Alan Eichler has worked in the Oil and Gas Management division of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the past 28 years. For a number of years Alan has been the head of the Oil and Gas Management division. Now he’s gone…
Read More “Head of PA DEP Oil & Gas Division Departs”
There goes the neighborhood. Back in December MDN told you that Hess had the unmitigated gall to drill a Utica well next door to a cemetery in Belmont County, OH (see Hess Has Gall to Drill Utica Well Next Door to a Cemetery in OH). The dead folks and those visiting them have reason to complain–a “huge” drilling rig has sprouted next to the cemetery, ruining their view…
Read More “Hess Drill Rig Ruins View for Warnock Cemetery’s Dead Residents”
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: Thu, May 29, 2014”
Range Resources has confirmed that (run for the hills!) leftover drilling mud and dirt at a drill site in Washington County, PA has radioactivity levels slightly above background noise levels–a tad too high to be disposed of in a regular landfill. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calls it “Marcellus Shale drilling sludge with radioactivity.” Which is laughable, since the PPG doesn’t report on the myriad of times medical waste from hospitals is rejected from the very same landfills for setting off radioactivity alarms. Why don’t we ever see stories about “radioactive needles”?…
Read More “Range Drilling Mud Trips Radioactive Alarm at Landfill in SWPA”
Since we’re on the topic of “radioactive” and Range, a second story today from Washington County, PA involving Range Resources. Back in March, a couple of roll-off boxes (large steel containers) with…drilling mud? drill cuttings? sludge? we’re not sure…tripped an alarm at the Arden Landfill in Chartiers (Washington County)…
Read More “Range Radioactive Containers Sent to WV for Disposal”
NOTE: This story has been corrected. The SPE meeting was not in Horseheads, NY but was in Carnegie, PA. Sorry for the error!
In early May, Mike Vincent, an engineer and consultant with Insight Consulting, was the guest presenter at the Society of Petroleum Engineers local chapter meeting hosted in Carnegie, PA. Mike had a lot of great things to say–and to show (two big PowerPoint presentations embedded below). Among the gems we found in Mike’s presentation: Marcellus wells drilled with 500 foot spacing produce as much as those spaced 1,000 feet apart, which means they don’t “compete” for the same gas reserves. Translation: closer well spacing means more wells per square mile, more production, and more profit for the driller and the landowner…
Read More “Frack & Refrack: Drilling Expert Lectures SPE Group in PA”
Three people won the prize for Top Energy Executive of the year. All three have the same last name. All three work for the same company. And the company also has the same name as the three winners: Rice. Dan Rice IV, president and CEO, Toby Rice, COO, and Derek Rice, VP of exploration and geology won the Pittsburgh Business Times’ top honors at the 2014 Annual Energy Leadership Awards. A ceremony with over 400 people was held in Pittsburgh earlier this month where Derek was on hand to collect the prize for he and his brothers. In addition to big winner Rice Energy there were 20 other categories and award winners…
Read More “Rice Energy Big Winner of 2014 Energy Leadership Awards in Pitt”
Chesapeake Energy is, much to the consternation of Michigan’s overzealous Attorney General Bill Schuette, not rolling over, playing dead, nor coughing up big bucks in payoff money over alleged “collusion” to suppress auction prices for gas leases (see Michigan AG Continues Case Against Chesapeake for Lease Collusion). The case Michigan has built hinges on arguably illegally-obtained internal emails from Chesapeake, obtained by the Reuters news service under a still-unaccounted for method (see Did Reuters Break the Law with Latest Chesapeake Story?). Chesapeake says AG Schuette is, in essence, cherry picking and disclosing a few emails to cast the company in a bad light…
Read More “Chesapeake Says Michigan AG is Cherry Picking Emails in Case”
Gulfport Energy has just done a very nice thing for the residents of eastern Ohio. Last Thursday Gulfport’s CEO Michael Moore was on hand in Cambridge (Guernsey County), OH to bestow a $400,000 gift to the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio. The gift is called the Gulfport Energy Fund and will be used for non-profits and educational institutions in those communities where Gulfport is actively drilling: Belmont, Guernsey, Harrison, or Monroe counties…
Read More “Kudos: Gulfport Energy Donates $400K to OH Non-Profits”
A month ago MDN brought you the sad news that BP is pulling out of the Utica Shale and their leases in Trumbull County, OH (see BP Calls it Quits in the Utica Shale – Total Write-off). BP’s departure from Trumbull County means more than just lost potential royalties. It affects employment at local businesses, and grants for local schools…
Read More “BP Pullout from Trumbull County has Real Costs for Locals”
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: Wed, May 28, 2014”
Last Friday PA Gov. Tom Corbett issued an executive order that a) maintains an ongoing moratorium on any new drilling on the surface of PA public forests and parks, and b) allows for drilling under some public lands (very limited) if the drilling can be done from adjacent private land. You would think from the reaction from the usual reactionaries like PennFuture and PennEnvironment, that Corbett had sprouted horns, a pitchfork and a tail. In Middle Eastern cultures from centuries ago they would have ripped their shirts and thrown ashes on their heads–all because Corbett decided to take a sensible approach to raising another $75 million for the cash-strapped PA budget…
Read More “Corbett Keeps New Surface Drilling Banned in PA Forests”
Magnum Hunter Resources, a driller with a big presence in the West Virginia Marcellus Shale and increasingly in the Ohio Utica Shale, is now the third driller to tap the Utica Shale in West Virginia. The lucky WV county where Magnum Hunter is drilling its first Utica well in the Mountain State? Tyler County…
Read More “Magnum Hunter 3rd Driller to Target the Utica in WV”
Dimock. That single word for many people evokes pictures of brown water in clear jars with claims that shale gas drilling “polluted the water in Dimock, PA.” Of course, it isn’t true. But that doesn’t stop good propagandists like Josh Fox from making money from peddling a lie (see Study Proves Fracking Didn’t Cause Methane in Dimock Water Wells). Now that Dimock is resolved and behind us, this little township in rural Susquehanna County is back in the news. Because of natural gas. But this time, Josh Fox certainly won’t make a movie out of it. Last week the PA Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved an application from Leatherstocking Gas (a local distribution company–or LDC) to run local natural gas pipelines to schools, homes and businesses in Dimock…
Read More “Dimock is Back in the News – New LDC on the Way”
The volume of wastewater and brine disposed of by pumping it back down an injection well in Ohio jumped 15% from 2012 to 2013. According to new data released by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR), 16.3 million barrels of wastewater and brine was disposed of during 2013 in Ohio injection wells. But contrary to the hew and cry of anti-drillers–the increase did not come from Pennsylvania drillers. The increase came from Ohio Utica Shale drilling…
Read More “OH Wastewater Disposed Via Injection Wells Jumps 15% in 2013”
In March MDN told you about the deal negotiated by Philadelphia’s Democrat mayor, Michael Nutter, to sell off (i.e. privatize) the country’s oldest and largest municipal-owned gas company–the Philadelphia Gas Works (see Phila. Gas Works Deal for $1.86B – Marcellus/Utica One of Keys). To his credit, Nutter negotiated a good deal for the city, its residents, and the ratepayers of PGW. One of the main draws for the deal is its proximity to the Marcellus Shale (see Fascinating Look Behind the Curtain of the Phila. Gas Works Deal). However, resistance to the sale was swift and strong–by city council and their entrenched political interests in keeping labor unions happy. Now comes word that a Russian-born former Enron executive is working behind the scenes trying to derail the deal…
Read More “Former Enron Exec Makes “Unethical” Play to Derail PGW Deal”