Shale gas & untraditional fuel
La corsa allo shale gas europeo sarà accidentata
L’annessione della Crimea e il conseguente innalzamento della tensione politica hanno aumentato le preoccupazioni dell’Europa per la dipendenza dal gas russo che soddisfa il 32% della domanda interna di metano. Da qui la richiesta che i vertici europei hanno fatto al presidente Obama per un’accelerazione degli iter autorizzativi degli impianti di liquefazione previsti sulla costa atlantica degli Usa. Una mossa per diversificare gli approvvigionamenti importando metano a prezzi bassi approfittando del boom della produzione statunitense di shale gas. (altro…)
Bullish Chevron to outspend Exxon
Chevron has long been overshadowed by its larger rival ExxonMobil. Next year, however, it will overtake Exxon on one important measure: capital and exploration spending. This is striking because Exxon is so much bigger: it produces 54 per cent more oil and gas than Chevron and its market capitalisation is 85 per cent bigger. The fact that Chevron is nevertheless planning to invest more than Exxon shows how sharply the companies’ strategies have diverged. Exxon is aiming for stability, while Chevron is going for growth.
Chevron is planning to invest about $40bn per year in 2014-16: slightly less than the $42bn it reported for 2013. Exxon is cutting its spending more sharply, from $42.5bn last year to about $40bn this year, and then an average of less than $37bn per year in 2015-17. (altro…)
Shale gas, l’atomica della nuova Guerra Fredda
L’arma finale degli Stati Uniti nella nuova Guerra Fredda con Mosca potrebbero non essere le sanzioni economiche agli oligarchi o i cacciabombardieri Stealth, ma l’inesauribile miniera dello shale gas. In grado di tagliare il cordone ombelicale che lega l’Unione Europea alla Russia. Visto che gli States diventeranno presto esportatori netti di petrolio (tanto da poterlo presto vendere anche agli Emirati Arabi, e non è fantascienza) sta crescendo il pressing bipartisan di repubblicani e democratici per cercare di sottrarre il Vecchio Continente dai ricatti russi sulle forniture di gas. (altro…)
La Polonia si smarca dalla Russia e punta sullo shale gas
La Polonia sarà meno dipendente dal gas fornito dalla Russia con il rafforzamento della propria rete e potenziando lo sfruttamento delle risorse di shale gas. È il primo ministro di Varsavia ad affermarlo, guardando alla crisi Ucraina e chiedendo all’Unione europea di fare qualcosa di più per «garantire forniture sicure agli Stati membri». «Oggi possiamo dire che la Polonia è sufficientemente indipendente nell’approvvigionamento di gas. Non dovremo più sopportare alcun ricatto», ha spiegato Donald Tusk. (altro…)
Fracking is no answer to ‘immediate dilemma’ of energy security
Fracking might be a controversial proposition, but there is no need to panic just yet. It may be that shale is indeed the solution to our energy crisis, but many are unaware of the complex and tangled web of legal issues to be picked through before anyone puts a drill in the ground. Fracking involves the extraction of methane gas from layers of shale by pumping high pressure water down a well. But shale gas stocks are legally owned by the Crown, and it is the Crown (via the Department for Energy and Climate Change) which licenses developers to conduct shale gas exploration. (altro…)
Years Needed for LNG Exports to Blunt Russia Energy Sales
U.S. efforts to speed natural gas exports as a way to loosen Russia’s grip on European energy supplies may be thwarted by lengthy reviews and developer reluctance to proceed with multibillion-dollar projects. Russia’s military escalation in Ukraine is spurring calls in Congress for quick U.S. approval of plans to export liquefied natural gas from plants owned by companies including Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG), Dominion Resources Inc. and Sempra Energy. (SRE) Russia provides 30 percent of Europe’s gas needs using pipelines that cross Ukraine. (altro…)
Economists’ back development of UK shale gas industry
Westminster will on Wednesday be urged to back fracking and “get behind natural gas from shale” in a letter to the Financial Times signed by 25 economists. The exploitation of shale gas is still in its early stages in the UK but it has already prompted a heated national debate, with strong local resistance in some areas where exploration has already taken place.
Opponents of fracking believe the process – which involves injecting a mix of water, sand and chemicals underground at high pressure to create fractures in the rock and release the oil and gas trapped inside – can pollute groundwater and trigger earthquakes.
There are also concerns shale gas production can increase greenhouse gas emissions and put local infrastructure under strain, particularly in rural areas.
But David Cameron has thrown his weight behind shale gas, arguing that it has the potential to lift the British economy and make the nation less reliant on unpredictable foreign sources of oil and gas.
The economists, who include Roger Bootle of Capital Economics, Patrick Minford of Cardiff Business School and David Bell of the University of Stirling, argue that shale gas from Lancashire could present significant opportunities for the country.
In their letter, which was organised by the North West Energy Task Force, a pro-fracking group, said shale gas exploitation could create thousands of jobs, ease the pressure on manufacturers, generate export-led growth and boost tax revenues.
Bob Rothschild, professor of economics at Lancaster University, said there were many “compelling arguments” in favour of shale gas. “There are many arguments from an economic point of view for developing this technology,” he said. “The British economy and the northwest in particular could benefit hugely.”
Prof Rothschild said there was the potential for lower energy prices if Britain followed the example of the US, where a boom in shale gas has transformed the energy market.
Glauco De Vita, a professor of economics at Oxford Brookes business school, said he wanted to see more research into the risks associated with fracking technology.
With that caveat, however, he wanted to see Britain exploit the opportunities to produce more gas domestically.
“The responsible development of natural gas from Lancashire’s shale presents a significant opportunity also to boost tax revenues for much-needed investment in north west regions’ public services,” he said.
It comes just weeks after Mr Cameron said his government was “going all out for shale”, announcing that councils would be able to keep any business rates generated by fracking.
The prime minister has also promised that drilling companies will pay a lump sum of £100,000 when a test well is fracked, plus 1 per cent of revenues from any site.
Fonte: ft.com
Shale Gas Halted in U.K. by Six-Month Permit Wait: Energy
In Texas it takes seven days to get permission to use hydraulic fracturing to drill for oil and gas. In the U.K. the wait is six months. That difference helps explain why David Cameron’s dream of a fracking boom in the U.K., where there may be enough shale gas to meet the country’s demand for decades, has been slow to take shape. Britain under Cameron’s Conservative-led government is more pro-shale than anywhere in the European Union bar Poland. (altro…)
Is shale a miracle, revolution – or bandwagon?
Unless you have been in hibernation for the past few years you will have heard that there is a shale hydrocarbon “revolution” or “miracle” under way. Barack Obama, the US president, pledged support for shale gas development in his 2012 State of the Union speech. David Cameron has urged opponents of fracking to “get on board”. “Fracking” has passed into the vernacular. The term was added to the Oxford English Dictionary last June. (altro…)
Ue apre a shale gas, norme comuni ma nessun vincolo
L’Ue apre la porta alla ‘rivoluzione’ dello shale gas con la speranza che possa alleviare le sue difficoltà di competitività sui prezzi energetici e dell’industria, seppur con la consapevolezza che in Europa non sarà la ‘manna’ che ha fatto ripartire il motore in difficoltà dell’economia americana. Saranno i singoli stati, liberi di scegliere il proprio mix energetico, a decidere se sfruttare o meno il gas di scisto e, in caso affermativo, dovranno seguire “una serie di principi comuni” a tutela dell’ambiente. (altro…)
