Statewide PA

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Statewide PA

Mercyhurst Poll: Majority of PA Residents Support Fracking
November 3, 2011November 3, 2011

Mercyhurst College recently completed a statewide poll in Pennsylvania covering several issues, one of which is Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. A copy of the full questions and responses is embedded below. On the straightforward question, “Do you favor or oppose extracting natural gas through fracking in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale region?” the results were: Favor 55%; Oppose 27%; Depends 9%; Don’t Know 9%. A very clear and convincing majority of Pennsylvanians support fracking.

From the Mercyhurst press announcement summarizing the results:

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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Marcellus Shale Gas Leads to Lower Prices for PA Consumers
November 1, 2011November 1, 2011

One of the arguments in favor of shale gas drilling is that it will create more supply leading to lower prices for consumers (that’s Economics 101 for the Occupy economic illiterates). Those opposed to drilling scoff and say it won’t happen, that the big, bad energy companies will rig the system to keep prices, and profits, high. Here’s a dose of reality for those who scoff:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Exelon CEO Says Shale Gas Competes with Chinese Nuclear Power
October 31, 2011October 31, 2011

Exelon Corp is the largest owner/operator of nuclear power plants in the United States. John Rowe, CEO of Exelon, said even though his company’s stock price is half what it was since 2008 largely because of the discovery and mining of shale gas, nevertheless, he’s a supporter of shale gas. While attending a conference in Philadelphia recently, he remarked:

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

PA Clean Air Council Sues EPA, Force Drillers to Reduce Ozone
October 31, 2011October 31, 2011

The Pennsylvania anti-drilling group Clean Air Council is suing the federal EPA in an effort to force the EPA to clamp down on Marcellus drillers who the Clean Air Council says are creating too much ozone during drilling.

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Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA

Range Completes 56 New PA Marcellus Wells in Q311
October 26, 2011October 26, 2011

Range Resources, one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus Shale, reports in its third quarter operations update that the company is on track to produce 400 million cubic feet of shale gas per day from its Marcellus Shale gas wells. During the third quarter, Range drilled 56 new wells in the Marcellus region of PA with a total of 229 producing wells across the state, most of them in the southwest part of the state.

From the Range quarterly operations update:

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission Issues Recommendations
October 25, 2011October 25, 2011

$no fracking$ As mentioned yesterday by MDN, the self-appointed Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission—a group made up of liberal and left-leaning environmental and labor groups including the Sierra Club of PA, Penn Environment, Keystone Progress, Clean Water Action and the League of Women Voters—has released a list of recommendations for regulating shale gas drilling in the state. A copy of the 89-page report is embedded below.

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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Report Recommends Gas Drilling Near Colleges & Prisons
October 25, 2011October 25, 2011

Last week a PA joint legislative committee issued a report recommended that the state consider leasing land around state universities and state prisons for shale gas drilling:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

New PA Study: No Link Between Fracking & Water Contamination
October 24, 2011October 24, 2011

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania is a bipartisan legislative agency serving as a resource and research arm for rural policy in the Pennsylvania Assembly and Senate. The Center has just released the results of a study conducted in 2010 and 2011 analyzing the impacts of Marcellus Shale gas drilling on rural drinking water supplies. This was an unbiased, large scale study of water quality in 233 private water wells in rural Pennsylvania before and after the drilling of nearby Marcellus Shale gas wells. The study results are embedded below.

The study found that dissolved methane exists in about 20 percent of private water wells—before drilling begins. In the executive summary, the study concludes:

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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Delaware Riverkeeper Quits Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission
October 24, 2011October 24, 2011

In August of this year, a number of anti-drilling groups in Pennsylvania banded together to form the Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission—to counterbalance Gov. Tom Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission. Among the groups sponsoring the new commission are the Sierra Club, Penn Environment, Keystone Progress, Clean Water Action and Delaware Riverkeeper. The new Citizens Commission held five public hearings in September and has collected testimony from hundreds of Pennsylvanians and is due to release a final report today outlining “responsible drilling” measures it recommends should be adopted in PA.

Apparently the final report is not to the liking of the Delaware Riverkeeper (ie, it’s not anti-drilling enough), and so they have resigned from the commission in a snit. Delaware Riverkeeper is perhaps the most extreme of the anti-drilling groups, calling for a ban on all drilling in the state. Here’s the Delaware Riverkeeper press release announcing their departure:

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

PA DEP Clamps Down on Air Pollution Rules for Gas Drilling
October 13, 2011October 13, 2011

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) which oversees oil and gas drilling in the state has issued new guidelines for evaluating air pollution sources from oil and gas operations. Specifically, the new guidelines clarify when operations should be considered a single source, and when operations will be considered separately, thereby facing stricter permit requirements. The move tightens controls over potential sources of air pollution from drilling and related operations.

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

Shale Gas Mineral Rights Case Appealed to PA Supreme Court
October 12, 2011October 12, 2011

We have a new development in the ongoing case from Susquehanna County, PA where a lower court upheld the “Dunham rule” declaring oil and gas are not part of mineral rights. The Dunham rule, a PA law precedent that’s been in place since 1882, was challenged by PA Superior Court (see this MDN story), threatening to overturn dozens if not hundreds of leases and deeds in Pennsylvania. The landowners in the case have now appealed directly to the PA State Supreme Court in an effort to lay this to rest and have the Dunham rule upheld.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

New Database to Track Marcellus Drilling Impact on PA Water
October 12, 2011October 12, 2011

A new database is on the way to track the impact of Marcellus Shale drilling on water quality in Pennsylvania, thanks to a $750,000 research grant by the National Science Foundation. The database will be created and maintained by Penn State, University of Pittsburgh, Bucknell University and Dickinson College. Researchers will identify and use data collected from multiple sources, including watershed groups, government agencies and others.

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Centre County | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County | Wyoming County (PA)

Energy Companies Big Help with Flood Relief in PA
October 7, 2011October 7, 2011

Central and northwest Pennsylvania saw record-breaking amounts of rainfall from Tropical Storm Lee, and massive flooding along with it. It brought devastation to a wide area of Pennsylvania. Although some accuse the Marcellus drilling industry of only being in it for the buck, a number of drillers stepped up to the plate to help with flood relief.

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Blair County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Marcellus Drillers Extracting More Gas Faster
October 7, 2011October 7, 2011

The PA Department of Environmental Protection reports Marcellus Shale drilling companies are extracting more gas faster—60 percent more gas in the first six months of this year, compared to the last six months of 2010. More wells are coming online in PA, and drillers are becoming more efficient and using less chemicals, water and sand as they learn how best to use the ingenious technology of hydraulic fracturing.

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

Gov. Corbett’s List of New Rule Changes for Shale Drilling
October 4, 2011October 4, 2011

Yesterday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled his plans to implement many of the 96 recommendations made by his Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission (see this MDN story for the original list of recommendations). The list is impressive, tightening many loopholes and hiking fees and fines. The governor’s press release outlining all of his proposed plans is embedded below.

All eyes were on a potential “impact fee” to help local municipalities cover costs of road repairs, increased costs for emergency services and other costs that come with an increase in population. Corbett announced he is in favor of an impact fee assessed by the county where the well is drilled. Each well will be subject to a fee of up to $40,000 in the first year, $30,000 in the second year, $20,000 in the third year and $10,000 in the fourth through tenth years, adding up to a potential total of $160,000 per well. The way that revenue is split is lengthy and complicated, but essentially 3/4 of the money stays at the local level.

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Chesapeake Energy | Chevron | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA | SWEPI | Talisman Energy

Top 7 Marcellus Shale Gas Producers in PA
October 3, 2011October 3, 2011

Who are the biggest producers of Marcellus shale gas in Pennsylvania so far this year? Below is the list of the top seven as compiled from production numbers by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

The following are production numbers for January to June 2011 in Pennsylvania.

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