Marcellus Drilling News

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Father of Shale Fracking George Mitchell Talks to Forbes
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

Forbes magazine landed the interview everyone has been trying to get: George Phydias Mitchell. He’s known as the father or inventor of the technology we now call shale fracking. Unfortunately, the 93 year-old Mitchell said he’s in favor of federal regulation of fracking and called smaller, independent drillers “wild” indicating they need to be reigned in.

A few pickings from the interview, and then MDN’s comments to follow:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Livingston County | New York | Regulation

Portage, NY Attorney: Bans are a Form of Regulation
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

For or against? That’s the question being played out at town board meetings across New York State. And the full question is, “For or against hydraulic fracturing?” As the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) gets closer to releasing new drilling regulations for horizontal drilling and fracking, towns are lining up to either ban it (illegal in MDN’s opinion, although the court is still weighing that issue), or to “support it,” which usually means a vote to let the DEC actually issue the new regs before passing judgment.

Somehow, if you vote to wait for the DEC, anti-drillers consider that support. Whatever. One of the latest townships to consider the issue is in western New York—the Town of Portage in Livingston County. The board seems to sense the local political winds are blowing in favor of a ban, but they aren’t acting quick enough for the local anti-drilling zealots who attend every board meeting and complain. What’s interesting about the latest board meeting is not that the board decided to wait, but the admission their attorney let slip in his comments:

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Education | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Tioga County (PA)

Mansfield U. Educates Students on Shale Drilling
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

The Chronicle of Higher Education ran an article earlier this week highlighting the tension now being felt at many colleges—especially public universities—over whether or not to allow shale gas drilling on or under their land.

The article opens by citing Ohio University’s struggle with the issue. The state has mandated that public universities inventory their assets—the land they own—to see whether or not it’s suitable for Utica Shale drilling. Some schools, like Ohio U., are resisting, claiming their “community” is pro-sustainability and anti-fracking.

The article quotes extensively from Dr. Anthony Ingraffea, a well-known Cornell professor who has made a full-time occupation out of bashing fracking and shale gas drilling.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Retired NY DEC Director Pans Cuomo Fracking Plan
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

In a letter to the editor of the Albany Times Union, the retired director of Natural Resources Planning for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Charles Morrison, comes down squarely on the side of anti-drillers. His letter says the rumored plan by Gov. Cuomo to allow test drilling in five Southern Tier counties is a “checkerboard plan” that’s “like something out of a Cracker Jack box.” Sounds to MDN like perhaps retirement is driving Mr. Morrison a little bit crackers himself.

Here’s his letter:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Alec Baldwin’s Rank Hypocrisy on NY Fracking
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

Not long ago, Alec Baldwin went to visit his mom in Syracuse (as he often does, like a good boy), and while he was there, he lent his star power to promoting Josh Fox and his anti-fracking propaganda film Gasland at a local screening (see this MDN story).

Alec likes telling everyone else what they can do with their own private property. But what’s this? He doesn’t want to be told what to do with his private property? Hmmm.

It seems Alec wants to build a great big windmill at his home in the Hamptons on Long Island. Problem is, he needs a development permit to build the $100,000 windmill that may save him $2,000 in electric bills (this is how the mind of the liberal works folks). But he’s hit a snag with getting permission to build it. Anyone see the rank hypocrisy here? What’s good for thee is not what’s good for me, when it comes to anger-challenged Alec.

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Bradford County | Housing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

PA Bed & Breakfast Expands to Meet Demand from Marcellus
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

One of the oft-heard refrains is that when drilling shows up in a region, housing gets tight—really tight. Rents for apartments soar, and hotels are booked solid. That’s certainly the case in Bradford County, PA where there has been a tremendous amount of drilling, and economic growth, over the past few years.

The beauty of capitalism is that although there may be short-term pain from time to time, there’s long-term gain. The free market will appropriately respond to meet demand (opposite of what the Occupy Wall Street types say). And that’s just what’s happening in Dushore, PA, a small community in Bradford County. This is a story of a small bed and breakfast more than doubling in size to meet the demand for rooms—because of Marcellus Shale gas drilling.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Food & Water Watch Uses Fracking Fear for Fundraising
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

Rabid anti-drilling group Food & Water Watch (F&WW), based in Washington, D.C., needs money. How do we know? Because they’re circulating a petition to the rich, liberal residents of Johnston and Cranston, Rhode Island, telling them they need to support a statewide ban on fracking. Wait, Rhode Island? Yeah, Rhode Island—where there is no shale to frack! So why circulate a petition there? You’ve got it—it’s a sleazy tactic to get names and addresses for F&WW fundraising campaigns.

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Crawford County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp

Crawford County, PA First Shale Well Drilled in Utica
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

Range Resources has begun drilling a Utica Shale well in Crawford County, PA (northwest corner of the state), which is the very first shale well—Utica or Marcellus—to be drilled in Crawford County. But it’s not the only well they plan to drill.

An update on what’s known about Range’s plans for Crawford:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

US Chamber Launches PR Initiative to Support Shale Drilling
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce this week launched a major new initiative—a public relations campaign—to support shale gas drilling, particularly in the Utica and Marcellus Shale. The Chamber rolled out their “Shale Works for US” campaign on Tuesday in Ohio, and yesterday (Thursday) in Pennsylvania. According to the press release (see below), the campaign’s purpose is to “build support for the vast economic and energy security benefits of natural gas and oil produced from shale.” The chief driver of the new PR effort is the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy—the energy policy “arm” of the Chamber.

The Chamber is touting the massive number of jobs being created by the shale energy industry—rightfully so. The real shame? That such an effort is even needed. It should be obvious shale jobs are good jobs and the shale drilling industry a good industry. It’s sad but true that organizations like the Chamber have to spend massive amounts of money to counter the constant drumbeat of mainstream media against clean and safe natural gas. Go figure.

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Ohio | Richland County | Utica Shale

OPC Says Utica Shale Drilling Coming to Richland County, OH
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

The director of the Ohio Petroleum Council, Terry Flemming, says shale drilling will come to Richland County, OH sometime in the next several years.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jul 20, 2012
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

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

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Economic Impact | Energy Services | GE Oil & Gas | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Stark County

How Many GE Employees will Come to Canton, OH?
July 19, 2012July 19, 2012

Although Chesapeake is leaving town, moving the majority of its 200 employees who work in offices in Canton to a new facility they’re building 7 miles away in Louisville (see this MDN story), it’s not all bad news for Canton.

GE will build a new facility in Canton where some 30 new jobs will be created to manage GE’s area Marcellus and Utica Shale operations. But it’s going to cost Canton up to $84,000 per year for five years to seal the deal.

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Stark County

How Many Chesapeake Employees will Stay in Canton, OH?
July 19, 2012July 19, 2012

Earlier this week, MDN highlighted the announcement that Chesapeake Energy has chosen Louisville, Ohio to build a new field office (think regional headquarters) on a 291-acre site in the Beck Industrial Commerce Center (see this MDN story).

Chesapeake currently has employees working out of several offices in the City of Canton (which is about 7 miles from Louisville). They also have employees in other offices in the surrounding region—approximately 400 workers total. About half of them (~200) work in offices in Canton. Canton city officials worked hard to get Chesapeake to build their regional HQ there, but in the end, Canton didn’t have a spot large enough for the consolidated operation.

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Energy Companies | Hess | Jefferson County (OH) | Ohio | Utica Shale

Hess’ Utica Plans: Operate 3 Rigs, Complete 10 Wells in 2012
July 19, 2012July 19, 2012

Hess will open its Steubenville, Ohio field office next week, a million dollar investment. The grand opening will be a low-key affair with a few area politicians and invited guests. Hess likes to avoid publicity.

Hess Operations Manager Joaquin Martinez, speaking at Tuesday’s Partners in Progress meeting in Steubenville about the grand opening, said that Hess has already spent $1.2 billion on the Utica Shale—$770 million to acquire Marquette Exploration, and $500 million on a joint venture with Consol Energy. He also had this to say about their short-term Utica Shale drilling plans:

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Columbiana County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio

Columbiana Port Authority Sells Water for Fracking
July 19, 2012July 19, 2012

The Columbiana Port Authority (Columbiana County, OH) has voted to sell water to Aqua Terra Asset Management who will in turn sell it to Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers for use in hydraulic fracturing. The deal calls for Aqua Terra to withdraw the water from two fire hydrants in East Liverpool, to be charged $9 per 1,000 gallons.

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Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | OriginOil | Wastewater

OriginOil Uses Algae to Clean Frack Wastewater
July 19, 2012July 19, 2012

OriginOil, Inc., based in Los Angeles, is a biomass company that produces and markets a patent-pending commercial system using algae to produce crude oil. Think of it as a renewable fossil fuel! Their system is also used to clean water, using algae as a pollution absorber.

A new application for OriginOil is using their algae system to process flow back water—wastewater from hydraulic fracturing of shale oil and gas wells. OriginOil announced today they have created a new oil and gas division and appointed the former President of Exxon Arabian Gulf as an advisor to the business.

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