Fairbanks News Miner by John Coghill (NGP Photo).  Coghill provides answers to questions about oil and gas tax reform legislation and the current attempt by referendum to repeal tax reform.  

OUR COMMENTARY:

We compliment Senator John Coghill this morning for two reasons: 1) his insight on oil and gas issues, and, 2) his political courage.
 
First, on the issue.  Sunday’s News Miner featured his Opinion piece wherein he provided ‘Questions and Answers’ about the recent passage of oil and gas tax reform legislation and the current effort to repeal the law by referendum.  The questions were the main ones touted by the opposition and Coghill’s answers were credible.  Coghill came across as the adult in the room, supporting the ‘long term good’ for Alaskans as opposed to supporting the more selfish, ‘short term gains’ espoused by blog commenters who responded to his column.
 
Second, on courage.  The News Miner, like other publications, permits blog commenters to opine on articles and issues without identifying themselves.  Accordingly, we hear from the most vicious array of special interest commenters every time a common sense, free enterprise commentary is offered.  These anonymous folks are often very impolite and their comment seems designed to intimidate, make fun of, or demonize more conservative voices.  I almost always see this coming from the left side…seldom from the right.  Since many of the commenters seem to be employed as interns, trainees, apprentices, or employees of special interest non-profit organizations with self-serving agendas, it is relatively easy to scare up a couple dozen nasty comments anytime someone from the pro-investment climate side of the aisle expresses an opinion.  Faced with a barrage of such responses every time a conservative, elected official politely expresses an opinion, one can only conclude that leaders like Senator Coghill truly are courageous.  
 
Voters are always saying, "I wish we had someone in there who would do the right thing rather than the expedient thing."  Interior Alaska is lucky to have such a leader in John Coghill.  -DH
CBC.  The federal government has prohibited development on several parcels of Crown land in southern Nunavut while a dispute continues between Nunavut Inuit and First Nations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.  The Crown lands can’t be sold or leased for the next three years.  The Manitoba Denesuline and the Athabasca Denesuline in Saskatchewan have been negotiating their land claims in the region for over a decade. Their claims may include subsurface land within Nunavut.  The issue is complicated because there was never a straight line dividing Inuit and Dene in Nunavut’s Kivalliq region.

Today’s headlines from Energy in Depth:

Cornell professor relishes attention from Gasland. POLITICO. Energy in Depth, an industry-backed education organization, isn’t a fan of Ingraffea’s but says it’s not because of the company he keeps. “His research hasn’t been criticized or discounted because he’s an activist,” EID spokesman Chris Tucker said. “His research has been discounted because it’s been poorly done and demonstrably so.” Indeed, some of the conclusions of Ingraffea’s study have been contradicted by newer studies from Carnegie Mellon University and other Cornell researchers. Ingraffea and Howarth have stood by their conclusions. NOTE: Click here for EID’s fact sheet on Ingraffea’s research, and here for EID’s comprehensive rebuttal document for Gasland Part II (which premieres tonight at 9pm ET on HBO).

Colorful, middle-aged women at the core of anti-HF campaign. Associated Press. Victor Furman, head of a pro-gas landowners’ group in Chenango County, said Rapp and Scroggins are part of a “fringe group” that relies on emotion rather than science to build opposition. “They hold meetings that are full of lies and misinformation,” said Furman, a retired technical writer for IBM.” Energy In Depth sometimes sends its own camera-toting representatives to tail Scroggins’ tours and rebut what she says. The group posted video on its website of Scroggins shouting personal insults and obscenities at Phelim McAleer, a filmmaker who tried to talk to Ono and Sarandon during their January tour. “I admit that I lost it that day,” Scroggins said. “It wasn’t my finest hour.”
 
‘Gasland’ sequel claims drillers corrupting gov’t. Associated Press. "The real reason that shale development has expanded is not because of some nefarious plot on the part of industry leaders wearing black robes," said Steve Everley of Energy In Depth. "Rather, it’s because people across the United States have recognized that there are massive environmental and economic benefits to be reaped. … Both political parties are pushing for increased responsible natural gas production, and it’s because of the facts, not because they’ve been `captured.’”

 
Drilling boom helps keep gas prices lower. Scranton Times-Tribune. Since the Marcellus Shale drilling boom started in 2008, the resulting bounty of natural gas has translated into savings for Pennsylvania customers. And Pat Creighton, a spokesman for the industry group Marcellus Shale Coalition, says it’s a trend nationwide. "We are flush with gas in the United States, and that is a direct benefit to the consumer," he said.
 
Texas invests $12M in Chevron expansion. E&E News (sub. req’d). With the help of $12 million from the state of Texas, California-based Chevron Corp. is expanding its Houston campus. The 1.7-million-square-foot downtown office tower — designed to house professional, technical and administrative personnel — is expected to create 1,752 jobs, according to Chevron.  
 
Smaller companies at vanguard of U.S. shale oil revolution. Financial Times. The US shale revolution has not been led by Chevron or other large international oil companies such as ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, but by smaller North American independents, from the midsized companies valued in the tens of billions of dollars down to tiny start-ups.
 
U.S. shale boom dents crude prices for some OPEC states. E&E News (sub. req’d). As unconventional oil production ramps up in the United States, some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have seen their benchmark crude prices sink.
 
Texas heartland leads the US oil revival. Financial Times. Flying into Midland-Odessa airport in west Texas, you can see immediately that this is oil country. As far as the eye can see, the dusty scrubland, where nothing grows taller than a three-foot mesquite bush, is chequered with neat rectangles of gravel, each with its own oil pump.
 
What’s Wrong With Obama’s Energy Policy? Forbes, Op-Ed. Let’s face it, we don’t have a rational long-term energy or climate plan. It’s just lucky that fracking emerged so quickly to give us an alternative to coal that could be implemented right now.

INTERNATIONAL

GAIL’s shale gas from US to reduce fuel import bill. Financial Express. India’s rising gas import bill, which apparently induced the government to incentivize production of domestic gas by doubling its price, could be contained to a large extent once the country commences import of shale gas from the US. .
 
Cuadrilla Stepping Up UK Bowland Activity. NGI Shale Daily (sub. req’d). Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. plans to hydraulically fracture and test the shale at its exploration well at Grange Hill in the UK’s Bowland Basin and intends to drill, frack and test gas flows at up to six new temporary well sites in the Borough of Fylde, in Lancashire, England, the company said Friday.
 
Companies criticize proposed shale regulations. Warsaw Business Journal. The Polish Exploration and Production Industry Organization (OPPPW) has issued a statement that criticizes part of the government’s draft hydrocarbon extraction law. The organization claims some of the regulations will increase investment risk.
 
Saudi ramps up drilling to ease demand for oil. Financial Times. Saudi Arabia has intensified drilling for gas as it seeks to reduce pressure on oil demand from domestic power stations, according to rig count data and industry officials.
 
Repsol delays first shale-gas project in Spain after HF ban. Bloomberg. Repsol SA (REP), Spain’s largest oil producer, delayed starting to explore for shale gas in the north, where a local government has outlawed drilling projects that use water-intensive hydraulic fracturing.

CALIFORNIA

California needs comprehensive oil and gas rules.Sacramento Bee. Refineries in the Golden State receive most of their crude oil from the Middle East and Ecuador, and Southern California is attempting to rapidly transition from out-of-state coal-powered electricity to natural gas generation of power. To create jobs here and buffer California from international instability, it would behoove our state to be more of a home-grown producer of oil and gas. NOTE: Fresno Bee also reports.

California oil could boom again. Fresno Bee. "Fracking," as it’s popularly termed, has ignited an oil boom in other states and California is believed to have the nation’s largest shale oil deposits in the Monterey Shale Formation, a 1,750-square-mile chunk of the state, mostly in the lower San Joaquin Valley.
HF would help Kern County. Sacramento Bee, LTE. Development of the Monterey Shale could open the door for unprecedented job and revenue creation for Kern County and the state. It could redefine this nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

NORTH DAKOTA

Why North Dakota Could be the Next Emerging Market. AI-CIO. The low jobless rate isn’t the only factor: North Dakota finds itself sat on a huge pile of Bakken Shale reserve, and produces 800,000 barrels of oil a day, making it the second biggest producer of oil in the US, behind Texas.

NORTHEAST

Pittsburgh-area hotels find niche in oil, gas workers. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Shale Hotel Inc. is managing two hotels geared toward oil and gas workers, building two others and preparing to turn the Monroeville Holiday Inn into an industry destination for workers summoned here by the Marcellus Shale, the natural gas deposit underlying much of Pennsylvania.
 
Pennsylvania Landowner’s Group Threatens to Sue DRBC. NGI Shale Daily (sub. req’d). A coalition of landowners in Wayne County, PA, is threatening to file a lawsuit against the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) over a continuing delay in either enacting natural gas regulations in the basin or deferring regulation to its four member states.
 
Air Rules Covering Horizontal Drilling Adequate, Says West Virginia DEP. NGI Shale Daily (sub. req’d). The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has told key state legislators that no additional requirements are needed to protect the air quality from horizontal oil and gas drilling.
 
Pittsburgh gas project could benefit cargo. Air Cargo World. Sometime in late 2014, Consol Energy will begin shale gas drilling on 9,000 acres owned by Pittsburgh International Airport. The deal figures to be lucrative for the airport over the 20-year lease and could eventually offer benefits to air cargo in the region.
 
Energy company proposes new gas pipelines. Newsday. In another sign that natural gas is outpacing costlier heating oil, a Texas energy company is proposing to install new pipelines, replace others and build transmission stations in the heavily populated, 200-mile New York-to-Boston corridor.   

OHIO
 
Proposed pipeline will connect Ohio’s well fields to Louisiana. Akron Beacon Journal. Two energy infrastructure companies are proceeding with a 1,153-mile pipeline project that will deliver natural gas liquids from rapidly developing Utica and Marcellus shales in Ohio and surrounding states to the Gulf of Mexico for processing and possible export.
 
Big energy firm purchases oil company with local holdings. The Athens News. According to a news release issued by Eclipse, the company has acquired the Zanesville, Ohio-based Oxford Oil Co., LLC, which held about 184,000 net acres in Ohio. Oxford becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Eclipse, under the name of Eclipse Resources – Ohio, LLC.
 
New unitization rules should help protect landowners. Youngstown Vindicator. A part of the Ohio Revised Code, section 1509.28, “unitization” allows oil and gas companies to pool landowners across vast stretches of land that either can’t be contacted or who have no interest in selling the mineral rights below their property.

TEXAS

New Texas laws expected to boost natural gas use.E&E News (sub. req’d). Two bills signed into law recently aim to encourage Texas to use more of its natural gas resources for generating electricity, potentially offsetting coal-fired power in the long run.
 
The Oil and Gas Boom. Seguin Gazette. These are signs of the major oil and gas boom now under way in Texas. More evidence of the boom can be observed far from the drilling sites in the form of big trucks hauling gravel and specialized equipment.
 
CHK To Sell $1B In Assets. The Intelligencer. Chesapeake Energy is shedding about 65,000 acres in Texas and Louisiana for $1 billion in its ongoing efforts to reduce debt and refocus its drilling activity.