This blog recently discussed the increase in U.S. (and Texas) oil and gas production, and that it has shown few signs of slowing down in the near future. In August 2013, the American Petroleum Institute’s monthly production statistics showed that U.S. oil production was at a 25 year high at…
One oil company active in Texas, Paradigm Oil and Gas Inc., is planning to identify oil wells that can be made more profitable by using advanced technology. Paradigm announced recently that it is ramping up for what it calls a “Production Blitz” in the face of continued conflict in the…
This year there has been a nearly continuous stream of good news about shale development in Texas and its positive effect on the economy in our area. In March 2013, the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Center for Community Business and Research issued its annual report on the Eagle…
The Bipartisan Policy Center published a study in May 2013 about the U.S. gas market and its supplies, entitled “New Dynamics of the U.S. Natural Gas Market”. This interesting research was part of the New Dynamics of Natural Gas Supply and Demand project. This project looks at new gas supplies…
Experts at the Bipartisan Policy Center held a conference in June 2013 and as part of that conference concluded that U.S. oil and gas exploration and production can reshape global energy geopolitics. The chairman of IHS Cambridge Research Associates, Daniel Yergin, said that “(a) better supplied world is a safer…
The Texas oil and gas industry has had a busy year. In June 2013 Kinder Morgan Energy Partners announced it was expanding its pipeline system into the Eagle Ford shale in Karnes County, Texas. This new pipeline project is the result of a long term contract with ConocoPhillips and will…
A new gas pipeline is planned through Texas to bring natural gas to the Gulf coast. Two companies, Kinder Morgan and MarkWest Utica EMG, have entered a joint venture for a 1,100 mile gas pipeline and to develop a fractionation plant on the Gulf coast. The facility and pipeline will…
Recently, Chevron‘s Chief Executive Officer John S. Watson spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and addressed the issue of whether the current boom in the oil and gas industry could serve as an opportunity for sensible energy policy reforms by the federal government. His suggestions included reforming…
There was an interesting decision issued last fall by the US Supreme Court regarding government land use control and regulation, an issue that is always significant in Texas. The case is Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, and the opinion illustrates some important limitations on government land use…
The US Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management proposed new regulation for drilling on federal or Indian land. The BLM actually already amended the proposed regulation once, after there was serious criticism of their impact. To evaluate the amended proposal, the Independent Petroleum Association of America and Western Energy…