Marcellus Drilling News

Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio County | West Virginia

Ohio County Receives $8M (So Far) from Marcellus Gas Leases
August 16, 2011August 16, 2011

Ohio County, WV is reaping the rewards of leasing county-owned land for Marcellus gas drilling. The county’s land leases with Chesapeake Energy have already resulted in nearly $8 million in one-time lease payments for the county coffers, and soon will mean royalty payments too. Chesapeake has already completed a well on private land adjacent to (and drilling under) county land in The Highlands area. But gas from that well has not yet started to flow due to a delay in getting a pipeline built to the well. Once the pipeline is in place, the county will start receiving royalty checks from that well.

And within the next 12 months, Chesapeake will drill a new well, this time directly on county-owned land at the airport:

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

Common Cause/NY Says Delay Gas Drilling Another 6 Months
August 16, 2011August 16, 2011

Common Cause/NY, a far-left organization, is the latest anti-drilling group desperately seeking a way to stop Marcellus and Utica drilling in New York State. Their tactic? Turn the already-generous 60-day public comment period (that hasn’t even started yet!) on proposed new drilling rules into 180 days—that is, let’s stretch out the comment period from two months to six months to give everyone who opposes drilling a chance to bleat and moan before local news cameras for the next six months on the off chance we can turn a few more people against this thing and finally kill it. That’s the so-called “non-partisan” approach of Common Cause.

From their press release:

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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | Regulation | West Virginia

Morgantown Official Backpedals After Drilling Ban Overturned
August 16, 2011August 16, 2011

It’s always interesting to watch politicians operate after a humiliating defeat. Politicians’ DNA does not allow them to simply look inward and recognize their own errors. They always look outward and blame others, or in some cases, declare the defeat was a good thing and accomplished just what they wanted all along! I refer to the situation in Morgantown, WV. In June, Morgantown City Council members voted to ban hydraulic fracturing both inside and up to one mile outside their borders (see this MDN story). This threatened a pair of Marcellus Shale wells being drilled about a mile from city lines. The result? The driller, Northeast Energy, sued the city. Last week a judge overturned the city’s ban and now hydraulic fracturing will commence (see this MDN story). All told, Northeast probably lost about a month out of their original drilling schedule (they continued drilling anyway, the ban specifically prohibited fracking and not drilling per se).

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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | West Virginia

Judge Overturns Morgantown, WV Fracking Ban
August 15, 2011August 15, 2011

For some time now, MDN has covered the hydraulic fracturing ban passed by the city of Morgantown, West Virginia (see list of articles here). In a surprise move last Friday, the Monongalia County (WV) Circuit Court Judge Susan Tucker overturned Morgantown’s fracking ban, clearing the way for Northeast Energy to continue drilling and fracking operations about a mile outside of Morgantown city lines. Judge Tucker’s “summary judgment” is embedded below.

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Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

New Interstate Pipelines Mean Thousands of Jobs in PA
August 15, 2011August 15, 2011

Hundreds of miles of new interstate gas pipelines are on the way in Pennsylvania, and new pipeline construction is providing thousands of jobs in the state. The volume of Marcellus gas flowing from the Marcellus is projected to rise from a current 3 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day to 7 or 8 bcf per day in the next five years, which means more large interstate pipelines are required to get the gas to market.

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Energy Companies | New River Resources | Raleigh County | West Virginia

Marcellus Gas in Southern WV? Wildcat Driller Says Yes
August 15, 2011August 15, 2011

There is new interest in the Marcellus Shale in southern West Virginia, a place most energy companies have written off as being uneconomical for Marcellus gas, and one company is planning to roll the dice by drilling half a dozen exploratory wells, at $5 million per well, to prove it.

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County | Williams | Wyoming County (PA)

Williams’ Pipeline Project in Northeast PA Hits Opposition
August 15, 2011August 15, 2011

Williams is attempting to complete a pipeline that will at one end join to the Transco interstate gas pipeline in Dallas Township, PA, and at the other end join to the Tennesee Gas Pipeline near Springville (in Susquehanna County), PA. But local opposition from Dallas Township residents to the pipeline means Williams’ target completion date of October may be delayed.

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Bradford County | Crime | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Marcellus Areas See Increase in Drunk Driving, Lesser Crimes
August 15, 2011August 15, 2011

A statistical certainty is that as the population of an area grows, there’s bound to be more drunk driving arrests and more crime in general—one of the “hazards” of an increasing population. And so it is in Bradford County, PA and other regions in the Marcellus Shale where the Marcellus drilling boom is happening. The increase in crime is not caused by drilling, according to law enforcement officials, but is a simple fact that where there’s more people there are bound to be more criminal incidents. It’s one of the negatives of drilling, like industrialization of rural areas (more trucking, more noise, more traffic) that must be recognized and if possible, mitigated or at least anticipated.

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About MDN | MDN Weekly Update

MDN Weekly Update – Aug 14, 2011: Who Should Regulate Fracking?
August 14, 2011

It seems the New York Times does not enjoy the same reputation it once did—at least with MDN readers. The results of last week’s poll, which asked:

With respect to shale gas drilling, is the New York Times a reliable source of information?

No (81%, 173 Votes)
Yes (16%, 35 Votes)
Not sure (3%, 6 Votes)

Total Voters: 214

Who Should Regulate Fracking?

In early May, the federal Department of Energy (DOE), under the direction of DOE Secretary Steven Chu, assembled a panel of seven experts to create a list of industry “best practices” for shale gas drillers (see MDN story here). Known as the Shale Gas Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB), the group was charged with producing an initial report in 90 days that will identify immediate steps “to improve the safety and environmental performance of hydraulic fracturing.” That first report was released this past week (see MDN story here).

In MDN’s reporting, we stated that it is an inescapable conclusion the only way the recommendations in the report could be fully implemented would be if the federal government takes over regulation of hydraulic fracturing, which has been the mantra of anti-drillers for a number of years. MDN makes no bones: We are against the federal government taking on oversight of oil and gas drilling. Why? It’s best left to the individual states, which is their constitutional right and duty, to oversee drilling in their own states. They know their state the best, and are equipped to handle it. Just say “no” to the feds!

However, some MDN readers have taken issue with our conclusion that the recommendations of this report would mean a federal government takeover of oil and gas drilling regulatory oversight. We can argue the finer points, but the larger issue, and this week’s poll question, is this: Who should regulate hydraulic fracturing? Is it best done by the federal government? The individual state governments? Or perhaps a blend of both? Register your vote along the right side of any page on the site.

An editorial note: Starting August 22nd and going through September 5th, MDN will be on holiday and will not publish. We will return on September 6th.

Below are the most recent “top 5” lists and the calendar of Marcellus related events for the balance of August.

Happy reading!
Jim Willis, Editor

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

What Chemicals are Being Used by Marcellus Drillers in PA?
August 12, 2011August 12, 2011

Want to know what chemicals are being used at a nearby Marcellus gas well that’s being drilled near you in Pennsylvania? Right now, it’s not so easy to find out. Here’s how Pennsylvania’s fracking chemical disclosure rules work, which went into effect in February of this year:

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Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Statewide NY

Quinnipiac Poll Shows NYers Support Fracking Despite Concerns
August 12, 2011August 12, 2011

Quinnipiac University of Hamden, CT just completed a new statewide public opinion poll in New York which shows some interesting results about New Yorker’s attitudes toward drilling. Overall, more New Yorker’s favor drilling in the Marcellus Shale than oppose it. Hydraulic fracturing, the method used by drillers to free the gas, has been so misrepresented by those opposed to drilling that New Yorkers are still leery of it, even though most don’t even understand what it is and how it works. Overall 52 percent of New Yorkers believe fracking will damage the environment, but nearly half, 47 percent, believe the economic benefits are worth the risk.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Invests $250K in Marcellus Ethane Processing Plant
August 12, 2011August 12, 2011

The state of West Virginia is investing $250K in a company that turns ethane from Marcellus gas wells into ethylene. Think of it as a “mini-cracker plant”. Shell and other large energy companies are looking to establish large cracker plants in the Marcellus region—a chemical plant that will take over $1 billion to build (see this MDN story). In the meantime, smaller and leaner companies are providing some of the same kinds of service a cracker plant provides—at much less of an investment. Aither Chemicals is one of those companies.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

DOE Report Recommends Fed Takeover of Shale Gas Regulation
August 11, 2011August 11, 2011

In early May, the federal Department of Energy (DOE), under the direction of DOE Secretary Steven Chu, assembled a panel of seven experts to create a list of industry “best practices” for shale gas drillers (see MDN story here). Known as the Shale Gas Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB), the group was charged with producing an initial report in 90 days that will identify immediate steps “to improve the safety and environmental performance of hydraulic fracturing.” That first report was released today (a full copy is embedded below).

Read More “DOE Report Recommends Fed Takeover of Shale Gas Regulation”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | Regulation | West Virginia

Northeast Continues Drilling in Morgantown Despite Ban
August 11, 2011August 11, 2011

The ongoing battle between Morgantown, WV and Northeast Natural Energy over two proposed gas wells located close to Morgantown continues, and gets interesting. Northeast had been working with Morgantown to address concerns that the two wells they propose to drill are close to the water intake for the city. Northeast believed everything was fine until city council voted to ban hydraulic fracturing both inside and outside of its borders—up to one mile outside (allowable under WV law). Northeast’s proposed wells are within that one mile radius, so the ban shut them down. Or did it?

According to press accounts, Northeast has just started work drilling the second Marcellus gas well and plans to start fracking the first well in September, regardless of the ban:

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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH to Require Permits for Diesel Engines at Drilling Sites (!)
August 11, 2011August 11, 2011

At the prompting of the federal EPA, and perhaps to preempt any action from the EPA, state officials in the Marcellus region are looking closely at air pollution issues that may be caused by shale gas drilling. For example, permits are likely on the way for drillers in Ohio for a whole list of commonly used equipment found in drilling operations, including…diesel and internal combustion engines?!

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Ohio | Wastewater

OH Village Wants a Fracking Water Treatment Plant
August 11, 2011August 11, 2011

Mingo Junction, a small village along the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Ohio is looking to tap into revenue from the Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling industry spouting up around it. The mayor and village council are trying to locate alternative sources of revenue since the local steel mill closed, leaving the village in a lurch after constructing a new water treatment plant specifically at the mill’s request. Mingo Junction is looking to leverage the one thing it has plenty of—water.

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