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Despite reports of a "shale bubble" as well as climate, public health and water consumption concerns associated with fracking, Ryan Lance, CEO and chairman of energy giant ConocoPhillips, foresees a long future ahead for the country's shale revolution.
Lance made the comments Friday at the "The Geopolitics of Natural Gas" conference in Houston, where he was a keynote speaker.
"What we're learning is we've only scratched the surface of what technology can do to improve the outlook over the years," the Houston Chronicle reports Lance as saying. "This is the layer that can last for quite some time."
Dismissing reports of a looming shale gas bubble, Lance said the shale boom was only in its "first inning of a nine inning game," and that reports of it ending within 10 or 20 years were "unfounded."
Two reports published last year paint a different picture.
Steve Horn reported for DeSmogBlog that the reports from the Post Carbon Institute (PCI) and the Energy Policy Forum (EPF)
conclude that the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") boom could lead to a "bubble burst" akin to the housing bubble burst of 2008. [...] The fracking industry has the ability - paralleling the housing bubble burst that served as a precursor to the 2008 economic crisis - to tank the global economy.
Playing the role of Cassandra, the reports conclude that "the so-called shale revolution is nothing more than a bubble, driven by record levels of drilling, speculative lease & flip practices on the part of shale energy companies, fee-driven promotion by the same investment banks that fomented the housing bubble..." a summary details. "Geological and economic constraints - not to mention the very serious environmental and health impacts of drilling - mean that shale gas and shale oil (tight oil) are far from the solution to our energy woes."
ConocoPhillips also maintains that fracking can be done "responsibly," pointing to its record in the Eagle Ford shale in Texas.
Yet a new investigation revealed that residents living near the Eagle Ford Shale, who were promised prosperity when the industry came to their region, have instead been dealt fracking wells that release unchecked toxic emissions.
Meanwhile, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson has added his name to an anti-fracking lawsuit to block construction of a water tower near his ranch over concerns that it might lower his property value.
__________________
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Despite reports of a "shale bubble" as well as climate, public health and water consumption concerns associated with fracking, Ryan Lance, CEO and chairman of energy giant ConocoPhillips, foresees a long future ahead for the country's shale revolution.
Lance made the comments Friday at the "The Geopolitics of Natural Gas" conference in Houston, where he was a keynote speaker.
"What we're learning is we've only scratched the surface of what technology can do to improve the outlook over the years," the Houston Chronicle reports Lance as saying. "This is the layer that can last for quite some time."
Dismissing reports of a looming shale gas bubble, Lance said the shale boom was only in its "first inning of a nine inning game," and that reports of it ending within 10 or 20 years were "unfounded."
Two reports published last year paint a different picture.
Steve Horn reported for DeSmogBlog that the reports from the Post Carbon Institute (PCI) and the Energy Policy Forum (EPF)
conclude that the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") boom could lead to a "bubble burst" akin to the housing bubble burst of 2008. [...] The fracking industry has the ability - paralleling the housing bubble burst that served as a precursor to the 2008 economic crisis - to tank the global economy.
Playing the role of Cassandra, the reports conclude that "the so-called shale revolution is nothing more than a bubble, driven by record levels of drilling, speculative lease & flip practices on the part of shale energy companies, fee-driven promotion by the same investment banks that fomented the housing bubble..." a summary details. "Geological and economic constraints - not to mention the very serious environmental and health impacts of drilling - mean that shale gas and shale oil (tight oil) are far from the solution to our energy woes."
ConocoPhillips also maintains that fracking can be done "responsibly," pointing to its record in the Eagle Ford shale in Texas.
Yet a new investigation revealed that residents living near the Eagle Ford Shale, who were promised prosperity when the industry came to their region, have instead been dealt fracking wells that release unchecked toxic emissions.
Meanwhile, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson has added his name to an anti-fracking lawsuit to block construction of a water tower near his ranch over concerns that it might lower his property value.
__________________
Despite reports of a "shale bubble" as well as climate, public health and water consumption concerns associated with fracking, Ryan Lance, CEO and chairman of energy giant ConocoPhillips, foresees a long future ahead for the country's shale revolution.
Lance made the comments Friday at the "The Geopolitics of Natural Gas" conference in Houston, where he was a keynote speaker.
"What we're learning is we've only scratched the surface of what technology can do to improve the outlook over the years," the Houston Chronicle reports Lance as saying. "This is the layer that can last for quite some time."
Dismissing reports of a looming shale gas bubble, Lance said the shale boom was only in its "first inning of a nine inning game," and that reports of it ending within 10 or 20 years were "unfounded."
Two reports published last year paint a different picture.
Steve Horn reported for DeSmogBlog that the reports from the Post Carbon Institute (PCI) and the Energy Policy Forum (EPF)
conclude that the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") boom could lead to a "bubble burst" akin to the housing bubble burst of 2008. [...] The fracking industry has the ability - paralleling the housing bubble burst that served as a precursor to the 2008 economic crisis - to tank the global economy.
Playing the role of Cassandra, the reports conclude that "the so-called shale revolution is nothing more than a bubble, driven by record levels of drilling, speculative lease & flip practices on the part of shale energy companies, fee-driven promotion by the same investment banks that fomented the housing bubble..." a summary details. "Geological and economic constraints - not to mention the very serious environmental and health impacts of drilling - mean that shale gas and shale oil (tight oil) are far from the solution to our energy woes."
ConocoPhillips also maintains that fracking can be done "responsibly," pointing to its record in the Eagle Ford shale in Texas.
Yet a new investigation revealed that residents living near the Eagle Ford Shale, who were promised prosperity when the industry came to their region, have instead been dealt fracking wells that release unchecked toxic emissions.
Meanwhile, Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson has added his name to an anti-fracking lawsuit to block construction of a water tower near his ranch over concerns that it might lower his property value.
__________________