Statewide PA

New York | Pennsylvania | Statewide NY | Statewide PA

Energy in Depth Launches New Website, Major Grassroots Initiative for Northeast PA and Southern Tier of NY
May 23, 2011May 23, 2011

For some time now, MDN has admired (and referenced) the work done by drilling industry group Energy in Depth (EID). Chris Tucker and the people at EID work hard to bring the pro-drilling side of the story to the masses and to counterbalance much of the hype and rhetoric circulated in the media. EID recently launched a new website for the Northeast Marcellus region under the leadership of Tom Shepstone (//eidmarcellus.org).

EID has also launched a major new grassroots initiative now spreading from county to county in the region. EID and the Northeast Marcellus Initiative should be on your list of “must read” resources if you’re interested in the Marcellus Shale drilling debate.

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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Latest Testing by PA DEP Shows No Air Pollution Near Drilling Sites or Compressor Stations
May 23, 2011May 23, 2011

One of the concerns landowners and those living near Marcellus gas well drilling sites and gas compressor stations have is potential air pollution. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) periodically conducts air sample testing near compressor stations and active drilling sites. The latest results show the air is safe to breathe.

Read More “Latest Testing by PA DEP Shows No Air Pollution Near Drilling Sites or Compressor Stations”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Laser Northeast Gathering | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

PA Public Utility Commission Grants Utility Status to Pipeline Company Giving it Eminent Domain Powers
May 20, 2011May 20, 2011

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has voted to grant Laser Northeast Gathering, a natural gas pipeline company, status as a public utility. The decision will grant Laser the power to condemn private property by eminent domain. That is, Laser will have the power to run pipelines under people’s property even if they don’t want it.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Will There be New Marcellus Drilling Regulations Passed by the PA Legislature This Year?
May 16, 2011May 16, 2011

Groups that oppose drilling in Pennsylvania, under the guise of “let’s be reasonable here,” have been proposing wish lists of new regulations for several years now. Some of their proposals make sense and should be carefully considered. But in considering their proposals, you must realize those organizations have ulterior motives—to completely ban gas drilling. It’s interesting to note their pronouncements lately have gone up an octave on the shrillness scale.

These groups could not get new legislation and regulations passed under Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, with both houses of the PA legislature controlled by Democrats. So now that a Republican (Tom Corbett) is governor, someone they consider “in the pocket” of the drilling industry, and with both houses of the legislature controlled by Republicans, these groups say now is the time to reform the PA Oil and Gas Act. Something does not add up with this picture.

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Accidents | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Columbia Gas Working to Train Firefighters to Handle Natural Gas Fires
May 16, 2011May 16, 2011

Columbia Gas, a major supplier of natural gas in Pennsylvania and a company that owns and uses a lot of gas pipelines, is training firefighters in how to handle natural gas fires:

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Federal EPA Continues to Bully Pennsylvania Using the Safe Water Drinking Act
May 13, 2011May 13, 2011

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to assert itself into states’ business by claiming authority of the federal Safe Water Drinking Act. The latest example was yesterday. The EPA requested (ie demanded) details from six drillers who operate in Pennsylvania on where they will dispose of fracking fluid wastewater now that the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has told drillers that certain municipal sewage treatment plants not specially equipped will no longer be able to accept fracking wastewater. The EPA wants to know where that wastewater will now go.

But the PA DEP itself has not escaped the heavy hand of the federal EPA either. The EPA has “requested” (ie demanded) PA DEP provide a list of facilities that accept fracking wastewater. And the EPA has other “requests” for the DEP on how to do things better (see the EPA press release below).

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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Sullivan County | Susquehanna County | Wyoming County (PA)

Carrizo to Drill 30 Marcellus Shale Wells in Wyoming County, PA – Laser Pipeline will Handle all of Carrizo’s Gas in the Region
May 13, 2011May 13, 2011

Richard Smith, vice president of land for Carrizo Oil & Gas, spoke to the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon yesterday outlining Carrizo’s plans for drilling in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale. He said that Carrizo will have five well pads “fully developed” in Wyoming County by September 2012. He also said Carrizo would begin drilling in Sullivan County by the end of this year.

Smith offered these facts and figures about Carrizo’s Marcellus drilling operations:

Read More “Carrizo to Drill 30 Marcellus Shale Wells in Wyoming County, PA – Laser Pipeline will Handle all of Carrizo’s Gas in the Region”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Tioga County (PA) | Ultra Petroleum

Ultra Petroleum Continues Rapid Growth in Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling – Tioga PA Well Output 2x Initial Estimates
May 12, 2011May 12, 2011

Ultra Petroleum’s growth continues to be double-digit, largely because of it’s Marcellus Shale gas drilling operations. From Ultra’s recent press release on first quarter activity we get the following Marcellus operational update:

Read More “Ultra Petroleum Continues Rapid Growth in Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling – Tioga PA Well Output 2x Initial Estimates”
Energy Services | Heckmann | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Wastewater Company Heckmann Corp. Makes Major Expansion in Shale Gas Regions, Including the Marcellus
May 12, 2011May 12, 2011

Heckmann Corporation, a water solutions company focused on water issues and, in particular, oil and natural gas exploration and production, has completed four acquisitions that substantially expand the Company’s water solutions for energy development business segment, including a major presence in the Marcellus Shale region. Within the past year, the California-based company has grown from 30 employees to over 750, and from $8.6 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2010 to $23.8 million for the first quarter of 2011.(1) Heckmann has a small but rapidly growing operational base in Pittsburgh for it’s Marcellus Shale operations.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Two Environmental Groups Propose List of Changes to PA Oil & Gas Act to Tighten Controls on Marcellus Drilling
May 11, 2011May 11, 2011

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) provided a detailed prescription of amendments they say “must be made” to the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act so that state law can effectively regulate and manage deep shale and unconventional drilling techniques that were never contemplated when the law was enacted. Called the “Marcellus Shale Amendments to the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act,” the proposal was provided to PA Gov. Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Commission and members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly in separate meetings on Tuesday.

Among the 50 proposed changes in the PA Oil and Gas Act proposed by the two groups:

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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Utica Shale

Finding Utica Shale Gas in Eastern PA Not Likely According to Experts
May 10, 2011

Penn State University professor of geosciences and Marcellus Shale expert Terry Engelder says the Utica Shale that sits below the Marcellus in eastern Pennsylvania will likely not produce much in the way of natural gas:

Read More “Finding Utica Shale Gas in Eastern PA Not Likely According to Experts”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Municipalities that Ban Drilling Will Not See any Revenue from Impact Fee
May 9, 2011May 9, 2011

Municipalities in Pennsylvania that ban drilling will not get any share of a coming “impact fee” from Marcellus Shale drilling under a new proposed law by Republican State Senator Joe Scarnati:

Read More “PA Municipalities that Ban Drilling Will Not See any Revenue from Impact Fee”
Atlas Energy | Chevron | Chief Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Chevron Continues Aggressive Expansion into Marcellus Shale in PA – Buys Leases for Additional 228K Acres from Chief Oil & Gas
May 5, 2011May 5, 2011

In February of this year, Chevron completed a $3.58 billion purchase of Atlas Energy Inc. (headquartered in Moon Township, PA) with gas leases for 622,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale. Chevron is on the move again announcing yesterday it is acquiring an additional 228,000 acres of Marcellus Shale gas leases from Chief Oil & Gas, primarily in southwestern PA. Although Chief is selling off its southwestern PA gas leases, it plans to remain active with its remaining 125,000 acres of gas leases in northeastern PA.

Read More “Chevron Continues Aggressive Expansion into Marcellus Shale in PA – Buys Leases for Additional 228K Acres from Chief Oil & Gas”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Kills Directive Requiring Inspectors to Get Approval Before Issuing Violation Citations
May 5, 2011May 5, 2011

Michael Krancer, secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), has tried (unsuccessfully) to defend a directive to make DEP field inspectors clear all drilling violation citations through Harrisburg first by saying that wasn’t really what he meant. The reality is the policy, whatever its intent, was poorly conceived and poorly executed. Krancer, who previously was an environmental law judge in PA, said the policy was meant to strengthen the citations so they would better stand up if challenged in court, and not an attempt to water down or prevent citations from being issued. Makes no difference. Krancer and the DEP lost the publicity battle and have now reversed the policy.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Marcellus Drillers Attempting to Woo Chemical Companies to Build Plants in the Marcellus
May 5, 2011May 23, 2011

Marcellus Shale drillers and regional economic development agencies are trying to interest chemical companies in locating to southwest PA and northern WV by building “cracking plants” that would convert some of the compounds from Marcellus drilling into the raw material used to manufacture plastics and other chemical products. Just one such plant would mean a $1 billion investment, creating thousands of short-term jobs to build the plant, and hundreds of permanent jobs to staff it once built.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Sec. Michael Krancer Responds to Critics, The Gloves Come Off
May 2, 2011May 2, 2011

Now that Michael Krancer has received official confirmation from the Pennsylvania Senate to be the Secretary of PA’s Department of Environmental Protection, he is talking freely with the press and he has plenty to say.

Krancer said the following about his recent “voluntary request” to drillers to stop sending fracking fluid to municipal treatment plants that are not equipped to handle it:

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