Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Energy Expert: Obama Would be “Insane” to Stop Fracking
November 23, 2012November 23, 2012

A Washington Times article talks about how the fracking industry waits with baited breath for the EPA’s draft report on fracking, due in December, as an indicator of how aggressively (or not) the Obama administration will target fossil fuels in the second term. The article contains some interesting quotes, one from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and another from an energy scholar at the Manhattan Institute. Here’s select portions from the article:

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Broome County | Guest Post | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Binghamton Resident to Gov. Cuomo: Thanks for Nothing [Free]
November 23, 2012November 23, 2012

Binghamton-area landowner Bill Owen has written numerous times to Gov. Andrew Cuomo to encourage the governor to allow fracking in New York State. His reward? To end up on Cuomo’s feckless email list. Earlier this week Bill recently received a “Happy Thanksgiving” email from Cuomo, so Bill thought he would respond. His excellent letter back to Cuomo (who will likely never read it, but hey, you never know!) is reprinted below:

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

NY Gov. Cuomo Says Forget Fracking – At Least by Nov 29
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo—someone who apparently has trouble deciding what to have for breakfast, let alone decide a major issue like whether or not to allow fracking—went on the record yesterday saying that the Nov. 29 deadline to release new drilling rules will not be met. Cuomo said the deadline for a new health review, yet another delay thought up by DEC Commissioner Joe Martens and being carried out by State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah, is “open-ended.” The so-called “impartial experts” Nirav Shah has hired to conduct an outside review are anything but impartial, and they’ve been given no firm deadline to turn in a report.

Cuomo’s comments to reporters yesterday:

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

JLCNY Sends Strongly-Worded Letter to Cuomo on Nov 29 Date
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Many have marveled at the restraint shown by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) on the issue of repeated delays and setbacks when it comes to allowing high volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in New York State. Some have criticized the JLCNY for not being more vocal and more pushy with the governor and the Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Dan Fitzsimmons, president of the JLCNY, regularly takes arrows from both sides of the drilling issue and he walks a fine line—we wouldn’t want to be in his shoes!

Dan sent a letter yesterday, on behalf of the the 77,000 members of the JLCNY, to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Joe Martens expressing, in strong but respectful language, the JLCNY’s disappointment that the Nov. 29 date to release new drilling rules will be missed (a full copy of the letter is embedded below).

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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

EIA Report: Rig Count in Utica Shale Doubles in One Year
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Yesterday the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) provided a detailed update on shale drilling activity in the Utica Shale. They found that the number of drilling rigs in the Utica has doubled from October of last year to October of this year. Also of keen interest: 86% of the active rigs in the Utica (now) are targeting shale oil. Last October the number of 15% of active rigs—which shows a remarkable shift in the Utica. Although the report says “shale oil,” MDN takes that to mean “wet gas,” or shale oil and natural gas liquids. The report finds that Chesapeake Energy continues to be the Big Kahuna in the Utica Shale with 39% of all new well starts in Ohio year-to-date.

Here’s the full EIA Utica Shale update posted yesterday (along with some great charts):

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Cambria County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Seneca Resources

Seneca Resources Gives Johnstown TV Station an Eye & Earful
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Recently Seneca Resources, a company that will turn 100 years old in March, gave Johnstown, PA WJAC-TV News a tour of what happens at a drill site. During the tour, WJAC got the real story of what goes on “behind the scenes” at a drilling company. They also got the real story about fracking. Refreshingly, WJAC reported it accurately!

Here’s what Seneca told WJAC:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Rockingham County | Virginia

Bergton, VA to Carrizo: We Still Don’t Want You Drilling Here
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Anti-drillers in Bergton, Virginia are like the anti-drillers everywhere else. Every now and again they need to shout out “the sky is falling!” like Chicken Little. Such was the case last night in Bergton (Rockingham County), where anti-drillers gathered to scare the local folks about “big, bad drilling” that “may come” someday to their area.

Carrizo Oil & Gas had wanted to drill in Bergton but was told to take a hike (see this MDN story). Last night, about 25 anti-drillers gathered at the Bergton Community Center to hear the results of a water testing program meant to provide baseline data “just in case” the evil, nasty drillers eventually do come calling. The testing program is being run by two local college professors and four of their students. Also on the evening’s program was plenty of misinformation about fracking.

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Education | Erie County (NY) | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Research

Univ at Buffalo President Shuts Down (Censors) Shale Institute
November 20, 2012November 20, 2012

The ignorant mob have won. A group of 83 anti-drilling, enviro-left faculty and staff at the University at Buffalo (UB), with the help of left-leaning mainstream media, have brought enough pressure to bear that UB’s president announced yesterday he is immediately shutting down the seven-month old UB Shale Resources and Society Institute. It’s a sad day for academic freedom and free speech. The inmates now run the asylum at UB.

UB President Satish Tripathi has proven that after a year and a half at the helm, he is not equal to the task of running a large university. Here is his “I’ve caved” announcement from yesterday, sprinkled with MDN’s snarky comments and observations:

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

IOGA of NY to Gov. Cuomo: Enough is Enough
November 20, 2012November 20, 2012

Brad Gill, Executive Director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGA of NY) sent a scalding letter yesterday to NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo (see a full copy below) expressing deep disappointment that it now appears new drilling rules will not be released by Nov. 29. He points out, as of yesterday, it’s been 4 years, 3 months and 27 days since the moratorium went into effect. In essence, “Enough is enough.” He told Andy, “our trust in our state government [is] now exhausted.” Gill concludes by urging the governor to release the new rules—now—so the industry can attempt to recover from the staggering losses already endured because of the moratorium.

MDN’s view: Don’t count on it Brad—Andy is just another garden-variety, prevaricating politician who is decision-challenged. If the new rules are not released by Nov. 29, the rulemaking process begins all over again and more public hearings (i.e., freak shows) will need to be held—delaying the new rules by months, perhaps years. Which of course has been the game plan by DEC Commissioner Joe Martens all along.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

Maryland Wants Pollution Insurance – Even with No Drilling
November 20, 2012November 20, 2012

Even though the State of Maryland does not have enough money—and no prospects of finding it—to fund a $2 million mandated study of hydraulic fracturing (see this MDN story), and even though fracking won’t be allowed in Maryland until 2014 at the earliest, it doesn’t stop Maryland lawmakers from proposing onerous laws on the drilling industry “just in case” one day there is fracking in the state.

The latest shining example of how Maryland is the single most dysfunctional state when it comes to shale gas drilling: A proposed new law would take effect July 1, 2013 (even though fracking won’t be allowed until 2014) that will slap a requirement on drillers to have $5 million of “pollution insurance” per loss. The proposed law also requires drillers to post a $50,000 bond for each well they drill:

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Allegheny County | Beaver County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Washington County

Pittsburgh Residents Support Marcellus Drilling Nearly 2-to-1
November 20, 2012November 20, 2012

The Pittsburgh University Center for Social and Urban Research along with PittsburghTODAY recently conducted a wide-ranging survey of Pittsburgh (and its suburbs) residents. Among the questions asked was a series of questions about the environment, including Marcellus Shale drilling. Overall, 45% of area residents support Marcellus drilling while 25% oppose it.

The details…

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Orange County | Statewide NY | Sullivan County | Ulster County

Mid-Hudson Valley NY Towns For and Against Drilling
November 19, 2012November 19, 2012

Where do Orange, Ulster and Sullivan county towns (in New York State) stand on the issue of fracking and gas drilling? All three of them could conceivably see drilling of some kind should it be allowed, although only Sullivan is squarely in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale boundary (Orange has just a small slice within the boundary, and perhaps half of Ulster, see the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook Volume 2 for a map showing the boundaries). However, anti-drilling sentiments run deep the closer you get to the orbit of New York City, and all three counties are in that orbit.

The Middletown Times Herald-Record takes a look at the latest towns for and against fracking in Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties:

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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Noble County | Ohio

OH Muskingum Watershed District Seeks Lease with Antero
November 19, 2012November 19, 2012

In what is sure to tick off anti-drillers, the Ohio-based Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) announced Friday it will seek a lease with Antero Resources to allow shale gas drilling under 7,600 acres of district-owned land at Seneca Lake. The Muskingum River Watershed covers more than 8,000 square miles and drains into the Muskingum River. It is the largest wholly contained watershed in the state of Ohio covering about 20 percent of the state. More recently, the MWCD has been in hot water with anti-drillers over selling what amounts to a thimble-full of their vast water supplies to drillers in Ohio that use it for fracking Utica Shale wells (see this MDN story).

So, just how much will the MWCD get for leasing the Seneca Lake land?

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

New York Post: Andy Lacks Leadership on Fracking Issue
November 19, 2012November 19, 2012

An editorial in yesterday’s New York Post takes aim at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s indecisiveness on the issue of fracking. They mince no words when they say the problem is, in a word, “leadership.” Here’s a portion of the editorial:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

How Does Conventional/Unconventional Drilling Differ in PA?
November 19, 2012November 19, 2012

Before the Marcellus Shale was actively drilled in Pennsylvania, starting with Range Resources in 2004, there was natural gas drilling in the state for many years. In fact, although about 5,000 Marcellus Shale or “deep” natural gas wells have been drilled in the past eight years, there are about 50,000 conventional or “shallow” natural gas wells scattered throughout the state, drilled over the past 50+ years. Ever wonder how conventional and unconventional wells stack up?

An article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review does a good job of comparing the two types of wells. Here’s a few interesting facts and figures:

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

NY Fracking Rules Won’t be Released in 2012
November 16, 2012November 16, 2012

Is there any chance that New York will move forward with releasing new shale gas drilling rules by Nov. 29, the one year anniversary after the last public hearing on the new rules (and by which the rules must be released or the rulemaking process restarts)? No. Not a chance.

Why? NY State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah has only just yesterday named three outside “experts” to help conduct a “health review” of New York’s proposed drilling regulations. The deadline given the experts to complete their review? “Mid-February.”

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