Calling it a potential “benefit” for longer-term employees to cash in on their years of service, Chesapeake Energy on Friday announced a “voluntary separation program” to get rid of 275 older employees by February 2013. At least that’s MDN’s understanding after reading the official company announcement:
There hasn’t been much in the way of Utica Shale permits or drilling in Portage County, Ohio—yet. At least compared to other Ohio counties. At last official tally, Portage has seen 14 permits so far (see this MDN story).
That may about to change. Why would we think so? Because of orange cables strung along roadways throughout the county…
MDN friend Andy Leahy, who writes excellent posts on his NYShaleGasNow.com blog, has done it again. He’s sniffed out documentation from the New York Public Service Commission which maps out a plan for the state to use more natural gas. You read that right! While NY is in the throes of debating whether or not to allow fracking, state officials are making official plans to use more of the very thing fracking would produce—abundantly and cheaply.
Andy points out the following on this quiet-but-profound policy shift:
The U.S. Coast Guard must decide whether or not to allow fracking wastewater to be transported by barge along rivers and lakes in the U.S.—so says Cmdr. Michael Roldan, chief of the Coast Guard’s Hazardous Material Division. If the Coast Guard decides transporting fracking wastewater is not allowed, that would be a huge problem for GreenHunter Water. They’ve already invested in five barge terminals in Pennsylvania and West Virginia to do precisely that—move Marcellus and Utica fracking wastewater to facilities that can treat and dispose of it. They’ve made those investments with the understanding it would be allowed. Their understanding may have been misplaced.
Read More “GreenHunter’s Plans to Move Wastewater by Barge Delayed”
An update on the excellent progress being made with the construction of a new $400 million natural gas liquids collection and processing plant being built in Hanoverton (Columbiana County), Ohio by M3 Midstream:
Read More “Columbiana County NGL Plant On Track for May Opening”
Canadian firm Stantec, which provides consulting service in engineering, surveying and environmental sciences, announced on Friday that they have bought out Landmark Survey and Mapping. Landmark, with 24 employees in both Washington, PA and North Canton, OH, specializes in surveying and mapping oil and gas pipelines—a growing area of focus for Stantec.
From the announcement:
Read More “Canadian Firm Buys PA Marcellus Survey/Mapping Company”
The Youngstown-Warren (OH) Regional Chamber of Commerce went on a road trip last week—to Houston, TX. The Regional Chamber is aggressively marketing the Mahoning Valley area as the supply chain hub for the Utica and Marcellus Shale—encouraging Houston companies to open operations in their area to leverage an abundance of low-cost natural gas and natural gas liquids.
Chambers of Commerce and economic development agencies from other locales would do well to follow their example:
Read More “Road Trip! Youngstown, OH Chamber Goes to Houston, TX”
If you stop by a diner along Route 29 in Susquehanna County, PA on any given day, you may hear the patrons using words you’re not familiar with. Words like pumpjack, yellow dog, and kick down. You may also hear them talking about a Christmas tree—but it’s probably not the one you’re thinking about that stands in your living room this time of year.
Time for a vocabulary update, to define some of the terminology you may hear next time you go out to eat in a community where there’s active shale drilling:
Read More “Gas Drilling Lingo: Pumpjacks, Yellow Dogs & Gushers, Oh My!”
West Virginia’s Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette, who has been in the hunt for an ethane cracker plant for several years now, is still upbeat on both Marcellus/Utica Shale drilling in the state, and on upbeat on the state’s chances to land an ethane cracker:
Read More “WV’s Burdette Still in Hunt for Ethane Cracker Plant”
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, Dec 17, 2012”
The Utica Shale is still in its infancy and drillers are still trying to get a fix on the “sweet spots” that will produce the most natural gas, gas liquids and even oil. Rendering an opinion on the best places to drill can be a career-ender, like it was for one long-time ODNR employee (see this MDN story).
Chesapeake was the early mover in Ohio’s Utica Shale, and it’s still the biggest driller in Ohio. However, we have an interesting admission from Chesapeake this week: They’ve misjudged the “emerging fairway” of the Utica in Ohio. While Chesapeake is concentrating most of their drilling in Carroll and Columbiana counties in the northern part of the state, Gulfport has drilled the four highest-producing wells in the Utica in counties to the south.
Read More “Chesapeake Admits Misjudging Ohio Utica Sweet Spot”
A lawsuit filed by 95 landowners in Carroll and Columbiana counties (Ohio) has been decided in favor of Chesapeake Energy and against the landowners. Last month, Judge Richard Markus (Common Pleas Court) issued his decision that the landowners in the case could not break their lease if they received a better offer—something they thought they could do according to a provision in the lease.
Here’s the details of the case and the decision:
Read More “Judge Tells Ohio Landowners They Can’t Break Lease”
A loud-mouthed anti-driller tried to disrupt a recent “Oil & Gas 101” meeting being held in Youngstown, Ohio. The 30-year old woman started screaming over top of speaker Rhonda Rheda. She claimed to have a jar of fracking fluid with her, which she left on the table when she was arrested and removed from the meeting. The anti-driller then called 911 to report there was “hazardous material” at the meeting. Thing is, it was all a fraud. Wastewater is not hazardous material, but more to the point, Rheda had the contents of the jar tested and found it to be cider vinegar with chewing tobacco mixed in. A complete fraud and hoax by the anti-driller.
Welcome to a debate where the other side doesn’t play by anyone’s rules and will lie, cheat and commit fraud in the name of their “cause”—the elimination of all fossil fuels as a source of energy.
Read More “Anti-Driller Attempts Fraud at Youngstown, OH Meeting”
Quinnipiac University has been busy polling. First they released a new poll of Ohioans and their attitudes toward higher taxes for drilling in that state (see this MDN story), and a day later, they released a poll of New Yorkers asking them whether or not drilling should even be allowed in that state. The results (full copy embedded below) provide the most striking example yet that the entire drilling issue has become politicized in New York.
The poll results, released yesterday, show that 70% of New York’s Republicans support drilling for shale gas and oil (17% are opposed), while only 29% of Democrats support drilling (and 55% are opposed). Overall, the state remains pretty evenly split with 44% supporting drilling and 42% opposed to it.
Read More “Drill in NY? Republicans Say Yes, Democrats Say No”
A new Quinnipiac University Poll shows a majority of Ohioans continue to support a higher severance tax (what they term a “new tax” when asking the question) on the shale drilling industry—especially if it would cut their income taxes. But the simple headline does not reveal the whole picture.
When you look at the internals of the poll (full copy of the questions and results is embedded below), you find that (a) support for the tax is slipping, and (b) it’s Ohio Democrats who support the tax in large numbers, while Republicans only tip to the support side when it comes to the question of lowering income taxes.
Read More “OH Poll Shows Support for Higher Drilling Tax is Slipping”
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has fined Dominion East Ohio $500,000 over a natural gas explosion and fire at a pipeline regulator station in January 2011 in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. The resulting fires severely damaged 11 homes and another 150 homes required repair or maintenance of their gas-powered appliances because of the mishap.
From the PUCO press release:
Read More “PUCO Fines Dominion East Ohio $500K for Pipeline Accident”