The numbers for foreign oil imports in June 2009:

- The USA imported $24.7 billions dollars, (354 million barrels of oil). This is a 13% increase from 21.6 billion spent in May 2009

- 64% of all Oil we used was imported

- The USA exported nearly $25 billion for imported oil, our worst month thus far in 2009

In the first six months of this year, the United States has imported 2.23 billion barrels of oil.

National security and domestic control and cost have all been a part of the conversation dating back to when Carter was President.
President Carter committed that we would never again import as much oil as we did in 1979.

A shift in perspective for the USA is significant. We need to use secure, clean and domestic fuel such as natural gas. Using secure,
affordable domestic fuel resources are something to build upon. It remains to be seen if Obama can do what Carter promised – I hope he can.

Post by: C. Keddy

The study, “Validation of Direct Natural Gas Use to Reduce CO2 Emissions,” found that when a societal subsidy such as a rebate or a tax credit is put in place to encourage the use of natural gas appliances, significant savings in energy costs, CO2 emissions, energy use, and electricity use can be achieved.

The report: Validation of Direct Natural Gas Use to Reduce CO2 Emissions

Source: American Gas Association

The American Energy Act is based on three principles of increasing production of American-made energy, promoting alternative and renewable energy, and encouraging greater efficiency and conservation.

The Act includes:

• increases the supply of American energy by immediately moving forward with a leasing program on the already open Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)

• alternative sources of energy, including nuclear power be used
(There are 104 nuclear reactors in America today, no new reactors have been ordered since 1978)

• tax incentives for businesses and homeowners who improve their energy efficiency

An important part of the energy solution is to make better use of the resources that lay beneath American soil- natural gas shale. Recovery and production of our domestic natural resources as a simple way to increase our supply of natural gas, while reducing our dependency on foreign oil.

Drop us a posting and tell us if you want the America Energy Act passed?

To read more about House Republicans’ American Energy Act, go to GOP.gov/energy.

C. Keddy

The study, “Russia and the Caspian Basin in the World Energy Balance,” examines Russia’s evolving energy relations with its Caspian neighbors, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the West and considers potential scenarios for Russian and Caspian oil and natural gas strategies.

“Maintaining favorable tax conditions to support investment in onshore shale gas resources in the United States can play an important role of containing Russia’s leverage over an increasingly global natural gas market,” said Kenneth Medlock, a Baker Institute researcher and lead author of the study. “In addition to North American resources, our scenario analysis shows that there are several supply sources that can serve as viable alternatives to heavy future global reliance on Russian natural gas.”

Medlock said that Russian efforts to organize a “gas troika” among three of the largest natural gas producers – Iran, Russia and Qatar – would result in all members of the troika losing significant market share over time with only minor, short-lived gains from higher prices. The development of alternative supplies from a variety of other sources, including North America, would serve as counterweights to attempts by the troika to exercise any market power. “Ironically, Russia could be one of the biggest losers in this scenario,” Medlock said.

The Baker Institute recommends that the United States and Europe work together to promote the development of additional natural gas storage capacity (perhaps a strategic stockpile), particularly in Europe, to enhance energy security in the emerging global natural gas market.

The study also notes that concerns about the vulnerability of Eastern European countries such as Ukraine and Poland could be best addressed by helping to finance projects to diversify the natural gas supplies of those countries.

The Haynesville Shale and other natural gas reservoirs in the United States will enable America to provide not only natural gas to its citizen, but also assist in building up a natural gas storage; thus, a shale solution to any potential energy war.

Click here to view the executive summary of the study.

How it works: The natural gas that you use to cook, heat your home, and make hot water for bathing is made almost entirely of methane. Natural gas is concentrated in natural gas fields, and is tapped by drilling wells, essentially long narrow holes in the ground. Natural gas is gathered from wells and transported by pipes for processing.

The natural gas that comes from wells is often not pure enough, so that natural gas processing plants are used to first remove liquids, such as water and oil, and then unwanted gases, such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide. These gases lower the heating value of natural gas, and can cause corrosion of pipes and equipment.

After processing, the natural gas is sent to a compressor station, which increases the pressure so that the natural gas can be efficiently piped from the compressor station to your home. Underground pipelines are used to move natural gas around.
Since natural gas is needed more in the winter than in the summer, it can be stored underground, either in old gas fields or underground salt mines, until it is needed. Natural gas can also be cooled until it becomes a liquid, and moved by ship around the world.

Fuel Facts:
Natural gas provides 22 percent of the energy used in the U.S. and 55 percent of homes in the U.S. are heated by natural gas. There are vehicles that run on natural gas, but natural gas provides a growing percent of U.S. transportation energy. Natural gas is the major source of hydrogen fuel. Natural gas is odorless. A chemical called mercaptan is added to make it smell so that leaks can be detected. Natural gas is used as a component to make fertilizer, paint, plastics, medicine, and many other products.

Natural gas:
Natural gas is a form of chemical energy. Natural gas is commonly used to heat our homes and to cook our meals. Natural gas is extracted from the earth using wells and processed to remove water, carbon dioxide, and other unwanted gases. It is then compressed to provide the energy to move the natural gas via underground pipelines to your home. Since the natural gas fields and processing/compression facilities are often located far from your home, and because it is transported by underground pipeline, most of this infrastructure is invisible to us.

Number of Homes heated by:
Natural Gas 55%
Electricity 39%
Heating Oil 7%
Propane 4%
(Source: DOE)

Natural Gas Uses
Natural gas is used extensively in residential, commercial and industrial applications. It is the dominant energy used for home heating with about 55 percent of American homes using gas. The use of natural gas is also rapidly increasing in electric power generation and cooling, and as a transportation fuel.

About 46 percent of natural gas delivered to U.S. consumers is used in the industrial sector, providing energy for everything from mining minerals to processing food. Generating electricity consumes about 15 percent. Another 15 percent is used in the commercial market — for heating and cooling office buildings, hospitals and schools, and for cooking in restaurants. Most of the remaining amount — about 22 percent — is used in the residential market, providing energy for home heating, hot water, cooking, clothes drying and air conditioning.

Natural gas is delivered to about 175 million American consumers through a 1.3 million-mile network of underground pipe. A total of 288,000 producing natural gas wells, 125 natural gas pipeline companies and more than 1,200 gas distribution companies provide gas service to all 50 states. The United States accounts for about 24 percent of the world’s natural gas production each year.
Natural gas has more uses than most people realize. It is used as a fuel for heating, as a fuel for electrical generation and occasionally as a fuel for vehicles. However, it also has a lot of uses in the chemicals, fertilizer and plastics industries – plus a very large number of other applications.

The Haynesville shale in the United States is the fourth largest natural gas field in the world. Clean, secure domestic natural gas will helps us make ourselves more at home with natural gas.