The Texas Groundwater Protection Committee has a new website that provides a wealth of information and links for those interested in groundwater resources and regulation in Texas. The Committee was created by the Texas Legislature in 1989 to provide coordination among nine state agencies that deal with groundwater: the Texas…
The Energy Information Administration continues to produce fascinating graphs. Two recent ones are below. Natural gas hammered coal last year. Low natural gas prices still made electricity cheap. West Texas Intermediate Crude declined, while Brent crude increased. Electricity generated from natural gas equaled that generated from coal for…
State Representative Van Taylor, R-Plano, and Senator Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, have introduced a bill to allow for forced pooling in Texas. The House bill, HB 100, may be viewed here. The bill would allow an operator to force-pool mineral, royalty and leasehold interests into a unit if the operator obtains…
Here are two good websites that provide interesting and balanced views about energy production and consumption: The Rational Middle, and Think Progress. The Rational Middle is a series of films by the people that produced the movie Haynesville – A Nation’s Hunt for an Energy Future. Its goal is to encourage…
I recently heard an interview with George Mitchell, the independent operator who found the key for combining hydraulic fracturing technology and horizontal drilling to unlock vast reserves of gas in the Barnett Shale, the first shale play. And it only took him 17 years to figure it out. Now 93…
Amazing image. No better way to illustrate the activity in the Eagle Ford.
The University of Texas withdrew a study published earlier this year by UT Austin’s Energy Institute, “Fact-Based Regulation for Environmental Protection in Shale Gas Development,” after review by an independent commission appointed by the University. That review was prompted by a report of the Public Accountability Initiative, a non-profit watchdog…
I recently had the opportunity to view a documentary, “Switch,” produced by Dr. Scott Tinker, Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas and the State Geologist of Texas, and Harry Lynch, documentary filmmaker. Dr. Tinker uses as the premise for his film the question –…
Texas’ Sunset Advisory Commission has issued its recommendations for changes at the Texas Railroad Commission. The report can be found here. The RRC was up for regular Sunset review in 2010, and the Sunset Commission issued a report recommending several changes then, including abolishing the three-member elected Commission and replacing…
I have recently become aware of recent changes in Texas Railroad Commission policies regarding “production sharing agreements” and “allocation wells” that deserve some comment. Some background is necessary to understand these recent developments. Over the last couple of years I have been asked to review and explain proposed “production sharing…
