Happy Thanksgiving! A Short List of Holiday Thank-Yous from MDN

Happy ThanksgivingAs we have done in previous years, MDN will take a brief respite on both Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday. And as we’ve done in previous years, we’d like to mention a few people and things we’re thankful for this year…

First and foremost, we are thankful for YOU, Marcellus Drilling News subscribers. Our beloved industry was decimated this past year with massive layoffs and prices for natural gas (and oil) that have gone through the basement into the subbasement. Although MDN has lost some subscribers because of the downturn, it amazes us how many have stuck around and renewed–some of you going on five years now. Thank you!

We are also thankful for close industry friends. Unbeknownst to you, each and every day MDN editor Jim Willis receives an email from Chris Acker with links to potential stories of interest. Chris is a geological engineer with an MBA. He grew up in the oil fields of Venezuela where his father, a petroleum engineer, was a drilling contractor for all the major players, onshore and off. Chris’ interest in energy economics and policy found him working for Exxon, Petroleum Industry Research Associates and Petroleos de Venezuela. He bought a parcel of land in the PA countryside twenty-five years ago and later semi-retired to work on antique pianos (see www.PianoGrands.com). Chris (and Cabot Oil & Gas’ chief geologist Buddy Wylie) gave Jim a grand tour of two Cabot Marcellus wells being drilled a few hundred feet from Chris’ front door in Susquehanna County–a real education! Every day Chris provides Jim with great ideas for stories–and MDN is a better service because of it. We salute Chris this turkey day!

MDN also salutes our partner in the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook, Ed Camp. Ed owns and operates the best online shale mapping service available–ShaleNavigator. Partnerships are like marriages–you want to be VERY careful who you get hitched to. Ed is a keeper. He’s smart, he’s honest, and he does great work. We enjoy working with Ed and plan to keep it going.

We’re also thankful for Tom Shepstone and his Natural Gas Now blog site. Jim often thinks (and says) if he could be any other writer than himself–it would be Tom. Tom is a giant in our industry–he’s forgotten more than we’ll ever know about the industry, in particular about the complex inner workings of Big Green groups–how they’re funded, who runs them…the whole incestuous mess. On occasion, Tom re-posts MDN articles on his site, adding tidbits from his own knowledge. Somehow he always makes our writing better! Natural Gas Now needs to be in your list of daily reading on the Marcellus/Utica.

We’ll close with thanks for a group of people Jim is privileged to work with (from a distance) on a regular basis: the great folks at Natural Gas Intelligence. Jim provides marketing and strategic guidance and consulting to the folks at NGI. For those who don’t know, NGI is both a natural gas news publisher (Daily Gas Price Index, Shale Daily, among others) and a data publisher (natural gas prices at 130+ locations). The company has been around since the early 1980s when Ellen Beswick began publishing a single weekly newsletter title still published today–Natural Gas Intelligence. Jim works closely with NGI’s executive publisher Dexter Steis and with a superb group of people in marketing and sales. He feels honored to be part of a team at NGI responsible for getting the word out about their top notch publications and products–publications and products those in the industry find indispensable.

We hope you have a great Thanksgiving holiday. It’s a time for family and friends, football and fun. It can be a time of stress–but don’t let it! Life is way to brief to hold a grudge. If we might wax philosophical for a moment–negative feelings only hurt you, not the person you have those feelings toward. Channeling Disney’s Frozen, let it go! Believe it or not, it’s a decision you can make. Try it.

We’ll be back on Monday with all of the latest Marcellus and Utica news.

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