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Exclusive for MDN Readers: Attend Pittsburgh O&G Industry Summit FREE

Oil & Gas AwardsLast March, MDN participated in the Oil & Gas Awards regional event in Pittsburgh (see Oil & Gas Awards “Northeast Conference for Excellence” Now on MDN). It was a blast meeting and talking with members of the industry. Like last year, we are once again participating in the event this March in Pittsburgh. MDN editor Jim Willis is moderating a couple of the panel discussions during the day-time conference, which is dubbed the Northeast Industry Summit. We have two pieces of big news for MDN readers: 1) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring and participating this year, and 2) Jim wants MDN readers to attend, so he’s arranged with the O&G Awards crew to offer MDN readers a FREE pass to the Summit, which will save you $199. Here’s how to register…
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PA Drilling Regs in Process Since 2012 Delayed by PA Gov Wolf

The 2012 Act 13 law did a great deal to update oil and gas drilling regulations, something Gov. Ed Rendell failed to do when he was in office. But it didn’t do the whole job. Part of the law left it up to the five-member Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board, part of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection, to codify all sorts of new regulations to make drilling better and safer. Remember, this started in 2012 (which tells you how slowly government moves). The original proposal had 23 pages of changes and new rules, which later blossomed to 73 pages (see 1984 PA Oil & Gas Act Rewrite Delayed but Still Coming). In 2013, the DEP took the draft regulations on “road show” seeking public comment, which they extended into early 2014 (see PA DEP Extends Roadshow for Public Comment on New Drilling Rules). The last we heard, the new regs were supposed to be released in very early 2015 (see DEP Sec. Abruzzo Says Budget Bill Means Delay in New Drilling Regs). Scratch that now. A draft of the final final final final rules was supposed to be discussed on Jan. 22, two days after the coronation of Gov. Tom Wolf, but that was canceled to give Wolf and presumably John Quigley, Wolf’s nominee to head the DEP, time to rewrite them yet again…
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Anti Groups Beat Export Drum in Opposing MA Pipeline

Anti-fossil fuelers continue to try and make the case that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should not allow Kinder Morgan to build an extension to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline through Massachusetts, called the Northeast Energy Direct project. Their favorite tactic is to find an issue that they believe will resonate with the general population and push for all it’s worth on that issue–with the gleeful help of mainstream (or “drive-by”) media. The latest wedge issue they’re harping on is that natural gas flowing through the pipe will get exported–implying that none of the gas flowing through the pipeline will benefit New Englanders. We previously dealt with the complex issues behind exporting (see Canadian LNG Exports, New England Pipelines & the Marcellus). Will some of the gas flowing through the TGP pipeline get exported to Canada and liquefied into LNG and exported across the ocean? No doubt. Will most of it get exported? No…
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Universal Well Services Closes PA Facility, Lays Off Some Workers

It wasn’t so long ago that MDN told you about the “feel good” story of Universal Well Services, a Meadville (Crawford County), PA company specializing in pressure-pumping wells, cementing well pads and other well services (see Marcellus Supply Chain Success Story: Universal Well Services). Universal is a subsidiary of Patterson-UGI Energy, Inc.–a large oilfield services company. The company had grown from 200 to more than 1,000 employees in 10 years. But that was before the price of oil and gas went into the basement. Now they’re laying off employees…
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Man Bites Dog: No Protesters at NEXUS Gas Pipeline Event?!

The reporting on a story about a pipeline open house is so unusual, we thought you would like to hear about it. It seems that representatives from the proposed $2 billion NEXUS Gas Pipeline, a pipeline beginning in Columbiana County, OH, then crossing through 11 Ohio counties and 3 Michigan counties in total, held an open house to discuss the project last night in Hanoverton (Columbiana County), OH. The unusual “man bites dog” news? No nutty protesters, and those who attended, the people whose land it may cross, “welcome” the project! This is not your typical news reporting folks. Somebody in anti-drilling land is falling down on the job–they should have had at least one nutjob anti-fossil fuel protester outside for the cameras…
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Widespread Use of Drones in Northeast Drilling May Start This Year

Question: What do you call a model airplane or model helicopter with a camera attached to it? Answer: A drone. We always find is fascinating to hear talk about “drones” in the news because it conjures an image of unmanned but nearly full-sized airplanes flying over Afghanistan looking for baddies like Osama. When if finds a baddie, the remote pilot flies that sucker with a bomb strapped to it into the ground, killing the target. Somewhere along the way “model airplane” got renamed “drone”–we suspect intentionally, to give you that mental imagery. Anywho…the Marcellus and Utica Shale industry would like to use “drones” to monitor pipelines and scout out locations for future drill pads, but the Federal Aviation Administration currently blocks most such activity. That may change this year…
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NY Anti-Drillers have “Ban Fever,” Want to Spread It Beyond NY

It wasn’t so long ago loonies in New York State pressured a politically weak governor, Andrew Cuomo, to ban fracking (see After 6+ Years, Andrew Cuomo Bans Fracking in New York). “Whew” (you may think), “That’s New York–you know, where all the liberal loonies live. Glad it’s not here in my state.” Well yes, in NY we do have more than our fair share of anti-drilling nutters. But don’t think you’re safe. Even though NY’s anti-drillers have had a small taste of “victory” in the Empire State, their appetite is not sated. Now NY’s anti-drillers are targeting drilling in other states. Their own members openly talk of halting/banning drilling everywhere, including PA. They say they’ve got the “ban fever” and just like the measles, they want it to spread…
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MDN Releases Vol. 3 for 2014 Marcellus/Utica Shale Databook

Databook 2014 Vol. 3MDN has just launched Volume 3 of the 2014 Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. The Databook is a 3-volume series we issue each year, meant for companies and even serious landowners who want to know what’s happening and where in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. It contains a series of maps–one for each county throughout the northeast where permits have been issued for shale wells. On the maps we show where the permit was issued, and who (which company) it was issued to. In addition, MDN editor Jim Willis writes a number of special sections to update you on drilling and related issues, including regulatory, prices, rig and well count trends and much more. Each issue also sports special sections not repeated in the other volumes. In Vol. 3 we have a comprehensive list of Marcellus/Utica waste facilities–injection wells, landfills and more. We give you the name, location and phone number for the facility. Bang–we just saved you about 10 hours of work! Also in Vol. 3 is a special contributed section by two experts on factors influencing the production of Marcellus Shale wells–and how those factors affect a well’s decline curve…
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