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    PA DEP Announces 1 Year Study on Air Quality in Marcellus

    real scienceYesterday the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced a one-year study that will look at impacts on air quality from Marcellus drilling and the infrastructure (pipelines and compressor plants) that comes with shale gas drilling. The study will focus on Washington County in western PA, primarily in and around Chartiers Township, home of a gas processing plant.

    The DEP plans to use this initial study and its results to guide them on whether, and where, to conduct other air quality studies.

    Read More “PA DEP Announces 1 Year Study on Air Quality in Marcellus”

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    ‘Home Rule’ Taking Root in NY, PA and now in OH Too

    The so-called “home rule” movement grants power to local town boards to ban hydraulic fracturing either by enacting laws or by the use of zoning. Two court cases challenging home rule in New York are winding their way through the system now. Home rule is also a controversy in Pennsylvania with seven townships taking the state to court over the new Act 13 provision that strips away most of their zoning rights when it comes to oil and gas drilling in favor of state zoning rules.

    Home rule is now alive in Ohio too—in Beaver Township (Mahoning County). A group of Beaver Township residents are collecting signatures for a November ballot that would make Beaver a “home rule” township. And in so doing, would grant them the power to shut down drilling.

    Read More “‘Home Rule’ Taking Root in NY, PA and now in OH Too”

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    2 More NY Southern Tier Towns Vote to Endorse Drilling

    Two more townships in Chenango County, NY have passed resolutions supporting whatever plan the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) proposes with respect to horizontal hydraulic fracturing for the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Anti-drillers would say they’ve voted to support drilling, although the resolutions simply state they will leave it up to individuals to decide.

    The towns of Coventry and Greene voted to adopt a resolution in favor of drilling. Of the townships located in the Lucky Five Counties (Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga) that have voted on the topic of drilling, the vast majority have voted in favor, or more accurately with a neutral resolution saying they won’t ban it.

    Read More “2 More NY Southern Tier Towns Vote to Endorse Drilling”

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    France Considers Lifting its Ban on Fracking

    Don’t look now, but one of the shining examples of an entire country that banned fracking—France—a country exalted by anti-drillers as a shining example for America to emulate, is considering…lifting the ban! That’s right, the new French government, which is Socialist to the point of being Communist, sees all of the jobs being created by shale drilling in the U.S.—and they’re lusting for it.

    Faced with keeping the ban to placate the greens, or lift the ban and embrace safe drilling and reap thousands of new jobs, the new Socialist French government is leaning toward the later. C’est la vie.

    Read More “France Considers Lifting its Ban on Fracking”

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    India’s RIL: Shale Gas a Major Contributor to Revenue by 2015

    Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest private company of any kind and an energy giant, made three investments two years ago in U.S. shale plays via joint ventures—two of them in the Marcellus and one in the Eagle Ford. The company said in a recent analyst presentation those investments are starting to pay off and they expect their shale gas volumes to grow at an annual rate of 50% by 2015. If it does, it will contribute 8-10% of RIL’s earnings. That’s a pretty big deal—from nothing to contributing 8-10% inside of five years for the largest company in India.

    An update on RIL’s three U.S. shale joint ventures:

    Read More “India’s RIL: Shale Gas a Major Contributor to Revenue by 2015”

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    5 Things Business Insider Learned about Fracking

    When a mainstream media outlet deigns to tell the truth about fracking, as did the AP a few days ago (see this MDN story), other news outlets start saying things like the fracking debate has “reached a new, bizarre dimension” (Business Insider, July 23). Isn’t it sad when truth is considered bizarre?

    Business Insider (BI) got a headache from all the fracking talk—they just don’t know who to believe. I mean, when the AP outs Josh Fox as a liar, maybe the world really is coming to end, right? So BI turned to a geologist, Dr. Steven Marshak at the University of Illinois, to help them out. Dr. Marshak writes geology textbooks, so BI figures he must know a thing or two about fracking.

    Read More “5 Things Business Insider Learned about Fracking”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jul 24, 2012

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

    Spot natural gas prices at Marcellus trading point reflect pipeline constraints
    Alaska Business Monthly
    Daily natural gas spot prices between Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) Zone 4 Marcellus and Henry Hub have diverged recently largely due to rising Marcellus production, which has outpaced the growth of available take—away pipeline capacity in northern Pennsylvania.

    U.S. Says Shale Gas Output Rose 24% in May From Year Earlier
    Bloomberg
    Natural-gas production from shale formations rose in May on increased supplies from the Marcellus deposit even after prices fell to a 10-year low, Energy Department data show.

    NYT: There’s Still Hope for the Planet
    Breakthrough Institute Blog
    A grand experiment has taken place. Europe put in place a cap and trade scheme. The U.S. did not. And where European nations banned or did not develop shale gas resources, the U.S. tapped so much of it for the price of natural gas to drop 80 percent since 2008.

    Russia’s Gazprom skeptical of US-led shale gas boom
    Platts
    Russia’s state-owned natural gas company says the US shale-gas boom is economically unsustainable — and it’s buttressing its claim with financial data collected by an American consulting firm located less than 20 miles from the White House.

    Hedge funds increase gas bets as surplus shrinks and weather hots
    Gulf Times
    Hedge funds raised bullish bets on natural gas to the highest level in more than a year as a glut of the fuel shrank for the 15th consecutive week and hot weather stoked demand from power generators.

    Thousands Turn Out to Learn About Natural Gas at Cabot’s 3rd Annual Picnic
    Energy in Depth – NMI
    While we were still enthused from the excitement of last weekend’s Vote4Energy rally where thousands of New Yorkers came out to support natural gas, we headed to Harford Fairgrounds in Susquehanna County last weekend for the 3rd Annual Cabot Oil & Gas Picnic.

    Shale Gas Fixes Schools, Hospitals & Roads
    Energy in Depth – NMI
    Last week members of several local coalitions in Sullivan County, New York, came together for an educational meeting on the Ad-Valorem shale gas tax, as well as a screening of Truthland.

    Penn State Hears Missing Voices, But Misses the Point
    Energy in Depth – NMI
    Sadly, for me as a Penn Stater, I am forced to conclude this is exactly what we’re seeing from the university’s Center for Economic and Community Development with its recently released Marcellus Shale: Land Ownership, Local Voice, and the Distribution of Lease and Royalty Dollars.  It offers nothing new and is a little more then a platform from which to launch broadsides against owners of mineral rights.