Research

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

Marcellus Region Contains Huge 33% of All U.S. Recoverable NatGas
April 10, 2013April 9, 2013

The Potential Gas Committee (PGC), a private non-profit organization loosely affiliated with the Colorado School of Mines, performs a comprehensive study of potential supplies of natural gas in the United States every two years. The 2012 study has just been released and it’s truly astonishing. PGC says as of the end of 2012, the U.S. has a technically recoverable resource base of 2,384 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas—the highest number they’ve seen since they started their evaluations 48 years ago. The 2012 number is a whopping 26% increase from just two years ago, when it was 1,898 Tcf. (MDN has embedded a slide presentation below with some useful charts—be sure to check out the chart on page 7.)

Aside from the sheer increase, the other major item to note about the 2012 study is that the PGC credits the Marcellus Shale with pushing the "Atlantic region" of the country to the top as the country’s "richest resource area" with a full 33% of recoverable natural gas. PGC credits the Marcellus Shale for the Atlantic’s rise to prominence. Thank you for fracking!

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

New Report: Reasons for U.S. Dramatic Increase in O&G Production
April 4, 2013April 4, 2013

Robert Bryce, an author for more than two decades and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Energy Policy and the Environment has just released an important new report titled, “New Technology for Old Fuels: Innovation in Oil and Natural Gas Production Assures Future Supplies” (full copy embedded below). In the opening of the report, Bryce shares a startling fact: “In 2012, U.S. oil production rose by 790,000 barrels per day, the biggest annual increase since U.S. oil production began in 1859. In 2013, the Energy Information Administration expects production to rise yet again, by 815,000 barrels per day, which would set another record. Domestic natural gas production is also at record levels.”

How and why has production increased so dramatically in the past few years? The obvious (to us) answer is shale, but it’s not that simple. Bryce’s report delves into the confluence of reasons for why oil and gas production has gone up, and will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. His reasons include better technology and better methods of drilling. Here’s the executive summary of the report, which includes his key findings:

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OOGA Report on Ohio Utica Drilling for 2012 – Charts & Maps
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

At the recent winter meeting of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, OOGA presented the DeBrosse Memorial Report: 2012 Oil and Gas Activity in Ohio. Chock-full of interesting charts and maps showing who drilled wells in Ohio, where they drilled them and how far (distance) the wells were drilled, the report (full copy embedded below) is a must-read if you have an interest in the Utica Shale.

A few highlights:

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Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Research

New Report on Important-but-Overlooked Natural Gas Liquids
April 2, 2013April 2, 2013

The Brookings Institution, one of America’s oldest Washington, D.C.-based think tanks, conducts (and shares) research on a variety of topics, mostly economics-related. Brookings recently released a new report titled: Natural Gas Liquids (full copy embedded below). The report focuses on an aspect of the shale revolution researchers at Brookings believe is often overlooked–but critically important.

From the basics of describing what NGLs are and where they are found to how they are mined and the economics and key players–this short 15-page report does an excellent job of briefing readers without becoming a data dump. Here’s a brief description of the report and a summary of its five key takeaways, from the Brookings website:
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Education | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Penn State Establishes New Institute for Natural Gas Research
April 1, 2013April 1, 2013

Penn State is one of only 17 U.S. institutions with an accredited petroleum engineering program. As of March, it’s now one of just two with the term “natural gas” in the title of its program. In early March, Penn State announced the establishment of the Institute for Natural Gas Research (INGaR). The new program is a collaboration of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and the College of Engineering with professors from some other departments too.

INGaR’s aim is to keep Pennsylvania “at the forefront” of the shale gas drilling industry:
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Allegheny County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Susquehanna County | Wildlife

USGS Study: Marcellus Drilling Fragmenting Forests in PA
March 28, 2013March 28, 2013

The U.S. Geological Survey earlier this week released a new report raising concerns about Marcellus Shale drilling in the Allegheny Plateau (pretty much the entire Marcellus region). The 38-page report (full copy embedded below) looks at two counties in particular: Susquehanna County in northeastern PA, and Allegheny County in southwestern PA.

Using a series of maps and data, the authors raise concerns that Marcellus drilling, along with drilling for gas in coalbed methane (a similar process), is leading to “forest fragmentation”—a situation where forested areas get “carved up” with roadways and drill pads that lead to limiting the geographic habitat area for some species of animals:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Research

EPA Appoints Panel of Experts to Review Fracking Study Due 2014
March 26, 2013March 26, 2013

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the midst of a multi-year “research study” of hydraulic fracturing. The aim of the study is to find a way for the EPA to horn in on regulating oil and gas drilling—at the federal level—by using the federal Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act. The feds really really want to find a way to grab away the power to regulate oil and gas drilling from the individual states. The Constitution grants that right to the states alone.

Apparently the EPA study is progressing—to the point they announced yesterday an “independent” panel of experts to “peer review” the EPA’s final report, due in 2014. In advance of looking over the final report, the panel of 31 experts will “provide scientific feedback on EPA’s research in an open and transparent manner.” Yes, let’s hope it is open and transparent.

The EPA announcement from yesterday, including the names of those on the “independent” panel:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Research | Statewide PA

Out of the Shadows: Another New Group Wants to Regulate PA Shale
March 22, 2013March 22, 2013

Apparently the announcement that there’s a new kid in town when it comes to “regulating” Marcellus Shale drilling—The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD)—has prompted another group to stand up and say, “Me too! Me too! Look at me!”

MDN told you about the launch of the CSSD yesterday (see Important: Drillers & Enviros Form New Group, Launch Cert Program). In today’s Pittsburgh Business Times, we learn of yet another group that until now has met in secret, attempting (like CSSD) to craft new guidelines (let’s call them what they really are, regulations) for Marcellus Shale drilling. This new group is being run by the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute on Politics and includes some of the same participants powering the CSSD as well as Gov. Corbett’s energy executive and a representative from the state DEP. They call their group the “Shale Gas Roundtable.”

Perhaps feeling as though their work may have been upstaged by the CSSD’s announcement, the Shale Gas Roundtable came out of the shadows today…

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Research

IHS Report: Marcellus Dethrones Haynesville as Top Producing Play
March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

Congratulations to the Marcellus. Stand up and take a bow! A new report just released by research company IHS says the Marcellus Shale has now surpassed the Haynesville Shale to be the largest natural gas producing play in the U.S.

Here’s the IHS press release announcing “game-changer” Marcellus report, which includes some interesting highlights:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

WVU Study Finds Potential Problems with Frack Wastewater Pits
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

As part of the West Virginia Natural Gas Horizontal Well Control Act passed and signed into law in December 2011, the state legislature directed the WV Dept. of Environment Protection to conduct several studies. One of those studies, due by Dec. 31, 2012, was the Impoundment and Pit Safety Study. The study was done on Dec. 17, but only recently released to the public (February 15, 2013).

Details are now emerging from the study (full copy of the study is embedded below), including a warning there may be problems with the way oil and gas drillers are building waste pits for shale drilling, and with how state inspectors are checking them:

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Broome County | Chenango County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Research

USGS: Best Places in NY Southern Tier to Get Water for Fracking
March 15, 2013March 15, 2013

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has identified three large-scale groundwater supply sources along the Susquehanna River in Broome and Chenango counties (New York State) in an announcement about a newly completed study (full copy of the study is embedded below). The USGS says these three potential groundwater supply locations are in areas where there may be future shale gas drilling activities.

Essentially, the USGS has provided the drilling industry and regulators at the DEC and SRBC with a helpful “best places to get water for fracking” guide…

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

New Study: PA Marcellus Shale Drilling Doesn’t Pollute Waterways
March 12, 2013March 11, 2013

A new research study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences shows that Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania does not pollute the state’s waterways—at least not appreciably. The paper is titled “Shale gas development impacts on surface water quality in Pennsylvania” (full copy embedded below) and looks only at surface water—not underground aquifers. The study is significant because it looks at nearly 5,000 shale drilling sites in the state, and according to the lead author, they “didn’t find evidence in waterways of significant chemical spills from drill sites.”

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Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

NOAA Methane Study from 2011 is Flawed – Final Answer
March 11, 2013March 11, 2013

MDN tries to avoid “inside baseball” stories as much as possible—those stories that are highly technical and involve complex math and science. We avoid them not because they aren’t important—they are. But because readers often don’t have the time to study the issue properly to understand it. When possible, we try to interpret such stories and give you “the bottom line.” This is one of those stories.

In December 2011, the Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR) published a paper by a number of authors associated with NOAA—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The paper, titled “Hydrocarbon emissions characterization in the Colorado Front Range – A pilot study,” took a close look at natural gas drilling and using some rather complex science, made the bombshell claim that a large amount of methane escapes into the atmosphere during the drilling process. In the parlance of scientists, the issue is called “fugitive emissions.” Those who buy the claims of manmade global warming say methane is a “potent” greenhouse gas—so if a lot of it escapes into the atmosphere, that’s a bad thing. It causes the globe to heat up.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Research

Is Obama to Blame for Decrease in Federal Oil/Gas Production?
March 8, 2013March 8, 2013

A recently released released study by the Congressional Research Service titled “U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production in Federal and Non-Federal Areas” (full copy embedded below) appears to be quite damning of the Obama regime. The raw numbers don’t lie: All of the increase in oil production in the U.S. from 2007-2012 happened on non-federal lands. Meanwhile, natural gas production on federal lands (including off-shore) decreased by 33% since 2007, and on non-federal lands, it increased by 40%! Is that not ample evidence that Obama’s policies are killing oil and gas development where they control it—on federal lands?

Yes and no, according none other than the National Review, the premier conservative magazine founded by William F. Buckley, Jr….

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Research | Statewide NY

Park Foundation Funds Army of Water Testing Volunteers in NY
March 4, 2013March 4, 2013

The anti-drilling Park Foundation—the organization that funds such luminaries as the husband and wife lawyer team David and Helen Slottje (see Slottje Alert: Lebanon, NY About to be Fleeced)—is hedging their bets just in case Gov. Cuomo suddenly grows a spine and allows safe fracking to go forward. How? They’re funding 100 volunteers to test New York waterways on a regular basis with the thought the testing could be used in court to prove fracking is causing damage to groundwater supplies—when and if fracking ever comes to New York.

The misleadingly-named Community Science Institute provides so-called “volunteers” to do the testing:

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Law Firm Publishes Handy Utica Highlights Report for 4Q12
February 25, 2013February 25, 2013

Law firm Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP (offices in Columbus and Cleveland) has just published a quarterly summary close-up on the Ohio Utica Shale for fourth quarter 2012. It’s full of interesting highlights and bits and bobs you’ve already read on MDN. However, the report pulls a lot of overview material together in an easy to scan format—and it’s just 12 pages (full report embedded below).

The report opens with what it considers the top issues and useful information. It then highlights some of the major industry moves, looks at the midstream and infrastructure projects, government regulation, and closes with training programs available to help those who want jobs in the gas and oil fields. A nice report—worth your time to review it.

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