Marcellus Drilling News

NY Update: New Rules Won’t Be Done Before Fall

April 20, 2012April 20, 2012

productivity challenged Is it any surprise that eager beaver, go-get-em NY Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens now says that his department’s review of comments on proposed new fracking rules won’t be done before end of summer, “perhaps”? No, not a surprise at all. This is typical Martens delay tactic behavior.

Martens, speaking in Albany on Thursday, told business leaders of this arbitrary new delay. Can anyone say “productivity challenged”?

Anadarko | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH

Anadarko Utica Shale Update: Strong Initial Results

April 20, 2012April 20, 2012

Anadarko provided an update on its Utica Shale drilling program yesterday, saying that although it’s still very early, the “strong initial results are encouraging.” To date Anadarko has drilled and is producing from three wells in the Utica Shale. Anadarko has 390,000 leased acres in the Utica, most of it in eastern Ohio. In addition to the update, they included a map showing where they have leased acreage, where the three wells are they have drilled, and where they plan to concentrate their drilling activity (map embedded below).

From the Anadarko press release:

Timeline for New York Drilling Ban Court Case

April 20, 2012April 20, 2012

Tom West, an attorney handling a combined appeal of two New York cases where local judges upheld drilling bans passed by local townships, laid out a timeline for when the combined case will be heard and decided at an Albany conference yesterday. The two original cases are from Dryden, in Tompkins County, and Middlefield, in Otsego County.

Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Medical Society Admits Act 13 Won’t “Gag” Doctors

April 20, 2012April 20, 2012

Yet another straw man argument from anti-drillers has been knocked down in Pennsylvania. Anti-drillers were trying to fabricate a tale that under Pennsylvania’s new drilling law, Act 13, doctors and health care workers would be “gagged” and prevented from talking about the chemicals used in fracking with their patients should those patients somehow be exposed to said chemicals. It’s been a running headline for over a month.

On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Medical Society said the matter had been cleared up:

Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Initial Reaction to EPA’s New Air Pollution Fracking Rules

April 20, 2012April 20, 2012

The initial response to the EPA’s new 588 pages of rules governing hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas well drilling (see this MDN story) was lukewarm from both pro- and anti-drillers—at least in the Pittsburgh area.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

NY Post Picks Up on Anti-Fracking Preservation League

April 20, 2012April 20, 2012

At the end of March, MDN told you about the latest anti-fracking group to come along, The Preservation League of New York State (see this MDN story). The editorial page of the New York Post has now picked up on the same story:

Chesapeake Ignores Stop-Work Order in Beaver County, PA

April 20, 2012April 20, 2012

Chesapeake Energy seems to be in hurry-up-and-drill mode on land in Beaver County, PA in order to secure the land before the lease expires next week. They started drilling without first receiving a permit and are ignoring a stop-work order from the local township. Chesapeake claims the local ordinance states they only have to apply for a conditional-use permit—not receive it—in order to start drilling. The township says the opposite is true.

Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Canadian Company Buys Youngstown, OH Short Line RR

April 20, 2012April 20, 2012

One of the more interesting (and MDN believes underreported) stories about the economic renaissance occurring because of hydraulic fracturing in shale deposits is the revival of short line railroads. The latest case:

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Apr 20, 2012

April 20, 2012April 20, 2012

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