Marcellus Drilling News

Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Jarrett Out, Jugovic In as President & CEO of PennFuture
March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

Stop the presses. Jan Jarrett, long-time President and CEO of PennFuture, has resigned her position. PennFuture is Pennsylvania’s largest environmental lobbying organization, and also a largely anti-drilling organization. Her departure is sudden and unexpected after leading the organization for the past 13 years.

Why the sudden departure? Jeanne Clarke, spokesperson for PennFuture says that Jarrett plans to take a “breather” and focus on her grandchildren. However, her departure may be related to trouble that cropped up last December over how a state grant was spent by the organization:

Read More “Jarrett Out, Jugovic In as President & CEO of PennFuture”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

MDN Editor Jim Willis Interviews NY Sen. Tom Libous
March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

MDN editor Jim Willis interviewed NY State Senator Tom Libous last Friday, March 2nd. Sen. Libous is a member of Gov. Cuomo’s Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel and an influential member of the NY Senate, holding the post of Deputy Majority Leader. We spoke about his recent remarks in the New York Times and whether or not his support for drilling has changed. We also spoke about the Advisory Panel’s work and where things go from here. It’s a short and informative interview, especially for New York’s landowners who are wondering whether, and when, drilling might begin in New York.

Jim interviewed Sen. Libous as special correspondent for Energy in Depth, so head on over to this page on the EID-M website and click to listen.
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake & KKR Form Partnership to Invest in Royalties
March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

Chesapeake Energy and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) are joining forces to invest in buying royalty interests in shale drilling areas in the United States. KKR is a global investment firm with $59 billion in assets under management. Under the deal, Chesapeake will find the deals and contribute 10 percent of the money, and KKR will kick in the other 90 percent of the money. The initial commitment is to invest $250 million.

From the joint press release:

Read More “Chesapeake & KKR Form Partnership to Invest in Royalties”
Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Landfills | Pennsylvania

Scranton Landfill Request for More Shale Cuttings Approved
March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

Exactly one month ago MDN reported that Keystone Sanitary Landfill, a privately owned and operated municipal solid waste landfill located in Dunmore, PA (a Scranton suburb), had applied to increase the daily volume of shale cuttings (leftover rock waste from drilling) from 600 to 1,000 tons per day. They also requested from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) a change so they could receive the cuttings in an “unprocessed or unsolidified form” (see this MDN story).

Read More “Scranton Landfill Request for More Shale Cuttings Approved”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Washington County

PA Towns Banding Together to Sue State Over New Drilling Law
March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

Last month’s passage of new Marcellus drilling regulations in Pennsylvania has some local municipalities grumbling that the state’s “Act 13” regulating oil and gas drilling and superseding local zoning ordinances takes away their ability to, yes, control drilling in their local municipalities. Which of course is what the law is designed to do!

Several municipalities, Cecil Township the latest, are making moves to band together and sue the state over the new law in an effort to overturn the Act 13 provision.

Read More “PA Towns Banding Together to Sue State Over New Drilling Law”
Allegheny County | Butler County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Dry Gas Drilling Slowdown Results in Layoffs in PA
March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

Although historically low natural gas prices are great for consumers, it’s not so great for some in the shale gas drilling industry. Because drillers are changing their focus away from drilling in the “dry gas” areas of the Marcellus Shale play and instead focusing on the “wet gas”—or liquids-rich—portion of the play, it causes a slow down for some businesses and leads to layoffs in certain industries, like title searching. Title searches of property deeds are a necessary part of acquiring leases for drilling.

A title search company in western PA has just laid off nearly half of their staff:

Read More “Dry Gas Drilling Slowdown Results in Layoffs in PA”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Mar 6, 2012
March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

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

Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Mar 6, 2012”