April 1, 2015 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on DrillingInfo Inc., New York State Geological Survey, Ohio State Geological Survey, Pennsylvania Bureau of Topographic & Geologic Survey, West Virginia Geological & Economic Survey, and U.S. Geological Survey Note: Map includes production wells from January 2003 through December 2014. Click to enlarge . Natural gas production from the Marcellus shale formation in the Appalachian basin increased to 14.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in January 2015, accounting for more than 36% of shale gas production and more than 18% of total dry natural gas production in the United States, according to EIA's Natural Gas Weekly Update . Recent updates to EIA's maps and geologic information for the Marcellus shale play help to characterize the formation's structure, thickness, and extent. EIA uses well data to construct maps showing the formation extent and structure of the productive and prospectively productive regions of...

The president’s plan, likely to draw opposition from Republicans, would cut greenhouse gas emissions in the United States 26 to 28 percent by 2025. Original link Original author: CORAL

Researchers suggested that the reduction was largely a result of equipment upgrades, including replacement of leaky old cast-iron or unprotected steel pipe. Original link Original author: JOHN

Pop quiz: Which uses more fuel and produces more emissions – letting a passenger car idle for 15 seconds or turning off a car and restarting it after 15 seconds? If you answered that restarting the car uses more fuel, you would not be alone. Most people believe that starting is the less efficient option. But that’s not the case, according to research conducted by Argonne National Laboratory. Results of their experiment revealed that just 10 seconds of passenger car idling time actually uses more fuel than stopping and restarting the engine. All of the fuel used during engine idling adds up to a real bottom-line impact. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that Americans waste about 6 billion gallons of gas every year. How many of those gallons are a result of vehicles in your fleet needlessly idling, and how much is it impacting your fuel expense costs? The good...

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration based on data from the Surface Transportation Board and other information Note: Crude-by-rail movements greater than 1,000 barrels per day are represented on the map; short-distance movements between rail yards within a region are excluded. PADD denotes Petroleum Administration for Defense District. For the first time, EIA is providing monthly data on rail movements of crude oil, which have significantly increased over the past five years. The new data on crude-by-rail (CBR) movements are integrated with EIA's existing monthly petroleum supply statistics, which already include movements by pipeline, tanker, and barge. The new monthly time series of crude oil rail movements includes shipments to and from Canada and dramatically reduces the absolute level of unaccounted for volumes in EIA's monthly balances for each region. EIA is initiating the new series with monthly data from January 2010 through the current reporting month, January 2015. CBR...

Scientists warned that the aspen forests could be doomed if emissions of greenhouse gases continue at a high level, adding to other studies that suggest the global effect of climate change. Original link Original author: JUSTIN

March 30, 2015 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Monthly U.S. crude oil production (including lease condensate) increased during 2014 by 1.2 million barrels per day (bbl/d) to 8.7 million bbl/d, the largest volume increase since recordkeeping began in 1900. On a percentage basis, output in 2014 increased by 16.2%, the highest growth rate since 1940. Most of the increase during 2014 came from tight oil plays in North Dakota, Texas, and New Mexico where hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling were used to produce oil from shale formations. In percentage terms, the 2014 increase is the largest in more than six decades. Annual increases in crude oil production regularly surpassed 15% in the first half of the 20th century, but those changes were relatively less in absolute terms because production levels were much lower than they are now. Crude oil production in the United States has increased in...

Where global warming conferences and protocols have largely failed, economics and personal choices might solve a seemingly intractable problem. Original link Original author: ROBERT

March 27, 2015 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-814 Republished March 27, 2015, 10:15 a.m., graph was corrected. In April 2014, after 35 years of shipping propane from western Canada to the upper Midwest, the Cochin pipeline was removed from propane service, and in July repurposed to ship light petroleum liquids north from Illinois to western Canada . Without this pipeline, western Canadian propane production has been shipped by other existing transport modes or placed into inventory at Canadian storage facilities. Recently, the declining value of western Canadian propane has encouraged the development of projects to provide additional outlets for growing production. Prior to its removal from propane service, the Cochin pipeline provided an effective outlet for western Canadian propane production. EIA tracks imports of propane by port of entry. Historically, propane imported from Canada on the Cochin pipeline had been reported at one of three border crossings into North...

March 26, 2015 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Monthly According to EIA monthly supply data through December 2014, which EIA released in late February, U.S. exports of fuel ethanol in 2014 reached their second-highest level at a total of 826 million gallons. This level was second only to the 1.2 billion gallons exported during 2011 and 33% more than exports of fuel ethanol in 2013. Similarly, U.S. imports of ethanol, which totaled approximately 377 million gallons during 2013 , fell by 81% to a total of 73 million gallons in 2014, their lowest annual level since 2010. As a result, the United States was a net exporter of fuel ethanol for the fifth consecutive year and exported the fuel to 37 different countries in 2014. In the United States, ethanol is primarily used as a blending component in the production of motor gasoline (mainly blended in volumes...