http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120317/WIRE/120319638/1033/news?Title=How-an-oil-and-gas-boom-is-interrupting-greening-of-America

By CAROLINE BAUM
Published: Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, March 16, 2012 at 10:18 p.m.

Anecdotes are no substitute for hard data. But when they start to reach a critical mass and they all tell the same story, you know something big is going on.

A longtime car salesman relocates to south Texas to capitalize on the soaring demand for truckers to haul sand to hydraulic fracturing sites across the Eagle Ford shale formation. Nearby, the Corpus Christie School District can’t find bus drivers, who are getting paid a lot more to cart sand.

Workers pour into Williston, N.D., drawn by offers of six-figure salaries for jobs connected with the Bakken shale formation. Even though housing development is sky- rocketing, the Wal-Mart parking lot looks like an RV park, packed with campers providing temporary living quarters until housing construction catches up with demand.

There is no oil-and-gas drilling in Idaho, but Fleetwood Homes has been ramping up production and hiring workers to build pre-fab homes for shipment to the Bakken oil field in North Dakota, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Energy independence, the Holy Grail for every U.S. president since Jimmy Carter, is within reach, oil-industry executives and analysts tell NPR. Within the next 10 years, the United States will no longer have to import crude oil and will be able to export natural gas, energy economist Philip Verleger says.

PFC Energy Chief Executive Officer Robin West compares the impact of the “shale gale” to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Some long-haul trucking companies are converting to natural gas because of the cost advantage over diesel, according to Bloomberg News. Fleet owners that don’t convert a portion of their vehicles to natural gas will find themselves at an economic disadvantage.

For anyone who hasn’t read or heard about it yet, there’s an oil-and-gas boom under way in the United States. By some estimates, the U.S. has three times the proven shale oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.

Thanks to new drilling techniques for extracting oil and gas from shale rock underground, the price of natural gas has plummeted to 10-year lows, creating a market-based incentive – no government subsidies required! – for truckers to convert to the cheaper, cleaner fuel. All of this has broader implications for the U.S. economy.

Let’s start with Washington’s obsession: job creation. Oil- and-gas industries have added 33,300 workers since December 2009, the recent low point. The only industry coming close to a 21 percent increase is temporary-staffing agencies – not exactly an endorsement for the economy.

Granted, the energy industry represents an infinitesimal 0.14 percent of the workforce, but it has a relatively large footprint. Oil-and-gas drilling crews need equipment, food, clothing and lodging. They want to frequent bars and restaurants in the makeshift boom towns sprouting up in areas of North Dakota, Montana, south Texas and Pennsylvania.

Manufacturers of drilling equipment need raw materials, such as steel and chemicals. So there’s a natural multiplier effect. Think of it as fiscal stimulus without the government first taking from Peter to give to Paul.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes Employment Requirements data tables for firms to assess the impact of opening a new factory or store on jobs and sales. James C. Franklin, head of the Division of Industry Employment Projections at the BLS, walked me through some of the statistics for the energy industry.

Every direct job created in the oil-and-gas extraction industry, for example, yields 2.3 jobs elsewhere in the economy, Franklin says. This is expressed as a multiplier of 3.3, higher than the average of 2 for the 195 industries tracked by the BLS.

Petroleum-and-coal product manufacturing (refineries) happens to have the highest multiplier at 8.2.
And yes, manufacturing industries are at once the most capital-intensive, the most productive and still have the biggest spillover effect when it comes to generating jobs.

The huge supply of inexpensive (to produce and to buy) natural gas has the potential to accelerate the return of manufacturing enterprises to the U.S. That trend is already under way as rising wages in China and higher fuel-related shipping costs reduce the appeal of outsourcing.

“Cheap natural gas is transforming the competitive economics of the marketplace,” says Daniel Yergin, the author of “The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World.”

Natural-gas prices fell this week to a 10-year low of $2.27 per million British thermal units, half the price of eight months ago. After adjusting for the lower energy content, natural gas is now about 40 percent cheaper than petroleum fuel, according to calculations by the Energy Information Administration.

That’s why many trucking companies are choosing to convert. With the differential between oil and natural-gas prices at a record high, more and more homeowners are converting from oil heat to natural gas even though the switch may take anywhere from one to five years to pay for itself.

If the price trends continue, the focus may shift from concern about higher gas prices killing the economy (the glass is half-empty) to the realization that cheap natural gas can act as a tailwind (the glass is half-full). Not everyone will be happy, of course, including President Barack Obama. Cheap natural gas makes renewable energy even less competitive than it was before.

Caroline Baum, author of “Just What I Said,” is a columnist for Bloomberg View.
Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/bp-whistleblower-seeks-immediate-trial-in-atlantis-safety-case.html

By Laurel Brubaker Calkins and Margaret Cronin Fisk – Mar 15, 2012 9:01 PM PT Fri Mar 16 04:01:01 GMT 2012

BP Plc (BP\)’s Atlantis facility remains unsafe, according to a whistle-blower who said in a court filing that the company’s second-largest oil producer in the Gulf of Mexico is operating under permits BP obtained by lying to regulators.

“Immediate court action is needed to remedy unsafe conditions on Atlantis,” Mikal Watts, an attorney for former BP contractor Kenneth Abbott, said in papers filed yesterday seeking a trial date in federal court in Houston, where the case has been pending since 2009. “BP has falsely certified compliance with critical environmental and safety regulations” to pump billions of dollars in petroleum from the offshore facility, the lawyer said. “BP’s corporate policy and practice is to buy its way out after it is caught and then do it again.”

Abbott sued London-based BP in 2009 on behalf of the U.S. government, seeking to get a judge to shut down Atlantis, which produces about 120,000 barrels of oil daily, according to court records. Abbott said the judge should appoint a special master to oversee measures to bring the offshore facility into compliance with safety and environmental laws. He also seeks $7.8 billion from BP, which he estimated in court papers is the value of oil and gas the company has pumped through Atlantis since it came online in 2007.

Atlantis ‘Safe’
BP said in its own court filings that Atlantis is safe and that Abbott’s complaints were dismissed by federal regulators who investigated the issue after the April 2010 blowout of BP’s Macondo well drilled by the Deepwater Horizon. The Atlantis production platform is located about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig disaster occurred.

“We fundamentally disagree with plaintiffs’ claims in this lawsuit,” Daren Beaudo, a BP spokesman, said yesterday in an e- mail. “The Department of Interior conducted a thorough investigation of Mr. Abbott’s lawsuit allegations and concluded that Mr. Abbott’s allegations are unfounded and the Atlantis platform is safe and should continue to be operated by BP.” The U.S. Interior Department in March 2011 said that BP’s deficiencies in documentation for the platform posed no “serious” safety risks, following its investigation of Abbott’s allegations. Lawyers for BP and Abbott will meet before U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes on March 19. Abbott’s lawyers said they will seek an immediate hearing on safety issues. The case is United States of America Ex Rel. Abbott v. BP Exploration and Production Inc., 4:09-cv-01193, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).

To contact the reporters on this story: Laurel Brubaker Calkins in Houston at laurel@calkins.us.com; Margaret Cronin Fisk in Southfield, Michigan, at mcfisk@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/18/u-s-oil-executives-trapped-in-brazil-following-court-order/

March 18, 2012

Published: 11:27 AM 03/18/2012

By Gregg Re

George Buck, president of Chevron’s subsidiary in Brazil, speaks to media in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday Nov. 21, 2011. Rio de Janeiro state’s environment secretary, Carlos Minc, says Brazil is expected to fine Chevron nearly $28 million for the oil spill in an offshore field operated by Chevron at the Bacia de Campos, in Rio de Janeiro state and will also ask Chevron to pay for damages caused by the Atlantic spill. Minc said Monday he considers the fine way too lenient, but it’s the maximum allowed under current Brazilian law. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Seventeen top oil executives from Chevron are currently trapped in Brazil after a federal court there barred them from leaving the country pending criminal charges, CNN reports. Police said the executives must turn over their passports within 24 hours. Chevron said in an email to CNN that it had not been formally alerted to the charges.

The court order stems from a 2,400-barrel oil spill that occurred about 240 miles off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in November 2011. Chevron and oil rig operator Transocean already face up to $11 billion in civil liability from the incident, which spilled approximately 110,000 gallons (about 416,000 liters) of oil. At the time, Chevron stated that the leak occurred because it underestimated the pressure in an underwater reservoir. “Chevron and Transocean were not able to control the damages caused by the spilling of almost 3,000 barrels of oil, which shows a lack of environmental planning and management by the companies,” Brazilian prosecutors said in a statement.

The chief operating officer for Chevron’s Brazilian division is among those facing charges for environmental crimes, prosecutors said.

President Barack Obama visited Brazil last year to offer to help Brazil expand its offshore drilling operations, even as the United States oil industry struggled to return to normal after the disastrous 2010 BP oil spill. “When you’re ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers,” Obama said, adding that he “could not be happier with the potential for a new, stable source of energy.”

The president’s affinity for Brazil’s valuable oil supply drew ire from some Republicans, who feel that the administration should be doing more to uphold its commitment to domestic energy production. Brazil hopes to output 7 million barrels per day by the end of the decade, which would displace the U.S. as the world’s third-largest oil producing country.

“We have abundant energy resources off Louisiana’s coast, but this administration is using Americans’ tax dollars to support drilling off the coast of Brazil,” Republican Sen. David Vitter said in a statement. “It’s ridiculous to ignore our own resources and continue going hat-in-hand to countries like Saudi Arabia and Brazil to beg them to produce more oil.” Oil executives, including Gulf Oil CEO Joe Petrowski, went further, called Obama’s support of Brazilian oil “puzzling” and “humorous.” “It seems a double standard and it seems somewhat hypocritical to a country that desperately needs jobs that we’re encouraging other countries to create the jobs that we need,” he told Fox News.

The president’s most high-profile attempt to create domestic energy jobs didn’t end particularly well: Solyndra – the solar panel manufacturer that received $585 million from the federal government -declared bankruptcy last year. All 1,000 jobs that the administration promised would result from the investment in Solyndra were lost.

On March 15, Chevron halted production operations in Brazil after yet another small leak was discovered, the BBC reported. Company executives denied that the latest leak was caused by drilling, but the company will reportedly face more fines regardless.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/03/suit_challenges_mississippi_de.html

Published: Friday, March 16, 2012, 6:13 AM
By Harlan Kirgan, Mississippi Press

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi — A lawsuit filed by two environmental groups seeks to halt implementation of Mississippi Development Authority seismic and leasing rules for the state’s offshore waters.

The Sierra Club and Gulf Restoration Network filed the lawsuit Wednesday in the Hinds County Chancery Court.

The rules are scheduled to take effect today, according to MDA spokesman Dan Turner.

The suit states the rules are invalid because MDA failed to prepare a valid economic impact statement, and respond and analyze all of the public comments. The suit also states MDA did not balance private versus public trust interests.

“I think as an organization we have bent over backwards to try and get some relief out of the MDA and the agency has repeatedly ignored what I think are public interest groups’ concerns,” said Louie Miller, state director of the Sierra Club.

Those concerns included requesting additional time for public comment, he said.

Turner said he had not seen the suit and could not comment on it.

“But, I’m not sure what real purpose would be served by extending comment again,” he said. “We extended it once. It was 21 pages of rules. We had 43 days of comment period. We held two public hearings. We’ve met with every group that has wanted to meet with us and explained what we are doing and I don’t know exactly what the accomplishment would be at this point.”

The rules were published Dec. 19 and the comment public comment period closed Jan. 31.

Two public meetings on the issue attracted minimal interest, with a Jan. 26 meeting in Jackson drawing only one person and a Jan. 27 one in Gautier drawing only 25 attendees.

A total of 185 responses were received through meetings, letters and e-mails, Turner said after the deadline passed, but only a handful of the comments specifically addressed the draft rules and regulations.

Robert Wiygul of Ocean Springs, the attorney who filed the suit, said MDA is being asked to forward everything it did in putting the rules together to the court for review.

“We are really asking for a modicum of common sense to be applied,” he said. “The way these regulations are set up, oil and gas leases are going to be issued before there is an analysis of the impact on other resources, on other parts of the economy like tourism.”

The “appeal of rulemaking” suit asks the court to review MDA’s actions, he said.

“This is not a situation like a lot of civil cases where you have a verdict and one party wins, one party loses,” he said.

If the environmental groups’ challenge is upheld, the rules would be vacated and sent back to MDA for correction, Wiygul said.

A major objection raised, he said, is “this process allows commitment of public resources without considering impacts on other parts of the economy or environment.”

Gov. Phil Bryant and MDA maintain about 350 billion cubic feet of natural gas could be recovered, which would provide $250 million to $500 million in royalty leases.

The lion’s share of the royalty money — 97.5 percent — would go to the state’s Educational Trust Fund.

The remainder of the royalty money would go to wildlife and habitat enhancement, oil spill recovery and administration of the mineral leasing program.

During a speech Monday in Biloxi to the Gulf Coast Energy Summit, Bryant said competing interests, such as tourism, would be protected as the offshore energy resource is developed.

“We can put it where it doesn’t disrupt the view of tourists that has come to that location,” he said. “We can specifically take that grid and say ‘here is where we ought to seek that energy opportunity.'”

All state waters were open to oil and gas exploration until 2004, when the Legislature limited it to about 186,000 acres, or about 38 percent of the state’s offshore waters.

The lease areas are confined to areas about a mile south of the barrier islands and on the state’s east and west boundaries.

The environmental groups announced the suit in a telephone news conference Thursday.

Opponents of natural gas exploation activity near the barrier islands, 12 Mile South Coalition, ralled Monday, March 12, before the Gulf Coast Energy Summit at the Mississippi Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi on Monday where Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum spoke. Shown from left, wearing red jackets, are Louis Skrmetta, Gulf Coast Attractions Association; Jeff Bounds,who wrote a study a consultant; and Louie Miller, state director of the Sierra Club. (Harlan Kirgan/Press-Register)

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57398631/activists-protest-finnish-arctic-drilling/
March 16, 2012 6:35 AM

HELSINKI – Greenpeace activists have boarded two Finnish icebreakers in Helsinki to protest oil and gas exploration in the Arctic Ocean.

Some 17 demonstrators boarded the icebreakers while others clambered onto cranes with banners demanding that Shell Oil Co. suspend plans to drill in the fragile northern waters.

Greenpeace activist Sini Saarela, who boarded the Fennica icebreaker on Friday morning, told the AP that the crew had been friendly to the protesters and they planned to end their action in the afternoon.

In November, Arctia Offshore Ltd. agreed to provide two Finnish icebreakers, the Fennica and Nordica, to support oil and gas production operations on the northern Alaskan coast in 2012 to 2014.

Special thanks to Richard Charter