Is the Shale Rush Almost Over? One Analyst Says Yes
Jack Barnes, writing for Money Morning, analyzes the price of natural gas and why it’s so low—and what it ultimately means. He says that numerous shale plays in the U.S. do contribute to an overabundance of supply. But the real culprit, according to Barnes, is that major drillers are going after natural gas liquids (NGL), which can be used in a variety of ways. NGL are closely aligned with the higher price of oil and more valuable. In the process of going after NGL, “dry gas” (or methane) is recovered in the process too. It is the scramble for NGL that leads to an oversupply of methane, and that oversupply keeps natural gas prices low.
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Michael Krancer, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, sent a letter to federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 3 Administrator, Shawn Garvin, on Jan. 5 about the situation in Dimock, PA (a copy is embedded below). The letter is a follow-up to a conversation between the two about the long history and ongoing media circus that is Dimock. In the letter, Mr. Krancer says:
Today is the latest deadline from New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens to file comments on New York’s proposed new drilling rules, known as the SGEIS. Yesterday, both pro- and anti-drilling groups descended on Albany with thousands of letters of support (or opposition). Prior to yesterday the DEC reported having received over 20,000 written statements. That number, after yesterday, is likely to double.