Meetings

Allegheny County | Meetings | Pennsylvania

MDN Goes to NAPE East in Pittsburgh (Pictures!)
April 16, 2013April 16, 2013

Sooner or later, all energy roads in the Marcellus and Utica Shale lead to Pittsburgh. In many ways, because of the huge impact of the Marcellus (and now Utica) Shale, Pittsburgh has become the new Houston–the center of the energy universe. At least in the northeast. Last week the North American Prospect Expo (NAPE) brought its franchise event to Pittsburgh. NAPE usually runs twice a year–in Houston. This year they’ve added Pittsburgh to the lineup, calling it NAPE East.

MDN editor Jim Willis attended and hung out at the NGI Shale Daily booth for most of the event, chatting with passersby. We already brought you links to stories about the event from several Pittsburgh media outlets (see Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Apr 12, 2013). Below, Jim provides his thoughts on the event, and the comments (gossip!) he heard at the event. More importantly, he took pictures! We’ve created a “virtual tour” of the event, so you get a feel for what such an event looks like, and what happens…

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Allegheny County | Meetings | Pennsylvania

NAPE Takes Shape – Speakers Announced for April 10 Program
April 4, 2013April 4, 2013

For anyone in the orbit of Pittsburgh, or for those already planning to attend, MDN editor Jim Willis will attend the North American Prospect Expo (NAPE) in Pittsburgh next week, April 10-12. This is the first time NAPE has come to Pittsburgh—the big annual event is held in Houston each year. The Pittsburgh event is called NAPE East and promises to be a great show. Please stop by the Shale Daily booth (# 205) and say hello to Jim!

Yesterday, NAPE released their lineup of “distinguished speakers and panelists” speaking during the Business Conference portion of the event, held on the first day, April 10 (see below). Here’s the press release about next week’s event and list of speakers for the first day:

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | EnerVest | Gulfport Energy | Lease & Royalty Payments | Meetings | Utica Shale

EnerVest CEO Contradicts McClendon: Utica Oil Will be Big
November 15, 2012November 15, 2012

At the Developing Unconventional Gas (DUG) East Conference in Pittsburgh yesterday, EnerVest CEO John Walker contradicted the view of Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon. McClendon said the Ohio Utica Shale will not produce much oil—at least for Chesapeake (see this MDN story). Walker said he believes the Utica will produce a lot of oil—that is, once they figure out the “right completion method.”

Gulfport’s CEO Jim Palm also spoke glowingly about the Utica at the conference. Gulfport, you may recall, has the highest producing Utica well so far (see this MDN story). The conference is organized by Hart Energy, who provided information stating lease payments in the Ohio Utica Shale have reached as high as $8,000 per acre.

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About MDN | Meetings

MDN Enjoys First Day of Shale Gas Insight Conference & Show
September 21, 2012September 21, 2012

MDN enjoyed our first day at Shale Gas Insight, being held in Philadelphia. The exhibit hall, where we’ve been hanging out for most of the time, is filled with exhibit stands bearing many of the names we’ve written about over the past several years.

Yesterday saw some real headliners on the podium: PA Gov. Tom Corbett kicked things off with an early morning session, followed by a vigorous debate moderated by Ted Koppel, featuring PA Dept. of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer (one of our personal favorites) representing the views of Mitt Romney against Kathleen McGinty representing the views of President Obama. Unfortunately we only heard a small portion of that debate, but what we heard was intriguing.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | New York | Schuyler County

Free Wine for Anti-Frackers at Finger Lakes Event
August 30, 2012August 30, 2012

Seeking to soften their image (as extremists) and win over a few more people with free wine, anti-frackers are holding another hippie-fest Big Splash event this Sunday along the shores of beautiful Seneca Lake, in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York.

According to the organizer, wine and music will make the dreary anti-fracking speeches they’ll have to endure go down just a little bit easier:

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Broome County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Meetings | New York

NY’s First NatGas Career Expo Today in Binghamton
April 11, 2012April 11, 2012

If you live anywhere near the Binghamton, NY area, you might want to swing by Broome Community College this afternoon (April 11) between 3-7 pm. The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York together with Broome-Tioga Workforce NY is sponsoring the “Natural Gas Career and Education Expo” – reported to be the first such shale gas career expo in New York State. Over 40 vendors will have booths at the expo. (MDN was at first offered a booth, then the offer was retracted. We’re disappointed, but will still be attending to cover the event.)

There’s a full agenda of seminar sessions—see the agenda and list of vendors lucky enough to get a booth (embedded below). The event will be a great opportunity for those interested in jobs in the shale gas industry to gather and find out more. And yes, there are many New York residents in Broome County and surrounding areas who are landing jobs in the the drilling industry—because of the drilling that’s happening just across the border in Susquehanna County, PA and other northeastern PA counties. Thank you PA!

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | Public Opinion

Can Pro- and Anti-Drillers Ever Get Along?
March 23, 2012March 23, 2012

Both pro- and anti-drillers addressed a Wall Street Journal conference this week called ECO:nomics—and the sparks flew. Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon spear-headed the pro-drilling side with his address, and Paul Gallay, president of Riverkeeper, represented the anti-drilling side. Some of Gallay’s comments illustrate the nonsensical arguments from anti-drillers. He responded to McClendon’s vision of getting off foreign oil with U.S. shale drilling this way:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings

Drilling Industry Responds to Obama’s Call for Transparency
January 26, 2012January 26, 2012

Less than 24 hours after President Obama called for full disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, the drilling industry held its first public meeting to roll out FracFocus.org, an online database that does just what the President requested. The meeting, held in Williamsport, PA, brought together drilling companies, environmental engineers and other experts, along with the public, to answer questions and address people’s concerns.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | Regulation

Five States Require Drillers to Use FracFocus.org Registry
January 23, 2012January 23, 2012

FracFocus.org, the national hydraulic fracturing chemical registry where the public can look up information about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing on a well-by-well basis, is co-sponsoring a “Let’s Talk About It” meeting in Williamsport, PA this Wednesday (see this page for more details). The meeting runs from 5-7:30 pm and will provide details on how hydraulic fracturing works. Note: FracFocus.org via Energy in Depth is currently a sponsor advertising on MDN.

Many drilling companies voluntarily use FracFocus.org to disclose the volumes of chemicals and water they use in the process of fracking, and do so for each well they drill. Four states already require drillers within their borders to use FracFocus.org. You can now add Texas as the fifth state to that list.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | Regulation

Picture of Hypocritical Anti-Driller at Recent NY DEC Hearing
November 22, 2011November 29, 2011

At the recent Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hearings on proposed new gas drilling regulations held in Binghamton, NY on Nov. 17, one of the attendees snapped the picture below of a protesting anti-driller.

MDN believes its readers are sharp enough to spot the obvious hypocrisy.

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Meetings

Insights from Pittsburgh Shale Gas Conference
November 21, 2011November 21, 2011

Last week Pittsburgh hosted a two day conference on Developing Unconventional Gas. A number of heavy-hitter speakers were on hand to discuss shale gas. Shell Chemicals, set to announce a new ethane cracker plant in the next two months, was among the speakers, as was Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens.

Some of the speakers and the points they made:

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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | New York | Public Opinion | Regulation

Binghamton DEC Hearing will be Ground Zero This Week
November 14, 2011November 14, 2011

This week will be important for the effort to get shale gas drilling moving in New York State. The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is conducting a series of four public hearings nominally to accept comments on the most recent changes to the draft drilling regulations, also known as the SGEIS (Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement). MDN says “nominally” because each of the four events will be used by both those for and against drilling to try and show their side has the most support.

One of the four hearings, in Binghamton on Thursday of this week, is likely to be the largest hearing outside of the New York City hearing later this month. MDN has received several email notices from landowner groups in favor of drilling, and from one group opposed. Both say similar things: These hearings are vitally important.

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Meetings | New York | Statewide NY

Any Pro-Drilling NY Landowners Interested in Debating?
October 31, 2011October 31, 2011

MDN received the following invitation for New York landowners who support drilling to participate in a debate in Nyack, NY (near New York City) on Dec. 1st:

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Industrywide Issues | Meetings | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Sec. Krancer Addresses Shale Gas Meeting in Philly
September 9, 2011September 9, 2011

Some 1,600 people attended the Shale Gas Insight 2011 conference held Wednesday and Thursday in Philadelphia. At yesterday’s second and final day of the conference, State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Michael Krancer spoke in place of Gov. Tom Corbett at a lunchtime keynote because the governor was responding to the widespread flooding crisis. Among his remarks was an observation that MDN has repeatedly made—that much of the opposition to shale gas drilling is ideological and philosophical, not scientific:

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Meetings

Chesapeake CEO Blasts Protesters at Shale Gas Conference
September 8, 2011September 8, 2011

MDN’s hat is off to Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon who spoke his mind yesterday at a shale gas conference in Philadelphia. Outside the industry event were hundreds of protesters, and McClendon had the following to say about them:

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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | New York

Binghamton’s Big Splash Fracking Symposium More Like a Tiny Raindrop
June 6, 2011June 6, 2011

MDN visited an anti-fracking concert called “The Big Splash,” held at Binghamton’s Recreation Park on Sunday afternoon (see today’s companion article). While there were several hundred people on location enjoying music and food—maybe 400 or so by MDN’s count—it certainly wasn’t the “thousands” hoped for at the event. Local bands provided music and anti-fracking groups manned tables around the perimeter of a large tent, providing literature on the “horrors” of hydraulic fracturing.

But the big news of the weekend was from the “warm-up” event on Saturday. The Saturday event was a symposium on hydraulic fracturing held at the Riverwalk Hotel & Conference Center on Water Street in Binghamton. The symposium was hyped by the media in advance, but only 45 people turned up according to press accounts.

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