The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) is complaining that Dominion East Ohio is building a pipeline in Harrison County, Ohio using workers from West Virginia (two counties away).
Union members protested on Tuesday at a Dominion pipeline construction site in Stock Township. It wasn’t their first protest against “out of state workers.”
Read More “Union Protests Dominion Pipeline Work in Eastern Ohio”
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: Thu, Jul 26, 2012”
Gov. Cuomo’s rumored plan to begin horizontal hydraulic fracturing of shale for oil and gas (mostly gas) in New York State is an important issue that threatens to fracture the alliance of those of us on the pro-drilling side of the debate. Many people (including MDN) are rightly outraged that not all landowners in all areas of the state will be given the opportunity to participate in drilling—at lease initially (if you believe the rumors about the governor’s plan).
But a highly placed source with knowledge of both the landowners’ plight and the governor’s thinking recently spoke to MDN to let us know we’re viewing this issue through the wrong end of the telescope and that landowners outside of select counties have not been left out. Let me explain…
Read More “Surprising Revelations about Cuomo’s Fracking Plan [FREE]”
Cabot Oil & Gas released their second quarter results yesterday. Cabot’s gas production rose an impressive 40% over the second quarter of last year. But because the commodity price of gas has been so low, Cabot’s profitability took a hit. Net income for Cabot from April through June was $35.9 million (17 cents per share), compared to $54.7 million last year at this time (26 cents per share).
Cabot issued two press releases covering second quarter results. The first covers finances and adds useful high level production numbers:
Read More “Cabot Oil & Gas Production Up, Profits Down for 2Q12”
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry keeps track of jobs and job growth in the Commonwealth. And according to their latest jobs report, direct jobs in the Marcellus Shale went up by 18,000 jobs over the past four years (159%). The report also says total employment related (generated by) shale gas drilling in the state has grown a whopping 238,000 jobs since 2008.
So all those articles and letters to the editor that have cropped up lately questioning whether the shale industry actually creates jobs are nothing but hot air? Yeah.
Yesterday MDN reported on the Bloomberg Businessweek story that France is reconsidering its ban on fracking (see this MDN story). It seems the Businessweek story created a bit of a stir because the French government has assured everyone the ban remains. Except if new technology comes out, then they might reconsider. All of which is driving Greenpeace bonkers (which is always a good thing).
Let’s try to sort it out.
Chesapeake Midstream Partners, a pipeline and processing plant company formerly owned by Chesapeake Energy but recently sold to Global Infrastructure Partners to generate cash, is changing its name. It will now be known as Access Midstream Partners.
In addition to the name change, the new entity also announced new members of the board. From the Access Midstream Partners press release:
Read More “Chesapeake Midstream Changes Name to Access Midstream”
A landowner in Carroll County, OH who had sued to stop Chesapeake Energy from installing a pipeline to a well on his property lost the court battle last Friday. Joseph Coniglio had leased his land for drilling to Anschutz, which later assigned the lease to Chesapeake, but he had not signed an agreement for pipelines to be built connecting to wells drilled on his property. Coniglio says the lease specifically prohibits pipelines without a special agreement. Landowners often will receive extra compensation for any pipelines installed to a well, and Coniglio wanted to do a deal with Chesapeake for the well on his property.
Chesapeake says the original agreement allows them to hook up the well to a pipeline. Coniglio went to court earlier in July and won a restraining order. A judge overturned it on Friday and the pipeline is now almost complete.
Read More “OH Landowner Loses in Court, Chesapeake Builds Pipeline”
Drilling companies like to know, as much as possible, where they stand the best chance of drilling. Horizontal hydraulic fracturing means every hole drilled is much more likely to produce gas (and oil) than a conventional vertical hole, but it’s still no guarantee. Not every hole produces. So to help eliminate as much guesswork as possible, drillers often purchase seismic test data.
Big trucks roll along roadways with large vibrators that emit ultrasonic waves into the ground (or in some cases “thump” the ground) and then record the echoes to draw a picture of the underground rock structure. Ever wonder what it looks like? Just watch the video below of ultrasonic trucks doing their work in Coshocton County, Ohio.
Read More “Ultrasonic Trucks Map Underground in Coshocton County, OH”
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, Jul 25, 2012”
Yesterday the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced a one-year study that will look at impacts on air quality from Marcellus drilling and the infrastructure (pipelines and compressor plants) that comes with shale gas drilling. The study will focus on Washington County in western PA, primarily in and around Chartiers Township, home of a gas processing plant.
The DEP plans to use this initial study and its results to guide them on whether, and where, to conduct other air quality studies.
Read More “PA DEP Announces 1 Year Study on Air Quality in Marcellus”
The so-called “home rule” movement grants power to local town boards to ban hydraulic fracturing either by enacting laws or by the use of zoning. Two court cases challenging home rule in New York are winding their way through the system now. Home rule is also a controversy in Pennsylvania with seven townships taking the state to court over the new Act 13 provision that strips away most of their zoning rights when it comes to oil and gas drilling in favor of state zoning rules.
Home rule is now alive in Ohio too—in Beaver Township (Mahoning County). A group of Beaver Township residents are collecting signatures for a November ballot that would make Beaver a “home rule” township. And in so doing, would grant them the power to shut down drilling.
Read More “‘Home Rule’ Taking Root in NY, PA and now in OH Too”
Two more townships in Chenango County, NY have passed resolutions supporting whatever plan the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) proposes with respect to horizontal hydraulic fracturing for the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Anti-drillers would say they’ve voted to support drilling, although the resolutions simply state they will leave it up to individuals to decide.
The towns of Coventry and Greene voted to adopt a resolution in favor of drilling. Of the townships located in the Lucky Five Counties (Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga) that have voted on the topic of drilling, the vast majority have voted in favor, or more accurately with a neutral resolution saying they won’t ban it.
Read More “2 More NY Southern Tier Towns Vote to Endorse Drilling”
Don’t look now, but one of the shining examples of an entire country that banned fracking—France—a country exalted by anti-drillers as a shining example for America to emulate, is considering…lifting the ban! That’s right, the new French government, which is Socialist to the point of being Communist, sees all of the jobs being created by shale drilling in the U.S.—and they’re lusting for it.
Faced with keeping the ban to placate the greens, or lift the ban and embrace safe drilling and reap thousands of new jobs, the new Socialist French government is leaning toward the later. C’est la vie.
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India’s largest private company of any kind and an energy giant, made three investments two years ago in U.S. shale plays via joint ventures—two of them in the Marcellus and one in the Eagle Ford. The company said in a recent analyst presentation those investments are starting to pay off and they expect their shale gas volumes to grow at an annual rate of 50% by 2015. If it does, it will contribute 8-10% of RIL’s earnings. That’s a pretty big deal—from nothing to contributing 8-10% inside of five years for the largest company in India.
An update on RIL’s three U.S. shale joint ventures:
Read More “India’s RIL: Shale Gas a Major Contributor to Revenue by 2015”
When a mainstream media outlet deigns to tell the truth about fracking, as did the AP a few days ago (see this MDN story), other news outlets start saying things like the fracking debate has “reached a new, bizarre dimension” (Business Insider, July 23). Isn’t it sad when truth is considered bizarre?
Business Insider (BI) got a headache from all the fracking talk—they just don’t know who to believe. I mean, when the AP outs Josh Fox as a liar, maybe the world really is coming to end, right? So BI turned to a geologist, Dr. Steven Marshak at the University of Illinois, to help them out. Dr. Marshak writes geology textbooks, so BI figures he must know a thing or two about fracking.
Read More “5 Things Business Insider Learned about Fracking”