Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Mar 8, 2013

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

New York

Who Says There Are No Natural Gas Health Studies?
Energy in Depth – NMI
New York officials keep saying uncertainty over public health is the reason for delay in the state but the record is clear and there’s plenty of data supporting the fact natural gas development is safe and will likely lead to health improvements in the Empire State.  The whole issue, in fact, is turning out to be phonier than actor Brian Dennehy’s military record.

Celebrity a fractivistsa: true advocates or NIMBYs?
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
The scene: a Manhattan art-house theater. The cause: a campaign against the gas drilling process known as fracking that’s being led by more than 100 celebrities, including Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Robert Redford, Mark Ruffalo and Mario Batali.

Natural Gas Doors Open Across Country, NY Watches Through Peephole
Energy in Depth – NMI
On the same day the Independent Democrat Caucus in New York announced  another piece of proposed legislation to delay development of the Marcellus Shale in New York, two representatives from a premiere energy conference in New Mexico heralded success on the radio and praise for energy operators.

Ohio

How Marathon Plans to Win in the Utica Shale
Motley Fool
A reader asked if Marathon Petroleum, which is headquartered in the heart of the play, might be a big beneficiary of its growth. With that context, let’s break down the company’s plans to for the play.

Road use leads safety session
Harrison News Herald
The subject of road use and maintenance responsibilities led a second roundtable shale safety meeting between local and state officials, emergency forces and oil and gas representatives on Monday.

Opposition from his own party has Kasich’s frack tax in trouble
Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
The Speaker of the Ohio House has come out against Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to tax large-scale wells to finance a deep tax cut for most everyone else.

Pennsylvania

Fed survey: Pa. shale gas boom regions robust
The Review
A Federal Reserve survey of regional economic trends says activity coinciding with the Marcellus Shale natural gas boom in Pennsylvania has been robust.

National

For EPA, a Troubling (Email) Chain of Events
Energy in Depth – NMI
If you thought you knew everything there was to know about EPA’s fracking follies last year, a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by E&E News provides valuable insight into the agency’s deliberations on these matters. Namely, in a series of high-profile backtracks EPA appears to be placing the unfounded claims of natural gas activists over the expertise of state regulators.

The Natural Gas Bridge to Nowhere?
Energy in Depth – NMI
Those supporting natural gas development have described the natural gas boom as the bridge to renewable energy.  The other side of the hydraulic fracturing  argument call it the bridge to nowhere and say instead we should be developing renewable energy on a larger scale.  An electrical grid expert talks about why large scale renewable energy would bring our grid to a halt.

GE Races Caterpillar on LNG Trains to Curb Buffett Cost
Bloomberg
General Electric Co. and Caterpillar Inc., the world’s largest locomotive makers, are rushing to develop natural gas-powered models in a potential shift from diesel’s six decades as the fuel of choice for railroads.

CEO discusses $20/hour McDonald’s employees, other challenges of gas boom
SNL Financial
The natural gas-fueled industrial resurgence has led to a demand for equipment that suppliers have been unable to keep pace with, the president and CEO of Associated Equipment Distributors told SNL Energy at IHS CERAWeek in Houston.

How the US Shale Gas Boom Could Derail China
CNBC.com
With oil production at a twenty year high and predictions of a manufacturing renaissance for the U.S. economy, one of the world’s largest investment banks has detailed how the “shale revolution” will negatively affect emerging markets such as China.