Research

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Research | West Virginia

National Lab Looks for Industry to Fund “Extreme Drilling”
December 28, 2012December 28, 2012

Hey buddy, can you spare a few (million) dimes? The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is looking for someone in the oil and gas drilling industry to help get a now four year-old project off the ground. The NETL unveiled, to great fanfare, the Extreme Drilling Laboratory (XDL) in January 2009 in Morgantown, WV. It’s centerpiece of technology is the Ultra-Deep Single-Cutter Drilling Simulator (UDS), which they call their “rock star.” The UDS is an impressive device that can simulate drilling at 30,000 pounds of force per square inch and temperatures exceeding 480 °F – conditions that would be found at the bottom of very deep oil and gas wells.

Just one tiny problem: Industry isn’t using this marvelous technology to figure out better ways to drill. How come?

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Venango County

Venango County Geophysical Study for Marcellus/Utica is Done
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

NEOS GeoSolutions, a company that measures and analyzes what’s under the ground to help energy companies figure out “what’s down there” announced yesterday they have completed a new geological and geophysical study of the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays in and around Venango County, PA. NEOS delivered the findings to the unnamed party or parties that paid for the project (the “underwriters”). According to NEOS, the rest of us (euphemistically called non-underwriters) will get to see the study results on March 15, 2013.

Landowners in Venango County: Between now and March 15, if someone turns up on your doorstep eagerly wanting to sign you to a lease, take a deep breath and ask to see a copy of the survey results before you sign anything. Information is power, and the information in these kinds of studies can give those who possess it an advantage.

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Research

New Report: Fracking Creates Jobs in States with No Drilling
December 20, 2012December 20, 2012

In October, global research company IHS released the first (of three) volumes in a new study titled America’s New Energy Future: The Unconventional Oil and Gas Revolution and the Economy (see this MDN story). Yesterday they released Volume 2 of the study which focuses on the economic contributions from the Lower 48 states—from both states where there is unconventional drilling, as well as from states without unconventional drilling. Yes, jobs and economic benefits are generated in non-drilling states thanks to the borders they share with those that do have drilling.

Volume 2 of the study finds that of the states with no unconventional drilling, New York leads the pack in the number of jobs created for its residents as a result of unconventional drilling (thank you Pennsylvania!). Of those states that do have unconventional drilling (i.e. they allow high volume fracking), Texas leads the way in job creation, followed by Pennsylvania. The study also finds that by 2025 Ohio (because of the Utica Shale) will become the third most job-creating state when it comes to the oil and gas industry.

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Alternative Energy | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | Research

ExxonMobil Predicts World Fossil Fuel Usage Up 5% by 2040
December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

ExxonMobil, not only the world’s largest energy company but the world’s largest company period by revenue, publishes an annual Outlook for Energy. Yesterday they issued the 2013 edition (embedded below). The annual publication is an inside look at how some of the world’s keenest minds in energy view what’s coming down the road for energy over the next 30 years.

A few (very interesting) highlights from this year’s edition:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

World Marvels at U.S. Fracking Water Management
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

The rest of the world is looking to the United States to learn how to leverage the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. A newly released report from global management consulting firm Accenture, titled “Water and shale gas development: leveraging the US experience in new shale developments” (full copy embedded below), looks at the water issue when it comes to fracking—and how the U.S. has effectively managed water use and disposal. According to the report, we in the U.S. are masters at moving water from point A to point B, conserving it, and disposing of it—and our hard work and innovation can benefit other countries now considering fracking their own shale deposits.

Here’s a description of the report from Accenture:

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | Research | Wastewater | West Virginia

WVU & Jesuit Univ Testing Ohio & Allegheny Rivers for Bromides
December 10, 2012December 10, 2012

Wheeling Jesuit University and West Virginia University are teaming up to study water samples from the Ohio and Allegheny rivers for the presence of bromides to see if bromides are coming from shale drilling wastewater discharges into the rivers. Bromides themselves are not toxic, but in sufficient quantities bromides can lead to the formation of cancer-causing trihalomethanes.

The study is a precaution to ensure bromides, which are found naturally, are not coming from drilling activity (i.e. drilling wastewater discharges).

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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | Research | West Virginia

WVU & Wheeling Health Dept Conduct Marcellus Air Quality Study
December 10, 2012December 10, 2012

The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department and West Virginia University are together collecting data in the greater Wheeling, West Virginia area to see if drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale has a detectable impact on local air quality.

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

University of Texas Goes Amish, Shuns its Own Fracking Study
December 7, 2012December 7, 2012

The University of Texas (UT) is the latest institution of “higher learning” to succumb to political correctness—they have withdrawn (censored) a previously published study that concludes hydraulic fracturing does not pollute groundwater. Science has gone out the door at UT like it did at the University at Buffalo, over the same issue. Professors and researchers issue a report, based on scientific evidence, that anti-drillers perceive as favorable to fracking—and the rabid anti-drillers form up like a pack of wolves and hunt down and academically kill anyone connected to the research and resulting report. “You say fracking doesn’t contaminate water, that there’s no scientific proof that it does (going against our orthodoxy)? You’re dead meat—we’re coming for you.”

Thing is, the chief accuser, the alpha wolf who’s doing the hunting, is the Public Accountability Initiative (PAI). Who are they? An anti-fossil fuel organization funded in the background by ultra-leftist and financial markets manipulator George Soros (see this MDN story for background). Bloomberg and other mainstream media won’t touch that part of the story—the part that those doing the accusing are full of conflicts of interest themselves. That doesn’t fit the template narrative of their reporting.

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Economic Impact | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Research

DOE Study: LNG Exports Under All Scenarios are a Good Thing
December 7, 2012December 7, 2012

The Dept. of Energy – Office of Fossil Fuels commissioned a research report earlier this year by the venerable NERA Economic Consulting. The study, released to the public yesterday and titled, “Macroeconomic Impacts of LNG Exports from the United States” (full copy embedded below), takes a look at liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the U.S. NERA considers multiple scenarios of low price/high price, low volumes/high volumes, etc., and concludes that there is no downside to exporting natural gas, and in fact, the more we export, the better.

Why is this NERA report important? Because the DOE will use it as part of their decision-making process about whether or not to approve requests to build LNG export facilities. There are currently 15 such requests before the DOE. If all 15 facilities were approved, it would provide for 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to be exported per year.

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Broome County | Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Research | Statewide NY

Lupardo to Martens: What Happened to the NY Fracking Panel?
December 7, 2012December 7, 2012

Binghamton, NY-area Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, a Democrat who so far has been somewhat non-committal on the fracking debate, but who seems to now tilt firmly in the anti-drilling camp, sent a letter to Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens two days ago. Her letter essentially asks, “What happened to the fracking panel you appointed?” Lupardo is one of the members of the High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel, a group appointed by Martens in July 2011. The panel has not held any meetings since December of last year (see this MDN story).

Lupardo wants the panel to meet again so she can go on the record with her “concerns” about fracking and the health review under way now (see her letter to Martens below).

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Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research

CMU Researching Ways to Convert Shale Gas to Petrochemicals
December 3, 2012December 3, 2012

Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is hard at work figuring out how to convert Marcellus Shale gas directly into “aromatic” chemical compounds used by chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers. From a CMU press release:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

New MIT Study on Fugitive Methane Discredits Cornell Study
November 29, 2012November 29, 2012

A new peer-reviewed study by MIT (see below) obliterates the findings and false claims made in a previous Cornell University study by Robert Howarth and Tony Ingraffea. The Cornell study tried to make the case that natural gas is actually worse for the environment than burning coal because of so-called greenhouse gas emissions from “fugitive methane” escaping into the atmosphere during the gas drilling process (see this MDN story).

A new study published in Environmental Research Letters by MIT researchers has done some actual—instead of theoretical—measurements and has found that “fugitive emissions” of methane are much smaller than Howarth and Ingraffea stated. Smaller by orders of magnitude—like only 22% of what the Cornell study theorized them to be. Oops. Paging Howarth and Ingraffea—the dean wants to see you in his office NOW.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research | Wastewater

DOE Funds Projects to Make Shale “Environmentally Acceptable”
November 29, 2012November 29, 2012

The massive federal government will not leave shale energy alone—that’s a given. Not because they think they can protect citizens, but because they want to control it. The latest attempt is by funding 15 research projects addressing what they consider “technical challenges to environmentally acceptable shale gas development.” The very concept is repugnant. Big-brother government choosing how an industry will do its job—what technologies it will be “allowed” to use. Welcome to Obamaland, Alice.

Yesterday the Dept. of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy announced 15 projects (“winners”) that they will fund over the next two years with $28 million of your tax money to research shale energy and ways to control it minimize it’s impact on the environment. Three of the 15 “winners” are located in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. Here’s the announcement listing who got what from the government gravy train:

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Industrywide Issues | NG Vehicles | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Regulatory Hurdles in Converting Vehicles to NatGas
November 27, 2012November 27, 2012

MDN has highlighted plenty of stories about companies and governments hopping on the bandwagon to convert vehicle fleets to run clean-burning natural gas. Why wouldn’t you? It’s half the cost of gasoline! There are, of course, some hurdles along the way—namely finding filling stations. But ever-so-gradually more filling stations are appearing. But in addition to the problem of lack of filling stations, there are federal, and often state, regulatory hurdles to consider as well.

A new white paper from the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center takes a look at both Pennsylvania and federal regulations when it comes to converting vehicles to run on natural gas (a copy of the white paper is embedded below). Here’s the press release announcing the white paper, which provides a good overview of what’s in it:

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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

EIA Report: Rig Count in Utica Shale Doubles in One Year
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Yesterday the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) provided a detailed update on shale drilling activity in the Utica Shale. They found that the number of drilling rigs in the Utica has doubled from October of last year to October of this year. Also of keen interest: 86% of the active rigs in the Utica (now) are targeting shale oil. Last October the number of 15% of active rigs—which shows a remarkable shift in the Utica. Although the report says “shale oil,” MDN takes that to mean “wet gas,” or shale oil and natural gas liquids. The report finds that Chesapeake Energy continues to be the Big Kahuna in the Utica Shale with 39% of all new well starts in Ohio year-to-date.

Here’s the full EIA Utica Shale update posted yesterday (along with some great charts):

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Education | Erie County (NY) | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Research

Univ at Buffalo President Shuts Down (Censors) Shale Institute
November 20, 2012November 20, 2012

The ignorant mob have won. A group of 83 anti-drilling, enviro-left faculty and staff at the University at Buffalo (UB), with the help of left-leaning mainstream media, have brought enough pressure to bear that UB’s president announced yesterday he is immediately shutting down the seven-month old UB Shale Resources and Society Institute. It’s a sad day for academic freedom and free speech. The inmates now run the asylum at UB.

UB President Satish Tripathi has proven that after a year and a half at the helm, he is not equal to the task of running a large university. Here is his “I’ve caved” announcement from yesterday, sprinkled with MDN’s snarky comments and observations:

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