In a year-end “media gathering” with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the governor recounted his administration’s accomplishments for his first 12 months in office, and then he turned his sights on 2012. At the top of his agenda for next year? Drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shales.
Read More “OH Gov Kasich’s Top Priority for 2012: Shale Gas”
Please see an important update at the end of this article.
West Virginia’s new Marcellus drilling law is not yet a week old (see this MDN story for a summary of what’s in the new law), and already some who are unhappy with the law are talking lawsuit. The Charleston, WV Rotary Club hosted a luncheon at the Civic Center on Monday with a panel discussion presenting four different viewpoints on the new law. None of the four, who included those who favor drilling and those who don’t, were happy with the final version. But one in particular, Dave McMahon, a Charleston public interest lawyer, is threatening to sue over the new law.
Read More “Lawsuit on the Horizon for WV’s New Marcellus Law?”
Chesapeake Energy has just paid $630,000 for two pieces of real estate in Belmont County, Ohio—ground zero for Utica Shale drilling in eastern Ohio. Chesapeake will not officially comment on the purchases, but there’s little doubt they will build a new satellite office at one location for their Ohio drilling operations, and perhaps use the other parcel (land and warehouse) for storage and operations. It shows the serious commitment Chesapeake is making in Ohio and signals their further expansion in the area.
Read More “Chesapeake Real Estate Purchases in Ohio Signal Expansion”
Halliburton has just purchased 178 acres in the EastPointe Business Park in Washington Township near Zanesville, Ohio. The company plans to build an operations center at the location servicing companies drilling in the Utica Shale. The new operations center is expected to create 300 jobs within the next three years.
Read More “Halliburton Buys Land in OH for Utica Shale Operations Center”
EQT is betting big on the Marcellus for 2012 and will spend 80 percent of its upstream budget on Marcellus Shale development in 2012.
Gastar Exploration gives the following operational update on their drilling activities in the Marcellus Shale in Marshall and Preston counties in West Virginia, and Butler County in Pennsylvania. Most of Gastar’s Marcellus activity is concentrated in Marshall County, WV, where they plan to complete 24 horizontal wells by the end of 2012.
From the Gastar press release:
Read More “Gastar Marcellus Wells: Strong Production, Lots of Liquids”
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: Tuesday, Dec 20, 2011”
Today’s Wall Street Journal provides a devastating rebuttal of the very flawed EPA study that tries to pin chemical contamination of water supplies in Pavillion, Wyoming on fracking. Among the WSJ’s observations:
The EPA says it launched the study in response to complaints "regarding objectionable taste and odor problems in well water." What it doesn’t say is that the U.S. Geological Survey has detected organic chemicals in the well water in Pavillion (population 175) for at least 50 years—long before fracking was employed.*
Read More “WSJ Says EPA Using Pavillion, WY in Scare Tactic Campaign”
The Clean Air Council, an anti-drilling environmental group, has set its sights on preventing new compressor stations from being built in the Marcellus Shale as one way to slow down or stop new drilling. Compressor stations remove moisture and pressurize natural gas to move it through pipelines. The two biggest concerns most people have with compressor stations are air emissions and noise—both legitimate concerns.
Compressor stations are regulated and monitored by the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also getting involved by using the federal Clean Air Act, which brings some compressor plants under their purview.
Read More “Clean Air Council Targets Pipeline Compressor Plants”
In a wide-ranging article talking about the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania, and how it is maturing, we get this bit about landowners’ prospects in signing new lease deals from a National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) rep:
Read More “NARO Says Marcellus Land Grab in PA is Over for Landowners”
Even though there is no fracking of natural gas wells in New Jersey, residents of that state are enjoying much lower heating bills this winter because of fracking. In fact, according to the AARP, using natural gas for heating costs about one-fifth of what it costs using oil. Why? The Marcellus Shale.
Read More “Marcellus Shale Means NJ Residents Heating Bills Vastly Lower”
A recent example from western Pennsylvania illustrates how drilling companies and residents in PA are working together to resolve thorny issues and move forward with gas drilling in a way that everyone can live with:
Read More “Gas Drillers and Townships Working Together Resolve Issues”
A $500 million natural gas processing plant is currently being built by Dominion Transmission along the Ohio River in Marshall County, WV. When it’s done, it will have a 400 million cubic feet per day capacity. Chesapeake Energy has committed to processing 100 million cubic feet per day at the facility. The new plant means jobs and an economic boost for West Virginia’s northern panhandle.
Read More “$500M NG Processing Plant in Marshall County, WV Under Way”
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: Monday, Dec 19, 2011”
Last week’s poll took the pulse of MDN readers to find out whether or not they think all high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing should be banned. It was our second-highest number of votes for any poll, showing a real interest in the topic. The results are in, and by an overwhelming majority, MDN readers to not think fracking should be banned.
Should all high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing be banned?
No (70%, 295 Votes)
Yes (26%, 109 Votes)
Not sure (4%, 17 Votes)
Total Voters: 421
This Week’s Poll: What’s your interest in MDN?
MDN will soon make some changes as editor Jim Willis transitions to a new role with his day job. In preparation for those changes, it would be useful to know just who is visiting the MDN site—what your primary purpose is for visiting. Nearly 30,000 unique, different people visit MDN each month. Are you a landowner interested in news about drilling and how it will affect you? Do you work for a drilling or a drilling-related company? Work for government? Etc. Please take a moment to anonymously tell us who you are/what your primary motivator is in visiting the site by voting in the poll on the right side of any page in the site. Thanks!
Below are the most recent “top 5” lists and the calendar of Marcellus related events for the next two weeks. The calendar is pretty thin! Things are now winding down for the end of year holiday season. Look for this weekly update next Saturday instead of Christmas day (Sunday).
Happy reading,
Jim Willis, Editor
A new Marcellus drilling law (highlights of the law listed below) passed in a special session of the West Virginia legislature and has been signed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin into law. Yesterday, the WV House of Delegates voted 92-5 and the Senate voted 33-0 to pass the measure, known as the “Horizontal Well Act,” which was immediately signed by the governor.
Although it only took the WV legislature four days in a special session to pass the measure, in reality, it has taken most of this year to draft, tweak and alter the language of the bill to prepare it ahead of the special session.
Read More “WV Has New Marcellus Drilling Law in Record Time”