Data from the Energy Information Administration shows that Texas’ oil production is now the highest it’s been in thirty years. Texas crude production is now approaching 3 million barrels/day, a rate not seen since the 1960’s. Below are EIA graphs showing production of oil from the Eagle Ford and the…
On December 20, the Office of Inspector General of the Environmental Protection Agency issued its “Response to Congressional Inquiry Regarding the EPA’s Emergency Order to the Range Resources Gas Drilling Company.” The report was requested by Congress as a result of an emergency order issued by the Dallas regional office…
The Energy Information Administration has created a nifty website presenting energy information by state, with a great map interface. Here is the link to the Texas map: http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=TX Click on “full screen,” then play with the different layers for the map. Under “layers/legend,” click on “views” and explore the different layers…
In November, Texas Monthly hosted a panel discussion at Rice University’s Baker Institute for public policy about the boom in shale oil development in the US. The panel members: Arthur E. Berman, a Sugar Land-based geologist; Scott W. Tinker, the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of…
StateImpact Texas has published a series of good articles about the growing evidence that the huge quantities of wastewater being injected in the Barnett Shale field are causing earthquakes — some of sufficient intensity to cause significant damages. Lawsuits have been filed in Johnson County to recover for the damage. StateImpact’s…
Suppose that the fluids injected into a disposal well migrate beyond the boundary of the tract where the well is located; does that incursion of the injected fluids into and under the neighbor’s property constitute a trespass? Until recently, this question had never been addressed by a Texas appellate…
Lawsuits against Chesapeake Exploration for wrongfully deducting post-production costs from its gas royalty payments are hitting a boiling-point. Suits are being pursued against the company in every jurisdiction where it operates, including Texas, Arkansas, Lousiana, Kansas, Ohio, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. Chesapeake has recently been much more aggressive in…
WoodMackenzie has recently come out with its 2013 ranking of the world’s twenty largest oil companies, and their change in production over the last ten years: (BOE is barrels of oil equivalent.) As you can see, most are state-owned companies. Russia re-acquired its privately-owned companies. Saudi Arabia has increased its…
A group of environmentally conscious social and investor organizations has produced a report, Disclosing the Facts: Transparency and Risk in Hydrualic Fracturing Operations. The report grades companies on how well they report risks attendant to operations in the major US shale plays. The report is a collaboration of four organizations:…
I have recently seen articles predicting the end of the shale boom, coming not only from those who have consistently predicted that shale production would never amount to anything, but also from respected sources whose predictions have previously proven accurate. A recent Houston Chronicle article quotes from a paper written…