Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Mar 8, 2012
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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New Website Connects Businesses to Marcellus Drilling Industry
Here’s a great idea: Why not start a website where companies already involved in the Marcellus drilling industry, and those companies who want to work with them, service them, do business with them, can also be listed, so they can “connect.” Sort of Facebook or LinkedIn for Marcellus-related businesses. The Marcellus Shale coalition has done just that! The new website they’ve created to connect businesses interested in the Marcellus is called Marcellus on Main Street and is located at: www.MarcellusOnMainStreet.org. The website just launched yesterday, so it’s not full of listings yet. It does contain Marcellus Shale Coalition member firms, which is a great start. If you work at or own a business and want to list it on the site,
the listing is free. (Sorry! I was wrong, the listing is not free but $25.) Your business may be trucking, or haircutting—it makes no difference. If you want to provide a service or sell something to the drilling industry, get your business listed in this new directory.Read More “New Website Connects Businesses to Marcellus Drilling Industry”
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Can Ohio Regulations Handle the Coming Shale Gas Boom?
The question of whether or not Ohio is ready for a drilling boom in the Utica Shale may be moot, since the boom has already started. But an official from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) says with new laws passed last year, and more laws set to be passed this year, Ohio is more than ready to handle a rapid expansion of Utica and Marcellus Shale drilling in the state.
Read More “Can Ohio Regulations Handle the Coming Shale Gas Boom?”
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Washington County
MarkWest Tells Cecil Township It’s Time to Grant Permit
A long-running dispute between MarkWest and Cecil Township (in PA) may soon be resolved. Last May, MDN reported that MarkWest wanted to build a Marcellus Shale gas compressor station in Cecil Township (Washington County). They filed an application for a “special exception” to allow them to build the plant but were denied by the zoning board. MarkWest then filed a lawsuit in Washington County civil court (see this MDN story).
The lawsuit is due to go to mediation next week, but MarkWest said in a letter dated March 1 to the Cecil zoning board that the new Act 13 law recently passed means the zoning board’s decision of last year is now null and void, mediation is therefore not necessary, and that they (Cecil) should move forward with granting the permit.
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The Best Economic Hope for NY? Marcellus Gas Drilling
MDN friend Tom Shepstone (from Energy in Depth) has a viewpoint article in today’s Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. Titled “Best hope for N.Y. economy is gas drilling,” Tom makes a strong case for Marcellus drilling in New York. Among the eye-opening facts he brings to light, Tom points out:
Read More “The Best Economic Hope for NY? Marcellus Gas Drilling”
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Belmont County | EMG | Energy Services | Guernsey County | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Utica Shale
New MarkWest Deal to Develop Infrastructure in OH Utica Shale
A joint venture between MarkWest Energy and The Energy and Minerals Group (EMG), called MarkWest Utica EMG, has just signed a deal with Gulfport Energy to build new gathering pipelines for Utica wells in Harrison, Guernsey and Belmont counties (Ohio). The deal also includes MarkWest Utica processing the gas produced by Gulfport, including natural gas liquids, at its Harrison County processing complex.
Read More “New MarkWest Deal to Develop Infrastructure in OH Utica Shale”
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Diesel Fuel Spill at Drilling Site in Green County, PA
Last December, about 480 gallons of diesel fuel leaked onto the ground at a well site in Patterson Run (Greene County), PA. EQT, the driller at the site, notified the state DEP and the National Response Center. The spill was quickly cleaned up, within 24 hours, and there were no environmental impacts following the spill. However, local officials are only just now learning about the spill, and that makes them upset.
Read More “Diesel Fuel Spill at Drilling Site in Green County, PA”
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Bedford County | Blair County | Cambria County | Economic Impact | Fulton County | Huntingdon County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Somerset County
PA Counties Band Together for Grant to Create Marcellus Jobs
A regional economic development group made up of officials from Blair, Cambria, Somerset, Huntingdon, Fulton and Bedford counties in Pennsylvania is asking the state for a $700,000 grant to help them help businesses located in the southern Allegheny region identify new business opportunities in the shale gas drilling industry. The group hopes that their geography, strategically located between PA’s northeastern and southwestern Marcellus gas fields, will bring new business to the area, and along with that new business, more jobs.
Read More “PA Counties Band Together for Grant to Create Marcellus Jobs”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Mar 7, 2012
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Jarrett Out, Jugovic In as President & CEO of PennFuture
Stop the presses. Jan Jarrett, long-time President and CEO of PennFuture, has resigned her position. PennFuture is Pennsylvania’s largest environmental lobbying organization, and also a largely anti-drilling organization. Her departure is sudden and unexpected after leading the organization for the past 13 years. Why the sudden departure? Jeanne Clarke, spokesperson for PennFuture says that Jarrett plans to take a “breather” and focus on her grandchildren. However, her departure may be related to trouble that cropped up last December over how a state grant was spent by the organization:
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MDN Editor Jim Willis Interviews NY Sen. Tom Libous
MDN editor Jim Willis interviewed NY State Senator Tom Libous last Friday, March 2nd. Sen. Libous is a member of Gov. Cuomo’s Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel and an influential member of the NY Senate, holding the post of Deputy Majority Leader. We spoke about his recent remarks in the New York Times and whether or not his support for drilling has changed. We also spoke about the Advisory Panel’s work and where things go from here. It’s a short and informative interview, especially for New York’s landowners who are wondering whether, and when, drilling might begin in New York.Jim interviewed Sen. Libous as special correspondent for Energy in Depth, so head on over to this page on the EID-M website and click to listen.
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Chesapeake & KKR Form Partnership to Invest in Royalties
Chesapeake Energy and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) are joining forces to invest in buying royalty interests in shale drilling areas in the United States. KKR is a global investment firm with $59 billion in assets under management. Under the deal, Chesapeake will find the deals and contribute 10 percent of the money, and KKR will kick in the other 90 percent of the money. The initial commitment is to invest $250 million.
From the joint press release:
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Scranton Landfill Request for More Shale Cuttings Approved
Exactly one month ago MDN reported that Keystone Sanitary Landfill, a privately owned and operated municipal solid waste landfill located in Dunmore, PA (a Scranton suburb), had applied to increase the daily volume of shale cuttings (leftover rock waste from drilling) from 600 to 1,000 tons per day. They also requested from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) a change so they could receive the cuttings in an “unprocessed or unsolidified form” (see this MDN story).
Read More “Scranton Landfill Request for More Shale Cuttings Approved”
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Washington County
PA Towns Banding Together to Sue State Over New Drilling Law
Last month’s passage of new Marcellus drilling regulations in Pennsylvania has some local municipalities grumbling that the state’s “Act 13” regulating oil and gas drilling and superseding local zoning ordinances takes away their ability to, yes, control drilling in their local municipalities. Which of course is what the law is designed to do!
Several municipalities, Cecil Township the latest, are making moves to band together and sue the state over the new law in an effort to overturn the Act 13 provision.
Read More “PA Towns Banding Together to Sue State Over New Drilling Law”
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Dry Gas Drilling Slowdown Results in Layoffs in PA
Although historically low natural gas prices are great for consumers, it’s not so great for some in the shale gas drilling industry. Because drillers are changing their focus away from drilling in the “dry gas” areas of the Marcellus Shale play and instead focusing on the “wet gas”—or liquids-rich—portion of the play, it causes a slow down for some businesses and leads to layoffs in certain industries, like title searching. Title searches of property deeds are a necessary part of acquiring leases for drilling.
A title search company in western PA has just laid off nearly half of their staff:
Read More “Dry Gas Drilling Slowdown Results in Layoffs in PA”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Mar 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: Tue, Mar 6, 2012”
Here’s a great idea: Why not start a website where companies already involved in the Marcellus drilling industry, and those companies who want to work with them, service them, do business with them, can also be listed, so they can “connect.” Sort of Facebook or LinkedIn for Marcellus-related businesses. The Marcellus Shale coalition has done just that! The new website they’ve created to connect businesses interested in the Marcellus is called Marcellus on Main Street and is located at: 
MDN editor Jim Willis interviewed NY State Senator Tom Libous last Friday, March 2nd. Sen. Libous is a member of Gov. Cuomo’s Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel and an influential member of the NY Senate, holding the post of Deputy Majority Leader. We spoke about his recent remarks in the New York Times and whether or not his support for drilling has changed. We also spoke about the Advisory Panel’s work and where things go from here. It’s a short and informative interview, especially for New York’s landowners who are wondering whether, and when, drilling might begin in New York.