The Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia has just kicked off a new advertising campaign to educate the public to the benefits of natural gas drilling in the state.
Read More “WV Natural Gas Industry Already Employs 35K People with Average Salaries of $60K”
One of the issues raised in Marcellus Shale drilling is a concern that pumping water into, and then extracting it out of the ground will bring with it radioactivity from naturally occurring sources deep underground. In particular, the “cuttings” or leftover rock and dirt that come out of the bore hole might contain higher than normal levels of radioactivity. Officials in West Virginia say there’s no reason for concern in their state:
Read More “West Virginia Officials Say Radioactivity from Gas Drilling a Non-Issue”
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.
Read More “Marcellus Drillers Attempting to Woo Chemical Companies to Build Plants in the Marcellus”
Representatives from Poland visited the National Research Center for Coal and Energy at West Virginia University on Tuesday to learn more about drilling for shale gas. Poland recently discovered a shale layer in their country similar to the Marcellus Shale layer in the Eastern U.S., and they want to get help with tapping it.
Read More “Polish Delegation Visits WVU to Learn About Drilling for Natural Gas”
West Virginia’s policy on the wastewater produced from hydraulic fracturing is to dispose of it by pumping it into injection wells.
Read More “West Virginia’s Policy on Disposing Marcellus Drilling Wastewater: Injection Wells”
A new resource for those interested in drilling in the Marcellus Shale in West Virginia, developed by WV geologists:
There was a lot of speculation in 2009 about a fish kill over a 30-mile stretch of Dunkard Creek in West Virginia. We now know that the cause was leakage from coal mines. But early on, wild theories were being spun. Our favorite was that the algae killing the fish, which grows only in salty water and is not native to any place in West Virginia, somehow hitchhiked to the area on Marcellus Shale drilling rigs coming from Texas and Oklahoma. Science has finally won out over fairytale, and now CONSOL Energy will pay:
MDN is not sure how much sway the editorial pages of local newspapers hold when it comes to policy-making in state government (we suspect not much). But it is noteworthy that the Register-Herald (Beckley, West Virginia) is urging a moratorium on any new Marcellus Shale drilling in the state until the legislature can reconvene in special session and pass laws addressing concerns over Marcellus drilling in the state.
The WV legislature recently ended their regular session without passing new regulations for Marcellus drilling, which prompted acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to instruct the state DEP to regulate drilling on their own (see here). The Register-Herald doesn’t like that idea and wants to see the legislature take another crack at passing new laws:
Read More “Will Marcellus Shale Drilling Come to a “Grinding Halt” in West Virginia?”
As MDN noted yesterday, the West Virginia legislature ended its regular session without passing any new regulations governing drilling in the Marcellus Shale, even though most agree there are important issues that need to be addressed in the state as the young but rapidly developing Marcellus drilling industry continues to expand. Now there is word that acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (appointed to fill the position of now-Senator Joe Manchin), will go ahead and regulate the industry on his own, without the legislature’s help.
Read More “West Virginia Gov. Tomblin Says He Will Regulate Marcellus Shale Drilling on His Own”
It looks like there will be no new regulations for Marcellus Shale drilling in West Virginia—at least not this year. The WV legislature just ended its regular session without passing a slate of proposed new regulations, with plenty of finger pointing between the Senate and the House:
Read More “West Virginia Passes Tax Breaks for Marcellus Drilling, But No New Regulations”
Drilling in West Virginia is heating up, but according to state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman, it’s not “out of control”—yet. Huffman and others do see a critical need for more inspectors, something they hope will soon be approved by the WV legislature.
West Virginia gets closer with new rules and regulations for drilling in the Marcellus Shale. And it looks like the forced pooling provision has been dropped:
Read More “Forced Pooling in W.Va. Taken Out of New Legislation”
Mike McCown, president of the Independent Oil and Natural Gas Association (IOGA) in West Virginia, was interviewed by the Register-Herald (Beckley, WV). IOGA represents some 600 oil and gas companies throughout WV, including those drilling in the Marcellus Shale in that state. Among Mike’s comments:
West Virginia Governor Early Ray Tomblin wants to leverage Marcellus Shale drilling in his state as much as possible, and he’s created a new task force to encourage it.
Read More “WV Gov. Tomblin Creates Task Force to Encourage Marcellus Gas Chemical Manufacturing”
The West Virginia legislature is actively debating new legislation that regulates drilling in the Marcellus Shale. One of the provisions in the proposed legislation being hotly debated is the issue of forced pooling:
Read More “Forced Pooling for Marcellus Shale Drilling May be Coming to West Virginia Landowners”
At a recent meeting in Sherrard, West Virginia, senior trust officer for WesBanco Inc., Paul McKay, had some excellent advice for landowners as they get ready to sign leases. He told those at the meeting that the first lease they’re offered usually has room for negotiation, and some of the items landowners need to check for include shut-in royalties, the question of who pays taxes, and payment for natural gas liquids.
Read More “Marcellus Landowners: Check for These Important Things in Your Lease Before You Sign”