Jenkins: Good Will Fracking

Wall Street Journal Op-Ed  12/11/12

After a decade of war and half-century of costly military involvement in the Middle East, the United States stands on the brink of "energy independence." Then a shadowy Canadian billionaire coupled with Mideast oil interests sponsor a Hollywood propaganda movie aimed at luring Americans into throwing away the instrument of their deliverance: shale energy.

They co-opt a name-brand Hollywood movie star to be the useful idiot of their nefarious plot. The movie is released a few days after Christmas, just in time for Oscar nominations in a diabolical scheme to influence a national debate over fracking.

In other words, a typically stupid Hollywood thriller plot, except for a minor deviation: The poor shmuck actor is Matt Damon and he's making a real movie, albeit with its own typically stupid Hollywood plot, one that doubles down on the conventional "evil oil company" stereotype.

Focus Features

Matt Damon and John Krasinski in "Promised Land."

If you somehow missed the twists and turns, Mr. Damon, who played a genius in "Good Will Hunting" and a master spy in the "Bourne" movies, has pled ignorance of the fact that financing for his movie came partly from Abu Dhabi, which, as the...

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US study says the more LNG exported the better

In Reuters USA by By Ayesha Rascoe on December 6 2012

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - A U.S. government-sponsored report gave full-throated endorsement on Wednesday for the expansion of liquefied natural gas exports, saying that shipping surplus gas abroad would help the overall economy, despite raising energy prices.

The report, commissioned by the Energy Department, is expected to help shape the Obama administration's response to more than a dozen proposed export projects put on hold over the past year, as a surge in shale gas production upended the market and depressed domestic prices.

NERA Economic Consulting said it examined the impact of LNG exports in 63 scenarios and found exports to be a net benefit for the economy.

"Moreover, for every one of the market scenarios examined, net economic benefits increased as the level of LNG exports increased," the study said.

But the benefits would not be shared evenly, it warned. Although owners of natural gas resources and many downstream investors will benefit from the export boom, regular wage-earners will face higher...

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If New York wants to help America toward its energy “golden age,” it had best get cracking on fracking.

Opinion by New York Post   November 18th

On today’s PostScript pages, Julian Borger and Larry Elliott note the stakes: US shale oil and gas, and the fairly new process to harvest them called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” are set to make America energy-self-sufficient in short order.

Indeed, the country may well become a world leader in energy production — a historic shift that will throw the geopolitical order on its head, strengthening America economically and politically.

“Exploitation of fields in states such as West Virginia and Pennsylvania,” the authors note, “have transformed the US’s energy outlook pretty much overnight.

“If all the known [US] shale gas resources were developed to their commercial potential . . .production could more than quadruple over the next two decades.”

It’s just a matter of time, they suggest, that a self-reliant United States would have the world knocking on its door for energy.

The economic perks alone are huge.

Borger and Elliott cite fracking’s “direct impact on production and employment,” adding that the new industry-within-an-industry is “likely to support 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade.”

A number of states — most notably, New York’s neighbor, Pennsylvania — are already seeing boom times from fracking.

Alas, not New York. And it’s not for want of the gas and oil gold within its borders: No, the state’s Southern Tier is believed to hold some 20 percent of the roughly300 trillion to 500 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale region.

That’s...

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NY’s future: a tale of two towns

Posted: 10:55 PM, December 2, 2012 by Jim Finch in NYPost opinion

The news that the state Department of Environmental Conservation is taking another three-month extension on issuing rules to allow “fracking” in New York means more folks in my town will be losing their homes — and more still may lose hope.

In recent years, the town of Conklin has been hit by more than a few blows. The first was a major flood in 2006; the second, felt across the nation, the 2008 financial collapse. The third was another major flood last year that ravaged our town. Combined with the 2006 flood, some 250 homes were destroyed.

But our own state leaders have put another obstacle to Conklin’s dreams: the ongoing moratorium on natural-gas development, which leaves our community missing out on a host of opportunities.

This, when just one mile from our town sit the three most productive gas wells in Susquehanna County, Penn.

In 2008, unemployment in New York state was just 4.7 percent. Today, it’s 8.2 percent, well above the national average — and it’s a lot higher here in the Southern Tier.

In Conklin and neighboring towns, decent jobs are hard to find. With the rising costs of groceries, health-care and gasoline, it’s a constant struggle to keep homes and farms in the family.

So many locals ask why our state keeps putting the brakes on an industry looking to invest here.

For almost four years now, landowners, operators and laborers alike have been awaiting the state’s release of its final rules for natural-gas development. That the state missed its own Nov. 29...

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Broome County Survey - very important

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IOGA-- NYSDEC revised regs released!

Dear IOGANY member:

The NYSDEC has recently released their revised regulations and extension documents You can now view the extension documents DEC filed yesterday with the Dept. of State and the full text of the revised draft regulations on DEC's website at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/77353.html.

We understand the DEC must finalize the SGEIS prior to finalizing the regs, and the SGEIS must be completed at least 10 days prior to implementing any rules or regulations that depend upon the SGEIS for compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act. This means the DEC will be required to finalize the SGEIS by mid-February, at the latest.

IOGANY has been heavily invested in this process for the past four and a half years and we intend to continue our efforts of reviewing these documents, monitoring the process, and responding to the DEC going forward.  We feel that this milestone reflects a desire by the governor and his administration to finalize the SGEIS and the associated rulemaking by early next year.  Overall, we are encouraged that this will usher in a new era for oil and gas development in New York.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us anytime.

Best regards,

Brad

Brad Gill

Executive Director

Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York

38 Lake Street

Hamburg, NY 14075

716.202.4688 Ph

716.202.4689 Fax

Genesee County Gas Driller Sues Town, DEC

By Jon Campbell, Albany Bureau  by WGRV.com   Written by WGRZ Web Staff

7:04 PM, Nov 29, 2012

ALBANY -- The state Department of Environmental Conservation may soon have to weigh in on a local gas-drilling ban after a Genesee County-based company filed suit against the agency.

Lenape Resources, a small natural-gas company based in Alexander, sued both the DEC and the Livingston County town of Avon earlier this month, challenging the town's recent ban on gas drilling and storage.

The company is seeking $50 million from the town, claiming the ban has cost Lenape millions in the form of lost business and unused mineral rights.

"It is my business," said John Holko, Lenape's president. "It's all I do and what I've spent all the money for in the area, and I don't have much of a choice but to take an action."

Avon passed a ban on natural-gas extraction and underground storage earlier this year. The town has contended the ban includes a "grandfather clause" for existing operations, though Holko claims it isn't broad enough and forced him to shut down.

Avon Supervisor David LeFeber could not immediately be reached for comment.

The lawsuit represents at least the fourth attempt to overturn a local ban or moratorium on drilling or hydraulic fracturing, the much-debated technique...

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Revised hydrofracking regulations are released in New York state

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Better delivery system is crucial to Cuomo's "energy highway" plan

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