All Posts from June, 2011
New natural gas website sheds more light on hydraulic fracturing
As the contribution of shale natural gas to our energy and economic security grows, people are seeking more information about how this resource is being produced. Today, ExxonMobil and XTO Energy launched a natural gas website to help address the key issues.
Critics pile on New York Times’ shale stories
It looks like I wasn’t the only one who had issues with Ian Urbina’s stories in the New York Times on the economic viability of U.S. shale gas. Industry, media, government, academia, investment firms and others have criticized the articles based on the lack of facts and the use of questionable sources.
The New York Times and natural gas: Don’t facts matter any more?
You really have to wonder why the New York Times is campaigning against cleaner-burning, domestically produced natural gas. In the latest installment (published first yesterday and now today), the Times questions the value of our country’s vast shale gas resources with little more than anonymous sourcing, two-year-old emails and analysis unsupported by fact.
Seconding the motion: “End the gas-price blame game”
“The economics of gas prices are comprehensible. It’s the politics that don’t make sense.” That’s a quote from a recent Washington Post editorial about the rise and recent fall of gas prices, aptly titled “End the gas-price blame game.” The editorial, published before last week’s announcement of the release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, summarizes an all-too-familiar scenario in the U.S. political game: When gas prices rise, politicians look to place the blame in a variety of places – oil companies, opposing political parties, Wall Street traders, Federal Reserve policies, and others.
New ExxonMobil YouTube channel
For those regular readers of my blog over the past year, you’ve heard my commentary about a range of important issues – from energy security and access to safety and education. Now, you can hear more about these issues from our employees and partners through videos on our new YouTube channel.
Facts on the hydraulic fracturing process
A couple weeks ago, I pointed to a U.K. Parliamentary study that found that hydraulic fracturing–a method that’s enabling greater production of natural gas in shale and other formations–poses no more risk to the environment or water supplies than any other oil and gas production technique. What’s most important about hydraulic fracturing is ensuring that proper well design and water handling procedures are rigorously applied at every well. But public questions remain, and I think many people might be wondering, “So what exactly does ‘proper well design’ mean?”
