fracking - Page 8

Study: Only 0.1 Percent of North Texas Injection Wells Potentially Involved in Earthquakes

According to a new study released on Wednesday, underground wastewater injection wells used in hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” have virtually no role whatsoever in the earthquakes in the North Texas area during the past few years. The study was conducted by a group affiliated with the petroleum industry, but used publicly available data on seismic activity in the region and a long list of independent peer-reviewed scientific research to reach this conclusion.

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Earthquake in Texas…Again

In the relative calm of an early morning where North Texas was bracing for a rare snow storm, the Dallas suburb of Irving got a wake-up call, literally, on Friday, February 27, when a small 3.1 magnitude earthquake struck at 6:18 AM, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). This was the first temblor felt in a month.

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

There Is No Peak Oil–But We Are Approaching Peak Low-Cost Oil

We will finally learn, after more than 40 years of not knowing, what the free market supply/demand price of crude truly is. This knowledge will make it harder for secretive governments and corporations to manipulate prices in the future, while strengthening domestic production to weather supply shocks in the future.

AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

EPA Targeting Oil & Gas Industry Even Though Emissions Down

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken yet another regulatory action to interfere with oil and gas production – long considered an activity with de minimus impact on air quality. The Agency now sets its sights on methane, which is the primary component of natural gas. Methane emissions from natural gas systems have fallen by 14.3% from 2008-2012. Any leaks from hydraulically fractured natural gas wells have fallen by 73% from 2011-2013. In this same time frame, the U.S. has become the world’s leading producer of natural gas, nearly quadrupling production rates from those in 2008, as well as increasing natural gas pipelines by 30%. In spite of the steep decline of methane emissions and steady economic growth, the White House recently moved forward with the Climate Action Plan, directing the EPA to propose expansive rules by the summer of 2015. The new regulations aim to reduce methane emissions by 40-45% from 2012 levels by 2025 through a series of actions targeting the oil and gas industry.

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U.S. Oil Prices Fall Below 50 Dollars a Barrel

For the first time since 2009, the price of United States oil fell below $50 a barrel, and Brent crude (West Texas Intermediate crude) fell to a five-and-a-half year low of $51.12 per barrel. That statistic is in great part due to fracking and a global excess in oil supply, combined with OPEC’s refusal to slow its production.

Joshua Lott/Getty Images/AFP

GDP: 5 Percent

On Tuesday, the Commerce Department released revised GDP figures that showed third quarter growth at 5%, the strongest third-quarter growth in eleven years.

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