Energy Today - June 22, 2011
Rayola Dougher
Posted June 22, 2011
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Study: Marcellus Shale Helping Region's Economy: The Pittsburgh metropolitan area is weathering the recession better than many other parts of the country, partly because of Marcellus Shale production, researchers said Monday, projecting that the region's employment numbers will rebound to pre-slump levels by early 2012. The Pittsburgh area lost 37,500 jobs beginning in the third quarter of 2008 but will recover that number by the first quarter of 2012, according to a report released as the U.S. Conference of Mayors closed its 79th annual meeting in Baltimore. The report was prepared for the conference and the Council for the New American City by IHS Global Insight, a Colorado-based research firm..."Many areas of Pennsylvania, including the Pittsburgh metro area, are benefiting from the Marcellus Shale drilling activity. That certainly is giving Pennsylvania a boost relative to the rest of the country in terms of employment and gross economic output." Bakersfield.com: New Crude Technology May Expand Access to Oil: Enhanced oil recovery has been a hot topic in the oil industry for decades. The highly technical field is even more compelling now that high barrel prices justify investment in methods that offer potential for squeezing still more life out of wells where oil that was easy to get was pumped out years ago. NiMin's combined miscible drive technology injects water and soapy bubbles filled with pure oxygen deep into oil wells. When the bubbles burst they combine with water to produce heat, steam and carbon dioxide, all of which make thick oil less viscous and easier to pump. The carbon dioxide also builds pressure that drives oil up the well...Kern has long been a hotbed of innovation in enhanced oil recovery, largely because local oil fields have been in production for so long that new ways of extracting from remaining reservoirs has become a do-or-die proposition. Steam flooding has received most of the attention in Kern, and the resulting technical refinement has prompted companies including Chevron Corp. to export their steam expertise to other countries that produce thick, heavy oil not unlike the crude that exists abundantly in Kern. Recently several companies operating locally have experimented in producing oil field steam using solar energy and even agricultural waste as alternatives to natural gas.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Shale Drillers Spent $411M Over Three Years to Help Rebuild Pennsylvania Roads: Marcellus shale drillers spent $411 million in the past three years to help rebuild Pennsylvania roads, the head of an industry advocacy group said this morning. "We're not just ripping up roads and leaving (repairs) for someone else to pay for," Marcellus Shale Coalition President and Executive Director Kathryn Klaber said at an industry safety conference in Cecil. Klaber said a Marcellus commission that Gov. Tom Corbett appointed requested the data in May. Study results are based on a survey of 28 coalition members working in Pennsylvania, she said. The truck fleets hauling water, pipes and drilling equipment have stressed both local and state roads as the industry has attempted to tap a gas-rich shale layer about one mile underground. Drillers use a process called hydraulic fracturing, which requires them to truck or pipe more than 4 million gallons of water to each well.
Additional Resources:
FOX News: Glenn Beck Interview with Jack Gerard
Forbes: Ten Things to Know About Fracking