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WV Officials Angry with Chesapeake Over Ethane Pipeline Deal

gas pipeline constructionState officials in West Virginia are angry with Chesapeake Energy over the announcement that Chesapeake has signed a deal to ship ethane out of the Marcellus region via pipeline to the Gulf Coast for processing. A quick petrochemical lesson: Some of what comes out of the ground when drilling for natural gas is the chemical compound ethane—especially found in “wet gas” areas of the Marcellus like West Virginia. Ethane can be processed into ethylene, which is the raw material used to make plastics.

West Virginia and Pennsylvania have been heavily courting Shell and at least one other unnamed company to build a “cracker plant” to process the ethane (crack it) into ethylene. Building a cracker plant in the region would attract thousands of jobs and billions of initial investment, and billions in revenue from associated plastics industries that would sprout up around the plant. It’s like winning the biggest imaginable lottery jackpot when it comes to jobs, money and tax revenue.

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NY DEC Panel Quietly Considers New Shale Gas Drilling Tax

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, while holding up a release of new drilling regulations, has “quietly” begun considering different taxation scenarios for when and if shale gas drilling actually begins. Last month, the DEC sent 7 of the 18 members of the Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel three separate charts with scenarios for taxing shale gas production. The members receiving the charts sit on a subcommittee charged with figuring out a way to pay for additional staff and resources that would be needed by the DEC and other state agencies once drilling begins.

Bear in mind under existing New York State law there is already an ad valorem tax (property tax) that will yield a lot of money from shale gas production, but all of that money stays in the local community, going to the town, county and school districts. The DEC Advisory Committee is tasked with figuring out how to grab a piece of the drilling revenue pie in order to fund their own expansion as they ramp up to handle the demands of new drilling activity.

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How to Subscribe to MDN’s Daily News Feed – And Why

A brief pause for some shameless promotion of the Marcellus Drilling News (MDN) website.

MDN’s Value Proposition for YOU

Just what is MDN and why would you want to follow the MDN website on a regular basis? MDN editor Jim Willis scours the available news about the Marcellus and Utica Shales each day Monday to Friday and culls from the stack the items that likely would be of most interest to landowners and to those with an interest in the shale gas drilling industry. Jim spends several hours early each morning sifting through all of the available news so you don’t have to, identifying the things you’ll want to know about to stay informed about this very important issue. All you have to do is scan and spend a few minutes reading the stories that catch your eye to stay up to date. The value for you? Jim spends his time each morning sifting, filtering and condensing so you don’t have to. Hey, Jim just saved you two hours a day!

How Do You Get MDN Delivered Automatically?

Just how can you easily get notified of new MDN stories each day? Not everyone “consumes” news the same way. Some like to bookmark and visit a website. Others want a quick email. And others prefer it as part of a social media stream, like Twitter or Facebook. MDN has all of those options covered—so you can quickly and easily stay up to date on the topic of Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling. Select the way that works for you:

  • Bookmark. You can bookmark or “favorite” the MDN home page in your web browser: //marcellusdrilling.com. But of course, you then have to remember to go and check it manually each day!
  • Email. Did you know that MDN has a daily email alert? Just sign up here: //marcellusdrilling.com/email-alert/. Each day at 9 am Eastern time, an alert is emailed with the headlines and first few sentences for new each story, letting you click the headline to read the full story online.
  • RSS. If you’re into RSS feed readers and tracking your news that way, just feed this address into your feed reader: //feeds.feedburner.com/MarcellusDrillingNews. If you don’t know what RSS and feed readers are all about, don’t worry! There’s plenty of other ways to keep track of MDN headlines.
  • Twitter. If you have a Twitter account, follow: //twitter.com/MarcellusDN.
  • Facebook. If you would like MDN stories to appear on your Facebook wall (only you will see it, not your friends), just “Like” the MDN Facebook page here: //www.facebook.com/MarcellusDrilling

Advertise Your Message 100K Times a Month!

If you work for or own a business with an interest in reaching a large audience very interested in the issue of shale gas drilling, please consider sponsoring an advertisement on MDN. You can download the MDN media kit with full details about our readers, and your opportunities to reach them via MDN. You don’t even have to register to download the media kit! Just go to: //marcellusdrilling.com/about/advertising/. Download the PDF to learn how you can you show your ad more than 100,000 times a month on the MDN website.

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Companies Target OH Landowners to Buy Royalty Rights

A few weeks ago, MDN called attention to a new trend in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region—companies who want to buy landowners’ rights to future royalties (see this MDN story). It seems to be happening mostly in Ohio at the moment. These companies are offering to purchase a landowner’s potential future royalties for gas wells drilled on their property, paying them an up-front, one-time payment now. Think of those commercials you’ve heard where companies offer to pay lottery winners a lump sum now for the future long-term payouts, or settlements from a lawsuit with payments that stretch over years. That’s essentially what these companies are doing for landowners with leases in the Marcellus and Utica Shales.

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Chesapeake Creates Hands-On Rig Training Center in Bradford PA

Chesapeake Oilfield Services has just launched a hands-on training program at its Eastern Housing Center and Training Facility in Athens Township (Bradford County), PA. They’ve installed a working drilling rig at the facility to give new hires real-world, hands-on training. The primary aim of the facility is to teach new workers safe work habits while learning how to handle rig equipment. In addition to the rig, a water transfer system has also been installed to teach workers how to safely and efficiently deliver water from its source to the drilling site, especially in sub-freezing temperature.

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