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Tracking the players in the ever-growing energy and environmental world.

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March 21, 2013

House Passes Public Utility Commission Sunset Bill

From the Texas Tribune:  A sunset bill that continues the operations of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which regulates the electric and telephone industries, won approval Wednesday from the House, though the legislation would adjust how the commission works. House Bill 1600, authored by state Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, would transfer authority over water […]

March 13, 2013

Ambiguities Persist in Regulating Water Withdrawals for Fracking

From the Texas Tribune:  In Karnes County, at the heart of the Eagle Ford Shale, oil and gas drillers seeking to use water for hydraulic fracturing must get a permit from the local groundwater authority. They can pump only a certain amount of water, and they must report how much they use. In Dimmit County, […]

March 8, 2013

In Texas, Water Use for Fracking Stirs Concerns

From the Texas Tribune: CARRIZO SPRINGS — In this South Texas stretch of mesquite trees and cactus, where the land is sometimes too dry to grow crops, the local aquifer is being strained in the search for oil. The reason is hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a drilling process that requires massive amounts of water. “We […]

Changing How Texans Pay for Power

Texans can add one more item to the list of reasons to love the state: It has the best market for electricity. Anywhere.. At least, according to Donna Nelson. She’s chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission. “It’s arguably the most successful in the world,” Nelson told attendees at the IHS energy conference in Houston. […]

March 1, 2013

New Research Says Gas Boom Still Has a Few Decades In It

A common question arises when people talk about “fracking,” the colloquial term for the drilling process of hydraulic fracturing — how much oil and gas is really down there? New research led by the University of Texas at Austin says it’s not as much as some expected, but not as little as expected, either. And […]

February 28, 2013

With Gas Drilling on the Decline, Texas Shale Regions Diverge

Two years ago Texas’ booming Barnett Shale region was facing a slew of challenges that came along with increased oil and gas drilling. Heavy drilling trucks were destroying the roads, employees were getting poached from their everyday jobs to go work on the rigs, and residents of North Texas worried about what kind of impact […]

February 26, 2013

NRDC: Drilling Leases Now Cover More Land Than California and Florida Combined

There’s a land grab going on in America, as the advent of drilling techniques like hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking”) and horizontal drilling unlock domestic deposits of oil and gas that had earlier had not been economical to drill. New numbers collected by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental group, show the massive amount of land involved. […]

February 21, 2013

Why Gulf Coast Refineries Started 2013 With Less Oil

Despite a drilling bonanza in Texas and other parts of the country leading to high levels of domestic oil and gas production, gasoline prices have been on the rise lately. Since mid-January, average prices at the pump went up from $3.37 to $3.81. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher: if we’re producing more and more […]

February 19, 2013
February 18, 2013

Fraud in the Oil Fields: A Boom in Theft Costs Texas Industry Millions

If you drive west from Houston out Interstate 10, about the time you’ve gone 100 miles and reached the edge of the Eagle Ford Shale, you’ll begin noticing them: Big rigs and other assorted trucks. They’re heading to the oil and gas fields of South and West Texas. Some are loaded with tons of steel […]

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