Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WVU/OSU Get $11M Grant to Study Shale Energy Best Practices
November 7, 2014June 29, 2015

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…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Athens County | Cuyahoga County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Portage County | Regulation

3 of 4 Frack Ban Ballot Measures in Ohio Fail – Athens Exception
November 6, 2014November 6, 2014

What about those idiotic “ban fracking” ballot measures up for a vote on Tuesday in Ohio’s Utica Shale? The ballot measure in Youngstown, OH was the fourth such vote for that city (see Fourth Time the Charm for Youngstown Frack Ban Measure?). The Youngstown ballot measure went down in flames. There was a ban measure in Gates Mills, OH, a suburb near Cleveland (see Gates Mills, OH Caves – Anti-Frack Measure on Nov. Ballot). The Gates Mills ballot measure went down in flames too. Finally, there was a ballot measure in ultra-liberal Kent, OH. That ballot measure was voted down (miracles never cease!). Three strikes and yer out. But what’s this? The loonies in Athens, OH prevailed in snookering enough Democrat voters to support a ban that it actually passed in Athens. A year ago we asked the question, Will Utica Shale Drilling Come to Athens County, OH Soon?. We can now answer that question: NO. No drilling will come to Athens–at least to the city (and likely the rest of the area) now that the voters of Athens have thumbed their nose at the industry. There’s plenty of other locations outside of Athens in which to drill…
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Energy Services | FTS International | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | M&A

FTS International Buys J-W Wireline for Undisclosed Amount
November 4, 2014November 4, 2014

FTS International, one of the largest well completion service companies in North America and a big player in the Marcellus/Utica, is buying J-W Wireline Company, one of the largest independent cased-hole wireline companies in North America. J-W also is a player in the Marcellus/Utica. J-W specializes in deep high-pressure perforating, multiple-zone completions, comprehensive cased-hole logging and pipe recovery. That is, they make fracking possible. Here’s the announcement from FTS that one great company is buying another (for an undisclosed amount)…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

IPAA Fracking Update: Legislation, Regulation, Litigation
November 4, 2014November 4, 2014

What’s the latest legislative, regulatory and litigation developments with respect to hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus and Utica region? Thanks to the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and their partnership with PIRA Energy Group, a consulting firm that specializes in U.S. and international energy markets research and intelligence, we have an update. Recently the IPAA sent around the quarterly Fracking Policy Monitor. In this latest issue of the Monitor (full copy embedded below) we have news from PA, OH and WV, where drilling happens now, and even news from NY, where drilling doesn’t happen now (thanks to being blocked by Gov. Andrew Cuomo)…
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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

U.S. Fracking Lowers Gasoline Prices by Nearly $1 per Gallon!
November 3, 2014November 3, 2014

Do you like paying nearly a buck per gallon less for gasoline now over what you were paying a year ago? Yeah, we do too. But little did we know that the primary reason gas prices are so much lower is thanks to fracking! A new report released last week by the American Petroleum Institute (full copy embedded below) shows that horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which are now responsible for 48% of all U.S. oil production, shaved up to $0.94 per gallon from fuel prices in 2013. How cool is that?…
Read More “U.S. Fracking Lowers Gasoline Prices by Nearly $1 per Gallon!”
Air Quality | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

New Faux “Research” on Air Emissions Near Frack Sites
October 31, 2014October 31, 2014

We think there needs to be more scientific/objective studies done on air quality and emissions near drilling sites and compressor stations–you get no argument from us on that score. We suspect there are some problems and issues with air emissions from shale drilling and compressor stations–but we’d like some hard evidence to prove or disprove that suspicion. Yesterday a new study was published in the online journal Environmental Health. The new study, titled “Air concentrations of volatile compounds near oil and gas production: a community-based exploratory study” (full copy embedded below) concludes: “Air concentrations of potentially dangerous compounds and chemical mixtures are frequently present near oil and gas production sites.” The big red flag is that the study is based on “data” collected by anti-drilling “volunteers” who have skin in the game. The data was not collected by impartial, objective scientists. The authors of the “study” are themselves rabid anti-drillers. This is the latest in a long line of “research studies” that is scientific GIGO: garbage in, garbage out…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Cuomo Staff Explains “End of Year” Deadline for Frack Report
October 30, 2014October 30, 2014

In the recent (and only) gubernatorial debate held in New York State, the man-child Andrew Cuomo, someone who can’t make a decision, when questioned/pressured about the issue of the now six-year moratorium on fracking, gave (yet another) new deadline for when he’ll make a decision. Cuomo said that the report due from the state Dept. of Health, originally due in February of 2013, but delayed from unknown reasons, will be ready by “the end of this year.” If we had a nickel for every time Cuomo has lied about the DOH report and about when a decision on fracking would be made, we’d be millionaires. A few days after the debate Cuomo’s staff had to clean up Andy’s poopy mess and say that the end of the year isn’t the man-child’s deadline–oh no–that deadline is what the DOH itself has privately told the man-child. In other words, more political CYA just in case the report doesn’t materialize by “end of year”…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Upper Devonian Shale

EQT’s 19-Well Pad with 22 Miles of Laterals & 770 Frac Stages
October 27, 2014October 27, 2014

Last week EQT released their third quarter financial and operational update, which MDN chronicled (see EQT 3Q14: Revenue Up 12%, 91 New Wells Spud in Northeast). As often happens, the top brass from EQT held an analyst call to further spread the company message and to take questions from analysts who prepare reports read by investors. Sometimes you find a few gems in the prepared and off-the-cuff remarks in those calls. One such gem in the EQT call from last week is information about EQT’s drilling strategy–longer laterals–which are leading to a cheaper cost-per-foot (an average 6% cheaper). Another gem: EQT will drill a single pad in 2015 with 11 Marcellus wells and 8 Upper Devonian wells (a “stacked pay” well). If you add up the total length of all of the laterals that will be drilled, it adds up to 115,500 feet–nearly 22 miles! EQT will use 770 frac stages along those 22 miles of laterals. Ginormous well pad!…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Fracking Big Part of Only Debate in NY Gov Race
October 24, 2014October 24, 2014

The issue of fracking was part of the one and only debate in the New York governor’s race on Wednesday. Little known (outside of New York) Rob Astorino is the Republican candidate. He’s the County Executive for Westchester County, NY. He referred to current Gov. Andrew Cuomo as “politically paralyzed” on the issue of fracking–an apt and accurate description…
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Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

New Western Study IDs Drill Site Equipment that Pollutes Most
October 23, 2014October 23, 2014

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 PA DEP Report: Counties with Fracking Have More Air Pollution), West Virginia (see Did WVDEP Ignore It’s Own Research on Shale Well Air Pollution?) and now Ohio (see UC Hints Air Problems Near Drill Sites in Carroll County Research) that tell us where there’s drilling, there’s far more air pollution. This is an important issue that isn’t going away. Two days ago researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say they’ve identified what, precisely, is doing the polluting at drilling sites…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Research

EPA Draft Frack Study Coming March 2015, Peer Reviewed Papers Soon
October 22, 2014October 22, 2014

So what’s happening with federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) long awaited report on fracking? Back in 2010 an activist Congress “ordered” the EPA (funny, the legislative branch ordering the executive branch) to study fracking and its affects (or lack thereof) on water supplies. Congress wanted to give EPA a big, fat open door to control and regulate fracking at the federal level–something that’s supposed to be done by Congress itself. Of course such laws, if passed by Congress, might fail since they contravene the U.S. Constitution–you never know with our Supreme Court. Easier to get the executive branch to create new laws via “regulations.” The study was originally due by the end of this year. But in June of 2013, EPA said they would need an extra two years (see Big News: EPA Fracking Study Delayed 2 Years – Now Due 2016). However, some great investigative reporting by NGI’s Shale Daily has discovered the EPA will release a draft report in March 2015…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research | Wastewater

NSF/Park Found. Research Claims Frack Fluid Tracking with Tracers
October 21, 2014October 21, 2014

Last year MDN endorsed a proposal put forth largely by anti-drillers–a proposal that tracers be used in fracking fluids to put to rest, once and for all, the silly notion that frack fluids are rising from the depths to “contaminate” water aquifers (see Using Tracers in Fracking Fluid – Ready for Prime Time?). Using tracers, or unique “fingerprints” that positively identify fluid as coming from shale drilling, can be used to check nearby streams and rivers to ensure such fluids have not somehow been released into the environment after they’ve come back to the surface for disposal by recycling or injection well. Our only concern was/is that the science is solid. Yesterday, the National Science Foundation announced researchers (using NSF and Park Foundation grant money) have field tested and pronounced they now have a solid solution…
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Aqua America | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

Water Pipelines for Drillers Great Idea, But Few & Far Between
October 21, 2014October 21, 2014

An excellent article appears in today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, written by one of the few (perhaps only) reporters they have who is objective when it comes to writing about the natural gas industry: Anya Litvak. Anya used to write for the Pittsburgh Business Times before the Post-Gazette poached her. Anya’s article addresses the issue of using water pipelines to feed the growing demand for water used by shale drillers. It’s a win/win because it tends to be cheaper and it reduces truck traffic. However, the up-front cost to build a pipeline (on the part of a water company) is not cheap and many drillers aren’t willing to commit to the 3-15 year term that water utilities want to have before they are willing to build such a pipeline. As part of the article we get this interesting update on PA water company Aqua America…
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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Research

Cleveland Fed Bank Report Addresses Boom & Bust in Shale Drilling
October 21, 2014October 21, 2014

An analyst with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland authored and released an article addressing the concerns over shale gas and oil development. The article, titled “Deep Wells, Deep Pockets, and Deep Impact” (full copy embedded below) purports to address the issue of what can communities do about the boom and bust cycle attached to any natural resource extraction process? We were excited to read what the Fed’s learned analyst would say about an important issue like this one. We were disappointed that he did a lot of problem identification, but offered little in the way of problem resolution…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Supply Chain

Fortis Energy Adds New Workover Rig in Marcellus/Utica
October 21, 2014October 21, 2014

Oilfield services companies span the range from the Halliburtons and Schlumbergers to the mom and pop companies with a single drilling rig. Fortis Energy Services, a privately held company headquartered in Michigan (but with operations in the Marcellus/Utica) is not nearly as big as Halliburton, but it’s way bigger than a mom and pop. Fortis operates in the Midwest and northeast with a number of rigs. They’ve just added two more “workover” rigs to their fleet–one of them dedicated to the Marcellus/Utica. What’s a workover rig?…
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY | Tompkins County

NY High Court Rebuffs Norse Request to Re-hear Town Ban Case
October 20, 2014October 20, 2014

We won’t bother to chronicle, once again, the long fight in New York State over the right of a town board with 3-5 members deciding that every resident in a township will lose the right to use their property the way they want to (even though property ownership is sacrosanct under the U.S. Constitution). In the People’s Republic of New York, the mob rules. The rule of law is out the window. And so, a few New York high court judges who want to retain their posts under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, decided nobody really reads the Constitution anymore anyway–and that local town boards (not individual landowners) will now decide whether or not shale drilling will take place (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). One of the litigants in the case was Norse Energy, forced into bankruptcy by New York’s now 6+ year moratorium on fracking. Norse took over leases from Anschutz Exploration and sued the Town of Dryden, NY over their idiotic frack ban. Based on a recent Colorado case that is similar (and found against so-called “home rule” by towns), Norse asked New York’s highest court to re-hear the case (see Norse Energy Appeals Town Ban Case Back to NY High Court). The ~~crooked~~ judges said “nope”…
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