The Washington Examiner picked up on Josh Fox’s first known public response to Phelim McAleer’s documentary FrackNation, the devastating critique of Fox’s documentary Gasland. Fox didn’t say much, but what he did say is illuminating:
Read More “Josh Fox Makes First Public Response to FrackNation”
The anti-drilling group Food & Water Watch believes they have a sympathetic ear with legislators in the State of Maryland—so they’re making an all-out push to get the miracle of fracking banned in the state. Yesterday they released a faux “report” enumerating what they believe are the negatives of fracking. According to FWW, some of the ills fracking will visit upon the pristine state of Maryland include: “air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, light pollution, marred landscapes and caravans of trucks full of toxic waste.” You mean, just like it hasn’t in PA, OH and WV?
The propaganda (i.e. press release) issued by FWW yesterday:
Read More “Food & Water Watch Pushes for Fracking Ban in Maryland”
A number of stories coming from PA for the past several months revolve around how towns and counties will spend a windfall they’ve received from the state since instituting the first-ever shale well impact “fee” last year (for background on the fee-which-is-really-just-a-tax, see: List of PA Impact Fee Disbursements by County/Town). We’ve spared you the boring details. However, we bring you one of those stories to illustrate a point.
Cumberland County, PA has no active shale drilling, yet they will receive $200,000 in “walking around” money from the hard work of energy companies and landowners who are drilling. And what do the wise leaders of Cumberland County intend to do with this new-found pile of cash? Buy a new fire truck or two? Refurbish school classrooms? Refit snowplows with new equipment? Maybe convert some county vehicles to run on natural gas? Nope. They plan to put $149,000 of it into a program to give away (blow) on “green projects.” The squabbling over how to distribute it has already begun…
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, Mar 5, 2013”
The truth came out over the weekend from, of all places, the Associated Press (see below). New York Gov. Andrew (“Andy”) Cuomo’s former brother-in-law, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (we’ll call him “Junior”), couldn’t resist his “the whole world revolves around me” narcissistic tendencies to let the media know that he, Junior, is the real reason fracking in New York is now dead.
Andy was all set to approve up to 40 test wells for fracking just last month, then Andy (a 1-percenter) talked with Junior (another 1-percenter) and that sealed the fate of 77,000 New York landowners (99-percenters) who want to lease their land for drilling.
Read More “The Andy & Junior Show: Why NY Fracking is Delayed Yet Again”
The ongoing moratorium against the miracle of fracking in New York State for horizontal wells has had a devastating effect on the state’s conventional (vertical) natural gas drilling. The moratorium is, in effect, killing all drilling in the state, according to the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGA of NY). It’s also killing thousands of jobs supported by the conventional drilling industry.
Commenting on the “rumor” (blabbed by ex-brother-in-law RFK “Jr”) that Gov. Cuomo will delay a fracking decision until a health study just begun in PA is completed, IOGA of NY said the following:
It’s official: President Obama will nominate MIT physicist Ernest “Hair” Moniz to be the next Secretary of Energy, and Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency. We call Dr. Moniz “Hair” because of his “wavy mop” of gray hair—you’ll know what we mean when you see his picture.
Details on Dr. Moniz:
Read More “Obama to Nominate Moniz for Energy, McCarthy for EPA”
In September of last year, EV Energy Partners/EnerVest put 539,000 Ohio Utica Shale acres on the auction block, thinking they would get around $6 billion for it (see EnerVest Puts 539,000 Utica Shale Acres on Auction Block). In November, the company said they should complete the sale of the Utica acreage by the end of 2012 (see EV Energy Selling 539K Utica Shale Acres by Dec 31). That turned out to be a tad optimistic. EnerVest still does not have a deal for their Utica acreage.
An update on the company’s strategy from EV Energy Partners Chairman John Walker and EnerVest President Mark Houser, from Friday’s analyst call:
Read More “EnerVest Strategy: Sell Utica, Drill Vertical, Expand Midstream”
Houston-based Halcón Resources Corporation issued their fourth quarter and full year 2012 financials and operational update last week. As MDN has been reporting, Halcón is ramping up in the Utica Shale (see Location of Second Halcon Utica Well in Trumbull County, OH). Their 2012 update further confirms that they are making a big push in the Utica for 2013.
In the extract below discussing Halcón’s Utica plans for 2013, we learn they have 130,000 acres, plan to drill 20-25 new wells and will spend $200 million on their Utica drilling program for the year. Interestingly, both of their completed Utica wells are located in the Pennsylvania Utica—not in Ohio…
Read More “Halcón Resources: Full Speed Ahead in Utica Shale for 2013”
About 120 West Virginia landowners are suing Magnum Land Services and Belmont Resources with the claim the company’s representatives hoodwinked them into signing leases to allow shale drilling for as little as $5 per acre when, at the time (in 2007), other West Virginian’s were getting as much as $5,000 per acre. The case is headed to federal court.
The (few) details as we know them:
Read More “Lawsuit: WV Landowners Want Out of $5/Acre Leases”
A pair of Marcellus Shale wells drilled by Shell are the first two horizontal wells in Lawrence County, PA to be hooked up to pipelines and selling gas commercially, according a spokesman for Shell.
Details on which two wells are now in production, along with Shell’s 2013 plans for Lawrence County…
Read More “Lawrence County, PA: Shell Continues Marcellus Drilling”
Although Richland County, Ohio is near the outer edge of the Utica Shale and has had no permits issued for Utica Shale drilling, and although drilling close to Richland (in Ashland County) has had “disappointing” results for companies like Devon Energy, the Ohio Farm Bureau reports there’s still a lot of leasing activity in Richland County, with some really nice signing bonuses…
Read More “Richland County, OH: No Permits to Drill, but Lots of Leasing”
The anti-drilling Park Foundation—the organization that funds such luminaries as the husband and wife lawyer team David and Helen Slottje (see Slottje Alert: Lebanon, NY About to be Fleeced)—is hedging their bets just in case Gov. Cuomo suddenly grows a spine and allows safe fracking to go forward. How? They’re funding 100 volunteers to test New York waterways on a regular basis with the thought the testing could be used in court to prove fracking is causing damage to groundwater supplies—when and if fracking ever comes to New York.
The misleadingly-named Community Science Institute provides so-called “volunteers” to do the testing:
Read More “Park Foundation Funds Army of Water Testing Volunteers in NY”
Penn State University loves the Marcellus Shale. In addition to operating the Marcellus Center for Outreach & Research and the Shale Education and Training Center (ShaleTEC), Penn State is offering two new Marcellus-related services: a shale energy seminar and supply chain services for businesses:
Read More “Penn State Launches 2 More Marcellus Initiatives for Businesses”
Below are upcoming events for this week and next.
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: Mon, Mar 4, 2013”