Oil Left in the Ground
High prices still haven’t prompted companies to use advanced extraction methods.Even with record-high oil prices, about two-thirds of the oil in known oil fields is being left in the ground. That’s...
View ArticleOil Drilling Won't Help This Summer's Gas Prices
Obama agrees to speed drilling, but don’t expect it to help gas prices.Whenever gas prices spike, calls mount to increase oil production in the United States. Then experts point out that this won’t...
View ArticleFracking Quakes Shake the Shale Gas Industry
Well shutdowns prompted by fracking-induced seismicity may inspire technology tweaks.Geophysicists are increasingly certain that expanding production of shale gas is responsible for a spate of minor...
View ArticleStudies Link Earthquakes to Wastewater from Fracking
The link between a recent rise in earthquakes and wastewater disposal from shale gas wells grows stronger, though skeptics remain.At the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco last week,...
View ArticleSafer Fracking
Strong regulations and improved public disclosure are needed.Can hydrofracking—using fluids to break open underground rock formations and recover trapped natural gas—be done safely? This is a question...
View ArticlePromised Land Brings Fracking to the Big Screen, but Offers Little Insight
The new movie is short on details. Here are the key environmental issues with fracking, and how to deal with them.Matt Damon’s Promised Land is a movie ostensibly about fracking and shale gas, but it...
View ArticleAmerica's Petrochemical Landscape
In 1998, the landscape photographer Richard Misrach roamed Louisiana to document a legacy of its petrochemical industry. In a series of stark photographs, he captured how the infrastructure of oil,...
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