Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Sep 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, Sep 11, 2012”
-
-
Cuomo Says No Immediate Decision on Fracking in NY
Is fracking in New York now effectively dead for the foreseeable future? MDN is pro-drilling, you know that. And we live and work in New York, you know that too. And we have many landowner friends in New York. We love New York!But after comments made in a radio interview yesterday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, MDN has to confess we’re concerned about the future of fracking in the state. Here’s how it went:
Read More “Cuomo Says No Immediate Decision on Fracking in NY”
-
PA Impact Fee Raises More Revenue than Expected
The new Pennsylvania Act 13 drilling law is paying off. Yesterday the PA State Public Utility Commission (PUC), the agency charged will billing and receiving the “impact fee” provided for under the new law, reported how much money was billed, and how much was received. We have the detailed list by drilling company (embedded below).
The original estimate in the spring of this year when the law was passed, is that the first year would raise a total of $180 million in new revenue. The good news? More than $200 million was raised from the impact fee. The PUC billed drillers $205,890,000. So far they’ve paid $197,600,000. The difference is either cases where the driller disputes the PUC’s information about the status of a well, and a few cases of “the check is in the mail.”
Read More “PA Impact Fee Raises More Revenue than Expected”
-
Carizzo’s Missing Impact Fee Payment – Scofflaw?
Yesterday the Pennsylvania State Public Utility Commission (PUC), the agency in charge of assessing and collecting the new Marcellus Shale Impact Fee, released the figures showing which drillers were assessed the fee, the number of both vertical and horizontal wells they drilled, and most importantly, how much they were assessed and how much they’ve paid (see this MDN story).
One particular company stands out among the list: Carizzo Oil & Gas. They stand out because the PUC says they’ve paid exactly $0 of the $3,060,000 they owe in impact fees. The The Harrisburg Patriot-News calls them a scofflaw and chronicles the back and forth they’ve had with both Carrizo and the PUC over the missing payment:
Read More “Carizzo’s Missing Impact Fee Payment – Scofflaw?”
-
Southwestern Selects the Marcellus to Fuel Future Growth
More great analysis from Richard Zeits. Writing on the Seeking Alpha website, Zeits looks in-depth at Southwestern Energy and their plans for the Marcellus Shale. Southwestern’s CEO, Steven Mueller, spoke at length at an industry conference last week about his company’s plans for the rest of this year and next. Zeits took great notes and he re-creates much of that presentation.
Southwestern has a huge position in the Fayetteville Shale basin, so it may surprise some that the Marcellus, where Southwestern had zero production just a year and a half ago, is the horse they’ve selected to ride for future growth. Zeits’ analysis of Mueller’s presentation starts this way:
Read More “Southwestern Selects the Marcellus to Fuel Future Growth”
-
PA DEP Secretaries Spar over Presidential Energy Plans
Monday’s Consumer Energy Alliance summit on Pennsylvania energy saw an interesting closing session, with the previous Pennsylvania Sec. of Environmental Protection (DEP) John Hanger and the current DEP Sec. Michael Krancer squaring off over energy policy in this year’s presidential campaign. Krancer took a day off from his official role at the DEP to become Romney’s surrogate for the debate. Hanger, disappointingly, represented Obama. (On a personal note we like John Hanger and his message very much—we selected him to present MDN’s very first webinar. But we’re disappointed he’s out on the stump defending an indefensible and failed energy policy by this president.)
Krancer minced no words about the differences between Romney and Obama’s energy policies:
Read More “PA DEP Secretaries Spar over Presidential Energy Plans”
-
South Fayette, PA Accuses PUC of Persecuting Them over Act 13
South Fayette in Allegheny County, PA is one of the seven towns that sued the state of PA over the new Act 13 drilling law that stripped away local municipalities’ ability to zone for oil and gas development. The Act 13 law substitutes a new “one size fits all” statewide version of zoning. The Act 13 lawsuit will be heard by the PA State Supreme Court in mid-October.
A South Fayette resident requested the state Public Utility Commission (PUC), charged with reviewing and determining whether or not local municipalities are in compliance with Act 13 with regard to their zoning laws, asked the PUC to investigate, which they are doing (see this MDN story). A resident of Robinson Township also asked the PUC to investigate that town’s ordinances, making Robinson the second case of PUC review (see this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story). Attorneys for South Fayette have responded to the review by accusing the PUC of “professional persecution,” “malicious intent,” and taking an “aggressive stance” against the town.
Read More “South Fayette, PA Accuses PUC of Persecuting Them over Act 13”
-
Hotel Tax Loophole in WV Benefits Drillers, Ending Soon?
A tax loophole in West Virginia on hotels and motels, designed to benefit politicians, has had an unintended consequence: It’s now benefiting the Marcellus Shale drilling industry.
In 1975 the West Virginia legislature passed a law allowing local municipalities the option of charging up to a 3% tax on hotel and motel rooms. In 2005, they raised it to 6%. However, the politicians included an exemption: No tax on hotel and motel stays of over 30 days.
Read More “Hotel Tax Loophole in WV Benefits Drillers, Ending Soon?”
-
Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Sep 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, Sep 11, 2012”
-
Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County
Fracking Opponents Craig & Julie Sautner Sell, Leave Dimock
Dimock Proud, a group of homeowners in and around Dimock, PA who have banded together to defend their town’s reputation against mainstream media news attacks painting the area as a contaminated wasteland, report that two residents who have been among the most vocal critics against drilling and against Cabot Oil & Gas, Craig and Julie Sautner, have settled their lawsuit with Cabot and have left town.This is an email MDN received from Dimock Proud on Saturday:
Read More “Fracking Opponents Craig & Julie Sautner Sell, Leave Dimock”
-
More Details Leak on Secret DEC Meeting with Enviro Groups
Anti-drilling book author and former Gannett reporter Tom Wilbur, who blogs about Marcellus Shale drilling here, still has his sources in Albany. And those sources tell him that Gov. Cuomo remains undecided about releasing new drilling rules for New York (called the SGEIS). They also told him more details about the recent secret meeting held by the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and virulently anti-drilling groups, a meeting where more delays were discussed, favorably, as it turns out:
Read More “More Details Leak on Secret DEC Meeting with Enviro Groups”
-
Why has Potter County, PA Not Seen More Marcellus Drilling?
The Potter County, PA Natural Gas Resource Center has just released the new issue of their bi-monthly newsletter for September/October covering natural gas drilling in and around Potter County. The new issue (embedded below) deals with the question: Where is the long-promised shale drilling boom in Potter County, and why is it taking so long to arrive?
This issue of the newsletter includes a guest column by John Hanger, former Sec. of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (and MDN’s first webinar guest, see here). The issue also sports this map from the DEP, which helps explain where Marcellus and non-Marcellus drilling is happening in PA:
Read More “Why has Potter County, PA Not Seen More Marcellus Drilling?”
-
Hitchhiking Poet Chronicles Life in the Marcellus Shale
We don’t know why we find this story fascinating, but we do. The Berks County (Philly suburbs) Poet Laureate, Craig Czury, has been hanging out in Susquehanna and Wyoming counties lately—hitchhiking. Czury sticks his thumb out, repeatedly, and hitchhikes between Montrose, PA (in Susquehanna County), and Tunkhannock (in Wyoming County), going back and forth along State Route 29. Why? To listen to people’s stories about Marcellus Shale gas drilling.
Czury is working on a series of poems to document his conversations with the people he rides with. He finds that people who pick up a hitchhiker will often open up and talk freely.
Read More “Hitchhiking Poet Chronicles Life in the Marcellus Shale”
-
AP Says PA DEP Sec. Krancer Wrong about Methane in Leroy Twp
The Associated Press, true to form, continues to take pot shots at hydraulic fracturing whenever it can. In reporting on methane leakage from drilling in Leroy Township, Pennsylvania (see this MDN story for background), the AP breathlessly reports “the problem still isn’t fixed even though PA DEP Sec. Michael Krancer says it’s fixed, so there!” Not in those exact words, but that’s the sum total of their latest drive-by article on fracking in PA.
Read More “AP Says PA DEP Sec. Krancer Wrong about Methane in Leroy Twp”
-
Short Line Railroads to the Midstream Rescue?
One of the recurring stories MDN loves to cover is that of the renaissance of short line railroads, making a comeback because of shale gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Drillers need equipment and sand—lots of sand—hauled on a regular basis, and short line railroads play a key part in that equation.
But hauling equipment and sand may not be the complete picture. Short lines and national rail lines are now eyeing a role in hauling natural gas and oil in the absence of pipelines.
Read More “Short Line Railroads to the Midstream Rescue?”
-
CNX Resources | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Utica Shale
CONSOL Exec Says Utica Pipelines are Critical Need
Harry Schurr, general manager of Utica operations for CONSOL Energy’s CNX Gas, puts pipelines at the top of his wish list for what he needs in the Utica Shale. Schurr made the following comments a day after the NEXUS Gas Transmission was announced last week:
Read More “CONSOL Exec Says Utica Pipelines are Critical Need”
Dimock Proud, a group of homeowners in and around Dimock, PA who have banded together to defend their town’s reputation against mainstream media news attacks painting the area as a contaminated wasteland, report that two residents who have been among the most vocal critics against drilling and against Cabot Oil & Gas, Craig and Julie Sautner, have settled their lawsuit with Cabot and have left town.