Hydraulic Fracturing

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    PA Dems Continue to Beat the “Tax & Regulate Marcellus” Drum

    Here’s not a surprise: The eight (or ten or twelve) Democrats who have announced they’re running against incumbent Republican PA Gov. Tom Corbett next year want to more than double the taxes on Marcellus Shale drilling and slap super-strict and unnecessary new regulations on drilling. Ever hear of an elected Democrat who wasn’t in love with taking YOUR money and giving it to other people? Or an elected Democrat who doesn’t love micromanaging your life for you–telling you what you can and can’t eat, drink, smoke, do? (Everything except sex–you can have all the risky sex you want.) No, we haven’t either, which is why we NEVER vote for them. EVER.

    We won’t make this an anti-Democrat diatribe–MDN has lots of Dem subscribers (and friends) and we appreciate them all–and we hear from them when we make these kinds of comments. 🙂 Have no fear–we will not cover the upcoming PA governor’s race ad nauseam. However, every now and again we’ll bring you an illustrative story of the PA governor’s race just to remind you of the philosophical Grand Canyon that exists between those who truly support drilling and those who would, by intent or ignorance, crush it with ill-advised over-tax and over-regulate policies…
    Read More “PA Dems Continue to Beat the “Tax & Regulate Marcellus” Drum”

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    Important New Shale Energy Resource Launches: NaturalGasIntel.com

    As some MDN readers may know, in addition to writing and publishing Marcellus Drilling News each weekday and writing/editing the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook, MDN editor Jim Willis also consults for Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI). You may recognize the NGI name–they’re the publishers of the fabulous Shale Daily newsletter–the first and still the only daily publication dedicated to news coverage from all North American shale plays. Jim works with the fine folks at NGI to help with marketing Shale Daily and other NGI publications and products (like a really cool shale/pipeline wall map). One of the projects Jim has had a small hand in is the design and launch of the NaturalGasIntel.com website.

    NaturalGasIntel.com is an incredibly important new resource for those interested in the shale energy industry. It incorporates all of the great content from Shale Daily PLUS content from NGI’s other publications PLUS brand new features like shale basin resource pages–individual pages dedicated to each of the major (and many of the minor) commercial shale plays in North America. MDN will tell you more about how you can leverage these new features in the coming weeks. For now, we include the NGI press release announcing the new site (read it below) and we encourage you to head on over and get a free 7-day trial and try it out for yourself…

    Read More “Important New Shale Energy Resource Launches: NaturalGasIntel.com”

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    NE PA Audience Hears How to Plug in to the Marcellus Supply Chain

    The Marcellus means jobs and an economic boom for northeast Pennsylvania. That was the message delivered yesterday in Wilkes-Barre at a Marcellus forum hosted by State Sen. John Yudichak and State Sen. John Blake (both from the Scranton/W-B area). The forum was attended by over 100 people–local contractors, trade unions, small manufacturers and others. MDN friend John Augustine from the Marcellus Shale Coalition was one of the featured speakers, with lots of good tips for those who want to plug in to the Marcellus supply chain.

    The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader was on hand and filed this helpful report:
    Read More “NE PA Audience Hears How to Plug in to the Marcellus Supply Chain”

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    JLCNY Landowner Lawsuit Against NY & Gov. Cuomo Ready to Go

    MDN recently received an email update from the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY)–posted below. The JLCNY reports their “takings” lawsuit against New York State, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens and State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah is now ready to go. Cuomo, Martens and Shah together form a cabal working against NY landowners by intentionally denying them their 5th Amendment Constitutional private property rights without just compensation. The JLCNY is ready to expose the cabal by filing this case.

    According to JLCNY President, Dan Fitzsimmons, the legal team spent over 300 hours preparing the necessary court documentation, called a “complaint” in legalese (we’ve embedded a copy of the complaint below). The lawsuit will be filed on behalf of six New York landowners. The landowners are not (yet) named in the complaint, but if you read the complaint, you’ll see each one is uniquely identified–these are real people that are ready to go to court…
    Read More “JLCNY Landowner Lawsuit Against NY & Gov. Cuomo Ready to Go”

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    ODNR Says Methane in OH Water Well NOT Caused by Utica Drilling

    In January MDN told you about the Kline family, in Portage County (near Cleveland), who claimed nearby Utica Shale drilling had contaminated their water well with methane (methane migration) to the point they could, yes, light their water tap on fire. It made big headlines at the time and the family (with flaming faucet) was featured on the NBC Today show (see Methane Migration into Water Well Near Cleveland, OH). At the time MDN said it certainly appeared like they had a case against driller Mountaineer Keystone for methane migration. Our assumption was completely wrong.

    The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) performed an extensive investigation of not only the Kline family’s water well but a dozen other nearby water wells. Using test results from before and after drilling, they concluded the methane in the Kline’s water well is NOT from nearby Utica Shale drilling but is instead naturally occurring. Oops. Think the $25 million/year salaried Matt Lauer will now have the Kline family back on Today to ask them if they’re ready to apologize for making a false claim against the driller? Yeah, don’t hold your breath on that one…
    Read More “ODNR Says Methane in OH Water Well NOT Caused by Utica Drilling”

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    EIA Drilling Report Nov 2013: Marcellus Ready to Blow by 13 Bcf/d

    Last month the U.S. Energy Information Administration launched a fabulous new Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) that covers six of the key shale formations producing oil and gas in the U.S. Last month we learned that the Marcellus had just blown by an astonishing 12 billion cubic feet of natural gas production per day, and if the Marcellus were its own country, it would be the eighth largest producing natgas country in the world (see New EIA Drilling Productivity Report: Marcellus Passes 12 Bcf/d!).

    The November DPR from EIA came out yesterday. What do we learn from it? The Marcellus is on the cusp of passing 13 Bcf/d in natural gas production! The numbers just continue to astonish and amaze everyone, and confound anti-drilling critics who keep saying “it won’t last–not long from now it’ll all just peter out and decline.” Yeah right, you keep telling yourself that one. Here’s the latest full DPR from the EIA:
    Read More “EIA Drilling Report Nov 2013: Marcellus Ready to Blow by 13 Bcf/d”

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    Eco-Nut Investor Groups Trot Out Faux Report on Fracking “Risks”

    Last week four anti-drilling groups, who also happen to have gobs of money (investor groups), issued an anti-drilling “report” and “scorecard” titled Disclosing the Facts: Transparency and Risk in Hydraulic Fracturing Operations. The so-called “report” supposedly shows drillers, many of them active in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, are not fully disclosing the nebulous “impacts” of fracking on communities near where they drill. The aim of the four organizations issuing the report–As You Sow, Boston Common Asset Management, Green Century Capital Management, and the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN)–is to get investors to stop investing in oil and gas companies and instead invest in their companies (i.e. mutual funds) because they back “renewable” and “sustainable” energy. Anyone else see a big, fat conflict of interest here?

    Of course mainstream media (like Bloomberg) dutifully and unquestioningly regurgitates the press release and so-called “report” from these anti-drillers as real news. Below is the press release and the “report” itself, in case you care. We bring it to you to show you a glittering example of what charlatan propaganda looks like…
    Read More “Eco-Nut Investor Groups Trot Out Faux Report on Fracking “Risks””

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    NY Dems’ Testy Response to Criticism of Andy’s Fracking Indecision

    T-shirt caution easily offendedThis is rich. The head of the Republican Party in New York State, Ed Cox, criticizes Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo over the issue of his impotency on the fracking issue (see Andrew Cuomo: Hamlet on the Shale), and the Democrats are so thin-skinned they immediately call for an investigation of Cox for “unethical or potentially illegal” actions. You can tell how vulnerable Andy and the Dems are on this issue by the way they misuse their power to try and obliterate all dissenting views.

    Democrat State Sen. Timothy Kennedy of Buffalo is the latest shill to rise up and defend his boy Andy, calling for an investigation of Cox…
    Read More “NY Dems’ Testy Response to Criticism of Andy’s Fracking Indecision”

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    Cheat Sheet: Which Agencies Regulate OH Drilling/Pipelines

    Last week MDN told you of a new change in how natural gas gathering pipelines are regulated in Ohio. Until last week, the safety of gathering pipelines was fuzzy–really no one in charge of ensuring safety for gathering lines. That changed when the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) took over as lead agency for regulating that particular type of pipeline (see PUCO Now Regulates Gathering Pipelines in Ohio). But there are a few different kinds of pipelines and depending on which kind, a mish mash of federal and state (and even local) agencies are in charge of permitting and inspecting said pipelines.

    The reality of who regulates what when it comes to pipelines and other aspects of shale drilling is complex. PUCO decided it was a good idea to issue a press release/update to clear it all up. Apparently their office was flooded with requests for explanations, so they developed a handy chart to indicate who regulates what in Ohio’s shale drilling industry. It’s a very helpful update (and chart) for not only understanding who regulates pipelines in Ohio, but also who permits and regulates wells, compressor plants, processing plants–the whole enchilada…
    Read More “Cheat Sheet: Which Agencies Regulate OH Drilling/Pipelines”

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    Andrew Cuomo: Hamlet on the Shale

    New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox makes a trip to Buffalo today to deliver the keynote address at the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York’s annual conference. The title of his speech is, appropriately: “Andrew Cuomo: Hamlet on the Shale.” The title has echoes of his father, former governor of New York Mario Cuomo, who was known as Hamlet on the Hudson for his inability to make decisions on important issues. Apparently the apples does not fall far from the tree. Andy can’t make up his mind either–the mark of a weak leader.

    Cox debuted a number of the points he will make in his speech last week in a New York Post column by Fred Dicker:
    Read More “Andrew Cuomo: Hamlet on the Shale”

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    MSC/PIOGA Team Up to Study Radiation in Shale Drilling

    questionsIn January 2013, MDN brought you the news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) was launching a 12-14 month study of radiation in shale drilling (see PA DEP Announces New Study of Radiation in Shale Drilling).

    Yesterday the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association (PIOGA) announced a joint effort to conduct their own study of radiation in shale drilling. The two organizations say their study will “complement” the study now being done by the DEP. Yesterday’s announcement raises some important questions:

    Read More “MSC/PIOGA Team Up to Study Radiation in Shale Drilling”

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    Meet the Frackers: New Book Details Miracle of Fracking History

    The Frackers by Gregory ZuckermanA new book is being released today titled The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters. It’s written by Gregory Zuckerman, reporter with the Wall Street Journal, and it delves into the story behind what MDN calls an energy miracle–the combination of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and horizontal drilling. Looks like this one is a must-buy-and-read!

    MDN friend Bob Downing from the Akron Beacon Journal wrote the following detailed review on what he calls a “fascinating new book”…
    Read More “Meet the Frackers: New Book Details Miracle of Fracking History”

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    Buy This Fracking Album – MDN Version

    As a stuffed replica of Pete Seeger shuffles out onto the stage…wait, no! That really IS Pete Seeger, about 150 years old now (too ornery to die), out there peddling a new master work of artistic quality…OK, it IS Pete Seeger, so the music ain’t all that great. Pete is on stage hawking a new anti-fracking album, called Buy This Fracking Album, that he and some of his anti-fracking buds are cooking up right now. And it’s for a very worthy cause: an attempt to make a boatload of money from a bunch of suckers, er, call attention to the serious issue of fracking.

    This calls for a press release! And so Pete & co have issued one (below). We’ve inserted MDN snarky editorial comment a) for your reading enjoyment, and b) to set the record straight and tell the truth about this album and about fracking. Enjoy…
    Read More “Buy This Fracking Album – MDN Version”

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    USA Today Picks on Demon Carbon – Says Fracking Can’t Last

    This is what passes as “journalism” at Gannett. (Specifically with McNewspaper–otherwise known as USA Today.) Interview someone who is ideologically driven and rigid–someone who abjectly hates fossil fuels and works for a benign sounding “institute”–oh, say like the Post Carbon Institute. (What utter folly to name it that. How about the Post Oxygen Institute? Or the Post Hydrogen Institute? Why not pick one of the other low atomic number elements? Why pick on carbon? But we digress…) This so-called expert–who is nothing of the kind–tells USA Today he’s “studied” the drilling issue and has pronounced that fracking for gas and oil is a flash in the pan, a temporary phenomenon. It’ll all be over soon. Can’t be economical much longer. Let’s all move along to “sustainable energy” nirvana now.

    Then, just for good measure, sprinkle the story with a picture of two of people protesting fracking–you know, to convey the right impression that hordes of people are against this insane environmental rape of Mother Earth. Here’s the interesting thing: Ever notice the pictures they use of people protesting against fracking are always a shot of people protesting in New York State? Looks to us like it may even be the same 100-200 protesters! Same group, different angles, different events. Why is that, do you think? Could it be there are only a few hundred dedicated, full-time, paid (by groups like the Park Foundation) hippie wannabes people who travel around like Gypsies (or pot smoking Deadheads) doing this kind of protesting? JS–jest sayin’…
    Read More “USA Today Picks on Demon Carbon – Says Fracking Can’t Last”

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    Latest Laughable NY Anti Tactic – Not Enough Gas, Just Move Along

    Jerry Acton - Anti-DrillerA couple of nights ago a group of four retired anti-drilling hippies “smart people” tried the latest tact in the sad tale of frackless (and feckless) New York: Try to convince the unthinking masses with charts and maps and bamboozling bullcrap that recoverable, profitable natural gas stops at the border of Pennsylvania and New York. Yes that’s right folks. “Don’t bother to drill in NY because there just ain’t enough gas in the ground to make it worthwhile.” That’s what passed for smart and insightful, as delivered by Jerry Acton (pictured), Chip Northrup, Lou Allstadt and Brian Brock (anti-drillers all) at the once great Cornell University.

    Master of ceremonies? The itinerant stand-up comedian and Cornell professor, Tony Ingraffea, of course…
    Read More “Latest Laughable NY Anti Tactic – Not Enough Gas, Just Move Along”

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    House Dems Want OMB/EPA Tag Team to Ban Diesel in Fracking Fluid

    More federal interference in fracking appears to be on the way. Two House Democrats–Henry Waxman and Diana DeGette–have “asked” (demanded?) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to finalize a permitting guidance rule from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that disallows using diesel fuel in fracking fluids. Waxman and DeGette say the current rule in place is not specific enough and that some drillers continue to use diesel in fracking fluids. Accusing drillers of using diesel fuel in fracking fluid gives politicians a talking point to stoke their radical green supporters (and increase campaign contributions).

    MDN asks: Is the OMB/EPA rule a good thing, or a bad thing?…
    Read More “House Dems Want OMB/EPA Tag Team to Ban Diesel in Fracking Fluid”