Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Aug 8, 2012
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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New Study on Water Pollution Risk from Marcellus Drilling
A new paper is about to be published in a scientific journal that will no doubt get misrepresented and widely reported in the mainstream press about assessing the risks of Marcellus Shale drilling. The paper is titled “Water Pollution Risk Associated with Natural Gas Extraction from the Marcellus Shale,” written by a graduate student and his professor at SUNY Stony Brook. The published paper will appear in the August issue of the journal Risk Analysis, a publication of the Society for Risk Analysis (a preview copy of the full article is embedded below).The paper looks at the theoretical probabilities of fracking fluids finding their way into the natural environment and polluting (contaminating) fresh water supplies. MDN will discuss what this paper does, and does not, say.
Read More “New Study on Water Pollution Risk from Marcellus Drilling”
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Bloomberg (Once Again) Says Fracking Causes Earthquakes
Bloomberg Businessweek is highlighting the publication of a new paper that looks at earthquake activity around injection wells in Texas and concludes that fracking causes earthquakes. The article starts this way:
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Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook 2012 – Vol. 2 Just Released [Free]
Hey, MDN is covering our own press release! We’re very excited to announce the release of Volume 2 of the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook 2012. Read all about it below.
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Chesapeake Energy 2Q12 Update: 3.1M Acres in Marcellus/Utica
Chesapeake Energy, the second largest producer of natural gas in the U.S., released its second quarter earnings and operational update yesterday. Because of recent sales of their midstream division and other asset sales, second quarter profits for the company went up—rather dramatically. They reported a profit of $972 million, or $1.29 a share, up from $510 million a year earlier. That includes $584 million in an after-tax gain from the recent sale of Chesapeake Midstream Partners and $490 million in gains related to hedging. If you exclude the asset sales, adjusted earnings were $3 million, or 6 cents a share. Revenue increased 2.1% to $3.39 billion.
Chesapeake reports their lease holdings in the Utica Shale are now 1.3 million acres—the largest position of any driller. As of June 30, they’ve drilled 87 wells in the Utica. Chesapeake is also the largest lease holder in the Marcellus, with a whopping 1.8 million acres. They currently have 10 rigs operating in the “dry gas” portion of the Marcellus.
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NY Town with Permits wants Food Grade Fluids in Fracking
The Town of German, NY, located in Chenango County—one of the “Lucky Five” counties that may see limited fracking if Gov. Cuomo signs off on it—took a vote and sent a letter to both Gov. Cuomo and Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens asking them to require drillers to use “food grade fluids” when and if fracking begins. Why is that letter important for this tiny town with a population of 370? Because three permits to drill in the Utica Shale are pending for the Town of German, and the town board’s letter to the DEC may be interpreted as a “don’t drill here” indication.
Both Com. Martens and Gov. Cuomo have stated when and if drilling permits are issued, they’ll go only to “supportive” communities. Sure sounds like German is not being all that supportive with their letter.
Read More “NY Town with Permits wants Food Grade Fluids in Fracking”
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Want a Job in Ohio’s Utica Shale? There’s a Website for that! [Free]
Energy in Depth – Ohio has just launched a new portal to connect job seekers with companies that have jobs working in the Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling industry in Ohio.
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El Paso | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline
Kinder Morgan Sells Tennessee Pipeline to Itself
Stories about pipelines are not very glamorous, but when the pipeline in question is one of the major pipelines that carries Marcellus Shale gas—it’s important nonetheless. This story is sort of inside baseball. Kinder Morgan, the country’s largest pipeline company, recently concluded the acquisition of another huge pipeline company—El Paso (for $21 billion). As part of the deal, for regulatory reasons, they are required to sell the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) and a half interest in the El Paso Natural Gas pipeline (EPNG). They just announced a deal to do so, selling it to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, which is a subsidiary/related company to Kinder. So Kinder has sold a pipeline to itself, in essence.
Here’s the press release:
Read More “Kinder Morgan Sells Tennessee Pipeline to Itself”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Aug 7, 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, Aug 7, 2012”
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The Marcellus becomes No. 1 Shale for Natural Gas in U.S.
In four short years, the Marcellus Shale has gone from barley registering on national energy reports to becoming the number one most productive natural gas field in the United States, according to Powell Shale Digest and data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).Read More “The Marcellus becomes No. 1 Shale for Natural Gas in U.S.”
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Is Big Oil & Gas Just Like Big Tobacco?
MDN has observed that for weeks now news outlets have recycled the same story with variations on a common theme: Some university studies that have produced reports “favorable” to the drilling industry were partially funded by the drilling industry, or at some point a researcher worked for the industry, and that calls into question the findings of said studies. The latest example is on display in the left-leaning Buffalo News.
MDN is disturbed. Not because the energy industry—which by the way keeps your lights on, keeps your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer, keeps relatively cheap gas in your automobile’s tank, and has helped create the most prosperous country on earth—helps fund some of these scientific studies (who else will pay to defend them?). No, we’re disturbed because the same media so wholly devoted to picking apart anything to do with fossil fuels, willfully and (we would say) criminally ignores the other side of this debate.
Let us explain with a few examples from the latest Bloomberg article:
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PA DEP Sec. Michael Krancer Takes the Gloves Off
When you’re effective at your job and your enemies don’t like it, they call you mean. Case in point: Michael Krancer, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). He’s very effective in his job as the state’s top regulator of oil and gas drilling. And anti-drillers just hate him.
The Philadelphia Inquirer published a story yesterday outlining just how mean he is (no doubt a badge of honor for Mr. Krancer). The story starts this way:
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WV Business Owner: Marcellus Drilling “Saved Our Cookies”
According to the owner of a Charleston, WV construction company, Marcellus Shale drilling has “saved our cookies.” He’s referring to the economic reality that Marcellus drilling has single-handedly revived the construction industry in the Mountain State.
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NYT Columnist Says NatGas OK for Now, But Not for Long-Term
Thomas L. Friedman, columnist for The New York Times, penned a column for Sunday’s edition titled, “Get it Right on Gas.” It is an instructive column and is perhaps the best example yet of the things MDN has been saying (yelling, screaming) for the past two years: Those who oppose drilling do so because of their opposition to all fossil fuels and their embrace of a mythical alternative energy nirvana future.
Here’s a sampling:
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Australian Environmentalist Group Supports Fracking
When one of Australia’s leading environmentalist groups, committed to sustainable and alternative energy—the Conservation Council of Western Australia—says that hydraulic fracturing can be done safely and that they will support it, we take notice.
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Calendar of Events for Aug 6-Aug 19, 2012 [Free]
Below are upcoming events for this week and next.
Read More “Calendar of Events for Aug 6-Aug 19, 2012 [Free]”
A new paper is about to be published in a scientific journal that will no doubt get misrepresented and widely reported in the mainstream press about assessing the risks of Marcellus Shale drilling. The paper is titled “Water Pollution Risk Associated with Natural Gas Extraction from the Marcellus Shale,” written by a graduate student and his professor at SUNY Stony Brook. The published paper will appear in the August issue of the journal Risk Analysis, a publication of the Society for Risk Analysis (a preview copy of the full article is embedded below).
In four short years, the Marcellus Shale has gone from barley registering on national energy reports to becoming the number one most productive natural gas field in the United States, according to