Variety

A wide variety of outcomes are possible when contemplating the likelihood that an oil or natural gas injection well could increase the chance of seismic activity, including the possibility of not operating the well at all, according to a draft report by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) workgroup.

National Fuel Gas Co. (NFG), which recently raised its production guidance for 2013 by 6 Bcfe to 102-112 Bcfe, said Monday it expects production to jump to 126-138 Bcfe in 2014.

The shale natural gas market in North America is helping to revamp the U.S. chemicals industry and may benefit a variety of other manufacturing sectors through lower costs for raw materials and energy, according to a report issued last week by PwC US.

The shale natural gas market in North America is helping to revamp the U.S. chemicals industry and may benefit a variety of other manufacturing sectors through lower costs for raw materials and energy, according to a report issued on Tuesday by PwC US.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) is proposing to amend its rules relating to water protection to allow for a wider variety of recycling activities. The existing rules contemplate two categories of commercial recycling facilities: mobile and stationary. Since adoption of the rules in 2006, RRC has received an increasing number of applications for permits for facilities that fit neither category. Therefore, RRC proposed to create a third category: a semi-mobile commercial recycling facility. It proposes to authorize on-lease, non-commercial recycling of produced water and/or hydraulic fracturing (fracking) flowback fluid, and to clarify requirements for off-lease or centralized noncommercial recycling of produced water and/or fracking flowback fluid. It also proposes to amend the definition of “fresh makeup water pit” to allow use of such a pit in conjunction with fracking of an oil or gas well for the storage of fresh water or treated fracking flowback fluid used to make up fracking fluid for use in a new well. The changes are intended to reduce the demand for fresh water for fracking. The proposal was recently published in the Texas Register.

The nation last year set new records in a variety of categories for natural gas, including gross withdrawals, number of producing wells, domestic consumption, exports, and dry, marketed and onshore production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

News This Week :

With survey data indicating steady future growth, the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel is gaining momentum in a variety of fleet vehicle operations in four key areas — economics, manufacture of vehicles, fueling infrastructure and public policy support, according to Richard Kolodziej, president of Washington, DC-based NGVAmerica.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., which has used a variety of savvy financial means to raise money for exploring and developing its vast unconventional portfolio in the United States, is preparing to launch its diverse onshore oilfield services unit through an initial public offering (IPO), a separate company that would continue to be closely tied to its main customer, the Oklahoma City-based producer.