Free Republic

On the morning of Sept. 9, an inspector with the Alabama Surface Mining Commission was performing a routine monthly check of an old coal mine in Shelby County when he noticed "a strong odor of gasoline" as well as a sheen on the surface of one of the retention ponds. The gasoline he was smelling came from Colonial Pipeline's Line 1, an underground pipeline three feet in diameter that normally pushes 1.3 million barrels of gasoline per day from refineries in Houston to distribution centers across the Southeast and along the eastern seaboard. That 36-inch line, built in 1963, has...

(Phys.org)—A team of researchers from Belgium and the U.S. has identified the active site of an iron-containing catalyst that has raised hopes for designing a practically useful catalyst that might make converting methane to methanol a possibility. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the researchers describe their efforts, what they discovered and why they believe their findings may lead to a practical way to convert methane to a more efficient energy resource. Jay Labinger, with the California Institute of Technology offers a News & Views piece outlining the work done by the team in the same journal issue....

The fate of the European Union’s global warming commitments negotiated as part of the Paris Protocol may be in jeopardy as result of Brexit. The U.S. on the other hand, should take a page out of the U.K.’s playbook and not only withdraw from the Paris agreement, but also withdraw participation from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change altogether. ... countries made individual commitments to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, largely centered on shifting away from affordable natural resources such as coal, oil, and natural gas, and toward more expensive, intermittent, subsidy-dependent renewables. ... The...

Saudi Arabia knew that North American shale production could potentially torpedo their hold on the energy market via oil. So, they decided to trounce the natural gas market by opening the floodgates with petroleum. It didn’t work. The Telegraph now reports that shale production has cut prices so low that they can produce at prices that are lower that what’s required to keep Saudi Arabia’s socioeconomic fabric healthy: Opec's worst fears are coming true. Twenty months after Saudi Arabia took the fateful decision to flood world markets with oil, it has still failed to break the back of the US shale...

The clock is counting down toward an important decision for Maryland’s economic future, namely whether to allow hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, to drill for natural gas in the state. Over a year ago, legislation that blocked fracking for another two years became law without Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature. That law barred the state from issuing drilling permits until October 2017 and required the Department of the Environment to adopt new regulations by October 2016. The passage of this law effectively delayed any decision on fracking until next year. To recap: the Marcellus Shale is a geological formation found...

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) officials said Wednesday that western Colorado has upwards of 40 times more natural gas than previously believed, making it the second largest natural gas producing formation in the U.S. The Mancos Shale formation in Colorado’s Piceance Basin, located in the western section of Colorado, nestles nearly 70 trillion (66.3 trillion) cubic feet of gas. This marks a massive uptick from the 1.6 trillion cubic feet estimated in 2003, research shows. A trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the U.S. Energy Department, is enough to heat 15 million homes for a year — 66. 3...

The operator of the California power grid said on Wednesday that natural gas shortages related to a leak at the giant Aliso Canyon storage facility will threaten electric reliability in the southern part of the state this summer. The rest of the state, however, should have enough electricity to meet summer air conditioning demand, the California ISO, the grid operator, said in a release. In April, several California agencies prepared a report on potential power shortages related to last year's gas leak at the Aliso Canyon storage facility in the Los Angeles area. That report found significant risks to electricity...

This election season has created an unprecedented alliance between the environmental Left and the anti-free market movement. The result is a well-funded juggernaut adept at conducting coordinated and sophisticated assaults on American businesses while attempting to influence crucial elections. Their goals are nothing short of shuttering our American manufacturing industry, halting the production of affordable energy and placing a ruling clique of radicals in office.One such tactic focuses on intimidating universities and other institutions into divesting their financial holdings of fossil fuel investments. Activists behind this campaign talk candidly about how they hope to “revoke the social license” of energy...

But we believe the period of excessively high oil prices has come to an end. The international spread of two revolutions will assure much ampler oil supplies, and will deliver prices far below the highs that reigned between the end of 2010 and mid-2014.

Massachusetts Senate President Stanley Rosenberg on Wednesday called upon Berkshire Gas to lift its moratorium on new and expanded natural gas service in the region — but a spokesman for Berkshire's parent company, the publicly-traded Avangrid, told The Republican that the moratorium on new hookups would stay in place without a "permanent solution" for additional natural gas capacity in western Massachusetts. ... Berkshire Gas had hoped to purchase capacity on the line. Berkshire's parent company, Avangrid, had also signed on as an investor in the $5-8 billion Kinder Morgan pipeline. Berkshire more than a year ago imposed a moratorium on...

How much natural gas does the United States have, and how long will it last? The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that as of January 1, 2013 there were about 2,276 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of technically recoverable resources of dry natural gas in the United States. At the rate of U.S. dry natural gas consumption in 2013 of about 27 Tcf per year, the United States has enough natural gas to last about 84 years. The actual number of years will depend on the amount of natural gas consumed each year, natural gas imports and exports, and additions to...

Renewable energy advocates like to point out that the cost of renewable fuels, like solar power, have dropped substantially in the last few years. The cost of solar power for instance has fallen by more than two-thirds since 2009. Yet for all the excitement about renewable power, the reality is that the entire energy sector has essentially been in a state of deflation for the last decade. The notable drop in oil prices over the last two years aside, costs of producing oil both in the U.S. and in many parts of the world have fallen dramatically. The phase out...

Standard and Poor's said Tuesday it had cut or was considering cutting the investment-grade credit ratings at 20 oil and gas giants, including Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. The ratings actions, which spanned integrated and independent producers, are an acknowledgement that $30 oil could shake the credit worthiness of even the largest oil and gas companies. Chevron's credit rating was cut one notch from AA to AA-. Exxon Mobil, which remains at the agency's highest credit rating of AAA, was put on notice its long-term credit rating was up for review. "We anticipate Chevron will significantly outspend internally generated...

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG) is planning a $1.6 billion investment in new gas-fired projects in the coming years. PSEG Power President and COO William Levis tells Reuters the company is taking advantage of the "low gas-price environment" by building combined-cycle plants in Maryland and New Jersey. The company is also looking into building a new 500-MW gas-fired facility by summer 2019 at the site of its 383-MW coal plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut - the state's only coal facility - which PSEG has agreed to close in 2021.

Today is Harry Styles' 22nd birthday, and accordingly the crude complex is heading in one direction. (Down). We burst into February today, and get hit by a wave of global manufacturing numbers, as well as the ongoing debate re 'will-they-won't-they' cut production. (they won't). China kicked things off overnight, setting a cautious tone with its worst official manufacturing print since August 2012. The Caixin manufacturing release also showed ongoing contraction from the sector, but in contrast was better than consensus. Eurozone manufacturing was in line with consensus, boosted by Germany and Spain, held back by Italy and France. Japan was...

Royal Dutch Shell is switching its trucking fleet to more liquefied natural gas-fueled vehicles in Houston and Louisiana as more companies increasingly move away from dirtier diesel fuel. The use of LNG and compressed natural gas -- another new CNG fueling station opened Thursday in Houston -- in commercial vehicles has rapidly expanded because of the nation's cheap and bountiful supply of natural gas. Shell said Thursday it partnered with Miami-based Ryder transportation company for 15 new, heavy-duty LNG trucks to support its oil and gas logistics operations in Houston and Lafayette, Louisiana. The 15 new trucks will replace diesel-fueled...

A number of recently completed and upcoming natural gas infrastructure projects are expected to increase the reach of natural gas produced in the Marcellus and Utica regions of the Northeastern United States (see map). These projects are intended to transport natural gas from production centers to consuming markets or export terminals. Over the past several years, natural gas production in the Marcellus and Utica areas has grown significantly: their combined growth of 12 billion cubic feet per day since 2011 accounts for 89% of the United States's total growth in natural gas production. The Marcellus and Utica shale plays are...

Iran is pushing to find new ways to extract and export its vast natural-gas reserves, including developing facilities to liquefy the commodity and ship it to Europe in two years, now that Western sanctions have lifted, according to a top Iranian official. Iran holds the world's largest reserves of natural gas, but has long lacked the export infrastructure of competitors such Russia and Qatar. They have networks of international pipelines as well as liquefied-natural-gas facilities that enable them to export gas by ship. Tehran is exploring several options to help the country "join the international LNG club," said Alireza Kameli,...

Natural gas spot prices around the United States are often compared to prices at the Henry Hub in Louisiana. At trading points in and around the Marcellus and Utica shale plays in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, natural gas prices consistently trade below the Henry Hub national benchmark price. However, the difference between these pricing points and the Henry Hub has narrowed in recent months as new pipeline projects have come online. Most of the natural gas produced in the region is consumed in other areas of the country. With limited infrastructure to deliver natural gas to consumers, the Marcellus...

A historic low in natural gas prices should ease over the next two years, according to a forecast released Monday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Following a December average of $1.93 for the Henry Hub benchmark, federal analysts predict gas prices will average $2.65 per MMBtu this year and $3.22 in 2017. Oil and gas drillers across the United States have struggled under collapsing commodity prices, driven in part by a boom in domestic shale drilling that has transformed the industry. But the U.S. gas surge is now beginning to taper off. This year U.S. production is only expected...