Dr. Daniel Fine writes “Nearly 40 years ago, when the first oil price shock from the Middle East and OPEC disrupted the American economy, North Carolina and Appalachia briefly became an oil and gas frontier. Following geological investigations, Chevron drilled an exploratory well in the Deep River Basin beneath Lee County, N.C. Oil was discovered at 5,000 feet, but it contained excessive paraffin and Chevron plugged the well. Why is North Carolina not yet a site for drilling rigs, mud and service companies? Why is there shale gas exploration and production in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and on different rock formations in Arkansas, Texas and in the Rocky Mountains?

The answer is political. North Carolina has been in self-imposed isolation from the industry that invests and operates oil and gas exploration. Until now, it has not been worth the airfare for a company to send an exploration geologist from Denver to Raleigh. North Carolina law prohibited hydraulic fracturing.

New state political leadership is prepared to change this and create the necessary government authority and institutions to issue permits, regulate and manage the economic benefits for people..” please read on and click this link to the original article—> http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/21/1947986/potential-bounty-for-north-carolina.html

Dr. Daniel I. Fine works with the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy. He is a longtime research associate at the Mining and Minerals Resources Institute, MIT. Fine is also a policy adviser on nonconventional oil and gas. He is co-editor of Resource War in 3-D: Dependence, Diplomacy and Defense, and has contributed to Business Week, the Engineering and Mining Journal and the Washington Times. Fine has testified on strategic natural resources before the U.S. Senate committees on Foreign Affairs and Energy and Natural Resources. In this speech, he discusses “Shale Gas Wars: From Pennsylvania to North Carolina.”