Marcellus Drilling News

Marcellus, Utica, and now…Upper Devonian?!

September 29, 2011September 29, 2011

You’ve heard of the Marcellus Shale. You’ve also heard of the Utica Shale. Now get ready to hear about another geologic formation that may “rock” the energy world: the Upper Devonian, a group of shale and sandstone layers that sit above the Marcellus and the Utica. Range Resources said on Tuesday there’s a lot of natural gas trapped in the Upper Devonian layers—so much so that in Pennsylvania, the Upper Devonian may contain as much gas as the Marcellus.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Regulation | West Virginia

Morgantown Misses Appeal Deadline – Fracking Ban Now Over

September 29, 2011September 29, 2011

In the ongoing saga of the Morgantown, WV ban on hydraulic fracturing, a ban both within and up to one mile outside of city borders (see here for a list of MDN articles on the topic), the leaders of Morgantown missed the deadline to file an appeal to the West Virginia State Supreme Court. So there will be no appeals and the fracking ban is officially overturned and done.

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

NY Proposed Regulation Changes for Drilling Now Available

September 29, 2011September 29, 2011

The full version of New York’s new proposed drilling guidelines, known as the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) has been out in its full and “final” form for about three weeks (see this MDN story). At the time of the final release, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said the actual language of the regulations, the changes to existing oil and gas drilling regulations for New York, would come out “in early October.” The new language has just been released by the DEC, so, after criticizing Joe Martens (Commissioner of the DEC) for many things, MDN grants him an “at-a-boy” for releasing the language earlier than expected. The early release of the new regulation language further diffuses the argument by critics that they don’t have enough time to read and understand what’s coming.

The new regulatory language is important because it carries the weight of law once it’s adopted. Here are links to the sections that are either changed, or where new sections have been added:

Energy Companies | Norse Energy

Norse Energy in Trouble, Wants Bondholders to Become Stockholders

September 29, 2011September 29, 2011

Not long ago, MDN wrote about Norse Energy’s layoff of half of its employees since the beginning of 2011 (see MDN story here). One of MDN’s readers (“BinFranklin”) left a comment stating that “Norse Energy is a company on life support.” It seems it was a perceptive comment. He also said Norse has been selling off assets to keep going—again, accurate.

A new press release issued from the company today talks about Norse’s ongoing efforts to convert some of it’s debt into equity (convert bonds into stocks, handing over bits and pieces of ownership) because they will soon not be able to pay bond holders the payments due on the money they’ve borrowed. The press release, reprinted below in its entirety, basically says, “We’re still working on it but we haven’t done a deal yet.”

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thursday, Sep 29, 2011

September 29, 2011

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Public Opinion

Obama Advisor Says Shale Gas Drilling is Here to Stay

September 28, 2011September 27, 2011

get used to it Daniel Yergin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and member of President Obama’s energy subcommittee examining shale gas, says the debate about whether or not to drill for shale gas is already over and decided—shall gas drilling is here to stay.

Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

First EPA Hearing on New Air Pollution Regulations for Gas Drilling

September 28, 2011September 27, 2011

There was a public hearing held in Pittsburgh yesterday on new air pollution rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will affect gas drillers across the country. And it appears there’s some common ground between the drilling industry and environmental groups.

Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Statewide NY

Siena College Poll: NYers Still Closely Divided on Fracking

September 28, 2011September 27, 2011

Hey, it’s another week, so that must mean it’s time for another New York opinion poll. We can’t seem to let a week go by without taking the temperature of the Empire State on the issue of hydraulic fracturing. This poll is an ongoing monthly poll done by Siena College. The actual questions and percentage responses are embedded below.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wednesday, Sep 28, 2011

September 28, 2011

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Otsego County | Statewide NY

Middlefield, NY Lawsuit: The Town’s Counterargument

September 27, 2011September 27, 2011

point counterpoint MDN recently reported about two lawsuits filed (so far) in New York State that will set precedent in the state on the issue of whether or not local municipalities (i.e. townships) can ban gas drilling altogether within their borders.

One of those lawsuits, filed against the Town of Middlefield in Otsego County, was filed by landowner Jennifer Huntington (see the MDN story here). Her lawsuit says the town’s ban violates state law which stipulates only the state can regulate oil and gas drilling. The key word there is “regulate.”

Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Range Resources Corp

Range CEO Says Everyone Should Disclose Fracking Chemicals

September 27, 2011September 27, 2011

John Pinkerton will step down as CEO of Range Resources by the end of this year. Having been in the industry for two decades, and with nothing to lose, he minces no words and spoke bluntly at a recent conference about the need for energy companies to fully disclose all of the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing. He said there are no secrets and everyone uses pretty much the same fracking recipes:

Antero Resources | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies

CONSOL Sells Marcellus Leases to Antero for $193M

September 27, 2011March 24, 2012

CONSOL is on a roll, continuing to sell some of its Marcellus Shale assets to other energy companies and in the process, raising more than $4 billion in cash in just the past few weeks. The latest sale has been to Antero Resources.

New Drilling-Related Jobs Coming to NY Next Year

September 27, 2011September 27, 2011

When drilling finally starts in New York State, one of the immediate benefits to the state will be jobs. And not all of those jobs will be in the drilling industry. Some of them will be for the agency that oversees drilling in New York, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

The latest word is that the DEC is looking to hire an addition 142 workers starting next year, many of them in New York’s Southern Tier area where drilling will happen first.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tuesday, Sep 27, 2011

September 27, 2011

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

More Calls to Stop Fracking Because “The Sky is Falling”

September 26, 2011September 25, 2011

chicken little Every time MDN writes about our observation that those who oppose drilling do so from an ideology, we get pushback from the man-made global warming true believers. If you want to believe that man causes global warming, be my guest. But don’t expect me to “go green” so you can feel good about yourself. I don’t believe it—not a word of it. It’s not been proven by any kind of science that stands up to scrutiny. It’s all ethereal theories and conjecture—not real, testable, measurable, objective and verifiable science.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Fracking Produces Undeniable Economic Miracle in ND

September 26, 2011September 25, 2011

MDN has written about the economic miracle (and you can call it nothing less than a miracle) in North Dakota—all due to oil and a technology called horizontal hydraulic fracturing (read MDN’s previous story here). The miracle continues and is chronicled on none other than National Public Radio, America’s far-left voice.

Try this on for size: The town of Williston, ND (gotta love a town with the name Willis in it!) used to have a total population of 12,000 people before hydraulic fracturing started to be used to get at the oil in the Bakken formation beneath them. In the past four years, Williston added between 12,000-20,000 new jobs! You read that right, the town more than doubled in size. And, they have 2,000 to 3,000 job openings right now!! Their mayor says Williston just “skipped the recession entirely.” That’s the power of hydraulic fracturing—an economic miracle than you can’t deny.