Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Nov 22, 2013

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

New York

Drill Here, Drill Now – The Verdict Is In, Gas Drilling Is Cool
Natural Gas Now
Anyone who has ever monitored Bill Huston’s web site or is on NYRAD’s (New York Residents Against Development (Drilling) mailing list, or even a fan of the Catskill Mountainkeeper (or should I say “MountainCreeper”) sees these action alerts on a daily basis. They are often no more than missives from the cult leaders of the gas drilling opposition to the faithful patting themselves on the back to say “see what I did.” The Mountaincreeper’s also always include an appeal for funds so the blueblood brats who run the place can still have jobs. These self-serving appeals aside, no one can deny the very well financed fractivist movement in New York has at least temporarily squashed the gas drilling opportunities of farmers and landowners who live here and have owned their properties for generations. The incessant demands of the gas drilling opposition for delay have had their impacts. Nonetheless, signs abound that their fear tactics have clogged the pipe of misinformation they’ve constructed and the falsehoods are now backing up and overflowing the toilet, ruining their plans to grab our land! Let me explain why I feel this way….

Ohio

Ohio close to 1,000 Utica shale permits with 606 wells drilled
Akron Beacon Journal
Ohio is quickly approaching 1,000 Utica shale permits. The state has approved 988 Utica permits, as of Nov, 16, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. To date, 606 Utica wells have been drilled, of which 184 are producing. A total of 39 rigs are working in Ohio. That number has been inching upward in recent weeks. The 10 newest permits are Belmont County, five; Carroll County, two; and Morgan, three.

Lt. Governor Mary Taylor Visits Producers Service Corporation (Zanesville)
WHIZ News
Ohio’s Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor visited the Producers Service Corporation Thursday afternoon to take a tour of their Sonora Road facility and to see how their fracturing services and trucks are built. “We’re visiting eastern Ohio and we of course know how important the opportunities we have now with the shale, and Marcellus and Utica shale, the drilling opportunities that we will experience, have and will continue to experience the job creation in this particular are because of this boom,” explained Taylor. Taylor says she wanted to visit the Producers Service Corporation not just because of the shale boom, but because they’re an Ohio-based, employee-owned company. As far as job creation, Taylor says the demand for oil-industry jobs is expected to grow. “We are at the top of the first inning, if you wanted to look at where are with regard to the opportunities that we see in Ohio and opportunities coming to Ohio, so I think it’s a fair statement that we are in the very early stages.” Taylor’s next stop is visiting Belmont College’s welding program in St. Clairesville.

ANGA and ShaleNet team up to provide scholarships for veterans
Cabot Oil & Gas Well Said Blog
America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) is teaming up with ShaleNet to provide $50,000 in scholarships for veterans who are interested in getting into the bustling oil and gas industry. ANGA will provide full scholarships for veterans to receive the necessary training for careers such as Welder’s Helper, Floor Hand, or Roustabout. Classes are only offered in Ohio, but veterans from surrounding areas are welcome to participate.ShaleNet helps link individuals to training and education opportunities in the oil and gas industry around the country. It has been recognized by 30 training providers in four different states, and has trained over 3,000 people.

Pennsylvania

Longest Lateral: Consol Innovates Efficiencies
Youngstown Business Journal
In the quiet countryside of Westmoreland County, Pa., pumps a record-breaker. There, just outside the hamlet of Mamont about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh, CNX Gas Co. LLC has drilled the longest lateral leg of a horizontal well to date in the Marcellus shale. The company has also earned that same distinction in eastern Ohio’s Utica shale. “They’re starting to stretch that envelope,” says Jeffery Boggs, vice president of drilling for Consol Energy Corp., parent of CNX. “The longer the lateral, the more pay zone you have.”

West Virginia

Media groups meet oil and gas reps
Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Charlie Burd of IOGA WV said he wants young people to know that many companies are looking to hire local workers. Burd lives in Vienna. Opportunities will be available in the industry on all levels, Burd said of laborers, drivers, lawyers, accountants and caterers. ”There is every type of job to be filled in our industry,” he said. Tom Rowan of Gastar Exploration said engineering is always a good field to be in with the oil and gas industry as well as having good mechanics. ”Many companies would prefer to hire local people because they know and understand our state’s terrain,” he said. Many of the area’s established oil and gas workers are getting close to retirement age and there will be a need for young people to start filling the gaps as well as fill the new job openings, Burd said.

National

Will LNG Exports Spike Natural Gas Prices?
The Motley Fool
With U.S. natural gas production continuing to grow faster than expected, the prospect of exporting natural gas in the form of LNG is attracting greater attention. By the end of this decade, the U.S. is likely to become a net exporter of natural gas, reversing a multi-decade trend of being a net importer of the fuel. But industry groups and other commentators are sharply dividend on the pros and cons of allowing additional exports of U.S. natural gas to countries that don’t have a free-trade agreement with the U.S. Some argue that increasing U.S. LNG exports could result in sharply higher prices for both consumers and energy-intensive businesses, thereby limiting the economy’s growth potential. Others meanwhile claim that LNG exports will not lead to meaningful increases in domestic gas prices, and will actually boost economic growth by creating thousands of high-paying jobs.