Marcellus Drilling News

Economic Impact | Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Senator to DOE: Explain Ground Rules for NatGas Exports
October 24, 2012October 24, 2012

A super abundance of natural gas supply in the U.S. means we have the opportunity to export natural gas, reducing some of the supply and making money for our country (reducing our international trade imbalance). But the Dept. of Energy (DOE) stands in the way of issuing new export permits to allow that to happen. The DOE has commissioned a study on how exports will affect prices and other considerations here at home.

The Senate Energy Committee’s top Democrat member, Senator Ron Wyden, wants to know the precise criteria, the “ground rules” the DOE will use to make decisions on exporting natural gas. He’s asking some very pointed questions of DOE Sec. Steven Chu:

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Beaver County | Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

Low NatGas Price Will Benefit Shell’s Ethane Cracker Plant
October 24, 2012October 24, 2012

The low price of natural gas may not be good for drillers, but it’s great for manufacturing companies who power their plants with it. The fact that manufacturers are increasingly converting to natural gas to power their operations, and relocating to areas with an abundant supply of low priced gas—like Pennsylvania—is a good thing for Shell and their proposed ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA. Why?

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Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

OSHA Puts Brakes on New Silica Handling Rules for Fracking
October 24, 2012October 24, 2012

In June 2012, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and NIOSH (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) issued a joint hazard alert for workers who use silica (sand) used in fracking (see this MDN story). OSHA has been working for several years on a revision of its silica dust regulations—long before a new report was issued by NIOSH on silica used in fracking. The NIOSH report, released in May 2012, caused OSHA and NIOSH to issue the joint hazard alert in June.

The hazard alert, while using strong language to encourage stricter rules for handling silica, apparently does not carry the full weight of being a regulation—i.e., it’s not enforceable. The enforceable regulation comes from OSHA and release of a revised regulation on silica handling for fracking and other uses is now on pause. How come?

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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Neighbors Not Happy with MarkWest’s Short Line RR
October 24, 2012October 24, 2012

It’s not all peaches and cream when drilling comes to an area. Industrialization does have impacts—more truck traffic, more noise, higher rents, packed restaurants. Add to that list more railroad traffic. That can be good—MDN loves covering the stories of short line railroads on their way out that suddenly are revitalized.

But sometimes the railroad story has a few bumps. MarkWest Energy purchased an old short line railroad right of way that runs 4 1/2 miles in Mount Pleasant Township (Washington County, PA) a couple of years ago and rebuilt the rails. They recently started running a train along those rails to connect their Houston processing plant with a larger railroad to carry natural gas liquids (NGLs) including propane and butane to market.

Neighbors living close to the rail lines have complained of noise and late night runs:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Oct 24, 2012
October 24, 2012October 24, 2012

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

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Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Taxation | West Virginia

WV Tax Dept. Will Not Tax Well Pad Sites for Landowners
October 23, 2012October 23, 2012

The West Virginia Tax Department has decided they will not assess a property tax value to well pad sites for landowners. Officials were concerned that by assessing a value for a well pad site it would cause the landowner, who may not even own the mineral rights, to be classified in a higher tax bracket. This is good news for West Virginia landowners.

How the decision to not assess well pad sites was made:

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Bradford County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lackawanna County | Luzerne County | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Sullivan County | Susquehanna County | Wyoming County (PA)

Updated Study: Marcellus Drilling Economic Benefits in NE PA
October 23, 2012October 23, 2012

Several colleges in northeast Pennsylvania including Keystone College, King’s College, Luzerne County Community College, Misericordia University, Penn State Wilkes-Barre, University of Scranton and Wilkes University belong to, support and form an organization called the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development. In 2008 the Institute published a study comparing economic and demographic changes of three shale plays in three specific areas of three shale plays: the Barnett, the Fayettville and the Marcellus.

The purpose of the original study was to show what may lie ahead in northeast PA should it follow a similar track to the then far more mature shale plays in the South and Southwest. The Institute has just released an update to the original study in a new report titled “A Review of Changes in Selected Economic & Demographic Indicators in Particular Counties in the Barnett, Fayetteville and Marcellus Shale Play” (embedded below). Wow, what a difference four years makes! The Marcellus in many ways has eclipsed the Barnett and Fayettville and continues to grow. But has that growth translated into good things in northeast PA? That’s the question asked and answered in this latest update by the Institute.

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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

More Comments from Martens about NY Fracking Health Review
October 23, 2012October 23, 2012

Here’s a bit more about what New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens said last Friday about the current health review, some comments he made we did not previously see reported:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Fracking Fluids/Technology Getting Greener Each Year
October 23, 2012October 23, 2012

The TriplePundit blog does a good job of summarizing how fracking technology is getting greener in a post titled, “Is There Really Such A Thing As Green Fracking?” Author RP Siegel runs down the latest alternatives to chemicals being added to water-based fracking, and alternative technologies to water-based fracking.

Here’s a short list of the “green fracking” solutions either commercially available today, or nearly ready:

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Columbia County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania

Marcellus Economics: PA Manufacturer Adds 50 Jobs, $2.4M
October 23, 2012October 23, 2012

Pennsylvania manufacturing company K-Fab is expanding with help from the state, providing an additional 50 new manufacturing jobs in Columbia County. The company manufactures equipment for the Marcellus Shale drilling industry. Their plans call for investing $2.4 million in renovations and improvements.

PA Gov. Tom Corbett’s office issued the following announcement about the latest new jobs and economic expansion thanks to the Marcellus Shale:

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Industrywide Issues | Noise

New Service Reduces Noise at Drill Sites, Compressor Plants
October 23, 2012October 23, 2012

Drilling may get a bit quieter for some in the Marcellus (and other shale plays) if Principle Energy Services has their way. Principle—with fabrication facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Texas—has just launched a new service to mitigate (reduce) noise in and around drilling sites and compressor plants—so it doesn’t bother the neighbors quite so much.

Here’s the press release from Principle announcing their new service:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues

Union Pacific RR Substitutes Shale Biz for Declining Coal
October 23, 2012October 23, 2012

Energy & Capital reports that Union Pacific Corp. has done a neat pivot. Coal shipping on the railroad is down, but UP has picked up the slack shipping equipment, sand, chemicals and other items needed for drilling in the Marcellus and other shale plays around the country. Oh, and on the return trip from those destinations, UP hauls crude oil from shale to places like California, Texas and Louisiana for refining.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Oct 23, 2012
October 23, 2012October 23, 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, Oct 23, 2012”
Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC Com. Martens Gives Update on SGEIS Health Review
October 22, 2012October 22, 2012

We now know a bit more about where things stand with the “health review” taking place of New York’s proposed new drilling regulations (called the SGEIS). When Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens announced he was asking NYS Health Commissioner Nirav Shah to conduct a review of the SGEIS’ handling of potential health impacts of fracking on residents, he said that Shah would assemble a panel of “outside experts” to advise him.

It appears the outside experts have been identified but haven’t agreed (yet) to the money being offered by the DEC and Health Department to do the work. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on a Nov. 29 deadline. Martens says it’s still possible to make that deadline. Here’s what he said on Friday to reporters:

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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Reuters Says Utica Shale Boom is Really a Secret Bust
October 22, 2012October 22, 2012

The mighty Reuters news agency, no friend of shale gas drilling, is taking aim at the Utica Shale in Ohio. A new article by Reuters attempts to sow the seeds of doubt about the size and potential of the Utica Shale. Their article opens by quoting drilling “bad boy” Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake who famously said last year the Utica contains $500 billion worth of hydrocarbons. Reuters’ contention? Don’t believe it.

A key point of the article is that Ohio is only reporting oil and gas production numbers annually, not monthly as other states typically do. That irks Reuters, so they’re spinning it as an industry cover-up to conceal the “real truth” that the Utica is not as productive as McClendon and “the industry” is leading people to believe. It’s the old “it really ain’t all that big, it’s just a Ponzi scheme” meme started by The New York Times last year (see this MDN story).

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Chesapeake Energy | Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

NYT Now Says There’s Too Much Natural Gas, Drillers to Blame
October 22, 2012October 22, 2012

The New York Times is a bit schizophrenic these days. It’s hard to keep track of which alternate reality they operate in. For the longest time, we’ve heard from the Times how shale drilling is just a Ponzi scheme a la Bernie Madoff—a fraud to get investors to dump billions into energy companies but with only a teeny tiny bit of gas in the ground (“proven reserves”) to get out (see this MDN story). Of course that contention is patently false as proven by the overwhelming production and inventories we now have from shale gas.

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