The vast oil and gas play in South Texas contributed $25 bil-lion in total economic output to a 20-county South Texas region last year and provided 47,097 full-time jobs, according to a study by the Center for Community and Business Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Institute for Economic Development.

In a single year – 2011 – the shale development added almost as much economic oomph to South Texas as an earlier UTSA study predicted would occur over nearly a decade. That earlier projection estimated the Eagle Ford would account directly and indirectly for almost $21.5 billion in economic output by 2020.

The new study estimates the shale will create 117,000 jobs by 2021, more than one-and-a-half times the 68,000 full-time jobs the earlier study had projected.

Thomas Tunstall, director of UTSA’s research center and the study’s lead investigator, said Wednesday’s study is the “first chapter” in its look at the shale. In late summer, the center will look at workforce issues and a third installment will provide more detailed county-by-county data.

For the rest of the story visit, Eagle Ford brings $25 billion windfall

An energy rush that began with the first drilling in 2008 mushroomed into nearly 1,700 wells last year. Oil production is up more than six-fold since 2010 to more than 28 million barrels, while gas production has doubled.

The ladle-shaped shale formation stretches from the western Texas-Mexico border and hooks all the way toward Louisiana.

Blanketing the lucrative play are once-struggling rural counties that must now spend million-dollar tax rolls on infrastructure, development and education before the boom goes bust, cautioned the study from the University of Texas At San Antonio’s Institute for Economic Development.

“The thing we’re stressing to communities is sustainability,” said Thomas Tunstall, the lead author and director of the university’s Center for Community and Business Research. “What will they be left with when this is all over? It’s not just a matter of how much oil and gas is out there.”

For the rest of the story visit, Report: Booming Eagle Ford Shale created 48K jobs

The liquids-rich Eagle Ford shale, one of the hottest North American shale fields, could generate $25 billion in economic development in 2011 and support 47,000 local jobs, according to the study by the Center for Community and Business Research at The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Institute for Economic Development.

From 2010 to 2011, crude oil production increased more than six-fold to over 28 million barrels, condensate production tripled to over 21 million barrels, and natural gas production doubled, according to the study, which was funded by America’s Natural Gas Alliance, an industry group.

“The total number of recoverable reserves for the Eagle Ford shale is still unknown, but there are estimates that it could be as much as 7 to 10 billion barrels,” said Thomas Tunstall, lead author of the study. “That would make it the largest on-shore oil reserve ever discovered in the Lower 48 states.”

For the rest of the story visit, Eagle Ford shale an economic boom for Texas

Whether the auction eventually will lead to drilling in well-developed suburbs is an open question, state and industry officials said Friday. Only a fraction of oil and gas leases awarded by the state are ultimately exploited.

But the mere threat of oil rigs, heavy trucks and pipelines in proximity to some of southeast Michigan’s priciest real estate is making some homeowners nervous.

For the rest of the story visit, Cass lakes neighbors fear drilling as state is set to auction mineral rights

“This is still an emerging issue for lenders in North Carolina,” the Consumer Protection Division of the N.C. Department of Justice said in its draft report last week. But “at least two North Carolina lenders … have stated that they will not make or purchase mortgage loans on residential properties where the buyer does not own their mineral rights, or has leased their mineral rights.”

Jordan Treakle, mineral rights project coordinator at the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA in Pittsboro, said North Carolina landowners who sign such leases could be ineligible for mortgages from the State Employees Credit Union (SECU) and mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

“The (SECU) policy adds another layer to the debate over legalizing fracking in North Carolina,” Treakle said. “It highlights the risk that mineral rights leases present for landowners even before drilling starts.”

For the rest of the story visit, New Study on Fracking Highlights Mineral Rights

The recent natural gas boom in the United States has been so wide-spread and profound that it has dropped natural gas prices to historical lows. These prices are so low that producers have begun to scale back operations as extraction has almost become uneconomical. We should be focused on exploring new commercial markets for natural gas to take advantage of such a low-cost energy source. Because technology and supply is currently available to sell the natural gas equivalent for about $1.50 a gallon compared with the current price of gasoline, it would seem natural for consumers to begin making the switch to compressed natural gas CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) vehicles.

So if the technology is already available and we have at least a 100-year supply of natural gas right here in America, why aren’t we all driving CNG cars?

Unfortunately, the main obstacle is a lack of natural gas fuel infrastructure in our country. Currently in the United States, there are only 449 CNG fueling stations accessible to the public, which is dwarfed by the more than 157,000 gasoline stations.

For the rest of the story visit, Cassidy: Look at opportunity of natural gas

But experts say that a sharp drop in wholesale prices over the past year means that in the future much more money will be made — and more jobs created — by petrochemical companies that process the gas into other industrial and consumer compounds.

The Marcellus is a gas-rich rock formation thousands of feet underground in large parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia. Over the past five years, advances in drilling technology made the shale accessible, leading to a boom in production, jobs, and profits — and a drop in natural gas prices for consumers.

For the rest of the story visit, Gas drillers reaped about $3.5 billion in revenues from Marcellus shale

Last month, the City Council unanimously approved a $2,397 annual fee per well to pay for more firefighters, training and equipment, which Fire Chief Don Crowson said the city needs to prevent and better respond to gas well emergencies. The fee, the first of its kind in the Barnett Shale, is expected to generate an estimated $800,000 for the Fire Department’s gas well emergency preparedness and response program.

The Texas Oil & Gas Association and the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association argue that the city, which has more than 300 gas wells, is trying to unfairly “expand its revenues by taxing a single industry.”

“It’s seven times higher than any other permit fee they charge to a particular business,” said Justin Furnace, president of the royalty owners association. “We’re really left with no alternative but to seek relief from the court.”

The associations call the Fire Department’s gas well program, which will add a layer of inspections at well sites, unnecessary given the industry’s safety record in the Barnett Shale. The suit says that while the Fire Department responds to tens of thousands of service calls annually, the city has had only three natural gas well incidents in six years and that those releases were handled by the companies, not firefighters.

For the rest of the story visit, Arlington faces lawsuit over fee on natural gas wells

The officials said state rules adequately oversee the process known as fracking, in which thousands or millions of gallons of fluid are pumped into wells to fracture rock to release oil and gas.

“There is no need for the federal government to step in and insert itself into a process that is working well,” said Kathleen Clarke, director of the Utah Office of Public Land Policy Coordination.

The officials testified at a hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources at the Colorado Capitol.

The Department of the Interior is considering rules on disclosure of fracking fluid ingredients, management of fluids and wastewater. The Bureau of Land Management, which oversees oil and gas development on federal lands, has not issued any draft of rules.

For the rest of the story visit, Proposed federal fracking rules draw fire at Colorado hearing 

According to a recent report released by Professor Timothy Considine, an energy economist at the University of Wyoming, the U.S. steel industry supports more than one million jobs in the U.S. economy.  For every job formed in the steel industry, seven additional jobs are created in other economic sectors.  For that reason, the steel sector has played an outsized role in driving manufacturing’s post-recession resurgence.

Despite this encouraging analysis, the U.S. manufacturing sector still faces significant challenges including energy cost uncertainty.  As an energy-intensive industry, the domestic steel industry’s international competitiveness depends on our ability to capitalize on the discovery and development of North America’s shale resources.  Our industry consumes large amounts of natural gas, and will benefit from the increased supply resulting from shale production, which keeps gas both reliable and available at a low cost.

For the rest of the story visit, Natural gas: game changer for American manufacturing