Steered by an executive of Philadelphia Energy Solutions, a group of business and political leaders is discussing the extent to which a natural gas pipeline can be constructed that would connect the natural gas fields of the Marcellus Shale to the City of Philadelphia. According to the group, “We’re trying to work on how to get that gas here to valorize it.” The group, however, recognizes that there will be challenges, including how to feed the pipeline through the city’s densely populated suburbs. The Philadelphia Inquirer has more here.
WFMJ reports that State Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-Allegheny) announced that he will introduce Senate Bill 1100 next week, which will place a moratorium on new permits for hydraulic fracturing. The bill, known as the Natural Gas Drilling Moratorium Act, will also seek to create a commission to analyze the agricultural, economic, environmental and social effect of Marcellus Shale drilling. WESA indicates that such a commission would be comprised of seven individuals from various backgrounds, including a nonprofit environmental organization, an academic institution, the oil and gas industry, a geologist, a medical or public health expert, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources. The bill would halt any new permits for natural gas drilling. StateImpact reports that the bill does not provide a time limit on the proposed moratorium.
EQT Corporation and Green Field Energy Services announced on Monday that they had achieved a major milestone in the hydraulic fracturing field. Using pumps powered entirely by “field” gas, or gas supplied from a separate (and previously drilled) natural gas well, Green Field successfully completed multiple stages in the hydraulic fracturing process on lands leased by EQT Corp.
What this means for the industry is a potentially cleaner method of operating some of the machinery necessary in the hydraulic fracturing process. Rather than relying on diesel-powered trucks and pumps, Green Field’s Turbine Frac Pump technology uses natural gas, a cleaner and more environmentally friendly fuel than diesel. Steve Schlotterbeck, Senior VP and President of EQT Exploration and Production noted that this new technology allows companies to “reduce emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and sulfur oxides; as well as decrease the amount of truck traffic on local roads.”
EQT began a program in 2012 to convert a number of their drilling rigs to natural gas-powered rigs, and so far four such rigs have been converted.
Platts.com reports that Dominion has begun talks regarding farming out 100,000 acres in West Virginia in the Marcellus Shale located near Dominion’s gas storage assets near the Ohio and Pennsylvania borders. Thomas Farrell, CEO of Dominion, indicated that this acreage has potential gas reserves of 1 trillion cubic feet and that Dominion retained the ownership of the gas rights in order to ensure that drilling in the area would not compromise its storage facilities.
The Pittsburgh Business Times recently reported that Giant Eagle and Peoples Natural Gas have partnered to open a compressed natural gas filling station at the GetGo station in Cranberry Township on Route 228. According to the article, Giant Eagle expects to begin selling CNG at between $1.90 and $2.00 per gallon.
Last week, global research firm IHS released a report regarding the economic impact of U.S. unconventional oil and gas production, Bloomberg reported. According to the IHS report entitled America’s New Energy Future: The Unconventional Oil and Gas Revolution and the Economy – Volume 3: A Manufacturing Renaissance, in 2012, unconventional oil and gas activity increased disposable income by an average of $1,200 per U.S. household. This study examined the full energy value chain (upstream, midstream and downstream energy and energy-related chemicals) and the overall contributions on the manufacturing sector and U.S. economy. Based on this examination, U.S. oil and natural gas production has supported 2.1 million jobs and has added nearly $75 billion in federal and state revenues.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that some southwestern Pennsylvania energy companies have begun to research the Upper Devonian formation and its interplay with other formations, including the Marcellus. The Upper Devonian formation is a group of shales that lie a few hundred feet above the Marcellus. The companies are beginning to determine: (i) well profiles and production totals from Upper Devonian wells; (ii) the impact of developing the Upper Devonian formation prior to developing the Marcellus; and (iii) the ability to reuse well pads and access roads that were originally drilled for Marcellus. EQT Corporation has been monitoring four Upper Devonian wells for several years and CONSOL Energy Inc. has drilled one well to the Burkett, the closest Upper Devonian shale to the Marcellus.
According to the Charleston Gazette, the Lewis Wetzel Wildlife Management Area in Wetzel County is now contains several natural gas drilling operations by various companies operating in the State of West Virginia. The Lewis Wetzel Wildlife Management area is approximately 13,590 acres; however, the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources only owns a fraction of the mineral rights underlying the preserve. Private owners of those mineral rights are now leasing to various companies who are, or will be, drilling wells in the area. While the natural gas is being extracted from beneath the preserve, operators will be working in conjunction with the WVDEP and other agencies to minimize the impact of any drilling operations on both the preserve and its human visitors.
In a statement issued this morning, Kathryn Klaber announced that she will step down from her position as the CEO of the Marcellus Shale Coalition. Ms. Klaber has led the MSC since late 2009. She will play a key role in a nationwide search to select the MSC’s next leader. MSC Chair Dave Spigelmyer praised Ms. Klaber’s leadership, noting that she worked with both the Rendell and Corbett administrations “to modernize and strengthen the Commonwealth’s regulatory framework” and build “a topnotch community outreach and advocacy infrastructure …”
The Wall Street Journal reports that a group of Brazilian business and energy industry professionals known as the Brazil Industries Coalition is visiting Pennsylvania this week in an attempt to learn from the state’s experience and to evaulate the possibility of sending exports to Brazil. The group is meeting with Pennsylvania regulators and operators and will tour a drilling site. The WSJ cites to the National Confederation of Industry, which states that energy costs in Brazil are among the highest in the world. One Brazilian energy company executive noted that one unit of natural gas sells for $18.00 in Brazil. In the United States, that same unit would sell for about $4.00.
The Republic reports that a public meeting has been scheduled for July 18 at 6:00 p.m. at the Tyler County courthouse to discuss issues with land records searches in the county. Currently, only 16 people at one time are able to enter the records vault in the County Clerk’s Office, leading to extremely long lines and waiting times to access the records. The courthouse extended its hours and limited access to abstractors to two-hour timeframes, but this has not solved the problem as there are still lines of abstractors outside of the courthouse waiting in line for their turn around the clock. Tyler County Clerk Theresa Hamilton has indicated that the process to digitize the records has commenced, which would enable abstractors to access the records via the internet, but that there is no set time for the process to be completed. It is expected that representatives from the oil and gas industry, the Tyler County Clerk and commissioners and residents will be in attendance at the meeting.
On July 1, 2013 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released its annual oil and natural gas production data for 2012. While oil production in New York increased by 1%, the 2012 reported total gas production of 26.424 billion cubic feet (bcf), representing a decrease of 15 percent from 2011’s posted production of 31.1 bcf. The 2012 natural gas production was the lowest level in New York since 2000’s production of 17.8 bcf.
The Corning Leader reports that, in response to Governor Corbett’s recent letter to the Delaware River Basin Commission, a 1,300 member landowner group has threatened to sue the DRBC. The Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance sent a letter to the executive director of the DRBC threatening a lawsuit unless the Commission schedules a vote on regulations that would allow drilling to begin. The DRBC imposed a moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling in 2010.
The Scranton Times-Tribune reports that UGI Penn Natural Gas customers continue to pay one-third less to heat their homes than they paid five years ago. According to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, this is a nationwide trend. The lower rates are a direct result of the natural gas production from the Marcellus and Utica shales.
In response to President Obama’s “Climate Action Plan,” which was announced on Tuesday, Kathryn Klaber, CEO of the Marcellus Shale Coalation, stated:
“We are pleased that President Obama once again underscored the clear environmental and economic benefits tied to the safe development of clean-burning natural gas.”
“And while the President’s broader energy and climate strategy will be further framed in the weeks and months to come, we remain focused as an industry on protecting and enhancing our environment through the responsible development of job-creating American natural gas, which is reinvigorating our manufacturing base and creating enormous benefits for the entire Commonwealth and beyond.”