Marcellus Drilling News

Proposed Compressor Plant Near Wilkes-Barre Criticized

May 24, 2012May 24, 2012

Residents gathered in West Wyoming (Luzerne County), PA to hear about plans from UGI Energy Services, subsidiary of UGI Utilities, to build a natural gas compressor plant in the township. The compressor plant will help bring Marcellus Shale gas through a new 28-mile pipeline UGI is building from Wyoming County to Luzerne County. Getting shale gas to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area will lead to a 40 percent reduction in natural gas bills for customers over the next four years, according to UGI.

But the compressor plant is not without its critics…

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake Responds to NYC Comptroller on Board Election

May 24, 2012May 24, 2012

Two days ago MDN reported that New York City Comptroller John Liu had written an open letter to Chesapeake Energy shareholders encouraging them to vote down the re-election of two board members (see this MDN story). Chesapeake has now responded, strongly, to Liu’s letter with a letter of their own.

From a Chesapeake press release:

Exporting | Industrywide Issues

U.S. Shale Gas Exports to Europe Will Grow 74% by 2035

May 24, 2012May 24, 2012

Amazingly, if you were to add up the volume of available shale gas in Europe, it totals an estimated 639 trillion (with a “t”) cubic feet of natural gas, more than four times the estimates for the Marcellus Shale in the U.S. Yet equally amazing European countries are either banning fracking or have instituted moratoria—they don’t want to use their own natural resources. No problem! The U.S will be happy to sell them some of ours.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, May 24, 2012

May 24, 2012May 24, 2012

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

Columbiana County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio

Some OH Landowners Get $5,800/Acre While Neighbors Get $4/Acre

May 23, 2012May 23, 2012

contract A cautionary story for landowners comes from Columbiana County, Ohio. Some landowners, like Patrick and Jill McNicol, own land encumbered by old gas leases going back fifty years they knew nothing about. What does it mean? They’ll get $4 per acre for their land (and no royalties), while their neighbors will get $5,800 per acres and 12-20 percent royalties.

Is there any recourse for the McNicols? Maybe.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Sierra Club Hindering Change from Coal to Natural Gas

May 23, 2012May 23, 2012

In what can only be described as idiotic, the Sierra Club is actively preventing utility companies from converting electrical generating plants from coal to natural gas—because they don’t like fracking. This kind of stuff has to stop.

FERC Approves Spectra Energy’s $1.2B NYC Natural Gas Pipeline

May 23, 2012May 23, 2012

Spectra Energy’s proposed $1.2 billion natural gas pipeline for New York City finally won approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Monday. The 20-mile new pipeline to be built will connect New York to New Jersey and deliver 800 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to homes and businesses in New York. Most of the gas will come from the Marcellus Shale. It will ease the energy needs of New York because starting in 2015 the City will no longer allow No. 6 fuel oil to be burned.

The new pipeline and the energy it will deliver by saving all that oil burning will be the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road. That’s a good thing, right? So how have some New Yorkers responded? Thankful that they too will be able to access cleaner burning, lower cost natural gas? Thankful that this new pipeline will result in cleaner air? You guessed it—they don’t want it!

Columbiana County Port Authority Leases Land to Chesapeake

May 23, 2012May 23, 2012

The Columbiana County (OH) Port Authority voted on Monday to lease 43.9 acres of its property in Beaver County, PA to Chesapeake Energy.

PA Resident Wins Right to Appeal DEP Water Contamination Case

May 23, 2012May 23, 2012

The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) ruled on May 16 that a Washington County resident who claims that nearby shale gas drilling is responsible for his water well being contaminated with methane and chemicals can appeal a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) determination that his well was not contaminated by shale drilling.

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

New Philly Association Formed to Help Businesses Crack the Marcellus

May 23, 2012May 23, 2012

A new association has been formed in the Philadelphia area to connect local businesses with business opportunities in the Marcellus Shale. So far the new association, called the Delaware Valley Marcellus Association (DVMA), consists of four founding member companies, but has plans to expand rapidly.

From the press release announcing the DVMA:

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, May 23, 2012

May 23, 2012May 23, 2012

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

PVR Announces $380 Million Investment in NE PA Marcellus

May 22, 2012May 22, 2012

kick it up a notch Penn Virginia Resource Partners (PVR) is kicking up its commitment to the Marcellus Shale in northeastern PA a notch. Yesterday they announced they would invest $380 million on Marcellus Shale pipeline projects including a new extension to its natural gas pipeline in Lycoming County, PA. The announcement also reveals that they have commitments from Shell, Southwestern, Range and Inflection for the extra capacity and services. Yesterday PVR completed a previously announced deal to acquire Chief Gathering.

From the PVR press release:

Statewide WV | West Virginia

Why 4 Months to Approve WV Marcellus Permits?

May 22, 2012May 22, 2012

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) Secretary Randy Huffman says it’s taking about four months on average to process a Marcellus Shale gas well permit in WV—which is about three months longer than it should be taking, according to Huffman. Why the delay? Four reasons:

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

Union Support for Marcellus Drilling at PA Rally

May 22, 2012May 22, 2012

The Marcellus Shale Coalition, a Pennsylvania-based industry group headed by Kathryn Klaber, held a rally at the Capitol in Harrisburg on Monday. Their aim was to dispel two popular myths about drilling in the Marcellus Shale: that the jobs are temporary, non-union jobs, and that the jobs all go to out-of-state workers from Texas and Oklahoma.

At the rally to support the Coalition were union members from the Laborers’ International Union of North America, who presented evidence that it’s local, union membership that often fills positions in the Marcellus workforce.

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

NYC Comptroller Opposes 2 Chesapeake Board Members

May 22, 2012May 22, 2012

New York City Comptroller John Liu wrote a letter to Chesapeake Energy shareholders encouraging them to vote “no” on the re-election of two members to the board of directors. Why does it matter what the New York City Comptroller thinks? Because New York City owns 1.9 million shares of Chesapeake stock—not an insignificant amount.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

G8 Ministers Give Fracking the Thumbs Up

May 22, 2012May 22, 2012

Looks like the G8 members—countries that belong to “the group of eight” of the largest economies in the world (the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Germany, the United States, Japan, Italy and Canada)—think fracking is a good idea. So says the official communiqué issued by the ministers that met last weekend at Camp David.