An article on the SeattlePI.com website explores how the hydraulic fracturing moratorium in New York is viewed by some of the farmers in that state.
More at SeattlePI.com.New York Gas
Worthless Marcellus Leases in New York
After a long moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling in New York, a variety of proposed regulations and local bans on drilling could render millions of leased acres as worthless.
More at FuelFix.com.
Rouge Fractures
“The chances of rogue fractures due to shale gas fracking operations extending beyond 0.6 kilometres from the injection source is a fraction of one percent, according to new research led by Durham University. The analysis is based on data from thousands of fracking operations in the USA and natural rock fractures in Europe and Africa.” Quoted from the Durham University press release.
More at Durham University.
Propane Fracking in New York’s Marcellus?
Fracking the Marcellus Shale with propane instead of water may be allowed in New York and one company is exploring the possibility of using the method.
More at StarGazette.com.
New Jersey-New York Pipeline
“Spectra Energy has received conditional environmental approval from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff on its proposed New Jersey-New York Expansion project. [...] The system, which would be the first major natural gas pipeline to reach New York City in 40 years.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration.
More at Energy Information Administration.
Natural Gas Parallel Universe
An article titled “Marcellus Shale Parallel Universe” explores the impact of different approaches to natural gas development experienced in Pennsylvania and New York.
More at NorthcentralPA.com.
Municipal Ban on Drilling Upheld in New York
A New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of a municipal zoning regulation that banned natural gas drilling within a community. Previously jurisdiction on natural gas drilling has belonged to state governments.
More at Washington Post.
Marcellus Shale in 2012
An article on the Boston.com website explores possible developments related to the Marcellus Shale in 2012. A new lease environment, geographic shifts in activity, price directions and more.
More at Boston.com.
Natural Gas: Is it Jobs vs Environment?
An article in Crain’s New York Business titled “Natural-gas drilling is a great divider” explores why natural gas drilling has enormous support and enormous opposition in the state of New York.
More at Crain's New York Business.
States Compete for Natural Gas Drilling?
An article on the PittsburghLive.com website explains how regulations and costs of doing business in neighboring states can stimulate or deter the development of a resource such as natural gas. Not mentioned in the article is how a moratorium on Marce…
More at PittsburghLive.com.
Utica Shale Gas Boom in Eastern Ohio
Natural gas companies have drilled a number of highly successful wells into the Utica Shale of eastern Ohio. Now, drilling, permitting, and acquisition activity is starting to boom.
More at Geology.com.
Huge “No Drilling” Buffers Around New York’s Waterways?
Proposed drilling regulations in New York could take enormous amounts of land that has already been leased out-of-play for natural gas development.
More at Reuters.com.
How Natural Gas is Taxed in 19 Different States
The Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research has prepared: Taxation of Natural Gas: A Comparative Analysis. This publication reviews the many methods of taxing natural gas 19 different states. You might be surprised at how many …
More at Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research.
Natural Gas Leases in Conflict with Mortgages
Thousands of people across the United States have signed leases that give energy companies the right to drill on their land. However, many of these properties have mortgages that prohibit the property owner from entering into a mineral lease.
More at New York Times.
Government Revenue from the Marcellus Shale
State and local governments have either been collecting revenues from Marcellus Shale activities or wishing that they were collecting revenues. An article on Platts.com explores some of the ways that state and local governments are generating revenues.
More at Platts.
Marcellus Shale: Separating Spin from Fact?
An Associated Press article examines how people who favor and oppose Marcellus Shale natural gas development have very different perceptions of problems and opportunities.
More at Associated Press @ Google.
Natural Gas Potential of the Upper Devonian Shale
A sequence of rocks above the Marcellus Shale, known as the “Upper Devonian Shales” might hold significant amounts of recoverable natural gas and natural gas liquids. From top to bottom the Upper Devonian Shales, Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale are the “stacked plays of the Appalachians”.
More at Platts.com.
Who Supports Marcellus Shale Drilling in New York?
A Quinnipiac University poll of over 1000 New York residents released today shows who supports Marcellus Shale drilling and perceptions of how drilling will impact the state. Results are tallied by gender, political affiliation, location of residence …
More at Quinnipiac University.
Who Has the Power to Regulate Hydraulic Fracturing?
Communities in New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have passed bans on hydraulic fracturing within their political boundaries. In some instances these bans have been overturned because the power to regulate of oil and gas drilling belongs to Stat…
More at Business Week.
Treating Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid in New York
Many oil and gas companies that use hydraulic fracturing methods recycle the waste water produced during drilling. As a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in New York is lifted the Niagara Falls Water Board is ready to accept hydraulic fracturing wast…
More at WGRZ.
USGS and EIA Marcellus Estimates Use Different Metrics
The United States Geological Survey and the Energy Information Administration have published significantly different estimates of the amount of natural gas contained in the Marcellus Shale. An article in NorthcentralPA.com reports that the estimate metrics are very different.
More in NorthcentralPA.com.
Shell: A Natural Gas Cracker Plant for the Marcellus Shale
Shell plans to build a world-scale ethylene chemical plant in the Appalachian area that will process ethane from Marcellus Shale natural gas into products for the chemical industry.
More at PennLive.com.
Disagreements over the Amount of Gas in the Marcellus Shale
The United States Geological Survey estimates that there are about 84 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale. Estimates from the Department of Energy put the amount of gas at 410 trillion cubic feet.
More at Bloomberg.com.
2011 Assessment of Marcellus Shale Gas Resources
“The Marcellus Shale contains about 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas and 3.4 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas liquids according to a new assessment by the U. S. Geological Survey.” Quoted from the USGS news release.
More at USGS.
Marcellus Shale Development Will Require Thousands of Miles of Pipelines
About three billion cubic feet of natural gas is being produced every day from the Marcellus Shale, an amount that is expected to grow significantly as more wells are drilled. Moving that gas to market will require thousands of miles of new pipelines,…
More at Business Week.
Public Support for Natural Gas Drilling in New York?
A New York public opinion poll revealed that more people in that state support natural gas drilling than oppose it. Seventy-five percent believe that it will bring more jobs to the state.
More at YNN.com.
Chesapeake Wants New York Marcellus Leases Extended
Chesapeake Energy and the state of New York entered into natural gas lease agreements for the Marcellus Shale under state lands in 2006. Those leases are set to expire on November 15th, 2011. Chesapeake believes that the leases should be extended wit…
More at lohud.com.
Natural Gas Production Dropping in New York
With a moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling in New York, the production of natural gas in the state is dropping as existing wells deplete.
More at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
First New York Marcellus Shale Targets
When natural gas drilling resumes in the state of New York the counties most likely to see heavy activity are Broome, Tioga and Chemung. These areas are thought to have the best geological characteristics, which include organic content and thickness.
More in The Ithaca Journal.
Major Natural Gas Liquids Find in the Utica Shale
Chesapeake Energy announced a major new natural gas liquids play in the Utica Shale of eastern Ohio based upon results from six horizontal and nine vertical wells. The company holds 1.25 million net leasehold acres in the Utica Shale and believes that they could be worth $15 – $20 billion in increased value to the company.
More at Chesapeake Energy.
Contentious Natural Gas Lease Renewals
In 2008 and earlier lots of landowners above the Marcellus Shale signed natural gas lease agreements for the historical “going rate” of a few dollars per acre. Then as the potential of the rock unit became known the signing bonuses paid on leases skyrocketed to thousands of dollars per acre. Now these leases are expiring and legal battles between landowners and gas companies are beginning.
More at Business Week.
Jobs From Natural Gas Drilling in New York
New York may be on the edge of drilling new wells in the Marcellus Shale as Governor Andrew Cuomo’s plan to resume drilling gains support. It is estimated that drilling just 300 wells per year would produce an estimated 37,000 jobs.
New York Sues Federal Government Over Hydraulic Fracturing
An article in the New York Times reports that the State of New York has sued the federal government to force an environmental assessment of the potential risks of hydraulic fracturing, a widely used method for enhancing natural gas and oil production from tight reservoirs.
Buffalo Common Council Bans Hydraulic Fracturing
Hydraulic fracturing was banned within the city limits of Buffalo, New York as the Buffalo Common Council passed the “Buffalo Community Protection from Natural Gas Extraction Ordinance”. An article on the EPOnline.com website reports on the vote and includes a video showing some of the public testimony that was received before passing.
17,000 Marcellus Shale Gas Wells?
Statoil ASA and Chesapeake Energy project that they could drill as many as 17,000 natural gas wells into the Marcellus Shale over the next twenty years. More in the West Virginia Gazette.
Radiation in Marcellus Shale Wastewater?
A New York Times article explores concerns about radiation levels in wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling sites and how that water is being processed before discharge into the environment.
How Much Gas in the Utica Shale?
The Utica Shale has a larger geographic extent than both the Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian Basin and the Barnett Shale of Texas. It is also has a much larger total volume. Will its gas producing potential exceed that of the Marcellus and Barnett. An article on the Seeking Alpha blog explores this question.
“Triple Play” in the Appalachian Basin
John Pinkerton, CEO of Range Resources, explains the “Triple Play” in natural gas that can be had in parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia. Shale gas can be produced from the Upper Devonian Shale, the Marcellus Shale, and the Utica Shale – all from a single drill pad. More in the Star-Telegram Blogs.
Natural Gas in the Upper Devonian Shales
From the PAGasDirectory Blog…. In an assessment of its lease holdings, Range Resources has included 10 to 14 trillion cubic feet of Upper Devonian natural gas as an unproven resource. The Upper Devonian is above the Marcellus Shale and includes multiple organic shales such as the Cleveland, Huron-Dunkirk, Rhinestreet, Middlesex and Geneseo-Burket Shales. See an article on SearchAndDiscovery.net for a generalized stratigraphic sequence.
No Hydraulic Fracturing or Waste Water Disposal in Buffalo
The Common Council of Buffalo, New York voted to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing within city limits. In addition, it bans the disposal of drilling waste water anywhere within the city. More at Empire State News.
