Marcellus Drilling News

Allegheny County | Chief Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

Chief O&G Confirms MDN Story re Closing of Pittsburgh Office
September 3, 2015September 3, 2015

We have an update on the story we broke yesterday–that Chief Oil & Gas is closing its Wexford (Pittsburgh) office (see Rumor: Chief Oil & Gas has Closed it’s Marcellus Office Near Pittsburgh). A few hours after posting our story, a spokesperson for Chief sent us a statement (below) confirming our story. The statement makes the point that although they are closing the Wexford office, Chief remains fully committed to the Marcellus. In addition to the Chief Statement, we also have some more inside details from our tipster about what went down at the Wexford office on Tuesday…
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Belmont County | Economic Impact | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants

PTT CEO Arrives in OH to Announce First $100M for Cracker Plant
September 3, 2015September 4, 2015

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who is having trouble getting anyone to notice he’s running for president (predictably, nobody cares when an establishment RINO runs), will swoop in at a press conference today at 3 pm in Belmont County, OH to announce that foreigners from Thailand-based PTT Global and Marubeni Corp. of Tokyo will drop $100 million on Ohio to conduct engineering and design work for a previously announced potential ethane cracker plant in the county (see It’s Official: Belmont County Chosen as POSSIBLE Cracker Plant Site). Kasich doesn’t like “foreigners” from exotic places like Texas and Oklahoma working in the oil and gas fields of Ohio (see Ohio Gov. John Kasich Jazzed About Chesapeake Striking Oil in the Utica Shale – Refers to Potential Out-of-State Workers as “Foreigners” and OH Gov. Kasich Continues Trash Talk Out-of-State Workers). But if you’re a foreigner from, you know, a foreign country? And you have a few billion dollars to drop in the state? That’s A.O.K. for the son of a postal worker turned Congressman turned career politician turned RINO turned governor. But let’s not get lost in the tortured politics of John Kasich. Let’s celebrate the fact that PTT Global CEO Supattanapong Punmeechaow, from Thailand, is flying over to attend today’s announcement. That’s a very positive sign indeed that this potential $5 billion project, which we’re now reading has been upgraded closer to $6 billion, is on track to become a reality…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

PA DEP Screws Up Water Test at Ten Mile Creek – Egg on Face
September 3, 2015September 3, 2015

Pennsylvania anti-drillers from a local chapter of the Izaak Walton League, a so-called conservation organization, attempted a smear job on the Marcellus Shale industry–and it’s come back to bite them. The Izaak Walton gang has been testing water from Ten Mile Creek that runs through Washington and Greene counties in western PA for the past four years. Last year the League raised an alarm that there are high levels of radiation and other nasty things in the creek. The League immediately started pointing a finger at the Marcellus industry, accusing drillers of illegally dumping untreated wastewater in the creek (see Is Shale Wastewater Causing Radiation Spike in Ten Mile Creek?). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) ran a test of the water in April 2014 and found from its own testing high levels of radioactivity. The problem is, the DEP ran the WRONG test, and therefore got erroneous results. A team of scientists from West Virginia University tested in the same location–six times–during July and August. They used the right test–and guess what? There are no elevated levels of radioactivity in Ten Mile Creek. Sounds to us like the Izaak Walton gang was telling a Ten Mile High story. The DEP has considerable egg on its face for screwing up the original test and scaring everyone for the past year. The DEP says they will retest for themselves, this time using a more accurate test…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

Antis Publish Study Revealing How They Manipulate Public Opinion
September 3, 2015September 4, 2015

We shouldn’t be, but we’re stunned. We’ve discovered that anti-drillers are funding studies to discover how best to fool you. What words, phrases, stories and lies will resonate the best, and move low information types, to oppose fossil fuels. They study it and actually publish their findings (crow about it) for all the world to see! We’ve known for a long time that so-called peer reviewed research is nothing more than bought-and-paid-for propaganda (read this recent story in the New York Times: Many Psychology Findings Not as Strong as Claimed, Study Says; and this NY Times editorial: Scientists Who Cheat). A new study appearing in the October issue of American Sociological Review looks at how the propaganda in Josh Fox’s fictional movie Gasland, along with social media efforts, tangibly moved the dial in favor of anti-fracking sentiment among those who refuse to think for themselves. The study was originally titled “No Fracking Way!” Media Activism, Discursive Opportunities and Local Opposition against Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States, 2010-2013, but in good propaganda fashion, the authors changed the name, removing “Media Activism” (because that cuts a little too close to the truth) replacing it with “Documentary Film.” They also made the plural “Opportunities” into the singular “Opportunity.” The published title became: “No Fracking Way!” Documentary Film, Discursive Opportunity, and Local Opposition against Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States, 2010-2013. Below we connect the dots to the anti-fossil fuelers who funded the “study”…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Chautauqua County | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | NRG Energy | Tompkins County

Lawsuit Prevents NY Power Plant from Converting to NatGas, Closing
September 3, 2015September 3, 2015

Although anti-fossil fuel nutters in New York State have worked to oppose converting electric generating plants from burning coal to clean-burning natural gas (see Anti-Drillers Oppose Converting 2 NY Electric Plants to NatGas), it’s not anti-fossil fuel arguments that will shut down those plants. It’s good, old fashioned, American…lawsuits. Lawsuits brought by a competitor. You may recall Gov. Andrew Cuomo slogged through three feet of snow in December 2013 to announce in Dunkirk (near Buffalo) that he would provide state assistance to the NRG plant to convert from coal to natural gas (see Dunkirk, NY Electric Plant Saved – Converting from Coal to NatGas). That was good news for Dunkirk. The Dunkirk electric plant provides something like 40% of all the tax revenue that flows into the coffers at the town. Can you imagine what would happen to local roads, public safety services (police and firefighters), and to the local school district, if the plant closed down? Imagine no more. A lawsuit brought by a competitor against NRG’s plan to convert has NRG saying the plant will close after all. NRG expects the lawsuit will take years to litigate–so by next March they’re shuttering the plant. There goes 40% of Dunkirk’s tax revenue–right down the toilet…
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Empire Pipeline | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Niagara County | Pipelines | Seneca Resources | Statewide NY

NFG’s Marcellus Pipeline from NWPA to NY Hits Resistence
September 3, 2015September 3, 2015

National Fuel Gas (NFG), the Buffalo-based utility giant with both a drilling subsidiary (Seneca Resources) and a midstream/pipeline subsidiary (Empire Pipeline) filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March for a pipeline project they call Northern Access 2016. The $451 million project includes building 97 miles of new pipeline along a power line corridor from northwestern Pennsylvania up to Erie County, NY. The project also calls for 3 miles of new pipeline further up, in Niagara County, along with a new compressor station in the Town of Pendleton. We have a full description below for all of the new construction, modifications and add-ons that are part of the Access Northeast 2016 project. The pipeline, when complete, will flow Marcellus Shale natural gas from Pennsylvania northward to New York and on into Canada. Although NFG has bent backwards, forwards and has contorted itself into just about every yoga position there is to accommodate residents around Pendleton, nearby residents are still opposed to NFG building a new compressor station anywhere near them…
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Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lawrence County | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Hilcorp Asks Permission to Drill 25 Feet from Unleased Landowner
September 3, 2015September 3, 2015

Ivan and Kathy Dubrasky are anti-drillers located in Pulaski Township (Lawrence County), PA, just across the border from Ohio and close to Youngstown. They recently hosted a tiny anti-drilling rally at their property (see Tiny Protest (in PA) Claims to be Part of “Hands Across Our Land”). Although all of their neighbors signed leases with Hilcorp, the Dubrasky’s, as is their right, stubbornly refused to do so. They’ve screwed themselves out of money they could have had. Hilcorp is drilling multiple wells from a pad right across the street from the Dubraskys. Hilcorp would like to sink one of those wells about 25 feet from the edge of the Dubrasky property line. State law says a gas well must be at least 330 feet away from an unleased property line. If a well is any closer, inevitably some of the gas from under the unleased property will seep into the fracked well–no matter how careful you are. Hilcorp says they won’t perforate the pipe/well along their property line, so no Dubrasky gas will seep out. A hearing will be held on Sept. 16 to consider Hilcorp’s request–a request likely to be granted. The hearing should be interesting. No doubt there will be fireworks…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Sep 3, 2015
September 3, 2015September 3, 2015

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: Thu, Sep 3, 2015”