Introduction

With the introduction of new risk controls last week, the British government has cleared the way for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to resume in the country where the shale gas reserve could be 4.2 Tcf, according to one estimate.

With the introduction of new risk controls, the British government has cleared the way for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to resume in the country where the shale gas reserve could be 4.2 Tcf, according to one estimate.

Debate in the U.S. Senate on measures to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the nation officially began Wednesday with the introduction of an 800-page bill that increases the targeted reduction for GHG to 20% by 2020 from the 17% in the version already passed by the House, eases the road to compliance for business and agriculture, and adds incentives for nuclear and natural gas-fired power.

Sen. Barbara Boxer’s (D-CA) decision to push back the introduction of climate change legislation until later this month, combined with the Senate’s intent to focus on health care legislation when its returns this week, is raising some doubts about the fate of a climate change bill this year.

Sen. Barbara Boxer’s (D-CA) decision to push back the introduction of climate change legislation until later this month, combined with the Senate’s intent to focus on health care legislation when its returns after Labor Day, is raising some doubts about the fate of a climate change bill this year.

At least one major independent power producer in California takes a skeptical view about the potential price and reliabiliity advantages that introduction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports on the West Coast will have on the wholesale gas and power sectors. NRG Energy Inc. thinks LNG will have minimal impact.

The American Public Gas Association (APGA) sent a letter to President Bush last week praising the recent introduction of a new roadless rule governing national forest access and management. APGA said the rule could provide access to 11-23 Tcf of natural gas that was previously off limits. However, some experts say it’s premature to expect all the states to suddenly throw open the gates to national forest land for gas drilling.

With the introduction of the Gulfstream Natural Gas System pipeline in mid-2002, the whole “tenor of the gas market” in the Sunshine State will undergo structural and financial changes, said a Gulfstream executive last week.

With the introduction of the Gulfstream Natural Gas System pipeline in mid-2002, the whole “tenor of the gas market” in the Sunshine State will undergo structural and financial changes, says a pipeline official.