Research

Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Research

New Research: Fugitive Methane Declines, Without Onerous EPA Regs
December 4, 2014December 4, 2014

Play along for a minute. Pretend you believe that carbon (the thing you breathe out with every breath) and so-called “fugitive” methane (rascally devil escapes from oil and gas drilling operations) are causing the earth’s temp to spike. We know, we know. The earth’s average temp hasn’t gone up in 18 years–but we said, just play along here for a minute, k? If you’re a man-causes-global warming believer, it stands to reason you’d like to see less carbon and less methane. Both are already happening–without the jackbooted regulations of the federal EPA. The latest evidence is tabulated by Energy in Depth, the public relations arm of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). EID’s report tabulates the latest science which shows fugitive methane emissions in major shale plays–including the Marcellus and Utica–have gone DOWN, significantly–from 2011 to 2013…
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Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | New York | Research | Statewide NY

Northeastern Winter Gas Outlook: More Marcellus Gas Needed in NYC
December 4, 2014December 4, 2014

Morningstar, an independent investment research and management company, is fresh out with a report titled, “Northeastern Winter Gas Outlook.” In the report, analysts take a look at the demand for natural gas by the northeast, in particular demand by New York City. What do they find? Although infrastructure (pipelines) have improved a somewhat in the last year, bringing more gas to the northeast (largely from the Marcellus), more needs to be done. Natural gas is very sensitive to supply and demand. The report states that in the past year alone over 1,000 buildings in New York City–apartment buildings and office buildings–have switched from fuel oil to natural gas for heating. That means there’s a lot more demand this winter than last–at least another 100 million cubic feet per day. If we get another extended cold snap, natural gas prices will go a lot higher in NYC…
Read More “Northeastern Winter Gas Outlook: More Marcellus Gas Needed in NYC”
Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Research

EIA Says 1/3 Natgas Pipelines in Northeast Bidirectional by 2017
December 2, 2014December 2, 2014

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is out with a new report today that says fully 1/3 of the major interstate natural gas pipelines that serve the northeast will be bidirectional by 2017–in just three years. That is, instead of bringing gas to the northeast, those same pipelines will be flow gas out of the northeast. Why? One word: Marcellus. Here’s the expert analysis by some of the best minds in the business (and we sincerely mean that)…
Read More “EIA Says 1/3 Natgas Pipelines in Northeast Bidirectional by 2017”
Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Research

EIA Coins New Term, Issues Report on Hydrocarbon Gas Liquids (HGLs)
December 1, 2014December 1, 2014

It’s vocabulary day at MDN. The U.S. Energy Information Administration, our favorite government agency, has just released a new report on, and has coined a new term, called: Hydrocarbon Gas Liquids (HGL). In a nutshell, EIA uses the term HGL to refer to the combination of NGLs (natural gas liquids like ethane, propane and butane) and olefins (things like ethylene, propylene, butylene, and isobutylene). If you’re new to this whole shale gas thing and to the oil and gas industry, you need to know that the hydrocarbons coming out of the ground (oil and gas) are tightly connected to–in fact the source of–things like plastic and antifreeze. That is, oil and gas is part of the petrochemical industry. The EIA recognizes the importance and connection between petrochemicals and shale, and so have authored a new report, titled “Hydrocarbon Gas Liquids (HGL): Recent Market Trends and Issues” (full copy embedded below). Since there’s a lot of “wet gas” in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, the petrochemical industry is tightly connected to shale drilling in the northeast. This report connects the dots…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

Fracking Chemicals No More Toxic than Common Household Substances
November 18, 2014November 18, 2014

If MDN or someone from the oil & gas industry said, “Fracking chemicals are no more toxic than common household substances,” it would be dismissed by anti-drillers as just another industry lie. MDN has, in fact, been making that very assertion for years. That exact statement was made (once again) last week–but this time it was made by researchers at the liberal University of Colorado Boulder. Researchers recently published a new study in the peer-reviewed journal Analytical Chemistry titled “Analysis of Hydraulic Fracturing Flowback and Produced Waters Using Accurate Mass: Identification of Ethoxylated Surfactants.” The study concludes that yes, the oft-maligned “toxic chemicals” used in fracking that “big oil” supposedly hides from you are essentially the same chemicals found in cleaning products underneath your kitchen sink and in your bathroom medicine cabinet. Chemicals found in stuff like laundry detergent and toothpaste…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Research | Wayne County

2 New USGS Studies Show Naturally Occurring Methane in NEPA Water
November 14, 2014November 14, 2014

Yesterday the U.S. Geological Survey released two studies of groundwater–one for Pike County, PA and the other for Wayne County, PA (both studies embedded below). The studies looked at well water samples in 2012 and 2013. In Wayne County 65% of the wells tested had detectable methane (i.e. natural gas) in the water. In Pike County, 80% of the wells had detectable methane in the water. Five alarms! Shale wells are polluting the water!! Oh wait…neither county has any shale drilling because both are in the Delaware River Basin and the DRBC (Delaware River Basin Commission) has so far not allowed shale drilling in the watershed. Methane can be either thermogenic (deep down methane found in shale) or biogenic (closer to the surface methane). Evidence of BOTH types were found in the survey. You can’t blame shale drilling, so what’s an anti-driller to do to when pesky scientific evidence rears its ugly head?…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Bernstein: Marcellus Production Will Slow, Hit 25 Bcf/d in 2017
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

A fascinating pair of research reports from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC as been analyzed and summarized in a top notch article by SNL Financial. Historically the Marcellus has been divided into northeast Pennsylvania and southwest PA, the SW including WV and a tiny bit of eastern OH. Also historically, the NE portion of the Marcellus has produced more dry gas (methane only) than the SW, which is richer in wet gas (or natural gas liquids). However, because of lack of pipelines in the NE, researchers say dry gas production throughout the Marcellus–particularly in the NE–will slow over the next few years. Another juicy tidbit from the report: Bernstein researchers predict natgas production from the Marcellus will hit 25 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by end of 2017–just three years from now…
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CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Research

New EIA Study: LNG Exports Covered by Increasing Shale Supplies
November 12, 2014November 12, 2014

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released the results of in-depth research to answer the question, will we have enough natural gas if we start exporting a boatload of it? The study/research report EIA recently released, titled “Effect of Increased Levels of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports on U.S. Energy Markets” (full copy embedded below) finds that yes, we’ll have more than enough natural gas to keep prices low here at home AND export a boatload of it to other countries. It won’t even raise the price all that much, if at all…
Read More “New EIA Study: LNG Exports Covered by Increasing Shale Supplies”
Industrywide Issues | Research

Latest EIA Report Shows Marcellus Production Passing 16 Bcf/d
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

The American shale revolution continues–at a brisk pace. Yesterday our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released our favorite report–the monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). Lots of acronyms! In viewing total production across the seven major commercially active shale plays in the U.S., which include both the Marcellus and the Utica, one thing stands out: Every single play saw an increase in both oil and natural gas production over the past 30 days. In the case of the Marcellus, natgas production is forecast to increase another whopping 214 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) in the next 30 days. The Marcellus will officially pass the 16 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) mark–forecast for a 16.1 Bcf/d average in December. Utica natgas production is forecast to grow 86 Mmcf/d and hit a 1.67 Bcf/d average during December. Here’s the full November DPR from the EIA that gives you the 411 on the Bcf’s…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Researchers: Frack Wastewater “Not quite as bad as we thought”
November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

What do you know–some real science has once again popped up with respect to shale drilling. A pair of researchers from Rice University published the results of their analysis of frack wastewater from the PA Marcellus Shale, the TX Eagle Ford Shale, and the NM Barnett Shale. The study, titled “Organic compounds in produced waters from shale gas wells” (full copy below) was just published in the October issue of the journal Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts. The study is a detailed breakdown of the chemical components found in shale wastewater. And what did the study find? According to one of the researchers, the results show the frack water “was not quite as bad as we thought”…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WVU/OSU Get $11M Grant to Study Shale Energy Best Practices
November 7, 2014June 29, 2015

The mother’s milk of academe is grant money–and West Virginia University is happy to announce a new grant related to the Marcellus Shale. The U.S. Dept. of Energy is forking over $11 million to WVU and Ohio State University for a five-year project to study “baseline measurements, subsurface development and environmental monitoring” in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. The money will be used for research and to establish a first-of-its-kind Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory–a field site and dedicated research laboratory to be located at the Morgantown (WV) Industrial Park…
Read More “WVU/OSU Get $11M Grant to Study Shale Energy Best Practices”
Industrywide Issues | Research

US Breaks Another Natgas Record: 69.9 Bcf/d Production in October
November 7, 2014November 7, 2014

Bentek Energy, the analytics and forecasting unit of Platts, is fresh out with numbers that the U.S. Energy Information Administration won’t release until Dec. 31. Namely, natural gas production in the lower 48 United States averaged 69.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in October–breaking its previous monthly average high for the 10th consecutive month. Production was up up 7.9% (or 5.2 Bcf/d) from average production a year ago, and according to Bentek, there’s no end in sight for how high production will go…
Read More “US Breaks Another Natgas Record: 69.9 Bcf/d Production in October”
Industrywide Issues | Research | Sand/Proppant

Sham Frac Sand Report: The Sky is Falling!
November 6, 2014November 6, 2014

Several anti-drilling groups have issued a “research report” that tries to shut down drilling based on the hazards of frac sand mining. The report, titled “Communities At Risk: Frac Sand Mining in the Upper Midwest,” was published by the Civil Society Institute’s Boston Action Research (BAR) and released in cooperation with Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA). It is just the latest in a string of not-so-veiled attempts to shut down the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. We’ve written a number of times about the very serious issue of safely handling frac sand (see Silica Dust Exposure Topic A at ShaleSafe Conference in Wheeling for one example). We welcome real research that looks for solutions instead of hocus pocus “just stop drilling” solutions offered by the authors of this “report”…
Read More “Sham Frac Sand Report: The Sky is Falling!”
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

U.S. Fracking Lowers Gasoline Prices by Nearly $1 per Gallon!
November 3, 2014November 3, 2014

Do you like paying nearly a buck per gallon less for gasoline now over what you were paying a year ago? Yeah, we do too. But little did we know that the primary reason gas prices are so much lower is thanks to fracking! A new report released last week by the American Petroleum Institute (full copy embedded below) shows that horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which are now responsible for 48% of all U.S. oil production, shaved up to $0.94 per gallon from fuel prices in 2013. How cool is that?…
Read More “U.S. Fracking Lowers Gasoline Prices by Nearly $1 per Gallon!”
Air Quality | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

New Faux “Research” on Air Emissions Near Frack Sites
October 31, 2014October 31, 2014

We think there needs to be more scientific/objective studies done on air quality and emissions near drilling sites and compressor stations–you get no argument from us on that score. We suspect there are some problems and issues with air emissions from shale drilling and compressor stations–but we’d like some hard evidence to prove or disprove that suspicion. Yesterday a new study was published in the online journal Environmental Health. The new study, titled “Air concentrations of volatile compounds near oil and gas production: a community-based exploratory study” (full copy embedded below) concludes: “Air concentrations of potentially dangerous compounds and chemical mixtures are frequently present near oil and gas production sites.” The big red flag is that the study is based on “data” collected by anti-drilling “volunteers” who have skin in the game. The data was not collected by impartial, objective scientists. The authors of the “study” are themselves rabid anti-drillers. This is the latest in a long line of “research studies” that is scientific GIGO: garbage in, garbage out…
Read More “New Faux “Research” on Air Emissions Near Frack Sites”
Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

New Western Study IDs Drill Site Equipment that Pollutes Most
October 23, 2014October 23, 2014

An ongoing issue for shale drilling is the seeming conundrum that although we’re burning more natural gas and therefore the air, on average, is cleaner–the air is not cleaner in heavily drilled counties. We’ve seen studies in Pennsylvania (see PA DEP Report: Counties with Fracking Have More Air Pollution), West Virginia (see Did WVDEP Ignore It’s Own Research on Shale Well Air Pollution?) and now Ohio (see UC Hints Air Problems Near Drill Sites in Carroll County Research) that tell us where there’s drilling, there’s far more air pollution. This is an important issue that isn’t going away. Two days ago researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say they’ve identified what, precisely, is doing the polluting at drilling sites…
Read More “New Western Study IDs Drill Site Equipment that Pollutes Most”