Square

A proposed rule in Texas to require public disclosure of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluid contents was approved for publication Monday by the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC).

By the middle of this year most of the Eagle Ford Shale region in South Texas will be blanketed with high-speed terrestrial wireless broadband provided by ERF Wireless unit Energy Broadband Inc., the company said.

The Chesapeake Bay, long plagued by pollution from development across its 64,000-square-mile watershed, is showing “some encouraging signs of improvement,” but is still “dangerously out of balance” and needs to be protected from a variety of threats, including natural gas drilling operations in the Marcellus Shale, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) “2010 State of the Bay” report.

The September natural gas futures contract went off the board with a bang on Friday as no change in the market’s weak fundamentals and a scramble to square books ahead of expiration resulted in a 16.6-cent, or 4.4%, decline to $3.651, which is 46.6 cents, or 11.3%, lower than the previous week’s close. Taking over the front-month contract title, October futures closed Friday at $3.705, down 13.8 cents, or 3.6%, from Thursday’s close and 43.2 cents, or 10.4%, lower than the previous week’s finish.

Senate Democrats and Republicans are expected to square off this week over a controversial GOP proposal that would delay for one year the Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The Pinedale Anticline in southwestern Wyoming, home to the prolific Jonah Field, covers only about 90 square miles on about 150,000 acres, but the natural gas output from the fairway’s tight sands has been nothing short of remarkable. Now testing is under way to determine whether gas shale development could make the Anticline and neighboring basins even more remarkable.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said last week that new estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that show 217 square miles of Louisiana wetlands were washed away by hurricanes Katrina and Rita provide strong support for her legal action against the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) recent western Gulf oil and gas lease sale.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Wednesday that new estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that show 217 square miles of Louisiana wetlands were swept away by hurricanes Katrina and Rita provide strong support for her legal action against the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) recent western Gulf oil and gas lease sale.

Despite fresh forecasts suggesting this summer could be a hot one, the natural gas futures market turned lower Friday as traders took profits after failing to break above stubborn overhead resistance.