According to two new assessments from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Bossier and Haynesville Formations that stretch across the Gulf Coast, from Florida through East Texas and South Texas, are estimated to hold 304.4 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas. These estimates represent the “largest continuous natural gas assessment” ever conducted by the agency in the United States – a finding so large it prompted Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to tweet, HUGE!

A new poll from the University of Texas finds more Americans support fracking than oppose it, and that support has grown since the Presidential election in November 2016.

According to the poll, 43 percent of Americans support fracking. That’s a three point jump from the poll’s findings last fall, and slightly higher than the 42 percent of Americans who say they oppose fracking. Support for fracking has increased by three percentage points since the fall, while opposition has fallen three points.

Environmental activists in West Texas announced this week that they are relocating to Kansas after failing to stop the Trans-Pecos Pipeline. The announcement comes just months after activists bragged that they were bringing in people from North Dakota to try to shut down energy development in Texas.

A new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that energy-related carbon dioxide emissions fell by 2.7 percent in 2015, thanks in large part to increased use of natural gas.

This week, at an event hosted by the Sierra Club-backed “Save the RGV from LNG” campaign, two anti-gas activists from Oregon and Maryland spoke about their efforts to halt U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. Promoted as a way to “build a resistance” against the three planned LNG export terminals at the Port of Brownsville, the event is another example of out of state activists misleading local Texas communities to promote the anti-fossil fuel “Keep It In the Ground” agenda.

A new peer reviewed study from the University of Texas found that methane in well water from Parker County and Hood County is naturally occurring, and not a result of fracking in North Texas’ Barnett Shale. Notably, the Parker-Hood Cluster has been at the center of the debate on methane contamination from hydraulic fracturing for years, but this finding solidly puts to rest any activist claims that fracking was involved.

New data from the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) shows that oil and natural gas development in Texas generated an astounding $9.4 billion in taxes and state royalties in 2016. That comes out to $26 million per day in state and local revenue, even as the industry suffered from a down market.

For months, opponents of the proposed ExxonMobil-SABIC ethylene plant in Portland, Tex., have tried every means possible to block the project, including spreading misinformation about the proposed facility and the 11,000 construction jobs it would create. Now, Portland Citizens United (PCU), the small group that opposes the project, has invited two environmental activists to come speak at an upcoming community meeting, which PCU has organized to attack ExxonMobil’s record and reputation.

SOURCE: Gulf Coast Growth Ventures