06/30/15 Links of the Day: OPEC Oil Production Surges, Pennsylvania Dumps FracFocus, and More

Washington Times:  In a shift, fracking’s foes face a losing streak   -   "After scoring a statewide ban last year on hydraulic fracturing in New York, anti-fracking activists talked excitedly about following up in a major fossil fuel-producing state — Colorado, maybe, or California. Instead, the next state to prohibit the use of fracking..."

Gas & Oil:  Skywatch Monitors Existing Gas, Energy Pipelines   -   "For a pipeline inspection pilot, flying an aircraft low to the ground and doing several things at once comes with the job. It’s a position that isn’t for everyone who has earned their wings, but according to Steve Bechtol, president of Skywatch, it’s a job for a pilot who can safely manually fly..."

Sober Look:  Have the Saudis miscalculated the impact of lower crude prices on US production?   -   "In 2014 the Saudis could no longer accept the loss of crude oil market share as the North American production levels shot up sharply over a three-year period. The Saudi response was quite rational. Rather than cutting production to support crude oil prices, the Saudis announced that output will remain the same. In private they were planning to actually increase production in order..."

PBS News:  Oil & Gas Workers Create Boom in Market for Flame Resistant Clothing   -   "The massive expansion of domestic oil and gas production over the last five or so years is rippling across the economies where that drilling is taking place. More oil workers need more welders, more restaurants, and ... more clothes..."

Dallas Morning News:  Supreme Court strikes down EPA power plant regulations, says costs must be considered   -   "Its impact on Texas businesses is not yet clear, but the Supreme Court ruled Monday that the EPA’s 2012 rule subjecting the nation’s power plants to new restrictions on emission of pollutants, especially mercury, was illegal. The 5-4 majority held that the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to take into account the cost of regulations when determining whether..."

Farm & Dairy:  Thirteen states sue EPA, Army Corps of Engineers over definition of waterways   -   "Thirteen states filed a lawsuit June 29 against the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers over the agencies’ rule defining “waters of the United States.” The states joining the lawsuit are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. The lawsuit claims..."

Syracuse.com:  New York state officially bans fracking   -   "It's official: New York has banned fracking. After more than seven years of study, the state Department of Environmental Conservation today issued the final document needed to ban the controversial drilling practice, known formally as high-volume hydraulic fracturing. "Prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing is the..."

Huffington Post:  Public Reaction to EPA Report on Fracking Reveals a Fractured Society   -   "It keeps happening. A science-based report on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has been released, and public reaction is polarized. In this case it's the EPA report on the impact of fracking on drinking water released earlier this month. Based on an exhaustive and objective assessment of existing studies, the report concluded that fracking has not caused widespread contamination..."

TribLIVE:  Drillers to submit electronic records on fracking chemicals to Pa. DEP   -   "Pennsylvania will require shale gas companies to disclose electronically the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing in a new state-run database by next summer. Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Quigley said the department will end its partnership with FracFocus, an..."

Gas & Oil:  Individuals Own Mineral Rights, Not the State   -   "An argument often made by proponents for increasing taxes on oil and gas production is that the crude oil and natural gas reserves beneath the state are natural resources owned by all Ohioans and that they should benefit from their development. But this is simply not true. In the United States, individual landowners own the mineral rights associated with their property, not the state. The private ownership of..."

Energy in Depth:  MarkWest Lays Roots and Keeps Its Promise to Ohio with New Cadiz Office   -   "In August 2012, MarkWest hosted a meet and greet with the residents and officials of Harrison County, announcing their plans for Utica Shale development in eastern Ohio. This week, the company continues to keep the promise it made three years ago, and as they cut the ribbon of a 20,000 square foot corporate office in Cadiz, Ohio. The event also served as a reminder..."

Rigzone:  OPEC Crude Production Surges as Iraq Pumps at Record Pace   -   "Iraqi crude production climbed to a record this month, helping send OPEC output to the highest level since August 2012.  Output by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries climbed 744,000 barrels to 32.134 million a day this month, according to a Bloomberg survey of oil companies, producers and analysts. Last month’s total was revised..." 

Wall Street Journal:  Remember All That Oil in Storage? Here It Comes   -   "Refineries around the world are using more crude oil. To get the cheapest supplies around, they don’t have to look any further than their own storage tanks. When a global glut of crude oil sent prices plunging to near-six-year lows in the first quarter of the year, refineries started stocking up. The market gave them an incentive to do so: Oil prices for later in 2015 were higher than immediate prices, making refiners..."

FrackFeed:  10 Priceless Responses to EPA's Study Finding No Widespread Water Pollution From Fracking

Columbus Business First:  Texas company sees Utica rebound, will build 5th gas processing plant   -   "A Dallas company is planning a fifth cryogenic processing plant in the Utica shale region as drillers prepare to ramp up activity again. Blue Racer Midstream LLC's fourth plant came online just this month. The fifth was delayed..."


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