Colorado’s gas industry following trend in the United States
Gov. Bill Ritter has something in common with Sarah Palin.
The Colorado Democrat and the Alaska Republican could hardly be more different politically, except for this: Both governors used their power to take on the gas and oil industry, and both paid a price for it.
Ritter rewrote the book on environmental regulations for the industry. Palin raised oil taxes.
They both take blame for chasing the industry out of their states. Palin resigned last summer, and Ritter is not running for a second term – although both governors say the gas and oil fight had nothing to do with their career choices.
Alaska Republicans now have plans to lower the taxes Palin approved. Colorado Republicans kept up their steady criticism of Ritter last week.
“The results are in,” said Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction. “If you compare the loss in drill-rig count in Colorado, and in particular the Piceance Basin, to surrounding states – New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, for example, not to mention states like Pennsylvania that have seen an increase in energy production – it’s clear that these rules have taken a bad situation in the commodity environment and made it dramatically, dramatically worse.”
It is a criticism often heard from Republicans and shared by the party’s leading candidate for governor, Scott McInnis.
In both Colorado and Alaska, defenders of the governors blame the energy industry’s decline on the recession and the low prices it caused.
For the rest of the story visit, Colorado’s gas industry following trend in the United States
Gov. Ritter, Xcel and Coalition Announce Energy Plan
Gov. Bill Ritter, Xcel Energy and a coalition of lawmakers, energy companies and environmentalists announced agreement today on legislation that will lead the nation in cutting air pollution, creating jobs and increasing the use of cleaner energy sources.
Oil rides high on US rebound
Total oil demand in the world’s top consuming nation grew 0.3% in the past four weeks from a year earlier, US government data showed yesterday, raising expectations for an end to a 1-1/2-year period of sustained consumption decreases.
US April crude held on to yesterday’s gains of more than $1, but was trading down 9 cents at $80.79 a barrel by 0311 GMT. The front-month contract touched $81.23 on Wednesday, its highest intraday price since 12 January. London ICE Brent for April fell 2 cents to $79.23.
A weaker dollar also contributed to yesterday’s gains, after Greece’s budget-balancing pledges helped restore some appetite for risk. The spotlight focuses again on the euro zone today, which will report revised gross domestic product for the fourth quarter.
“The oil market will trade in a range of $75 to $85 at least for the next two months, and it will possibly go above $85 by the middle of this year, depending on economic recovery,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives manager at brokerage Newedge in Japan.
Prices have ranged $69 to $84 a barrel over the past few months amid uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery. But a decline in global crude inventories and the surplus held in floating storage has set the stage for an increase towards the $80 to $90 range, according to Barclays Capital.
Interest rate decisions from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank are also expected today, followed by US durable goods and factory order statistics for January. Attention will turn tomorrow to US non-farm payrolls.
Some doubts remained about the pace of economic recovery. Newedge’s Hasegawa said it is still “slow,” adding that further oil price gains could be triggered by “short-covering” when prices reach $81.50 and $82.
For the rest of the story visit, Oil rides high on US rebound – Upstream Online
Oil dips as greenback strengthens
The front-month contract for US crude touched $80.62 on Monday, its highest since 13 January, tracking commodity gains led by copper and after Chilean state energy company ENAP said it was boosting diesel imports following Saturday’s earthquake.
But prices retreated after the dollar gained 0.65% against a basket of currencies. On Tuesday, the dollar gained a further 0.37% as concern swirled about sovereign risk issues in Europe.
US crude for April delivery slid 9 cents to $78.61 per barrel by 0752 GMT, while London ICE Brent also shed 9 cents to $76.80.
“The dollar is the big driver, and if it continues to rally, I do expect crude to go lower,” said Clarence Chu, an energy trader at Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore to Reuters.
“I am quite sceptical that the problem with the euro is over. I honestly don’t see the dollar weakening against euro.”
US crude inventories probably rose 1.3 million barrels last week amid higher imports, a Reuters survey showed, while gasoline stockpiles may have gained 400,000 barrels.
Distillates, a fuel category that includes heating oil and diesel, probably fell by 600,000 barrels, the poll showed, because of sustained heating demand in the wake of a third major snowstorm to hit the US Northeast, the biggest regional consumer of heating oil.
Industry group the American Petroleum Institute (API) will publish inventory data later today, followed by government statistics from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.
Positive macroeconomic data from the US also gave oil prices a temporary boost yesterday, but prices failed to hold above $80 per barrel.
Consumer spending increased slightly faster than expected in January, while February growth of the manufacturing sector was slower than forecast.
“In the last week we tried a few times to break above $80.50 and every time we fell,” Chu said. “Chart patterns show there is quite a strong resistance at that level.”
Fears about the ability of a handful of European countries to finance their growing debts have kept a lid on risky assets, even though the global economic recovery generally appears on track.
Asian shares rose for a third straight session, led by tech stocks, while the Australian dollar slid ahead of what is expected to be a close decision by the central bank on whether to raise interest rates again.
For the rest of the story visit, Oil dips as greenback strengthens – Upstream Online
Battlement Mesa’s David and Goliath story
As in the cinematic fables of Rocky Balboa versus Apollo Creed, or the Mighty Ducks against the Hawks, the controversy over gas drilling here is a story of underdogs striving against big odds.
But instead of a boxing ring or a hockey arena, the confrontation here involves endless hours of meetings and community activism by a group of mostly elderly retired volunteers, set against the paid and experienced public relations staffs and engineers of a large energy company.
One of the activist groups is the Battlement Concerned Citizens group (BCC), formed in July 2009, shortly after Antero Resources announced its plan to sink up to 200 wells within the boundaries of the Battlement Mesa Planned Unit Development [PUD], an unincorporated community near Parachute in western Garfield Country.
The BCC which, working with other citizens advocacy groups, has placed itself directly in the path of Antero Resources.
For the rest of the story visit, Battlement Mesa’s David and Goliath story | PostIndependent.com
Steven Pearlstein: Natural gas may help cut emissions
As a rule, it is always best to adopt an attitude of enhanced skepticism whenever people tell you they have a simple solution to a complex problem.
But the more I look into it, the more I’m beginning to think there is a fairly simple way to meet President Obama’s short-term pledge of reducing carbon emissions in the United States by 17 percent over the next decade.
The silver bullet: Decommission about two-thirds of the electric-generating capacity fueled by cheap and plentiful coal, and replace it with power generated from cheap and plentiful natural gas, which emits half as much carbon for each megawatt of electricity.
Until recently, this really wasn’t a viable option. Not only was natural gas a lot more expensive than coal, but its price was also very volatile. Utilities therefore couldn’t buy it using the kind of long-term contracts they need for the “base-load” plants that operate around the clock and provide the country with most of its electricity. Because they are easy to turn on and off, gas plants were used mostly to provide “peak load” power, during the hours when demand is highest.
For the rest of the story visit, Steven Pearlstein – Steven Pearlstein: Natural gas may help cut emissions – washingtonpost.com
US House committee probes natgas drilling practice
U.S. lawmakers on Thursday announced an investigation of a drilling method that has allowed companies to tap abundant supplies of natural gas in shale beds but has also generated complaints about polluted drinking water.
Some Congress members want to give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing technology.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee said it was investigating the impact of the technology on the environment and public health, and the EPA said it would start working with Congress to study the matter.
“As we use this technology in more parts of the country on a much larger scale, we must ensure that we are not creating new environmental and public health problems,” said committee chairman, Representative Henry Waxman.
“This investigation will help us better understand the potential risks this technology poses to drinking water supplies and the environment, and whether Congress needs to act to minimize those risks,” he said.
For the rest of the story visit, UPDATE 5-US House committee probes natgas drilling practice | Reuters
Factbox: Shale gas stirs energy hopes, environment concerns
The boom in shale natural gas drilling has raised hopes that the United States will be able to rely on the cleaner-burning fuel to meet future energy needs, but concerns about its impact on water quality could slow the industry’s ability to tap this resource.
Following are some shale gas facts.
* Shale gas is natural gas — largely methane — produced and stored in shale formations a mile or more underground in many of the lower 48 U.S. states.
* Together with other “unconventional” natural gas sources such as tight sands and coalbed methane, shale gas accounts for 60 percent of technically recoverable U.S. onshore reserves, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. At least half of new reserves growth is expected to come from shale gas by 2011. In all, shale reserves are estimated to contain enough gas to meet total U.S. demand for 30 years.
* The U.S. Energy Information Administration calculated proven natural gas reserves at 244 trillion cubic feet (6.9 trillion cu meters), or about 11 years’ supply, up from the agency’s 2006 estimate of 211 trillion cubic feet (6.0 trillion cu meters).
* A separate estimate from the Potential Gas Committee, an industry group whose biennial estimates are seen as a benchmark, concluded in June 2009 that the U.S. has 1,836 trillion cubic feet (52 trillion cu meters) of technically recoverable natural gas reserves, up sharply from 1,321 tcf in 2007. Of the new total, 33 percent is shale gas.
* Combined with the U.S. Department of Energy’s latest estimate of 244.7 tcf in proven reserves at the end of 2008, the PGC’s data gives the U.S. total available future supply of 2,081 tcf, an increase of 549 tcf from the committee’s previous survey in 2007. The U.S. consumption rate of about 23 tcf a year. The latest estimate represents some 90 years’ supply.
* One trillion cubic feet of gas is enough to heat 15 million homes for a year or to fuel 12 million natural gas-powered vehicles for a year, according to DOE figures.
For the rest of the story visit, Factbox: Shale gas stirs energy hopes, environment concerns | Reuters
