new jobs nationwide by 2017 (more than the entire U.S. auto manufacturing industry), and increase the country’s gross domestic product by $167 billion to $245 billion on a net basis.

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.

The cash-strapped state park system in Colorado is considering using its nonprofit foundation to bring in more private-sector funds, which include allowing more oil and natural gas drilling in some of the state parks, such as the drilling currently taking place at one state park, St. Vrain, near Longmont, CO. A series of public meetings around the state has been set to kick off Thursday in Grand Junction and continue in Colorado Springs (July 24), Fort Collins (July 31) and Denver (Aug. 8). Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials are considering corporate sponsorships and/or more oil and gas drilling in state parks to cope with budget cuts, according to reports this month in various news media around the state. Assistant Director Ken Brink told local news media that park visitors do not want state parks named after corporations, or more oil/gas drilling in the parks, but the officials say they may have no choice. There are 42 state parks in Colorado that now are forced to develop all of their revenues through user fees.

Researchers at Duke University have added their voices to the debate on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), saying in a report released Monday that the practice probably is not the cause of brine migration in the Marcellus Shale, but it could increase the potential for contaminating drinking supplies in the future.

In a paper released Thursday, researchers from Cornell University firmly stood by an earlier claim that shale gas has a larger greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint than conventional gas and oil or coal, and thus would be an unsuitable bridge fuel.

The West Virginia state Senate unanimously approved Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s version of a Marcellus Shale regulatory reform bill on Tuesday by a 33-0 vote.

If its Keystone XL oil pipeline is the foundation, major U.S. oil and natural gas shale plays will be the drivers for TransCanada Corp. greatly expanding its North America footprint, the Calgary-based company’s senior executives said during recent investor conferences in Toronto and New York City.