Dr. Shikha Sharma, an assistant professor at West Virginia University and the lead researcher of a new WVU study looking at the source of methane found in water supplies (see this MDN story), says those who think that hydraulic fracturing is the cause of methane found in their water supply may be wrong. And she can prove it—scientifically.
Read More “WVU Prof: Methane in Water Supplies is Not from Fracking”
Pipeline company Magnum Hunter Resources has signed a deal with natural gas processor MarkWest Liberty to deliver and process “liquids-rich” Marcellus Shale gas from northwest West Virginia. As part of the deal, a Magnum Hunter subsidiary (Eureka Hunter) is selling an under-construction gas processing plant to MarkWest. What it all means is that Magnum Hunter and MarkWest are joining forces to handle a large capacity of shale gas that needs processing in northwest WV.
Read More “Magnum Hunter & MarkWest Do Deal to Process WV Shale Gas”
A new research study is on the way in West Virginia that tackles the question of “Is there methane in the water supply? And if so, how did it get there?” One of the charges often leveled at shale gas drilling is that it causes a migration of methane (natural gas) into water supplies. Perhaps the most famous case in recent years is that of Dimock, Pennsylvania (see MDN stories about Dimock).
A researcher from West Virginia University is conducting a new study by sampling and analyzing water samples in the Monongahela River watershed to determine if there’s methane in local water supplies, with an eye to determining how it got there if it is there.
Read More “New WVU Study Looks at Methane in Water Supplies”
In the ongoing saga of the Morgantown, WV ban on hydraulic fracturing, a ban both within and up to one mile outside of city borders (see here for a list of MDN articles on the topic), the leaders of Morgantown missed the deadline to file an appeal to the West Virginia State Supreme Court. So there will be no appeals and the fracking ban is officially overturned and done.
Read More “Morgantown Misses Appeal Deadline – Fracking Ban Now Over”
EQT has received federal approval to construct a new natural gas pipeline that will reach from West Virginia into Pennsylvania, and will begin construction immediately:
Read More “EQT Starts Construction on New Pipeline in WV/PA”
Chevron is the latest large energy company to purchase leases in the Ohio Valley for shale gas drilling. Recently, Hess paid $1.34 billion to acquire acreage in eastern Ohio, and Exxon Mobil subsidiary XTO Energy is now signing up landowners in Belmont County, OH for Utica Shale drilling (see this MDN story). Just across the border, Chevron is investing in Ohio County, WV and now controls 4,400 acres there.
Read More “Chevron Acquires Leases to 4,400 Acres in Ohio County, WV”
It seems the opposition to two Marcellus Shale gas wells being drilled outside Morgantown’s borders is petering out. Press accounts talk of “a handful” of area residents protesting outside of the drill sites this week—meaning less than a dozen, perhaps a single family, who knows?
Read More “Morgantown, WV Update: Fracking to Begin Next Week”
Yet another gas driller has decided to vote with its pocketbook against a community that insists on banning shale gas drilling.
Read More “Chesapeake Withdraws $25K Grant from Morgantown, WV”
In March 2010, CONSOL Energy (Cecil, PA) paid Dominion Resources $3.5 billion for 500,000 acres of Marcellus Shale gas leases, instantly tripling their lease holdings. Since that time, CONSOL has continued to invest in Marcellus acreage and they now have 750,000 acres under lease. But CONSOL had a problem: Not enough money to develop their vast Marcellus acreage. So they did what is now a common practice—they found a partner to invest. Yesterday, CONSOL and Noble Energy (Houston, TX) announced that Noble will buy a 50 percent interest in 663,350 net undeveloped acres and fund drilling and completion costs in a deal worth $3.4 billion over an eight-year period.
The joint venture will concentrate on ramping up development of Marcellus Shale gas wells in three areas of Pennsylvania and West Virginia (see a map of CONSOL’s acreage below):
Read More “Noble Energy and CONSOL to Partner on Marcellus in $3.4B Deal”
It now looks like West Virginia lawmakers will not adopt new regulations for drilling in the Marcellus Shale this year. In July, acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed an executive order creating “temporary” new Marcellus Shale drilling regulations, which have not yet gone into effect (see this MDN story). The new regs are intended to be in place for up to 15 months to give the legislature time to draft a comprehensive overhaul of drilling rules. There was talk of speeding the process along and taking advantage of the current special session of the legislature, meeting this week to rework a redistricting plan, to tackle the drilling issue. But any more work on new drilling regulations for this year is now all but dead:
Read More “New Marcellus Drilling Rules for WV Delayed Until 2012”
Ohio County, WV is reaping the rewards of leasing county-owned land for Marcellus gas drilling. The county’s land leases with Chesapeake Energy have already resulted in nearly $8 million in one-time lease payments for the county coffers, and soon will mean royalty payments too. Chesapeake has already completed a well on private land adjacent to (and drilling under) county land in The Highlands area. But gas from that well has not yet started to flow due to a delay in getting a pipeline built to the well. Once the pipeline is in place, the county will start receiving royalty checks from that well.
And within the next 12 months, Chesapeake will drill a new well, this time directly on county-owned land at the airport:
Read More “Ohio County Receives $8M (So Far) from Marcellus Gas Leases”
It’s always interesting to watch politicians operate after a humiliating defeat. Politicians’ DNA does not allow them to simply look inward and recognize their own errors. They always look outward and blame others, or in some cases, declare the defeat was a good thing and accomplished just what they wanted all along! I refer to the situation in Morgantown, WV. In June, Morgantown City Council members voted to ban hydraulic fracturing both inside and up to one mile outside their borders (see this MDN story). This threatened a pair of Marcellus Shale wells being drilled about a mile from city lines. The result? The driller, Northeast Energy, sued the city. Last week a judge overturned the city’s ban and now hydraulic fracturing will commence (see this MDN story). All told, Northeast probably lost about a month out of their original drilling schedule (they continued drilling anyway, the ban specifically prohibited fracking and not drilling per se).
Read More “Morgantown Official Backpedals After Drilling Ban Overturned”
For some time now, MDN has covered the hydraulic fracturing ban passed by the city of Morgantown, West Virginia (see list of articles here). In a surprise move last Friday, the Monongalia County (WV) Circuit Court Judge Susan Tucker overturned Morgantown’s fracking ban, clearing the way for Northeast Energy to continue drilling and fracking operations about a mile outside of Morgantown city lines. Judge Tucker’s “summary judgment” is embedded below.
There is new interest in the Marcellus Shale in southern West Virginia, a place most energy companies have written off as being uneconomical for Marcellus gas, and one company is planning to roll the dice by drilling half a dozen exploratory wells, at $5 million per well, to prove it.
Read More “Marcellus Gas in Southern WV? Wildcat Driller Says Yes”
The state of West Virginia is investing $250K in a company that turns ethane from Marcellus gas wells into ethylene. Think of it as a “mini-cracker plant”. Shell and other large energy companies are looking to establish large cracker plants in the Marcellus region—a chemical plant that will take over $1 billion to build (see this MDN story). In the meantime, smaller and leaner companies are providing some of the same kinds of service a cracker plant provides—at much less of an investment. Aither Chemicals is one of those companies.
Read More “WV Invests $250K in Marcellus Ethane Processing Plant”
The ongoing battle between Morgantown, WV and Northeast Natural Energy over two proposed gas wells located close to Morgantown continues, and gets interesting. Northeast had been working with Morgantown to address concerns that the two wells they propose to drill are close to the water intake for the city. Northeast believed everything was fine until city council voted to ban hydraulic fracturing both inside and outside of its borders—up to one mile outside (allowable under WV law). Northeast’s proposed wells are within that one mile radius, so the ban shut them down. Or did it?
According to press accounts, Northeast has just started work drilling the second Marcellus gas well and plans to start fracking the first well in September, regardless of the ban:
Read More “Northeast Continues Drilling in Morgantown Despite Ban”