Exxon Mobil (XOM)

Energy industry insiders say a new House probe of hydraulic fracturing is unlikely to hinder development of new domestic shale gas plays or stall a massive merger between Exxon Mobil Corp. and a large independent gas producer. The House Energy and Commerce Committee's two top Democrats asked eight oil-field service firms last week for details about chemicals they use during hydraulic fracturing, a decades-old drilling technique that blasts sand, chemicals and water into a wellbore to break apart compact rock and release hydrocarbons. The lawmakers also publicized for the first time details of a similar investigation that revealed that two drillers used diesel in their fracturing fluids in violation of a voluntary agreement with U.S. EPA.
Moves by Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who chairs the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, come after months of congressional debate about the drilling technique, which has helped open access to massive domestic natural gas plays and also has raised concerns among environmentalists and some lawmakers about the technique's environmental impacts and whether it is adequately regulated by individual states.

Feb 23 · 8:13:00 AM · Source: The New York Times
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by Jeffrey Epstein