Marcellus Drilling News

Albany County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Regulation | Statewide NY

1,000 Pro-Drillers Rally in Albany with a Message of ‘Jobs’
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

$math challenged$ Are AP reporters math-challenged, or do they intentionally lie about the events they cover? Yesterday a rally was held in Albany, NY to support shale gas drilling in the state. According to a reporter from Middletown who covered the event, there were “about 1,000” people in the crowd. But the AP (and almost all stories found in the media today about the event use the AP’s coverage) said there were “several hundred” in attendance. If you look closely, you’ll see the AP story was posted at 3:02 am yesterday, before the event took place!

Enough of the rant against mainstream media bias which we all know exists. Yesterday a group of 1,000 or more gathered at the Corning Preserve on the Hudson River in Albany for a rally. The group then marched to the Capitol with signs, chanting as they went. Here’s reporting from someone who was actually there:

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Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Reuters Says Marcellus Pipelines will “Bully” Gas Prices
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

Reuters has just posted an analysis of the major new pipeline capacity coming online in the Marcellus Shale region later this year and in 2013. The tone and tenor of the piece is “oh oh, natgas prices are screwed” because of all this extra capacity coming online. Here’s part of the article, which points out an additional 3 billion cubic feet per day of capacity will be online in the Marcellus in the next three months:

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wealth Management

Caution: Royalty Buyers Coming Out of the Woodwork in Ohio
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

A tale of caution for landowners in Ohio and in other areas where landowners have recently signed leases to allow drilling for shale gas. One landowner in Ohio reports being called by a Texas company looking to buy his royalty rights. The landowner already signed a lease and got his signing bonus. The company in question wants to now purchase the man’s future royalty payments—at a discount of course.

This is similar to companies buying other structured settlements—like someone who successfully sues for damages from an accident, but the payments are made over the course of several years. Or someone who wins a state lottery that has a payout over 25 years. Companies will offer to pay you less than what you would make over the course of time, but you get a lump sum payment now, up front.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

List of PA Impact Fee Disbursements by County/Town
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

The checks divvying up $204 million raised by Pennsylvania in a new tax, called an “impact fee” on shale gas drilling, will be mailed out within 10 days. Why is the so-called impact fee a tax and not really a fee? Because 40% of the “fee” goes to communities where there is no drilling! Taking from one to give to another who didn’t earn it is a tax, and a 40% tax was the political price to be paid in order to get new drilling legislation passed. Politicians in places like Philadelphia had both hands out and would not vote in favor of the Act 13 law unless those palms were greased. It’s sleazy, but it’s politics in PA.

A full and detailed list of counties and townships and their share of the impact “fee” revenue is embedded below. Philly made out better than most drilling communities:

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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Crawford County | Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Mercer County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Trumbull County

Mystery Buyer of Carrizo’s Northern Utica Acreage Revealed
October 16, 2012October 17, 2012

Yesterday MDN reported that Carrizo Oil & Gas had sold off it’s interest in lease acreage in Ohio’s northern Utica Shale region for $43 million (see this MDN story). Carrizo did not identify the buyer, but the enterprising Youngstown Business Journal did.

Here’s who it is:

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Accidents | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Changes Notification Policy on Methane Contamination
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) made a policy change in September that’s just now coming to light—and creating a bit of controversy. In the case of suspected methane contamination of water wells near drilling sites, it was standard policy to let the local field office make a determination as to whether or not water test results show possible methane contamination, and whether or not a letter should go out to landowners in the affected area.

The new policy is that someone in Harrisburg at DEP HQ will make the judgment call on sending letters to landowners.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Oct 16, 2012
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

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

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