"Remarkable" was the word used by Energy Information Administrator Richard Newell last week to describe the sharp rise in U.S. natural gas reserves. In a report issued by his agency last week, Newell noted that U.S. proven natural gas reserves rose 3 percent in 2008.

The report also showed that natural gas reserves in shale formations rose an astonishing 51 percent over 2007. "This year's report underscores for a second year the technological shift in domestic exploration and production from conventional reserves to unconventional shales," Newell said.

In the past few years, the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have unlocked the promise of natural gas in shale formations and have led to a natural gas boom in several regions of the country. The Barnett Shale in Te... more »

The ongoing debate over the Kerry-Boxer climate bill has tended to focus primarily on two issues: the bill's potential costs and its proposed environmental benefits. But there are at least two other critically important items that have not been addressed adequately by the bill's sponsors. Both were mentioned briefly at yesterday's hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing.

The first involves government-mandated diesel emission reductions that began about seven years ago. The goal was to reduce emissions from heavy trucks to near-zero levels for both nitrogen oxide and particulate matter (soot). The American Trucking Associations (ATA) supports the air quality gains, but it notes that the environmental improvements haven't come cheap.

At yesterday's hearing, B... more »

Today, AAA reported that yesterday's nationwide retail gasoline prices climbed to a nationwide $2.695 per gallon average, the highest average price this year. Despite this sharp gasoline price increase, which has been driven by strong crude oil prices, the federal government has done little to help increase the supply of domestic crude oil, the basic feedstock of gasoline.

It's been more than a year since Congress and former President Bush lifted the moratoria on leasing new parcels in federal waters off the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific, yet this administration has slow pedaled efforts to set up a framework to allow leasing on this acreage, even though the majority of Americans support greater development of our domestic resources. Instead, a troubling pattern of delay has emerged wh... more »

One of America's largest refiners told a Senate panel yesterday that climate legislation could force his company to shutter some U.S. refineries. Bill Kleese, president and CEO of Valero Energy Corp. (not a member of API) made his comments during the second day of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearings on the Kerry-Boxer bill which proposes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent in 2020. The Kerry-Boxer bill would likely reduce U.S. refining jobs because refiners would be forced to pay billions of dollars for carbon credits.

Under the Kerry-Boxer climate bill as well as the House's Waxman-Markey bill, U.S. refineries would be held responsible for about 44 percent of all U.S. carbon emissions, including the carbon from every car, truck, train, plane and other p... more »

Did you know that hydraulic fracturing has been used in about one million oil and natural gas wells in the United States? This tried-and-true process injects wells with water, small amounts of chemicals and sand to create tiny cracks in hard rock, allowing natural gas and/or oil to flow up the wellbore. Fracking, as it's often called, occurs thousands of feet below aquifers containing fresh water, and water supplies are protected by state well construction and drilling regulations.

But there is a misperception in many parts of the country that hydraulic fracturing threatens drinking water. According to Bruce Vincent, vice chair of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, who testified at the inaugural hearing of the new House Natural Gas Caucus last week, this misperception is bei... more »