Monitoring the Midstream

Shale gas refers to natural gas that is trapped within shale formations. Shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks that can be rich sources of petroleum and natural gas. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, over the past decade, the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has allowed access to large volumes of shale gas that were previously uneconomical to produce. The production of natural gas from shale formations has rejuvenated the natural gas industry in the United States.

The Barge is Back

A couple weeks ago we talked about the extreme growth in the U.S. oil and gas industry due to the fracking revolution that unearthed a plethora of natural gas and shale oil across North America and how it gave rise to some little known players in the industry falling under the midstream sector umbrella. The increase gave way to constrained infrastructure problems (how do we transport all this fracked energy??) which has forced refiners to think outside the box…in other words, the barge is back!