Repository for Oil and Gas Energy Research (ROGER)

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Demographers have applied various sociological and economic theories of fertility in attempts to clarify the dynamics of adolescent fertility, particularly its sharp decline in the United States over the last 20 years. Using the restricted detailed natality file from the National Center for Health Statistics, I analyze the impact of the oil and gas hydraulic fracturing boom in North Dakota and Montana on adolescent female fertility rates, testing pro-cyclical, mating market, and adult formation theories of adolescent fertility. Restricted difference-in-differences models demonstrate a positive and significant association between the oil boom and increased births in adolescent women aged 15–19, but more fully specified models demonstrate changing economic and social conditions appear to be driving the effect. Leveraging the exogenous shock of a bust in oil prices, a comparative interrupted time-series regression demonstrates a sizeable year-over-year decrease in adolescent female fertility for the shale region. Fertility rate changes in this age group do not appear attributable to changing racial or ethnic composition of oil-producing counties. Instead, increases in adolescent female fertility are largely driven by increasing births among white teens. The proximate mechanism driving this effect is the increasing employed share of young men aged 14–24, lending support to a substrand of adult formation and mating market explanations of adolescent female fertility.

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We investigate the interplay between energy prices and drilling activities in the United States and how this relationship has evolved due to the shale revolution. We hypothesize (1) there exists significant information spillover between drilling activities and energy prices; (2) the amount of information transmitted between drilling activities and energy prices has increased since the shale boom; (3) natural gas market is increasingly important information transmitter since the rise of unconventional oil and gas production. Using connectedness indexes constructed based on vector autoregressive models and data from 1997 to 2019, we find support for all three hypotheses. In particular, the linkage between drilling activities, measured by active rotary rigs in operation, and oil and gas prices in the US has strengthened since 2012. Oil and gas drilling activities have become more responsive to price variations during the shale revolution. However, the information transmitted from oil prices to rig count declined when oil prices fluctuated in a relatively stable range toward the end of the sample period. In contrast, the information transmitted from gas prices to gas rig counts has increased during the same time frame.

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Climate change, the imbalance between China's domestic energy supply and demand, and the success of the shale gas revolution in the United States have been the main motivators for China to actively issue shale gas development policies and explore its own path on this industry. This paper estimates three indicators of economic development: regional GDP, employment level, and the housing price index by using data from China's largest shale gas region, the Fuling District in Chongqing (a municipality in China). The analysis uses a Synthetic Control Method (SCM) model based on data from Fuling itself and other 34 counties of the Chongqing municipality over the period from 2005 to 2018. The results demonstrate that shale gas development has a significant positive effect on both regional GDP and employment level, with average impact growth rates respectively of 9.8% and 12.0%. By contrast, we find an insignificant effect of shale gas development on housing prices. These results support the case for further development of shale gas in China. Note that in some areas our results differ from existing literature, providing a reference for further research in this area.

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For shale gas resevoirs development, many researches focus on how to improve the estimated ultimate recovery (EUR), and ignore the relation of economic benefits and EUR. Therefore, based on the research of EUR evaluation procedure as the basis of economic estimation, the relation of economic benefits and EUR is revealed in detail, and the economy-geology-engineering (EGE) model is creatively built. The results show that six researched wells all have economic benefits: the average EUR is 1.60 × 108 m3, and the after-tax averages of net present value, financial internal rate of return and investment payback period (Pt) are 434.32 × 104 USD, 10.39% and 4.45 years respectively. Combining with the seepage theory and on-site experience, the negative relation of Pt and development degree of free gas is determined. The economic benefits for the unit volume of shale gas are close about 0.03 USD/m3 under the current development technologies. The influence degrees of economic parameters from large to small are gas price, drilling cost, fracturing cost, business cost and subsidy respectively. The proposed EGE model can effectively predict the economic benefits with the complex geology-engineering factors in the Changning block, and the corresponding method can be generalized to more fields.

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Abstract. Methane emissions associated with the production, transport, and use of oil and natural gas increase the climatic impacts of energy use; however, little is known about how emissions vary temporally and with commodity prices. We present airborne and ground-based data, supported by satellite observations, to measure weekly to monthly changes in total methane emissions in the United States' Permian Basin during a period of volatile oil prices associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. As oil prices declined from ∼ USD 60 to USD 20 per barrel, emissions changed concurrently from 3.3 % to 1.9 % of natural gas production; as prices partially recovered, emissions increased back to near initial values. Concurrently, total oil and natural gas production only declined by ∼ 10 % from the peak values seen in the months prior to the crash. Activity data indicate that a rapid decline in well development and subsequent effects on associated gas flaring and midstream infrastructure throughput are the likely drivers of temporary emission reductions. Our results, along with past satellite observations, suggest that under more typical price conditions, the Permian Basin is in a state of overcapacity in which rapidly growing associated gas production exceeds midstream capacity and leads to high methane emissions.

Abstract:
Over the past two decades, hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as ‘fracking’, in Colorado has increased crude oil and natural gas production exponentially. This growth continues to benefit the Colorado economy and employs hundreds of thousands of residents across the state (U.S. EIA 2020a; Hochman 2019). However, despite these economic benefits, studies over the past ten years demonstrate that fracking presents serious environmental and human health risks, particularly to those who live near wells. Hydraulically fractured wells can release toxic hydrocarbons into the atmosphere as well as contaminate land and water supplies, which puts Colorado residents living within 1 kilometer of these wells at an increased risk for adverse dermal and upper respiratory symptoms (Jackson et al. 2014, 347-348; Rabinowitz et al. 2015, 25). Additionally, people living within ½ mile of a well are at an increased risk for developing cancer (McKenzie et al. 2012, 85). Colorado Senate Bill 19-181 responded to this issue in 2019 by delegating regulation of fracking to local jurisdictions (SB 19-181). However, this legislation attempts to solve a statewide issue at a local level and is therefore an inconsistent and insufficient response. For this reason, I urge the Colorado state government to reclaim the authority to regulate fracking and implement a policy to ban all wells within 3000 feet of residential areas and schools, effective 2 years from date of passage. This measure will reduce residents’ exposure to toxic chemicals and their risk of disease while allowing the fracking industry to continue to benefit the Colorado economy and energy sector.

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Unconventional formations have been actively developed in the US since 2008. However, it is challenging to quantify the impact of technological advancement and geology on production. In addition, the economics of unconventionals is not well-understood. In this paper, we studied five major unconventional formations in the US: the Bakken, Eagleford, Haynesville, Marcellus, and Wolfcamp formations. We used historical data to quantify the impact of technological and geological variations on production. To accomplish this, we identified four phases of unconventional development over the past 12 years during which drilling and completion technology, initial investment, and commodity prices were similar: Phases 1–4. Using statistical analysis, we compared well performance of each phase. Then, we generated type curves for each phase for economic studies. Initial analysis shows that between January 2008 and December 2019, 60,611 horizontal wells were completed in these formations, producing about 8.185 billion barrels of oil, 90 trillion cubic feet of gas, and generating an estimated $816 billion in gross revenue. For the statistical analysis, the level of uncertainty ($${P}_{10}/{P}_{90}$$P10/P90ratio) reduced from Phase 1 to Phase 4 across all formations, suggesting consistent improvements in well productivity over time while county-level analysis shows spatial disparity in well performance. We infer that technology drives temporal changes while geology drives spatial differences in well performance. From economic analysis, Phase 4 type wells had the best production performance, partly, due to improved drilling and completion efficiency. It was also because operators targeted their best acreage to maximize their asset’s potential.

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Governments often compensate communities for hosting disruptive industries. Sometimes compensation comes with restrictions that preclude highly-valued investments. I exploit policy discontinuities at the Pennsylvania-Ohio border to understand how restrictions affect local investment. Ohio delivers unrestricted revenues to schools and municipalities with shale development. Pennsylvania leaves out schools, and requires that municipalities address the industry's impacts. Municipalities in both states save most of the revenues. Ohio schools leverage them to increase borrowing and finance capital investments. This suggests that affected residents have greater demand for school investments, and that broad use of compensation may benefit communities more than allocating it narrowly.

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We use the synthetic control method to determine the economic impact of the shale boom to Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Estimation results are mixed. The shale development decreased the poverty rate and increased the employment growth rate in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the short run. Top oil and gas producing counties in West Virginia also experienced short-term personal income growth due to fracking. However, most of the positive impacts disappeared a few years after the initial boom periods. The shale development did not bring significant economic benefits to Ohio. Further, shale drilling activities exert a potential long-term negative effect on population growth in all three states.

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The shale gas boom revolutionized the energy sector through hydraulic fracturing (fracking). High levels of energy production force communities, states, and nations to consider the externalities and potential risks associated with this unconventional oil and natural gas development (UOGD). In this review, we systematically outline the environmental, economic, and anthropogenic impacts of UOGD, while also considering the diverse methodological approaches to these topics. We summarize the current status and conclusions of the academic literature, in both economic and related fields, while also providing suggested avenues for future research. Causal inference will continue to be important for the evaluation of UOGD costs and benefits. We conclude that current economic, global, and health forces may require researchers to revisit outcomes in the face of a potential shale bust. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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Shale gas has grown to become a major new source of energy in countries around the globe. While its importance for energy supply is well recognized, there has also been public concern over potential risks from hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’). Although commercial development has not yet taken place in the UK, licenses for drilling were issued in 2008, signalling potential future development. This paper examines whether public fears about fracking affect house prices in areas that have been licensed for shale gas exploration. Our estimates suggest differentiated effects. Licensing did not affect house prices but fracking the first well in 2011, which caused two minor earthquakes, did. We find a 3.9–4.7 percent house price decrease in the area where the earthquakes occurred. The earthquakes were too minor to have caused any damage but we find the effect on prices extends to a radius of about 25 km served by local newspapers. This evidence suggests that the earthquakes and newspaper coverage increased awareness of exploration activity and fear of the local consequences.

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Fracking is a technology used for the extraction of shale gas contained in rocks on the Earth’s surface. The main characteristic of this method is that it consists of injecting pressurized water into the ground, thus creating a series of fractures through which the gas comes out to be collected later. Fracking has a number of both socio-economic and environmental implications that can be both beneficial (including increased energy security, economic growth, or reduced emissions of pollutants and climate change) and harmful (induced seismicity, increased global temperature, and potential greenhouse emissions if not properly implemented). The realization of a systematic review of the literature classifying the articles found according to the type of evidence they present; that it gathers all the impacts has allowed to group them and to give a general vision about the topic; that no articles have been found that have this same objective in the existing literature, thus contributing to the increase of the existing knowledge in this field. It is concluded that environmental risks, including those that could affect human health, should be integrated into the cost structure of fracking, as a risk premium or provision of funds to remedy possible negative effects.

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Technological advances in oil and gas drilling have enabled the productive extraction of natural gas in new regions. The benefits from employment and income opportunities can help stimulate economies and may be valued by local residents. At the same time, however, shale gas activity can alter natural landscapes and is associated with negative externalities, including potential groundwater contamination. While some previous research has examined the impact of shale development, our paper focuses on the local impacts in West Virginia, a state with a long history of resource-extraction and one whose economy has lagged the nation. Because of its history of resource extraction, communities in West Virginia who may have limited other economic prospects may value the activity differently. Additionally, most of the previous research used data during the initial boom, ignoring the slowdown that followed. Using the coarsened exact matching (CEM) technique, we match houses near producing wells with other similar houses, in order to examine how property values in West Virginia are affected by proximity to horizontal producing wells. This technique helps compensate for the relatively small number of housing transactions in West Virginia, ensuring we have a good counterfactual. After matching, we estimate the average capitalization effect of houses near producing shale wells. We find that the price of all houses (regardless of water source) decreases as the number of surrounding wells increases. However, we also find some evidence that this effect varies over time and that the negative capitalization effect attenuates over space.

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The paper extends Apergis’s (Energy Policy, 128, 94–101, 2019) study on the role of fracking activities in housing prices across Oklahoma countries by explicitly considering the role of certain indicators determining the health profile of the population. The analysis employs a panel model approach using data from 76 Oklahoma counties, spanning the period 1996–2015. The findings clearly indicate that the overall impact of fracking on housing prices is negative, given that the health indicators are explicitly considered, i.e. fracking has lowered housing prices.

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Spatial setback rules are a common form of oil and gas regulation worldwide - they require minimum distances between oil and gas operations and homes and other sensitive locations. While setbacks can reduce exposure to potential harms associated with oil and gas production, they can also cause substantial quantities of oil and gas resources to be unavailable for extraction. Using both theoretical modeling and spatial analysis with GIS tools on publicly available data, we determine oil and gas resource loss under different setback distances, focusing on Colorado counties as a case study. We show that increasing setbacks results in small resource loss for setbacks up to 1500 feet, but resource loss quickly increases with longer setbacks. Approximately $4.5 billion in annual resource revenues would be lost in Colorado under 2500-foot setbacks, a distance recently proposed in Colorado Proposition 112 and California AB 345.

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This paper exploits a natural experiment afforded by the fracking boom in Pennsylvania to shed light on the determinants of mortgage default. Looking only at mortgages originated before fracking became viable, and using the underlying geology as a supply shifter, we find that mortgages on homes exposed to shale drilling experience a significant reduction in default risk. This effect is more than four times greater for borrowers who are underwater on their loans. Additional evidence shows that fracking activity does not raise house prices, but significantly increases household income through higher royalty payments, wages, and salaries. Furthermore, we find that fracking directly leads to employment increases in the drilling/mining and construction sectors at the county level and reduces income from unemployment benefits at the ZIP-code level. Finally, in addition to reducing mortgage-default risk, we show that fracking lowers credit card delinquencies. These results are most consistent with the “double-trigger” theory of mortgage default, where underwater borrowers subject to an adverse income shock are much more likely to lose their homes to foreclosure.This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, finance.

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This study assessed the effectiveness of mitigation measures adopted to address the environmental effects of oil and gas industries from the perspective of compliance, cost of production, and community awareness. The research applied a case study through multi-method-qualitative and quantitative approaches. The target population of 547,368 people involved people in Takoradi, Shama and Newtown communities. A sample size of 150 was selected and categorised under 36% for Shama, 30% for Newtown and 34% for Takoradi. A combination of probability (simple random) and non-probability (cluster and convenience) sampling frames were used to access the respondents for the study. Data collection tools were limited to questionnaires and interview sessions. The descriptive statistics, Relative Importance Index (RII) and significance testing using a one-sample t-test module guided the analysis. Interview sessions were compiled into transcripts and later categorized into themes that directly reflected the patterns of the questions on the questionnaire. The conclusion rated major decisions in mitigating oil and gas impacts on the environment as first for conscious effort to package fuel and other chemicals in safe storages, followed by the use of best road systems to reduce the risk of accidents, then application of strict rules and regulations to curb impacts and lastly capacity building for participants in the oil and gas production industry. While significant measures have been adopted to mitigate the effects of oil and gas exploration, there remain challenges with effectiveness as a result of weakness in community involvement efforts, lack of motivation, weak laws and regulations and loss of respect. For effectiveness in reducing the challenges to mitigate the environmental impacts of the oil and gas production activity, policymakers, as well as the practitioners in the oil production industry, are advised to motivate people into buying into their policy to reduce such impacts.

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The advent of shale gas in economically and commercially viable scale has changed the dynamics of the U.S energy profile making it a net exporter of natural gas. However, despite the growing importance of shale gas, its impact on the economy of US has not been substantially investigated. This creates gaps in the empirical literature of energy economics with limited policy guides for the policy makers and other relevant stakeholders. This paper therefore contributes to the extant literature by examining the impacts of shale gas on economic expansion in the U.S in an augmented framework that includes capital stock and labour as additional variables. With quarterly dataset that covers the period, 2002Q1 to 2019Q1, we employed Cho et al. (2015) [1]'s Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag (QARDL) modelling technique to probe the long run relationships between the variables. The results confirm a long-run significant impact of shale gas and capital stock on economic growth of U.S while labour force is found to be a positive but not significant factor in economic growth of the U.S. Investment in capital infrastructure that can enhance the technology of natural gas extraction and fracking is recommended for full optimization of the shale gas consumption. Concerted efforts should also be made, through research and development, to improve the efficiency of labour force.

Abstract:
Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) drilling has expanded rapidly across the United States, including in the Fayetteville Shale formation in north-central Arkansas where drilling began in 2004. As one of the oldest regions of UOG activity in the United States, this area has experienced significant land-use changes, specifically development of natural habitat and agricultural land for gas infrastructure. In recent years, drilling of new wells has stopped and production has declined. By 2017, 1038 wells had ceased production and been abandoned, which makes them eligible for land reclamation. However, most of these sites (80%) have not been reclaimed and continue to cause losses in ecosystem services. If reclamation was performed on lands associated with abandoned infrastructure, we estimate more than $2 million USD annually in agricultural, timber, and carbon sequestration values would be gained. These benefits far outweigh the costs of reclamation, especially since the benefits accrue over time and reclamation is a short-term cost. Our estimates indicate a 2–4 year break-even time period when cumulative ecosystem services benefits will outweigh reclamation costs. We predicted a well-abandonment rate of 155 per year until 2050 when 98% of wells will be abandoned, which indicates great potential for future ecosystem services restoration. Thus, we recommend that Arkansans at the government and citizen level work to restore lands impacted by UOG development in the Fayetteville Shale region so that their value to landowners and society can be recovered, which will enhance long-term economic and environmental benefits.

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The Permian Basin is one of the most prolific oil and natural gas geologic basins in the US. With soaring production in the last decade, the economic impact of oil and gas development in the basin has become a pressing policy question to answer. This paper presents the first basin-wide study that examines both the employment effect and the income effect of the Permian Basin development. We consider not only the local impact but also the spatial spillover effect and the industry-level spillover effect. To correct for the estimation bias due to the potential simultaneity between drilling decisions and economic activities, an instrumental variables (IV) regression model is proposed. We find that both the employment effect and the income effect of shale development in the basin are highly significant. We also show that there are significant spatial spillover effects and spillover effects onto the indirect industries. Relevant policy implications for the long-run economic prosperity in the Permian Basin are discussed.

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Managing produced water from oil and gas wells constitutes a significant portion of the costs of operating a well. In this work, we have designed two different centralized water treatment facilities capable of managing produced water from oil and gas wells in Texas and Louisiana, both of which convert the produced water into the following valuable resources: ten-pound brine and fresh water. The two main designs each use commercially available technology with varying levels of establishment in treating produced water. Both treatment processes remove oil and grease and suspended solids, reduce the divalent ion concentrations, and concentrate the brines to a near-saturation state. The baseline design uses chemical precipitation to remove the divalent ions to meet the reuse specifications, whereas the advanced design uses nanofiltration (NF) membranes to separate divalent ions and uses reserve osmosis (RO) membranes to partially concentrate the brine. Both models use mechanical vapor recompression to concentrate the brine up to NaCl saturation. The baseline process is shown to be cost-effective for low-hardness brines. In the case of high hardness, the chemical precipitation step is cost-prohibitive. We find that NF membranes are a promising alternative to chemical precipitation as a means of separating monovalent and divalent ions.

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This study is set to quantify the impact of oil and gas production on the commuting pattern in the Permian Basin region. In particular, we focus on cross-county commuting that has shown a significant increase during the recent Permian Basin shale boom. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the increase is mainly driven by extended daily commuting and long-distance commuting (LDC) tied to the oil and gas industry. Our regression analysis integrating county-level commuting data and shale energy production data confirms that the impact is statistically significant. Using data from 67 counties in New Mexico and Texas between 2002 and 2017, we find that on average a one-million-BBLs increase in annual oil production leads to an increase of 100 inward commuters and an increase of 15 outward commuters. The net impact (inward – outward) is an increase of 85 commuters. By linking the empirical findings to the potential health, environmental, and socio-economic impacts of shale development with commuting being the channel of influence, further exploration suggests that the health and environmental impacts of extended daily commuting are much more significant compared to LDC. As far as the socio-economic aspect is concerned, both extended daily commuting and LDC can have significant impacts.

Abstract:
Recently, several seminal works have been drawing attention to the revolution of shale gas production technology of the USA, the impact of shale gas on energy sectors, as well as the influences of shale gas on macroeconomic variables of employment, economic growth, etc. Nevertheless, one may claim that two gaps appear in literature. The first gap is the absence of an econometric study estimating the effect of shale oil/gas on national economies. The more considerable second gap is the absence of econometric analyses revealing the impulses of shale gas on local economies. Therefore, this paper observes the possible causalities between the shale gas and local gross domestic product (GDP) employing quarterly data covering the period 2007–2016 for 12 states in the US. After performing the tests of cross-sectional dependence, heterogeneity, stationarity, and cointegration, the paper conducts the panel Granger causality analyses. The empirical findings depict that (i) there is available unidirectional relationship from local shale gas production to local GDP in Colorado, Ohio, and West Virginia; (ii) there occurs an impulse from GDP to local shale gas production for Louisiana, North Dakota, and Oklahoma; (iii) a bidirectional causality coexists between local shale gas production and GDP in Arkansas, California, and Texas; and (iv) there exists no association between local GDP and local shale gas extraction in Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

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In this interview and case study, we examine the Bakken oil shale boom's effect on union density in western North Dakota to test if high labor demands assist unions in expanding their membership and winning concessions. Using a key informant approach, we find that unions took advantage of the high demand for labor, but this growth encountered important barriers, including a lack of an activist approach, the organization of work, and a political climate in which labor's interests are perceived to oppose the demands of the environmental movement, that need to be surmounted before booming labor demands can turn into gains for labor.

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The development of unconventional natural gas in China is facing three new situations: market-oriented pricing reform, intensified competition in state subsidies, and reduced production capacity growth, which may cause the development of unconventional natural gas to be on the edge of economic feasibility. Therefore, the definition of economic limit is even more important. In this paper, through analysis on the historical prices, outputs, and subsidy policies of three unconventional natural gases, methods to estimate future prices, subsidies, and outputs of unconventional natural gas are designed in this paper based on the mean reversion model and the generalized Weng model, respectively; fuzzy data are processed by using probability density function combined with a discounted cashflow method to improve the utilization of original data; the economic limit model for well depth, well spacing, and gas recovery rate is designed through break-even analysis with the subsection function of drilling cost to well depth, the modified Cher Card Geoff empirical formula of recovery ratio to well spacing, as well as the fitting formula of gas recovery rate and stable production time. This model is applied in the case of Deep CBM Block Ji 4&10. According to the estimation and case calculation, in future China, the subsidies for unconventional natural gas will gradually decrease and the gas output will significantly increase, with shale gas taking the leading position and CBM gradually declining; the economic limits of well depth, well spacing, and gas recovery rate of Ji 4&10 are 2,203.2 m, 300 m × 300 m and 469 m × 469 m, and 2.1% and 4.3%, respectively, under the economic infeasibility probability of 90%, and the overall economic infeasibility probability is 58%, indicating that the development of this block is subject to great risks and careful consideration needs to be given.

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Shale gas is one of the most promising unconventional hydrocarbon resources in the 21st century. In recent years, economically recoverable reserves have achieved explosive growth, and drilling techniques have made large breakthroughs. As a clean unconventional energy, shale gas is given substantial consideration by governments. However, the cleanliness of shale gas has been questioned for causing serious air pollution during production. To further measure the air pollution cost during the exploration and transportation of shale gas, this article establishes an economic measurement model of the air pollution cost from the three aspects of human health, social cost and ecological cost by reviewing the relevant literature in the United States and China. This study lays a foundation for further calculating the cost of air pollution around shale gas fields.

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During the 2004–16 shale-gas development in the Appalachian basin, United States, premature mortality from lower air quality and employment followed a boom-and-bust cycle, whereas climate impacts will persist for generations beyond the activity.

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Impacts from energy development have been shown to affect different demographic, stakeholder, and community groups in different ways, which in turn may differ across energy regimes, project lifecycles, and geographies. This research examines the social and structural influences which may amplify or attenuate the varied impacts of unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) in a heretofore under-examined energy impact geography: the periphery region of Ohio’s Utica Shale. We conduct fifty-four (54) interviews in five Ohio communities to test and extend the Goldilocks Zone analytic framework of energy impacts, in which some energy periphery communities have been shown to experience moderate, positive spillover economic gains but minimal social harms in virtue of their socio-geographic distance from core UOGD activity. We find support for a Goldilocks Zone in the Utica Shale periphery, however the size and strength of effects are attenuated by the varied population densities, geographic and political economy diversities, natural resource legacies, and industry mixes and dependences of the Appalachian Range. This research contributes to the limited scholarship examining the effects of energy development in periphery impact geographies as well as provides baseline energy impact and perception data in a region that has received very little academic scrutiny despite ongoing and significant future potential for unconventional oil and gas development. Finally, this article tests and extends the Goldilocks Zone of energy impacts analytic framework in a new social, geographic, and energy context.

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—Based on the systemic comparative analysis of data, the paper overviews economic, geologic, and environmental problems and possible impact of shale gas recovery on the air, surface and ground water and their radioactive contamination, as well as the effects on the geologic environment and seismic activity in areas of extraction, landscapes, lands, and biological resources. It has been established that considerable risks exist that cast doubt on the feasibility of shale gas recovery in Europe.

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Meeting energy demands and achieving energy independence is one of the highest goals on any nation’s priority list. The increase in energy demands in the U.S. and the need for affordable energy have caused substantial developments in the fracking arena over the last two decades. Although the fracking process has dominated the last decade because of its contribution to more affordable energy, the negative environmental impacts have certainly been questioned. Therefore, it is imperative to calculate the real net cost of fracking by weighing its benefits against its negative environmental impacts as well. This research study is a foundational study that identifies the major cost centers and the impacts needs assessment for the fracking process across its different life cycle phases through an extensive literature review, a comprehensive Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA), and dynamic cost modeling. Datasets were analyzed at a macro-level to find the life cycle cost of fracking using several data sources and implementing life cycle analysis and assessment approaches. A Monte-Carlo simulation was used during the analysis to account for the range of values at the macro-level, rendering this model to be dynamic in nature, and the costs to be more reliable. The results demonstrated that air and water pollution are some of the highest impacting factors in the fracking process, and the most expensive. It was duly noted in the study that dependence on depletable energy sources like shale gas is very costly and economically and environmentally unsustainable, which urge a sustainable calculated transition towards more renewable energy in the imminent future. Finally, this study provides a major platform as a fracking LCC framework for different future studies.

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Fracking drilling has opened a discussion on the role of technological developments in economies engaged in shale oil and gas formations. Oil and natural gas production opened new possibilities for employment benefits and housing prices decreases. This paper explores, for the first time, the impact of fracking on housing prices across Oklahoma's counties, spanning the period 2000–2015. Through panel methods, the findings show a positive effect on housing prices, while this positive effect gains statistical significance only over the period after the 2006 fracking boom. The results survive a robustness check that explicitly considers distance and groundwater-dependency issues.

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The U.S. is undergoing a rapid energy transition, driven in large part an explosion in oil and gas production driven by unconventional drilling technologies. Some communities have embraced the boom in new oil and gas production, often resisting efforts to regulate the oil and gas industry. On the other hand, some states and municipalities have effectively banned new oil and gas drilling. In this paper, we examine how natural resource dependence, local economic conditions, and perceived economic benefits relate to support for restrictive oil and gas regulations in Colorado, US. Using representative survey data, our results suggest that perceived benefits, especially in the form of tax revenue, predict oil and gas policy preferences, while local and personal economic circumstances have little impact.

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Recent developments in drilling technology promise significant benefits from extraction of unconventional gas. At the same time, the deployment of this technology creates serious concerns about the negative effects it may have on agriculture and on the environment. This paper applies a behavioural approach to explore possibilities for improved negotiation outcomes between unconventional gas developers and host landowners using economic experiments in the laboratory. The paper specifically focuses on the role that security bond could have in resolving some of the conflicts surrounding unconventional gas development. The empirical findings from the economic experiments show that a security bond deposited by a developer prior to the commencement of the gas extraction can result with improved negotiation outcomes between developers and host landowners. Our findings suggest that the security bond is effective because it mitigates the effects of loss averse behaviour by landowners that do not hold sub-surface extraction rights.

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The process of hydraulic fracturing has unlocked an unprecedented amount of oil and gas in the United States. Hydrocarbons are not the only output from this process, though, as billions of barrels of “produced” water are extracted and subsequently pumped back underground. This process of injecting produced water into disposal wells has been causally linked to the rise in earthquakes. Here I show how the amount of earthquakes in Oklahoma are positively linked to the price of oil, and further find that the decrease in earthquake activity in Oklahoma is due to both the drop in oil prices and the regulatory directives of regional authorities. The estimated impact of the various shut-in policies have been small compared to the reduction in earthquakes due to the broad price decline, though. I find that the drop in oil prices that began in mid-2014 led to as large of a reduction in earthquakes as the combined effect f new policies that started in March of 2015.

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Scholars have identified many determinants of regulatory outcomes in unconventional oil and gas development, but few have focused on industry structure. We examine the effects of company size and ownership on revenue sharing outcomes in North Dakota (ND), drawing on political economy bargaining models. We examine firm-level characteristics of ND’s oil producers from 2005 to 2015, matching these data against revenue sharing outcomes and estimating effects using graphical and statistical methods. Along with this core analysis, we conduct key informant interviews with four elite actors in the unconventional oil and gas sector in ND, to provide supplementary details on industry structure and voluntary contributions to local communities. Our findings suggest that when industry is dominated by larger, publicly-traded firms, there is more revenue sharing between firms and the state government. However, we find anecdotal evidence that smaller, local firms may better target resources towards local needs. Our work contributes to a better understanding of the varied outcomes at the sub-national and sub-state level and expands the “resource curse” literature that suggests that industry characteristics shape local outcomes.

Abstract:
Romania has recently begun the exploration of shale gas reserves and, it is expected that these unconventional resources to be exploited by hydraulic fracturing. The use of this technology is controversial in high-populated areas, where the economic, social and especially the environmental impact is practically unknown. However, for the public opinion, the shale gas exploitation is presented as an operation triggering no major risks. Therefore, several agreements were concluded between the Romanian authorities and the major players in the exploitation field. Against this background, our paper shows that the shale gas exploitation has no real benefits for the Romanian citizens. More precisely, we conduct an exhaustive cost-benefit analysis, considering the economic, social and environmental consequences of the shale gas exploitation, and we show that in the long run, the costs considerably overlap the benefits. The use of hydraulic fracturing procedure, which implies huge costs with the water consumption and wastewater treatment, influences the outcome of our investigation. These findings are sustained by the sensitivity analysis we have performed.

Abstract:
Oil and gas extraction, especially via unconventional means like hydraulic fracturing, is hailed as an economic boon by many commentators and political leaders. However, empirical evidence is limited. In this article, we consider the socioeconomic effects (particularly, related to poverty, employment, income, and wages) of unconventional oil and gas extraction using a national data set of U.S. counties. We use a novel between- and within-county random effects modeling strategy to capture both resource curse and boomtown dynamics. Further, we allow the effect of oil and gas development to be conditioned by county rurality. Broadly, our findings suggest that oil and gas development has very complex effects at the county level. Within-county growth in oil and gas production slightly improves most economic outcomes, but counties that specialize in oil and gas development tend to perform worse than other counties. We find that, in general, the effect of within-county oil and gas production is not significantly moderated by county rurality.

Abstract:
The potential for shale gas development (SGD) in South Africa’s environmentally sensitive Karoo region has attracted the interest of energy companies, government and the public. The South African government is eager to revive economic growth, improve energy security following an energy supply crisis and relieve high unemployment. The public is torn between environmental concerns and prospects of economic benefits, while investors seek clarity in legislation. The impact of the US shale revolution explains the allure of SGD and constitutes the only model worldwide of a developed shale industry. South Africa is a useful case study for examining how various societal interests shape support for and opposition to SGD. While government seeks to proceed with exploration, a dominant coal industry and other alternatives including renewables and nuclear compete for attention, and there are increasing concerns about the size and economic viability of South Africa’s shale gas deposits. Influential actors in the energy-intensive industries comprising South Africa’s powerful ‘minerals-energy complex’ will play a role in how any shale industry might develop. By considering the interests of key actors including a vacillating government, cautious energy companies and a determined environmental lobby, this article examines South Africa’s tenuous road towards SGD.

Abstract:
This research investigates the relation between water, energy, and transportation systems, using the growing hydraulic fracturing activity in the Eagle Ford shale play region of southwest Texas in which the local water systems and road infrastructure were not designed for the frequent transport of water into the production site and of produced gas and oil from the site as are often required for hydraulic fracturing. The research: 1) quantifies the interconnections between water, energy, and transportation systems specific to the Eagle Ford shale region; 2) identifies and quantifies the economic, social, and environmental indicators to evaluate scenarios of oil and gas production; and 3) develops a framework for analysis of the economic, societal, and long term sustainability of the sectors and 4) an assessment tool (WET Tool) that estimates several economic indicators: oil and natural gas production, direct and indirect tax revenues, and average wages for each scenario facilitates the holistic assessment of oil and gas production scenarios and their associated trade-offs between them. Additionally, the Tool evaluates these social and environmental indices, (water demand, emissions, water tanker traffic, accidents, road deterioration, and expected average employment times). Scale of production is derived from the price of oil and gas; government revenues from production fluctuations in relation to rise and fall of the oil and gas market prices. While the economic benefits are straightforward, the social costs of shale development (water consumption, carbon emissions, and transportation/infrastructure factors), are difficult to quantify. The tool quantifies and assesses potential scenario outcomes, providing an aid to decision makers in the public and private sectors that allows increased understanding of the implications of each scenario for each sector by summarizing projected outcomes to allow evaluation of the scenarios and comparison of choices and facilitate the essential dialogue between these sectors.

Abstract:
Increased US oil and gas production has created opportunities and challenges for local governments. Through interviews with roughly 250 local officials, we evaluate the fiscal effects of this development in 21 regions across every major US oil and gas producing state during “boom” and “bust” periods. Growing oil and gas production has increased local government revenues through a variety of mechanisms, including property taxes, sales taxes, severance taxes, and more. Industry activity has also increased costs and demand for local services led by road damage, water and wastewater infrastructure, and a range of staff costs including emergency services and law enforcement. Despite volatility in revenues and service demands, our interview results show that 74% of local governments have experienced net fiscal benefits, 14% reported roughly neutral effects, and 12% reported net fiscal costs. Local governments in highly rural regions experiencing large-scale growth have faced the greatest challenges. To further improve future outcomes, local officials can plan for impacts, state policymakers can re-examine revenue policies, and operators can pursue collaboration with local governments.

Abstract:
The UK is in the early stages of developing a shale gas industry and to date six test wells have been drilled but none yet exploited commercially. Some argue that shale gas could reduce energy prices and improve national energy security. However, the costs of bringing commercial-size wells into operation are uncertain and the impact shale gas could have on the UK energy market is currently unknown. Therefore, this paper evaluates the economic viability of developing a UK shale gas industry and the impacts it could have on the UK gas and electricity markets and consumer energy bills up to 2030. The estimated life cycle (levelised) costs of shale gas production range from 0.47 to 56.74 pence/MJ (0.61–73 US$ cents/MJ), with an average value of 4.64 pence/MJ. The break-even price at which shale gas can be sold varies between 0.95 and 114.44 pence/MJ, averaging at 9.47 pence/MJ, depending on the volume of gas produced by a shale gas well. The latter is two times higher than imported liquefied natural gas, around 30% more expensive than UK natural gas and three times greater than the price of US shale gas. Electricity from shale gas is on average 17% more expensive than from domestic conventional gas but still more competitive than most other electricity options, including coal and renewables. However, the impact of shale gas on the energy market would be limited across the expected range of shale gas penetration into the gas and electricity mixes, suggesting that it would have little effect on energy prices. This is reflected in an almost negligible impact on consumer energy bills. The potential of shale gas to boost the UK economy is also limited, contributing 0.017–0.033% to the GDP. This is an order of magnitude lower than the contribution of US shale gas to its GDP (0.2%), indicating that the economic success of shale gas in the US may not be replicated in the UK. These findings will be of interest to shale gas developers and policy makers not only in the UK but in other countries considering exploitation of shale gas resources.

Abstract:
Recent rapid growth of shale gas exploration in the state of Colorado (CO) and elsewhere in the United States has caused considerable public concern over potential environmental costs to local communities, proximal to the location of energy development. In Weld County, CO, shale gas exploration has grown substantially since 2013. Both population and new construction of houses also increased significantly after 2012. Combined, this increased the potential for negative externalities. The objective of the analysis is to apply the hedonic pricing method, using single-family residential data from October 2014 to March 2017 and a temporal-spatial identification strategy, to estimate the environmental cost of shale gas exploration on nearby house prices in Weld County, CO. However, results from spatial econometric models provide no evidence of significant environmental impacts on housing values. Our policy discussion explores a possible Coasian bargaining solution as the source for this case of a missing negative externality. The energy and housing markets appear to be internalising externalities, where side payments from energy developers to homeowners are enough to compensate for any environmental impacts to housing.

Abstract:
This paper examines the impact of earthquakes on residential property values using sales data from Oklahoma from 2006 to 2014. Before 2010, Oklahoma had only a couple of earthquakes per year that were strong enough to be felt by residents. Since 2010, seismic activity has increased, bringing potentially damaging quakes several times each year and perceptible quakes every few days. Using repeat-sales and difference-in-differences models, we estimate that prices decline by 3–4 percent after a home has experienced a moderate earthquake measuring 4 or 5 on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. Prices can decline 9 percent or more after a potentially damaging earthquake with intensity above 6. We also find significant increases in the time-on-market after earthquake exposures. Our findings are consistent with the experience of an earthquake revealing a new disamenity and risk that is then capitalized into house values.

Abstract:
[The Marcellus Shale play lies below Northern Appalachia. Pittsburgh is unique in that it is surrounded by fracking on all sides. This research note investigates how much this metropolitan statistical area is capturing value from this industry by (1) mapping the locations where fracking is occurring, (2) investigating which companies are responsible for the drilling, and (3) reporting how many jobs the industry is providing. The hope is that other academics and practitioners find the data in the tables and maps useful for further research.]

Abstract:
This paper considers public support for increased regulation of unconventional oil and gas development in Colorado. We examine the role of community economic identity and investigate the possibility of “colliding treadmills”in local political economies as drivers of policy preferences.We find that many place-based variables do little to predict regulatory support, but the cost associated with regulation (increased taxes) and political identity are especially important. Further, this paper is one of a handful of sociological analyses to employ the contingent valuation method for environmental valuation, in doing so it provides a first step toward establishing an empirically rigorous sociology of environmental valuation.

Abstract:
Oil and gas extraction, especially via unconventional means like hydraulic fracturing, is hailed as an economic boon by many commentators and political leaders. However, empirical evidence is limited. In this article, we consider the socioeconomic effects (particularly, related to poverty, employment, income, and wages) of unconventional oil and gas extraction using a national data set of U.S. counties. We use a novel between- and within-county random effects modeling strategy to capture both resource curse and boomtown dynamics. Further, we allow the effect of oil and gas development to be conditioned by county rurality. Broadly, our findings suggest that oil and gas development has very complex effects at the county level. Within-county growth in oil and gas production slightly improves most economic outcomes, but counties that specialize in oil and gas development tend to perform worse than other counties. We find that, in general, the effect of within-county oil and gas production is not significantly moderated by county rurality.

Abstract:
Our database tracking of USA water usage per well indicates that traditionally shale operators have been using, on average 3 to 6 million gallons of water; even up to 8 million for the entire life cycle of the well based on its suitability for re-fracturing to stimulate their long and lateral horizontal wells. According to our data, sourcing, storage, transportation, treatment, and disposal of this large volume of water could account for up to 10% of overall drilling and completion costs. With increasingly stringent regulations governing the use of fresh water and growing challenges associated with storage and use of produced and flowback water in hydraulic fracturing, finding alternative sources of fracturing fluid is already a hot debate among both the scientific community and industry experts. On the other hand, waterless fracturing technology providers claim their technology can solve the concerns of water availability for shale development. This study reviews high-level technical issues and opportunities in this challenging and growing market and evaluates key economic drivers behind water management practices such as waterless fracturing technologies, based on a given shale gas play in the United States and experience gained in Canada. Water costs are analyzed under a variety of scenarios with and without the use of (fresh) water. The results are complemented by surveys from several oil and gas operators. Our economic analysis shows that fresh water usage offers the greatest economic return. In regions where water sourcing is a challenge, however, the short-term economic advantage of using non-fresh water-based fracturing outweighs the capital costs required by waterless fracturing methods. Until waterless methods are cost competitive, recycled water usage with low treatment offers a similar net present value (NPV) to that of sourcing freshwater via truck, for instance.

Abstract:
Hydraulic fracturing, a method of drilling natural gas wells, may pose harmful environmental and health effects. Because of this possibility, the state of New York placed a de facto moratorium on so-called fracking in 2008. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania has allowed fracking and hundreds of wells have been drilled. This study examines measures of labor market conditions in the border counties along the New York — Pennsylvania state line. The results suggest that restricted drilling in New York adversely affected labor markets in the state relative to Pennsylvania. These results contribute to the debate regarding fracking policies within the Marcellus Shale region.

Abstract:
During the onset of shale gas development, a variety of economic impact studies were released through the ‘gray literature’ without formal peer review. In a review of six such impact reports, Kinnaman (2011) speculates about several major issues worth scrutiny arising with analysis using input-output models. His central critique focuses on the assumptions of how industry spending is represented and how leasing and royalty dollars are spent. In this study, we use detailed county records and results from a survey to directly address these assumptions, and compare our results to the findings in an economic impact study of Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania which Kinnaman critiqued. Our results, which are only about 52% of the prior study, confirm his supposition that some ex ante studies use unrealistic assumptions which lead to gross overestimates of the impacts.