Hydraulic Fracturing

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

PA Supreme Court Hears Testimony on Act 13 Zoning
October 18, 2012October 18, 2012

Yesterday MDN told you about what we consider the most important oil and gas drilling case to go before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in many years (see this MDN story). The PA Supremes heard arguments (yesterday) in what MDN considers the second most important O&G case to be heard in years—whether or not the zoning provisions in the Act 13 law are constitutional. Were there any indications from the questioning which way the judges might rule?

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Regulation

Youngstown, OH Votes to Allow Fracking Inside City Limits
October 18, 2012October 18, 2012

Last night Youngstown, OH City Council voted to allow natural gas and oil drilling inside city limits. Here’s how it went down:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

Chemical & Engineering News Article: Cleaner Fracking
October 18, 2012October 18, 2012

The cover story for the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (published earlier this week) takes a stab at explaining the process, technology and industry that’s arisen to treat fracking wastewater. From chemicals to evaporators, the article covers it all, complete with a very handy graphic detailing the process (see below).

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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

S&P Report: The Marcellus Shale is a Game-Changer
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s yesterday issued an important new report on the Marcellus Shale and the key role it’s playing in the United States’ natural gas and larger energy picture. Titled “How The Marcellus Shale Is Changing The Dynamics Of The U.S. Energy Industry,” there’s a lot of great information in this report. For example: the report lists the Top 15 Marcellus Shale producers, with estimates of how much shale gas they produce (as of fourth quarter 2011). It also discusses how and why the Marcellus is one of the most cost-effective plays in the U.S. for producers, and why they can make money in the Marcellus at much lower commodity prices for gas than in other plays. It contains a complete list of pending and planned pipeline projects in the Marcellus, including ethane pipelines. And more!

MDN is still reading and digesting the report and will bring you select sections and highlights over the next few days. In the meantime, you can view the entire report below now (highly recommended):

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Regulation

Youngstown, OH: If You Lease It, Will They Drill?
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Our headline is a tongue-in-cheek play on the iconic Field of Dreams statement, “If you build it, they will come.” But this isn’t fiction. It’s a very serious question being asked by residents and political leaders in Youngstown, Ohio: If Youngstown decides to pass an ordinance allowing drilling on and under property within city limits, will any drillers bother to drill there? Answer: No one knows.

Last night Youngstown held a public hearing to allow residents the opportunity to express their support or opposition to a proposed ordinance which may soon be passed to allow leasing and drilling inside the city. Here’s what happened:

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Accidents | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

MSC Issues Guidance on Reporting Stray Gas Incidents
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Yesterday the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), an industry-backed trade group based in the Pittsburgh area, published the fourth in a series of “guidance documents.” The latest document is titled Responding to Stray Gas Incidents (embedded below) and addresses the issue of what to do when a driller discovers that methane is already present in soil or water, even before they drill.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Sullivan County

RIP Fracking Supporter Noel van Swol of Sullivan County, NY
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Tragedy struck on Monday after the pro-fracking rally in Albany, NY when long-time resident of Sullivan County, NY (and outspoken supporter of fracking) Noel van Swol died in a car crash on his way home from the rally:

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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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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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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Surprising Data on Rig Counts for Dry vs Wet Gas Drilling
October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

Seeking Alpha blogger Richard Zeits, whom we’ve highlighted before on MDN, is back with a new analysis of the latest Baker Hughes rig count. You need rigs to drill the holes—so the rig count is a good indicator of whether new drilling is going up, down or staying constant.

In Zeits’ extensive analysis (well worth your time to read and digest), he draws some conclusions about wet gas (natural gas liquids) versus dry gas (methane only) drilling as evidenced by the Baker Hughes numbers. His conclusions may surprise you, as it did us:

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

UB Defends Shale Institute & Study in Response to SUNY Board
October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

An update on the witch hunt at University at Buffalo (UB). You may recall that UB had the temerity, the gall, to establish a Shale Resources and Society Institute (SRSI) in April of this year. When said institute turned out its first report in May, which detailed how environmental problems caused by Marcellus Shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania were isolated, mostly minor and on the decline, the anti-drillers just about came off the rails. It was an all-hands-on-deck, we-must-obliterate-the-credibility-of-the-report-and-the-people-who-wrote-it campaign. And so the witch hunt began (see this MDN story).

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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio

Illegal Protest Blocks Well Site Near Youngstown, OH
October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

Anti-drilling protesters illegally blocked access to a horizontal shale gas well being drilled in Jackson Township in Mahoning County, Ohio (near Youngstown) on Sunday. The protest went on for five hours, but for some reason the police didn’t seem to think arresting and removing the protesters was a good idea.

The law-breakers, from the group Fracfree Mahoning Valley and Frackfree America, disappointingly included a lawyer and a reverend:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

NE PA Town Welcomes PUC Review of Shale Zoning Ordinances
October 12, 2012October 12, 2012

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) continues its activity of reviewing local town ordinances for compliance with the new Act 13 Marcellus Shale drilling law. If a town’s ordinances are found to be in violation of the law, they either will have to change their zoning ordinances or risk not receiving their cut of the Marcellus Shale impact fee (i.e. tax) being collected by the state. Checks are due out in December.

Some townships, like South Fayette, are thin-skinned and have a persecution complex over a PUC review (see this MDN story). Other towns, however, take it in stride and when told their laws need fixing, they fix them—like Roaring Brook Township in Lackawanna County, PA.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Fracking Technology’s Continuous Innovation
October 12, 2012October 12, 2012

An article in today’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review takes a look at how fracking technology in general—and the chemicals used in fracking in particular—are improving. Companies drilling in Pennsylvania are at the forefront of experimenting with new and improved fracking fluids. The article also takes a look at look at alternatives to using water in fracking—so-called “waterless” fracking.

It begins this way:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Sullivan County

Town of Highland, NY Gets Sued Over Gas Drilling Ban
October 11, 2012October 11, 2012

MDN is not used to breaking the news, but that’s what we’ll do today. The Town of Highland, located in Sullivan County, NY, is about to be sued by the Highland Field & Stream Club over the town’s vote to ban gas drilling.

MDN received the following email notification from the attorney for the Highland Field & Stream Club:

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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Tioga County (NY)

Carrizo Drills Exploratory Marcellus Well – in New York
October 11, 2012October 11, 2012

What does Carrizo Oil & Gas know about the New York moratorium on fracking we don’t? The moratorium has been in place for 4 1/2 long years now. There are some signs the moratorium may soon end—witness the parade of mainstream news sources granting political cover and “permission” to Gov. Cuomo to make a pro-fracking decision. But the standard operating procedure by the DEC’s Joe Martens until now has been stall and delay.

Enter Carrizo. Today’s Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin announces that Carrizo is drilling an exploratory vertical shale gas well outside of Owego, NY (Tioga County), squarely in the “hot zone” of the Southern Tier where gas drilling will take place. Their aim? Find out if shale gas is present in the vertical well, and then turn the well horizontal when and if the moratorium is lifted.

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