Marcellus Drilling News

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Protesters Try to Shut Down NC Frack Chemical Plant
July 9, 2013

This story, while technically not an event happening in the Marcellus/Utica Shale region, is geographically close (North Carolina) and involves a manufacturer of fracking chemicals–chemicals likely used in the Marcellus/Utica. This story is illustrative of what MDN calls FDS–Fracking Derangement Syndrome–a condition found in more ardent anti-drillers who willing put themselves in harm’s way in the mistaken belief that they’re somehow helping Mother Earth and actually doing something to prevent fracking. “Deranged” is an apt label for them.

A group of some 100 or so FDS-infected protesters laid down in the middle of the road in front of the Momentive resin plant in Morganton, NC (about 60 miles northwest of Charlotte) to stop trucks carrying chemicals from leaving the facility. A few of the protesters set up 20-foot-tall wooden structures and climbed up on top. If police try to make them come down forceably, the structures will topple and the protesters will get injured (gee, too bad). So the chemical company, Momentive (owned by the same parent that owns Hardees) just let them hang around and make horses rear-ends of themselves. Hey, pass the ketchup! Wanna up-size those Hardees fries? We’re gonna be here for a while watching these loons…
Read More “Protesters Try to Shut Down NC Frack Chemical Plant”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

The House Aubrey Built Transitions from Exploration to Production
July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

An excellent article published by NGI’s Shale Daily reports that Chesapeake Energy is transitioning from a risk-taking exploration company to a profit-making production company.

Chronicling the journey–where they are now and how much Chessy plans to raise this year by selling even more assets–here’s NGI’s expert take on the mighty house built by Aubrey, and stolen by corporate raiders Carl Icahn and others (euphemistically referred to as “activist investors”):
Read More “The House Aubrey Built Transitions from Exploration to Production”
Accidents | Antero Resources | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | West Virginia

Update on Antero Well Explosion in Doddridge County, WV
July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

Yesterday, MDN told you about the well site explosion in Doddridge County, WV (see Well Explosion in Doddridge County, WV Injures 8 People). Depending on the news source, the number of people injured is anywhere from five to eight, and we still don’t know exactly what happened. But we do know (or suspect) a bit more: there was no fracking going on at the time of the explosion, and the explosion did not involve the drilling rig. It appears it had to do with a malfunctioning water pump being used to pump well logging tools out the borehole.

The latest from West Virginia Metro News:
Read More “Update on Antero Well Explosion in Doddridge County, WV”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

John Hanger Publishes Strong Defense of Fracking, in UK Newspaper
July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

Former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Hanger, has an opinion piece published in the online UK Guardian newspaper on Monday, July 8 titled, “If you care about the environment, you should welcome natural gas fracking” (full article below). John has an interesting dilemma. He’s running for the Democrat nomination for governor in PA, for the right to run against someone whom Dems believe is a politically crippled–Gov. Tom Corbett. Corbett has been strongly pro-drilling. John’s opinion piece pretty much reflects his past statements that no energy source is without its negatives, and that natural gas (and fracking) are far better than many of the alternatives. His article is a full-throated defense of fracking. Good for John!

His dilemma, however, is that his party, which stands a good chance of retaking the PA legislature and the governorship, wants to impose a de facto ban on fracking in PA, opposite the position John has taken in his article (see PA Democrat Party Votes to End Marcellus Shale Drilling Statewide). John has refused to call the recent Democrat vote what it patently is: political insanity. Instead, John is attempting a high-wire balancing act made harder by his old boss Gov. Ed Rendell (see Rendell Paints Hanger into Corner on PA Democrat Moratorium Vote).
Read More “John Hanger Publishes Strong Defense of Fracking, in UK Newspaper”
Housing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

OSU Study of PA Data Shows No Housing Crisis in Shale Country
July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

How many times have we heard (and believed) that when drilling comes to town, higher housing prices, specifically rent, comes along too. A quick influx of people for a relatively fixed inventory of housing and voilà–high rents. In fact, MDN previously highlighted a study in November 2011 by a cabal of PA colleges that issued a 200-page report on how shale drilling was causing a “housing crisis” in northeastern PA (see New Study Claims Housing Crisis in NE PA from Gas Drilling).

But what’s this? Researchers at Ohio State University, understandably concerned that a housing shortage may be on the way in eastern Ohio, studied the PA data for 2007-2011, the first four years of PA’s drilling boom. Using government data (objective and unbiased, from the Dept. of Housing & Urban Development), OSU researchers found, “…in Pennsylvania, counties experiencing the most shale-related development saw little change in fair market rents…housing vacancy rates and median home values.” A full copy of the OSU report debunking the “shale drilling creates a housing crisis” meme is embedded below.
Read More “OSU Study of PA Data Shows No Housing Crisis in Shale Country”
Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Rice Energy | Westmoreland County

Radioactive Cuttings Rejected by Landfill Remain at PA Drill Site
July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

In April, MDN told you about a load of Marcellus Shale drill cuttings from a drill site in Greene County, PA that were due to be dumped at a landfill in Westmoreland County, PA, but the load of cuttings set off the radiation alarms at the landfill (see Marcellus Drill Cuttings Set Off Radiation Alarm at SW PA Landfill). The level of naturally occurring radiation found in the leftover dirt and rock (“shale cuttings”) was a bit too high for disposal at that particular landfill.

So, what happened to that load of radioactive drill cuttings? It was sent back to the well site in Greene County and it has remained there ever since…
Read More “Radioactive Cuttings Rejected by Landfill Remain at PA Drill Site”
Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Phila. Gas Works Goes on Auction Block – Marcellus Key in Sale?
July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

Philadelphia is about to put the 176 year-old Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) natural gas utility company on the auction block with the aim of privatizing it. Although it’s not viewed as a great opportunity (fixed base of around 500,000 customers who are getting more energy-efficient each year), the utility has an ace in the hole: the Marcellus Shale. Specifically, a buyer may consider converting an existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility owned and operated by PGW into an export facility for exporting Marcellus Shale gas. If that were to happen, let’s just say the world would be your oyster…
Read More “Phila. Gas Works Goes on Auction Block – Marcellus Key in Sale?”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jul 9, 2013
July 9, 2013July 9, 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: Tue, Jul 9, 2013”
Accidents | Antero Resources | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | West Virginia

Well Explosion in Doddridge County, WV Injures 8 People
July 8, 2013July 8, 2013

Shale drilling is an industrial process and accidents happen–it’s inevitable. Still, it’s sad when it does happen. Early Sunday morning there was an explosion at an Antero Resources drilling site in Doddridge County, WV injuring eight people–four of whom were airlifted to West Penn Hospital’s burn center in Pittsburgh.

The very scant details as we now them right now:
Read More “Well Explosion in Doddridge County, WV Injures 8 People”
BP | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Supply Chain | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

BP’s Utica Shale Drilling in Trumbull County, OH Heats Up
July 8, 2013July 8, 2013

An article in the Warren, OH Tribune Chronicle is interesting for two reasons: The first is that it highlights how when a local business (VEC Inc.) gets plugged in to the shale supply chain with just a single driller, it can radically change the fortunes of that company; and second, the article indicates the driller in question (BP) has just handed out contracts for their first four well sites with plans to drill up to 2,000 Utica Shale wells–all in Trumbull County, OH.

It seems like it took BP a long time to get going (see Better Late than Never: BP Gets First Permit for OH Utica), but now that they’ve started…watch out! Business in the gas fields of Trumbull County is about to get real busy…
Read More “BP’s Utica Shale Drilling in Trumbull County, OH Heats Up”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Portage County | Research | Utica Shale | Wastewater

OH Village’s Extensive Water Tests Show No Impacts from Drilling
July 8, 2013July 8, 2013

Good news for residents of Garrettsville (Portage County), OH residents: Your drinking water has been and continues to be just fine. The village board commissioned an extensive water testing program to keep an eye on private water wells on the outskirts of Garretsville as a way of spotting any water contamination problems that may happen before they reach the village’s drinking water supplies.

Village leaders were concerned that nearby Utica Shale drilling and a plethora of frack wastewater injection wells in Portage County may lead to contamination of the village’s water aquifer. Nope. Nothing of the sort has happened, once again proving that shale drilling and injection wells are safe for water, contrary to the bleating of fictional movies like Gasland 2 and anti-drilling protesters like Yoko Ono…
Read More “OH Village’s Extensive Water Tests Show No Impacts from Drilling”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio County | West Virginia

Chesapeake Production Results for 2 Wells in Ohio County, WV
July 8, 2013July 8, 2013

As part of a story about Chesapeake Energy selling off yet another $1 billion worth of assets (in Texas and Louisiana), we get this brief production update for two Chesapeake Marcellus “wet gas” wells in Ohio County, WV:
Read More “Chesapeake Production Results for 2 Wells in Ohio County, WV”
Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Roads | West Virginia

Road Damage from Drillers a Problem in Marshall County, WV Town
July 8, 2013July 8, 2013

One of the downsides to drilling–something that’s eminently fixable–is road damage from heavy trucks. A small town in southeastern Marshall County, WV is experiencing the problem first-hand. The drilling industry needs to take note, step up, and fix the problem…
Read More “Road Damage from Drillers a Problem in Marshall County, WV Town”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Potter County | Statewide PA

PA Report Card: 6,200 Shale Wells Drilled, 3,550 in Production
July 8, 2013July 8, 2013

A quick report card on Pennsylvania’s amazing Marcellus Shale drilling: “Across the state, 6,200 shale gas wells have been drilled, though only 3,550 are currently producing. Even with just that production, Pennsylvania rose to the third largest producer in the United States in 2012, behind only Texas and Louisiana. In 2010, the Commonwealth ranked 14th.” In 2012, PA produced 2.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, mostly from shale. That was more than double the previous year’s production. No wonder it went from 14th to 3rd in U.S. production in just two years.

The quote above comes from an article discussing the PA Marcellus Shale delivered at a bi-monthly talk in Potter County, PA. Here’s more insights from that talk, including the observation that 2013 will be “the year of the pipeline” in PA:
Read More “PA Report Card: 6,200 Shale Wells Drilled, 3,550 in Production”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | NGLs | NiSource | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Utica Shale

Slight Delay for Hickory Bend Processing Plant, Permit Appealed
July 8, 2013July 8, 2013

A small and frankly inconsequential wrinkle has developed in the building of a new cryogenic gas processing plant–a joint venture planned between Hilcorp and NiSource called Hickory Bend (see Mahoning Utica Pipeline/Processing Plant “Moving Forward”).

Although the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has issued an air pollution permit for the plant, an avowed anti-driller has appealed the permit, which will delay things just a bit while the appeal is considered (and subsequently dismissed)…
Read More “Slight Delay for Hickory Bend Processing Plant, Permit Appealed”
Housing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Supply Chain | Washington County

Washington County, PA Hotelier Adapts to Serve Drilling Industry
July 8, 2013July 8, 2013

Anyone who lives in shale country can tell you one of the first signs that drilling either is, or is about to, impact an area’s economy, is full restaurants and busy hotels/motels. Shale field workers need a place to eat and a place to sleep. How these businesses–specifically hotels– respond is instructive for all businesses that would like to sell to the industry, i.e., plug in to the supply chain.

A recent story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette does a good job of covering someone MDN has highlighted before: hotel and motel owner Tejas Gosai, in Washington County, PA (see these two MDN stories). From when Gosai’s hotels serve breakfast, to outdoor boot washers, to checking for bed bugs–the way Gosai has responded to and adapted “regular” hotels to serve the Marcellus drilling industry is instructive for other hotels, and for other businesses to follow as an example:
Read More “Washington County, PA Hotelier Adapts to Serve Drilling Industry”