The low commodity price of natural gas, due in part to the large supply created by Marcellus Shale gas, is resulting in lower monthly utility bills for customers in Berks County, PA, in an area not even part of the Marcellus Shale play.
Read More “PA Consumers See Natural Gas Bills Go Down Again”
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 1, 2012”
The Ohio Shale Coalition released a new economic study yesterday prepared researchers from Cleveland State University, Ohio State University and Marietta College. The study projects annual production of oil and gas from the Utica Shale in the state will reach $9.6 billion by 2014 along with an eye-popping 65,000+ jobs. And those jobs will have an average salary of more than $50,000 per year, adding an additional $3.3 billion in labor income in the state. Both a high level overview and a copy of the full 81-page report are embedded below. (MDN is honored to have scored a few mentions in the “News Articles and Web Sources” section of the study.)
MDN particularly likes this graphic from page 39 showing net acreage leaseholds held by drilling companies:
Read More “New Study Predicts 65K Jobs in Ohio by 2014 from Utica Shale”
Baker Hughes is planning to build a $64 million facility in Massillon (Stark County), Ohio. The announcement comes just a month after Baker Hughes announced they are building a new $40 million facility in Harrison County, West Virginia (see this MDN story). The company plans to employ 700 people at the Massillon facility when it’s done (in three years), at an average hourly wage of $31.25. The economic impact in eastern Ohio will be profound.
Read More “Baker Hughes to Build $64M Facility in Ohio; Create 700 Jobs”
An interesting editorial in the New York Times authored by Joe Nocera, a business writer for the NYT, begins this way:
Read More “NYT: Environmental Defense Fund is OK with Fracking”
A group of landowners in Columbiana County, Ohio have filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve lease agreements they say were improperly transferred from Anschutz Exploration to Chesapeake.
Read More “Ohio Landowners Sue to Break Utica Lease Contract”
Cabot Oil & Gas is donating an initial $1 million to help build a new hospital in Montrose (Susquehanna County), PA. Not only will they donate $1 million now, but Cabot is trying to enlist other companies to donate and so will match any other donations and give up to an additional $1 million to the project. Cabot’s goal is to jumpstart the capital campaign with a total $3 million infusion—much needed for a project that is projected to cost $30 million total.
From the Cabot press release:
Read More “Cabot Oil & Gas to Donate $2M to Build New Hospital in NE PA”
Antero Resources announced yesterday that they have sold their Marcellus Shale midstream gathering system in Harrison and Doddridge counties, WV to Crestwood Holdings for $375 million with a sweetener of an extra $40 million if certain production targets are met in 2012 and 2013.
From the Crestwood/Antero press release:
Read More “Antero Sells WV Midstream Operation to Crestwood for $375M”
Southwestern Energy just released their fourth quarter and year-end financial and operating results, along with a revised 2012 capital budget. In the Marcellus Shale, Southwestern spent $332 million to drill 45 wells in 2011. They have budgeted an increase in their Marcellus budget for 2012 to $526 million with plans to drill 80-85 wells.
From the relevant portion of the press release:
Read More “Southwestern Energy Increases Marcellus Budget for 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: Wed, Feb 29, 2012”
A second court case decision in New York, this one in Middlefield (near Cooperstown) has ruled that local municipalities have the right to ban shale gas drilling within their borders. On Friday, Feb. 24 Acting Supreme Court Justice Donald F. Cerio, Jr. ruled that a previously passed drilling ban in the Town of Middlefield in Otsego County, NY is legal. A copy of the judge’s decision is embedded below. (Note: Thank you to an MDN reader for providing this exclusive copy of the decision that comes direct from the judge’s chambers.)
Read More “Middlefield, NY Fracking Ban Stands in Court Decision”
Another Upstate New York municipality has jumped on the “ban fracking” bandwagon. The latest is St. Johnsville (Montgomery County), NY. In a unanimous vote last week, the town board passed a one-year moratorium on fracking, ostensibly to buy time to study it more.
Read More “St. Johnsville, NY Town Board Votes to Ban Fracking”
More jobs coming courtesy of shale gas drilling—this time in Youngstown, Ohio. Exterran Energy Solutions has just announced plans to build a new $13 million facility that when done, will provide 100+ new jobs earning an average $23 per hour.
Read More “Youngstown, OH Scores Another 100 Jobs from Gas Drilling”
On Dec. 20, Chevron discovered a pipe leak at a well pad in Robinson (Washington County), PA. At the time it was thought perhaps a few barrels of wet gas condensate had leaked into the ground. It now appears it may be closer to 80 barrels, or 4,000 gallons.
Read More “Chevron Pipe Leak in SW PA Bigger Than First Thought”
Yet more drilling-related jobs on the way, this time in northern West Virginia. The West Virginia Northern Community College is teaming up with Dominion Natrium to train up to 100 local residents to be pipefitters to work at the Natrium processing plant.
Read More “WV Residents to Get Free Pipefitter Training for Gas Jobs”
Dennis Heller is a small business owner—president and CEO of Stephenson Equipment in Harrisburg, PA. Stephenson Equipment employs 120 people selling and renting construction equipment and crane services, parts, and operator training at seven locations in Pennsylvania and New York. Heller recently testified at a U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee Energy & Mineral Resources Subcommittee field hearing in Steubenville, Ohio, on the impact of shale energy development and what it means for small businesses (a copy of his testimony is embedded below).
Read More “Congressional Hearing: Shale Energy a “Game Changer” for Small Biz”