Tag: "natural gas"

New York Primary “Fracking” Fight

Bernie Sanders is demanding a nation-wide ban on hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” while he campaigns in the state of New York against Hillary Clinton, using the anti-fracking position of the state of New York to sway more voters over to his side.

Bernie’s campaign aligning with the anti-fracking effort claims that the drilling process has extremely hazardous effects. However, some very extensive studies prove otherwise.

Last year the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted an extensive study on the effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water. The study:

  • Did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.
  • Of the potential mechanisms identified in this report, there were specific instances where one or more mechanisms led to impacts on drinking water resources, including contamination of drinking water wells.
  • The number of identified cases, the study concluded however, was small compared to the number of hydraulically fractured wells.

In addition to the EPA’s findings, the processes of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling created an energy/economic boom in the United States.

Apr 13, 2016 | 3 comments | by

Available and Off-Limits Offshore U.S. Oil and Natural Gas Resources

Despite the fact that the federal government has made it clear that all oil and natural gas drilling along the Atlantic coast is off limits, oil and natural gas companies are still going ahead with seismic surveys to see just how much oil is resting off of our eastern coast.

Close to 87 percent of all federally controlled offshore acreage are off-limits to offshore oil and natural gas development. If included in the federal government’s next five-year leasing program and lease sales beginning in 2018, exploratory drilling could start the following year with commercial production expected as early as 2023.

Opening the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf, the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico to offshore oil and natural gas development could have remarkable benefits. By 2035, this opportunity could:

  • Create nearly 840,000 new jobs along coasts and across the country.
  • Add about 3.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day to domestic energy production.
  • Generate more than $200 billion in cumulative revenue for the government.
  • Lead to nearly $450 billion in new private sector spending.
  • Contribute more than $70 billion per year to the U.S. economy.

Specifically, increasing access to offshore oil and natural gas resources in the Atlantic with an investment of an estimated $195 billion cumulative between 2017 and 2035, could by 2035:

  • Produce an incremental 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMboe/d).
  • Add nearly 280,000 jobs.
  • Contribute up to $23.5 billion per year to the U.S. economy.
  • Generate $51 billion in cumulative government revenue.

If seismic activity were to begin in 2017 and lease sales in 2018, first production could be expected as early as 2026.

Mar 30, 2016 | Leave a Comment | by

SOTU: President Obama’s Reckless Energy Policy

Last night, President Obama gave his final State of the Union (SOTU) address to the nation. He briefly discussed energy policy:

Seven years ago, we made the single biggest investment in clean energy in our history.  Here are the results.  In fields from Iowa to Texas, wind power is now cheaper than dirtier, conventional power.  On rooftops from Arizona to New York, solar is saving Americans tens of millions of dollars a year on their energy bills, and employs more Americans than coal – in jobs that pay better than average.  We’re taking steps to give homeowners the freedom to generate and store their own energy – something environmentalists and Tea Partiers have teamed up to support.  Meanwhile, we’ve cut our imports of foreign oil by nearly sixty percent, and cut carbon pollution more than any other country on Earth.

Gas under two bucks a gallon ain’t bad, either.

Now we’ve got to accelerate the transition away from dirty energy.  Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future – especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels.  That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet.  That way, we put money back into those communities and put tens of thousands of Americans to work building a 21st century transportation system.

Seven years ago, President Obama said he would bankrupt the coal industry, he has come pretty close to doing just that. The American coal industry is on the verge of collapse, with around 50 companies out of business and stock prices of the big four companies have fallen as much as 99 percent! Most recently, the second largest coal company has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In addition to all the regulations placed on the coal industry by the Obama administration, natural gas has experienced a boom due to new discoveries and the advanced technologies of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Natural gas recently passed coal as America’s top source of energy power.

Despite the President’s efforts and the natural gas boom, coal is still a major source of American energy power. While, renewable energy is only supplying 6 percent of our electric power.

Wind power and solar power are also not cheap, compared to energy options such as natural gas and coal. The savings that the President is referring to are the very high subsidies that both the federal government and some states have been giving to individuals for buying wind or solar. Also, I am sure he is adding in the possible savings over something like 20 or 50 years. Yet leaving out the very high initial installation and maintenance costs.

The President’s SOTU last night coverage a variety of topics, including the reckless energy policy over the past seven years. An energy policy that has unnecessarily put our coal industry on life support, at a high cost to taxpayers and energy consumers.

Jan 13, 2016 | Leave a Comment | by

War on Domestic Energy Supply

Anti-energy activists are planning to attack the oil and natural gas supply in the United States through a critical strategy. They want the federal government to stop new leases for oil and natural gas development. The damage to our domestic supply and energy output could:

  • Increase oil imports and greater dependence on foreign oil. As EIA projects, the United States will continue to use oil well into the future, and more imports would increase U.S. dependency on others for its energy needs.
  • Diminish U.S. energy security. At home and abroad, less domestic energy production and increased dependency would make the U.S. less secure in the world, more vulnerable to global energy pressures.
  • Weaken the economy. Oil and natural gas are the engines of our economy, and cutting domestic development will mean job losses, lower GDP, less revenue for government and higher household costs.
Oct 28, 2015 | Leave a Comment | by

Increased Energy Use Raises Standard of Living in Developing Nations

Global production of oil and natural gas has increased in recent years, and prices have been falling.  This is not only good news for consumers in developed countries, but also for the poor in developing countries around the world.  Increased energy use is essential in developing countries if they are to raise the living standards of the poor and grow the middle class.  Even rapidly growing economies use much less energy than developed countries.  For instance, India uses one-tenth as much energy per person as the United States and, despite decades of rapid economic growth, China still uses only one-third as much energy per capita.  [See the figure.]

jaiwin fossil fuel

 

Special contribution by NCPA research associate Jiawen Chen. 

Aug 24, 2015 | Leave a Comment | by

NCPA Nationwide Survey of Anti-Fracking Activism – the “Frac Map”

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The NCPA completed a nationwide survey of successful anti-fracking activism that we presented to state legislators, energy associations and think tanks. This map demonstrates the threat of misguided activism to oil and gas production, the key to continuing our economic recovery, addressing the national debt, lowering the trade deficit and preserving U.S. superpower status into the future.

The NCPA “Frac Map” was also featured at the Washington Post.

 

 

Aug 10, 2015 | Leave a Comment | by

Natural Gas Production by State

From the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC):

One of the greatest achievements of the American 21st Century has been the advances made in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies. These innovative well stimulation and extraction techniques have made enormous quantities of hydrocarbons that have been locked away in shale rock accessible now for the first time.

Between 2000 and today, domestic natural gas withdrawals have increased by roughly 25 percent, leading to an abundant supply of inexpensive fuel that can be used to generate electricity and provide space heat. A decade ago, policymakers were discussing the need to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) in order to meet American energy demands. Today, LNG export terminals are under construction in Maryland, Louisiana and Texas.

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The map above shows total natural gas production by state in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available. Unsurprisingly, the difference between Pennsylvania and New York — both of which lie on top of the gas-rich Marcellus shale play — is stark. Pennsylvania, having embraced hydraulic fracturing currently produces roughly 140 times more natural gas compared to New York, which has implemented a statewide ban on the well stimulation technique.

Jul 29, 2015 | 1 comment | by

A Bland but Workable Energy Plan

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski have been working jointly on a passable energy bill. The Congressmen have also been coordinating with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to ensure the bill will not get vetoed at the President’s desk.

On infrastructure, the Energy Policy Modernization Act (the Senate version) aims to modernize the electricity grid and add cybersecurity safeguards. There are also provisions to streamline the process for natural gas export projects and maintain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The bill provides for the “responsible development of American resources”, to include hydropower, geothermal and bioenergy, as well as traditional resources. Surprisingly, the act creates a new National Park Maintenance and Revitalization Fund to fix the maintenance backlog of the nation’s public parks (the park delayed an estimated $11.5 billion worth of maintenance last year alone).

The drafters of the bill chose to avoid big button issues such as the Keystone XL pipeline, allowing the exportation of crude oil and climate change.

The inclusion of maintaining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is in direct contrast to the transportation bill being presented by the Senate, which offers to sell part of the reserve to fund the Highway Trust Fund.

This week, 11 environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and the Natural Resources Defense Council, have come out against the bill stating that several provisions in the bill could cause detrimental effects to public health and the environment. The groups seemed specifically opposed to expediting liquefied natural gas exports and mineral mining permits because they felt “a stronger vision for accelerating the development and deployment of clean energy” was needed. The House bill received less opposition from these groups since it did not include measures on hydropower and liquefied natural gas exportation.

Jul 29, 2015 | Leave a Comment | by

Senate Energy Policy Leaves Out Oil and Highway Funding

The focus of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 includes energy efficiency and conservation, protecting the electric grid and speeding up the application process for liquid natural gas refineries. The bill includes:

  • The secretary of the Energy Department to issue a final decision on applications to export liquefied natural gas within 45 days after projects have won approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
  • The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a stockpile of nearly 700 million barrels of oil, should be used only in emergencies — while there are legislative efforts to sell off some of that oil to help pay for surface transportation funding.

The most recent senate energy bill failed to address some of the most important energy issues currently facing the nation. The bill avoided such issues as:

  • The ban on exporting crude oil.
  • Keystone XL pipeline.
  • Federal gas tax reform.
  • The failure to fund our highway system.
  • Renewable Fuel Standard reform.

U.S. energy policy that includes natural gas, but leaves out oil, is not real energy policy. Protecting the electric grid and leaving out critical funding for the highway system, addresses half of our most pressing infrastructure needs.

Jul 27, 2015 | Leave a Comment | by

The Arctic — Our Last Energy Frontier

As the Arctic Ocean ice thaws, countries prepare to tap into the vast energy resources currently trapped beneath the Arctic Ocean. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that the Arctic could hold as much as 12 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its undiscovered gas, not including unconventional oil and gas deposits. Of that, the portion of the Arctic belonging to the United States could hold 33 percent of total oil and 18 percent of total natural gas in the Arctic.

The United States, though, is limited in its reach into the Arctic since it has not signed onto the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) treaty. Without that ratification, the United States, unlike the other four Arctic nations of Russia, Canada, Norway and Denmark, is constrained to an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles off their coasts. The other four Arctic nations, however, have asked to secure international legal titles to sites up to 350 miles off their coasts. Russia and Canada have even submitted claims that reach the North Pole.

Drilling in the Arctic could also be further complicated by harsh storms, drifting sea ice, poor infrastructure and a lack of available crisis response centers. On the other hand, Arctic drilling would take place at shallower depths than drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. In a positive push for Arctic drilling, President Obama signed Executive Order 13580 in 2011 to establish a coordinate efforts among federal agencies to develop energy in the Arctic. The order was intended to expedite future permit issuance and improve information sharing.

Shell Gulf of Mexico has made moves to be at the forefront of oil exploration in the U.S. Arctic region, specifically in the Chukchi Sea and the Beaufort Sea. The company also produced an extensive Oil Spill Response Plan to assure the government of their preparedness in case of an oil spill in the region. Fears regarding oil spill response in the Arctic continue as the Coast Guard admits to having no offshore response capability in Northern and Western Alaska. Due to harsh regional realities, Shell has currently only been granted legal permission for drilling between July and October.

While Arctic drilling may still seem like a dangerous opportunity, future technological innovations and improved Arctic preparedness and infrastructure will make such drilling a reality in the near future. The massive quantities of energy stored in the U.S. Arctic will stay there until we decide to take advantage of this opportunity.

Jul 15, 2015 | 3 comments | by
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