Marcellus Drilling News

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

“Dallas” Remake is Anti-Drilling, Anti-Fracking Propaganda
June 12, 2012June 12, 2012

Remember J.R. and Bobby and Sue Ellen and Pam? As in, the Ewings? For those of us who came of age during the 70s and 80s, watching Dallas on CBS Friday nights was a given. The original series ran from 1978-1991. Well tomorrow night, Dallas is back. The 80s primetime soap is being remade and will debut on the TNT network.

Here’s the interesting thing about the new series: it pits J.R.’s son as the bad boy who (gasp) likes to drill for oil, and Bobby’s son (adopted) is the good boy who wants to use alternative renewable sources of energy. Oh, and fracking is evil, of course! Pluezz. Talk about a Hollywood, hackneyed caricature that employs all the stereotypes.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Will Natural Gas Replace Gasoline?
June 12, 2012June 12, 2012

Oilprice.com conducted a wide-ranging interview of energy trader and author Raymond Learsy ostensibly about his new book, Oil and Finance: The Epic Corruption Continues, which looks at corruption within the oil sector. But the interview turned in an interesting direction: a discussion about how natural gas could conceivably replace gasoline.

During the interview, Learsy takes the New York Times to task for their yellow journalism against the natural gas industry. On the topic of fracking, Learsy said this:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jun 12, 2012
June 12, 2012June 12, 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, Jun 12, 2012”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

The Day Chesapeake CEO McClendon Would Rather Forget
June 11, 2012June 11, 2012

Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, had a tough day last Friday at the annual shareholder’s meeting at Chesapeake’s headquarters in Oklahoma City . Shareholders passed a number of votes against the sitting board and against McClendon. McClendon had previously announced that Chesapeake’s two largest shareholders, Southeastern Asset Management and Carl Ichan will be allowed to nominate four new board members and a new chairperson, replacing more than half of the board. The new members are slated to begin later this month. Still, shareholders withheld approval of two sitting board members up for re-election. They both promptly offered their resignations.

A number of large shareholders addressed McClendon and the current board. Some were rather blunt about McClendon’s doubtful future with the company he founded in 1989:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC and EPA Emails – Interesting, Not Earth Shattering
June 11, 2012June 11, 2012

Over the weekend, the Gannett News Service ran a story in several of its newspapers and TV stations in New York State detailing the contents of emails that have flown back and forth between the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the topic of hydraulic fracturing in New York over the past four years. A copy of the emails is embedded below.

There’s really nothing earth shatteringly new in the emails. Some interesting tidbits perhaps, but all of it now ancient history and not worth being hot and bothered about.

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA | Taxation

More Details about Proposed Ethane Cracker Tax Break
June 11, 2012June 11, 2012

Some more details about how the tax break would work that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is planning to offer Shell to build it’s ethane cracker plant in PA:

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Accidents | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

EPA Investigating Range Drill Site in Western PA
June 11, 2012June 11, 2012

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating whether or not drilling activity by Range Resources at their Yeager Marcellus Shale site in Washington County, PA is causing air pollution and groundwater contamination. Range operates a wastewater pond and a drill cuttings pit at the site.

Several families living close to the site filed a personal injury lawsuit last month against Range.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Congressman Takes EPA’s Jackson to Task over Fracking
June 11, 2012June 11, 2012

The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology has a subcommittee called the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment. It’s chaired by Congressman Andy Harris (R-MD). Last week Congressman Harris sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson. The purpose of the letter? Essentially it puts Ms. Jackson on notice that Congress is tired of her agency’s witch hunt with respect to hydraulic fracturing, and encourages the EPA to stop being so sloppy with its work in that regard (MDN’s interpretation of what Harris said).

In essence, Mr. Harris accuses Ms. Jackson and the EPA of promoting a political agenda instead of performing real science. A copy of the full letter is embedded below.

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Cuyahoga County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Property Value

Do Property Values Decrease When Drilling is Nearby?
June 11, 2012June 11, 2012

Does nearby drilling have a negative effect on real estate values? It’s a debate that has raged over the past several years. The drilling industry will say that on average, housing prices are unaffected by drilling. But if drilling is close—very close—there seems little doubt that it can negatively impact a homeowner’s property value. It’s one of the issues that those of us who support drilling must face honestly and openly. And figure out how to address it.

A case in point comes from a home owner in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio (Cuyahoga County).

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Industrywide Issues | NG Vehicles | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Task Force Investigates CNG for State Vehicles
June 11, 2012June 11, 2012

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin wants the state-owned vehicles in his state to run on compressed natural gas (CNG) produced right in his own state, and he’s assembled a task force to investigate how to make it happen:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jun 11, 2012
June 11, 2012June 11, 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: Mon, Jun 11, 2012”
Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Did This Map Get the Ohio State Geologist Fired?
June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

Speculation has run rampant about why Ohio’s official state geologist, Larry Wickstrom, chief of the ODNR’s Division of Geological Survey, was fired in May. Much of that speculation revolves around a PowerPoint presentation he created in March which essentially redrew the lines of where the best/most likely areas in the state would be to drill for oil and natural gas. A copy of Wickstrom’s full presentation, which has a lot of interesting maps and details, is embedded below.

The controversy seems to revolve around one particular map in the presentation (see the map immediately below). The map redrew boundary lines for the best drilling locations, in Wickstrom’s estimation, based on the data. Wickstrom has worked for the ODNR for 29 years. He’s a smart guy. But his map upset the apple cart for some, and less than two months later, he got his walking papers.

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Fire Sale Begins: Chesapeake Sells Midstream Assets for $4B
June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

Chesapeake Energy announced today that they have sold their midstream assets, including their Chesapeake Midstream subsidiary, to Global Infrastructure Partners for a total deal worth $4 billion. Chesapeake’s midstream assets include pipelines and processing plants. The announcement comes just prior to their annual meeting being held today in Oklahoma City and no doubt is an effort by Aubrey McClendon to tamp down criticism of the mountain of debt the company has piled up under his watch.

The company has also put other assets, including 337,000 acres of Utica Shale acreage, on the auction block in a bid to reduce the debt load.

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Economic Impact | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Avoiding Shale Energy Boom/Bust Cycle in Ohio
June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

Two Ohio State University graduate students, under the watchful eye of an advisor, have authored a policy brief titled “Making Shale Development Work for Ohio” which aims to provide politicians with guidance on how to avoid the so-called boom/bust cycle that shale energy “may” create in Ohio (a full copy of the brief is embedded below).

The grad students say Ohio needs to take steps now to ensure the state benefits from the shale energy boom in both the short- and long-term. Failure to do so, according to the brief, will “likely” have long-lasting negative effects. Among the brief’s recommendations are:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

Muskingum Watershed Reverses Decision to Sell Water to Drillers
June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

Someone from the enviro-left movement has gotten to the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) board and the board has caved. On June 6 news broke that the MWCD had earlier this year commissioned a study that would look at using three of the reservoirs it controls to make water sales to drillers for use in hydraulic fracturing (see this MDN story). The MWCD had already approved one deal to sell 11 million gallons of water from Clendening Lake to Gulfport Energy.

But the very next day—yesterday—the MWCD issued a press release saying no more water sales would be considered until the study is complete “later this year” (except for the 11 million gallons already agreed to). You scratch your head and say, “Well yeah, duh, that’s what the study is for!” But that’s not all.

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Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

Shell: Final Decision on Cracker Plant Still 18-24 Mo. Away
June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

MDN previously warned that the final decision of where Shell will build an ethane cracker plant is not a done deal. It certainly is looking good—they selected a site in Beaver County, northwest of Pittsburgh—and they are deep into planning for that site. But Shell CEO Peter Voser was quoted as saying it would be “several years” before a go/no decision on whether to build it would be made (see this MDN story).

That timeline of several years was reaffirmed by a Shell representative yesterday in comments to the Pittsburgh Business Times:

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