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Permalink Reply by essay on December 16, 2009 at 11:17

exxon's already got this planned way past dealing with the anti-everything crowd, of course i have no proof but i feel pretty safe in that assumption

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Permalink Reply by Terry L. Antee on December 16, 2009 at 11:45

When is the government going to regulate how often we flush the tollet, or how long we have to shower, or how much we can weigh. States need to speak up and tell the government to get their noses out of state business. 2010 and 2012 get rid of the socialist.

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Permalink Reply by Pipeliner on December 16, 2009 at 12:39

Terry,

Hugo Chavez has already put a time limit on taking a shower in his country. Will his buddy Obama follow his lead?

The putting of hydraulic fracturing of gas wells under EPAs control is the "Camel's Nose Under The Tent".

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Permalink Reply by adubu on December 16, 2009 at 15:04

if this passes then only old wells, nothing will be drilled and we will have MAJOR shortage of NG --------prices would go to >$20/mmcf by 2011. So all who have production royalty would do well for short few years then the well would get long in tooth within couple years.

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Permalink Reply by Aubrey C. Sanders, Jr. on December 16, 2009 at 16:14

Terry,

Probably sooner than you think. Even at my age(76) I fear it will be in my lifetime if ignorant people in this country do not awaken. From my perspective as a petroleum and engineering geologist Hell will freeze over before fracking a well at the depth of Haynesville Shale impacts upon our potable ground water. Connate water is more salty than the oceans, so how can we harm that.? Having grown up in the country (Shongaloo) in Webster Parish and having spent 30 years working for USDA Soil Conservation Service, I consider myself as a practical environmentalist.

Get rid of the idiots!

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Permalink Reply by NA on December 16, 2009 at 17:47

Oh the subject but what exactly happened in the macellous with gracing that got the yanks in such an uproar

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Permalink Reply by RAZORBACK on December 17, 2009 at 5:47

Exxon Can Stop Deal if Drilling Method Is Restricted
Provision Makes $31 Billion XTO Pact Contingent on Continued Viability of 'Fracking' Technique to Extract Gas

Exxon Mobil Corp. can back out of its $31 billion deal to acquire natural-gas producer XTO Energy Inc. if Congress passes a law requiring stronger federal oversight of a controversial drilling technique.
The merger agreement contains language allowing Exxon to terminate the deal if lawmakers make hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, illegal or "commercially impracticable."
Fracking is a now-common method that XTO and other natural-gas companies use to produce gas from hard shale-rock formations, which have recently become a major source of natural gas. Water, sand and drilling fluids are pumped into the shale under enormous pressure, creating fractures in the rocks that allow the gas molecules to escape.
Critics contend the practice can cause pollution, especially to drinking water, a charge the industry rejects.
A bill in the House and Senate would require the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate fracking under the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. It would also require disclosure to the public of the chemicals used in fracking fluid.
Rep. Ed Markey (D., Mass), chairman of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said Tuesday he would hold a hearing early next year into Exxon's acquisition of XTO. Mr. Markey said he plans to look at environmental concerns related to air pollution and water contamination from hydraulic fracturing.
Exxon, based in Irving, Texas, said it is confident that the XTO acquisition will close in the second quarter. It declined to comment on the deal's fracking-law language except to say that the merger agreement "contains a number of customary provisions for transactions of this nature."
But William F. Hederman, senior vice president of energy policy for Concept Capital, a Washington research group that advises institutional investors, said until the Exxon-XTO merger agreement, he had never seen provisions in a deal about the political risks involving fracking.
Even so, he said, bad publicity is probably more of a potential problem in the near term than congressional legislation. "We don't see any serious risk of legislation that would trigger the clause," he said.
Industry executives say the language is a sign that the sector is growing increasingly worried about the political backlash against fracking. If companies can't use the technique to extract gas from shale, the value of XTO and similar companies would plunge and the amount of recoverable gas would drop, they said.
The push for federal oversight is coming mainly from local communities above the Marcellus Shale, which extends from West Virginia across Pennsylvania and into southern New York.
"People who live in these communities are concerned and they don't feel like companies or state regulators are protecting their water," said Amy Mall, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental-advocacy group.
The Exxon-XTO merger agreement was filed soon after the deal was announced on Monday, but the fracking provision was buried in the 76-page document and word of it didn't start to circulate until Wednesday.
Exxon agreed to acquire XTO, of Fort Worth, Texas, in an all-stock deal. It will also assume $10 billion in debt.
The acquisition marks a significant turn for Exxon, which had spent the last decade mostly focused on finding and developing overseas projects, especially for oil.
But in the past few years, many smaller domestic gas companies have perfected the use of fracking to get at gas deposits in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

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Permalink Reply by P.G. on December 17, 2009 at 6:39

One can bet if there's money for the government to be had in regulation, they'll have it!
I doubt if it would take much coaxing for a wedge to be driven between the haves and have nots in this NG business. The EPA is all good, right?

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