Oh the irony of it. New York State wants cheap natural gas—and in fact the state wants shale gas—but they won’t allow drilling. That doesn’t stop state officials from recognizing a good deal when they see it. So New York has struck a deal to buy shale gas from Pennsylvania for five NY state universities. Why? Because it’s cheap!
Read More “NY Universities to Buy Cheap PA Marcellus Shale Gas”
Enerplus Corporation, a Denver-based exploration and production company, announced yesterday that its president has resigned “to pursue other opportunities.” No word on what those other opportunities are. According to MDN’s newly published Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook 2012 – Volume 1, Enerplus had active Marcellus drilling operations in both Clinton County, PA and Preston County, WV in 2011.
Read More “Sudden Resignation of Enerplus President Dana Johnson”
The South Fayette School District in South Fayette Township (Allegheny County), PA has decided to pass on an offer from Range Resources to transfer a Marcellus Shale drilling lease previously signed with Chesapeake Energy.
Read More “South Fayette School Passes on Offer from Range Resources”
As MDN reported yesterday, Clean Harbors Environmental Services of Norwell, Mass. wants to build a Marcellus Shale waste processing facility in Sunbury, PA (see this MDN story). Some area residents are not happy about it, but not so with Mayor David Persing. He supports it and offers his thinking and rationale for supporting the proposed project:
Read More “Why Sunbury, PA Mayor Supports Marcellus Waste Facility”
Superior Appalachian Pipeline LLC has filed for a permit to construct a new compressor station in northern Allegheny County, PA (near Pittsburgh):
Read More “New Compressor Station Near Pittsburgh Hits Opposition”
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, Mar 29, 2012”
BP has entered the Utica Shale play by signing a lease agreement with with the Associated Landowners of the Ohio Valley (ALOV) group to lease 84,000 acres in Trumbull County, OH. Not sure why, but BP and the ALOV group officially are not disclosing the terms of the deal (as you’ll see in the press release below). However, terms have already leaked:
Read More “BP’s Big Utica Shale Deal, Leases 84K Acres in Ohio”
The Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) issued a press release on Monday taking Ohio Gov. John Kasich to task for his proposal to slap a severance tax increase on the nascent Utica Shale drilling industry and use the proceeds to give taxpayers an income tax reduction. The new tax increase on drillers has been tentatively removed from budget discussions, but OOGA believes Kasich won’t let it rest and will likely try to resurrect it.
From the OOGA press release:
Read More “OOGA Comes Out Swinging Against Kasich Tax Proposal”
Seven Beaver County, PA families filed a lawsuit yesterday in Common Pleas Court accusing O&G Investments of Wooster, Ohio of not drilling on their land (and not paying them) for the past seven years. The lawsuit also names Chesapeake Energy, who purchased the leases from O&G last year and who now, “at the last minute,” is trying to tie up the land and continue the contract by moving in equipment to start a drill pad—even though they haven’t received any permits to drill.
Read More “After 7 Years of No Drilling, PA Families Sue to End Contract”
Clean Harbors Environmental Services of Norwell, Mass. has applied for a permit to build a “waste processing facility” in Sunbury (Northumberland County), PA. The facility will accept up to 1,000 tons of Marcellus Shale drill cuttings, drilling mud and other materials per day. Although the waste is not toxic, some local officials are concerned and upset that the state DEP alone will make a decision about whether or not to approve the permit (Sunbury has no say in the matter). Sunbury mayor David Persing supports the new facility.
Read More “Marcellus Waste Processing Facility Planned for Sunbury, PA”
A new natural gas processing plant to be built by MarkWest Energy was supposed to be built in Monroe County, Ohio, but the geography has now shifted west and the plant will be built in neighboring Noble County, Ohio instead.
Read More “Change in Location for MarkWest Processing Plant in Ohio”
Pipelines and the “midstream” are the next big investment opportunities for investors—so says an article by Bloomberg.
A quick primer on the oil and gas business. Drilling for oil and gas, often referred to as exploration and production (or E&P) is what is usually called “upstream.” The term “midstream” refers to the pipelines, compressor stations and processing plants that move and refine oil and gas. “Downstream” is the distribution and marketing of oil and gas to end customers. There’s some blurring of those lines; for example, big oil refineries are usually considered downstream. But you get the idea.
Read More “Private Investors Aim Their Money at Pipelines/Midstream”
Check out an excellent column today by Paul Driessen on the TownHall.com website. Paul is a senior policy adviser for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and a senior policy adviser to the Congress of Racial Equality. He’s also author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power – Black Death.
In today’s column, Paul makes the point that the Sierra Club and other so-called environmental groups oppose clean-burning natural gas and shale drilling because it’s a threat to their alternative-energy-nirvana ideology (something MDN has long pointed out). The column starts this way:
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, Mar 28, 2012”
Wells Fargo Securities economists recently issued a report on the effects of Marcellus Shale drilling on Pennsylvania jobs (a copy of the 12-page report is embedded below). The report offers both an optimistic and pessimistic forecast of job growth, along with what they believe to be a realistic forecast. And all of their numbers are backed up with plenty of commentary so the reader understands why they predict what they predict. The bottom line?
Read More “Wells Fargo Study: 60% of New PA Jobs from Gas Drilling”
Shell will decide whether or not to build an ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA over the next two years (see this MDN story). If they decide to build, which seems likely, it will take between four and 10 years and $3 billion to build it. It’s a massive project. And Shell will have the federal Environmental Protection Agency looking over their shoulder the whole time, according to an EPA rep from Texas:
Read More “Shell’s ‘Silent’ Partner in Building Cracker Plant: The EPA”