Research

Industrywide Issues | Research

EIA Drilling Productivity Report Shows Marcellus Passing 16 Bcf/d
September 9, 2014September 9, 2014

Yesterday the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released the latest monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). To the ongoing consternation of peak oil & gas theorists that the shale oil/gas bubble is gonna burst “any day now,” the numbers continue to blow everyone away. The mighty Marcellus continues to roar: In October the EIA projects the Marcellus will pass 16 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natgas production each and every day. Astonishing! Meanwhile, the Utica Shale will hit almost 1.5 Bcf/d in October, which (for the first time) surpasses the natgas output of the Bakken Shale play. Granted, the Bakken is primarily an oil play. Here’s the full rundown of the latest DPR…
Read More “EIA Drilling Productivity Report Shows Marcellus Passing 16 Bcf/d”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Latest OH Production Numbers: Utica Wells Change the Picture
September 9, 2014September 9, 2014

Yesterday, to much fanfare, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) announced the results of Ohio’s second quarter oil and natural gas production for unconventional (mostly Utica Shale) wells. During 2Q14 Ohio’s oil wells produced 2.5 million barrels of oil and Ohio’s gas wells produced 88 billion cubic feet of natgas. The ODNR press release also includes a few other bits of trivia like average well production numbers. Below is the trumpet blowing (deservedly so) from the ODNR on the latest round of numbers. They point out that “Horizontal wells [i.e. Utica wells] produced more gas in 3 months than all Ohio wells produced in 2012.” How cool is that?!…
Read More “Latest OH Production Numbers: Utica Wells Change the Picture”
Industrywide Issues | Research

Shale 101: EIA Explains the Basics, Why Marcellus is So Important
September 8, 2014September 8, 2014

Last week the U.S. Energy Information Administration, our favorite government agency, released an updated Energy in Brief article called “Shale in the United States.” Think of it (as Columbus Business First reporter Tom Knox called it), a “Shale 101” short course in what’s what in shale drilling and production. What’s the difference between shale, “tight gas” and “tight oil”? The EIA explains it. Our favorite part of this short and enlightening article are the graphs–which illustrate the out-sized importance of the Marcellus Shale and growing importance of the Utica Shale. Here’s the full EIA article:
Read More “Shale 101: EIA Explains the Basics, Why Marcellus is So Important”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

MSC Launches Study on Water Sample Testing & Standards
September 5, 2014September 5, 2014

It’s relatively easy for so-called researchers with an agenda (and backed by Park Foundation money), to manufacture “proof” that shale drilling is evil and harms the environment. Duke University seems to be one hotbed of such so-called research (see Duke Study #2: Drilling Causes Methane Migration in Water Wells?). Cornell University is another Park Foundation funded source of so-called research (see Devastating Critique of New Ingraffea/Howarth Methane Study by EID). Much of that so-called research claims when shale drilling arrives, it causes methane to migrate into nearby water wells. That evil ole methane just can’t help itself! The highly respected trade organization, the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), is tired of waiting for the EPA and others to develop standards that can be used when determining whether or not methane in water was caused by drilling–or far more likely–was there all along…
Read More “MSC Launches Study on Water Sample Testing & Standards”
Economic Impact | Education | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide NY | Statewide PA

Penn State to Study Effects of “Mailbox Money” in PA Marcellus
September 3, 2014September 3, 2014

Have you ever heard the phrase “mailbox money” used to describe royalty checks (and singing bonuses) landowners receive for Marcellus Shale wells? We hadn’t either–but apparently that’s the phrase that’s used, somewhat pejoratively, to describe this economic miracle. We wonder how money flowing to snotty rich people who inherited their wealth is described–maybe “lazy money” or “daddy’s money” or “trust fund money”? But we digress. Researchers at Penn State University have received a $150,000 grant (“grant money”) to research whether or not Marcellus money going to previously poor, dumb farmers in PA (our interpretation) makes a difference to the health and well being for the kids in those households, vs. the poor, dumb farmer kids across the border in NY who are kept in poverty by the actions of NY’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, who refuses to allow Marcellus drilling. The study will evaluate whether or not Marcellus money affects a child’s well-being–ranging from behavior, psychological and health factors to school success…
Read More “Penn State to Study Effects of “Mailbox Money” in PA Marcellus”
Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Research | Statewide MD

MD Report on ‘Potential’ Health Impacts from Marcellus Drilling
September 2, 2014September 2, 2014

Back in April MDN told you that Maryland anti-drillers were lobbing an opening preventative strike against a forthcoming study on potential health impacts from Marcellus drilling, should it ever happen in Maryland (see Maryland Anti-Drillers Say Fracking Health Report Will Fall Short). Anti-drillers pre-judged the study even before it was released. The study, titled “Potential Public Health Impacts of Natural Gas Development and Production in the Marcellus Shale in Western Maryland,” was released on August 18, all 203 pages of it (full copy embedded below). We predict anti-drillers may find a lot to like in this study and perhaps were a tad hasty in their knee-jerk reaction. What was the study supposed to cover, and what did it find?…
Read More “MD Report on ‘Potential’ Health Impacts from Marcellus Drilling”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Research

Report: Marcellus Worth Another $90 Billion, 25K Wells Thru 2035
August 29, 2014August 29, 2014

Wood Mackenzie (WM) is a global energy, metals and mining research and consulting company based in Edinburgh, Scotland with 25 offices around the world, including Houston, TX. The company has just released a new report on the Marcellus Shale. The report, titled “Marcellus Key Play Analysis,” contains some interesting findings. Among them: WM analysts say there is $90 billion left in the Marcellus Shale. That number is calculated as how much revenue drillers will derive from selling the gas they mine from the play minus development costs. The report estimates that the top 20 drillers in the Marcellus will drill 25,000 wells in the play through 2035. Improved efficiency has lowered drilling costs according to WM. But the real secret, according to WM, to unlocking value in both the Marcellus and other shale plays is…
Read More “Report: Marcellus Worth Another $90 Billion, 25K Wells Thru 2035”
Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Research

Enviro Emergency: 570 Methane Plumes Discovered Along East Coast
August 29, 2014August 29, 2014

You know how dangerous that filty, vile fugitive is, fugitive methane, right? “Learned” professors like Cornell’s Robert Howarth and Tony Ingraffea have used all sorts of money from the Park Foundation to spin out “studies” to try and convince us that too much methane from natural gas drilling is escaping into the atmosphere where it’s baking Mother Earth with global warming (even though the forecast for the next year is cooler than normal, ahem). So imagine our surprise when we saw a newly released study that says researchers have noticed more than 570 (!) methane “seeps”–places where methane is leaking pell-mell into the atmosphere–from the ocean floor along the East Coast. And just where are Howarth and Ingraffea now, when there’s a five alarm methane emergency coming from Mother Earth?…
Read More “Enviro Emergency: 570 Methane Plumes Discovered Along East Coast”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Research

USGS Study: Pike County Water has Methane, Radon – No Drilling
August 28, 2014August 28, 2014

In the summer of 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a groundwater survey in Pike County, PA. Pike, located in northeastern PA, is one of the counties with the dubious distinction of being under the regulatory purview of the Delaware River Basin Commission which has, so far, refused to allow any Marcellus Shale drilling. The survey’s purpose is to provide baseline numbers prior to any Marcellus drilling activity. So, just to be clear, there has been NO drilling thus far in Pike nor anywhere near Pike. And yet, what did the USGS survey, published in July 2014 (full copy below) show? Some 80% of the water wells tested in Pike have “detectable concentrations of methane” and 10% of the wells (2 of the 20 tested) have high levels of methane. Not only that, 85% (!) of the wells tested have (gasp) really high radon levels–over the proposed safe limit of 300 picocuries per liter. One well was as high as 4,500 picocuries! But it gets worse–there’s also measurable quantities of nasty stuff like barium, strontium, and the dreaded chloride (salt). And yet, not a Marcellus Shale well in sight. Now how can that be?…
Read More “USGS Study: Pike County Water has Methane, Radon – No Drilling”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

EIP Uses False Data to Smear Frackers, Inflated Claims of Diesel Use
August 15, 2014August 15, 2014

The anti-drilling Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) is having a little integrity issue of their own. EIP issued a false report on Wednesday that purports to “out” drilling companies that have, or continue, to use diesel fuel in their fracking fluids. It might make for interesting reading except 80% of the data used in the report is completely false. Let us back up our assertion that this so-called study, titled “Fracking Beyond the Law” (copy embedded below) is worthy of a first place award for false and misleading propaganda…
Read More “EIP Uses False Data to Smear Frackers, Inflated Claims of Diesel Use”
Industrywide Issues | Research

Bentek: U.S. Hits Record High for Natgas Production in July
August 14, 2014August 14, 2014

Energy analytics firm Bentek Energy, a division of Platts, has just published their estimates of U.S. Lower 48 natural gas production for July. The official word on production will come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration–but they won’t publish their numbers for July until sometime in September. Bentek always beats them by a month or more. And what do the sharp researchers at Bentek say? Natgas production for July rose 1/2 a billion cubic feet in July over June–a new all-time record high for the U.S–averaging 68.5 billion cubic feet per day. Almost one-quarter of that production came from a single shale play. Can you guess which one?…
Read More “Bentek: U.S. Hits Record High for Natgas Production in July”
Industrywide Issues | M&A | Research

Deloitte Mid-Year Report on M&A: Shale Continues to Dominate
August 14, 2014August 14, 2014

The sharp minds at consulting firm Deloitte have once again turned in a mid-year analysis of oil & gas company mergers and acquisitions for the first half of 2014. Titled “Oil & Gas Mergers and Acquisitions Report – Midyear 2014: The deal market may be poised for a rebound” (full copy below), the report is a high level view, analyzing 299 transactions across the spectrum from upstream (drilling) to midstream (pipelines & processing plants) to downstream (refining and marketing). While Deloitte doesn’t share a list of those 299 deals (disappointingly), they do roll it all up and take the bird’s eye view to let us know what the trends have been and will likely be for the balance of 2014. It’s no surprise that shale continues to dominate the energy picture for M&A activity. Here’s the highlights…
Read More “Deloitte Mid-Year Report on M&A: Shale Continues to Dominate”
Industrywide Issues | Research | Utica Shale

Utica Shale Impressive Debut in EIA Drilling Productivity Report
August 12, 2014August 12, 2014

Yesterday the Utica Shale came roaring in as the newest member play of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). As we’ve often remarked in the past, the DPR is our favorite report from our favorite government agency–the EIA. Yesterday marked the first appearance of the Utica/Point Pleasant in the monthly DPR and wow, what an entrance! The Utica is already producing nearly as much natural gas as the Bakken Shale, although it produces just a tiny fraction of the oil produced in the Bakken. However, the Utica, producing an average 37,000 barrels of oil per day has nearly caught the oil production of the Marcellus, at 50,000 barrels per day. And when you consider new production (first 30 days a well goes online), the Utica far outstrips the Marcellus, Haynesville and even the Permian for oil production! It shows the enormous importance of the Utica in the constellation of U.S. onshore plays. Below is the full DPR…
Read More “Utica Shale Impressive Debut in EIA Drilling Productivity Report”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Post-Gazette Does About Face on Story Critical of CSSD
August 12, 2014August 12, 2014

Does MDN owe the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette an apology? We’re not quite ready to go that far, but something we saw in yesterday’s edition sat us right down, we will admit that. Lately the PPG has been running decidedly anti-drilling, anti-Marcellus articles. The most recent was an article last week essentially regurgitating the baseless, false charges made by the shadowy, nefarious “Public Accountability Initiative” (see PPG article Watchdog group faults center for links to oil and gas industry). We called out the PAI’s bogus report in an article yesterday (see PAI Says 3rd Enviro Group – PennFuture – Abandoned CSSD). Later yesterday, in a surprise of all surprises, the editorial board published their opinion that PAI’s so-called report is a “sloppy screed.” Whoa! What happened in the cubicles at the PPG? This is truly an about face for them–completely discrediting their own reporter’s article from the week before…
Read More “Post-Gazette Does About Face on Story Critical of CSSD”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Research | Statewide PA

Earthworks Attacks PA DEP, Post-Gazette Gives Them Helpful Hand
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

The increasingly anti-drilling Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PPG) has once again written an article that is woefully lacking. MDN has written numerous times about the Earthworks, an virulent anti-drilling and anti-fossil fuel organization. Based in Washington, D.C., Earthworks hasn’t met a molecule of carbon they like–perhaps to the point of self-loathing the carbon in their own bodies (the human body is made up of 18.5% carbon). On the “heels” of a sham report by Pennsylvania’s anti-drilling auditor general, Eugene DePasquale (see Anti-Drilling PA Auditor General Criticizes DEP in “Report”), the PPG continues to slam the sterling job done by the men and women at the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) by quoting from a “study” issued last week by Earthworks…
Read More “Earthworks Attacks PA DEP, Post-Gazette Gives Them Helpful Hand”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

EIA: Marcellus Continues to Break Records – Passes 15 Bcf/d Level
August 6, 2014August 6, 2014

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) ran an article in their Today in Energy online publication yesterday stating the Marcellus Shale region produced, for the first time ever, more than 15 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d) in July. The Marcellus, located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, now accounts for a staggering 40% all U.S. shale gas production. Compare that to just four short years ago, in 2010, when the Marcellus produced 2 Bcf/d. The Marcellus is, without a doubt, the most productive shale play for natural gas in the world…
Read More “EIA: Marcellus Continues to Break Records – Passes 15 Bcf/d Level”