February 26, 2010
posted on: Feb 26, 2010
IPAMS Meetings and Announcements
IPAMS Heads To Washington D.C. Next Week
March 1-3, 2010 (beginning at 4:00 pm on March 1st)
IPAMS will be in Washington D.C. next week to promote western natural gas and oil industry as the solution to many of America’s most pressing economic, environmental and energy challenges. We will be available by email and cell if you need to reach us.
This year’s trip will include over 200 meetings with Members of Congress and their staffs, the Obama Administration, the media and affiliate trade associations.
If you are unable to attend this year’s Call-Up, please consider reaching out to your contacts on Capitol Hill and pass along our reception invitation co-hosted by IPAMS and the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). Click here for a copy of the invitation.
IPAMS would like to thank the following companies for sponsoring this year’s Washington DC Call-Up:
Banko Petroleum
Mercator Energy, LLC
Mesa Energy Partners, LLC
Tracker Resource Development, LLC
Potential National Monument Designations
Last week an Interior memorandum on potential National Monument designations was leaked. It appears the Administration is considering the use of the Antiquities Act to designate large portions of the West as monuments, similar to the designation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by President Clinton without Congressional and public support. Senator Bennet and Congressmen Hastings and Bishop immediately expressed their concern with the potential designations in letters which are available on our Public Lands Access page along with the memo. Governor Herbert met with Secretary Salazar soon after the memo was leaked and expressed his concern. According to media reports, Salazar assured the Governor that the President would not take action before consulting the states. However, Senators Bennett and Hatch and Congressman Bishop of Utah, were not convinced. They have introduced legislation that would require Congressional action before a monument designation can be made in Utah. Congressional action is required in Wyoming. Natural gas and oil areas under consideration include the Lesser Prairie Chicken Preserve and Otero Mesa in New Mexico, Vermillion Basin in Colorado, San Rafael Swell in Utah, and Montana’s Northern Prairie. The Red Desert in Wyoming is also under consideration for special BLM protection, but cannot be designated a monument by executive order. Please let Kathleen Sgamma know if you have particular concerns with any of these areas and information to share with the House Natural Resources committee.
IPAMS Vote From Home Program
As part of our Voter Education Initiative, IPAMS partnered with West Slope COGA during the 2008 election year and executed a successful “Vote from Home” pilot program in Mesa and Garfield Counties in Western Colorado. In these two counties alone, this voter drive program was able to register and request absentee ballots for over 1,000 industry employees. Because of the success of this program, IPAMS has decided to expand the program to include the entire state of Colorado for the 2010 elections. With critically important state and federal races to be decided next year, it is more crucial than ever that industry educate and empower the tens of thousands of Colorado workers who depend on a healthy energy industry for their livelihoods. We already have financial commitments from several Colorado producers, but we need more support in order to get working on the program as soon as possible. For more information, contact Jon Bargas.
IPAMS in the News
Environmental group challenges oil and gas industry view of leases on public land
published in: Houston Chronicle on: 02/23/2010 by: Tom Fowler
The report is based on a position paper released in November by the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, which said the Interior Department under Ken Salazar has implemented policies that make it “increasingly difficult for producers to supply the natural gas necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy security.”
Enviros return industry fire over access to public lands
published in: E&E News/New York Times on: 02/23/2010 by: Mike Soraghan
IPAMS says the environmental group has missed the point of the 2009 report — that policies enacted now will hurt the West in years to come as it tries to recover.
“Drilling is down because of the economy. I don’t think anyone denies that,” Kathleen Sgamma, IPAMS’s director of government affairs said today. “As the economy recovers, these policies will affect companies two or three years out and slow the recovery of the West.”
Much at stake as grouse endangered finding nears
published in: Associated Press on: 02/21/2010 by: Mead Gruver
The oil and gas industry has been fearing the opposite. For years it has been working with state and local agencies and funding studies to determine how to protect the birds and prevent listing, said Kathleen Sgamma, director of government affairs for the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States.
“We’re hoping the Fish and Wildlife Service will recognize all the local efforts of communities, ranchers, industry to protect sage grouse,” she said.
IPAMS Membership Update
IPAMS would like to thank our broad membership for supporting our organization 2010 dues. Your financial support ensures that we have the resources to continue to defend and promote your investment in the Intermountain West. We would like to recognize the following organizations that have recently joined IPAMS and/or upgraded their membership:
IPAMS Welcomes Its Newest Members:
Behm Energy
Gunlikson Petroleum, Inc.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
Peak Energy Services
Retamco Operating
San Marco Petroleum, Inc.
Sands Oil Company
IPAMS Upgraded Members
Albrecht and Associates
BENTEK Energy, LLC
Bill Barrett Corporation
Cordillera Energy Partners III, LLC
Denver Mineral and Royalty Company
Jonah Gas Company LLC
LiTMus EPO LLC
Macquarie Tristone
Mesa Energy Partners
Noble Energy, Inc
NVI—Non-Destructive and Visual Inspection
Petros Environmental Group
Pioneer Natural Resources
Pure Energy Services (USA)
Tall Grass Energy Company, Prospector
To refer an organization or to discuss a new or upgraded membership, please contact Susan Fakharzadeh, Director of Membership and Events.
Other Upcoming Meetings
• New Mexico Advisors Network – March 9th 9:00 a.m.
• Utah Basin Advisors Network – March 9th, 10:00 a.m.
• Wyoming Basin Advisors Network – March 11th, 10:30 a.m.
Agendas are available for upcoming meetings at http://www.ipams.org/advocacy/. All meetings unless otherwise indicated are Mountain time, and at IPAMS and via teleconference.
Visit ipams.org for the latest news affecting the Intermountain West’s oil and natural gas industry. Headlines are updated daily from local, national and international news sources. You may also sign up for daily newsbrief emails under the Manage Account section of the “Members Only” page.
The West
Governors Talk Jobs
published in: KULR News on: 02/22/2010 by: Sarah Gravlee
The annual winter meeting of the National Governors Association wrapped up Monday in Washington, D.C. Topics of discussion included everything from health care reform to balancing budgets. Montana and Wyoming’s governors said the group also talked about ways to create jobs. “From Montana’s perspective we think the best jobs will be new clean energy jobs,” said Mont. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a democrat. “We think building new systems and transmission lines so we can deliver energy from energy states to the coast. Breaking our addiction to foreign oil is the best way to make jobs.”
Colorado
Roan drilling foes bring ozone rule into fight
published in: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on: 02/21/2010 by: Dennis Webb
A federal proposal to tighten restrictions on ozone pollution bolsters the contention of environmental groups that the Bureau of Land Management violated the law in leasing the Roan Plateau for natural gas development in 2008, they say in new court documents. Attorneys for environmental groups, which sued the BLM over the leasing in 2008, note in a court filing that the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed reducing the national standard for ozone from 0.075 parts per million to somewhere between 0.06 and 0.07 parts per million because of concerns about its effect on respiratory function.
GarCo backs off well-spacing concerns in two areas
published in: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on: 02/21/2010 by: Dennis Webb
Garfield County has backed off plans to raise concerns with the state this month regarding natural gas well-spacing proposals in Battlement Mesa and the Garfield Creek State Wildlife Area near New Castle. County commissioners initially sought to intervene with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on applications by Antero Resources at Battlement Mesa and Dejour Energy (USA) Corp. at Garfield Creek. The county contends that even with the use of directional drilling of multiple wells from one pad, the proposed 10-acre underground well spacing results in cumulative above-ground impacts that need to be considered.
Garfield County reconsiders ‘intervention’ in drilling plans
published in: Glenwood Springs Post Independent on: 02/21/2010 by: John Colson
Garfield County this week opted to not interfere with an application by the Berry Petroleum Co. to drill for natural gas at a site that officials believed to be near the controversial Prather Springs location, in between Parachute and DeBeque in western Garfield County. As it turned out, this particular application to drill involved a site that was “several drainages over” from the Prather Springs, according to one official, which erased any need for county involvement.
Montana
Montana gas storage, pipeline project planned
published in: Oil & Gas Journal on: 02/16/2010 by: Staff
Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Co. has launched a $100-130 million project to boost delivery capacity from its Baker natural gas storage field in eastern Montana by April 2012. Part of the project is an expansion of the company’s gas pipeline system that connects Baker, the largest gas storage field in the US, with Northern Border Pipeline north of Dickinson, ND.
Well Control Training Opportunity
February 26-28, 2010 in Butte, MT
Montana Tech and the School of Mines and Engineering is pleased to announce a special Well Control training class that will be held on the Montana Tech campus in Butte, Montana. This IADC/API certified course is designed for engineers and company representatives. Click here to learn more.
New Mexico
New Mexico delegation gets top grades from environmental groups
published in: New Mexico Independent on: 02/23/2010 by: Matthew Reichbach
New Mexico was among the states with the highest grades on the 2009 National Environmental Scorecard from the League of Conservation Voters. Four of the five members of the delegation received 100 percent scores; Teague was the lone holdout, with an 86 percent score from LCV. The Senate scores were the result of 11 votes examined by the LCV while the House scores came from 14 votes that were held in 2009.
North Dakota
Wind Potential Grows in ND
published in: KXnet.com on: 02/23/2010 by: Shaun Sipma
It’s really not surprising to many of us in North Dakota, but a new report from the American Wind Energy Association says there’s more wind energy potential in the Dakotas than previously estimated. The report lists North Dakota number six in the nation in wind energy potential. However several companies are arguing that the state is number one and is planning a multi-billion dollar project to harness the wind and ship the energy from it across the country.
American Indian Reservation Reaping Oil Benefits
published in: Associated Press on: 02/24/2010 by: Staff
An oil boom on American Indian land has brought jobs, millions of dollars and hope to long-impoverished tribal members who have struggled for more than a century on the million-acre Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. In little more than a year, oil companies have put dozens of money-producing rigs on remote rolling prairie and sprawling badlands that are home to small cattle ranches and scattered settlements of modular housing. Although other tribes around
ND counties vie for $3.9M in oil impact money
published in: Associated Press on: 02/22/2010 by: James MacPherson
Record funds are available this year under a North Dakota program that provides grants to counties adversely affected by oil development. The money, mostly used to fix roads torn up by heavy truck traffic, comes from part of the state’s 5 percent oil and gas production tax. The Legislature last year raised the cap from $6 million to $8 million during the 2009-2011 budget cycle.
the nation have oil interests, industry officials said none has likely experienced a recent windfall of this scale.
North Dakota Petroleum Council Social in Denver
March 16, 2010
Denver-based Petroleum Council members will host a social at the Brown Palace on March 16 from 5-7 p.m. Industry members with an interest in North Dakota are invited to attend. RSVP to Kristy Bennett.
Bakken and Beyond!
May 2 – 4, 2010 in Bismarck, North Dakota
The 18th Williston Basin Petroleum Conference & Expo will be held May 2 – 4, 2010 in Bismarck, North Dakota.Technical presentations will be the highlight of the Conference, as industry experts from across North America cover all the “Hot Plays” in the Williston Basin including the Bakken, Three Forks, and Lodgepole, along with talks on deep and shallow gas plays and CO2-EOR opportunities in the Basin. In addition, crude oil transportation issues and a panel on Bakken fracture stimulation techniques will be of great interest to attendees. Keynote speakers include North Dakota Governor John Hoeven, Clarence Cazalot of Marathon Oil Company, and Jim Volker of Whiting Oil and Gas. Click here to learn more.
Utah
Utah regulators OK higher concentration of drilling pads in areas of Uintah Basin oil patch
published in: Associated Press on: 02/24/2010 by: Staff
Utah regulators have agreed to allow a higher density of wells for some expanding areas of the Uintah Basin oil patch. The decision by the Utah Board of Oil, Gas and Mining came Wednesday at the request of Bill Barrett Corp.
Bennett blames Obama for poor oil auction
published in: Deseret News on: 02/24/2010 by: Lee Davidson
After the U.S. Bureau of Land Management sold just one oil lease in Utah during its quarterly auction on Tuesday, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, howled that isn’t because of a bad economy but because of “recklessness” by the Obama administration. “(Tuesday’s) record low sale is not the result of a slow economy. It is a result of the Obama administration’s reckless path of more disruption and uncertainty of the already Byzantine oil and gas (lease) process,” Bennett said.
Utah Legislature: Bills seeks to reclaim certain federal lands, provides funding for legal battle
published in: Deseret News on: 02/23/2010 by: Amy Joi O’Donoghue
A legislative committee added three arrows to its quiver in the fight against the federal government by advancing a trio of bills on Tuesday morning. The bills propose to give the state eminent domain authority over certain federal lands, provide another strategy in the battle and fund the anticipated legal fight.
Utah wary over national monument candidate list
published in: Associated Press on: 02/23/2010 by: Brock Vergakis
The possibility of a federal land grab throughout the West is stoking fears and generating resentment for the federal government in energy-rich states that could see millions of acres of land made off-limits to development if the president designates the sites as national monuments.b An internal U.S. Department of the Interior document lists 17 sites in 11 states that could be designated as national monuments through the federal Antiquities Act, which gives presidents the authority to designate monuments without congressional approval. The Interior Department insists the document is a product of brainstorming and nothing more.
Herbert told that feds won’t do land grab in Utah
published in: Salt Lake Tribune on: 02/21/2010 by: Thomas Burr
Gov. Gary Herbert said Sunday he is assured for now that the Obama administration is not moving forward on any plans to designate national monuments in Utah or the West. Herbert met Sunday with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in Washington, D.C. and pressed him on a document that leaked out last week identifying 14 areas in the West, including two in Utah, where the administration could potentially bypass Congress and name national monuments.
Natural Gas STAR Tech Transfer Workshop
March 23-24, 2010 in Vernal, UT
EPA’s Natural Gas Star Program in conjunction with Anadarko, Newfield, IOGCC and IPAMS will be hosting a Producer Technology Transfer Workshop in Vernal on March 23rd from 9:30 – 4:15, with a field trip of Newfield’s operations on March 24th. Click here for more information about this free workshop.
Wyoming
Wyo. bill to hike workplace safety fines advances
published in: BusinessWeek on: 02/24/2010 by: Ben Neary
A bill to increase penalties for workplace safety violations in Wyoming for the first time in more than 25 years is moving through the state Legislature. Gov. Dave Freudenthal and other supporters say passing the bill is essential to reducing the state’s workplace fatality rate.
Western Wyoming’s once-booming gas industry approaches economic and regulatory crossroads
published in: Associated Press on: 02/22/2010 by: Mead Gruver
Drilling rigs on the horizon underscore that cattle ranching and tourism no longer drive the economy in this picturesque town at the foot of the Wind River Range. But the future of the natural gas industry in the Pinedale, Wyo., area — scene of a decade of intense drilling into two of the nation’s richest gas fields — has become less certain because of the recession and the Obama administration’s intention to make some unspecified changes to Bush-era drilling policies.
‘Tiger by the tail’?
published in: Casper Star-Tribune on: 02/21/2010 by: Dustin Bleizeffer
Presented with declining revenue, Wyoming lawmakers are determined to hold the line on spending during this budget session. But the state’s own energy ambitions force legislators to contemplate something that goes against their current fiscal instincts: increasing regulatory budgets. The quandary resurfaced last week when a bill possibly requiring one additional staff position to help oversee new wind energy regulatory duties within a division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality received lukewarm support in committee, along with much hand-wringing.
In Wyoming, Debate Swirls on Taxing Wind Industry
published in: New York Times on: 02/20/2010 by: Dan Frosch
With currents of powerful wind gusts whipping across its plains and plateaus, Wyoming has become a new frontier for the wind industry — the latest energy development for a state that only recently experienced a natural gas boom. But in a place that is both cautious about such growth and interested in the potential benefits, some believe that those behind the wave of wind farms and turbines need to pay their fair share.
University of Wyoming Energy Resources and Produced Waters Conference
May 25-26 2010 in Laramie, WY
Final call for Presentations and Registration is still open. The Energy Resources Produced Water Conference, convened by the University of Wyoming’s Ruckelshaus Institute and the School of Energy Resources, is intended to advance the understanding of current research and monitoring projects related to the management, treatment, protection, and use of water associated with energy development in Wyoming and the West. The conference will cover produced water issues from various types of energy development, including, oil, gas, coalbed natural gas, coal mining, uranium, and carbon sequestration.
The format for the two-day conference will consist of oral presentations in concurrent sessions as well as a display of posters.
Washington Watch
17 House Democrats write to Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt to voice their opposition to the President’s proposed tax hikes on Oil & Gas
“Unfortunately, the tax repeals proposed in President Obama’s budget would disproportionately penalize America’s independent producers and will serve only to discourage companies from investing in additional projects and jobs, such as the new shale gas plays across the nation.”
Click here to read the full letter.
Energy secretary jet-sets to the Middle East to “discuss a range of energy issues, including energy security.”
IER asks: Could as much, if not more, have been accomplished by walking 15 blocks to the Interior Dept.?
Energy Secretary Steven Chu traveled overseas on a four-day, three-country tour through the Middle East “to strengthen and expand U.S. relationships across the region” and to “discuss a range of energy issues, including energy security and the importance of investing in a broad portfolio of energy technologies as part of the global economic recovery.”
Environmental Protection Agency takes heat on climate rule
published in: Politico on: 02/24/2010 by: Lisa Lerer
Republicans, major business groups and a handful of coal-state Democrats are launching a barrage of attacks against the Environmental Protection Agency, hoping to stop new rules that would regulate greenhouse gas emissions across the economy. In December, EPA officially declared greenhouse gases a danger to public health and welfare under the Clean Air Act. The action was mandated by a 2007 Supreme Court ruling.
E.P.A. Plans to Phase in Regulation of Emissions
published in: New York Times on: 02/22/2010 by: John M. Broder
Facing wide criticism over their recent finding that greenhouse gases endanger the public welfare, top Environmental Protection Agency officials said Monday that any regulation of such gases would be phased in gradually and would not impose expensive new rules on most American businesses. The E.P.A.’s administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, wrote in a letter to eight coal-state Democrats who have sought a moratorium on regulation that only the biggest sources of greenhouse gases would be subjected to limits before 2013. Smaller ones would not be regulated before 2016, she said.
Bingaman opposes Graham’s push to alter renewables mandate
published in: The Hill on: 02/22/2010 by: Ben Geman
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) isn’t backing away from his opposition to turning a proposed renewable electricity mandate into a broader “clean energy standard” that gives credit to nuclear power and low-emissions coal. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has authored a draft “clean energy standard” plan, and has provided his proposal to Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) as the trio tries to craft a compromise climate and energy bill.
Obama Mounts a Last-Ditch Attempt to Pass a ‘Hybrid’ Climate and Energy Bill
published in: E&E News/New York Times on: 02/22/2010 by: Joel Kirkland
The White House is mounting a last-ditch effort to piece together an energy and climate change bill that has enough incentives for nuclear power, natural gas and the coal industry to muster the votes needed to pass it this year. As Democrats enter a turbulent and high-stakes political season, President Obama is striving for consensus on a path forward that can deliver substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions and satisfy concerns in the Senate about energy security.
Markey mum on natural gas ‘fracking’ legislation
published in: The Hill on: 02/22/2010 by: Ben Geman
Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Tuesday declined to say if he will push to bring a controversial natural gas drilling method under federal environmental regulation, noting that his inquiry with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has just begun. “We are just at the beginning of the process right now, so we are not reaching conclusions, we are initiating an inquiry,” he told reporters.
Energy Industry Reps Greet House Fracking Probe With Shrug
published in: E&E News (Subscription Required) on: 02/22/2010 by: Katie Howell
Energy industry insiders say a new House probe of hydraulic fracturing is unlikely to hinder development of new domestic shale gas plays or stall a massive merger between Exxon Mobil Corp. and a large independent gas producer. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s two top Democrats asked eight oil-field service firms last week for details about chemicals they use during hydraulic fracturing, a decades-old drilling technique that blasts sand, chemicals and water into a wellbore to break apart compact rock and release hydrocarbons. The lawmakers also publicized for the first time details of a similar investigation that revealed that two drillers used diesel in their fracturing fluids in violation of a voluntary agreement with U.S. EPA.
Budget debate could turn into global warming fight at Senate hearing
published in: The Hill on: 02/22/2010 by: Jim Snyder
A Senate hearing this week ostensibly to review the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) budget request is likely to turn into a broader debate on global warming, with Republicans seizing a chance to challenge the administration’s push to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in an open forum. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is scheduled to testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday.
Media Watch
Editorial: EPA’s global-warming power grab
published in: Washington Times on: 02/25/2010 by: Editorial Staff
Scientific scandals and record snowfalls have begun to melt away the congressional appetite for more global-warming regulations. On Sunday, to take the latest example, a major scientific journal admitted that “oversights” compelled the retraction of its conclusion that sea levels were rising as a result of increased worldwide temperatures. Reports of this sort make it increasingly difficult for members of Congress to enter iced-over districts to ask their constituents to make economic sacrifices in an attempt to appease Mother Earth into favoring us with colder weather. This does not mean, however, that the left has given up on global warming as a means of exerting more government control over the economy.
Editorial: Gas pains: Probe, study target fracturing technique
published in: The Oklahoman on: 02/23/2010 by: Editorial Staff
The tag team that tried to bring you cap and trade is targeting hydraulic fracturing, a vital technology for ensuring a reliable supply of natural gas. U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Edward Markey, D-Mass., are investigating fracturing for its alleged environmental effects. Both support greater use of energy other than imported oil; both realize the environmental benefits of natural gas relative to coal. Yet they seem to have bought into the fear-mongering extant over fracturing. The technique involves injecting water, sand and chemicals into shale formations. This cracks open the shale and facilitates natural gas production.
Utah monuments
published in: Salt Lake Tribune on: 02/22/2010 by: Editorial Staff
We Utahns can relax, for now. The feds say they aren’t sneaking around behind our backs, plotting a land grab of epic proportions. However, the Interior Department is considering two areas in Utah as future national monuments. Since they are already mostly public lands, managed by the federal government, that’s hardly a land grab. But setting aside these starkly beautiful areas as national monuments would have a huge impact on Utahns.
Editorial: Advice for advisory board
published in: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on: 02/22/2010 by: Editorial Staff
In a place such as Garfield County, where there is currently more natural gas drilling than any other county in the state, it makes a great deal of sense to have an organization such as the Energy Advisory Board, which can bring different sides together to discuss issues affecting the energy industry and local citizens. The advisory board serves little purpose, however, if its meetings have become events where opponents of the industry can rant unceasingly and next to nothing is accomplished. That is roughly the picture that energy firms paint of the Energy Advisory Board these days.
Op-ed: Green Energy Jobs? Not From Obama’s Big Government Meddling
published in: U.S. News & World Report on: 02/22/2010 by: Kenneth P. Green
The Obama administration and its congressional allies have been promising to usher in a green economy that will create millions of new green jobs that “can’t be outsourced.” Many of those jobs, we’re told, will come from wind and solar energy development, but other areas are supposed to benefit as well, including the automobile, construction, and ill-defined “green technology” sectors. These claims are nothing new, though they have grown more Orwellian over time.
Environment and Wildlife
United States the heartland of climate-change skepticism
published in: Reuters on: 02/23/2010 by: Ed Stoddard
Many Americans are skeptical about global warming and that makes it harder to get a bill through Congress. “My personal leanings are that it’s more cyclical than a permanent trend,” said Jimmy Pritchard, a Southern Baptist pastor in a Dallas suburb. “And I think It’s a little presumptuous to put so many resources and energy into something that may change direction in the next few years.”
Ruling on sage grouse delayed one week by unexpected death
published in: Las Vegas Sun on: 02/23/2010 by: Staff
A key decision on whether sage grouse will be placed on the endangered species list will be delayed one week due to the death of the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The bird lives in 11 states, including Nevada, where the sagebrush that the bird needs has lost ground to invasive cheatgrass, which is susceptible to frequent burning.
Technology, Alternative & Renewables
Energy storage – It’s not all about batteries
published in: Clean Tech on: 02/24/2010 by: Lisa Sibley
Cheap, utility scale energy storage is viewed as the holy grail for the cleantech sector, providing a balancing force to the intermittency of many renewable energies. Some say we are nearly there and that utility scale energy storage will be having its coming out party this year. While the current focus is on battery technologies, it is expensive to size it up to utility scale. What other energy storage mechanisms are in the pipeline?
Tech-Driven Natgas Boom Shifts Energy Balance of Power to U.S.
published in: Invester.com on: 02/23/2010 by: Mark J. Perry
A new technique being used to drill through a type of rock known as shale has led to a surge in domestic natural gas production over the last three years and enabled the United States to overtake Russia recently as the world’s No. 1 producer of natural gas. As a result, we are seeing a remarkable turnabout in energy geopolitics: as U.S. natural gas reserves have soared thanks to advanced drilling methods, Russia’s goal of establishing a world gas cartel patterned on OPEC has collapsed. How big of a development is this?
Group pushes Fort Worth as natural gas vehicle hub
published in: Fort Worth Business Press on: 02/22/2010 by: John-Laurent Tronche
Put your money where your mouth is – that’s what a group of natural gas advocates are doing in hopes of spurring acceptance of natural gas vehicles as an alternative to traditional petroleum-based vehicles. The Metroplex Natural Gas Vehicle Consortium, formed about five months ago, is a group of natural gas proponents – the Texas Christian University Energy Institute, the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council, Clean Energy Fuels and some area gas operators, to name a few – who are “pursuing different directions with the same goal,” as one group member put it.
Markets
US Natural-Gas Prices Seen Staying At Current Levels For Awhile
published in: Dow Jones News Service on: 02/22/2010 by: Myra P. Saefong
The U.S. may be experiencing its coldest winter in a quarter century–and while that’s bad news for producers, consumers have reason to celebrate. True, futures prices for natural gas have more than doubled in the last five months to trade above $5 per million British thermal units in New York, but prices are nowhere near the high above $13 seen in 2008 and they’re likely to sit tight at current levels for awhile because of ample supplies and forecasts for growing production.
Industry News and Events
Energy expert: Increased natural gas use good, but there are obstacles
published in: Forth Worth Business-Press on: 02/24/2010 by: John-Laurent Tronche
Despite an increased push to get more natural gas vehicles on highways, there is a significant barrier blocking the access roads: cost. Natural gas is being touted as a good fuel for fleet vehicle operators, most notably by natural gas vehicle proponent T. Boone Pickens, but The Brookings Institution’s Charles Ebinger, a senior fellow, said “serious infrastructure limitations” will hamper NGV growth.
Behind Schlumberger’s Smith Deal: A Big Gas Bet
published in: New York Times on: 02/22/2010 by: Cyrus Sanati
Schlumberger’s $11 billion takover of a smaller rival, Smith Industries, seems to be a big bet on unconventional natural gas production in the United States. In making the deal, Schlumberger is apparently hoping that Smith’s reputation and extensive domestic network will help position it as the top player in an increasingly hot sector of the oil patch, fending off the likes of Baker Hughes.
Wildlife Habitat Council’s Western Summit
March 17, 2010
Please join the Wildlife Habitat Council for the first-annual Western Summit on March 17th in Missoula, Montana to recognize the outstanding job corporate sites in the western US have done to enhance wildlife habitat and promote conservation education in their communities. Learn about the challenges Council members have overcome to implement successful habitat and outreach projects and discuss strategies to improve your own programs. Opening remarks will be delivered by Ms Melissa Simpson, the Vice President for Policy and Regulatory Affairs at the Pac/West. Ms. Simpson is the former Deputy Under Secretary for Forestry at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Bush Administration. Register by March 1 at: www.wildlifehc.org.
Click here for more information or contact Kristin Salamack, Intermountain West Region Biologist, at 303.376.7549.
Oil & Gas Stormwater Certification Course
March 25, 2010 in Littleton, CO
Location: Buys & Associates, Inc. Littleton Office
300 E Mineral Avenue, Suite 7, Littleton, Colorado 80122, (303) 781-8211
Event Description: Buys & Associates will be hosting the Oil & Gas Stormwater Certification Course covering how to minimize sediment run-off from production sites, the changing regulations to the oil & gas industry, consequences of not controlling Stormwater runoff, and ultimately will assist in minimizing operators’ violations & liability.
The cost of the course is $149/person and includes a lunch and course certification. Group rates are available for parties of four or more. To register please contact Nikki Niekerk @ (303) 781-8211 or click here.
Content Policy
