Skip to content
Marcellus Drilling News
Account Login
  • Home
  • About
  • Article Index
  • Calendar
  • Advertising
  • User Guide
  • SUBSCRIBE
Marcellus Drilling News
  • Chautauqua County | Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Taxation

    Western NY Power Plant Approval to Convert from Coal to Natgas

    June 17, 2014June 17, 2014

    Last December His Lordship, the man-child Andrew Cuomo, slogged through the nasty snow in western New York to grant a wish to some of his subjects. He told Dunkirk that they have his permission to convert a coal-burning electric generating plant to burn natural gas (see Dunkirk, NY Electric Plant Saved – Converting from Coal to NatGas). It may not sound like a big deal, but that plant was a whisker away from closing–and if it did, it would have gutted the region’s budget. The power plant contributes 42% of the revenue the City of Dunkirk collects in taxes, and 30% of the budget for the local school district. How did Dunkirk repay NRG Energy for keeping the plant open? By shoving a big stick in their eye with a vote to ban fracking (see Dunkirk, NY City Council Bites Off the NatGas Hand that Feeds It). How’s that for gratitude?! Last week the state Public Service Commission announced their final approval on NRG’s $140 million plan to convert the coal-burning plant to natgas…
    Read More “Western NY Power Plant Approval to Convert from Coal to Natgas”

  • Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

    OH Landowners Lose Important Lease Case to Chesapeake

    June 17, 2014June 17, 2014

    Sometimes the drilling industry gets a well-deserved black eye for their sleazy actions. This is one of those times. Chesapeake Energy took over low-ball leases signed in Jefferson County, OH in 2007 that awarded landowners $10 per acre. The lease calls for paying $10 per acre until the land is drilled. Original term of the lease was five years. But at the end of the five years Chessy automatically renewed it based on something called “paragraph 19” in Ohio’s contract law. Chessy says the language in the lease allows them to renew with the same screw-ya terms. Thing is, landowners who waited now get thousands per acre when signing a lease…
    Read More “OH Landowners Lose Important Lease Case to Chesapeake”

  • Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Statewide PA

    PA Residents Rank Gasland Dead Last in Trustworthy Info Sources

    June 17, 2014June 17, 2014

    Who do Pennsylvanians trust when it comes to information about Marcellus Shale drilling? A poll of PA residents in 21 counties–between June and October 2012–tried to answer that question. The results of that poll, and an analysis of the results, is published in the June 2014 Energy Research & Social Science journal. Titled “Hydraulic fracturing and the management, disposal, and reuse of frac flowback waters: Views from the public in the Marcellus Shale,” the poll shows that of the eight primary ways people were getting information about fracking, dead last in “trustworthiness” was Josh Fox’s fictional movie Gasland. What strikes MDN as odd is why it took a year and a half to publish the results…
    Read More “PA Residents Rank Gasland Dead Last in Trustworthy Info Sources”

  • Access Midstream Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Williams

    Williams/Access Midstream Deal Continues to Reverberate

    June 17, 2014June 17, 2014

    The news continues to roll in about the proposed merger/buyout between Williams and Access Midstream (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). As MDN reported yesterday, such a merger has the potential to create the country’s largest midstream company (by market capitalization), potentially displacing Kinder Morgan from that lofty throne. The stock market certainly likes what it sees in the proposed merger. Williams’ stock ended trading yesterday up 19% in a single day, closing at $56.02 per share. More on the proposed deal and what Williams CEO Alan Armstrong said yesterday about it…
    Read More “Williams/Access Midstream Deal Continues to Reverberate”

  • Columbiana County | Education | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Utica Shale

    Utica Shale Academy Having Tough Time Finding Students

    June 17, 2014June 17, 2014

    It was only three months ago (March 2014) that a new charter school in Ohio was launched to great fanfare. The Utica Shale Academy in Salineville (Columbiana County), OH was founded to develop energy trade skills in high schoolers. It’s a very cool idea. Get this–it doesn’t even cost anything to attend! There’s just one problem at the Utica Shale Academy–not enough students have signed up to attend…
    Read More “Utica Shale Academy Having Tough Time Finding Students”

  • Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Rex Energy

    Martians Threaten Lawsuit Against PA Town to Prevent Drilling

    June 17, 2014June 17, 2014

    For some time MDN has chronicled the liberal push-back from anti-drillers in the Mars School District in Butler County, PA. First we told you they need their heads examined after refusing a lease from Rex Energy that would have netted money “for the children” on the order of $1 million (see Earth to Mars (School District) – Time to Check into Funny Farm?). Then we told you that supervisors in Adams Township, where the Mars School District is located, wisely decided to not restrict drilling by Rex Energy on property near the school (see Adams Twp, PA Votes to NOT Block Drilling “Near” Mars School). Now the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is saying it’s “not a given” that the agency will grant Rex a permit to drill on any property near the school…
    Read More “Martians Threaten Lawsuit Against PA Town to Prevent Drilling”

  • Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Regulation

    150 Members of Congress Sign Anti-Dumping Letter to Commerce Sec.

    June 17, 2014June 17, 2014

    MDN has chronicled the recent story of other countries “dumping” steel pipes in the U.S., selling them at below what it costs to manufacture them in order to corner the market and drive U.S. manufacturers out of business (see “Dumping” Leads to 177 Jobs Lost at PA Marcellus Pipeline Plant). In an effort to keep up the pressure, 150 members of Congress, from both major parties, have signed a letter by the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) to the Dept. of Commerce urging them to make a full and complete investigation of the dumping practices by South Korea and other countries…
    Read More “150 Members of Congress Sign Anti-Dumping Letter to Commerce Sec.”

  • Best of the Rest

    Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jun 17, 2014

    June 17, 2014June 17, 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, Jun 17, 2014”

  • Access Midstream Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Williams

    Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B

    June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

    Big-news.jpgReally big news in the midstream (pipelines & processing plants) world, not only for the Marcellus and Utica Shale, but for other major U.S. shale plays as well. Williams announced yesterday (Sunday!) that they are buying Access Midstream for $6 billion (actually $5.995B, but we’re rounding it up). Access, you may recall, is the renamed and former division of Chesapeake Energy called Chesapeake Midstream (see Chesapeake Midstream Changes Name to Access Midstream).Williams says they will pay for half of the purchases with “equity,” meaning ownership via stock and shares in Williams, and the other half with debt borrowing and cash on hand in the kitty. The proposed merger is expected to be completed later this year. What does it mean for the Marcellus/Utica?…
    Read More “Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B”

  • Energy Companies | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | West Virginia

    Range “Sludge” in WV Landfill Not So Radioactive After All

    June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

    The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) is telling everyone to calm down over so-called radioactive “sludge” being dumped in WV landfills. You may recall not long ago a load of drill cuttings was refused at a southwest PA landfill for being “too radioactive” and sent to a different landfill, owned by the same company as the PA landfill, in WV (see Range Radioactive Containers Sent to WV for Disposal). That got everyone up in arms–that Range was “secretly” shipping stuff that will make those poor hicks in WV glow in the dark. So the WVDEP slammed the door on any more imported “radioactive sludge” (see Curious: Everyone’s Happy with WV Ban on Imported Drilling Sludge). The WVDEP launched and investigation and found the so-called sludge, or drill cuttings, have next to no radioactivity…
    Read More “Range “Sludge” in WV Landfill Not So Radioactive After All”

  • Belmont County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Rice Energy | Utica Shale

    Rice Energy Does 2nd Deal with Belmont County, $8,200/Acre!

    June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

    In April, Belmont County officials signed a lease with Rice Energy to allow drilling on 406 acres of county-owned land for a staggering $7,500 per acre and 20% royalties. They liked it so much, they immediately put another 426 acres up for bid (see Belmont County Shopping New Deal to Lease Additional 426 Acres). It didn’t take long for Belmont County to sign a new lease with Rice for the second parcel–for an even higher $8,200 per acre signing bonus with 20% royalties…
    Read More “Rice Energy Does 2nd Deal with Belmont County, $8,200/Acre!”

  • Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

    Caving on PA Severance Tax Renamed as a “Pivot”

    June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

    Funny how we euphemize things so often–making up words and using alternative words instead of just saying the honest thing. You find it happening a lot in the political world–like right now in Pennsylvania where the media says PA is likely to “pivot” on the issue of a severance tax on Marcellus Shale gas. According to “insiders.” Pivot actually means “cave” or “throw in the towel” or “admit defeat.” If Republicans allow it to happen, that’s what they’re doing. “Insiders” means “rat-fink leakers”–people who don’t have the guts to go on the record. Some Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) like Sen. Edwin Erickson, R-Delaware County, want to steal the hard-earned money from shale drillers and give it away to those who haven’t earned it–teacher’s unions. No where in the PA budget debate do we see the option of doing with less–like what happens in the real world with real budgets. Instead, the philosophy of PA’s Dems and RINOs is tax a single industry that’s producing money and give it to another industry (Big Education) that vacuums up money like a Hoover…
    Read More “Caving on PA Severance Tax Renamed as a “Pivot””

  • Industrywide Issues | Research

    Goldman Sachs Report on What’s Holding Back the Shale Revolution

    June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

    The analysts at Goldman Sachs released a new report earlier this month titled, “Unlocking the Economic Potential of North America’s Energy Resources” (full copy embedded below). The report says the clock is ticking and time is limited for North America to take advantage of the shale oil and gas boom currently under way. And what, pray tell, is holding us back? Certainly not capital (i.e. money) for drilling. Rather, it is money for what the report’s authors say is on the “demand response” side of the equation. That is, the infrastructure (pipelines) to get oil and gas where it needs to go, and manufacturing plants to take advantage of all this cheap, abundant energy, which would provide magnitudes more jobs…
    Read More “Goldman Sachs Report on What’s Holding Back the Shale Revolution”

  • Clearfield County | Education | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

    Clearfield County Residents: Get $100 to Learn about Marcellus

    June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

    How would you like to earn a cool $100–just for learning about Marcellus Shale drilling? That’s the promise from Penn State to those who live in and around Clearfield County, PA. Penn State, using funding from the National Science Foundation, is offering a 10-week course called Marcellus Community Science Volunteer Program on Monday nights in DuBois. Adults will learn all about the science behind shale drilling, along with its benefits and drawbacks. This is not the first group Penn State has done this with. They ran the same course earlier this year…
    Read More “Clearfield County Residents: Get $100 to Learn about Marcellus”

  • Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

    New Zoning Law Needlessly Restricts Drilling in SWPA Borough

    June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

    Pittsburgh, PA is located in Allegheny County. So you can imagine that any town, borough or hollow in Allegheny is somehow in the Pittsburgh political orbit–including Jefferson Hills. Most large cities like Pittsburgh lean liberal in their politics, and surrounding neighborhoods often lean that way too. Like Jefferson Hills (population 10,619). Last week Jefferson Hills Borough Council voted 6-0 to lard on new restrictions for shale drilling–on top of the already strict standards set up by the state Dept. of Environmental Protection. The new unnecessary standards create a “conditional use” situation where a driller has to get paperwork signed in triplicate for every minor step in the drilling process…
    Read More “New Zoning Law Needlessly Restricts Drilling in SWPA Borough”

  • Best of the Rest

    Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jun 16, 2014

    June 16, 2014June 16, 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: Mon, Jun 16, 2014”

Page navigation

Previous PagePrevious 1 … 1,520 1,521 1,522 1,523 1,524 … 1,945 Next PageNext
Search

Get Daily Headlines

Newsletter Optin

Recent MDN Issues

  • May 27, 2026
  • May 26, 2026
  • May 22, 2026
  • May 21, 2026
  • May 20, 2026

List of All Daily Issues

Most Recent Articles

  • Oilfield Services Co. Closing Southwest PA Office, Cutting 75 Jobs
  • Major Marcellus Landowner WhiteHawk Minerals Seeks $187M via IPO
  • EQT & Diversified Win Va. Supreme Court Case Lowering Tax on Assets
  • PA PIPE Grant Expands NatGas to 131 Susquehanna Co. Homes & Biz’s
  • SRBC Approved 33 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use Permits in April
  • East Kentucky Power Breaks Ground Early on Gas-Fired Power Plant
  • MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, May 27, 2026
  • M-U Rigs Even @ 36; Haynesville Down 1 @ 55; Nat’l Up 7 @ 558
  • TC Energy to Build 42 Miles of Kentucky Pipe for Gas Plant
  • Big Green, NY DEC File Separate Lawsuits to Block Constitution Pipe

© 2009-2026 Marcellus Drilling News

  • Disclaimer
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • About
  • Article Index
  • Calendar
  • Advertising
  • User Guide
  • Subscribe
  • Log In