Some more details about how the tax break would work that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is planning to offer Shell to build it’s ethane cracker plant in PA:
Read More “More Details about Proposed Ethane Cracker Tax Break”
Two Ohio State University graduate students, under the watchful eye of an advisor, have authored a policy brief titled “Making Shale Development Work for Ohio” which aims to provide politicians with guidance on how to avoid the so-called boom/bust cycle that shale energy “may” create in Ohio (a full copy of the brief is embedded below).
The grad students say Ohio needs to take steps now to ensure the state benefits from the shale energy boom in both the short- and long-term. Failure to do so, according to the brief, will “likely” have long-lasting negative effects. Among the brief’s recommendations are:
MDN previously warned that the final decision of where Shell will build an ethane cracker plant is not a done deal. It certainly is looking good—they selected a site in Beaver County, northwest of Pittsburgh—and they are deep into planning for that site. But Shell CEO Peter Voser was quoted as saying it would be “several years” before a go/no decision on whether to build it would be made (see this MDN story).
That timeline of several years was reaffirmed by a Shell representative yesterday in comments to the Pittsburgh Business Times:
Read More “Shell: Final Decision on Cracker Plant Still 18-24 Mo. Away”
A question often asked of MDN editor Jim Willis by small and medium sized business owners and managers is this: How can we do business with the drilling industry? That is, how can we plug into the drilling industry supply chain?
A new study (embedded below) released by the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence aims to answer just that question. The study, titled “Understanding the Marcellus Shale Supply Chain,” outlines how the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania works, and how companies can plug into that system to provide goods and services.
Read More “How Can Businesses Sell to the Marcellus Shale Supply Chain?”
In brief public comments yesterday, both Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley supported and defended a plan to grant Shell a 25-year, $1.7 billion tax forgiveness plan if they will build and operate an ethane cracker plant in the state. For those new to the issue, ethane is one of the chemicals that comes out of the ground from natural gas drilling. Ethane can be “cracked” or converted in ethylene, a raw material used to make plastics.
The plant that Shell proposes to build will generate some 20,000 jobs and create an economic impact of $17-$20 billion. Investing $1.7 billion to get $17-$20 billion is a no-brainer.
Read More “PA Gov, Lt Gov Speak Out on Shell Cracker Plant Tax Break”
The AP is at it again. This time they’ve taken aim at Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett over the proposed new ethane cracker plant that Shell announced they would build in Beaver County, PA (see this MDN story for background).
The breathless headlines are that (gasp) Pennsylvania will have to grant Shell $66 million a year in tax breaks, for a total deal of some $1.7 billion in foregone taxes over 25 years (while at the same time that nasty Corbett keeps cutting previously scheduled obscene pay increases for teachers, never mind that the state is broke after years under Ed Rendell and Democrat control). That’s the sum total of the AP story running in hundreds of newspapers now.
Let’s provide some perspective, shall we?
Read More “PA to Grant $1.7B in Tax Credits for Shell Cracker Plant”
In a new report released earlier today at the World Gas Conference in Maylasia, the International Energy Agency (IEA) paints a rosy five-year picture for natural gas around the world. You may recall that last week the IEA released their “golden rules” for shale gas drilling (see this MDN story).
The report released today says a quarter of new gas demand over the next five years will come from China, and that electrical generating plants in the U.S. will convert and use gas as much as coal. The IEA also advocates for a global market price for natural gas and hints that a spot price for gas in Asia may be on the way.
From the IEA press release:
Read More “New IEA 5-Year Report Says Natural Gas Future is Bright”
The renaissance in short line railroads because of shale gas drilling continues. Information from a panel presentation at the recent Pennsylvania Rail Freight Seminar brings us this news:
Read More “Short Line Railroads Roar Back to Life in Marcellus Region”
Last week the American Gas Association (AGA) released a new economic report detailing that on average, customers saved $175 on their natural gas bills due to the abundant supplies of natural gas in the U.S., mostly from shale gas. Commercial customers saved an average $1,100 per year (see a copy of the full report embedded below).
The report also shows that for 2011, new jobs generated by the shale industry in this country was 150,000—or 9 percent of all new jobs created. Additionally, another 194,000 jobs were held by people who provide goods and services to the shale industry. Astonishing for a single industry to have such a profound impact. As MDN has recently reported, UGI and other utilities are cutting gas rates for customers—drastically. And all because of hydraulic fracturing of shale gas.
Another story about how electric generating plants are switching from coal to natural gas. This one comes from Ohio, where Appalachian Power brought a newly completed gas-fired plant in February near Dresden. Why switch from coal to gas? It’s all in the economics. The cost of coal has skyrocketed from $43.75 per ton in 2007 to $63.78 in 2011, an increase of 46 percent. At the same time, natural gas has gone from over $14 per million Btus to around $2.70 today. Need we say more?
But at what price is it more economical to use coal rather than natural gas? Thanks to Appalachian Power, we now know.
A new association has been formed in the Philadelphia area to connect local businesses with business opportunities in the Marcellus Shale. So far the new association, called the Delaware Valley Marcellus Association (DVMA), consists of four founding member companies, but has plans to expand rapidly.
From the press release announcing the DVMA:
Read More “New Philly Association Formed to Help Businesses Crack the Marcellus”
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, a Pennsylvania-based industry group headed by Kathryn Klaber, held a rally at the Capitol in Harrisburg on Monday. Their aim was to dispel two popular myths about drilling in the Marcellus Shale: that the jobs are temporary, non-union jobs, and that the jobs all go to out-of-state workers from Texas and Oklahoma.
At the rally to support the Coalition were union members from the Laborers’ International Union of North America, who presented evidence that it’s local, union membership that often fills positions in the Marcellus workforce.
Read More “Union Support for Marcellus Drilling at PA Rally”
Writing in the Financial Post, Vaclav Smil, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and until 2011 a Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Manitoba gives some sage advice on the wild claims on both sides of the shale gas drilling isle:
On March 1, a little over two months ago, UGI Penn Natural Gas, a utility which serves approximately 158,000 customers in 13 counties in northeastern and central Pennsylvania, announced it was immediately reducing natural gas rates for its customers by 4.5 percent (see this MDN story). UGI announced yesterday it would file its annual rate on June 1 and it will request yet another 4.5 percent rate reduction on its annual rate which would take effect December 1. That’s a total of 9 percent in one year—thanks to the abundance of PA’s Marcellus Shale gas.
Read More “PA Utility Announces Second NatGas Rate Cut This Year”
This is technically not a story about the Marcellus or the Utica Shale. But it’s just as critical. North Dakota has just officially become the number two producer of oil in the United States, displacing Alaska for that spot. Texas still leads with the most oil production.
How on earth as ND become number two? It’s simple: shale and the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. What’s even more startling is that as recently as 1999 ND had zero drilling rigs and oil drilling in the state was dead. Just 13 years later, it’s number two in the nation. The importance of this cannot be overstated.
Read More “Behold the Power of Shale Fracking: ND Now #2 US Oil Producer”
In a recent radio interview, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett spoke about the Marcellus Shale drilling industry and how it positively impacts all Pennsylvanians, not just just a select few:
Read More “PA Gov. Corbett Outlines How Shale Gas Benefits Everyone”