Today's Energy In Depth Energy Links.  (More coming)

NATIONAL

New HF rules coming in ‘days’Houston Chronicle. The Obama administration is poised to impose new rules for hydraulic fracturing on public lands. The mandates are aimed at boosting the integrity of wells on public lands to ensure oil, gas and other fluids are contained within them. The rules will also require recovered water and other fluids to be safely stored at the sites. The Bureau of Land Management is set to release the final regulation “in the next few days,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told reporters, following a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. NOTE: U.S. News & World Report also reports.
 
Production eases back in key U.S. oil regionsHouston Chronicle. The shale drilling juggernaut that has flooded the market with oil and forced prices to their lowest levels in years is starting to show signs of weakening in the nation's biggest oil patches. Oil output in three of the largest shale plays will shrink for the first time in six years, the government reported Tuesday, offering one of the first signs that widespread corporate cutbacks are making their mark in the remote fields that drove the dramatic and rapid surge in U.S. production.
 
Dems to reintroduce 'Frac Act,' other drilling billsE&E News (sub req’d). Democrats are reintroducing four bills that would increase federal regulation of oil and gas drilling, though passage remains unlikely. House Democrats are calling the bills the "Frack Pack." They would increase federal regulation of the effects of drilling and hydraulic fracturing on water and air. On the other side of the Capitol today, Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is to reintroduce one of the four bills, called the "Frac Act." It would repeal a provision environmentalists call the "Halliburton Loophole" and allow U.S. EPA to regulate hydraulic fracturing. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) is introducing the bill in the House.
 
Natural Gas Output Has BofA Bracing for Sub-$2 PricesBloomberg. Relentless U.S. production gains that caught many natural gas traders by surprise have triggered a 30 percent plunge in prices since November. Bank of America Corp. says the selloff isn’t over and is telling clients to brace for the possibility of sub-$2 prices for the first time in three years. Gas output will climb to an all-time high of 78.39 billion cubic feet a day this year, an increase of 50 percent over 2005, led by shale reservoirs in Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Texas, government data show.
 
Report: Oil firms' rising debts add downward price pressureBloomberg. The oil and gas industry’s $2.5 trillion of debt may compound the drop in crude prices, as companies maximize output to meet their financial obligations, according to the Bank for International Settlements.
 
U.S. working to cut flaring of natural gasUPI. The U.S. government will roll out new standards in the coming months to cut the amount of shale natural gas wasted through flaring, the interior secretary said. Much of the natural gas associated with shale oil deposits is burned off, or flared, because of a lack of infrastructure needed to utilize the resource.
 
HF law opens North Carolina to drillingAssociated Press. Rules governing the hydraulic fracturing method for drilling natural gas are expected to take effect Tuesday, creating the potential for drilling to start later in the year. The set of 120 rules that govern issues including well construction, water testing and buffer zones was developed by the state Mining and Energy Commission over nearly two years and approved in December by a separate state panel.
 
Are the good times over for growth in US shale gas? Reuters. U.S. natural gas production could decline in 2016 for the first time in 10 years, driven by low oil prices after a decade of gangbusters growth from shale plays. While most analysts forecast gas production will continue growing year-over-year, albeit at a slower pace, a couple of outlier analysts believe low oil and gas prices will prompt drillers to cut spending enough to reduce gas production next year.
 
Cnooc's North American Unit Slashes 13% of WorkforceWall Street Journal. The North American headquarters of China National Offshore Oil Corp. said Tuesday it would cut about 13% of its workforce due to the slump in global oil prices, raising questions about terms of the Chinese state-owned company’s accord with the Canadian government.
 
Feds: Market forces pushing offshore rig counts downHouston Chronicle/Fuel Fix. The government’s top offshore energy overseers on Tuesday defended the Obama administration’s approach to oil and gas drilling along the nation’s coastlines, insisting that market forces — not federal regulations — were discouraging the activity. About 46 rigs were working in the Gulf of Mexico as of March 13, according to Baker Hughes — down from 55 on average last year.
 
Oil company Quicksilver Resources files for bankruptcy protectionReuters. Quicksilver Resources and its U.S. units filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, adding to a list of oil and gas producers who have folded amid low oil prices. The company listed assets of $1.21 billion and liabilities of $1.35 billion in its bankruptcy petition in a Delaware court.

INTERNATIONAL

Ineos seeks to convince Scots over shaleFinancial Times. A charm offensive has been launched to convince Scots of the benefits of shale gas “fracking”, with chemicals group Ineos promising to pump hundreds of millions of pounds into communities where the controversial technology is used. The campaign underscores the company’s determination to tap unconventional gas to secure the future of its Grangemouth refinery complex despite a fracking moratorium announced by the Scottish government in January.
 
Northern Territory shale gas potential more than hot airABC Online. The Northern Territory's shale oil and gas potential has geologists excited. The shale industry is in its infancy in the Territory, with only a handful of gas wells drilled so far, however a reserve known as the Beetaloo Sub-basin, within the McArthur Basin, has encouraged further exploration.
 
Korean, U.S. experts discuss shale gas technology cooperationKorea Herald. The Korea Gas Corp. and New Mexico-based research center Sandia National Laboratories jointly hosted the “2015 Korea-U.S. Shale Gas Technology Cooperation Symposium” as a follow-up measure after the two countries signed a pact on close collaboration in the energy sector in 2013. Sandia National Laboratories is a contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
 
Shell, Petronas, Statoil among winners of 11 Indonesian oil, shale gas blocksPlatts. Indonesia has awarded 11 blocks — eight conventional and three shale gas blocks — with major oil and gas companies Shell, Statoil and Petronas among the winners, Naryanto Wagimin, upstream director at the Energy and Mines Ministry, said Wednesday.
 
SA must take the long view on shaleBusiness Day, Editorial. LEAD times are long in the oil and gas industry. It is therefore doubtful that government tardiness in creating a legislative and regulatory framework for shale gas exploration in the Karoo had anything to do with Shell’s decision to scale back its investment in hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
 
Oil glut: 116 firms cut $120bn from 2015 budgetNational Mirror. About 116 companies have cut their 2015 capital budgets by 24 per cent, amounting to $120bn, as a result of continued crash in the prices of crude oil in the international market. Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who disclosed this at the ongoing Nigeria Oil and Gas conference in Abuja yesterday, said the cut may go up to 40 per cent as prices continue to slide.
 
CALIFORNIA

Temporary HF ban rejected by Monterey County supervisorsMonterey County Herald. Arguing there’s no evidence of an immediate threat to public health, a split Board of Supervisors declined on Tuesday to move ahead with a temporary ban on the controversial oil extraction technique known as fracking, at least until the state finalizes its own rules. NOTE: KCBX Radio also reports. 

COLORADO

Brighton adopts new oil and gas development codeDenver Post. After three years of negotiations, the Brighton City Council on Tuesday night unanimously adopted new rules and safety policies for oil and gas development sites in the city. Brighton's old land use and development code was a decade old and did not meet state requirements for hydraulic fracturing sites.

NORTHEAST

Shell certified as environmentally conscious drillerTribune-Review. A partnership between environmentalists and shale gas producers awarded its second certification to an energy company for meeting the group's voluntary standards for environmentally conscious drilling in Appalachia, signaling progress in an effort some critics complained was slow to develop. Royal Dutch Shell and the Center for Sustainable Shale Development planned to announce Wednesday that the company met the partnership's 15 standards for protecting air and water during gas drilling and production. In September, Chevron became the first company to gain certification.
 
Industry says Wolf's severance tax would force them to overpayAssociated Press. David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry trade group, said the floor would make the effective tax rate 13 percent. Wolf's proposal "totally ignores what's going on in the marketplace in Pennsylvania," Spigelmyer said. "You're talking excessive tax rates that are well above any other shale producing region in the U.S." Gene Barr, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, likened it to an income tax that assumes every worker earns $100,000 per year. "It makes no sense whatsoever," he said.
 
Wyoming County resident appointed to DEP oil and gas boardScranton Times-Tribune. Emily Krafjack’s voice may not be the loudest on the subject of shale gas, but it has earned her a seat at the table where major decisions on drilling regulations are made. Last week, the Wyoming County native became one of the first nonvoting appointees to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board, where members tinker with fine details of proposed regulations.
 
Pennsylvania nears end of royalties investigationTribune-Review. Pennsylvania state investigators are close to wrapping up an investigation into complaints that landowners in northeastern Pennsylvania are being cheated out of royalties by natural gas companies exploring the Marcellus shale, Attorney General Kathleen Kane said Tuesday.

OHIO

Ohio State planning $2.5M CNG station in Kenny Road areaColumbus Business First. Ohio State University wants to build a compressed natural gas station and have it running by next year. The university issued a request for qualifications Tuesday to design and build a $2.5 million CNG station in the Kenny Road area.
 
Utica Shale: Weak vs. Strong is comingShale News Media. Chris Doyle, the executive vice president of operations for Chesapeake Energy Corp., believes that over the next few years it will be clear who the weak and strong are in the Utica shale. Doyle’s experience in the Utica Shale started back in 2011 while managing the Appalachian division of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. At the time, the company had acquired about 400,000 acres in the Utica Shale located in Ohio and drilled its first well. Doyle left Anadarko in mid-2013 for a similar job with Chesapeake. Doyle soon learned that the Utica wasn’t as oil rich as many had hoped, but the region’s natural gas and natural gas liquids were ample.
 
Number of drilling rigs in Ohio continues to dropAkron Beacon Journal. The number of drilling rigs in Ohio’s Utica Shale region continues to drop. There are 27 rigs drilling in Ohio, as of March 14, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said. That’s down from 37 rigs Feb. 28 and from 49 rigs Jan. 3, according to state records.
 
Despite falling prices, Ohio oil production increasesColumbus Dispatch. Oil and natural-gas prices might be low, but production in Ohio’s Utica shale region next month is expected to continue rising. The forecast, issued by the Energy Information Administration, shows the Utica is one of two shale regions in which oil production is on track to grow, while the country’s other five regions are projected to have reductions or flat growth.
 
HF-tax ballot issue? Columbus Dispatch. Maybe Ohio’s Republican lawmakers and the oil-and-gas interests who command their loyalty don’t believe Gov. John Kasich when he hints at a possible statewide ballot issue to hike the state’s puny severance tax. They should, because a ballot issue is possible and would appeal to voters.
 
Lawmakers Scrap Plan To Allow Fracking In State ParksWOSU Public Media. Plans to allow fracking in Ohio state parks appear to be dead for now after lawmakers removed the provision from a bill making its way through the state legislature. Democratic State Representative David Leland says he is pleased that lawmakers have struck out part of a bill being considered by the Ohio House that would allow fracking in state parks – though backers said it would have been thousands of feet underground.

TEXAS

Denton fracturing ban tees up local control fightMidland Reporter-Telegram. As policy dilemmas go, the one triggered when Denton voters decided last fall to ban hydraulic fracturing in their city looked like a whopper: The oil and gas industry versus local control — two things Texas holds dear — in intractable opposition. There seemed little doubt lawmakers would weigh in upon their return to Austin. But four months after the North Texas city’s historic vote, top state lawmakers don’t appear to be scratching their heads. Petroleum is winning hands down, and local control appears headed for a beating.
 
Devon shows off new digsSan Angelo Standard Times. A green beacon flashed in Devon Energy’s San Angelo control room, indicating all systems were a go on a production well miles away in Sweetwater. Three desks held computers hooked up to a dozen monitors and four wall-mounted TVs, scanning about 600 wells peppered around San Angelo and Ozona, checking oil and water levels and incoming production figures.
 
Small Business Forum highlights opportunities in the Eagle Ford ShaleSan Antonio Business Journal. Crude oil may be at six-year low prices but small businesses in the Eagle Ford shale region just south of San Antonio are not sitting idle. The Texas Governor's Office held a Small Business Forum at the La Vernia High School auditorium on Tuesday morning.
 
Natural Gas Facility Closer to Breaking GroundKRGV. Texas LNG announced they are preparing to file their last application needed for federal approval before they can start building. The company plans to build a facility along the Brownsville ship channel that will convert natural gas into liquid form. The liquid natural gas will then be shipped by boat across the world.