Pennsylvania

Anadarko | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide PA | Western Gas

Western Gas Enters the Marcellus, Buys 2 Pipeline Systems in PA
March 1, 2013March 1, 2013

Western Gas Partners, a master limited partnership created by Anadarko to “own, operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets” has until now built and expanded pipeline and processing plants in the southwest, west and mid-continent region. They are now players in the Marcellus Shale as well by paying $623.5 million for a one-third ownership of two natural gas pipeline gathering systems in north-central Pennsylvania. Together, the two systems have a combined throughput of 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The company’s announcement about the two deals and how they will finance them:

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Crime | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

GPX Gets Off Easy After Using Illegal Aliens for PA Survey Crew
February 27, 2013February 27, 2013

Last June MDN told you about GPX, a Texas-based seismic surveying company doing work in Pennsylvania for the oil and gas industry that was caught trying to sneak in illegal aliens to work on their surveying crews in PA (see Surveying Company Caught Sneaking Illegal Immigrants to PA). Those in charge faced the prospect of 100 years in prison and paying $5 million in fines. Looks like they’re going to get off easy with a slap on the wrist—a $25,000 fine:

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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot’s Drilling in Susquehanna County Moves Needle on U.S. Supplies
February 26, 2013February 26, 2013

Another post from energy analyst Richard Zeits on the Seeking Alpha website—this time about the tremendous amount of natural gas Cabot Oil & Gas is mining in Susquehanna County, PA. Zeits says the gas Cabot is finding and selling “may be material to the U.S. supply.” You read that right. One “little” oil and gas driller’s efforts in rural Susquehanna County, PA may well end up influencing the entire U.S. energy picture.

Full of charts and maps and oodles of great information, here’s a small portion of Zeits’ analysis, a prediction for how long Cabot will be drilling in Susquehanna County, and how many wells they’ll end up drilling there:

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Aqua America | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Penn Virginia Corporation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PVR Water Services – Now Pumping 3M Gal of Water/Day for Drilling
February 26, 2013February 26, 2013

Aqua America is one of the largest U.S.-based, publicly-traded water utilities with almost 3 million residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Florida and Georgia. They also have a joint venture with Penn Virginia Resource Partners called PVR Water Services which provides water to Marcellus drillers in Pennsylvania. So far business is good.

A short section of Aqua America’s annual financial and operations report updates us on PVR Water Services:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Praying for Dead Trees – The Nutty Gas Protesters of Pike County
February 25, 2013February 25, 2013

Columnist Beth Brelje has penned a must-read editorial on the nutters in Pike County, PA protesting construction of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s 323 Line. Brelje says the protesters have scheduled a—get this—prayer vigil, to pray for the “fallen trees.” Yeah, Twilight Zone stuff.

Instead of praying over dead wood, Brelje says protesters might actually want to do something constructive with their time, like:

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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot O&G Operational Update for Marcellus Shale
February 25, 2013February 25, 2013

Last week MDN told you about Cabot’s distinction in belonging to two different “1 billion” clubs (see Cabot O&G in 2012: Membership in 2 Different “1 Billion” Clubs). About the same time Cabot released their financial results, they also released an operational update which we neglected to report.

Below is the portion of that report for Cabot’s Marcellus Shale operations:

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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot O&G in 2012: Membership in 2 Different “1 Billion” Clubs
February 22, 2013February 22, 2013

The 2012 reports continue to roll in. Cabot Oil & Gas has just reported its 2012 report and the results are extraordinary. Cabot joined two different “1 billion” clubs in 2012. First, they surpassed $1 billion in revenues for 2012, earning $1.2 billion. Second, they became the first (and so far only) company to achieve 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas production per day in the Marcellus Shale (see Who’s a Member of the Marcellus “1 Bcf/d” Club?).

Companywide, Cabot’s natural gas production was up an astonishing 43% over 2011, much of that from their drilling in Susquehanna County, PA. Cabot is a great company run by great people, and they have a lot to be proud of when it comes to their performance last year. Here’s the numbers and the rundown for Cabot in 2012:

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

PA DEP Sec. Krancer Faces Tough Questions from Senators
February 22, 2013February 22, 2013

MDN loves Pennsylvania Dept. of Environment Protection Sec. Michael Krancer—primarily because he doesn’t take any guff from politically posturing Democrats. He also happens to be very smart and very funny. Krancer faced a grilling yesterday during budget hearings from (some) PA senators who wanted to score political points. Krancer fired right back when challenged. He also refused to answer questions about his religious beliefs on global warming. It’s dangerous to go against GW orthodoxy. You’re branded a heretic and imbecile if you’re not a Kool-Aid drinker of the GW mythology.

Below is some of the back and forth from yesterday’s budget grilling of Krancer. He addresses the topic of Marcellus Shale drilling and the DEP’s ability to regulate it. He also answers an interesting question about “asexual behavior” in fish…

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American GTL Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Reserve Environmental Services | Statewide PA

Shale Wastewater Operator Proposes Marcellus Gas-to-Liquids Plant
February 22, 2013February 22, 2013

American GTL Energy wants to build a gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale to convert methane (“dry gas”) into diesel fuel. Such a plant, if built, would require about $1 billion of investment—so American GTL is trying to catch the interest of companies like Exxon Mobil—companies with deep pockets.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Warren County | Wastewater

NW PA Frack Wastewater Injection Well Begins Operation
February 21, 2013February 21, 2013

A new fracking wastewater injection well in northwest Pennsylvania has just opened for business. Bear Lake Properties in Warren County (near the New York border) is now accepting Marcellus Shale wastewater, although for now they’re only accepting the wastewater produced from their own drilling activities.

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About MDN | MDN Resources | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

MDN Calls It: PA Hits 2 Trillion in NatGas Production in 2012
February 20, 2013February 20, 2013

Last month MDN released Volume 3 of the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. We predicted something in the ‘Drilling Update’ section that Databook readers have now known for a month—that Pennsylvania would hit the 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas production milestone for 2012. The exact quote from the Databook, published at the end of January: “Pennsylvania, which just passed 1 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas production in 2011, will double that and hit 2 trillion cubic feet of production for 2012. In addition, we believe Ohio’s Utica Shale will achieve 67 billion cubic feet of production for 2012.” We also predicted: “WV will likely double production again, so we’re estimating they will show an increase to 455 bcf for 2012.” (Databook Volume 3, page 10)

We don’t yet have 2012 final numbers for OH and WV, but our prediction for PA was spot on and is now verified by the latest reports just released by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection:

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Allegheny County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania

$50M Check in the Mail: Pittsburgh Airport Lease a Done Deal
February 20, 2013February 20, 2013

The deal by CONSOL Energy to lease 9,000 acres owned by Pittsburgh International Airport for shale gas drilling is a done deal. Yesterday the Allegheny County Council voted to accept the deal. A few nut job protesters turned up in gas masks (as is their way). The vote was 9-4 in favor of the deal. Once County Executive Rich Fitzgerald signs it, the Airport Authority will receive a check for $50 million.

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Washington County

Hearing on PA DEP Water Testing – 2.5 Hour Gripe Session
February 20, 2013February 20, 2013

Pennsylvania State Rep. Jesse White (Democrat from Cecil, PA) held a hearing yesterday in Washington, PA that took aim at practices by the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) over how they test (or don’t test) and report (or don’t report) on water supplies near active shale drilling locations. The DEP was invited to attend their own roasting but declined, calling White’s hearing political theater, unproductive, unprofessional and a waste of time (see PA DEP Not Attending Hearing on Water Testing Near Shale Drilling).

With representatives from anti-drilling organizations like Earthworks and PennFuture scheduled to testify at the hearing, it’s not surprising the DEP declined to show up just to be bullied. The session was apparently a 2 1/2 hour dump-on-the-DEP-fest:

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Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Marcellus Health Impact Study Finally Gets Funding
February 19, 2013February 19, 2013

In August 2012, Geisinger Health System along with a second health system, Guthrie Health, announced they would jointly conduct the first ever study of the health impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling (see Health Care Systems Partner to Study Marcellus Impacts). They were later joined by a third organization: Susquehanna Health (see Third Group Joins Unfunded Marcellus Health Impact Study). Problem was, they didn’t have funding to begin the study (see Much-Ballyhooed Marcellus Health Impact Study Not Funded).

Six months later funding has finally arrived in the form of a $1 million grant from the Degenstein Foundation of Sunbury, PA. Geisinger Health announced the grant yesterday on their website:

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Bradford County | Energy Services | Eureka Resources | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wastewater

Eureka Resources Building PA’s Biggest Marcellus Wastewater Plant
February 19, 2013March 7, 2019

Eureka Resources currently operates a Marcellus Shale wastewater treatment facility in Williamsport, PA that processes 8,000 barrels of wastewater per day. The company announced today it is building a new, second facility near Towanda, PA. The new plant will have the capacity to treat up to 10,000 barrels of wastewater per day. Target completion date is October of this year…

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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

PA DEP Report: Counties with Fracking Have More Air Pollution
February 18, 2013February 18, 2013

Last week the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) reported they filed a required every-three-year air pollution study with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The results? Because of fracking and a change away from burning coal to burning natural gas for electrical power generation, all major forms of air pollution, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds, have gone down—significantly (see “Thank You for Fracking” – Air Pollution Goes Down in PA).

MDN now has a copy of the official numbers filed by the DEP to the EPA (see the files embedded below showing the data). It appears to us there is a “rest of the story” in the DEP’s numbers. While air pollution numbers are extremely positive and have gone down significantly as a statewide average, in counties with a lot of Marcellus Shale drilling, air pollution numbers have gone up. Compared to the levels found in other counties, we’d call it a “significant” increase. Is there cause for concern?

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