GASFRAC Says LPG Waterless Fracking May Prevent Earthquakes
Last week MDN was the first to bring you the news that Canadian company GASFRAC has (after two years) finally begun fracking an Ohio Utica Shale well using liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG (see GASFRAC Begins Waterless Fracking Job in OH Utica). GASFRAC’s senior management held an analyst call last week to discuss the company’s performance (the company’s financials are not good). As part of that call was a Q&A in which the Utica well they’re now working on was discussed. We found the banter interesting. One of the more interesting aspects was GASFRAC’s contention that LPG fracking used in places where earthquakes are a concern (like Ohio) may reduce the likelihood of a fracking-induced earthquake from occurring…
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What can we divine by reading the tea leaves from the recent election outcome in New York State vis-à-vis the relative strength of the anti-drilling agenda in the Empire State? A casual reference to media reports gives one the impression that those opposed to drilling–particularly in the Southern Tier area of New York–are on the rise. Yet in head-to-head contests (at least in the Southern Tier) pro-drilling candidates have now beaten anti-drilling candidates over the span of two election cycles. We can’t find a single race of consequence (anything bigger than town board level) where a pro-drilling candidate lost! Does that portend good things for New York State and the future of drilling?…
The mother’s milk of academe is grant money–and West Virginia University is happy to announce a new grant related to the Marcellus Shale. The U.S. Dept. of Energy is forking over $11 million to WVU and Ohio State University for a five-year project to study “baseline measurements, subsurface development and environmental monitoring” in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. The money will be used for research and to establish a first-of-its-kind Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory–a field site and dedicated research laboratory to be located at the Morgantown (WV) Industrial Park…
An ongoing issue for shale drilling is the seeming conundrum that although we’re burning more natural gas and therefore the air, on average, is cleaner–the air is not cleaner in heavily drilled counties. We’ve seen studies in Pennsylvania (see