Research

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    Yet Another Fundraiser, er, Health Impacts from Fracking Study

    The Boston-based non-profit Health Effects Institute has announced they will a) draw together all of the “knowledge” we currently have about health impacts from shale drilling, by late 2014, and b) figure out a plan to research what we don’t know and have the proposed framework for more study sometime in 2015. That is, they’re about to launch a study of how they should study. Er, sort of circular, but that’s what they said…
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    PA DEP Publishes First Annual O&G Report + Video (Very Cool)

    Last week the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) published their first-ever Oil and Gas Annual Report–for the year 2013 (full copy below). The report celebrates the miracle of fracking shale in PA and the DEP’s hard work to keep it safe. Along with the report (with a lot of great information) the DEP has released a video starring some of the hard-working people for the Office of Oil and Gas Management. It is a FABULOUS video–we’ve embedded it below. Please give it a watch and as you have time, peruse the 31-page first-ever Annual report.

    First up, the DEP press release announcing the report and its raison d’être…
    Read More “PA DEP Publishes First Annual O&G Report + Video (Very Cool)”

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    EIA Releases Annual Energy Outlook – Gives Us the Big Picture

    The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has just released their Annual Energy Outlook 2014 (full copy embedded below). Each year the EIA performs a comprehensive review of all sources of energy used in the U.S., and they take their best guess at where supply and demand–and prices–will go in the near- and long-term (to 2040 for this report). The EIA employs some of the best brains in the business and of all the government agencies, the EIA is least susceptible to political manipulation by The White House. We love the EIA and the reports and information they generate.

    When MDN editor Jim Willis attended the Platts Global Energy Forum last December, it was a real eye-opener (see Jimmy Goes to the Big Apple: Platts Global Energy Outlook Forum). Those of us heavily involved in the shale industry sometimes lose sight of the bigger picture. Shale energy is just one component–a very important component, but just one–in a much larger energy picture. This annual report from the EIA helps provide that larger perspective–helping us to see where the shale energy industry “fits” in the picture. One tidbit from the report we noticed was their prediction for where the commodity price of natural gas will go in the near- and long-term. The EIA says…
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    New Research Project Samples Water Wells in E Ohio Near Fracking

    Researchers at the University of Cincinnati are looking for homeowners with private wells willing to have their wells sampled as part of ongoing research into the effects (or lack thereof) from nearby fracking. The idea is to do some real science for a change–that is, to take samples before drilling begins and then again during and after–to see if shale drilling has an effect on ground water supplies. What a brilliant concept! Real, in the field research and done before, during and after. Sharp folks at UC.

    Here’s the details from the UC on what they play to do, and how to contact them if you live in Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Belmont, Noble, or Guernsey counties in Ohio…
    Read More “New Research Project Samples Water Wells in E Ohio Near Fracking”

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    Turns Out that State College Teens are the REAL Scientists

    Back in February we told you about high school kiddies from the State College, PA area who are helping with a project to monitor water conditions in a creek that runs through Black Moshannon State Park (see State College Teens Help Out with Shale Network Water Sampling). The project is part of something called the Teen Shale Network. The point is to monitor the water to get baseline readings ahead of shale drilling slated to be begin nearby, and then again after–to see if there are any changes that can be attributed to shale drilling. Wow! What a concept! Real, live, actual, in-the-field empirical research.

    Contrast the dedication of these kids slogging through the snow all winter, entering freezing waters to do real, actual science, with that of people like Cornell “professors” Tony Ingraffea and Robert Howarth, who sit in ivory towers reading the work of other scientists and generating term papers they call “research” (see Devastating Critique of New Ingraffea/Howarth Methane Study by EID). Big difference. If you ask us, the State College kids are the real scientists. Here’s an update on the activity of our real scientists doing real research…
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    Ohio Quarterly Shale Jobs Report – Shale Jobs Up 79% in 2 Years

    Each quarter the Ohio Dept. of Jobs and Family Services issues a report on how the Ohio shale industry is faring with respect economic impacts and the number of jobs. The April 2014 edition of that report was just released (see a full copy embedded below). What does the state’s own research show? In the two years from Q3 2011 to Q3 2013 core shale-related industry employment (like pipeline construction and well drilling) was up 5,763 (79.0 percent). Employees in core jobs had an average wage of $71,661. To which we say, that ought to make OH Gov. John “foreigner hunter” Kasich happy! He doesn’t like foreigners (people from Texas and Oklahoma) takin’ good Ohio jobs–so every now and again he prowls around on patrol (see OH Gov. Kasich Goes After Out-of-State Engineers/Surveyors).

    The report contains a lot of great charts and maps and helpful information to understand the economics of shale in Ohio–we encourage you to take some time with it. Here’s a good overview of the report from Columbus Business First:
    Read More “Ohio Quarterly Shale Jobs Report – Shale Jobs Up 79% in 2 Years”

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    U.S. Capital Advisers: PA Marcellus “Gift that Keeps on Giving”

    Investment firm U.S. Capital Advisers has just issued their third in a series of resource basin and infrastructure studies. Titled “Appalachia Infrastructure & Marcellus Basin Study Summary” (full copy embedded below), the new study begins this way: “Why Appalachia? It’s the biggest, baddest basin there is when it comes to gas production and the gift that keeps on giving, even in a $4 gas environment.” The study focuses exclusive on the Marcellus in Pennsylvania but the authors promise more studies are coming that will cover the West Virginia Marcellus and Ohio Utica Shale. Can’t wait!

    Read on to learn more about pipelines, NGLs, and even which counties showed the most well productivity improvement…
    Read More “U.S. Capital Advisers: PA Marcellus “Gift that Keeps on Giving””

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    Peak Oil/Gas Theorist Art Berman Generates “Study” for NY Ladies

    A month ago the New York League of [Liberal Democrat Anti-Drilling] Women Voters hired a consultant that has been so wrong about his theories on “peak oil” he would be laughed out of any room he walks into (see Peak Oil Theorist Art Berman Says Shale Gas is Peaking Too), to pen a new report that says just want the lib ladies want it to say: If drilling were to begin in NY today, nobody would drill here because they couldn’t make money by selling gas at $4-$4.50 per thousand cubic feet.

    To which we say–fine. Let’s find out! Cabot Oil & Gas is making money hand over fist in Susquehanna County, PA, just across the border, even with gas as low as $1.50 per Mcf. Let’s see if they can work some of that magic on this side of the border. But of course that’s not what this so-called “study” is about. The study ordered up by the very anti-drilling so-called League of Women Voters is a further attempt to dispirit New Yorkers on shale drilling. For Art Berman, the purpose of the study is to repair his damaged reputation. It does the opposite, providing the final nails. Below we have the press release announcing this latest laughingstock of a “study” from the discredited Art Berman, along with a copy of the 44-page “study” itself…
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    Shale Plays Now Majority of Revenue for Oilfield Services Cos

    Each year UHY LLP Certified Public Accountants and PennWell Publishing’s Oil & Gas Financial Journal conduct a survey of the oil and gas industry and publish the results. In a press release about the latest survey we learn some interesting facts: More than half of oilfield services companies and some 40% of drillers (E&P companies) say that shale plays will be responsible for more than half of their revenues in 2014; most companies surveyed believe the commodity price of natural gas will remain at the $4-$6 level through the end of 2015; and 75% of those surveyed use pipelines to get their product to market, as opposed to tanker trucks and railroads.

    Here’s the full press release with some more tidbits from the survey, along with instructions for how to get a copy of the survey…
    Read More “Shale Plays Now Majority of Revenue for Oilfield Services Cos”

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    Feds Play Spin the Bottle with Bio Fuels, Now ‘Worse than Gasoline’

    When you live by lack of empirical scientific inquiry, you die by lack of empirical scientific inquiry. Case in point: one of the so-called alternative fuels touted by green freaks are bio fuels–making fuel from corn. A few years ago the federal Energy Department’s Argonne National Laboratory claimed “biofuels made with corn residue were 95 percent better than gasoline in greenhouse gas emissions.” Now? A new study published yesterday in the journal Nature Climate Change, funded by the same federal government, says bio fuels are “worse than gasoline for global warming,” at least in the “short term.”

    Of course the underlying research isn’t even real research–it’s the new lazy way of doing research by using “calculations” and scientific hocus pocus. It’s a “best guess” as to whether something is or is not better than good old fossil fuels. But hey, these kinds of games in making outrageous claims that are then debunked a few short years later keep the (taxpayer funded) grant money flowing…
    Read More “Feds Play Spin the Bottle with Bio Fuels, Now ‘Worse than Gasoline’”

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    PA DCNR Releases Report: Drilling Impacts on State Land/Forests

    DCNR logoYesterday the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) released a new report titled “Shale-Gas Monitoring Report” (full copy embedded below), the first in a series of ongoing reports on the impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling on PA’s state-owned land, including state forests. The DCNR was given a $6 million budget more than three years ago to study drilling impacts. This is the first report, eagerly anticipated by anti-drilling groups like PennFuture. Unfortunately for them, the study contains no indications that drilling is a disaster for public lands, as they had wanted it to say. In fact, the report found that out of 2 million acres of state-owned land, only 1,500 acres were converted from “wild space” to use for drilling (roads, drill pads, compressor stations, etc.). That’s 0.075%–not even 1/10th of a single percentage point. In other words–nothing. Another 9,340 acres were partially developed. Still a very low number and not the environmental holocaust predicted by anti-drillers.

    Dan Devlin, acting deputy secretary for Parks and Forestry, wrote this in the preface: “…shale-gas production on state forest lands is neither benign nor catastrophic. There are clearly impacts and tradeoffs associated with this activity. The question is what tradeoffs are acceptable. The Bureau of Forestry considers these tradeoffs and attempts to balance the various uses and values of the forest.” PennFuture president and CEO Cindy Dunn worked herself up into a lather, saying this about the report: “The suggestion that this industrial activity can be ‘carefully managed’ provides scant comfort to Pennsylvanians who frequent Penn’s Woods.” Below we have the full 268-page report, the DCNR press announcement about the report, and PennFuture’s snit fit response…
    Read More “PA DCNR Releases Report: Drilling Impacts on State Land/Forests”

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    EIA Drilling Productivity Report – Marcellus Flirts with 15 Bcf/d

    The monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) from our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) was issued on Monday (see a copy embedded below). It shows that the average daily production from the Marcellus Shale will go up–again–in May. In April average daily Marcellus production was forecast at 14.52 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). In May it will be 14.77 Bcf/d–getting really really close to 15 Bcf/d.

    Since last October when the EIA first started publishing the monthly DPR, Marcellus production has gone up each and every month–with no end in sight. Below is the full report from April, along with screen shots of two charts found on the EIA website but not (yet) in the report. We keep needling them to include these two charts in the PDF of the report…
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    Devastating Critique of New Ingraffea/Howarth Methane Study by EID

    Yesterday MDN highlighted a new “study” that purports to say methane is leakin’ out all over the place when shale wells are drilled (see Another Day, Another Sham Study on Marcellus Methane Leaks). MDN was not the only pro-drilling publication to notice the release of the study–and to question it’s sham “research.” The always excellent Energy in Depth took a close look and wrote a devastating article that rips the veneer off this latest anti-drilling effort to cast doubt on natural gas drilling in our country.

    Have a look at EID’s “Five Facts about Ingraffea and Howarth’s Latest Methane Study”…
    Read More “Devastating Critique of New Ingraffea/Howarth Methane Study by EID”

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    Another Day, Another Sham Study on Marcellus Methane Leaks

    This one is rich. Apparently Cornell anti-drilling professor (and erstwhile stand-up comic) Tony Ingraffea’s name is so toxic when it comes to discredited research, that when he’s part of yet another sham “study” on methane (as in a new one released yesterday), his name doesn’t even come up in the official press release. Neither does his partner in crime Robert Howarth. Both have authored previous “studies” that were completely refuted as junk science. Their names are tucked away in the list of esteemed authors for a new study titled, “Toward a better understanding and quantification of methane emissions from shale gas development” (abstract below). This latest fiasco was published yesterday on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences website. In a nutshell, the “researchers” flew a plane over gas drilling operations in Pennsylvania to collect and analyze samples, looking for that evil fugitive from justice (and causer of global warming)–methane. The so-called study’s findings? There’s a whole lotta methane leakin’ out down they’a. But it gets better.

    You might think an evaluation of methane coming from rocks would include at least one geologist–you know, the scientists that study rocks? For this study, the two lead authors are a chemistry professor (from Purdue University) and an evolutionary biologist (from Cornell). Not one geologist in the entire list. We wonder–did these smarter-than-the-rest-of-us researchers take into account that herd of cattle grazing near the drill site? You do know that cows burping and farting produce more methane per year than oil and gas operations, according to our own federal EPA, right? (See: Biggest Producer of “Fugitive” Methane is… Cows?!). Did our eager beaver researchers take into account all those belching/flatulating bovines as they were flying around the PA countryside with loads of farms?…
    Read More “Another Day, Another Sham Study on Marcellus Methane Leaks”

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    Marcellus/Utica Anti-Drilling Group Back with Impacts “Research”

    The Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative (MSSRC) attempts to pass itself off as a non-partisan, “just the facts ma’am” kind of organization dedicated to measuring the “impacts” of Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling. They are anything but. The organization is extremely partisan and anti-drilling, backed by the likes of the Heinz Endowments and Park Foundation, two organizations that back only anti-drillers when it comes to the issue of shale drilling (just ask Bobby Vagt, former president of the Heinz Endowments, Bobby Vagt Out as Pres of Heinz Endowments – Fracking Connection?).

    Last November the MSSRC issued a faux research “report” that said, “Nah, Marcellus/Utica doesn’t create all that many jobs after all” (see Anti-Drilling Cabal Issues Biased Report on Marcellus/Utica Jobs). The anti-drilling MSSRC is back with a series of four “case studies” on counties in the Marcellus/Utica and how they’ve fared with a number of metrics. As you might expect, the “study” found loads of negative impacts. It’s all crap, but we highlight it for you so you know that it’s crap and so you’re not taken in by their lame attempt at covering up who they really are and their insidious agenda…
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    Sierra Club Pumps Out More Yada Yada in Anti-Fossil Fuel “Report”

    yada yadaThe Sierra Club continues to marginalize itself as an extremist, out-of-touch, agenda-driven huckster of fascist idealism (we know how to run your life better than you do), as proven by their latest diatribe against the miracle of safe, clean hydraulic fracturing and all things fossil fuel. Yesterday the extremists at the Sierra Club vomitted out yet another so-called report called “Dirty Fuels, Clean Futures” (full copy embedded below) in which they espouse the same old same old yada yada yada. Solar is wonderful yada yada. Fracking is evil yada yada. Burning fossil fuels will fry the planet yada yada. Obama’s dictatorial ways are to be praised, Heil Barack! yada yada. Everything is “dirty” if it’s not on the Sierra Club’s approved list.

    And so it goes. Complete and utter refuse. (Please don’t EVER give the Sierra Club a dime of your money.) They even stoop so low as to profile Susquehanna County minor celebrity anti-driller Vera Scroggins in the report (page 23). Apparently Vera is a hero in the wacko world of enviro-extremists. Good–they can have her. We provide you with the so-called “press release” and a full copy of the so-called “report” below, simply because it’s a slow news day and we like to express our utter contempt and disgust with the lies pumped out daily by the odious Sierra Club…
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