Natural Gas: A Clean Energy Alternative
Earth Day 2011: A Cleaner Energy Future with Natural Gas
"Why Redacting E-Mails Is a Bad Idea," July 30, 2011
"Clashing Views on the Future of Natural Gas," July 16, 2011
Questions about the recent New York Times series on natural gas? Thank you for taking the time to learn more about American natural gas. Many critical facts about the state of natural gas development in the United States were overlooked and/or outright ignored in this series. Below you can find a number of resources to help you understand the vast nature of America's domestic natural gas supplies and how they benefit the communities in which we do our work.
Public Editor, The New York Times
"Anonymous material says to the reader: Trust us. But if the reader ends up feeling burned - if, for example, an "official" proves to be an intern - the trust won't be there the next time."
"My view is that such a pointed article needed more convincing substantiation, more space for a reasoned explanation of the other side and more clarity about its focus."
Real Clear Politics
"The Times' readers were never informed that the key named sources in a market-shaking investigative report are activists with personal stakes in the debate or with direct financial conflicts. By running this piece, the Times chose to endow with credibility what other responsible news outlets had determined was less than newsworthy.
Former Secretary - Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
"Today's article uses often anonymous statements to paint a sensational narrative and leaves out or underplays critical information that is inconvenient to establishing the credibility of the dominant anti-gas narrative."
Vice President, Energy Regulatory and Market Analysis - ICF International
"ICF produces independent estimates of the technically recoverable and economic shale gas resource base as well as projections of future production of the resource. We remain very comfortable with the analytic basis of our estimates, which are larger than those produced by the Energy Information Administration." - Keynote Address at the Pipeline Opportunities Conference, April 19, 2011
"The Times' article, "Insiders Sound Alarm Amid a Natural Gas Rush," does not reflect the IHS position on shale gas."
"Emails referenced in the article were written in 2008 and 2009, early in the understanding of the performance metrics for shale gas and have been proven completely wrong by events. One of the emails that was referenced in the article as from IHS was apparently written by someone misidentified as an IHS employee when in fact that person had not been employed by IHS for more than a year."
"While resource estimates will continue to be updated as new information becomes available, experience suggests that EIA has been more likely to understate rather than overstate the contribution of unconventional oil and natural gas resources in recent AEO Reference cases."
James A. Baker, III, and Susan G. Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute Energy Forum
"In fact, shale gas production in the United States has increased from virtually nothing in 2000 to over 15 percent of U.S. supply currently. This tremendous change in volume has turned the conversation in the U.S. natural gas industry from one of increasing imports to one of potential exports."
Co-President - Tudor, Pickering & Holt
"If wells are declining faster than expected, the Barnett would not be at record production with a reduced rig count."
Investment Bank
"Saying shale gas not easy/cheap to extract is a cheap shot with no backup info and rehashing discredited arguments. But calling it Enron? Better back it up with more than this article does. Remember, Barnett shale production (see below) is currently at record levels, even with rig count one-half of peak levels. Shale gas is real. Disregard this as an unsubstantiated NYT hit piece."
Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment - Council on Foreign Relations
"The Times descriptions of the emails (not just in the article, but in the document database) also betray a serious lack of understanding of the industry."
CEO Marshall Institute
"Berman's statements in the Times article are so out of line with the facts available on shale gas, you have to wonder if there are financial incentives for making such outlandish facts."
Host, Mad Money
"I was perplexed,…If anything, the industry may be understating how much nat gas there is in this country."
Author, 'Oil and Finance: The Epic Corruption'
"In its attempt to minimize the enormous advance in natural gas potential that shale gas brought to the nation, no mention is made that after the retracement of oil and gas prices post the events of 2008, natural gas prices have barely increased because of the abundant new shale gas supply and continue to stay near $4.00 mcf with corresponding and significant benefit to gas consuming home heating bills and monthly electricity budgets."
"As recently as 2000, shale gas was 1% of America's gas supplies; today it is 25%. Prior to the shale breakthrough, U.S. natural gas reserves were in decline, prices exceeded $15 per million British thermal units, and investors were building ports to import liquid natural gas. Today, proven reserves are the highest since 1971, prices have fallen close to $4 and ports are being retrofitted for LNG exports."
Texas A&M and Member of the U.S. Dept. of Energy Panel on safety of shale gas production techniques
"I think the shale gas is real. I don't have any of the concerns that the New York Times article expressed."
Director, Oklahoma Geological Survey
"It sure had an awful lot of hatchet job to it and was a little short on what I would consider facts."
"Here in Oklahoma, natural gas development has led to a tremendous economic boost and the creation of good paying jobs. That is a fact. Everyone knows that The New York Times has an anti-fossil fuel perspective. Even the reporter admits that the article is based on information provided by those who are apparently working to shut down drilling. Don't be surprised if a vastly different picture emerges from a more balanced and responsible news outlet."
"It's a biased story that completely ignores the vast reserves of natural gas that has been uncovered across the U.S - we are in the midst of a shale gas revolution that has the potential to be a game changer for American energy security. We have over a 125-year supply of natural gas and each field they find is larger than the last. Reports indicate that our nation has more natural gas than Saudi Arabia does oil. It's crazy to continue relying on OPEC oil when we have a cheaper, cleaner more abundant supply of American made natural gas sitting right under our feet."
President - Louisiana Oil and Gas Association
"The assertion that the Haynesville Shale has not lived up to its expectations is a bold and outlandish statement. Since its development began in 2008, the Haynesville Shale has resulted in the injection of over $22 billion into the local and state economy in Louisiana, just in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 alone. In fact, while other states have lost jobs and revenue, the Haynesville Shale development has shielded our state from the economic recession."
Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - University of Houston
"Like his fracking piece, Mr. Urbina has selectively quoted people, not one petroleum engineer, who would explain well performance. The article does not seem to understand the physics of production. Shales are nano-darcy rocks and wells will experience sharp decline in early time. But the same permeability will prolong interference among multiple fractures in horizontal wells, the preferred well architecture. Such wells will produce commercially for decades. Shale gas is the biggest recent story in the U.S. oil and gas industry and an internationally recognized example of the deployment of American technological prowess. Consider this. At a price of just $4 the fraction of shale gas went from zero to 20% of total US production in just four years. Being the senior advisor to both China's Sinopec and CNPC on shale gas I would only wish that my clients have similar bad experience over the next four years."
New York Times
"With resources now equivalent to Iran's oil reserves, domestic shale gas offers a chance to meaningfully reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil, cut the deficit and even reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Our nation has more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil. While there remain a handful of skeptics (and many who have yet to understand the full nature of the shale gas revolution in the United States), it is now the established scientific consensus that our nation has generations of natural gas supply. Here is a partial listing of the many leading authorities who have validated this fact. The top three documents were shared with the New York Times and ignored in their coverage of the issue:
Are We Entering a Golden Age of Gas? - International Energy Agency
The Shale Gas Shock - The Global Warming Policy Foundation
Can Shales Double the World's Natural Gas Reserves? - Raymond James & Associates
Fueling North America's Energy Future - Cambridge Energy Research Associates
Potential Supply of Natural Gas in the United States - Potential Gas Committee
The Future of Natural Gas - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Gushers highlight potential of Pa. gas field - Associated Press
The New York Times made a lot of claims about the sentiments of the communities where we do our work. Here are a few individuals who've had a more positive experience with our companies.
Daphne Barlow - President, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Fort Worth
Gregg McElhaney - Owner, Shelly's Pike Inn - Houston, PA
Paul Battista - Owner, Sunnyside Supply - Slovan, PA
