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Penn State Study: NatGas Power Plants Pose No Radon Risk

A bright and enterprising graduate student at Penn State University cooked up an interesting research project for her graduate thesis. With all this talk about “fracked gas” having boatloads of radon in it, would using such radon-laden gas as the source fuel for a gas-fired electric plant pose a risk to those who live near it? In particular, could the gas-fired plants on Penn State’s own campus be posing a danger to students, faculty and staff that live and work on campus? Alison Stidworthy, a former graduate student in the Department of Meteorology at Penn State (and now employed as a site manager for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection), led the research effort, which was the topic of her master’s degree thesis (copy below). What did Alison find? High levels of radon do not leak from the plants and pose no health issues to those living and working nearby. Which makes perfect sense. How do you get rid of radon in your basement when it’s present? You vent it to the outside, where it quickly dissipates and becomes inert. Alison, along with several of her professors, recently published her work as a study in the Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association...
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Penn State’s Marcellus Center Gets New Co-Director

nyblade
Andrew Nyblade

Penn State has given us some of the best research (and personnel) we’ve ever seen when it comes to the Marcellus Shale. In particular we’re thinking of Penn State’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research (MCOR). Great people. Super research. One of the co-directors of MCOR, Michael Arthur, is stepping down from his position (no reason stated in the announcement). In his place will be Andrew Nyblade, professor of geosciences. Here’s an updated/fresh look at MCOR and at one of it’s two leaders…
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New (To Us) Gathering Pipeline in the Centre of the Marcellus

Unit-CorporationIt’s not often we miss something that happens in the Marcellus. No, we’re certainly not omniscient. But not much (we hope) escapes our eye when it comes to drillers, midstreamers and other participants in the Marcellus/Utica region. Here’s one that did! Unit Corporation is a Tulsa-based, publicly held energy company engaged through its subsidiaries in oil and gas exploration, production, contract drilling, and gas gathering and processing. Pretty much the whole upstream and midstream pie. In January 2016 Unit completed 49 miles of gathering pipelines in Centre County, PA. That’s the part we missed. Below are a few excerpts from their recent second quarter 2016 update talking about what they call their Snow Shoe Gathering system, along with a couple of screen shots from the most recent company PowerPoint presentation…
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PA Royalty Owners Meet in State College: Bills, Lawsuits, Boycotts

Last week Pennsylvania landowners (royalty owners) from around the state gathered in State College, PA for the 2016 NARO (National Association of Royalty Owners) PA Annual Meeting and Convention. A variety of interesting topics were addressed, including: support for House Bill (HB) 1391 that guarantees a minimum 12.5% royalty payment to landowners; coming lawsuits from landowners against the state over the state’s aggressive action in claiming ownership of the land under rivers and streams; and a call to boycott all films which star anti-fossil fuel man-child Leonardo DiCaprio…
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Marcellus/Utica Driller Eclipse Resources Looking for a Buyer

One by one the dominoes are falling–companies in the Marcellus/Utica that just can’t hang on any longer are selling themselves. It was only last December that Eclipse Resources, an exploration and production company focused solely on the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, announced it had raised $440 million in a “private placement” of 62.5 million shares of common stock (see Eclipse Resources Gets $440M from New Stock, Trims 2015 Capex 20%). Eclipse drills almost exclusively in the Ohio Utica Shale, even though it’s headquartered in State College, PA. In June, Eclipse went shopping for an additional $550 million pile of cash by offering IOUs (see Eclipse Lowers IOU Offering Expectations – by $100M). Now comes word the company is using Morgan Stanley to shop itself to potential buyers. No word on the asking price or whether or not there’s been any bids…
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Rex Energy 3Q15: $95M Paper Loss, 1st Utica Well Online, Prod Up 15%

Rex Energy and Eclipse Resources are really like two peas in a pod. The people who founded Eclipse, which is shopping itself (see today’s companion story), are former Rex Energy people. Both companies are pure play, concentrating on the Marcellus/Utica, and both companies are headquartered in State College, PA. On Monday Rex Energy issued its third quarter 2015 update. The company lost nearly $95 million for 3Q15–but the entire thing was a paper loss, writedowns for the value of their assets because the price of natural gas took a nosedive. Production for the company was up 15% in 3Q15 over the same period a year earlier. Some of the biggest news we spot in the update is that Rex has been able to squeeze the costs all the way down to $5.2 million per Marcellus well they drill. Also big news: Rex put into production their very first Utica Shale well, drilled in Lawrence County, PA. Here’s the particulars…
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WPX Plugging 9 Wells in Westmoreland County, PA

inside scoopMDN recently received a tip from a reader who said that WPX Energy, which has been exiting the Marcellus for more than year, is plugging and abandoning its wells in Cook Township (Westmoreland County), PA. We asked WPX about it and got the scoop about what’s happening with WPX in southwestern and central PA…
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Get the Low Down on PA’s Midstream Next Week in State College

shaledirectoryListen up everyone who has an interest in Pennsylvania’s midstream–pipelines and processing plants. Billions of dollars are being spent in Pennsylvania as the gas industry builds out its pipelines to all parts of the northeast, Middle Atlantic, southeast and Midwest regions of the U.S. The two questions everyone wants to know: (1) Who is spending the money? and (2) Where is the money being spent? The answer to those two questions and more will be answered at the Midstream PA 2015 Seminar on Thursday, October 1, 2015 at the Penn Stater Conference Center in State College, PA. MDN is proud to support this event…
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Marcellus Gas on the Way for PA Customers with No Pipelines

In June MDN told you about a very neat concept–delivering natural gas to customers who don’t live near pipelines and likely never will (see Getting Marcellus NatGas to Rural Customers without Pipelines). As we told you at the time, Compass Natural Gas is building a distribution terminal in Lycoming County, PA that will accept Marcellus Shale gas in, clean it up (get rid of the water in it), compress it to 3600 psi, and load it into specially designed trailers and haul it to customers. We have an update. Work is proceeding on the Lycoming County facility–and Compass will build its second terminal in Centre County, PA. Compass plans six of these terminals in all…
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Chevron Lists Another 6,630 Marcellus Acres for Sale in Central PA

Chevron continues a slow bleed of selling Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale assets in 2015. In February the company put up for sale 12 tracks of Marcellus acreage in Bedford, Blair and Cambria counties in PA–just over 17,000 acres total (see Chevron Selling 17K Marcellus Shale Acres, More Sales Coming). In May, Chevron posted another 11,700 acres for sale in Clearfield and northern Cambria counties (see Chevron Shops Another 11,700 Marcellus Acres in Central PA). In June the company has just listed another 6,630 acres along with four drilled wells–all of it in Centre County…
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Getting Marcellus NatGas to Customers without Pipelines

NOTE: This post was updated on 7/30/15 per the request of Compass Natural Gas Partners. The updates reflect that Compass does not market to rural communities/end users, but rather to manufacturers, fleets and businesses that are not located near natural gas pipelines. We thank Compass for setting the record straight. – Jim Willis, Editor, MDN

Wouldn’t it be great if you could sell Pennsylvania’s abundant, clean-burning and cheap Marcellus Shale gas to areas without access to a pipeline or natural gas? Just wave the magic wand and presto-magico gas is delivered to manufacturers, fleets and businesses where no infrastructure now exists. That’s the premise behind a very real company that aims to accomplish that lofty objective. Compass Natural Gas Partners, based in Camp Hill, PA, is building a first of its kind compressed natural gas (CNG) terminal in Lycoming County, PA that will accept Marcellus Shale gas in, clean it up (get rid of the water in it), compress it to 3600 psi, and load it into specially designed trailers that haul it to customers. If this project catches on, it has the power to change how natgas is distributed to locations with no pipelines…
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Rex Energy Looks to Sell 28,300 Marcellus Acres in Bid to Raise $

Last week Rex Energy released its 2014 year in review and projected some numbers for 2015 (see Rex Energy 2014: Revenues Up 39%, Production Up 66%, 50 New Wells). A day later the company hosted an analyst/investor conference call. In reviewing that call, there was some news of interest. Rex said it is considering selling 28,300 non-operated acres in Westmoreland, Clearfield and Centre counties (PA) as a way of raising more money. Officials also said they’re looking for a buyer for their 60% stake in Keystone Clearwater Solutions, an oilfield services company, and a joint venture partner with Rex in its Moraine East acreage. Huh. Below are excerpts from last week’s Rex conference call along with their latest PowerPoint presentation…
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Scranton Newspaper Discovers WPX is Leaving PA–9 Months Later

Better nine months late than never, we suppose. Back in February, MDN told you that WPX Energy is leaving the Marcellus (see WPX Energy Abandoning the Marcellus? Sure Looks That Way). We got clarification from WPX spokesperson Susan Oliver that although they would not drill any new wells, they will continue to operate at least some of the 100+ wells already drilled (see WPX Gives MDN an Update on Their 2014 Marcellus Plans). Over a month ago we told you that WPX is actively shopping their remaining undrilled acreage (see WPX Marcellus Assets Being Shopped in “Controlled Auction”). The Scranton Times-Tribune finally woke up (nine months later) and, shazam! They discovered that WPX is (can you believe it?) leaving PA…
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New PA Senate Leader Says Severance Tax Could Kill Cracker Plant

It’s looking better and better that Pennsylvania Republicans will not cave to pressure to enact a Marcellus-killing severance tax proposed by Democrat Governor-elect Tom Wolf. Last week Republicans booted RINO Dominic Pileggi (Philly area) from his leadership post and replaced him with Sen. Jake Corman from Centre County as the new majority leader. Corman says if a severance tax is enacted, it may well kill the prospects for Shell’s ethane cracker plant and Corman wants to ensure that plant gets built…
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‘Marcellus Shale Documentary Project’ opens Sept. 23 @ Penn State

Penn State will debut the “Marcellus Shale Documentary Project” in State College, PA on Sept. 23 at the Palmer Museum of Art. We don’t know for certain, but we’re 99.9% sure this is more anti-drilling clap trap dressed up as a serious pursuit of the truth behind the Marcellus. The project “features photographic images that tell the personal stories of Pennsylvanians affected by the Marcellus Shale gas industry.” As part of this “important” new exhibition, a series of events are planned, referred to as a “museum crawl” (something like a pub crawl, only you get drunk on “art” instead of booze). A panel discussion to bash fossil fuels and “extractive industries” will happen in late October as part of the project. The panel is being sponsored (paid for) by Penn State, the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, and something called The Rock Ethics Institute. Bet you didn’t know that rocks have ethics, did you?…
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Turns Out that State College Teens are the REAL Scientists

Back in February we told you about high school kiddies from the State College, PA area who are helping with a project to monitor water conditions in a creek that runs through Black Moshannon State Park (see State College Teens Help Out with Shale Network Water Sampling). The project is part of something called the Teen Shale Network. The point is to monitor the water to get baseline readings ahead of shale drilling slated to be begin nearby, and then again after–to see if there are any changes that can be attributed to shale drilling. Wow! What a concept! Real, live, actual, in-the-field empirical research.

Contrast the dedication of these kids slogging through the snow all winter, entering freezing waters to do real, actual science, with that of people like Cornell “professors” Tony Ingraffea and Robert Howarth, who sit in ivory towers reading the work of other scientists and generating term papers they call “research” (see Devastating Critique of New Ingraffea/Howarth Methane Study by EID). Big difference. If you ask us, the State College kids are the real scientists. Here’s an update on the activity of our real scientists doing real research…
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