Former BP Chief Executive Lord Browne Says Unconventional Gas is “A Game Changer”

“Unconventional gas,” or natural gas from sources that have traditionally not been used to provide natural gas, is increasingly a big deal. Not only here in the U.S., but in Europe and Asia as well. There has also been activity of late in Africa. Unconventional gas includes shale gas, like that found in the Marcellus Shale in the Eastern United States.

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Dimock, PA Among Likely Locations for EPA Study of Hydraulic Fracturing

A critical component in the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) plan to study hydraulic fracturing is where they will conduct case studies. Starting on page 42 of the draft proposal, we find out.

There were 48 proposed locations suggested to the EPA, from which they will select between five and eight locations. We know five likely locations right now, and two of those are in the Marcellus Shale region—the other three are in other shale formations around the country.

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Supposed “First Claim” Filed in New York Alleging Water Contamination from Hydraulic Fracturing Gas Drilling

UPDATE: The headline and assumptions made for this article were based on lack of information and misinformation. The wells drilled by Anschutz were not hydraulically fractured, and the Trenton Black River formation is a limestone formation, not shale as stated in the law firm’s press release. Please see this article for more details: Anschutz Exploration Responds to Lawsuit Claiming Drilling Operations Contaminated Water Wells in Big Flats, NY.

A New York City personal injury law firm has filed a claim on behalf of nine families located in the Elmira, NY area against Anschutz Exploration Corporation, alleging that Anschutz contaminated their drinking water from natural gas drilling activities. The Anschutz drilling is in the Trenton Black River shale formation, not the Marcellus. So why is this news item included in MDN? Because it involves hydraulic fracturing of horizontally drilled natural gas wells, the same method used for drilling in the Marcellus. The Trenton Black River formation is about 10,000 feet down, the Marcellus “only” 5,000 feet down. So opponents of drilling will try to use this to paint all hydraulic fracturing, for any drilling (natural gas or oil, Marcellus or otherwise) as unsafe. Their aim is to ban the practice. The aim of the law firm is to shake down a drilling company and get as much cash as they can. The aim of the families affected is to get safe drinking water. Everyone has an agenda.

Read More “Supposed “First Claim” Filed in New York Alleging Water Contamination from Hydraulic Fracturing Gas Drilling”

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Forced Pooling for Marcellus Shale Drilling May be Coming to West Virginia Landowners

The West Virginia legislature is actively debating new legislation that regulates drilling in the Marcellus Shale. One of the provisions in the proposed legislation being hotly debated is the issue of forced pooling:

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Federal EPA Releases Plan to Study Hydraulic Fracturing–Study’s Conclusions Won’t be Ready until 2014

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking another run at regulating natural gas drilling in the United States by the back door with its claim that hydraulic fracturing “may” endanger water supplies. To know for sure whether or not hydraulic fracturing is “safe”—even though by its own admission more than 35,000 wells are now hydraulically fractured each year in the U.S.—the EPA will conduct the mother of all studies. The first step in the process is to create a plan for how the study will be conducted. We now have that plan.

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Hydraulic Fracturing Used in North Dakota Oil Fields Gives that State the Lowest Unemployment Rate in the Nation

Horizontal hydraulic fracturing not only benefits natural gas drilling, but also oil drilling in places far outside the Marcellus, like North Dakota, where the method has revived declining oil fields.

Read More “Hydraulic Fracturing Used in North Dakota Oil Fields Gives that State the Lowest Unemployment Rate in the Nation”

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WV Legislators Consider Forced Pooling for Marcellus Shale Landowners

The West Virginia legislature is considering a couple of bills that deal with rules for Marcellus shale gas development in the state. One of those bills contains a provision for forced pooling, a hot-button issue to be sure among landowners and mineral rights owners. The WV legislature may adopt a pooling provision that is used in the state currently for coalbed methane drilling.

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Gov. Cuomo’s Nomination to Head the NY DEC: Will the Real Joe Martens Please Stand Up?

Joe MartensOn January 4, newly inaugurated Gov. Andrew Cuomo nominated Joe Martens to head up the all-important (to Marcellus Shale drilling in NY anyway), State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The DEC is charged with drafting drilling regulations, and once in place, overseeing those regulations. Joe Martens’ nomination to head the DEC was viewed by most who support drilling as a bad omen. Why? Let’s take a look at who Joe Martens is, and what he has said on the topic of shale gas drilling in New York.

Since 1995 Joe has worked for the Open Space Institute (OSI), first as executive vice president and later as its president. The OSI buys private land in states along the East Coast of the U.S. to keep it from being developed. As it’s name implies, it wants to keep large tracts of open spaces undeveloped and pristine. Over 100,000 acres in New York State alone have been “protected” by the OSI. Most of the OSI’s land acquisitions and easements (laws to protect land they don’t actually buy but control) have come under Joe Martens’ reign as president.

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West Virginia Now Employs 10K People in Marcellus Shale Gas Industry, Wetzel & Marshall Counties Most Active in Gas Drilling

WV - New Marcellus WellsAn article in today’s West Virginia paper The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register attempts to denigrate Marcellus gas drilling in the state by focusing on some of the problems. One of those problems, according to the article, is that 13 illegal aliens (undocumented workers) that have been caught working for drilling contractors in the state “in the last few years.” But 13 illegals apprehended out of some 10,000 workers employed by the Marcellus gas drilling industry in the state is an infinitesimally small 1/10th of one percent. That is, it’s a non-story. If the statistics are to be believed that there are some  20 million illegals in the U.S., and the population of our country is around 300 million, that means an average 6 1/2 percent of the entire population are illegal aliens! Point is: the drilling industry does not seek to employ illegals—it happens, like any industry.

Read More “West Virginia Now Employs 10K People in Marcellus Shale Gas Industry, Wetzel & Marshall Counties Most Active in Gas Drilling”

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Hydraulic Fracturing Used in Ohio for More Than 40 Years, Thousands of Wells Drilled Without Incident

Last night a crowd of more than 500 turned out in Ravenna (Portage County), Ohio to hear details about the oil and gas industry in OH, specifically about hydraulic fracturing (for “fracking”) and its current use in both oil and natural gas drilling.

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Delaware River Basin Commission Proposes Draft Drilling Regulations; Three Public Hearings in February

On Dec. 9, 2010, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) released a draft of its proposed new regulations that will affect anything to do with the exploration, drilling and production of natural gas wells within the DRBC’s jurisdiction, which includes parts of the states of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The DRBC is responsible for protecting the waters of the Delaware River basin, which brings fresh drinking water to some 15 million people in the U.S.

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PA State Rep. Phyllis Mundy Makes Another Attempt to Stop Drilling in the PA Marcellus Shale

Pennsylvania State Rep. Phyllis Mundy (Democrat, Kingston) recently reintroduced several pieces of legislation designed to stop drilling in the Marcellus Shale in PA. Not that it will make much of a difference since Republicans now control the governorship, the Senate and the House in PA.

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Maryland Lawmaker Proposes Legislation to Ban Drilling in that State

It appears the constant drumbeat that hydraulic fracturing is evil (coming from extremist environmental groups) is having the desired effect. At least on Democrat state politicians. Now it looks like Maryland may ban drilling in the Marcellus Shale that runs under a tiny section of that state:

Maryland state Del. Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery County), is preparing legislation to ban drilling in the state until it is determined that it will not taint water. “We expect robust support,” she said. “The fuel source isn’t bad, we’re just concerned about the extraction method.”*

*The Washington Post (Feb 6) – Maryland county caught up in fight over energy extraction method