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The energy security risks of the United States worsened significantly in 2010, but shale gas has the potential to improve the security of natural gas supplies and lower energy costs, according to the second edition of an annual report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.

Continuing flat energy demand in a time of record hydroelectric supplies has natural gas stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest watching as the shale gas boom redefines energy delivery patterns and markets. As Ruby Pipeline on Thursday brought an added 1.5 Bcf/d of gas capacity into the West, these stakeholders told NGI’s Shale Daily that a national reordering of gas delivery systems needs to take place before gas’ future role in the region can be determined.

Economic activity in the Marcellus Shale quadrupled between 2008 and this year, according to an industry-backed study released Wednesday.

Staff of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission (AOGC) has recommended the permanent shut-in of saltwater disposal wells in an area north of Conway, AR, in the Fayetteville Shale where a recent earthquake swarm is thought to have resulted from waste injection activities.

Staff of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission (AOGC) has recommended the permanent shut-in of saltwater disposal wells in an area north of Conway, AR, in the Fayetteville Shale where a recent earthquake swarm is thought to have resulted from waste injection activities.

Two separate bills calling for a comprehensive study of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) in North Carolina — a state where the practice is currently illegal — are expected to be sent to Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue this week.

The debate over taxing shale gas production in Pennsylvania is increasingly focusing on where the money would go, as two Philadelphia-area Republican lawmakers proposed severance taxes last week designed to ease the tax burden on individuals.

The double-digit advances that pervaded the market Monday were disappearing rapidly Tuesday except in the Northeast, where forecasts are getting hotter. Close-to-flat numbers were common outside the Northeast, and small losses were resurfacing in the price mix for the first time since one last Friday.

FERC’s doors were closed for a second day in a row Thursday due to a power outage that has affected the North Capitol Street corridor in Washington, DC, where the agency’s headquarters is located.