Heading into another weekend, here's a look at some of the positive ways energy is affecting life in these United States:

Michigan Marathon - The Detroit Free Press reports that expansion work on Marathon's Detroit refinery is expected to peak this fall, employing 1,300 workers. The $2.2 billion project started three years ago and will let Marathon process more Canadian oil sands. Marathon promises to add 60 jobs and 75 contract positions after work is completed in the second half of next year, the paper reports. The expanded refinery is expected to generate $230 million in additional city tax revenues over the next 20 years, plus an estimated $85 million in state and local taxes.

(Oil) Boomer Sooner - You might have seen this earlier in the week, but a new study about the impact of oil an... more »

The Wall Street Journal's Holman W. Jenkins Jr. has an interesting column that contemplates the effect of European shale gas on the energy and political power balances.

The gist of the piece is that gas extracted from shale rock formations through hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" could reduce the market leverage Russia has enjoyed as the world's largest supplier of conventional natural gas. As a result, the political power of Vladimir Putin, the country's former (and future?) president and current prime minister could be diminished. Jenkins writes:

"Western governments have not cut profiles of exceptional courage in dealing with Putin's Russia. Yet, beyond our merits, the Lord has recently smiled on us in the form of shale gas. First, thanks to the unexpected shale gas boom in the U.S.,... more »

The Financial Times: US Producers Break New Ground in Texas Basin: US oil companies are rushing to stake claims in the Permian Basin as new technology opens up previously uneconomic rock in the most oil-rich part of the nation. Chevron, Devon Energy, Apache and others are acquiring acreage and stepping up drilling operations - some by more than 50 per cent - after they discovered the same horizontal drilling and multi-staged hydraulic fracturing that led to a trebling of US natural gas supplies in recent years could also economically extract oil from shale and other tight rocks. "It's a major, major modern boom," said Pete Stark, a vice-president at IHS CERA, the energy consultancy. The number of rigs drilling in the biggest, Texas portion, of the Permian has risen from 68 in June 2009 to... more »

Trying to figure out the administration's decision to drain 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) - when there's no current U.S. supply crisis and while the administration is continuing to fight increased access to domestic oil supplies. Trying, but not succeeding.

Remember that the 727 million-barrel reserve was created after the 1973 oil embargo to protect the U.S. from dire supply disruptions. So, is there a crisis? Actually, government figures show the United States is well supplied, with stocks at above-average levels.

The Energy Information Administration says U.S. stocks of crude oil (excluding the SPR) have risen steadily since the first of the year, standing at nearly 364 million barrels as of June 17 (up from about 347 million in January). Gasoline... more »

Bloomberg: Oil Drilling Approvals by EPA Expedited Under House-Passed Bill: The Environmental Protection Agency would have to issue or deny air permits for offshore oil drilling within six months under legislation passed by the U.S. House. As oil prices climbed 23 percent over the past year, Republicans have pushed legislation that would expand drilling off the Alaska coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. The bill to tighten environmental deadlines passed the Republican-led House yesterday on a vote of 253 to 166. "We cannot leave exploration and production of critically needed resources in a perpetual state of limbo," Marty Durbin, vice president of the American Petroleum Institute, a Washington trade group, said in a statement after the vote. "Development of new offshore energy resources will... more »