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Exxon Acquiring Acreage in OH Utica Shale for Oil Drilling

Utica and Marcellus Shale playsA rather generic story put out by Reuters yesterday refers to Exxon Mobil’s interest in acquiring acreage in the Utica Shale in Ohio as a new source of oil drilling. Details are sparse about Exxon’s plans, but it points out the white-hot interest there is in Ohio’s Utica Shale since Chesapeake announced in July they have struck oil, as well as natural gas and gas liquids, in Eastern Ohio (see this MDN story). Looks like Exxon considers Eastern Ohio to now be “one of the biggest sources of crude oil in the United States.”

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Chief Gathering Counter-Sues 3 Families in Luzerne County, PA

In a country with a proud tradition of free speech and open dissent, there is a line that can be crossed. That line is called libel and slander, and it’s always been a gray area, most often determined by the courts. We have a new case for the courts to decide related to the Marcellus drilling industry in Luzerne County, PA.

But this is not solely a case of slander. The people accused of slandering pipeline company Chief Gathering first filed a lawsuit themselves in an attempt to use the courts to stop the pipeline. So Chief is fighting back with their own lawsuit seeking to a) have the original lawsuit filed against the pipeline overturned, and b) seeking damages for the (according to Chief) slanderous remarks of the people and their attorney. Chief says their reputation in the community has been wrongly damaged.

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