Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Voters Like Marcellus Fracking – Analyzing the Latest Q-Poll
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

A poll by Quinnipiac University of Pennsylvania voters released last week has turned up some interesting insights into the prevailing attitudes of PA voters with respect to Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, the issue of Marcellus Shale drilling and the issue of whether or not to allow drilling under (not on) state lands in PA. All of the mainstream media focused on a single number: 57% of those polled oppose Corbett’s executive order to allow a tiny bit more drilling, after former Gov. Ed Rendell had thrown the door wide open during this tenure, under PA’s state lands and parks. That’s the headline, the narrative, and the “it’s all over for Corbett as soon as the fat lady sings” talking points they all work from. MDN has a different take on the numbers and what they mean…
Read More “PA Voters Like Marcellus Fracking – Analyzing the Latest Q-Poll”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Media in the Anti-Drilling Tank for Tom Wolf/Tom Steyer
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

PA Democrat nominee for governor Tom Wolf is set to get something like $14.3 million from a big-time anti-driller from California, Tom Steyer (see CA Anti-Driller Tom Steyer Purchasing Tom Wolf PA Governorship). In other words, Steyer will buy the election for Wolf–all Wolf has to do is shut down Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. Such a small price to pay. You might think PA media would be all over such a story–but then, you would be wrong. Because PA’s state-run media is “in the tank” for Wolf and the fossil fuel-hating Steyer. So instead, we get stories from newspapers like the Philadelphia Inquirer that focus on drilling companies chipping in a few thousand here and there to Republican Tom Corbett’s campaign. It’s typical of the sleaze we’ve come to expect from PA’s mainstream media…
Read More “PA Media in the Anti-Drilling Tank for Tom Wolf/Tom Steyer”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

New Texas Technology Cleans Frack Water Really Fast
June 5, 2014June 5, 2014

Frack wastewater is pretty big deal. Although many drillers recycle it, some don’t or can’t, and it ends up going back into the ground–via an injection well. How much better would it be to clean it up and re-use it? A Texas company is doing just that–with the help of Texas A&M University researchers. ARANA Water Technologies has innovated a new recycling process with some amazing results. Raw frack water goes in, and 26 minutes later the water coming out is 99+ percent free of petroleum hydrocarbons, and metals in the water like arsenic, aluminum, iron, and selenium have been reduced by 90+ percent. While this isn’t strictly a Marcellus/Utica story, we expect this technology will soon be available in the Marcellus/Utica and so is worth highlighting…
Read More “New Texas Technology Cleans Frack Water Really Fast”
Albany County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Fate of NY Fracking Now in Hands of 7 Judge Court of Appeals
June 4, 2014June 4, 2014

Yesterday was an important day for the future of fracking in New York State. Attorneys Tom West (from Albany) and Scott Kurkoski (from Binghamton) argued before the New York State Court of Appeals, NY’s highest court, in the Dryden and Middlefield town ban cases. MDN has some of the comments made at the trial by both sides, a statement from the Joint Landowner’s Coalition of New York (JLCNY), and a rough estimate of when a decision will be rendered…
Read More “Fate of NY Fracking Now in Hands of 7 Judge Court of Appeals”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Flaming Idiot Rachel Maddow Features Debunked Flaming Hose Video
June 4, 2014June 4, 2014

No one ever accused Rachel Maddow of intellectual heft. And no ever accused MSNBC, the channel where she hosts a show immodestly called The Rachel Maddow Show, of being a real news channel. But Rachel disgraced herself even more than usual recently when she showed a clip from Josh Fox’s fictional Gasland movie with a Texas landowner lighting a garden hose on fire. That clip has since be proven to be a fraud (by a Texas judge) perpetrated by Fox and the landowner, but there was Rachel showing it and talking about it as if it were a common occurrence wherever there’s fracking. Simply boggles the mind…
Read More “Flaming Idiot Rachel Maddow Features Debunked Flaming Hose Video”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Smoking Gun in NY? Cuomo Political Aides Met with Shah & Martens
June 3, 2014June 3, 2014

Let’s give credit where it’s due. Gannett repeatedly filed Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests to get schedule details about former Commissioner of the New York State Dept. of Health (DOH) Nirav Shah. Gannett has been fishing to see who Shah talked to in his now 1.5+ year “review” of proposed fracking regulations–a process that Shah himself said should only take a few weeks to complete (see NY Health Com. Nirav Shah Says Fracking Health Review Almost Done). Not long after that statement, Shah did some major backpedaling and refused to peg a date when he would finish his review (see Cuomo Underling Shah: “No Timetable” on Fracking Decision). It’s now a year and a half later. The question we posed at the time was, who’s pulling Shah’s strings? Thanks to some (rare) investigative reporting by Gannett–now we know. Andrew Cuomo was and is pulling the strings, and there’s a smoking gun to prove it…
Read More “Smoking Gun in NY? Cuomo Political Aides Met with Shah & Martens”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide VA | Virginia

Virginia Reviews Fracking Regs with Eye to Allow Shale Drilling
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

This Wednesday the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) will have a first meeting to look at the state’s existing rules on fracking. A panel of state officials, a representative from the drilling industry, and “others” (environmentalist wackos?) will assemble in Richmond to review the regulations on the books now, and make recommendations on things to change in anticipation of drillers who have expressed an interest in drilling in some of Virginia’s shale plays. No, the shale drillers are interested in is not the Marcellus (found along the western fringes), but instead is the Taylorsville Basin, located south and east of Fredericksburg, VA (see Virginia Inches Closer to Shale Drilling in Taylorsville Basin)…
Read More “Virginia Reviews Fracking Regs with Eye to Allow Shale Drilling”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Supply Chain

Innovative Solar Powered Access Control Gate for Well Pads
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

Quick–for those lucky enough to have visited an active drill site in the Marcellus or Utica (or really, any active shale drilling site anywhere), what’s the first thing you notice? Think back to when you arrived. Before you’re even allowed onto the drill pad, the first thing you encounter is a security guard who exits a small security shack to find out who the heck you are and what the heck you want. The guards we’ve met have been very pleasant. They’ll record your name and license plate number, and hand you a hard hat–to be worn at ALL times that you’re visiting the drill site. Safety first and always! We’re certainly not out to fire security guards, but a Colorado company has invented a pretty ingenious gate/barrier (think the gates that come down at railroad crossings) that is battery operated, recharged on solar power, and even has an intercom–all of it totally unattended. No security guard. Punch in a keycode or a keycard, the gate goes up, person goes through…
Read More “Innovative Solar Powered Access Control Gate for Well Pads”
Albany County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Pivotal Court Date Next Week for Future of NY Fracking
May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

Next week will prove to be one of the most important weeks in the entire debate over whether or not fracking will ever come, in a significant fashion, to New York State. MDN editor Jim Willis is often asked, “When will New York see fracking begin?” Our answer for the past year-and-a-half has been the same: When the Dryden/Middlefield town ban cases are finally decided. Next Tuesday oral arguments in those twin (and joined) cases will be heard in Albany…
Read More “Pivotal Court Date Next Week for Future of NY Fracking”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PEC Slams Bill Separating PA Conventional/Unconventional Regs
May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

Earlier this month MDN told you that three Pennsylvania state senators would soon introduce new legislation to separate regulations for oil and gas drilling between conventional/vertical only and unconventional/shale (see New PA Bill Would Separate Conventional/Unconventional Regulations). The new legislation was introduced, as Senate Bill 1378. At the time we said we believe the bill has good intentions, but we’re kind of skeptical. So MDN found it unusual (and somewhat distressing) that the anti-drilling Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) is on the same side we’re on!…
Read More “PEC Slams Bill Separating PA Conventional/Unconventional Regs”
Chemung County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | New York | Research

Frack & Refrack: Drilling Expert Lectures SPE Group in PA
May 28, 2014May 28, 2014

NOTE: This story has been corrected. The SPE meeting was not in Horseheads, NY but was in Carnegie, PA. Sorry for the error!

In early May, Mike Vincent, an engineer and consultant with Insight Consulting, was the guest presenter at the Society of Petroleum Engineers local chapter meeting hosted in Carnegie, PA. Mike had a lot of great things to say–and to show (two big PowerPoint presentations embedded below). Among the gems we found in Mike’s presentation: Marcellus wells drilled with 500 foot spacing produce as much as those spaced 1,000 feet apart, which means they don’t “compete” for the same gas reserves. Translation: closer well spacing means more wells per square mile, more production, and more profit for the driller and the landowner…
Read More “Frack & Refrack: Drilling Expert Lectures SPE Group in PA”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Corbett Keeps New Surface Drilling Banned in PA Forests
May 27, 2014May 27, 2014

Last Friday PA Gov. Tom Corbett issued an executive order that a) maintains an ongoing moratorium on any new drilling on the surface of PA public forests and parks, and b) allows for drilling under some public lands (very limited) if the drilling can be done from adjacent private land. You would think from the reaction from the usual reactionaries like PennFuture and PennEnvironment, that Corbett had sprouted horns, a pitchfork and a tail. In Middle Eastern cultures from centuries ago they would have ripped their shirts and thrown ashes on their heads–all because Corbett decided to take a sensible approach to raising another $75 million for the cash-strapped PA budget…
Read More “Corbett Keeps New Surface Drilling Banned in PA Forests”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Spell Fracking with a “k”? Merriam-Webster Says Frack Yes!
May 22, 2014May 22, 2014

Will this settle the debate? For years MDN editor Jim Willis has received sometimes good natured, sometimes irate feedback that “fracking” should be spelled “fracing”–without the “k”. The “proper” way to spell it is without the “k” according to many in the Houston area (according to one MDN source). The “k” was introduced by anti-drillers who want to make the word sound like another f-word, in an attempt to smear it. Merriam-Webster has just added 150 new new words and definitions to their 2014 edition–and fracking, with the “k”–is in the list. Case closed?…
Read More “Spell Fracking with a “k”? Merriam-Webster Says Frack Yes!”
About MDN | Allegheny County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | FTS International | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | MDN Resources | Meetings | Noble Energy | Orion Drilling | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Video | Wastewater

OGA 4: Panel Discussion – Drilling & Completions
May 21, 2014May 20, 2014
Panel II: Drilling and Completions
- Lowering the cost to drill: How to make money when gas sells for $1.50 Mcf
- Analyzing the potential of self-sufficient power: The change from diesel to natural gas-powered drilling rigs
- Increasing production with fewer rigs: how shale drilling has changed the rules of the game
- Addressing the challenge of sourcing water: Are new pipelines a financially and environmentally viable alternative to transport by truck?
- Evaluating the role of wastewater: Recycling, injection wells and barging
- Assessing the impact of monster wells: a look at some of the most productive wells on earth, located in the Marcellus & Utica Shale region
- Comparing wet and dry gas drilling – what are their comparative strengths and weaknesses?
- Illustrating the current landscape of acreage positions by E&Ps for both the Marcellus & Utica
Moderator: Jim Willis, Editor, Marcellus Drilling News
Speakers: Eric Luckey, Completions Engineer, Noble Energy
Dennis Degner, Director of Operations, Range Resources
Brett Schellenberg, Marketing Executive, Orion Drilling
Bryan Dickson, North East Division Engineering, FTS International
Read More “OGA 4: Panel Discussion – Drilling & Completions”
About MDN | Allegheny County | Anadarko | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | MDN Resources | Meetings | Noble Energy | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Sand/Proppant | Video

OGA 6: Panel Discussion – Health & Safety
May 21, 2014May 20, 2014
Panel III: Health and Safety Issues You Can’t Ignore
- Showcasing job site safety: best practices, the role of training
- Educating as to the safe handling of frac sand
- Achieving frac fluid chemical transparency using FracFocus
- Implementing effective safety plans for drilling sites
- Coordinating/establishing a relationship with local first responders
- Assessing the impact of OSHA regulations
- Detailing the impact of the DOT trucking rule “clarification” – how can your company ensure compliance?
- Ensuring security in the face of protests, trespassing and other crimes
Moderator: Jim Willis, Editor, Marcellus Drilling News
Speakers: Stefan Hirniak, HSE Recruitment Consultant, Progressive GE
Rob L. Gough, EHS Manager, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
David Renz, Sr. EHS Coordinator, Noble Energy
Read More “OGA 6: Panel Discussion – Health & Safety”
About MDN | Air Quality | Allegheny County | Anadarko | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | MDN Resources | Meetings | Pennsylvania | Regulation | TEEMCO | Video

OGA 7: Panel Discussion – Environmental Protection
May 21, 2014May 20, 2014
Panel IV: Environmental Protection, Regulation and Compliance
- Specifying the bodies responsible for drilling & pipeline regulation in the Marcellus and Utica
- Evaluating efforts to overcome negative views of shale development by groups such as the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD)
- Preparing for the new EPA air pollution rules for drillers in 2015 – what do companies need to do to achieve compliance
- Tips for better soil erosion control with well pad and pipeline construction
- Assessing the industry impact on local wildlife: how can companies avoid permanently harming species and their habitats?
- Presenting results from the PA DEP air pollution study
- Evaluating the impact of radiation in shale cuttings and best practice for their management and disposal
- Does radon level in Marcellus Shale pose a health risk for consumers who burn gas?
- Debating the role the federal government should play in regulating shale drilling
- Discussing the potential impact of the proposed changes to the Chapter 78 regulations
- Detailing the requirements in the Rocky Mountains for sourcing, recycling and disposing of water
Moderator: Michael L. Krancer, Energy, Petrochemical and Natural Resources Practise Group Leader, Blank Rome LLP
Speakers: Nathan S. Bennett, Regulatory Manager, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
Greg Lorson, Chief Executive Officer, TEEMCO
Scott Perry, Deputy Secretary, Office of Oil and Gas Management, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Read More “OGA 7: Panel Discussion – Environmental Protection”