Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jun 19, 2014
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Grrr: Some Marcellus Industry Companies $upport PA Dem for Gov
This is one of those stories that personally makes MDN editor Jim Willis very angry. We learn from an article in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, and from the odious anti-drilling group Food & Water Watch, that some of our own have given money–upwards of a quarter of a million dollars–to PA gubernatorial candidate Tom Wolf. That just should not be. Wolf and his Democrat party will royally screw Marcellus drilling in Pennsylvania if they seize power in the next election. Enabling that outcome is the height of selfishness on the part of those companies and individuals contributing to his campaign. So let’s name some names of those who are donating to Wolf…
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Geologists Finally Get Some “Professional” Respect in NY
It’s taken nearly 20 years, but finally this week a bill has passed both the New York State Assembly and Senate, and will almost certainly be signed by man-child Gov. Andy Cuomo, that recognizes “geologist” as a professional occupation (complete with state licensure requirements) on the same order as engineers, surveyors, etc. That is, “geologist” in NY has now received status as a “professional” occupation…
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JLCNY “Outraged” by NY Assembly Democrat Moratorium Bill
Yesterday MDN told you about the third time in as many years that New York City Democrats have attempted to pass an ongoing moratorium (really a ban) on Marcellus Shale drilling in the state (see NY Assembly Once Again Passes Frack Moratorium Bill (Yawn)). The Dems are lead (by the nose) by Assembly Speaker Sheldon “sleazy” Silver and his henchman on the Environmental Conservation Committee Robert Sweeney. Disgusting politicians both. Yesterday afternoon MDN received a statement from the 70,000 member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York stating they are “outraged at the continued attempts by the New York State Assembly to stall safe, responsible natural gas development.” Indeed they should be…
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Crestwood Midstream Puts Another $500M in the Bank
An investors’ group that includes Magnetar Capital, GSO Capital and GE Energy Financial Services, a GE subsidiary, is investing $500 million to get “preferred units” (think shares of stock) of Crestwood Midstream Partners. Some of the money will be used to pay down debt. However, some (much?) of the new money will go to finance ongoing expansion and development projects in the Marcellus and several other shale plays…
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Update on Gastar’s 1st Utica/Point Pleasant Well
Last week Gastar provided an update on their drilling program in West Virginia, which includes their first-ever Utica Shale well (see Gastar Update: Drilling 1st Utica & More Marcellus Wells in WV). On Monday, Gastar released yet another update on their first Utica well, the Simms 5-UH in Marshall County…
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NY Democrat Writes about Environmental Benefits from Fracking
Are there any Democrats left in New York (or anywhere else for that matter) that can still approach the issue of shale drilling and hydraulic fracturing in a calm, reasoned manner? Are there any Dems left in NY who would dare to actually voice support for Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling? Indeed there are. At least one, anyway. And he’s a former member of the New York State Assembly and a former member of the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee…
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2 Dozen Drilling Techs from WV Program Now Make $70K/Year!
Want a good job that pays big money but don’t want to “waste time” on an engineering degree? Listen up! West Virginia’s Community and Technical College Chancellor Jim Skidmore recently told state lawmakers that a program offered at two community colleges–Pierpont Community and Technical College in Fairmont and West Virginia Northern Community College in Wheeling–has just graduated two dozen students. Each student received a certificate or associates degree, and each student got a job making an average $70,000 per year to start. Has that got your attention?…
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June DPR from EIA: Marcellus Production Continues to Climb
The latest Drilling Productivity Report (full copy embedded below) from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale continues to dwarf all of the other major shale plays in the United States. The Marcellus Shale is expected to produce 14.9 billion cubic feel per day in July. The Eagle Ford Shale will produce around 7.1 billion cubic feet per day in July, according to the report. Below we have the full report along with a couple of tables from the EIA not included in the report (but important)…
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Allegheny County | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation
Pittsburgh Suburb Considers New Regulations on Shale Drilling
A single, lying town resident in White Oak, PA (Pittsburgh suburb) has the town council up in arms by claiming the town is about to be drilled by Marcellus Shale drillers and they “will do as they please if they aren’t regulated.” Uh, just one problem there Mr. Lying Town Resident: The state Dept. of Environmental Protection already regulates the industry–quite heavily. And the town can’t regulate it without violating state law…
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Jun 18, 2014
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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NY Assembly Once Again Passes Frack Moratorium Bill (Yawn)
Yesterday two sleazy New York City politicians–Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee Chairman Robert Sweeney–announced that, as they have done for the last three years running, they have arm-twisted downstate Democrats to approve an Assembly bill that would continue to ban hydraulic fracturing for (unbelievably) another three years–even though it’s already been banned for six years! Assembly bill A.5424-B was passed mostly along party lines. Donna Lupardo-D, whose district includes potential drilling locations in Broome County, NY, shamefully voted “yes” to pass it (she needs to be tossed at the next election). Not that any of it makes a hill of beans worth of difference. It will never pass the Republican-controlled Senate in NY…
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Chautauqua County | Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Taxation
Western NY Power Plant Approval to Convert from Coal to Natgas
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…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH
OH Landowners Lose Important Lease Case to Chesapeake
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…
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PA Residents Rank Gasland Dead Last in Trustworthy Info Sources
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…
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Access Midstream Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Williams
Williams/Access Midstream Deal Continues to Reverberate
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…
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This is one of those stories that personally makes MDN editor Jim Willis very angry. We learn from an article in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, and from the odious anti-drilling group Food & Water Watch, that some of our own have given money–upwards of a quarter of a million dollars–to PA gubernatorial candidate Tom Wolf. That just should not be. Wolf and his Democrat party will royally screw Marcellus drilling in Pennsylvania if they seize power in the next election. Enabling that outcome is the height of selfishness on the part of those companies and individuals contributing to his campaign. So let’s name some names of those who are donating to Wolf…
Yesterday two sleazy New York City politicians–Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee Chairman Robert Sweeney–announced that, as they have done for the last three years running, they have arm-twisted downstate Democrats to approve an Assembly bill that would continue to ban hydraulic fracturing for (unbelievably) another three years–even though it’s already been banned for six years! Assembly bill A.5424-B was passed mostly along party lines. Donna Lupardo-D, whose district includes potential drilling locations in Broome County, NY, shamefully voted “yes” to pass it (she needs to be tossed at the next election). Not that any of it makes a hill of beans worth of difference. It will never pass the Republican-controlled Senate in NY…