Today, the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing concerning environmental stewardship policies related to offshore energy production. (Watch the archive Webcast of the hearing).

When energy consultant Daniel Yergin calls unconventional natural gas a "game changer," people listen. And in today's Wall Street Journal op-ed, Yergin and his colleague Robert Ineson of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates (IHS CERA) say that the ability to produce natural gas from shale could "transform the debate over generating electricity."

"Remarkable" was the word used by Energy Information Administrator Richard Newell last week to describe the sharp rise in U.S. natural gas reserves. In a report issued by his agency last week, Newell noted that U.S. proven natural gas reserves rose 3 percent in 2008.

The report also showed that natural gas reserves in shale formations rose an astonishing 51 percent over 2007. "This year's report underscores for a second year the technological shift in domestic exploration and production from conventional reserves to unconventional shales," Newell said.

Did you know that hydraulic fracturing has been used in about one million oil and natural gas wells in the United States? This tried-and-true process injects wells with water, small amounts of chemicals and sand to create tiny cracks in hard rock, allowing natural gas and/or oil to flow up the wellbore. Fracking, as it's often called, occurs thousands of feet below aquifers containing fresh water, and water supplies are protected by state well construction and drilling regulations.

As I've discussed on this blog, I recently traveled with a group of bloggers to visit man-made islands where drilling for oil and natural gas occurs in coastal waters--the THUMS Islands in Long Beach, CA.

The Weyburn oil field in southern Saskatchewan is the largest greenhouse gas storage facility in Canada. Under a project sponsored by the International Energy Agency, academic institutions and industry partners, the oil field is being injected with carbon dioxide (CO2) piped from a North Dakota coal gasification plant. By injecting CO2 into the oil-bearing rock formation, it's believed that the oil field's life could be extended by 25 years while providing storage for 20 million tons of CO2.

Another voice in the news can be added to the list of those favoring increased access to our nation's offshore oil and natural gas resources. Last week, a Florida Sun-Sentinel op-ed authored by Dave Mica, executive director of the Florida Petroleum Council, discussed the new jobs, increased revenues, and energy security that offshore energy development could bring to the nation and the state of Florida--all with minimal impact to the surrounding environment.

"In the past three decades, the petroleum business has transformed itself into a high-technology industry... In some cases, these improvements have been evolutionary, while in others, they have been revolutionary."- Doug Morris, API, before the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Environmental Conservation, Oct. 15, 2009.

You probably know that the oil and natural gas industry is one of the world's largest industries and that its revenues are significant. But did you know that the costs of providing consumers with the energy they need are massive as well?

This week's episode focuses on a recent tour of the THUMS Islands, a group of four manmade islands in California's Long Beach Harbor, where oil and natural gas are produced. The episode also features sound bites from Frank Komin, president of Occidental Petroleum, and Charlie Plant, production manager of White Island.