Industrywide Issues 1297 - Marcellus Drilling News

New Study Says Ohio’s Gas Severance Tax Lowest, Even If…

May 17, 2012May 17, 2012

A new study released by the accounting firm Ernst & Young says that even if Ohio Gov. John Kasich gets his way and boosts the severance tax in the state on oil and gas drilling, Ohio’s severance tax rate would still be less than other states. Kasich wants to rob Peter to pay Paul, taking even more money from energy companies and landowners in the form of higher severance taxes in order to reduce the state income tax for everyone.

Apparently the Ohio Business Roundtable is in Kasich’s hip pocket because they are the ones who commissioned the study. This is the first time MDN has ever heard of a “business group” who wanted higher taxes.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Canadian Mutual Fund Joins Activists Targeting Shale Gas

May 17, 2012May 17, 2012

Canadian mutual fund giant NEI Investments has joined the Investor Environmental ~~Mafia~~ Health Network (IEHN) of activist investors calling on drillers to adopt “industry-wide standards for shale gas drilling.” (See this MDN story for a background on the IEHN.)

Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs

Behold the Power of Shale Fracking: ND Now #2 US Oil Producer

May 16, 2012May 16, 2012

ribbon - 2nd This is technically not a story about the Marcellus or the Utica Shale. But it’s just as critical. North Dakota has just officially become the number two producer of oil in the United States, displacing Alaska for that spot. Texas still leads with the most oil production.

How on earth as ND become number two? It’s simple: shale and the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. What’s even more startling is that as recently as 1999 ND had zero drilling rigs and oil drilling in the state was dead. Just 13 years later, it’s number two in the nation. The importance of this cannot be overstated.

Accidents | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

UB Study Released on Environmental Problems in PA Drilling

May 16, 2012May 16, 2012

A peer-reviewed 52-page study released yesterday by the new natural gas institute at SUNY University at Buffalo (UB) finds that environmental problems caused by Marcellus Shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania were isolated, mostly minor and on the decline (a copy of the full study is embedded below).

The study analyzes the data from more than 3,533 Marcellus wells drilled since 2008 in PA by over 100 drilling rigs. The study makes the following conclusions, including assigning a percentage probability for how likely it is for a major environmental event to occur:

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trumbull County

American Rivers Yearly Fundraiser/Most Endangered Rivers List

May 16, 2012May 16, 2012

The anti-drilling American Rivers, an organization with a lofty Americana name but with a hard left environmentalist agenda, issues their “top 10” most endangered rivers list each year about this time. It’s an amusing exercise because the list rarely contains any of the same rivers on it from year to year. This year’s list is no different—and of course one of the targets of the list is shale gas drilling.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Statewide NY

Siena College Poll – New Yorkers Remain Split on Fracking

May 16, 2012May 16, 2012

Siena College Research Institute runs regular polls of New Yorkers to gage their opinion on a variety of topics. One of the long-running topics they poll on is whether or not New York should allow hydraulic fracturing to move forward. The latest Siena poll was just released today. The full breakout is embedded below. Here’s how Siena interpreted the results in their press announcement:

MDN Analysis of Rig Counts in Marcellus/Utica

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

Drilling rig counts are closely watched as an indicator of where, and how much, drilling is happening in a given geography. Last Friday, Baker Hughes reported that rig counts for Pennsylvania continue to decline from a year ago, while the numbers for West Virginia are going up. But that doesn’t quite tell the whole story.

Advice to Landowners About Interstate Pipelines

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

Let’s be honest. Using eminent domain to force landowners to allow interstate pipelines to be run across their property is a bad idea. At least it is in MDN’s opinion. Some pipeline companies have sought and have been awarded public utility status, and that status allows them to use eminent domain to grab property to run pipelines. It’s disgusting. They are not public utilities in the way a power company is a utility that needs to put up electric polls.

Two lawyers from Columbus, Ohio caution landowners to get a second opinion when it comes to negotiating to have pipelines runs across their property, like the ATEX Express ethane pipeline that’s currently being built across Ohio. They also counsel that although eminent domain can force landowners to allow a pipeline, landowners still have at least some rights under eminent domain.

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Gov. Corbett Outlines How Shale Gas Benefits Everyone

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

In a recent radio interview, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett spoke about the Marcellus Shale drilling industry and how it positively impacts all Pennsylvanians, not just just a select few:

Marcellus & Utica Shale Drilling – Coming to Erie, PA

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

At a seminar in Erie, PA for manufacturers and other companies interested in becoming suppliers to the shale gas industry, Marcellus Shale Coalition president Kathryn Klaber told attendees that it’s just a matter of time before Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling comes to their area.

Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Ohio Dem Wants Feds to Investigate Injection Wells

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

Here’s a new twist on the “fracking contaminates ground water supplies” argument that MDN has not seen before…

EPA’s Final Batch of Testing for Dimock Water Wells Released

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

clean drinking water On Friday the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its results of testing for the fourth and final batch of water wells in Dimock, PA. The results are the same as the first three batches: There is and has been no contamination of the area’s water supply by chemicals from nearby hydraulic fracturing of Marcellus Shale gas wells.

Alternative Energy | Chesapeake Energy | Commodity Price | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues

Boone Pickens Sells Chesapeake Stock, Strange Comment on NatGas

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

Has T. Boone Pickens, Texas oil billionaire and author of “The Pickens Plan” that calls for America to use natural gas to reduce our dependency on OPEC oil and as a bridge to a renewable energy future, now turned his back on natural gas? His investment company, BP Capital Management, has sold off all of its Chesapeake Energy stock. Pickens’ comment on the reason for selling off Chesapeake was a tad strange:

O&G Countersues Landowners Claiming Lease Slander

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

In late March, seven Beaver County, PA families (18 people) filed a lawsuit in Common Pleas Court accusing O&G Investments of Wooster, Ohio of not drilling on their land—and not paying them—for the past seven years. The leases were sold to Chesapeake Energy and at the eleventh hour, just before the leases were set to expire, Chesapeake attempted to initiate drilling to retain the leases, which prompted the lawsuit (see this MDN story for background). Late last week O&G countersued the families:

Location for OH NGL Processing Plant Identified

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

We now know the specific location of a previously announced $400 million shale gas collection and processing plant being built in Columbiana County, Ohio by a joint venture between Chesapeake Energy, M3 Midstream and EV Energy Partners.

OH Judge Rules in Case on Ethane Pipeline Survey

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

MDN highlighted a story last week in which Enterprise Products Partners, the company building a new ethane pipeline across Ohio, sued a farmer to gain access to his land in order to survey it to chart a route for the pipeline (see this MDN story). The farmer offered alternative routes to avoid prime hay fields but Enterprise turned him down. A common pleas court judge, on Friday, sided with…