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Monday, June 6, 2011

Texas Railroad Commission and Regulation of Hydraulic Fracking

This, however, is good news.
The Texas Legislature passed the country's first hydraulic fracking fluid disclosure bill last week, requiring oil and gas companies to publicly list the specific chemicals used in drilling.

"We're in favor of it, actually," Shepperd said, explaining the importance of providing the public with that information. 

"Haliburton discloses the ingredients used in its fracturing operations," Haliburton representative Teresa Wong said in an email. "In fact, Haliburton goes a step further than the law requires by disclosing the constituents and additives used in typical fracturing formulas in its website."

And trade secrets would not be disclosed under the new bill, Texas Oil and Gas Association representative Deb Hastings said.

The chemicals would be posted on Frac Focus, the same website hazardous or carcinogenic chemicals are now voluntarily disclosed, Hastings said.
I've seen the Halliburton ads and they are very intriguing.

This article makes too much sense for some folks. 
Energy company executives on Wednesday argued that states - not the federal government - should take the lead in regulating the hydraulic fracturing process being used to produce natural gas from shale formations in New York, the Midwest and Texas. Geologic differences among the regions mean what works in one state might not work in another, stressed Jack Williams, president of XTO Energy, the natural gas producer purchased by Exxon Mobil last year. For instance, in Arkansas and Texas, natural gas developers are finding ways to inject the water they use back into the ground - something that generally can't be done in a different shale formation in the Northeast.

Three Japanese Reactors: Complete Meltdown

Link here.

Every time I read another story about the Japanese disaster, all I can think of is this: US Secretary of Energy -- "my worse nightmare is coal" in testimony some months ago.

So Much For Eco-Friendly Wind Turbines: Killing Them Softly

It appears American mainstream media is quiet on this.

Thank goodness for the Internet.

Apparently California wind turbines are killing golden eagles faster than they can reproduce.

In other news, NDIC had not posted today's daily activity report as of 9:00 p.m.

Several Wells Have Come Off the Confidential List Over the Weekend -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

I generally post results every day of wells that come off the confidential list.

Click here for those results.

Some quick observations: all of a sudden, BR has reported a couple of great wells. Based on the IP (which is only one data point), folks won't be impressed with EOG's well that just came off the confidential list. Several CLR wells came off the confidential list over the weekend; based on IPs, they are mediocre wells. Dakota-3 (WMB company) reported a great well.

NOG also reported two nice Slawson wells, both in Big Bend: Alamo #2-19-18H and Hunter #1-8-17H. (And there are still a few Slawson wells on DRL status.)

History of Four Bears Bridge -- New Town, North Dakota, USA

See original posting of Four Bears Bridge and comment.

These are photographs of memorials at the site. If you click on the photos, they will open in a new window, and using your zoom function, you can make the pictures as big as you want, so you can read the stories.

The first bridge was built in 1934.

The second bridge was built 1951 - 1953.

The third bridge is the one we see today.

I still have more pictures of the bridge and historical  markers, and with time, will post them also.

But here's a start: