Findlay Township (Allegheny County, PA, west of Pittsburgh) approved its first three Marcellus Shale wells at a meeting last night. Supervisors voted unanimously (3-0) to let Range Resources to drill on Clinton-Frankfort Road…
Read More “Findlay Twp, PA Approves First 3 Marcellus Wells, Range to Drill”
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 9, 2013”
Yesterday was D-Day, Decision-Day in the City of Youngstown, Ohio. Would the citizens of the city vote to commit economic suicide by adopting an amendment to the city’s charter that would not only ban fracking in the city, but also ban just about any activity related to shale drilling? A group of anti-fracking zealots, aided and abetted by Democrat city council members, were pushing for just that (see Youngstown, OH to Commit Utica Suicide with Vote to Ban Drilling).
Good news: Wiser heads have prevailed in Youngstown. Rational-thinking people voted down the ban by a vote of 57% to 43%. Closer than we’d like to see, but a convincing win nonetheless:
Read More “Youngstown, OH Votes Down Fracking Ban Amendment”
Gulfport Energy Corporation reported its first quarter financial and operating results yesterday, and there’s lots of talk about their efforts in the Utica Shale. Gulfport includes details about their wells and the oil and gas production they’re achieving in the Utica.
Here’s the Gulfport operational highlights for 1Q13 along with their Utica Shale Operational Update (complete with impressive 24-hour production rate numbers for the current nine operating wells that are now online):
Read More “Gulfport Energy 1Q13: Utica Utica Utica”
For the second year running, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners’ Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center selects three winners from a field of 12 entrants to award a $25,000 prize in its Shale Gas Innovation Contest–a contest that recognizes startups and small businesses and gives them visibility and encouragement for their efforts.
MDN previously highlighted this year’s entrants, particularly because we’re acquainted with one of them (see REV LNG, 11 Others Finalists in Shale Gas Innovation Contest for the entire list of this year’s entrants). We won’t keep you waiting any longer. The envelope please! This year’s three winners are…
Read More “Envelope Please: Winners of Shale Gas Innovation Contest are…”
Magnum Hunter Resources’ subsidiary Alpha Resources has just taken possession of a “robotic drilling rig” that it plans to use to drill Utica Shale wells for the next three years. The robotic rig can, by itself, lift the entire drilling rig six inches off the ground and rotate it and move it to a new position and location.
According to Magnum Hunter CEO Gary Evans, the rig is “state of the art” and Magnum has worked with the manufacturer, Schramm, over the past six months to develop it.
Read More “Alpha Hunter Takes Delivery of ‘Robotic Drilling Rig’ for Utica”
Sometimes anti-drillers become unhinged and behave very badly. Case in point: Susquehanna County’s most famous anti-driller Vera Scroggins, who used her potty mouth on FrackNation filmmaker Phelim McAleer in January when Phelim tagged along to ask Yoko Ono and Susan Sarandon about fracking when they came to Susquehanna County (in a Mercedes bus) to promote Artists Against Fracking. Scroggins didn’t like McAleer posing tough questions to the goddesses she worships, so she made it her mission to use every foul word and anti-Irish, prejudiced comment she could think of to insult McAleer, making a video of it and posting it on Youtube (see “The Final Ploy of the Desperate” Natural Gas Opponents).
You can appreciate that the normally patient folks of rural Susquehanna County grow tired of Vera’s antics. At a recent county commissioners meeting, a Susquehanna County official had had enough of Vera’s tiresome antics and actually called her “stupid” before the assembled audience. Cool! Wish we had been there to video it and put it on Youtube. Here is what prompted the outburst:
Read More “PA County Official Calls Local Anti-Driller “Stupid” at Meeting”
There’s certainly no love lost between Range Resources and the supervisors of Cecil Township in Washington County, PA. Range has repeatedly requested the supervisors consider granting a conditional use permit to drill a new well, the supervisors say Range has not provided “full information” on the application, and the whole matter eventually ended up in court–before a judge whose wife is anti-drilling (see Court Fight: Range Resources v Robinson, PA Twp).
But what’s this…are Cecil officials finally willing to call a truce? The supervisors voted on Monday night to schedule a private “behind closed doors” meeting with Range to “discuss their relationship.” Sounds more like marriage counseling than governing to us, but hey, if getting behind closed doors is what it takes…
Read More “When We Get Behind Closed Doors…Range Resources & Cecil Twp”
Even though New York State is an economic and jobs-creating disaster area with no prospect of shale drilling to lift it from the economic basement any time soon, some New York-based companies are still profiting from the shale boom–that is the shale boom happening across the border in Pennsylvania. One such company is R3 Fusion, Inc. in Troy, NY. R3 makes technology that recycles fracking wastewater for reuse, and they’ve just sold an installation of their technology to Hydro Recovery in Blossburg, PA.
The R3 announcement:
Read More “NY Company Sells Frack Wastewater Technology to PA Site”
The Altoona (PA) Water Authority is hoping to sell water for Marcellus Shale drilling to Chevron for drilling they have planned in the Coupon, PA area. There is no agreement yet, but the signs are there: Chevron is in talks with the City of Altoona to arrange a highway maintenance agreement…
Read More “Altoona, PA Plans to Sell Water to Chevron for Fracking”
The main architect of Pennsylvania’s Act 13 legislation that was passed last year was Republican state Senator Joe Scarnati. Act 13 was PA’s most sweeping revision of oil and natural gas drilling in decades, providing for (among other things) the collection of an “impact fee” (or tax) that resulted in $204 million in revenue in 2012.
Scarnati is back with a proposal for more legislation that will impact the Marcellus Shale–this time, he wants to create an advisory panel to investigate public health issues related to Marcellus drilling…
Read More “PA Senator Proposes Panel to Study Health Impacts from Drilling”
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 8, 2013”
The New York-based Manhattan Institute, a non-profit think tank with a mission “to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility,” released a new report yesterday titled, “The Economic Effects of Hydrofracturing on Local Economies: A Comparison of New York and Pennsylvania” (full copy embedded below). The report finds that if New York lifted its moratorium on fracking, it would mean billions of dollars in income for upstate New Yorkers and for the state as a whole.
MI researchers closely examined counties in Pennsylvania and found a) those counties with shale wells did better economically, b) the more wells, the better they did, c) counties with shale wells experienced double-digit rises in per capita income, and d) perhaps most surprisingly, PA counties with no shale wells or fracking saw per capita incomes rise an average 8%! Across the board, fracking has benefited PA enormously and this report proves it. The authors also say NY is screwing itself (our words) if it continues to ban fracking…
Read More “Manhattan Institute Study: Lifting NY Frack Ban Would Mean Billions”
Antero Resources is a private drilling company headquartered in Denver, CO with major drilling operations in the Marcellus Shale (311,000 acres). Lately, Antero has made a big move into the Utica Shale (92,000 acres)–particularly in Belmont County, OH where Gulfport has had a lot of success (see Antero Continues to Sign Leases with Barnesville, OH Residents). Rumor has it (cue Adele) that Antero is about to float an initial public offering that will value the company at $10 billion.
Here’s the rumor, as told by Reuters and the Denver Post:
Read More “Rumor Has It: Antero Resources Will Go Public This Year”
Last September MDN told you about a newly announced major Utica Shale natural gas pipeline that would run from Ohio through Michigan and into Canada (see New Utica Shale Pipeline to Midwest Announced). The project, called the Nexus Gas Transmission system, is a joint venture between DTE Energy, Spectra Energy and Enbridge. Although details of its planned route have still not been disclosed, the Akron Beacon Journal is reporting the pipeline will run through several communities in the Akron-Canton area.
An update on the project from the Beacon Journal:
Read More “Nexus NatGas Pipeline to Run Through Akron/Canton Area”
Is the damage already done in New York? Will drillers bother to show up if local municipalities can decide on a whim to ban fracking? At least one prominent industry leader has publicly gone on the record with her concerns that the promise of drilling in NY is slipping away with the ongoing statewide moratorium and the recent court case that went against landowners and drillers (see Breaking: NY Court Upholds Local Town Frack Bans).
Karen Moreau, executive director of the New York State Petroleum Council, a division of the American Petroleum Institute (API), spoke to NGI’s Shale Daily on Monday and made these comments:
Read More “State & Local Frack Bans: Is the Damage Already Done in NY?”