Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Aug 12, 2013

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

New York

Natural Gas Opponents Are No Visionaries
Natural Gas Now
The efforts of anti-gas activists to impose their special interest agendas on others and thwart natural gas development in upstate New York are pathetic replays of the e-mail scams we all receive from time to time.

Ohio

Shale gas and green technologies
The Marietta Times
One sure sign of the shale-gas revolution’s success is that it has not led to the pollution of groundwater that some people had predicted. Energy companies are using innovative techniques to unlock shale-gas resources safely and effectively. In Pennsylvania alone, the shale-gas industry has drilled more than 6,000 wells in recent years using a combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling to tap natural gas in the giant Marcellus formation. The results have been stunning. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection gives shale-gas drilling high marks. Here in Ohio, shale-gas companies are gearing up for a major increase in production as they become more familiar with the state’s geology. A report by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources shows that in 2012 shale gas accounted for 16 percent of Ohio’s total natural gas production, but that by 2015 it’s expected to provide 82 percent of the state’s gas production.

More details on EnerVest sale, Stark-Tuscarawas oil drilling project
Akron Beacon Journal
EnerVest is one of Ohio’s largest oil and gas companies. with 8,700 vertical wells in Ohio. It was the largest producer from traditional gas and oil wells in Ohio and produced 25 percent of Ohio’s natural gas prior to the Utica shale boom. The prices paid range from $11,000 to $15,000 an acre. Most was sold for $13,000 an acre, Walker said. Of the total acreage, EV Energy Partners sold 4,345 acres and will net about $56 million, the companies said. It will retain its overriding royalty interest on those acres.

Pennsylvania

Get A Paycheck From America’s Next Great Shale Field
NASDAQ
In the late 19th century, Williamsport, Penn. was known as the “lumber capital of the world,” and had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the country. The street where the lumber barons built their homes, on a hill overlooking the Susquehanna River, is still called “Millionaire’s Row.” Lumber may have built Williamsport over a hundred years ago, but it is natural gas that is responsible for its riches in this century.
In 2010, Williamsport was the seventh-fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States. As I traveled around the city, I saw the signs of this growth. Hotels were booked. Old warehouses were being converted into riverfront loft apartments. Store parking lots were full.

The DRBC Funding Scandal
Natural Gas Now
The DRBC has been taking money from a two-timing sugar-daddy group called the William Penn Foundation, which has been indirectly funding lawsuits against the DRBC, to help develop their system for managing natural gas development. It’s a damnable scandal.

Aker Philadelphia-Crowley tanker deal driven by US shale boom
Platts
The joint venture tanker deal between Oslo-listed Aker Philadelphia Shipyard and Crowley Maritime, announced earlier Friday, is being driven by the boom in transportation demand created by the US shale bonanza, the partners indicated. The deal calls for Aker to build four tankers that would be jointly owned with Crowley. The four would cost $500 million and be delivered in 2015 and 2016, Aker said in a statement. An additional four tankers could be built, for a total of eight, with delivery through 2017.

The Facts About A So-Called ‘Gag Order’ In Pennsylvania
Energy in Depth
You’ve probably read about an agreement between natural gas companies and a landowner in western Pennsylvania, an agreement that – if we’re to believe most of the headlines – included a “gag order” on two children. Many stories also suggest the family was pressured into keeping secret the terms of the agreement, including an affirmation that there was no medical evidence to support the family’s claims of health impacts. In fact, much of the coverage has subtly suggested that the family did believe there were health impacts, but agreed to say otherwise to settle the matter. The facts tell an entirely different story.

National

Tech Talk – A Cautionary Tale Evolves over Shale Gas
The Oil Drum
The development of the shale gas deposits in the United States, led by the drilling and fracking of horizontal wells into the Barnett Shale of Texas at the turn of the century, has opened up a resource that continues to draw visions of American energy independence from a number of commentators. The success of the development in exposing a potential resource that has been found in a number of states around the country continues to underwrite optimism for the short-term energy future of the country. In turn, it has led to projected dreams of enhanced domestic supply in some countries of Europe and the rest of the world.

Coal vs. gas a hot issue
Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter
For decades, the coal industry fueled not only America’s factories, but its politics. It filled campaign coffers with cash and congressional offices with persuasive lobbyists who helped keep regulation at bay. But factors beyond industry control are converging to create a difficult climate for an industry whose future could depend on its allies in Congress — many of whom now are focused on helping the burgeoning natural gas industry.

Natural-gas supply keeping prices low
Columbus Dispatch
Natural-gas prices this winter likely will be higher than during the last one, but the climb is expected to be gradual. In roller-coaster terms, that means your heating costs are rising like the Jr. Gemini and not the Millennium Force. While energy prices can be unpredictable, analysts are confident that gas will remain stable, largely because of a plentiful supply from domestic sources, such as Ohio’s Utica shale.

Chesapeake sheds more assets in turnaround bid
Reuters
Chesapeake Energy Corp has sold its stakes in trucking and natural gas companies and is trying to shed real estate in Oklahoma City, the company told regulators this week, as its new chief executive attempts to turn it around. The second-largest U.S. natural gas producer has slashed spending and pledged capital discipline following last year’s liquidity crunch, brought on by years of heavy spending on acreage in U.S. shale formations and low natural gas prices.