Range Resources Says its Marcellus Shale Wells Produce 2-3X More Gas than Barnett Shale Wells
An interesting bit of information from Range Resources about the productivity of Marcellus Shale gas wells vs. Barnett Shale wells:
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Wellsburg, WV City Council Votes to Repeal Two-Month-Old Marcellus Drilling Ban
The Wellsburg (WV) City Council voted in May of this year to institute a ban on hydraulic fracturing within the City and up to one mile outside of the City. On Tuesday, Council members voted to repeal the two-month old ban:
Read More “Wellsburg, WV City Council Votes to Repeal Two-Month-Old Marcellus Drilling Ban”
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Pittsburgh Councilman Doug Shields Lobbies to Get Drilling Ban Added to City’s Charter
Pittsburgh, PA enacted an ordinance banning hydraulic fracturing and Marcellus gas drilling some eight months ago. Leading the charge against drilling was city Councilman Doug Shields (Democrat-District 5). Now Mr. Shields is concerned that once he’s gone from office, future city councils may waver in their anti-drilling commitment and may repeal the ban, so he wants to enshrine the ban in the city’s charter:
Read More “Pittsburgh Councilman Doug Shields Lobbies to Get Drilling Ban Added to City’s Charter”
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FrackTrack Establishes New Well Water Registry for Homeowners in PA
In March 2011, MDN wrote a review and recommendation of the then-brand new FrackTrack online mapping service. The service visually shows (on Google Maps) gas well locations throughout Pennsylvania, along with details for each well like the exact name and address of the well, permit information, any known violations, etc. You can read MDN’s original review here.
The same organization is now hard at work on a new project to catalog privately-owned water wells and springs used as water supplies throughout Pennsylvania. FrackTrack uses data available from the state, but has found many holes and gaps in the data, and so they have launched a new project to encourage home owners to register their wells and springs with the service.
Read More “FrackTrack Establishes New Well Water Registry for Homeowners in PA”
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Public Policy Institute Predicts 62K New Jobs in NY State when Marcellus Drilling Moratorium is Lifted
Public Policy Institute, Inc. (PPI), the research arm of The Business Council of New York State, has just released a new report titled “Drilling for Jobs: What the Marcellus Shale could mean for New York.” The 24-page report (see a full copy embedded below) takes a look at the huge opportunity in job growth that will be realized in New York State once the hydraulic fracturing moratorium is lifted.
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy | Westmoreland County
Landowners in Westmoreland County, PA Reach Settlement with Rex Energy for Contract Breach & Non-Payment
A group of 230 landowners in Westmoreland County, PA have settled a longstanding dispute with Marcellus drilling company Rex Energy. Landowners say they were approached by Rex representatives in 2007 and 2008 to sign leases, and they did sign, but then never received the promised payments. Lawyers charged that Rex was signing as many people as possible in a bid to make it look as though they controlled a significant amount of land in the area to impress investors. Rex claims they never countersigned some leases and therefore did not owe money for those leases.
After two years of litigation, an out-of-court settlement has finally been reached.
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PA Democrat First to Introduce New Legislation for Marcellus Shale Drilling Impact Fees
Although a final copy of the recommendations voted on by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission have not yet reached his desk, eager politicians are already introducing new legislation to assess impact fees on Marcellus Shale drilling.
Read More “PA Democrat First to Introduce New Legislation for Marcellus Shale Drilling Impact Fees”
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | MAX Environmental | Pennsylvania | Washington County
Washington County, PA Landfill Wants to Accept Semi-Solid Waste from Marcellus Drillers
An industrial landfill in Washington County, PA that already accepts “solid waste” from Marcellus Shale drilling operations is now seeking permission to also accept semi-solid waste from Marcellus Shale drilling.
Read More “Washington County, PA Landfill Wants to Accept Semi-Solid Waste from Marcellus Drillers”
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Mahoning County | Marquette Exploration | Ohio | Washington County (OH)
Ohio Update: With 37 Permits, It’s Still Early Days for Marcellus & Utica Shale Drilling
An update on the state of shale gas drilling—both Marcellus and Utica—in Ohio:
Read More “Ohio Update: With 37 Permits, It’s Still Early Days for Marcellus & Utica Shale Drilling”
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Columbiana County, OH Signs Lease with Chesapeake for Marcellus Drilling – Gets $1.3 Million Signing Bonus
Columbiana County, Ohio has signed a lease with Chesapeake Energy on 568 acres of county-owned land, receiving $1.3 million in a signing bonus.
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Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Harrison County | Jefferson County (OH) | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | XTO
Eastern Ohio Landowner Group Nears Deal for Marcellus Lease – Terms Include $3,700 per Acre, 17.5% Royalty
A group of landowners with 20,000 acres in Jefferson County and Harrison County, in eastern Ohio, is nearing a lease deal to allow Marcellus Shale drilling. One of the energy companies in the final bidding is XTO Energy (now a division of Exxon Mobil).
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PA Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission Make 96 Recommendations Including Impact Fee & Forced Pooling
In March of this year, newly elected Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett appointed a 30-member Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission with the aim of producing “a comprehensive, strategic proposal for the responsible and environmentally sound development of Marcellus Shale.” The panel wrapped up their work last Friday by voting on a list of recommendations, ultimately approving 96 of them. The final list will be issued in a report which goes to Gov. Corbett on July 22 and is not available at this time.
However, two prominent items from the approved list are being reported by media sources present at the meeting: a new impact fee and forced pooling.
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Laser Northeast Gathering | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA
PA Utility Commission Reconsiders Decision to Grant Public Utility Status to Pipeline Company
The Pennsylvania Utility Commission (PUC) is reconsidering its decision to grant pipeline company Laser Northeast Gathering status as a public utility with the power of eminent domain (see MDN’s previous coverage of that decision here).
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WV Association Launches Weekly Radio Program Dedicated to the Marcellus Shale
A new weekly half hour radio program dedicated to the Marcellus Shale will soon be on the air in West Virginia:
Read More “WV Association Launches Weekly Radio Program Dedicated to the Marcellus Shale”
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MDN Weekly Update – Jul 17, 2011
The same poll has been live for the past two weeks and has garnered more votes than any other poll MDN has run previously: Did NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo make the right decision in allowing Marcellus Shale drilling to begin?
Yes (62%, 287 Votes)
No (36%, 169 Votes)
Not sure (2%, 8 Votes)Total Voters: 464
Not every voter in the poll lives in New York State. Perhaps the majority do not. There’s no way for me to know exactly. But still, the results (for those of us who favor safe drilling) are encouraging. A poll taken of only New York residents by Siena College (results released this past week) show that New Yorkers are pretty evenly split in their opinion of whether or not hydraulic fracturing is safe (see MDN’s coverage here).
Current Poll
On Friday of this past week, MDN highlighted a story of a grocery store chain that has built a new compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station for a small fleet of 10 new trucks they own with plans to expand that fleet. The same company also built a CNG filling station for the public, located in the Pittsburgh area. The interesting thing about that story was the price of the natural gas at the pump: $1.85 for the equivalent amount of a gallon of gasoline. The current national average for a gallon of gas is $3.67 (it was $2.72 just one year ago). At $1.85 for CNG, that’s half the cost of gasoline. And that’s the power of shale gas.
But it seems automobile manufacturers are more interested (at this point) in creating electric vehicles. There are a number of 100 percent electric vehicles available now, and even more hybrid vehicles—part electric, part gasoline. Only Honda makes a CNG car that’s commercially available, although there are a number of CNG trucks being manufactured.
MDN started musing, what if fueling or charging stations were not an issue? What would people actually prefer to drive? Electric? CNG? Hybrid? Stick with gas? So this week’s poll asks the question, “If fueling stations were widely available, which type of vehicle would you PREFER to drive?” The poll can be found on the right side of any page on the site.
Below are the most recent “top 5” lists and the calendar of Marcellus related events for the next few weeks.
Thank you for reading MDN!
Jim Willis, EditorRead More “MDN Weekly Update – Jul 17, 2011”
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NYC Opposition to DEC Fracking Rules Continues: Natural Fractures, Brittle Rock, Aging Tunnels…Oh My!
It’s going to be a long summer for both those for and against drilling in the Marcellus Shale in New York State. The state DEC released new draft drilling regulations just last week and already there’s plenty of jockeying going on to either support or oppose the new regulations. A public comment period of 60 days (August & September) will be followed by more tweaking of the rules before a final version is approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.Even though the new draft rules put the New York City watershed area off limits to drilling, that doesn’t seem to be good enough for some Downstaters:
It’s going to be a long summer for both those for and against drilling in the Marcellus Shale in New York State. The state DEC released new draft drilling regulations just last week and already there’s plenty of jockeying going on to either support or oppose the new regulations. A public comment period of 60 days (August & September) will be followed by more tweaking of the rules before a final version is approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.