Industrywide Issues

Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | Utica Shale

Chesapeake to Build $900M Processing Plant in OH Utica Shale
March 14, 2012March 14, 2012

Chesapeake Energy is partnering with M3 Midstream and EV Energy Partners to build a new $900 million natural gas processing complex with facilities in Ohio’s Harrison and Columbiana counties by the middle of next year. The facility will be the largest of its kind in eastern Ohio, providing a place for Chesapeake and other drillers to process natural gas and the all-important natural gas liquids. French energy giant Total, a 25 percent joint venture partner with Chesapeake in the Utica Shale, also has an option to participate in the project.

From the Chesapeake press release:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Let’s “just pull our pants down to get a cracker”
March 14, 2012March 14, 2012

In all of the seriousness surrounding the issue of shale gas drilling, sometimes you just need to smile and chuckle. This is one of those times. The headline of this post is a direct quote from Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Maloney from West Virginia. Here is the full quote in context as uttered by Maloney on the statewide radio show Metro News Talkline on Tuesday:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

NY Democrat Assembly Tries New Tactic to Derail Fracking
March 13, 2012March 13, 2012

In a measure backed by the anti-drilling Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the New York State Assembly has set aside $100,000 to conduct an “independent” health impact study of hydraulic fracturing in its budget for next fiscal year. The measure was proposed by NY State Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (Democrat from Ithaca, NY). Lifton is part of an anti-drilling cabal of the NRDC, Park Foundation and others who are desperately trying to prevent hydraulic fracturing from happening in New York State. Chief tactic number one? Slow it down by delays and studies until they can eventually kill it.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide NY | Statewide PA

Home Rule Didn’t Work in PA, So Why Would it in NY?
March 13, 2012March 13, 2012

The headline of this post is the point of a press release issued earlier this week by the Dryden Safe Energy Coalition (DSEC), a group based near Ithaca, NY that seeks to remove the hype and emotion from the debate over hydraulic fracturing and shale gas drilling and instead provide science and facts. The DSEC issued a press release (below) which makes the point that Pennsylvania has had a lot more experience with shale gas drilling than New York and has found that a “patchwork quilt of local regulations” on the municipal level did not work, so PA replaced home rule with statewide regulations.

The DSEC says: “If local home rule does not work in Pennsylvania, it is clear it will not be workable in New York.” (Listen up, NY Republican State Senator James Seward.)

From the DSEC press release:

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Chevron | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Processing Plants | Shell

The (Long) Timeline for Building an Ethane Cracker Plant
March 13, 2012March 13, 2012

An article in today’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review calls attention to what MDN pointed out yesterday about the Shell CEO comment that a decision on whether or not to build an ethane cracker plant in Appalachia is “years away” (see this MDN story). However, the T-R article adds some interesting information from Shell’s competitor Chevron about how many ethane cracker plants the region can support, and how long it takes to build a plant once the decision is made:

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Alternative Energy | Industrywide Issues

The Green Energy Hoax Exposed
March 13, 2012March 13, 2012

An excellent commentary on CBS Moneywatch (yes, CBS!) points out the folly of green energy jobs and takes some jabs at solar and the “fad” of electric cars. The article starts this way:

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH Gov. Kasich Signs Exec Order on Shale Processing Plants
March 13, 2012March 13, 2012

Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order on Monday giving the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Industrial Compliance the sole authority to oversee construction of shale gas processing plants in the state.

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Earthquakes | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Wastewater

ODNR Finds Youngstown Injection Well Caused Earthquakes
March 12, 2012March 12, 2012

A preliminary report released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) on Friday concludes that a dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were “almost certainly” induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater (a full copy of the report is embedded below). The evidence is overwhelming: The earthquakes did not begin until three months after the injection well went online; the quakes were all clustered around the well bore; and a new fault has been discovered in the bedrock where the wastewater was being injected. Taken together, the ODNR is as sure as it can get that the injection well was causing the earthquakes.

Therefore, the ODNR has issued new regulations for injection wells, what state officials are calling among the toughest rules in the nation. From the ODNR press release:

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell’s Cracker Plant Actually “Years Away”?
March 12, 2012March 12, 2012

Are we still on track to find out in the next few weeks where Shell plans to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant? According to a Shell spokeswoman, yes. But in parsing the words of Shell’s CEO at a conference last week, even though the site may be announced, a “final decision” about investing in the site may still be “quite a few years away.” Here’s how it played out last week:

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Delaware County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation

Delaware County Asks NY State for $81.3B in Reparations
March 12, 2012March 12, 2012

Paying $9 billion to build a new water filtration plant for New York City may look like a bargain compared to paying New York landowners the value of their mineral rights from shale gas drilling. That’s the point being made by the Delaware County Board of Supervisors with a recent resolution they passed in a 12-4 vote at their February meeting.

Delaware County Resolution No. 40 (copy embedded below) demands that New York State and New York City pay Delaware County landowners $81.3 billion in reparations over 60 years because the proposed new regulations drafted by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will effectively prohibit 80 percent of land in Delaware County from being drilled due to enormous setback provisions from the New York City watershed.

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Dominion Exploration | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Westmoreland County

Water Tests at PA Reservoir Show No Affects from Gas Drilling
March 12, 2012March 12, 2012

In March 2009, the Westmoreland (PA) County Board of Supervisors voted to lease Municipal Authority property near the Beaver Run Reservoir for shale gas drilling to Dominion Resources. The original plan was to drill five wells (see this MDN story). Two years later, there are 13 working wells on the property with plans for another 14 wells. More importantly, testing done of the water in the reservoir and streams that flow into it show (gasp), there’s been no affect on the water from Marcellus drilling.

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation

Details on Ohio Gov. Kasich’s New Tax on Shale Drilling
March 9, 2012March 9, 2012

Details of Gov. John Kasich’s plan to raise taxes on the nascent shale drilling industry in Ohio (see this MDN story) are starting to leak out. Gov. Kasich plans to unveil his plans officially next week, but here’s what we know so far:

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Cayuga County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Regulation | Wastewater

Auburn, NY Rescinds Ban on Gas Drilling Wastewater
March 9, 2012March 9, 2012

Wiser heads have prevailed in the upstate New York Finger Lakes community of Auburn—the Auburn city council has voted to once again allow the municipal sewage treatment plant to accept gas drilling wastewater.

As you may recall, MDN told you about protesters who descended on the tiny city of Auburn last year to protest not Marcellus wastewater being treated at the sewage plant, but local conventional gas drilling wastewater—something that had been going on for 15 years with no adverse effects (see this MDN story). In the rush to condemn fracking and prevent horizontal drilling in the state, ignorant protesters have fallen into the trap of protesting all gas drilling in the state—drilling that has gone on for decades.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Sustainable Investments Institute Issues Report on Fracking
March 9, 2012March 9, 2012

The Sustainable Investments Institute (Si2) and the IRRC Institute yesterday released a new report titled “Discovering Shale Gas: An Investor Guide to Hydraulic Fracturing” (a copy of the 74-page report is embedded below). The report provides an in-depth look at the environmental and social impacts of shale gas development, identifies key questions for investors and includes 10 drilling company profiles. An expert panel representing industry, environmental groups and investor activists provided input to the report.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY | Wastewater

NY Republican Senator Introduces Fracking Wastewater Bill
March 9, 2012March 9, 2012

On the issue of hydraulic fracturing and shale gas drilling, the New York Republican party keeps shooting itself in the head. The latest example is a ridiculous bill just introduced into the state legislature by Long Island Republican Senator Jack Martins, 7th Senate District:

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Education | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Exxon, GE Donate $1M Each for Shale Best Practices Training
March 9, 2012March 9, 2012

Exxon Mobil and General Electric announced yesterday that each company is investing $1 million to help fund training in shale development best practices at three universities, including PennState.

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