Ukraine could hold more than 40 trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas, enough to satisfy decades of demand. --Christopher Helman,
Forbes, 4 March 2014
Estimates of Cuadrilla’s shale gas resource in the North West of England may have to be increased significantly upwards. A geologist with the company said there is 330 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas in place in its licence area, 50% more than previous estimates. --Matt McGrath,
BBC News, 5 March 2014
Supporters of U.S. energy exports have pounced on the crisis in Ukraine to press their case for faster approvals of liquid natural gas (LNG) projects and for an end to a decades-long ban on exports of most U.S. crude oil. LNG supplies from the United States could help some Western European countries react to any Russian aggression in coming years. The United States is the world’s top natural gas producer, due in recent years to hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, and horizontal drilling. Surplus U.S. energy could go a long way to providing Europe an alternative to Russian supplies, supporters say. --Timothy Gardner,
Reuters, 4 March 2014
Natural gas prices are likely to stay relatively low for at least the next 20 years, with a long-term annual average price of $4 to $5 per million Btu, a study by IHS says. The study, released in January, details an anticipated increase in demand from residential and commercial users and from exports. Even with new demand, the quantity of U.S. gas is so vast because of unconventional drilling techniques that average Henry Hub (based in Louisiana, the delivery point for physical natural gas traded in the Nymex futures market) prices should not rise dramatically from the $4 to $5 range, though they could fluctuate. --Patti Domm,
CNBC, 28 February 2014
Slovakia cannot agree with the European Commission’s proposed climate and energy goals that target a 40 percent cut in carbon emissions reductions and increased use of renewable power, Prime Minister Robert Fico was quoted as saying on Monday. Fico said Europe could not be the world’s leader in climate protection at the cost of losing competitiveness with other parts of the world. “We cannot, for example, agree with the Commission’s goal of a 40 percent reduction of greenhouse gases. We cannot agree that a set specific amount of electricity energy should be produced from renewable sources,” Slovak news agency TASR quoted Fico as saying. --
Reuters, 3 March 2014
The European Union should ensure that future climate and energy policies do not undermine the competitiveness of its industry, already weakened by a price gap with the U.S., the bloc's member states said. Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania said in a joint statement that the 2030 carbon goal should be set at a “realistic level” and take into account United Nations talks about a global deal to be agreed in 2015. --
Sydney Morning Herald, 4 March 2014
Business magnate Warren Buffett contradicted a major Obama administration talking point by saying that global warming was not causing extreme weather. The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway told CNBC that he has not changed the way his companies calculate the likelihood of a natural disaster because of global warming. “I think that the public has the impression that because there has been so much talk about climate, that events of the last 10 years, from an insured standpoint on climate, have been unusual,” Buffett told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “The answer is, they haven’t.” --Michael Bastasch,
Daily Caller News, 3 March 2014
The grip of green interests and their corporate allies in places like Silicon Valley suggests Californians will continue to endure ever-higher energy prices, lagging construction and manufacturing as a regular feature of the economy. This may make the green clerisy in the state happy, but is likely to have the opposite effect on the rest of us and on our economy as it becomes ever more narrowly based and fragile. --Joel Kotkin,
Orange County Register, 4 March 2014
