Industry News

Devil’s Spring Ranch and the surrounding Blanco, New Mexico countryside have a big problem. According to the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), “a huge cloud of methane … 10 times larger than the city of Chicago” looms overhead. The source? You guessed it — natural gas leaks. Scientists say these leaks stem from some 25,000 […]

The Lebanon City Council voted to remove references to natural gas as a favored energy source from the city’s master plan on Wednesday, June 7, reflecting concerns about the environmental impact of natural gas. Meanwhile, Upper Valley residents are organizing against a proposal in front of the Public Utilities Commission, put forward by Liberty Utilities, […]

Last Thursday, June 1, an excavator working on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs hit a natural gas line, prompting evacuations of two buildings. According to CBS Connecticut, the incident occurred on the east side of campus around 11 a.m., at which point people were promptly asked to vacate both the UConn Dairy Bar […]

Ken Silverstein of FORBES reports: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline may be the embodiment of what happens when the nation is using more natural gas but the companies building the infrastructure to transport that fuel struggle to get the necessary permits. The $5.1 billion project would feed the energy appetites of the mid-Atlantic states but it […]

Environmental activists are against it. Local and state officials and state agencies are against it. A Native American organization is against it. And residents of Sandisfield. Mass., who will be directly affected, are against it. But Tennessee Gas Pipeline/Kinder Morgan has just completed clearing 30 acres in Otis State Forest as part of its Connecticut […]

Natural gas prices are likely to increase by the end of 2017, due to tight supply and production, according to Arthur Berman, a petroleum geologist with 36 years in the industry. Berman accurately predicted that natural gas prices would double last year despite other analysts’ bearish position, and is again standing against “the mainstream narrative” […]

America’s smallest state seems to offer up a microcosm of natural gas’s systemic safety failures. One needs look no further than a spate of recent leaks and explosions. Alex Kuffner of the Providence Journal reports: “Rhode Island’s natural gas distribution system has a troubling percentage of bare steel and iron pipes — outdated materials prone […]

Yet another story from the Pennsylvania front, as Andrew Maykuth reports for Philly.com: Should current Pennsylvania utility customers pay the cost to extend gas service to their neighbors? The state House Consumer Affairs Committee on Wednesday ventured into that minefield of potentially clashing interests when it heard testimony in Harrisburg on a proposal to allow […]

Kathy Boccella, Staff Writer with Philly.com, reports: Behind closed doors at Rose Tree Media school headquarters in Delaware County, the “safety summit” brought together district and township leaders, first responders, officials from Sunoco Logistics, and even Homeland Security to draw up school evacuation plans in the event of a catastrophic explosion or leak from the […]

Score one for the local landowners and residents of Western New York. Following three public hearings and over 5,700 comments, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has denied a required water quality certificate to the National Fuel Gas Company for its proposed Northern Access Pipeline. The pipeline would’ve carried hydraulically fractured (“fracked”) natural […]

The Los Angeles Times reports: A chemical leak at a natural gas facility that had long been owned by San Diego-based Sempra Energy has been found to have contributed to the troubled health of residents in a poor Alabama community. The Alabama Department of Public Health announced in a recent press release that the ongoing […]

“When it comes to petroleum, the U.S. is the land of the plenty.” That’s the word according to a recent article published by Bloomberg. “The year 2017 started off with a bang for American oil companies as total crude and petroleum products exports rose to a record 5.69 million barrels a day in January, government […]

A new partnership among scientists, environmentalists and technology experts is helping to reveal leaks in urban natural gas pipelines, according to a recent article in the Washington Post. And they’re hoping their efforts could help cities cut down on accidental emissions of methane, one of the world’s most potent greenhouse gases. The project is a […]

Strong U.S. oil production is helping to keep prices low, according to a recent article by United Press International. UPI reports that oil prices are under $50 per barrel, which is well below the $100 per barrel seen in 2014. “Producers in the United States are partially responsible for the current oversupply in oil,” the […]

Dire predictions that power plant closures in New England would strain electricity supply so far are proving to be wrong, according to a recent article in the Portland Press Herald. An auction conducted last month by the region’s grid operator to meet demand in 2021 attracted more than enough power, and at the lowest prices […]