Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, May 15, 2012

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

NPR Series To Examine Fracking
NPR
All this week, NPR is taking a deeper look at the natural gas boom in the United States. The series is called "The Fracking Boom: Missing Answers."

WH official: Relations with oil sector thawing, but not ‘hunky-dory’
The Hill
The White House is trying to improve its icy relationship with the oil-and-gas industry, but things are far from "hunky-dory," a top energy aide to President Obama said Monday.

Gastar Exploration: Taking Unconventional Profits From Chesapeake
Seeking Alpha
Is Chesapeake the next Enron? Or has it been unfairly impugned by aggressive short sellers and news media? Should you buy the stock for the rally when they sell assets, short it to benefit from the next shoe to drop or sell calls or puts to generate income?

Natural gas garbage trucks save money
Allentown Morning Call
The company’s change of its fleet highlights one way that abundant natural gas deposits tapped from Marcellus Shale formations in Pennsylvania and other states are changing fuel preferences among businesses.

Marusiak covers easements during Elk County Gas Task Force meeting
Ridgway Record
Matt Marusiak of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy gave a special presentation on source water protection and conservation easements at Monday’s meeting of the Elk County Gas Task Force.

Ohio horizontal well permits increase sharply in 2012: Sunday’s Numbers
Cleveland.com
113: Horizontal well permits issued by the state of Ohio for drilling in Marcellus and Utica shale during the first four months of this year.

Chesapeake plans long commitment to Valley, official says
Youngstown Vindicator
Chesapeake Energy plans to continue to invest significantly in the Mahoning Valley for decades to come, a company official said Thursday night.