Uses

While water use for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in drought-stricken Texas is considered modest when compared to other uses, such as for agriculture, where the water is drawn from is a significant consideration, according to an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

A former steel plant in Steubenville, OH, is being redeveloped into an industrial park, a portion of which state and local officials say will be used to support operations in the Marcellus Shale.

In a public debate on how much use and emphasis there should be on oil/natural gas and particularly hydraulic fracturing (fracking), Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Monday called natural gas the best transition for his state eventually to move to more reliance on efficiency and renewable energy programs.

U.S. shale plays are on the right track, regulation-wise, even regarding hydraulic fracturing (fracking), according to oil and natural gas professionals surveyed recently by Deloitte LLP.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu should cooperate with other federal agencies to address key issues confronting energy and water, such as hydraulic fracturing processes, according to a new government report.

Halliburton Co. on Thursday disclosed details on the performance of its new hydraulic fracturing (fracking) service, which uses a fluid based on a derivatized natural polymer rather than guar gum.

The Port of Corpus Christi (Texas) accepted a $7 million bid from Oxy Ingleside Property Holdings LLC, a unit of Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy), for a nearly 100-acre campus portion of the former U.S. Naval Station Ingleside (NSI). Oxy Ingleside currently has about 816 acres of the former NSI under purchase contract. The sale agreement for the campus portion will be presented for approval at the Port Commission meeting scheduled for Aug. 14. Occidental Chemical has operated a chemical plant at Ingleside since 1987. The campus portion is the third and final piece of the former naval base to be sold. Oxy has said it plans development of the base property in phased projects worth about $1 billion. Projects could include pipeline and barge facilities to handle liquefied petroleum gas produced from the Eagle Ford Shale; a liquefied natural gas facility also is possible, along with storage for crude oil, condensate and refined products, Oxy officials have told Ingleside City officials. An Oxy spokesman declined to provide further details. “The campus property complements the previous acquisition of the port property by Oxy Ingleside Property Holdings LLC [see Shale Daily, April 2], and we will investigate other uses for the property after closing, said spokesman Eric Moses.

Commerce City, CO, has invoked a 30-day “time out” on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to give city officials time to further discuss their concerns with the oil and gas industry. City officials took the action late Monday in lieu of a proposed six-month ban on fracking.

Object Reservoir Inc., a services company providing complex reservoir modeling in unconventional gas plays, is rapidly expanding its Collaborative Exploitation Project (CEP) for the Marcellus Shale in northeast Pennsylvania and is looking into starting up a similar effort in the southwestern part of the state.