Calendar of Events for Mar 25 – Apr 7, 2013 [Free]
Below are upcoming events for this week and next.
Read More “Calendar of Events for Mar 25 – Apr 7, 2013 [Free]”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Mar 25, 2013
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Town Frack Ban Cases Heard in NY Supreme Court Appellate Division
Yesterday, what happened in an Albany, NY courtroom was very important for all New York landowners. Four judges from the New York State Court Appellate Division heard the appeal of one driller and one landowner against two New York towns—Dryden and Middlefield—that have voted to permanently ban fracking within their borders, exercising what they call “home rule” (see Important Developments in NY Fracking Ban Court Cases for background on the two cases). According to a 1981 state law, towns are specifically prohibited from regulating oil and gas activities. The two cases hinge on whether or not “to ban” is “to regulate.”Lawyers for the towns argued that precedent allows them to determine land use in their borders—they’re not trying to say how drilling should be done, they’re saying whether it should be done, so that’s not regulating. Lawyers for Norse Energy (suing Dryden) and dairy farmer Jennifer Huntington (suing Middlefield) argued the ban violates state law and the land use case cited as precedent by the town’s lawyers (allowing towns to prohibit gravel mining) is vastly different from mining natural gas and oil.
How did it go? Whose arguments seemed to prevail? Depends on whom you ask…
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Developing… PA DEP Sec. Krancer Resigns
Big, late-breaking news as we go to press: Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection Secretary, Michael Krancer, is resigning his post effective April 15. The press release announcing his resignation states Krancer will return to private law practice and offers no further explanation. This is a surprising (to us) development…
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Out of the Shadows: Another New Group Wants to Regulate PA Shale
Apparently the announcement that there’s a new kid in town when it comes to “regulating” Marcellus Shale drilling—The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD)—has prompted another group to stand up and say, “Me too! Me too! Look at me!”
MDN told you about the launch of the CSSD yesterday (see Important: Drillers & Enviros Form New Group, Launch Cert Program). In today’s Pittsburgh Business Times, we learn of yet another group that until now has met in secret, attempting (like CSSD) to craft new guidelines (let’s call them what they really are, regulations) for Marcellus Shale drilling. This new group is being run by the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute on Politics and includes some of the same participants powering the CSSD as well as Gov. Corbett’s energy executive and a representative from the state DEP. They call their group the “Shale Gas Roundtable.”
Perhaps feeling as though their work may have been upstaged by the CSSD’s announcement, the Shale Gas Roundtable came out of the shadows today…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County
Judge Orders Range/Landowner Settlement in PA Made Public
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Washington Observer-Reporter last year sued to have a sealed court case involving a settlement between Range Resources and a landowner unsealed (see Pittsburgh Newspapers Sue to Unseal Drilling Court Case). As MDN said at the time, the newspapers and anti-drillers wanted to go on a fishing expedition to see if they might find evidence that “big, bad Range” had contaminated the landowner’s water and air with fracking activities.
On Wednesday, a judge unsealed last year’s settlement decision. The newspapers and anti-drillers were disappointed. No smoking guns in the court documents—just a big payout from Range ($750,000) to settle what was essentially a case of landowners who didn’t like drilling activities going on next door…
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More Groups Weigh In For/Against New Sustainable Shale Center
More fallout from the launch of The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD), a new group aimed at slapping restrictive new rules on Marcellus Shale drillers (see Important: Drillers & Enviros Form New Group, Launch Cert Program). It seems MDN is not the only one to distrust the new group. On the other side of the drilling debate isle, the Sierra Club came out swinging yesterday—saying this new group will legitimize “dirty, dangerous fossil fuels, like natural gas” (they are a whacky bunch, aren’t they?).
John Hanger, former Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (now running for governor in PA), endorses the CSSD’s bullying approach of “get a certification from us or screw you” (our words, not his):
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Gov. Cuomo Fires Back at NY Petroleum Council over Indecisiveness
Apparently Karen Moreau, executive director of the New York State Petroleum Council (and a very nice, soft-spoken person—we’ve met her), has gotten under the skin of NY Gov. Ditherer (aka Andrew Cuomo). Moreau has repeatedly made public statements that it’s time for Cuomo to make up his mind about fracking. On Wednesday when asked about it, Cuomo testily fired back:
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Mar 22, 2013
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Chevron | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Shell | Statewide PA
Important: Drillers & Enviros Form New Group, Launch Cert Program
Two years ago, an informal group of high level leaders from both the Marcellus drilling industry (companies like Shell, CONSOL, Chevron and EQT) sat down with high level people from organizations trying to stop shale drilling (organizations like the Heniz Endowment, PennFuture, GASP and the Clean Air Taskforce), to see if both sides could agree on standards that would tell the world, “this activity is safe to do.” There were times, early on, when both sides thought the effort would be fruitless. But somewhere along the way, they “came together” and formed what was officially announced yesterday: The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD).The CSSD proposes 15 new “performance standards” for those in the industry to follow—for drillers, midstream companies and in some cases the supply chain companies that work for them. Depending on your viewpoint, the CSSD and their standards are either a brilliant compromise that will make drilling safer and polish up the image of the industry, or a new group of mafia-like bullies out to force companies to pony up $30,000 to get certified “or else.” The group clearly wants (demands?) to be the certification body for Marcellus drillers, and if you don’t seek certification, they clearly intend to make you a pariah.
This MDN article will necessarily be much longer than most. We sat in on yesterday’s press conference by the CSSD (via phone), and will have our opinion as to the group, what they said, and what it means. We list our own summary of the 15 proposed new standards below (very important for those in industry to review this list). We also link to a number of other news accounts, so you can get other opinions.
The new CSSD has the power and potential to affect every single stakeholder in the shale drilling debate: from landowners to regulators to drillers and supply chain companies. Yes, it’s that important…
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Clash of the (Marcellus) Titans: MSC vs CSSD
Yesterday saw the launch of The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD), a new organization that aims to be the source that certifies drillers and other industry participants in the Marcellus Shale (see our companion story from today—very important to read it). Early in the press conference announcing the CSSD, the master of ceremonies and CSSD board member Robert “Bobby” Vagt (president of the Heniz Endowments) made a curious statement. He said the CSSD is “not simply about best practices” or “the how,” but is instead about “performance standards.” That statement immediately struck MDN as a swipe at the Marcellus Shale Coalition.Has the gauntlet been thrown down?…
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Today’s Brief 2-Story Issue of MDN
A very (very!) short “issue” of MDN today. We cover the formation of a new self-appointed group that intends to regulate the entire drilling industry. We felt it was important enough to ignore the rest of the news and focus solely on this. Regular news will be back tomorrow. Please take time to read today’s two stories about the CSSD.
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Rex Energy OH Utica Wells go Toe-to-Toe with Gulfport Wells
So far, we’ve had precious little in the way of well production numbers from the Ohio Utica Shale. The numbers we have had are encouraging. On Monday, Rex Energy released well production numbers for their “Warrior South Prospect” wells in the Ohio Utica, and the numbers look very good indeed. From two wells in Guernsey County and one in Noble County, Rex is reporting an average daily production of around 8 million cubic feet of natural gas, 500 barrels of condensate (natural gasoline), and 1,200 barrels of natural gas liquids (mostly ethane), per day for each well.Below are the details from Rex, along with an embedded copy of their company presentation just updated (March 2013) which shows many more details, including maps and a very interesting table (on page 18) that compares Rex’s three Ohio wells with other drillers’ wells, including Ohio’s largest producing wells drilled by Gulfport. When converted to BTUs produced—which takes into account not only methane, but also gas liquids, condensate and oil—the Rex wells are among the best producing wells in the state…
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Antero Resources Rides the Marcellus Rocket in 2012
On Monday, Antero Resources issued their 2012 financial and operational results (full copy embedded below). Among the highlights: The company now holds 305,000 net acres in the Marcellus Shale and 88,000 acres in the Utica Shale. They operate 13 Marcellus rigs (all of them drilling in WV) and will add a 14th rig in 2013. Antero’s average daily production for all of 2012 in the Marcellus rocketed up 93% to 239 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d). Antero’s Marcellus production represents 72% of all of their production for 2012. As of March 2013, Antero’s average daily production for the Marcellus has risen to 390 Mmcf/d. The company is on a rocket!
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lenape Resources | Litigation | Livingston County | New York | Regulation
Third NY Town Wins Court Approval to Ban Fracking
Tomorrow, the Appellate Division (court) in Albany, NY will hear arguments in the twin cases of Dryden and Middlefield—two New York towns that illegally seized the property rights of all their citizens by completely banning fracking (see Important Developments in NY Fracking Ban Court Cases for background).
A third town, Livingston, has just won a court case that allows them to also illegally ban fracking. Lenape Resources had sued Livingston after the town passed a ban in 2012, claiming the ban affects their conventional/vertical drilling in the town, which has been going on for decades (see Lenape Sues Avon, NY & DEC over Fracking Ban – Seeks $50M). An “acting” judge didn’t agree, and cited Dryden and Middlefield to support his opinion…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline
PA Judge Grants Injunction Against Protesters of TGP NE Pipeline
Anti-drillers who have been illegally blocking construction of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s Northeast Upgrade in northeastern PA were told to knock it off by a Pike County judge. He also told them it’s going to cost them (a lot of) money if they try it again.
In a hearing held Monday, Judge Joseph Kameen granted TGP an injunction against protesters who have blocked access roads and perched themselves, literally, up trees in order to stop progress on the new pipeline. Why? They don’t like fracking and believe the pipeline, which will transport Marcellus Shale gas, will encourage more of it. Basically, they’re malcontents…
Read More “PA Judge Grants Injunction Against Protesters of TGP NE Pipeline”
Yesterday, what happened in an Albany, NY courtroom was very important for all New York landowners. Four judges from the New York State Court Appellate Division heard the appeal of one driller and one landowner against two New York towns—Dryden and Middlefield—that have voted to permanently ban fracking within their borders, exercising what they call “home rule” (see 
Two years ago, an informal group of high level leaders from both the Marcellus drilling industry (companies like Shell, CONSOL, Chevron and EQT) sat down with high level people from organizations trying to stop shale drilling (organizations like the Heniz Endowment, PennFuture, GASP and the Clean Air Taskforce), to see if both sides could agree on standards that would tell the world, “this activity is safe to do.” There were times, early on, when both sides thought the effort would be fruitless. But somewhere along the way, they “came together” and formed what was officially announced yesterday: 
Yesterday saw the launch of 
So far, we’ve had precious little in the way of well production numbers from the Ohio Utica Shale. The numbers we have had are encouraging. On Monday, Rex Energy released well production numbers for their “Warrior South Prospect” wells in the Ohio Utica, and the numbers look very good indeed. From two wells in Guernsey County and one in Noble County, Rex is reporting an average daily production of around 8 million cubic feet of natural gas, 500 barrels of condensate (natural gasoline), and 1,200 barrels of natural gas liquids (mostly ethane), per day for each well.