Bloomberg – Crude Output Exceeds Imports for First Time in 16 Years

The surge in U.S. shale development through hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas has boosted domestic oil production – 7.3 million barrels a day  last week alone – to the highest level since 1986, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Fuel Fix Blog – Feds Give More Time To Study Proposed Drilling Rule

Last month API asked for an additional 90 days to study  BLM’s proposed rule governing hydraulic fracturing. Today, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said that she would allow an additional 60 days for stakeholders to review the proposed regulations.

The Daily Beast – U.S. Closing Trade Deficit With Better Oil numbers

The Daily Beast takes a look at how... more »

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Number of Women Landing Jobs in Oil, Natural Gas Industry Growing

Good news from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Of 3,900 positions added in the oil and natural gas industry nationwide in the first quarter of 2013, almost half or 1,800 were filled by women.

AEI Ideas Carpe Diem Blog – The Most Economically Successful Metropolitan Area in the Country

As a direct result of all the shale oil and natural gas activity in the Permian Basin area of West Texas, the economy of Midland is booming, writes Mark J. Perry. There is also an unprecedented construction surge taking place in the town – building permits in March skyrocketed to 347, which was a 580 percent increase from  a year ago.

Zanesville Times Recorder – Free Trade Should Include Natural Gas

A... more »

Washington Examiner – Fracking Could Create New Wealth for New York

In a guest column, former Department of Labor Chief Economist Diana Furchtgott-Roth discusses the opportunities hydraulic fracturing could bring to New York state. “Using the Pennsylvania data to project fracking's effect on New York counties, I find that the incomes of those who live in the 28 New York counties above the Marcellus Shale have the potential to expand by as much as 15 percent over the next four years -- if the state's moratorium is lifted.”

National Journal – Natural Gas Exports Loom Large Over Washington

NJ’s Amy Harder takes a look at the liquefied natural gas debate after a visit to Dominion’s Cove Point, Md., facility – a former import terminal waiting for federal approval to add  export capabili... more »

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has written Energy Secretary Steven Chu, urging the government to support liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports for the good of our economy and to improve our trade balance. Key points in their reasoning:

• Increasing demand for U.S. natural gas will be easily met by increases in production. The letter cites U.S. Energy Information Administration projections that a 20 percent increase in domestic natural gas demand between now and 2040 will be fully offset by a 40 percent increase in production.
• Domestic production will be stimulated if producers have greater access to U.S. natural gas reserves onshore and offshore – as well as greater access to “consumption markets.” This will bring job creation, economic growth and generate an in-flow of revenue... more »

There’s an important message in the pair of charts below. First, a bar graph showing the world’s top natural gas-producing countries in 2011, drawn from a world statistical review by BP:

And the world leader is … U.S.!  In 2011, the United States produced more than 60 billion cubic feet per day (bdfd) of natural gas, just ahead of Russia and more than three times as much as No. 3 Canada. Now the second chart:

Now, who’s missing from the graph that shows the world’s top natural gas exporters for 2011? The U.S. While No. 2 natural gas producer Russia tops the list of natural gas exporters, at a little more than 18 bcfd, the United States is nowhere to be found here.

So, a third question: Why? Why isn’t the world’s leading producer of natural gas also its leading exporter – or... more »