Marcellus Drilling News

Accidents | Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | NiSource | Pipelines | West Virginia

Columbia NatGas Pipeline Explodes Near Charleston, WV
December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

This is big news because it’s so extremely rare: A 20-inch natural gas transmission pipeline—the Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline (owned by Nisource)—exploded near Sissonville, WV, 10 miles north of Charleston. The resulting fire burned for more than an hour and has shut down a portion of nearby Interstate 77 for at least two days.

The explosion happened not far from the Lanham Compressor Station, although there is no indication the compressor station had anything to do with the explosion. An investigation into the explosion is just beginning and there are few known facts. The (rather thin) details as we know them:

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Alternative Energy | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | Research

ExxonMobil Predicts World Fossil Fuel Usage Up 5% by 2040
December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

ExxonMobil, not only the world’s largest energy company but the world’s largest company period by revenue, publishes an annual Outlook for Energy. Yesterday they issued the 2013 edition (embedded below). The annual publication is an inside look at how some of the world’s keenest minds in energy view what’s coming down the road for energy over the next 30 years.

A few (very interesting) highlights from this year’s edition:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Westchester County

Westchester County, NY Bans Fracking Wastewater
December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

The Westchester County Board of Legislators voted on Monday (unanimously) to ban fracking fluids from the county. The ban specifically disallows treatment of fracking fluid wastewater in municipal treatment plants (already illegal under DEC rules) and a ban on using the salt from fracking wastewater to treat roadways during the winter.

Read More “Westchester County, NY Bans Fracking Wastewater”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Dec 12, 2012
December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

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, Dec 12, 2012”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Begins 30-Day Public Comment Period Wednesday
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

The starter pistol is ready to be fired. On Wednesday, the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation will begin a 30-day public comment period as part of a 90-day extension on proposed new rules to allow hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for horizontal drilling in the state.

Both sides of the drilling debate are pulling out the big guns to try and influence the outcome:

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Chenango County | Industrywide Issues | Landowner Coalition News | Litigation | New York

CNY Landowners Establish Legal Fund to Sue Towns with Bans
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

Landowners in the central New York area are tired of having their property rights trampled by a few of their discontented (and misguided) neighbors. When two of three town board members vote to institute a ban or moratorium, it strips away the rights of all landowners in the town and devalues their property, making it all but impossible for them to sign leases for potential future natural gas drilling.

The CNY Landowner’s Coalition (Central New York) has established a fund to help with attorneys fees to defend their property rights against what they consider to be an illegal seizure of their property rights by some towns. First up is to defend their rights against a misguided moratorium in Oxford (Chenango County, NY). Note to Oxford town board members and residents: prepare to spend big bucks to defend a permanent moratorium if you pass one. It’s not a threat—it’s a promise.

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Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Shell | SWEPI | Warren County

Marcellus Permits Nearly Double in Warren County, PA
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

Over the past decade, 11 permits for horizontal Marcellus Shale drilling have been issued in Warren County, PA: Range Resources got 6 of those permits, PA General Energy got 4 of them, and Hunt Marcellus Operating received 1 permit.

The number of permits has now almost doubled in Warren. SWEPI LP recently received 10 permits to drill—all of them for the Hook Run Farm in Mead Township.

Read More “Marcellus Permits Nearly Double in Warren County, PA”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

World Marvels at U.S. Fracking Water Management
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

The rest of the world is looking to the United States to learn how to leverage the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. A newly released report from global management consulting firm Accenture, titled “Water and shale gas development: leveraging the US experience in new shale developments” (full copy embedded below), looks at the water issue when it comes to fracking—and how the U.S. has effectively managed water use and disposal. According to the report, we in the U.S. are masters at moving water from point A to point B, conserving it, and disposing of it—and our hard work and innovation can benefit other countries now considering fracking their own shale deposits.

Here’s a description of the report from Accenture:

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Statewide WV | West Virginia

Obama EPA Criticized by West Virginia Democrats
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

The Obama Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came under heavy criticism from West Virginia Democrats at the “Partnerships for Energy Development” meeting in Charleston, WV yesterday. The lead Democrat doing the criticizing was none other than WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, who expressed his strong support for coal and natural gas:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Warren County | Wastewater

Anti-Drillers Go After EPA on PA Injection Wells Approvals
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

Anti-drilling group Clean Water Action is trying to get the federal EPA, who monitors and permits wastewater injection wells, to reconsider the permitting of two injection wells in Warren County, PA. They’re using a favorite tactic to do so: accusations and innuendo that the original review process was faulty.

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Energy Services | Falcon Drilling | Indiana County | Pennsylvania

2 Employees Charged with Embezzling $6M from Falcon Drilling
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

More than $6 million was embezzled from Falcon Drilling Co. over the past eight years by two of its employees. Falcon is a Marcellus Shale drilling contractor with 13 rigs headquartered in Indiana, PA.

On Monday, federal prosecutors charged a former controller at the company with conspiracy to embezzle. Previously, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) had been charged.

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Garrett County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation

Anti-Drilling Group Attempts Head Fake with Maryland Senator
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

Maryland anti-drilling group CitizenShale is pressuring Maryland’s western senator, George Edwards, to support a moratorium on fracking in Maryland. CitizenShale is using head fakery by saying their request is that Edwards “not oppose” a new moratorium that will be introduced in January by anti-drillers from the Washington, D.C. suburbs (on the opposite side of the state).

The request from CitizenShale came at a pre-legislative meeting held at Garrett College (in Garrett County, one of two counties that have Marcellus Shale under them) where “residents” and those passing themselves off as residents gathered to talk about the upcoming Maryland legislative session that meets for just 90 days each year.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Dec 11, 2012
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

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, Dec 11, 2012”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY

Norse Energy Hurt by NY Fracking Delay Files for Bankruptcy
December 10, 2012December 10, 2012

Contrary to what anti-drillers say, lack of drilling in New York does have serious consequences—the latest consequence being the bankruptcy of Norse Energy Corp. MDN has reported over the past several years on Norse, the “little energy company that could” (we had hoped) hang on until New York released new shale drilling rules. But New York’s moratorium has now stretched on nearly 4 1/2 years and frankly, there’s no end in sight.

In mid-November Norse issued a press release saying they would run out of money in December unless they could restructure their debt (see this MDN story). They only had $1.5 million cash on hand at the time. Then, a few weeks later, a judge ordered Norse to put $7.65 million into an escrow account to cover potential losses in a dispute (see this Norse press release). Apparently the escrow judgment pushed Norse over the financial cliff. They’ve now filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection:

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Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Ohio | Utica Shale

Utica Shale Drilling in Columbiana County, OH Slows
December 10, 2012December 10, 2012

Is Columbiana County, Ohio’s Utica Shale drilling cooling down? That’s what a recent article seems to indicate. There were only two new permits sought in the past month, both from Chesapeake Energy.

Here’s the lowdown on Columbiana’s drilling activity since 2010:

Read More “Utica Shale Drilling in Columbiana County, OH Slows”
Brooke County | Hancock County | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | West Virginia

Drillers Ship NGLs from Weirton, WV to Houston via Barge
December 10, 2012December 10, 2012

Good old American ingenuity…Drillers are not waiting for processing plants to be completed or pipelines to come online in order to sell their natural gas liquids (NGLs) from the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. A few weeks ago, one million gallons of NGLs were loaded on a tanker barge originating at the port in Weirton, WV. The barge floated first down the Ohio River, and then the Mississippi River on its way to Houston, TX for processing.

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