Wyoming County (PA)

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | UGI Energy Services | Wyoming County (PA)

Anti-Drillers Try to Stop Pipeline Connector in NE PA
May 3, 2013May 3, 2013

Even though a pipeline connection, known as a “gate station,” has existed in Wyoming County, PA (northeastern part of the state) for the past 50 years, apparently no one noticed it existed (see Back to Kindergarten: UGI Explains NatGas Gate Stations). A small number of anti-drillers oppose a plan by local utility company UGI to build a second pipeline connector/gate station in the area. It’s not a compressor plant–just a connector. And even though it will lower their natural gas bills, they don’t want it. Why? They (erroneously) believe it’s a back-door way for UGI to build a new compressor plant in the area, apparently:
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Accidents | Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wastewater | Wyoming County (PA)

Carrizo Resumes Fracking at Site of Spill in Wyoming County, PA
April 8, 2013April 8, 2013

On March 13, Carrizo Oil & Gas temporarily lost control of a Marcellus Shale gas well they were fracking in Wyoming County, PA, leading to a spill of over 200,000 gallons of fracking water. The frack water was contained and trucked away (see Carrizo Problem Fracking NE PA Well, Evacuates 3 Nearby Families). Since then, Carrizo has tested local water sources and has found “nothing unusual,” so the state PA Dept. of Environmental Protection has given them the green light to resume fracking the well:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | UGI Energy Services | Wyoming County (PA)

Back to Kindergarten: UGI Explains NatGas Gate Stations
April 4, 2013April 4, 2013

Northeastern PA utility company UGI is in a strange position. Geographically the company and it’s natural gas distribution network sit in or near some of the richest deposits of natural gas known to exist in the United States—the Marcellus Shale. All UGI has to do is install some new pipelines here and there, and a compressor station here and there, to bring that low-cost gas to its customers. Currently the gas being delivered to households in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area mostly comes from the Gulf Coast! Why not use gas produced locally, which is far cheaper.

Why not? Because of dullards who oppose installing the new pipelines and compressor stations. Anything to do with natural gas has gotten so divisive and politically charged, that UGI now has to explain (“dumb it down”) to people why lowly gate stations (pipeline connectors) are safe:

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Accidents | Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wyoming County (PA)

Carrizo Problem Fracking NE PA Well, Evacuates 3 Nearby Families
March 15, 2013March 15, 2013

Carrizo Oil & Gas temporarily lost control of a Marcellus Shale gas well they were fracking in Wyoming County, PA on Wednesday. The company was in the 23rd stage Wednesday about 6:00 pm when wastewater and brine started to flow at a rate of about 800 gallons per minute—too fast to control. The concern was that natural gas (methane) would start pouring out of the hole too, so Carrizo and a specialty well control crew worked through the night and by early Thursday had the problem contained, and by Thursday afternoon they had the well capped. No methane was released into the atmosphere and the wastewater was contained.

During the episode three families that lived within 1,500 feet of the well were evacuated as a precaution. They returned on Thursday. Here’s the details about the accident as we know them:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | UGI Energy Services | Wyoming County (PA)

UGI Plans Start of PA Marcellus Pipeline Despite Zoning Appeal
January 25, 2013January 25, 2013

Pennsylvania energy utility UGI is working hard to bring low-cost, locally produced Marcellus Shale gas to its customers in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area. Currently UGI gets natural gas for its northeast PA customers from the Gulf of Mexico, which is crazy given the abundant, local Marcellus natural gas supplies all around them. But the Luzerne County zoning board last September denied UGI the right to build a much-needed compressor station that would help bring local gas to local customers (see Luzerne County Denies UGI Permit to Build Compressor Station).

UGI appealed that decision in court, and in the meantime, they’re moving forward with building a 28-mile pipeline anyway—an extension of the Auburn Pipeline from Wyoming County to Luzerne County (see the map below for the route of the new pipeline). If UGI’s appeal for the compressor station for the new pipeline fails, they do have a backup plan…

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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wyoming County (PA)

Oklahoma Manufacturer Buys Interest in PA Marcellus Wells
November 1, 2012November 1, 2012

This is a fascinating (to MDN) story about where the industry and economics for shale gas drilling may be heading. Yesterday LSB Industries, an Oklahoma City chemical (and equipment) manufacturer that depends on natural gas as its raw materials, announced they have purchased ownership interest in 14 producing natural gas wells, 7 soon-to-be producing wells and 36 yet-to-drilled wells in the Marcellus Shale, in Wyoming County, PA.

Why would a manufacturing company invest in natural gas wells? As a hedge against natural gas prices going higher—which they believe is going to happen relatively soon. They want a piece of the action that supplies their company with a key raw material, to keep their future costs down. Smart.

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Bradford County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lackawanna County | Luzerne County | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Sullivan County | Susquehanna County | Wyoming County (PA)

Updated Study: Marcellus Drilling Economic Benefits in NE PA
October 23, 2012October 23, 2012

Several colleges in northeast Pennsylvania including Keystone College, King’s College, Luzerne County Community College, Misericordia University, Penn State Wilkes-Barre, University of Scranton and Wilkes University belong to, support and form an organization called the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development. In 2008 the Institute published a study comparing economic and demographic changes of three shale plays in three specific areas of three shale plays: the Barnett, the Fayettville and the Marcellus.

The purpose of the original study was to show what may lie ahead in northeast PA should it follow a similar track to the then far more mature shale plays in the South and Southwest. The Institute has just released an update to the original study in a new report titled “A Review of Changes in Selected Economic & Demographic Indicators in Particular Counties in the Barnett, Fayetteville and Marcellus Shale Play” (embedded below). Wow, what a difference four years makes! The Marcellus in many ways has eclipsed the Barnett and Fayettville and continues to grow. But has that growth translated into good things in northeast PA? That’s the question asked and answered in this latest update by the Institute.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wyoming County (PA)

PA P&G Plant: 100% Energy Self-Sufficient from Marcellus Gas
October 11, 2012October 11, 2012

By February 2013, the Proctor & Gamble manufacturing plant in Wyoming County, PA will provide 100% of its own energy needs—thanks to the Marcellus Shale beneath plant property. Shale gas under P&G and surrounding properties in Wyoming County is reported to be some of the most prolific in the Marcellus Shale.

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

Which Driller Had Top 2 Producing Wells in PA for 1H12?
October 2, 2012October 2, 2012

Yesterday MDN shared with your our detailed look at the production numbers—the amount of natural gas and gas liquids—produced in the entire state of Pennsylvania for the first half of 2012 (see this MDN story). Today the Philadelphia Inquirer, quoting Powell Shale Digest and other sources, takes a closer look at well by well statistics for the same period.

Here’s a few interesting tidbits brought to light by their analysis, and the surprise answer for who had the top two producing wells in the state for the first half of the year:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | PVR Partners | Wyoming County (PA)

New PVR Marcellus Pipeline Comes Online in Northeast PA
October 1, 2012October 1, 2012

The newest Marcellus Shale pipeline became operational today. PVR Partners made an announcement that their Wyoming Pipeline, a 30-mile pipeline running from northern Wyoming County, PA south to Luzerne County where it connects to the Transco interstate pipeline, is now operational. The new pipeline has a 750 million cubic feet per day capacity (MMcfd), of which 255 MMcfd (so far) has been spoken for by producers.

From the announcement:

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Bradford County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Washington County | Wyoming County (PA)

PA PUC Issues more Advisories for Act 13 Zoning Violations
September 13, 2012October 18, 2013

It’s full speed ahead for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) when it comes to evaluating whether (or not) local zoning ordinances violate portions of the new Act 13 drilling law, thereby making those local municipalities ineligible to receive impact fees.

But wait, isn’t there a case in PA Supreme Court that will be heard in October about the constitutionality of the zoning provisions of Act 13? Indeed there is. So how can the PUC push forward with evaluating zoning ordinances that have been ruled unconstitutional by lower courts? Good question.

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Berks County | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Wyoming County (PA)

Hitchhiking Poet Chronicles Life in the Marcellus Shale
September 10, 2012September 10, 2012

We don’t know why we find this story fascinating, but we do. The Berks County (Philly suburbs) Poet Laureate, Craig Czury, has been hanging out in Susquehanna and Wyoming counties lately—hitchhiking. Czury sticks his thumb out, repeatedly, and hitchhikes between Montrose, PA (in Susquehanna County), and Tunkhannock (in Wyoming County), going back and forth along State Route 29. Why? To listen to people’s stories about Marcellus Shale gas drilling.

Czury is working on a series of poems to document his conversations with the people he rides with. He finds that people who pick up a hitchhiker will often open up and talk freely.

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Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Taxation | Wayne County | Wyoming County (PA)

How Much Revenue will NE PA Counties Get from Impact Fee?
February 13, 2012February 13, 2012

Pennsylvania’s northeastern counties stand to bring in millions of new revenue this year under the impact fee that Gov. Corbett is soon due to sign. Once the legislation is signed, county governments will have 60 days to decide whether or not to adopt an ordinance adopting the new fee structure, along with the restrictions it imposes on a county’s ability to regulate drilling via zoning (see this MDN story). Each county is allowed to keep 60 percent of the total impact fee collected. The other 40 percent? That goes to the state. The 40 percent is the “spread the wealth around” compromise lawmakers needed to strike in order to pass the legislation.

Here’s a rundown on how much in new revenue northeastern PA counties stand to collect in direct fees, the 60 percent portion:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County | Williams | Wyoming County (PA)

Williams Springville Gathering Pipeline Goes Operational
January 20, 2012January 20, 2012

The Williams Springville natural gas gathering pipeline in Susquehanna County, PA has just gone operational. From a Williams press release issued yesterday:

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Accidents | Chief Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wyoming County (PA)

Possible New Case of Methane Migration in Wyoming County, PA
January 16, 2012January 16, 2012

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent a violation notice to Chief Oil & Gas on Jan. 4 for three gas wells in Nicholson Township (Wyoming County) saying there is 100 percent combustible gas between the cemented steel casings, which the DEP uses as a sign of flaws in construction of the well. The investigation began after a nearby resident complained of high methane levels in well water supplies. The DEP is still investigating two nearby water wells with high levels of methane and has not yet determined if Chief’s wells are the cause.

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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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