Marcellus Drilling News

Crime | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Spectra Energy | Statewide NY

2 Protesters Arrested in NYC at Spectra Pipeline Site
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

Yet another case of unhinged anti-drilling protesters, this one in New York City. For some time, protesters have rallied against a new 20-mile, $1.2 billion natural gas pipeline being built from New Jersey to New York City by Spectra Energy (see this MDN story). It’s the first new natural gas pipeline built to NYC in decades. According to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, without new sources of natural gas, New York City residents won’t just pay higher rates for heating and electricity, they’ll run out of it (see this MDN story).

Anti-drilling protesters don’t let reality and common sense get in the way of a good protest, however, so they’ve taken to so-called acts of “civil” disobedience—attempting to block workers in NYC as they try to construct the new pipeline. Yesterday, their antics got two of them arrested.

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Crime | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Inergy | New York | Pipelines | Schuyler County

Anti-Drilling Protesters Arrested Near Watkins Glen, NY
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

Anti-drilling protesters in New York are increasingly becoming unhinged. Midstream company Inergy is working on a gas storage project near Watkins Glen in the Finger Lakes region in New York. The $40 million project will create a storage and transfer station for natural gas and liquid petroleum in underground salt caverns near Seneca Lake. Are anti-drillers concerned that the facility will leak gas into the lake? Nope. They just hate fossil fuels period—and they think this facility will encourage more drilling and fracking in New York and Pennsylvania—so they oppose it.

Yesterday a couple of old hippies protesters handcuffed themselves to a fence at the facility. Here’s what happened:

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Warren County | Wastewater

Local Residents Protest 2 Wastewater Injection Wells in NW PA
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

A battle is heating up over proposed deep injection wells for Marcellus and Utica Shale wastewater in Pennsylvania, specifically in Warren County (northwestern PA). A small conventional natural gas driller, Lyon Energy, owns about 80 natural gas wells in Warren County, some of which are now past their useful life. These are not Marcellus or Utica wells but wells drilled (and fracked) vertically, conventionally. Lyon, through the corporate name of Bear Properties, applied for a permit with the federal Environmental Protection Agency to turn two of its wells into deep injection wells for wastewater.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Wayne County

U.S. Sen. Toomey Meets with Wayne County, PA Landowners
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

U.S. Senator Pat Toomey met with a group of landowners in Wayne County, PA yesterday to hear their concerns and complaints that property owners in Wayne have so far not participated in the rest of Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale drilling boom. Why not? Because Wayne County sits in the Delaware River Basin and comes under the regulatory oversight of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). Although the DRBC has drawn up guidelines for drilling, so far it has not had the political spine to implement them, creating an ongoing moratorium.

When/if it grows a spine, the DRBC says it will permit up to 300 wells throughout the region—a number of those (the majority?) will be in Wayne County.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Statewide PA

Labor Unions, Dems Praise PA Gov. Corbett for Cracker Plant
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

In a deeply divided electorate during a hotly-contested election year, is there anything Republicans and Democrats can agree on? Anything that both business and labor can both support? In Pennsylvania, it seems there is. And that issue is the Marcellus and Utica Shale.

Writing in today’s Harrisburg Patriot-News, a labor union leader praises PA Gov. Tom Corbett (a Republican) for his recent state budget and the tax breaks an incentives provided to ensure that Shell builds an ethane cracker plant in the state. Here’s what he says about bipartisan support for Gov. Corbett’s plan:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | West Virginia

New Study: Decline of Coal/Rise of Shale Gas in WV
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

The West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy has just published a new report in an ongoing series called “The State of Working West Virginia.” This new report is titled “In Depth: The Gas Boom and Coal Bust” (a full copy is embedded below). The 34-page report, as the title indicates, takes a look at the tax and employment impacts of West Virginia’s coal industry which is sinking fast, and the upcoming Marcellus Shale industry which is rising fast.

The authors of the study advocate a new severance tax on shale gas (and coal) as one way to help the state. They also think the minimum wage should be increased from $7.25 per hour to $9.80. While most of the study centers on jobs and the economy of West Virginia, the section most MDN readers will want to read is Section Five, pages 21-27. That’s the section dealing directly with coal and natural gas in the state, including this interesting graph showing an estimate for natural gas production in WV through 2035:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Sep 7, 2012
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

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

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

New Marcellus/Utica Shale Supply Chain Website Launches
September 6, 2012September 6, 2012

The Youngstown Business Journal and Farris Marketing today launch a new Marcellus and Utica Shale supply chain connection website called ShaleLink.com. The website offers free listings for businesses interested in in selling (or buying) services related to the shale oil and gas industry. But there’s a catch: Your business has to be located in either Ohio or Pennsylvania to be listed for free.

Here’s the press release/story from the ShaleLink.com website describing the new service:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Roads | Steuben County | Tompkins County

Two Views on Road Use Agreements for Drillers in NY
September 6, 2012September 6, 2012

Some counties in Upstate New York are prepared for potential road damage caused by trucks and heavy equipment when and if shale gas drilling begins. Some of those counties are a lot more welcoming of drillers than others.

Steuben County in New York’s Southern Tier area—one of the five named counties likely to receive permits when drilling begins—is one of the counties ready with a road-use agreement for drillers. Interestingly, Vince Spagnoletti, Public Works Commissioner for Steuben County, says the road use agreement in Steuben originated not because of potential gas drilling but because of potential wind farm development:

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DTE Energy | Enbridge | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Spectra Energy

Surprise! EcoNuts Object to Proposed Utica Shale Pipeline
September 6, 2012September 6, 2012

On Tuesday MDN brought you the news of a major new Utica Shale gas pipeline that will be built from Ohio through Michigan and into Canada by DTE Energy, Enbridge Inc. and Spectra Energy Corp (see this MDN story). It didn’t take long for anti-drillers, like EcoWatch, to announce their opposition.

This is what passes for news on MSNBC:

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Allegheny County | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Heckmann | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Pittsburgh Enviro Services Company Heckmann Merging, Moving
September 6, 2012September 6, 2012

Heckmann Corporation, a publicly traded environmental services company with a major footprint in Pittsburgh and throughout the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, announced on Tuesday they are merging with Power Fuels, a privately held environmental services company based in North Dakota, the largest such firm in the mighty Bakken Shale. The merger puts Heckmann well on the path to their stated goal of becoming the country’s largest environmental services company.

Soon after the announcement, it was disclosed on a conference call to analysts that the new headquarters for Heckmann would be moving from Pittsburgh to Scottsdale, Arizona. That announcement has created a fair amount of angst in Pittsburgh. However, Heckmann says they “anticipate” no layoffs in the Marcellus region:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Food & Water Watch Targets NY Gov. Cuomo with Ad in NC
September 6, 2012September 6, 2012

The unreasonable, extremist and increasingly shrill organization Food & Water Watch (FWW), headquartered in Washington, D.C. (and attempting to interfere in New York’s debate over fracking) is targeting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo with a full page advertisement in today’s Charlotte Observer. Wait, what? A full page ad in a North Carolina newspaper? Yep.

Gov. Cuomo will be in Charlotte today to speak to the New York delegation at the Democrat National Convention. He’ll then stick around to witness the sinking of the Titanic acceptance speech of Barack Obama. FWW apparently thinks Andy wants to run for president in 2016 and they want to run a head-fake on him that if he approves fracking in New York, his chances of winning in 2016 will be about the same as Obama’s chances of winning this year—close to nil. They also think Andy’s bound to pick up a copy of the Charlotte Observer while he’s in town, hence the ad.

Here’s a copy of the FWW propaganda ad appearing today:

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Chesapeake Energy | Encana Energy | Energy Companies

Encana Says Investigation Shows No Collusion with Chesapeake
September 6, 2012September 6, 2012

Back in June, Reuters somehow, magically, got ahold of private personal property (emails) from Chesapeake Energy and Encana Corp. Encana is Canada’s largest natural gas company. Reuters attempted to put the two companies on trial in the court of public opinion for “colluding” to keep prices down on leases in Michigan (see this MDN story). MDN still wonders, did Reuters break the law or aid and abet laws being broken in getting those emails?

But no attention is being paid to the mighty Reuters. No, the intended affect was accomplished: a plethora of investigations by various organizations began, not least of which is an ongoing investigation by the Obama Justice Department (see this MDN story). Encana did their own internal investigation by brining in outside help and the results are in from that investigation: Encana says they’re not guilty of colluding with Chesapeake.

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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Washington County

Political Stunt: PA Rep Wants Sec. of DEP Elected Position
September 6, 2012September 6, 2012

Making some rather wild claims about being denied access to information from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, and apparently on a political vendetta against PA Gov. Tom Corbett and DEP Sec. Michael Krancer, State Rep. Jesse White (Washington County) has introduced two bills into the PA legislature that would turn Krancer’s position from being a secretary appointed by the governor into being a term-limited commissioner elected by voters statewide—similar to attorney general and state treasurer.

White introduced House Bills 2606 and 2607 to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution, saying:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Sep 6, 2012
September 6, 2012September 6, 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: Thu, Sep 6, 2012”
Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC Continues Secret Meetings with Anti-Drilling Groups
September 5, 2012September 5, 2012

It’s now after Labor Day and still no word about a release of new drilling rules in New York State from the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Last week MDN passed along word from the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) sounding the alarm that Gov. Cuomo was being pressured to postpone a decision on releasing new fracking rules until after the November election (see this MDN story).

We may now know why they sounded the alarm. In what appears to be a troubling trend, the DEC continues to have informal (we would call them secret) meetings with anti-drilling environmentalist organizations, like the Sierra Club, NRDC and Riverkeeper. If the DEC were doing this with landowner groups there would be an outcry from those very same organizations. At any rate, the latest attempt by anti-drillers to stall the release of fracking rules seems to center on the call for yet another study—this one on potential so-called health affects from drilling.

From the New York Times late last week:

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