scholarly journals Oil and gas development in the United States in the early 1990`s: An expanded role for independent producers

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Oil And Gas Development

scholarly journals Uneven impacts and uncoordinated studies: A systematic review of research on unconventional oil and gas development in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 101465
Author(s):  
Kathryn Bills Walsh ◽  
Julia Hobson Haggerty ◽  
Jeffrey B. Jacquet ◽  
Gene L. Theodori ◽  
Adrianne Kroepsch
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Oil And Gas Development ◽  
Unconventional Oil ◽  
Unconventional Oil And Gas

scholarly journals A Problem Lurking Just Below the Surface

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-525
Author(s):  
Terrell Fenner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Side Effect ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Oil And Gas Development ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Effective Remedy

A long history of oil and gas development in Texas has made the state the number one energy producer in the United States, and the bulk of that energy is produced from fuels acquired by drilling into the vast natural resources that sit below the state. As a side effect of this long history, it is common for the surface and mineral estates in Texas to be severed, and many severances happened several generations ago. This history has spread mineral interests between dozens of owners in some cases, many who are unknown and cannot be found. Absentee ownership has diluted the value of these fractionalized interests and has made use by their non-absentee counterparts more difficult. Existing laws that have been used in the past to clear absentee owners from title have not been effective in the context of a severed mineral estate, as those laws evolved primarily to address surface interests, or to accomplish other purposes with only incidental effect on land titles. This Comment discusses the inadequacy of the current methods used in Texas to remove absentee owners from mineral titles and illustrates the need for a more effective remedy. It then offers a dormant mineral act that suits the unique cultural and economic needs of Texas and addresses the growing fractionalization of Texas’s mineral estates.

United States Experience Regulating Unconventional Oil and Gas Development

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith Allison
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Oil And Gas Development ◽  
Unconventional Oil ◽  
Oil And Gas Operations ◽  
Unconventional Oil And Gas

ABSTRACT In the midst of aggressive anti-drilling campaigns by environmental organizations and well-publicized complaints by citizens unaccustomed to oil and gas operations, rigorous studies of unconventional oil and gas development show that there are no widespread or systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States. In addition, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions have significantly declined with the growth in natural gas production and its use in power generation. Furthermore, induced seismicity from subsurface waste disposal has plummeted in response to industry initiatives and new regulations. This record of environmental protection reflects the fact that U.S. hydraulic fracturing, like other oil and gas operations, is highly regulated by the states. In addition, air emissions, operations on federal lands, and subsurface injection are subject to federal regulation. Academic and government researchers have documented that chemicals and gas produced by hydraulic fracturing are not contaminating drinking water. However, as an added complication, methane occurs naturally in drinking water aquifers in some producing areas. In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed a four-year study of potential aquifer contamination from hydraulic fracturing and associated industry operations. The report found some impacts on drinking water including contamination of drinking water wells; however, the number of cases was small compared to the number of wells hydraulically fractured. The scientific peer-review and public critique of the study, which continues after more than a year, may recommend additional research. The emotionally charged, anti-fracking campaigns provided important lessons to U.S. operators: pre-drilling, baseline data on water and air quality are essential to answering public concerns; infrastructure issues such as increased truck traffic on small, local roads are important to residents; and the initial failure to disclose the composition of hydraulic fracturing fluid intensified public concern.

Proximity to oil wells in North Dakota does not impact nest success of ducks but lowers nest densities

The Condor ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra G Skaggs ◽  
Kevin M Ringelman ◽  
Charles R Loesch ◽  
Michael L Szymanski ◽  
Frank C Rohwer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North Dakota ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Nest Survival ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nest Density ◽  
Gas Extraction ◽  
Prairie Pothole ◽  
Oil And Gas Development

Abstract Over the past decade, the United States has seen a rapid increase in oil and gas extraction from areas where resources were previously thought to be unrecoverable, particularly the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota. The Bakken overlaps with the Prairie Pothole Region, the most critical habitat in North America for breeding ducks, where oil and gas extraction through hydraulic fracturing has the potential to impact more than a million duck pairs in the United States alone. Here, we evaluated the effect of oil and gas development on nesting ducks in 2015–2017 across 5 counties in North Dakota. Using data from ~4,000 nests we found that nest survival was higher at sites composed of a higher percentage of grassland, and for nests found closer to major roads. We found no effect of any metric of oil and gas extraction activity on duck nest survival. Using survival-corrected estimates of nest density, we found higher densities of nests closer to roads, but lower nest densities at sites surrounded by more wells. Our top-ranked model indicated that nest density was predicted to decline by 14% relative to sites with no development, given the average number of wells (3.15 wells) within 1,500 m of a site. However, within a nesting field, we found no evidence that ducks were avoiding petroleum-related infrastructure at smaller spatial scales. Our results indicate mixed effects of oil and gas development on nesting waterfowl, and highlight both the resiliency of dabbing ducks to environmental change and the need for additional research on other aspects of duck breeding biology.

Shale, Quakes, and High Stakes: Regulating Fracking-Induced Seismicity in Oklahoma, USA and Lancashire, UK

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Miriam R. Aczel ◽  
Karen E. Makuch
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Shale Gas ◽  
Seismic Activity ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
High Volume ◽  
The United States ◽  
Horizontal Drilling ◽  
Induced Seismic Activity

High-volume hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling has “revolutionized” the United States’ oil and gas industry by allowing extraction of previously inaccessible oil and gas trapped in shale rock [1]. Although the United States has extracted shale gas in different states for several decades, the United Kingdom is in the early stages of developing its domestic shale gas resources, in the hopes of replicating the United States’ commercial success with the technologies [2, 3]. However, the extraction of shale gas using hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling poses potential risks to the environment and natural resources, human health, and communities and local livelihoods. Risks include contamination of water resources, air pollution, and induced seismic activity near shale gas operation sites. This paper examines the regulation of potential induced seismic activity in Oklahoma, USA, and Lancashire, UK, and concludes with recommendations for strengthening these protections.

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