Marcellus Drilling News

Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Dimock, PA Landowners Settle Lawsuit with Cabot
August 15, 2012August 15, 2012

The long nightmare for Cabot Oil & Gas in Dimock, PA is now about over. Recently, the EPA declared the water wells in and around Dimock are clean (see this MDN story). We now have word that all but four families that sued Cabot in an attempt at a big payday will settle—likely for far less than they had hoped to extract, although exact terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

There are still a few in Dimock who will fight to the bitter end, but that’s what keeps lawyers employed. So what. They’ll drag it on for years and they still won’t get what they want.

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Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Reaffirms PA Cracker Plant Still Planned, Not Certain
August 15, 2012August 15, 2012

As MDN has previously cautioned, although the proposed ethane cracker plant Shell wants to build near Pittsburgh is looking good, it’s still not a foregone conclusion that Monaca, PA will be the location (see this MDN story). That message of caution was reaffirmed by Shell at an industry conference yesterday, as reported by the Youngstown Business Journal:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Over 36K Shale Wells in U.S. Have Produced 23 TCF of NatGas
August 15, 2012August 15, 2012

Powell Shale Digest released a research report detailing how many shale wells there are in the U.S., and how much gas and oil/condensate those wells produce (see below). The results? Across the major shale plays—minus the Utica—the U.S. now has over 36,000 wells that have produced 23 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 682 million barrels of oil/condensate.

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Centre County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

PA Town to Vote on Fracking Ban
August 15, 2012August 15, 2012

In New York State, it’s not uncommon to read about two or three misinformed town board members voting to ban drilling for all of its citizens. But it’s not something you read about happening in Pennsylvania all that often. So when it does happen in PA, it’s news.

No, a PA town has not recently voted to ban fracking, but Ferguson Township in Centre County will have a referendum on the ballot in the November election asking citizens whether or not they want to strip away the property rights of their neighbors. Ferguson residents who favor the U.S. Constitution, make sure you get out and vote!

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Anti-Driller Cuckoo Birds on Full Display
August 15, 2012August 15, 2012

There’s no nice way of saying this, so I won’t. The closer we get to the release of new rules that will allow the 60-year old technology of hydraulic fracturing to be used in New York, more and more nut jobs will come out of the New York woodwork.

The latest case in point comes from Paul Bray, columnist for the Albany Times Union:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

Soros-backed PAI Makes University of Texas Look Foolish
August 15, 2012August 15, 2012

In the ongoing drive to smear shale oil and gas any way they can, anti-drillers have turned to attacking research from respected universities, like research from the University of Texas. If the research doesn’t reflect their own biases, they attempt to discredit it any way possible. You don’t agree with my “enlightened” view? Your independent research is wrong! That’s the anti-scientific attitude of these politically-motivated hucksters.

Along the way, innocent people (and their reputation) become roadkill. Like Dr. Charles Groat, one of the authors of the University of Texas (UT) study titled “Fact-Based Regulation for Environmental Protection in Shale Gas Development,” released in February (see this MDN story).

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Aug 15, 2012
August 15, 2012August 15, 2012

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

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