Marcellus Drilling News

Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Cuomo Says NY Doing a Good Job on Frack Health Review (LOL)
October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Oh, sorry, but we just could not stop laughing when we saw a quote made by Gov. Andy “he without a spine” Cuomo yesterday. With respect to the now year-long health review of proposed fracking regulations in New York–a review that was supposed to be done “within the next few weeks” back in February–Cuomo actually, incredulously said (please, try not to roll on the ground laughing like we just did): “I think we’re doing a good job on it.”

Andy must have a REALLY low opinion about the intelligence of the average NY voter…

Read More “Cuomo Says NY Doing a Good Job on Frack Health Review (LOL)”
CBM Ohio | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Utica Shale

Harrison County, OH Leases 357 Acres to CBM Ohio for $5K/19%
October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

CBM Ohio, a company that until now has concentrated on producing coalbed methane (hence the name), is venturing into producing natural gas from the Utica Shale.

CBM’s first Utica foray comes in leasing 357 acres of county-owned land in Harrison County, OH. On Wednesday, Harrison County officials signed a lease with CBM for $5,000 per acre signing bonus and 19% royalties…
Read More “Harrison County, OH Leases 357 Acres to CBM Ohio for $5K/19%”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

MSC to PA Dem Gubernatorial Candidates: Nix the Big Tax Idea
October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

Most (all?) of the candidates who have announced they are running for the Democrat nomination for governor in Pennsylvania have said they will (a) increase regulation on the Marcellus Shale industry, and (b) dramatically increase taxes on the industry. Democrats either don’t know or don’t care that such taxes suffocate businesses and cause those businesses to go elsewhere. It’s a fact, not a threat.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC)–a group of some of the biggest drillers and midstream companies in the Marcellus–have weighed in and are giving PA’s Democrat gubernatorial candidates a verbal slap about their plans to tax and regulate…
Read More “MSC to PA Dem Gubernatorial Candidates: Nix the Big Tax Idea”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

PA DEP Files Required Report on So-Called Climate Change Affects
October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

Let’s assume, just for the sake of argument, that there really is a Santa Claus. Let’s further assume brilliant politicians in Pennsylvania want a state government agency to do a “scientific study” of the physics of how Santa can visit all of the homes in PA in a single night–Dec. 24–and still make it home to the North Pole in time to eat cookies by sunrise. The purpose of the report is to reassure the little kiddies that Santie is real and yes, he can and does get it all done in a single night.

Now assume that those same PA politicians believe in another fairy story–something called man-made global warming (now renamed to “climate change” because the earth’s so-called average temperature hasn’t risen in the last 15 years)–and that said politicians directed a state agency–the Dept. of Environmental Protection–to draft up a document detailing how the big, bad bogeyman of global warming will affect all the little boys and girls in PA, and oh, by the way, don’t forget to sprinkle the report with lots of talk about “renewables” because we hate nasty fossil fuels, ya know. And snap snap, get that report written PDQ!

Unfortunately, the second scenario above is true. And when the DEP was late in filing this exercise in fantasyland, PA eco-nuts and anti-drillers got their knickers in a twist. They can untwist them now–the fairy story report is finally here…
Read More “PA DEP Files Required Report on So-Called Climate Change Affects”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Taxation | Washington County

PA Anti-Fracking Gatecrashers Outside, Real Work Gets Done Inside
October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

We know everyone likes a good story, so… Once upon a time there were four anti-drillers: Craig Stevens (from Dimock, PA, he of the little brown jug that supposedly contains contaminated drinking water from his well but he won’t let anyone test it); Ray Kemble (also from Dimock, PA); Robert Lee McCaslin (from Bath, NY); and Randy Moyer (from Portage, PA). None of these anti-drillers apparently have day jobs because they travel around the northeast like groupies following their favorite rock band–except in reverse. This band of merry anti-frackers travel about the countryside trying to gatecrash pro-drilling meetings. (Every now and again they do attend a meeting of the anti-drilling faithful–just to get some good juju to keep going.)

Anywho…our merry band of four anti-frackers descended on a peaceful meeting of elected PA officials in far western PA yesterday, and the Washington Observer-Reporter was there to report on the four anti-frackers outside instead of the 100 elected officials inside…
Read More “PA Anti-Fracking Gatecrashers Outside, Real Work Gets Done Inside”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero’s Stock Climbs 18% on First Day of Trading
October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

The news continues to be good for Antero Resources, one of the biggest drillers in the Marcellus Shale that went public two days ago raising a boatload of money (see Antero’s IPO Fetches $1.57B, Company Valued at $11B!). In the first full day of trading (yesterday), Antero’s stock price just kept going up and up and up…
Read More “Antero’s Stock Climbs 18% on First Day of Trading”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Natural Gas Advisory Committee Holds First Meeting
October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

Hats off to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources for convening the first-ever meeting of the Natural Gas Advisory Committee (NGAC) on Wednesday, Oct. 9 in State College, PA. NGAC membership is composed of people from the drilling industry, academe and even anti-drilling environmental groups (like Trout Unlimited). It’s quite a feat to get them all in the same room and talking to each other.

NGAC was a recommendation that came out of Gov. Tom Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, chaired by Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley. Here’s who attended, and what was on the agenda:
Read More “PA Natural Gas Advisory Committee Holds First Meeting”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Oct 11, 2013
October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

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: Fri, Oct 11, 2013”
American Energy Partners | American Energy Utica | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

McClendon Gets a Little Help ($1.7B) from His Friends in OH Utica
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

After the mass(acre) firings at Chesapeake Energy earlier this week (see The Great Chesapeake Massacre: Lawler Fires 800 People in One Day), we expect there may be a line out of the door at the Oklahoma City-based American Energy Partners (AEP), a company founded by former Chesapeake CEO, Aubrey McClendon–who was fired from Chesapeake earlier this year. Fired Chesapeake employees may have good reason to head on over to AEP HQ.

Yesterday McClendon announced AEP has raised $1.7 billion and plans to use that money this year to (a) snap up 110,000+ acres in the OH Utica, and (b) begin drilling on that acreage. He even has deals set up with midstream companies for gathering and processing. The details from McClendon and AEP (cue music to “With a Little Help from my Friends” by the Beatles):
Read More “McClendon Gets a Little Help ($1.7B) from His Friends in OH Utica”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

OK Gov. Fallin Weighs in on Chesapeake Energy Mass Firings
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

Yesterday’s axing of 800 Chesapeake Energy employees nationwide by newly appointed CEO Doug Lawler is still reverberating throughout the industry (see The Great Chesapeake Massacre: Lawler Fires 800 People in One Day).

Of the 800 fired, 640 of them worked at Chessy’s headquarters in Oklahoma City, OK. When 640 people lose their jobs in a single city (heck, in a single state), it’s a really big deal–big enough that the firings rated a statement from Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, who had this to say:
Read More “OK Gov. Fallin Weighs in on Chesapeake Energy Mass Firings”
Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

New Study: No Increase in Childhood Cancer Rates Near PA Fracking
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

More bad news for anti-drillers. A recently published study in the peer-reviewed Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (July 2013 issue) looks at incidences of childhood cancers in Pennsylvania–in areas with hydraulic fracturing. The study, titled “Childhood Cancer Incidence in Pennsylvania Counties in Relation to Living in Counties With Hydraulic Fracturing Sites” (full copy embedded below) looks at the rates of cancer both before fracking begins, and then again after fracking has been going on.

And what did this scientific study find? Statistically, there are no increases in childhood cancers in areas where there is fracking. Bad news for anti-drillers–good news for everyone else, including “the children”…
Read More “New Study: No Increase in Childhood Cancer Rates Near PA Fracking”
Energy Companies | Lario Oil and Gas | Ohio | Portage County | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

Tracker Lario Utica LLC Looks to Expand in Eastern OH
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

Back in January, MDN told you what precious little we knew about Kansas-based driller Lario Oil & Gas and their foray into the OH Utica Shale (see New Driller Enters Eastern Ohio’s Utica Shale). We now have a teeny tiny little bit more news about Lario, now flying under the name Tracker Lario Utica, and about their Utica drilling efforts.

Lario now has a partner (Tracker Resource) and is looking to add to their 25,000 acre position–previously purchased from Chesapeake and EnerVest–in eastern OH:

Read More “Tracker Lario Utica LLC Looks to Expand in Eastern OH”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero’s IPO Fetches $1.57B, Company Valued at $11B!
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

MDN told you a few weeks ago that Antero Resources, a privately-owned (and major) driller in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale, would soon float an initial public offering (IPO)–or in the parlance of the financial industry, they would soon “go public” (see Antero Resources Offers 30M Shares of Stock in IPO). Today is the day that Antero goes public and begins trading under ticker symbol AR.N. Yesterday they floated the IPO shares and the company got even more money than they had hoped for–raking in $1.57 billion (they wanted $1.4 billion).

Because of the really good IPO, the company begins its public life with a market valuation of $11 billion–with plenty of borrowing power to finance their many drilling projects in the Marcellus/Utica…
Read More “Antero’s IPO Fetches $1.57B, Company Valued at $11B!”
Air Quality | Broome County | Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo’s Anti-Drilling Snit Fit
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

New York Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo is a Democrat from the Binghamton, NY area, a member of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation and a member of the governor’s High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel–appointed to the panel by Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens. Her opinion on fracking matters—she carries influence in Albany. She’s also anti-drilling, as MDN pointed out in March (see NY Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo: Fracking Friend or Foe?). She coyly attempts to straddle the fence with her language, but her actions speak so loudly we no longer hear her political double-speak.

Once again Lupardo proves her anti-drilling creds. She has just sent (yet another) letter to DEC Commissioner Martens (full copy embedded below). This time Lupardo wants to let Martens know she’s miffed that he won’t assemble the fracking advisory panel per her previous request earlier this year, and to let him know she thinks the never-ending health review of fracking regulations by State Health Dept. Commissioner Nirav Shah should be put on immediate hold. To which we say, really? The health review is already on hold! More on Lupardo’s anti-drilling snit fit to Martens…
Read More “NY Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo’s Anti-Drilling Snit Fit”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

How Do You Talk to (Educate) Friends & Neighbors About Shale?
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

It’s a common problem for those of us who are immersed in the shale energy industry. We are so saturated all the time with the arguments and counter-arguments and details about shale drilling, that when faced with a family member, friend or neighbor who isn’t well-versed in the industry, we grope for the words and terms to use to describe this incredible industry and its successes. Most of the time our friends and family have a built-in reticence and caution about shale drilling because they know nothing more than what mainstream media feeds them, most of it untrue.

So how do we quickly, accurately and effectively communicate the positive shale drilling message? Michael Krancer, former Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection, has a solution, which he shared recently at the Energy Inc. conference in Pittsburgh…

Read More “How Do You Talk to (Educate) Friends & Neighbors About Shale?”
Air Quality | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

More on “Pro-Drilling” Conversion of Gasland II Star from Dimock
October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

A few days ago we told you that one of Josh Fox’s stars in Gasland II, Victoria Switzer, has changed sides and now wants to work with the drilling industry to ensure the air is clean in Susquehanna County, PA (see Gasland II Starlet Leaves Anti-Drilling Behind, Adopts “Realism”). This is a huge problem for the anti-drilling movement, a movement that is typically shrill and frankly, unthinking. We now have at least a few people who, while they don’t like natural gas drilling going on around them, are willing to have a cogent, what they call “respectful” dialog about it. They also recognize shall drilling is here to stay–they are realists. Finally, some people on the other side of the issue we can talk to!

A bit more about the new tone and the new group which Switzer and other former anti-drillers have formed–a group called Breathe Easy Susquehanna County…
Read More “More on “Pro-Drilling” Conversion of Gasland II Star from Dimock”