MDN Weekly Update – Aug 21, 2011: MDN on Vacation until Labor Day
To the relief of those who oppose drilling, and the dismay of those who support it, MDN will take a vacation break for the next two weeks, starting August 22nd. We will not publish daily articles during that time. We will resume publishing on Tuesday, September 6th.
The current poll will be left open during that time, so if you haven’t yet voted, please be sure to do so. The poll asks, Who should regulate hydraulic fracturing? Register your vote along the right side of any page on the site.
Below are the most recent “top 5” lists and the calendar of Marcellus related events through September 10th.
Happy Labor Day!
Jim Willis, Editor
Five Most Viewed Stories This Past Week (Aug 14 – Aug 20)
- Shale Gas Drillers Spread STDs Says PA Democrat Legislator (8/17/11)
- The Mighty Marcellus Roars in PA – Production Up 55% in 6 Months (8/17/11)
- New Interstate Pipelines Mean Thousands of Jobs in PA (8/15/11)
- Major Discovery – Chesapeake Energy Strikes Oil (and Gas) in Ohio’s Utica Shale (7/29/11)
- Fracking Creates an Oil Boom – Now More Oil than Gas Rigs (8/18/11)
Five Most Viewed Stories Last 30 Days (Jul 21 – Aug 20)
- Major Discovery – Chesapeake Energy Strikes Oil (and Gas) in Ohio’s Utica Shale (7/29/11)
- Chesapeake, 14 Other Energy Companies Have Drilling Permits for Utica Shale in Ohio (4/18/11)
- Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon Talks to Jim Cramer About the Utica Shale in Eastern Ohio (8/2/11)
- Chesapeake Energy Slated to Start Drilling in the Utica Shale in Columbiana County, OH this Fall(8/1/11)
- How Much Should Landowners be Paid for Marcellus Pipelines on Their Property? (7/28/11)
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In March 2010, CONSOL Energy (Cecil, PA) paid Dominion Resources $3.5 billion for 500,000 acres of Marcellus Shale gas leases, instantly tripling their lease holdings. Since that time, CONSOL has continued to invest in Marcellus acreage and they now have 750,000 acres under lease. But CONSOL had a problem: Not enough money to develop their vast Marcellus acreage. So they did what is now a common practice—they found a partner to invest. Yesterday, CONSOL and Noble Energy (Houston, TX) announced that Noble will buy a 50 percent interest in 663,350 net undeveloped acres and fund drilling and completion costs in a deal worth $3.4 billion over an eight-year period.
A new peer-reviewed study from Carnegie Mellon University says that Marcellus gas has less impact on global warming than coal. The study, published in the Institute of Physics Aug. 5th issue of “Environmental Research Letters” is a direct refutation of the Cornell study released in April by professors Robert Howarth and Anthony Ingraffea. The Cornell study was based on sketchy data (admitted to by Howarth & Ingraffea), and pure guesswork. It made the claim that shale gas was worse for global warming and the environment than burning coal.
Now we know why it’s called “The Mighty Marcellus.” New production figures for the first six months of 2011 show that on all counts—natural gas, gas liquids, and even oil—the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania is producing a tremendous amount of new energy. Figures for the southwestern part of PA show a 55 percent increase in production over the previous six month period.
Last week, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli made a pitch for taxing the gas drilling industry in New York to create a pool of money that can be used to clean up accidents that may occur. As MDN pointed out (