Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Jun 12, 2013

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

Ohio

Shale Not The Issue In New Republic Article
Energy in Depth – Ohio
No matter how you feel about the New Republic magazine, one should feel the author reporting on a news article is somewhat knowledgeable about the subject matter they are discussing. Yet in their most recent article, “The Amish Are Getting Fracked, Their religion prohibits lawsuits—and the energy companies know it”, New Republic mischaracterizes a lease between an Amish farmer and a small independent traditional producer as “big oil” taking advantage of the Amish. This notion couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Buckeye STEPS Meeting in Cambridge Highlights Safety, Health Issues for Gas/Oil Workers
Ohio Gas & Oil
Delving into areas relating to health and safety in the gas and oil industry, the Buckeye STEPS Network sponsors bi-monthly meetings to deliver information from experts in programs designed to protect workers from preventable injury or disease and the environment from hazards or disasters. The Buckeye STEPS Network is an acronym for Service, Transmission, Exploration, Production and Safety. Its membership includes operators and contractors in the gas and oil industry, in partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and other trade associations.

Pennsylvania

Many natural-gas lines in rural areas not registered with PA One Call
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Subterranean Pennsylvania is like a “bowl of spaghetti,” a Kittanning gas drilling company executive quipped. “There’s pipelines everywhere,” Stan Berdell, president of BLX Inc. of Kittanning, said of the myriad oil and natural gas pipelines that crisscross the state. But because of exemptions in state and federal law, many lines in rural areas — including gathering lines installed to service the growing number of Marcellus shale gas wells — aren’t required to be registered with the state’s call-before-you-dig agency, known as PA One Call.

Researcher studies intersection of environmental law, governance
Centre Daily Times
Environmental and natural resources laws form a curious intersection in our traditions. On the one hand, they are motivated in good part by collective hopes that our needs and lifestyle choices don’t overburden the Earth . On the other hand, the issues that such balancing raises are foundational — they are the core of what a self-governing people must decide for itself. So our collective hopes for conservation and preservation of the natural world often confront our commitments to federalism, “home rule,” and decentralization.

Squeaky Opposition to Fracking Is Justice Denied for Locals
Natural Gas Now
Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for natural gas has most often been framed as an environmental issue, but Grace Wildermuth says people stand to lose much more than our natural resources do. Real stakeholders don’t speak of “the” environment; rather, they focus on their environment, their interests and their rights. It’s personal for them, not some abstract concept.

National

Gasland Solar Mystery – Where’s the Array?
Natural Gas Now
Josh Fox uses Gasland Part II to push renewable energy, but fails to take advantage of his home’s southern roof exposure for a solar array that would heat his water and his home, demonstrating the double-standard so typical of the natural gas opposition.

These Companies Could Drown In Recycled Water
The Motley Fool
Fracking is a thirsty — and thus expensive — business. In some areas, drilling and fracturing a horizontal well can take more than 5 million gallons of water, costing upwards of $1 million. Until recently, drillers have used fresh water for fracking and then paid for disposal of used water. While some have begun to recycle, that’s the exception rather than the rule. All that may be about to change.

Most Folks Have Never Heard of This Company
Investment U
The best way to play the oil and gas sectors is through pipeline companies. They are the toll roads of the energy world. Today, I’m going to “leak” some intel on one of my favorites in this sector. After all… isn’t that the trend these days?

Too Wrong For Too Long – The NGL Surge We Didn’t Expect
RBN Energy
The production of natural gas liquids (NGLs) increased twice as quickly as expected just two years ago in 2011. Current production of 3.2 MMb/d (gas plants + refineries) was only supposed to be achieved in 2016 and now the forecast is for 4 MMb/d by then. The result has been more rapid implementation of infrastructure to handle NGLs and that supply has exceeded demand so that exports are required. Today we look at the impact of the rapid production ramp up.

Powering America’s Future: How You Can Profit
The Motley Fool
Recently the Energy Information Administration (EIA) published projections for future electricity generation through the year 2040. While coal-fired power plants currently have the largest share of electricity to the US power grid, and will continue to have it, natural gas is projected to make large gains.