Results tagged “natural gas”

Thousands of people from all walks of life are expected to participate in rallies for jobs and the economy tomorrow, Sept. 1. They will gather at three venues in Houston, Port Arthur and Corpus Christi, Texas, where they will make their voices heard.

Some of the attendees are likely to be energy workers whose jobs are on the line due to the offshore drilling moratorium and the threat of higher energy taxes. But they won't be the only people who attend.

In related news today:

The study states that "as a result of the oil spill, the future costs of drilling and operating in the Gulf will rise considerably" due to the following factors: 

This year the nation is facing a similar situation. The United States is struggling to overcome the worst recession since The Great Depression, and economists say the sputtering recovery is not producing new jobs. Some 15 million Americans are out of work.

"The Recovery Act: Transforming the American Economy Through Innovation" claims that spending has put the United States "on track" to:

• Double domestic renewable energy generation capacity by 2012;
• Cut solar power costs in half by 2015; and
• Cut electric vehicle battery costs by half by 2013.

A year ago, API helped to organize rallies in more than 20 states and invited Americans to submit videos, many of which were shown on large screens during the rallies. Ron of New Bloomfield, Mo., provided his thoughts in this video:

After taking a series of potshots at the American Petroleum Institute in his Sunday column ("Big Oil has it backward," Page D1), Loren Steffy closes with: "We need to proceed cautiously with new drilling and move quickly to draft new regulations that are broad and flexible enough to raise drilling standards without stifling a vital energy source."

American citizens have plenty to worry about. With 15 million workers in unemployment lines, family budgets under pressure, and higher taxes looming on the horizon, Americans from all walks of life are feeling insecure and wondering about their children's futures.

Interestingly, the poll also shows 64 percent of Democrats say the drilling freeze should continue, while 66 percent of Republicans favor removing the moratorium.

"I am officially announcing that API will host additional citizen rallies starting early next month in conjunction with other local and national groups.  We'll be taking the lead on the rallies, but we are partnering with local energy and business groups in every location.  We're kicking off the program with three rallies in Texas on September 1st, and we are now finalizing plans for rallies in Ohio, Illinois, Colorado and New Mexico.

How these costs are treated for tax purposes directly impacts the economics of a project.  Though a substantial portion of the costs are recovered over a long period of time, exploration and production companies do get a tax deduction for the labor associated with drilling to defray some of the upfront risk and economic cost.

"Failure to consider the full effect of proposed laws and moratoria, as well as the operation of existing laws, could jeopardize thousands of jobs and further damage the Gulf Coast economy."

The fact that thousands would flock to a hearing about a time-honored oil field practice is indicative of the concern--and misperceptions--that swirl around hydraulic fracturing. Andy Leahy of Syracuse has concluded that "anti-fracking propagandists...have orchestrated a virally contagious chorus of spin, distortion and untruth."

He should have called 811 before he began to dig.

At present, the relief well is one of only 11 rigs operating in Gulf waters deeper than 500 feet, under exemptions to the administration's the deepwater drilling moratorium. Each of these rigs is working in proven reserves, and none is actively searching for new oil and natural gas discoveries.

H. Sterling Burnett, writing in The Hill, says part of the problem was the sales pitch used to push for passage. "Though the Senate's energy bill had nothing to do with the safety of offshore oil rigs, the green lobby tried to link the two in the public's mind. Fortunately, neither the public nor, ultimately, many senators were buying it," he writes.

Last week, I read a very interesting and thoughtful blog post by Michael Lynch of MasterResource that discusses the concept of and rhetoric behind "oil addiction."

His post, "One Person's Oil Addict is Another's Intelligent Consumer," challenges the traditional thinking behind the idea that American consumers are addicted to oil. Perhaps Lynch puts it best when he writes:

"...why say Americans are addicted to oil, but not food, housing and clothing? Or cement or steel? It is easy to compare the traditional types of addiction with the reliance on these substances to see where oil falls on the spectrum."

In today's episode, I interview Dr. Tim Considine of the University of Wyoming about his recent study that quantifies the economic impact of developing natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation, which stretches beneath large portions of New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. His study also looks at state policies that could hinder natural gas production in the region and slow economic opportunities.

As we've mentioned on this blog many times, energy development is a primary driver of job creation. Developing the nation's abundant oil and natural gas resources could create tens of thousands of additional jobs.

A new Gallup poll proves this point and demonstrates that energy-producing states are among the best in job creation.

Interest is rising in a relatively new natural gas discovery called the Utica Shale. It lies beneath the Marcellus Shale and stretches from Canada's Quebec Province through Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, western Virginia and into West Virginia.