I spent the better part of last week surrounded by foreigners … which is to be expected because I was in a foreign country, the Netherlands to be precise. Looper Reed has joined First Law International, a consortium of select, highly-rated law firms in over 45 countries, assembled to give businesses in one country,
How Much Water Does Fracking Shale Gas Consume, and Where?
Jesse Jenkins of the Energy Collective ponders the question. He reports as follows:
- According to the US Energy Information Administration 27,000 new gas wells were completed in the U.S. in 2011, many of which were horizontal wells implementing hydraulic fracturing.
- Each well consumes 5 million gallons of water per well for fracking and completion.
A Look at Two Approaches to Oil and Gas Regulation
This is a tale of two regulatory schemes.
First, there is the federal way, and I’m not making this up: In my last post we learned that if the BLM, when preparing its PRMP/FEIS (which in some incomprehensible way is different from a PRMP/EIS, but which nevertheless includes an RFD) which is issued by an
Fracking Stymied on Federal Lands in California
In an opinion with as many acronyms as the Dallas Cowboys have draft-pick detractors, a California federal court in 
Center For Biological Diversity v. Bureau of Land Management, held that the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act in its assessment of oil and gas leases on federal lands in California. A “FONSI” –
HOW MUCH CONSENSUS IS THERE ON GLOBAL WARMING?
This post is not from a global warming denier. But I do appreciate even-handed assessments of the situation. Here are two reports that fit the bill.
In the London Telegraph, Geoffrey Lean says that recent research suggests climate change might not be as catastrophic as the gloomiest forecasts. But he warns that it will
Louisiana Surface Owner Can Sue Servitude Owner for Pollution
It’s Mardi Gras. If you see my college-student daughter chasing beads, dubloons and coconuts, tell her to get back to the library where she said she was going.
In Walton vs. Burns, another legacy pollution case, a Louisiana court of appeal ruled, among other things, that a surface owner has the right to
What Can the Energy Industry Expect from Obama’s Second Term?
“It is better to stop a bad law than pass a good one.” Calvin Coolidge.
Is anybody in Washington listening to Silent Cal?
What can the energy industry (oil and gas in particular) expect from the Administration in its second term? Let’s gaze into the crystal ball:
Carbon Tax
“I’m From the Guvment . . .
. . . and I’m here to enforce the law and protect your natural resources . . . as long as it doesn’t interfere with my other agenda.
My October 10 post focused on criminal prosecutions and convictions of oil and gas operators in several states for violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It
What is the Best Way to Fight Rising Sea Levels?
For the purposes of this conversation let’s agree that global warming exists, and let’s not argue about whether it is, as those who use big words say, “anthropomorphic” “anthropogenic” or, as you and I might say, “man made”.
Bjorn Lomborg doesn’t focus so much on the causes of rising sea levels; he proposes alternative ways
What Can the Energy Industry Expect from the President’s Second Term?
It is better to stop a bad law than pass a good one. Calvin Coolidge.
Is Washington listening to Silent Cal?
This post is about what the energy industry- oil and gas in particular – might expect from the Administration in its second term. Disclaimer: I dont sponsor any of these predictions. The authors know