Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Apr 8, 2013

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

New York

Douglas Rose Comments on Town Bans / Moratoriums on Hydrofracking in New York State
Tully Rinckey PLLC/CBS-6
Litigation attorney Doug Rose of Tully Rinckey discusses the issue of hydrofracking and the moratoriums of individual towns against fracking in their area.

Ohio

The Sunday Shale Show: Guest Don Crane, President, Western Reserve Building Trades Council
Energy in Depth – Ohio
As Mr. Crane acknowledged, there is great potential in the future development of our state’s shale deposits, and its potential is recognized worldwide, with more and more interest and investment coming in to the Buckeye State.

Experts: Hydraulic fracturing has been around for decades
Warren Tribune Chronicle
The northeast side Warren man was struggling, though, to find an explanation for recent outrage by environmental groups and now some big name celebrities speaking out against hydraulic fracturing, and why so many people mistakenly believe the process that has been around for decades is new.

State’s commitment to protect Meander will be put to the test as oil and gas drilling expands
Youngstown Vindicator
Meander Reservoir is the source of drinking water for more than 200,000 Mahoning Valley residents, which explains why it has become a point of contention as the region braces for the expected oil and gas boom.

The Utica’s Potential Glimpsed in Chesapeake’s Results
The Motley Fool
After discovering the Utica Shale in 2010, Chesapeake Energy was initially highly optimistic about the play’s hydrocarbon potential. Though it has since dialed back its expectations, its most recent well results in the play are highly encouraging.

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia region an emerging player in energy industry
The Intelligencer
Pennsylvania is home to the most productive gas field in the nation: the Marcellus Shale formation. As local, shuttered refineries reopen, outside investment pours in and manufacturing experiences a comeback, the Philadelphia region is primed to become the state’s next economic powerhouse enabled by energy development.

Berks leaders, residents alarmed by pipeline possibility
Reading Eagle
Al Knaubb’s concern began when he noticed several helicopters hovering low over his forested Alsace Township property last fall. Three days later his phone rang. The man on the other end asked for permission to survey Knaubb’s property for a study regarding the Commonwealth Pipeline, a 120-mile project that would transport natural gas from Marcellus shale deposits in northern Pennsylvania to Chester County.

National

Total Carbon Emissions From Natural Gas May Exceed Coal By 2016
John Hanger’s Facts of The Day
Within the next 4 years, total carbon emissions from natural gas probably will exceed emissions from coal, but America’s total carbon emissions will likely fall further as a consequence. Here is why.

What’s Driving the Natural Gas Rally?
The Motley Fool
If you haven’t noticed, natural gas prices have soared over the past month and a half, helping reverse a lengthy decline that began in the summer of 2011. Gas futures in New York settled at a 20-month high on Friday, led by colder-than-expected weather that helped reduce stockpiles below the five-year average for the first time since 2011.

Natural Gas Jumps to 20-Month High as Goldman Boosts Outlook
Bloomberg
Natural gas futures in New York surged the most in four months, settling at a 20-month high, as cold weather helped erase a stockpile surplus and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its 2013 gas price forecast.

Increased Federal Criminal Enforcement Against Oil and Gas Fracking Companies
National Law Review
The federal government has been stepping up criminal enforcement actions against oil and gas drilling companies under existing environmental statutes like the Clean Water Act while state and federal governments are in the process of developing policies and regulations specifically targeted at fracking.

Malloy talks natural gas, innovation at New Canaan event
New Canaan News
Cleaner, cheaper and more reliable was the refrain repeated by CT Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the panelists at the Energy and Infrastructure Solutions event March 28 at New Canaan High School.

Methane leaks are undermining the shale-gas boom. Here’s how to fix that.
Washington Post
At first glance, the recent shale-gas boom in the United States looks like excellent news for efforts to slow climate change. Natural gas is nudging aside dirtier coal in the electric-power sector, which is driving down U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions.