Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Oct 3, 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, Oct 3, 2012”
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JLCNY: Gov. Cuomo has Betrayed NY Residents
The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is a “coalition of coalitions” representing more than 77,000 landowners throughout New York State. Consider it the official, collective voice of landowners interested in allowing shale gas drilling on their land. For many months MDN has marveled at how restrained the JLCNY has been with regard to the foot-dragging on the part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Joe Martens when it comes to the release of new drilling rules. MDN would “shoot from the lip” and say “Sue ‘em!” The JLCNY would calmly say, “Let the process work. In the end, we’ll have the best drilling laws in the world, and no one will be able to say we didn’t take our time and do it right.” And of course they’re correct.Has the JLCNY finally had enough of the foot-dragging and delay tactics? Have they finally reached their patience limit and are the gloves are about to come off? Here’s a JLCNY press release received by MDN yesterday:
Read More “JLCNY: Gov. Cuomo has Betrayed NY Residents”
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Citrus | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Wyoming County (PA)
Which Driller Had Top 2 Producing Wells in PA for 1H12?
Yesterday MDN shared with your our detailed look at the production numbers—the amount of natural gas and gas liquids—produced in the entire state of Pennsylvania for the first half of 2012 (see this MDN story). Today the Philadelphia Inquirer, quoting Powell Shale Digest and other sources, takes a closer look at well by well statistics for the same period.
Here’s a few interesting tidbits brought to light by their analysis, and the surprise answer for who had the top two producing wells in the state for the first half of the year:
Read More “Which Driller Had Top 2 Producing Wells in PA for 1H12?”
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Town of Chenango, NY Residents Sound Off on Fracking
Most townships in Broome County, NY have passed resolutions with language saying something to the effect of “Let’s let the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation do it’s job, we won’t pre-judge the outcome. We won’t enact a ban or moratorium ahead of the DEC.” And rightly or wrongly, both sides of the fracking debate take that to mean a show of support for drilling. The only municipality in Broome County to enact a moratorium (so far) is the City of Binghamton, which was done in an eleventh hour political stunt by Binghamton’s failed Mayor Matthew Ryan (see this MDN story). His folly is now costing city taxpayers big bucks to defend.
The first town in Broome County to consider a moratorium or outright ban on fracking is the Town of Chenango. Last night the town board held a public hearing to elicit comments from residents. MDN was there for a portion of it.
Read More “Town of Chenango, NY Residents Sound Off on Fracking”
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Andrew Cuomo’s Fracking Confidant
Everyone has noticed it: There’s been a change in New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s position on hydraulic fracturing. It had seemed, for over year, that he was charting a path down the middle. He would allow fracking, eventually. Earlier this year he floated the idea of allowing fracking in a limited fashion in a few locations as a test—to closely watch what happens and to alleviate concerns for those who oppose it. He wanted to prove to everyone that it can be done safely. It was a true “wisdom of Solomon” kind of proposal. What could make more sense?
But politics never makes sense, and politics, not science and facts as the governor has long said, has reared its ugly head. And everyone has noticed it. The question is, what or who changed Andy’s mind? Perhaps we’ll never truly know, but a recent article in the New York Times may give us some insight. In a word, what may have turned Andy against fracking was a family confidant.
Read More “Andrew Cuomo’s Fracking Confidant”
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Beaver County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell
Shell Volunteers to Pay Local Taxes on PA Ethane Cracker
In order to lure Shell to build its multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA, the state passed a law granting Shell tax exempt status for the next 25 years. Problem is, the place where they will build the plant currently pays school and town taxes ($344,000 per year) that would disappear under the state plan. So Shell has offered to pay 110% of those taxes over the next 25 years—to avoid a PR problem and to support the local community where it will be doing business for at least the next generation.
Here’s the details:
Read More “Shell Volunteers to Pay Local Taxes on PA Ethane Cracker”
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Wastewater Truck Accident in Elk County, PA
Accidents involving the shale drilling industry are so rare, when one happens, it’s news. And so we bring you news of a brine truck (shale drilling wastewater) that was in an accident and flipped over in Ridgway, PA (Elk County). Even though it was a serious accident, no wastewater leaked and no one was seriously injured.
Here’s an account of what happened:
Read More “Wastewater Truck Accident in Elk County, PA”
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Preston County, WV Turns Down Sierra Club Request
Preston County Commissioners (WV) politely said “no thanks” to supporting a statewide moratorium on new Marcellus Shale gas permits being pushed by the Sierra Club. Chairman of the WV Sierra Club, Jim Sconyers, addressed commissioners at a meeting Monday night to make a request that they support the effort.
Read More “Preston County, WV Turns Down Sierra Club Request”
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Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EV Energy Partners | Industrywide Issues | M3 Midstream | Ohio | Processing Plants
OH Shale Gas Processing Plant Work Gets Underway
In May, MDN told you about a new $400 million shale gas collection and processing plant being built in Columbiana County, Ohio by a joint venture between Chesapeake Energy, M3 Midstream and EV Energy Partners (see this MDN story). The plant will be built on a 117-acre site over a 5-year span with the first part due to go online in 2013.
A quick update on the new plant:
Read More “OH Shale Gas Processing Plant Work Gets Underway”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Oct 2, 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 2, 2012”
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Detailed Look at PA’s First Half Production Numbers
For the first six months of 2012, over 85% of Pennsylvania’s shale gas production came from just six (of 67) counties in the state, and more than half (57%) of PA’s production came from three counties—three counties that share a border with New York State (hello NY, pay attention!).Last Friday the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection released production figures for the first half of 2012. Here’s a detailed look at those numbers, with charts and tables:
Read More “Detailed Look at PA’s First Half Production Numbers”
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NY DEC Dashes Hopes for New Drilling Rules by Nov 29
Last Friday MDN reported the prediction that New York’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) may well release new drilling rules by Nov. 29 due to an obscure provision in New York law that requires them to adopt said rules one year from the last public hearing (see this MDN story). On Sunday, a DEC spokesperson said the DEC “expects to miss” the Nov. 29 deadline, and in order to avoid restarting the rulemaking process from the beginning, the DEC will hold a public hearing between now and then which in effect restarts the one-year clock ticking all over again.
As reported by the AP:
Read More “NY DEC Dashes Hopes for New Drilling Rules by Nov 29”
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ODNR Announces Third Ohio State Geologist This Year
Do we now have a conclusion to the unhappy tale of a state geologist for Ohio? You may recall MDN’s coverage of the firing of Ohio state geologist Larry Wickstrom earlier this year when he released a map showing revised boundaries for the Utica Shale formation, boundaries indicating where “the best places” to drill are located (see this MDN story). That map apparently ticked off Wickstrom’s bosses at ODNR. Wickstrom had been an employee of the ODNR Geological Survey division for 29 years but he was shown the door.
After Wickstrom we had an interim state geologist, Mac Swinford, who announced a new Utica Shale boundary map due out in September (see this MDN story). No idea if Swinford’s map announcement had anything to do with the latest ODNR announcement or not, but as of Friday, we now have a new, officially anointed, full-time, non-interim state geologist: Thomas J. Serenko.
Read More “ODNR Announces Third Ohio State Geologist This Year”
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1st NRG Corp Newest Entrant in OH Utica Shale
1st NRG Corporation pushed out a press release saying they’ve entered into a “letter of intent” to develop 7,150 Utica Shale acres in eastern Ohio, although the release does not identify which company the agreement was made with nor which county the acreage is located in. The news here is that there’s a new driller entering the Utica Shale region. It’s a small stake in the play so far—we’ll see what develops.
Here’s the 1st NRG release:
Read More “1st NRG Corp Newest Entrant in OH Utica Shale”
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Air Quality | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | West Virginia
Chesapeake Applies for Air Pollution Permits in WV
Chesapeake Energy, the only active Marcellus Shale driller in Ohio, Brooke and Hancock counties in West Virginia, has asked the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection to grant permits allowing them to release certain pollutants into the air from both flaring at some of their well sites and at compressor stations they own. People living near those sites are none too excited about the prospect and said so at a recent public hearing:
Read More “Chesapeake Applies for Air Pollution Permits in WV”
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | PVR Partners | Wyoming County (PA)
New PVR Marcellus Pipeline Comes Online in Northeast PA
The newest Marcellus Shale pipeline became operational today. PVR Partners made an announcement that their Wyoming Pipeline, a 30-mile pipeline running from northern Wyoming County, PA south to Luzerne County where it connects to the Transco interstate pipeline, is now operational. The new pipeline has a 750 million cubic feet per day capacity (MMcfd), of which 255 MMcfd (so far) has been spoken for by producers.
From the announcement:
Read More “New PVR Marcellus Pipeline Comes Online in Northeast PA”
The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is a “coalition of coalitions” representing more than 77,000 landowners throughout New York State. Consider it the official, collective voice of landowners interested in allowing shale gas drilling on their land. For many months MDN has marveled at how restrained the JLCNY has been with regard to the foot-dragging on the part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Joe Martens when it comes to the release of new drilling rules. MDN would “shoot from the lip” and say “Sue ‘em!” The JLCNY would calmly say, “Let the process work. In the end, we’ll have the best drilling laws in the world, and no one will be able to say we didn’t take our time and do it right.” And of course they’re correct.
For the first six months of 2012, over 85% of Pennsylvania’s shale gas production came from just six (of 67) counties in the state, and more than half (57%) of PA’s production came from three counties—three counties that share a border with New York State (hello NY, pay attention!).