DOE shale panelists hail state oversight in Congressional testimony

SP note:  this panel, considering it's composition, continues to surprise me with their even-handed approach to Shale Gas in general and fracking in particular.

 

 

Members of an Energy Department advisory board examining shale gas development offered high praise for state regulators Tuesday, but stopped short of endorsing any particular form of regulation — state or federal — for shale drillers.

 

"We were all impressed with the states' regulation of oil and gas," said Daniel Yergin, the energy consultant and author, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Yergin said the effectiveness of state regulation is "not well recognized" by the public.

 

Democratic and Republican members of the committee tried to pin down Yergin and three other members of the DOE advisory panel on whether federal regulation of shale gas, particularly the drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, was necessary, but none of the witnesses would commit to any particular regulatory scheme.

 

"We did not come up with any deck chairs that need to be moved around," said Kathleen McGinty, a former environmental protection secretary in Pennsylvania, home to substantial gas deposits in the Marcellus Shale.

 

"There is nothing broken with the system," said Stephen Holditch, the head of the petroleum engineering department at Texas A&M.

 

Wyoming Republican Senator John Barasso criticized the DOE panel for a preliminary report this summer. "The report should have done much more to emphasize the work state regulators have done," Barasso said. "The states have vast experience regulating oil and gas. Washington should have the states regulate this."

 

Holditch and Stanford geophysicist Mark Zoback, another member of the DOE panel, said concerns over hydraulic fracturing were excessive and distract from other more pressing issues, such as the impact on communities of high-volume shale drilling.

 

Among the issues that need closer attention, Zoback said, are well casings, leaks and spills on the surface of gas wells, and well blowouts.

 

"None of these things involve hydraulic fracturing," Zoback said. "Hydraulic fracturing has become a bumper sticker, allowing some groups to object to gas extraction from shales."

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Permalink Reply by JHH on October 5, 2011 at 2:01

Thanks for the information. Had not seen anything on this until now.  if you have the full report... please post a link if available.

jhh

 

Permalink Reply by Terry L. Antee on October 5, 2011 at 3:29
The federal government needs to get out of the way!  Under obama and the dems they will be in our bathrooms next telling us how much water to use and how much waste we can flush.
Permalink Reply by The_Baron on October 5, 2011 at 3:31

They already do that.

 

Toliets have strict water use regulations.

Permalink Reply by dbob on October 5, 2011 at 3:32
Preaching to the choir here, but I'm glad its being handled reasonably in DC, with recognition that states are generally doing what needs to be done. God forbid common sense come into this :)
Permalink Reply by dbob on October 5, 2011 at 3:34
When high volume toilets are outlawed, only criminals will have them.

In Elvises voice "You can pry my high volume porcelin thrown from my cold, dead, backside"

Thank you, Thank you very much
Permalink Reply by Steve P on October 5, 2011 at 6:33

Wishing that the federal government will get out of the way is likely wishful thinking.  But I"m struck by the fact that this panel, which is pretty much evenly split between environmental activists and others more friendly to exploration and prodution have taken a very measured tone about shale gas, and have been downright dismissive of the fear-mongering over fracking.  Their point in the testimony is that the federal government doesn't need to step in and regulate, but that the state's should.

 

I posted a link to the full report when it came out a month or so ago.  I'll have to go back and look for it.

Permalink Reply by essay on October 5, 2011 at 6:54

apparently old steve did something right with these appointees, too bad his department isn't as good at playing venture capitalist.

 

as skeptical as i was about this panel i must say,  it does feel good to know that these folks agree the states are doing a good job.

 

not that what these people think or don't think will have a very big impact, every little bit of sanity helps.

Permalink Reply by essay on October 5, 2011 at 6:46

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