Free Republic

Another chapter in the never-ending love/hate relationship between New York and fracking. The former has banned the latter, as we’re sure you know. First, let’s go back to 2010. East Resources, which is a privately held independent oil and gas company operating in the Marcellus, among other areas, sells a vast amount of acreage in the Marcellus and other areas to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion. Then go back to earlier this year. Ralph Wilson, the only man who ever owned the Buffalo Bills, dies in March. So his heirs put the Bills–who haven’t made the NFL playoffs since...

The heads of Iran and Russia’s state-run nuclear agencies discussed the construction of new nuclear plants in Iran during a meeting held on Friday around the same time that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, also sat down for a chat about Tehran’s ongoing nuclear negotiations with the West, according to regional reports. Behrouz Kamalvanda, a top official at Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) met early Friday with Sergey Kirivenko, the director general of Russia’s state-run nuclear company, Rosatom, to discuss way the two nations can “boost nuclear cooperation,” according to Iran’s state run news agencies....

Scotland’s oil and gas sector is facing a bright future as half of oil reserves remain to be exploited, the Scottish Government's Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Fergus Ewing said Wednesday, commenting on a new study. Earlier, world leading oil expert Professor Alex Kemp, by using detailed financial modelling, predicted significant discoveries in Scottish oil sector made over the next 30 years. “His new predictions – based on that modelling – show a bright future for Scotland’s oil and gas sector for decades to come – with 99 new economic discoveries over the next three decades,” Ewing told RIA...

The Barnett Shale generates $11.8 billion in gross product per year and 107,650 permanent jobs for North Texas, according to economist Ray Perryman.

FALL RIVER, Mass. – In May 2013, two environmental activists piloted a lobster boat close to the vast pile of coal at the Brayton Point Power Station, the hulking plant that overlooks this industrial inlet near the border between Massachusetts and Rhode Island. With the tiny boat, the two men – Jay O’Hara, 32, and Ken Ward, 57 – dropped anchor and for a day blocked a freighter with a 40,000-ton shipment of coal, and they were arrested and charged with conspiracy, disturbing the peace and other violations. The two were scheduled to be tried on Monday, and they planned...

A fall in gas flows from Russia to two Eastern European countries this week has sent a chill through the region as it prepares for possible energy shortages this winter. Slovakia's gas distributor SPP said Thursday its daily gas intake from Russia fell 10% below contracted levels starting late Wednesday. Polish gas company PGNiG said its gas flows from Russia had fallen 45% below its contracted daily volumes by Thursday.

President Obama, laying out his strategy last night to defeat the Islamist jihadists known as ISIS, stressed that “it will take time to eradicate a cancer” such as the terrorist group represents in the Middle East. One hurdle in the way of Obama’s intention to work with allies to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS (also known as ISIL and the Islamic State) is the brutal organization’s control of oil fields in Iraq and Syria. ISIS uses that oil wealth to help finance its terror operations. According to the Iraq Energy Institute, an independent, nonprofit policy organization focused on Iraq’s energy...

The University of Texas at San Antonio and the Southwest Research Institute say they have found an inexpensive way to treat the water that flows back to the surface after hydraulic fracturing. A team of researchers used a plant matter called biochar to remove impurities from the flowback water. UTSA and Southwest Research Institute say it’s a low-cost method that could help address the issue of the millions of gallons of water use and disposal – per well – in new oil and gas fields such as the Eagle Ford Shale. Hydraulic fracturing pumps a mix of water and chemicals...

An oil industry trade group unveiled its latest attack ads on the nation’s renewable fuels policy, accusing the Obama administration of “playing politics” with a mandate to blend more ethanol into gasoline. The American Petroleum Institute said Thursday it fears the Environmental Protection Agency will boost ethanol requirements to help a Democrat locked in a close U.S. Senate race in Iowa — a corn-growing state that benefits from the mandate because most U.S. ethanol is made from corn. U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, an Iowa Democrat running to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, last month sent a letter to the...

When talking about energy and environmental policy, it is a bit troublesome to watch just how recklessly big-government environmentalists unfairly and erroneously accuse individuals and organizations of the pro-free market persuasion of being “climate deniers.” Instead of engaging in thoughtful, substantive discussion, many of these environmental activists oftentimes resort to this tactic of public shaming in order to eliminate debate and to bully individuals and groups into supporting an ever-expansive federal regulatory scheme. There is a key distinction between climate change denial and having major concerns with a proposed EPA regulation that would place a significant financial burden on the...

He went. He saw. He issued another news release. Making good on his vow to “see the situation first hand,” Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter returned Thursday from a visit to oil installations with a grim safety assessment. But the industry, he stressed, was not to blame. “South Texas pipelines are vulnerable,” announced Porter, whose agency regulates the state’s petroleum industry, “because the federal government has abdicated its most basic function to protect our borders.” Repeating an assertion that he made in an open letter last month to the federal Customs and Border Patrol agency, Porter said “his concerns stems...

(Reuters) - Benchmark Brent crude dropped to a two-year low on Thursday, falling for a sixth straight session as increasing supply and signs of weakening demand countered worries that conflicts in the Middle East could curb output. ... Brent for October was down 66 cents at $97.38 a barrel at 11:38 a.m. EDT (1538 GMT) It fell as low as $96.72, its weakest since July 2012. U.S. crude was up 35 cents at $92.17 a barrel, turning higher after sliding to $90.43, its lowest since May 2013. Brent hit a high above $115 in June as Islamist insurgents swept across...

Who stands to benefit if Denton bans fracking? Those behind the petition drive say it will benefit the Denton residents because they won’t have to worry about wells being fracked less than 300 feet away from their homes, which is what happened to several neighborhoods in South Denton. Economist Ray Perryman said the result will be millions of dollars and jobs lost for Denton, costing the city up to $251.4 million over 10 years. Being the oil capital of the country and one of top producers of oil and gas worldwide, the stakes will be high when Denton voters cast...

The United States and European Union plan to stop billions of dollars in oil exploration in Russia by the world's largest energy companies including Exxon Mobil Corp and BP Plc, U.S. government sources said. The planned sanctions over Russia's aggression toward Ukraine would ban U.S. and European companies from cooperating with Russia on searching its Arctic territory, deep seas or shale formations for crude, said two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the measures have not been made public. The measures, which one of the sources said represented "preliminary thinking," would expand sanctions the Obama administration announced...

If you could pick the worst set of circumstances in which to start up a giant, export-oriented oil refinery, you might well have them right now. Saudi Aramco and joint venture partner Sinopec have started test runs at their 400,000 barrel per day (bpd) Yanbu refinery, located in the oil-rich Middle Eastern kingdom. This puts the new plant on schedule to begin commercial exports in November, possibly even by the second half of October, according to trade sources. Yanbu will be the second major refinery to come online in Saudi Arabia in little more than a year, following the September...

Poland said on Wednesday the volume of gas it has received so far this week from Russian gas monopoly Gazprom was down by at least 20 percent. Some European countries believe Moscow may use a disruption of gas to Europe as a trump card in its confrontation with the West over Ukraine. The row has already dragged ties between Moscow and the West down to their worst since the Cold War. Ukraine's gas transport monopoly Ukrtransgaz was quoted by a Russian news agency as saying Gazprom was limiting flows to Poland to disrupt supplies of gas in the opposite direction,...

OPEC said demand for its crude oil will be lower than expected next year, with a surge in U.S. output potentially bringing its production to levels not seen since the past decade. In its monthly oil-market report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it had lowered the estimate of demand for its crude by 200,000 barrels a day for 2015 and by the same amount for this year. As a result, markets will need 300,000 barrels a day less of OPEC crude next year, it said. OPEC's statement comes after the Brent oil contract—the most widely traded international...

James Lebas, former chief revenue estimator for the Texas Comptroller’s office, made news recently when he told the state’s House Committee on Energy Resources that, working with the Comptroller’s office, he had determined that output from the oil and natural gas industry now accounts for fully one-third of the entire Texas economy. Given that the Texas economy would rank 12th among all nations on earth, that’s an amazing amount of economic activity for one industry to provide. Yet, it should not surprise anyone who has really been paying attention to the phenomenal boom the industry has undergone in Texas since...

The skyrocketing growth of unconventional oil and natural gas production in the United States has ignited an intense debate on the impact of energy exports on U.S. energy and economic security and its foreign policy. In “Changing Markets: Economic Opportunities from Lifting the U.S. Ban on Crude Oil Exports,” Charles Ebinger and Heather Greenley worked with National Economic Research Associates (NERA) to examine the economic and national security impacts of lifting the ban on crude oil exports. Learn eights facts about U.S. crude oil production within the key findings outlined below, and download the full report. U.S. Economic Benefits Key...

Waist-high weeds and a crumbling old Chevy mark the entrance to a rust-colored factory complex on the edge of town here, seemingly another monument to the passing of the golden age of American industry. But deep inside the 14-acre site, the thwack-thwack-thwack sound of metal on metal tells a different story. “We’re holding our own,” said Greg Hess, who is looking to hire draftsmen and machine operators at the company he runs, Youngstown Bending and Rolling. “I feel good that we saved this place from the wrecking ball.” The turnaround is part of a transformation spreading across the heartland of...