Trucking industry Is Set To Expand Its Use of Natural Gas

The natural gas boom has already upended the American power industry, displacing coal and bringing consumers cheaper electricity. Now the trucking industry . . . is taking a leap forward in switching from petroleum to cleaner-burning natural gas. And if natural gas remains cheap, consumers may benefit again.

Read more in The New York Times.

With Ban on Drilling Practice, Town Lands in Thick of Dispute

This old farming town near the base of the Rocky Mountains has long been considered a conservative next-door neighbor to the ultraliberal town of Boulder, a place dissected by the railroad and where middle-class families found a living at the vegetable cannery, sugar mill and Butterball turkey plant. But this month, Longmont became the first town in Colorado to outlaw hydraulic fracturing, the oil-drilling practice commonly known as fracking.

Read more the The New York Times.

Less Demand for Wi. Frac Sand

Frac sand producers are seeing less demand for Wisconsin sand used to drill for natural gas. Low prices are being blamed but industry experts expect them to bounce back as natural gas continues to replace coal as a fuel of choice.

See more at Wisconsin Public Radio.

U.S. to Be World's Top Oil Producer in 5 years

Bakken oil field, ND

The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's leading oil producer by about 2017 and will become a net oil export by 2030, according to a new report released on Monday by the International Energy Agency. . . . The widespread adoption of techniques such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling has made those reserves much more accessible, and in the case of natural gas, resulted in a vast glut that has sent prices plunging.

Read more in The New York Times.

Experts: Some fracking critics use bad science

In the debate over natural gas drilling, the compaies are often the ones accused of twisting the facs. But scientists say opponents sometimes mislead the public, too. Critics of fracking often raise alarms about groundwater pollution, air pollution, and cancer risks, and there are still many uncertainties. But some of the claims have little -- or nothing -- to back them.

Read more at Minnesota Public Radio.

As unconventional U.S. oil, gas boom, so do jobs: report

The U.S. oil and gas rush is cutting into jobless numbers, supporting a total of 1.7 million jobs this year, a number that will swell to almost 3 million by 2020, a leading consultant said in a study released on Tuesday. The report by forecaster IHS Global Insight is part of a series attempting to quantify the impact that booming production of so-called "unconventional' oil and gas has had on the American economy. Using new technology to blast fossil fuels trapped in shale rock has transformed the U.S. energy sector.

Read more online at MSN Money.

After the Boom in Natural Gas

The crew of workers fought off the blistering Louisiana sun, jerking their wrenches to tighten the fat hoses that would connect their cement trucks to the Chesapeake Energy drill rig - one of the last two rigs the company is still using to drill for natural gas here in the Haynesville Shale.

Read more in The New York Times.