Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Apr 16, 2013

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

Pennsylvania

Natural gas vehicle bills move in Pa.
Pittsburgh Business Times
Of the eight natural gas vehicle bills currently making their way through the Pennsylvania Legislature, the majority were sponsored by lawmakers outside of Marcellus Shale’s borders.

Pa. House bills back natural gas as automotive fuel of the future
York Dispatch
Local legislators are among those pushing a series of bills to increase consumption of the state’s abundant supply of natural gas, with York representatives authoring components of the Marcellus Works package. The bills passed out of their committees last week, furthering the House Republican initiative to increase conversion to natural gas as the fuel is being drilled from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale formation.

National

Technology Helping to Accelerate the Shale Revolution
Energy in Depth – NMI
Dr. Scott Cline reports from last week’s Society of Petroleum Engineers Unconventional Resources Conference where engineers and geologists noted that advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are leading to even greater quantities of oil and natural gas being extracted from the nation’s shale plays.

North American Shale ‘Ka-boom’ Transforming Markets Worldwide
NGI’s Shale Daily (paid or free trial subscription required)
Booming shale plays in the United States have proved to be more than transformational domestically, according to Jeff Welch, head of North American Gas for EDF Trading North America — they are having "mind-boggling" implications worldwide.

How Coal Is Keeping the U.S. Atop the Natural Gas Game
The Motley Fool
The surge of natural gas production in the U.S. has opened several doors that many didn’t think were previously economically feasible: Manufacturers are reconsidering a move back to the U.S. for cheap energy prices, using natural gas as a transportation fuel is not a joke, and we’re even debating the merits of exporting natural gas.

Environmental Decision: Natural Gas Transportation Or Keystone-XL?
Seeking Alpha
The Obama administration, US energy policymakers, and the American public have an important choice to make: transition to natural gas transportation or stay addicted to gasoline and projects like the Keystone-XL pipeline to deliver the foreign oil needed to refine it. This is not necessarily an either/or decision, but framing the choice in this manner is helpful to crystallize the nature of the problem.

Freeport LNG May Get U.S. Export Approval in Months
Bloomberg
Freeport LNG Development LP may get expanded approval from the U.S. Energy Department to export liquefied natural gas in the next quarter or two, the head of Baker Botts LLP’s LNG practice said.