Marcellus Drilling News

UB Defends Shale Institute & Study in Response to SUNY Board

October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

An update on the witch hunt at University at Buffalo (UB). You may recall that UB had the temerity, the gall, to establish a Shale Resources and Society Institute (SRSI) in April of this year. When said institute turned out its first report in May, which detailed how environmental problems caused by Marcellus Shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania were isolated, mostly minor and on the decline, the anti-drillers just about came off the rails. It was an all-hands-on-deck, we-must-obliterate-the-credibility-of-the-report-and-the-people-who-wrote-it campaign. And so the witch hunt began (see this MDN story).

Illegal Protest Blocks Well Site Near Youngstown, OH

October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

Anti-drilling protesters illegally blocked access to a horizontal shale gas well being drilled in Jackson Township in Mahoning County, Ohio (near Youngstown) on Sunday. The protest went on for five hours, but for some reason the police didn’t seem to think arresting and removing the protesters was a good idea.

The law-breakers, from the group Fracfree Mahoning Valley and Frackfree America, disappointingly included a lawyer and a reverend:

Columbiana County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio

Latest Bonus/Royalty Numbers Mentioned in Columbiana County

October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

Leetonia Shale LLC is a for-profit company hoping to band residents together into a coalition in the Leetonia and Washingtonville, Ohio area to collectively lease their land to a drilling company. Terry May, president of Leetonia Shale, estimates there’s about 1,400 acres of smaller parcels left in the area that are currently not leased for drilling.

May held a meeting over the weekend at Leetonia High School to update area residents on progress and to attract more people to the coalition. Among the people attending was Franklin Square resident Don Shepard, who had this to say about the latest numbers being mentioned by May for signing bonuses and royalties in that part of Columbiana County:

CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies

CONSOL 3Q12 Update: Earnings, NatGas Production Both Down

October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

Here come the parade of third quarter operational and earnings updates from drilling companies. CONSOL is one of the first out of the gate. The company overall took a hit on earnings in the third quarter, largely because of their coal operations. However, their natural gas production was also down a bit from the third quarter of 2011: 39.5 billion cubic feet for 3Q12 vs. 40.4 billion cubic feet for 3Q11.

During 3Q12 CONSOL reports drilling 12 new Marcellus wells, completing 12 Marcellus wells, with 22 wells going online. Also during 3Q12 CONSOL drilled 4 new Utica wells, 2 were completed and 1 Utica well went online. Here’s the full details from the CONSOL press release:

About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Oct 15-28, 2012 [Free]

October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

Below are upcoming events for this week and next.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Oct 15, 2012

October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

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

Alternative Energy | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues