Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jan 27, 2012

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

Tomblin Makes Case for Cracker Plant
The Intelligencer
West Virginia officials believe the state remains a contender for a multibillion-dollar chemical plant that could create an estimated 12,000 jobs, following a Thursday meeting with potential investors in Houston.

U.S. natural gas drops 12 cents on report of surplus in storage
The Advocate
The price of natural gas dropped Thursday for the first time in a week, after the government said U.S. supplies are still well above what’s normal for this time of year.

Commodities Corner: Natural-gas output cuts grow as prices languish
MarketWatch
Natural-gas producers have been announcing reductions to output levels lately, and that could be the start of a new trend that helps rejuvenate the fuel’s prices, which have languished at levels that are unprofitable for many producers.

Jilted industry pursues other interests
Canada.com
Canada’s oil-sands industry is not the only one feeling ignored by the United States – the natural-gas industry is starting to feel jilted, too.

Pinnochio Discovers Natural Gas
Free Republic
President Obama has returned from yet another vacation determined to convince people that, despite all indications to the contrary, he really is pro-business, pro-middle class and pro-jobs.

Casey urges Aither Chemicals to build ethane cracker in SW Pa.
O-R Online
U.S. Senator Bob Casey sent a letter Thursday to the chief executive officer of Aither Chemicals, urging him to choose southwestern Pennsylvania as the site of a new ethane cracker plant.