Supplies

States and producers Monday called on the Obama administration to either withdraw or suspend a proposed rule that would require companies to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations on federal and Indian lands. Environmental and conservation groups lobbied for the federal government to tighten the rule.

Low-priced natural gas supplies are a major reason that two key emissions from electric generation plants in the past two years have been reduced in nearly two dozen states affected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) cross-state rule for air pollution, according to Bentek Energy LLC.

Two potential beneficiaries of relatively cheap North American natural gas supplies, Japan and India, reportedly both have been urging the Obama administration to open liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports as soon as possible, according to the project manager for one of the export terminal proposals.

Low-priced and abundant natural gas supplies are a major reason in the past two years that two key emissions from electric generation plants have been reduced in nearly two dozen states affected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) cross-state rule for air pollution, according to a market alert from Bentek Energy LLC.

Substantial growth in natural gas demand amidst low prices and gushing supplies eventually will be realized, but on a phased five-year basis (2015-20) that will keep price increases modest, according to a report released Tuesday by Barclays Research. In the meantime, demand growth will be confined to the power generation and industrial sectors.

In the midst of its improbable oil and natural gas boom, North Dakota is coming clean on a dirty little secret — flaring of more than one-third of its gas supplies produced in its rapidly expanding Bakken Shale formation’s record-breaking oil production. While the latest analyses look closely at North Dakota’s experience there is no exact measurement of how much of the nation’s flaring is centered there; a reasonable guess is 25%, sources say.

The flood of new natural gas supplies from U.S. shale exploration combined with stagnant demand due to the current U.S. economic woes lead natural gas prices to decline across the country by 38-49% from the first six months of 2011 to the first six months of 2012, according to research done by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). While prices are hovering near 10-year lows, at least one market analyst sees a light at the end of the depressed gas price tunnel in 2013.

In the midst of its improbable oil and natural gas boom, North Dakota is coming clean on a dirty little secret — flaring of more than one-third of its gas supplies produced in its rapidly expanding Bakken Shale formation’s record-breaking oil production. While the latest analyses look closely at North Dakota’s experience there is no exact measurement of how much of the nation’s flaring is centered there; a reasonable guess is 25%, sources say.

In the midst of its oil and natural gas boom, North Dakota is coming clean on a dirty little secret — flaring of more than one-third of its gas supplies produced in its rapidly expanding Bakken Shale formation’s record-breaking oil production. While the latest analyses look closely at North Dakota’s experience, there is no exact measurement of how much of the nation’s flaring is centered there; a reasonable guess is 25%, sources say.