Marcellus Drilling News

Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Second Look at New NY Law: Climate Change & Drilling Permits
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

Last week MDN reported on the recent New York “Community Risk and Resiliency Act” signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. We raised the issue that it may be a surreptitious way of controlling shale drilling when/if it’s allowed (see NY Law Back Door Way to Stop Widespread Shale Drilling?). The new law requires the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to take into account climate change and sea levels rising when making certain decisions and evaluating certain permits. We referenced one law firm’s take that “Applications and/or permits [for oil and gas drilling] received after the adoption of the Department’s guidance must comply with the law.” Our speculation was that maybe the law could be used to slow down or stop shale drilling. We’ve received a strong dissenting opinion on that view from another attorney, and from landowners in the Southern Tier area of New York, who have reviewed the law and find that, at best, the new law is dealing with storage tanks and not actual drilling permits…
Read More “Second Look at New NY Law: Climate Change & Drilling Permits”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Wheeling Water Warriors Take on Drilling Under Ohio River in WV
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

With blue capes unfurled and their Spandex tights removed from deep in the back of the closet (and it’s not even Halloween for another three weeks), the ~~aging hippies known as the~~ Wheeling Water Warriors have found a new purpose (since GreenHunter still hasn’t built a barging facility in Wheeling, WV, confounding their life’s mission). That new purpose? To oppose fossil fuel extraction in the state–wherever it happens. Right now it’s a righteous cause to prevent drilling under the Ohio River. The Warriors are circulating petitions to try and stop the imminent deal West Virginia is set to make to allow one or more drillers to set up rigs at least a mile from the river, but allow them to extra oil and gas from beneath the river (more than a mile down) with horizontal drilling…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Antero Resources Adopts Clean Fleet® Tech for Northeast Fracking
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

Antero Resources, a major driller in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale, recently began using a new fracking technology from U.S. Well Services called Clean Fleet®. U.S. Well Services is making some pretty big claims with their new technology: significant cost savings for drillers (up to $40,000 per day!), a 99% reduction in air emissions and a “dramatic” decrease in the noise pollution. Certainly sounds like a winner! Here’s the announcement that Antero is now using Clean Fleet® for fracking…
Read More “Antero Resources Adopts Clean Fleet® Tech for Northeast Fracking”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater | West Virginia

Antero’s Frack Wastewater Cleaned/Recycled by WV Startup
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

Chance Richie is a former officer on a U.S. nuclear submarine and the CEO and founder of Shalewater Solutions–a company started in 2011 that cleans and recycles frack wastewater in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Richie’s company, located in Harrison County, WV, has landed one of the biggest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica–Antero Resources. The key to Shalewater’s approach is the fact that all wastewater is not the same. The chemical composition changes from driller to driller, site to site, and shale play to shale play…
Read More “Antero’s Frack Wastewater Cleaned/Recycled by WV Startup”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Washington County

Cecil Supervisors Vote to NOT Appeal MarkWest Compressor Decision
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

Last week ago MDN told you about the victory for MarkWest Energy in Cecil Township (Washington County), PA. A Commonwealth Court judge has ruled Cecil must and will allow MarkWest to build a compressor station in an area clearly zoned for it under Cecil’s own rules–a station they’ve been trying to build since 2010 (see MarkWest Wins Court Case to Build Compressor Station in Cecil, PA). As with all things legal, the question then became–will Cecil appeal the ruling to a higher court in hopes of further delaying the inevitable? That question was partially answered last night. Cecil’s board of supervisors voted 3-2 against appealing the decision–meaning the town must now, as the judge ordered, grant a permit to MarkWest within 45 days (now about 38 days) to build the compressor station. However, there is one more storm cloud ahead for MarkWest…
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Bradford County | New York | Pennsylvania | Statewide NY

Video: Whirlwind Tour of Shale Drilling in Bradford County, PA
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

Let’s go on a quick pickup truck tour of Bradford County, PA, shall we? Anti-drillers always make veiled references to the “sacrifice zones” in Pennsylvania where there’s a lot of drilling. Places like Bradford County, PA–one of THE most drilled counties in the PA Marcellus Shale. We always say, “go look for yourselves!” The reality of what you will find when you tour the countryside in PA’s most-drilled counties is far different from what anti-drillers would have you believe. Recently the Empire Energy Forum (from New York) accepted an invitation from Bradford County, PA Commissioner Doug McLinko to visit and tour with him. They did, and produced a 6-minute video of their experience…
Read More “Video: Whirlwind Tour of Shale Drilling in Bradford County, PA”
Industrywide Issues | Research

Inconvenient Global Warming Fact: Avg Temp Hasn’t Risen in 18 Yrs
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

We don’t take on the issue of global warming often because of the fervent, religious-like reaction of those who believe in it. Heavy doses of truth coming too fast may cause an aneurysm. However, the issue of global warming is often at the very center of opposition to shale drilling because shale drilling extracts a fossil fuel (natural gas) and burning fossil fuels is, irrationally, verboten for the so-called climate-change faithful. The theory is that burning fossil fuels pumps more carbon into the atmosphere where it gets trapped creating a greenhouse effect, causing earth’s temperatures to rise. Nice theory–the problem is the facts don’t match the theory. The big problem for warmists is that the earth’s so-called average temperature (we still haven’t figured out where they stick the thermometer for that one) hasn’t warmed now for 18 years–which, according to the Global Warming Policy Forum, is creating a “crisis of credibility” for scientists who pedal the man-causes-global-warming theory…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Summit County | Wastewater

Anti-Drillers Protest 2 RINO Governors at Fundraiser in OH
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

So two RINO governors walk into a fundraiser…. It may sound like the setup for a political joke, but there was no joking when Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie both attended the Summit County, OH GOP fundraising dinner on Sept. 29th. Protesters met the RINOs as they walked in–to complain about (yes) shale drilling and using fossil fuels. Agitated and backed by the odious Food & Water Watch, along with the Network for Oil and Gas Accountability and Protection (NEOGAP) and FaCT (Faith Communities Together for fracking awareness), the protesters on that day were specifically complaining about frack wastewater and Class II injection wells…
Read More “Anti-Drillers Protest 2 RINO Governors at Fundraiser in OH”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Research

Coming Change from Coal to Natgas to Power Electric Plants
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

Consulting firm ICF International is out with their fourth quarter ICForecast Energy Outlook in which they look at U.S. energy markets and the impact of regulations, prices and the availability of various energy sources over the near-, medium- and long-term. ICF is, of course, attempting to sell their service to government and corporate customers. We don’t have a copy of the full report, but we do have their press announcement which contains some very interesting high-level numbers that caught our eye. Among them is the amount of electricity generated by coal that is due to go offline over the next few years due to draconian new rules established by the overreaching federal Environmental Protection Agency. The amount of gigawatts due to go offline is…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Oct 7, 2014
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Oct 7, 2014”
Anadarko | Energy Companies | EOG Resources | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY AG Schneiderman Shakes Down Anadarko & EOG Resources
October 6, 2014October 6, 2014

New York State’s out-of-control Attorney General, Eric “the anti-driller” Schneiderman, continues his out-of-control ways vis a vis shale drilling. It makes no difference that there is no shale drilling in New York State. Schneiderman continues to go after shale drilling in other states–abusing his office’s power to investigate the world of Wall Street. In what appears to us to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors, AG Schneiderman’s office on Friday announced he has reached an “agreement” with both Anadarko Petroleum and EOG Resources to disclose more information on the financial effects of regulation, litigation, and environmental impacts related to hydraulic fracturing. That is, Anadarko and EOG have volunteered to provide information about fracking that may cause their respective companies’ stock to take a hit. In other words, they’ve agreed to provide information to the public that they already provide to the public…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

DEP to DePasquale: Problems Fixed Years Ago, Where Have You Been?
October 6, 2014October 29, 2024

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is, once again, defending itself from baseless allegations from PA’s pro-wind (and anti-natural-gas) Auditor General, Eugene DePasquale (Democrat). As MDN readers know, DePasquale, upon taking office, set out to castigate and denigrate the fine men and women of the DEP by conducting a years long study of the department’s ancient history and then claiming the DEP wasn’t ready to handle the sudden onslaught of Marcellus drilling in the state–as if any department could have foreseen it (see Anti-Drilling PA Auditor General Criticizes DEP in “Report”). Immediately, former DEP secretary, Michael Krancer, identified gaping holes and inaccuracies in DePasquale’s “report” (see Former DEP Sec. Krancer Skewers Auditor General “Report”). Last week DePasquale participated in more Democrat theater designed to shake public confidence in a solid and professional organization, the DEP (see Sleazy: PA Dem Senators Use Unpublished “Study” to Smear Shale Drilling). The DEP said “enough” and called out DePasquale and his continued lies…
Read More “DEP to DePasquale: Problems Fixed Years Ago, Where Have You Been?”
Energy Companies | Equinor/Statoil | Gastar Exploration | Lease & Royalty Payments | Noble Energy | Statewide WV | Triad Hunter | West Virginia

Details on 4 Bids to Drill Under Ohio River in WV
October 6, 2014October 6, 2014

As MDN recently reported, West Virginia solicited bids from drillers to drill under portions of the Ohio River in areas where the state owns land adjacent to the river and in areas where there is Marcellus and/or Utica Shale present. The state received four bids (see WV Receives 4 Bids to Drill Under the Ohio River). What we now have are the details of those bids…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Pipelines

Harrison County Landowers Say Dominion Pipeline Offer is Too Low
October 6, 2014October 8, 2014

Dominion wants to widen an existing right-of-way to build a 16.5 mile natural gas pipeline in Harrison County, OH. But according to landowners under whose property the pipeline would sit, Dominion is low-balling them–offering, literally pennies on the dollar. How much is the offer, and what’s the going rate to lease land for a 36″ pipeline in that area of Ohio?…
Read More “Harrison County Landowers Say Dominion Pipeline Offer is Too Low”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies

Magnum Hunter Shops for New Loans to Pay Old Loans + New Slides
October 6, 2014October 6, 2014

Magnum Hunter, a driller laser focused on the Marcellus and Utica Shale, announced today they are shopping for a couple of new loans in the amount of $390 million to, ah, pay off older loans of $256 million (and give it an extra $134 million of wiggle room for future drilling operations). They also released a new PowerPoint investor presentation with some interesting slides (below)…
Read More “Magnum Hunter Shops for New Loans to Pay Old Loans + New Slides”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Research | Statewide MD

Maryland Risk Assessment for Shale Drilling Finds Little Risk
October 6, 2014October 6, 2014

The Maryland Dept. of the Environment and the Dept. of Natural Resources–the two state agencies charged with researching and evaluating whether or not hydraulic fracturing in shale and tight formations in Maryland should be allowed–turned in an important report on Friday. The report is part of a years-long evaluation process that is, hopefully, nearing an end. We always made fun of Maryland as being “more dysfunctional than New York” when it comes to fracking. Guess what? New York is even more dysfunctional than Maryland! It’s now looking like Maryland may actually begin to frack before New York. The 241-page report released Friday is titled “Assessment of risks from unconventional gas well development in the Marcellus Shale of Western Maryland” (full copy below). In it the two departments break down the drilling process from beginning to end and assess risks, to people and the environment, at each stage of the process. The short version, which won’t make anti-drillers happy, is that shale drilling can be done safely–with minimal risks…
Read More “Maryland Risk Assessment for Shale Drilling Finds Little Risk”