We suppose it was bound to happen, but fervently wish it hadn’t. In the process of drilling underneath the Tuscarawas River (in Stark County) one week ago, on April 13, Rover workers experienced an “inadvertent return” of “horizontal directional drilling fluid.” That is, they sprung a leak and spilled nearly 2 million gallons of drilling…
The kerfuffle over strippers in PA continues–stripper wells, that is. In brief, in 2012 Pennsylvania passed the Act 13 law that includes a fee on wells targeting shale layers, including the Marcellus. Snyder Brothers, headquartered in Kittanning, PA, drills mostly conventional (vertical only) wells in southwestern PA. In 2011-2012 they drilled 45 vertical-only wells, but…
India’s largest private sector company, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), said yesterday the company has just commissioned the world’s largest and most complex ethane cracker plant, in India. And they did built it in record time–less than three years. MDN has covered RIL in the past–the company invests in Marcellus drilling (see our RIL stories here)….
Sheesh, it seems like we just got done yesterday with reporting quarterly earnings/operations updates. And here we are again. Like the old Dunkin Donuts commercial where the guy who makes the donuts runs into himself coming and going making the donuts. First out of the gate in the Marcellus/Utica is Gulfport Energy, reporting their first…
In January 2016, Invenergy announced their intention to build a natgas-powered electric plant in Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County (see Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). The proposed Elizabeth plant, modestly sized at 550 megawatts, would be built on a brownfield site near Pittsburgh. Even though the site is a former landfill where…
Researchers from the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Penn State have just published a new study/paper in the Journal of Environmental Management titled, “Linear infrastructure drives habitat conversion and forest fragmentation associated with Marcellus shale gas development in a forested landscape” (abstract below). Their thesis: “Fragmentation of ecologically important core forests within the…
Yesterday MDN reported that NARUC (National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners), under the watch care of Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) member Rob Powelson, currently the president of NARUC, has launched an effort that tries to help rural (and poor) folks without access to cheap, clean-burning natural gas, get access (see NARUC Creates Group to…
Yeterday EQT Corp., one of the biggest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, held its annual shareholder meeting in Pittsburgh. The crowd that turned up for the meeting wasn’t much of a crowd. There were more security guards on hand than non-board members in the audience. There were no shareholder resolutions on the table, and therefore no…
A report compiled and written by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (unclassified) has turned up in the public. The report, titled “Potential Domestic Terrorist Threats to Multi-State Diamond Pipeline Construction Project” (full copy below), warns about eco-terrorism and the potential for “mass casualties” from radicalized environmentalists who are now targeting the Diamond Pipeline Construction…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Fracking generates $200 million for Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District; 8 more permits for OH Utica wells issued last week; Three Mile Island on the brink; most locals support compressor upgrades in Lycoming County; $36M natgas pipeline coming…
Washington, D.C. – Ahead of Earth Day, and as anti-fossil fuel activists prepare to “march for science,” Energy In Depth is releasing a new compendium demonstrating that air quality improvements across the country can be traced directly back to fracking. The report – Compendium of Studies Demonstrating the Safety and Health Benefits of Fracking –…
Tom Shepstone Shepstone Management Company, Inc. … … If we truly want to reduce carbon emissions and make the biggest possible environmental difference right now at the least cost, the answer is natural gas. We’ve put a lot of words to work on this blog extolling the fact natural gas has helped reduce carbon…
The federal government has filed suit against Sunoco for a pipeline rupture that caused the 2012 spill in Lorain County. The post U.S. government sues Sunoco for pipeline spill appeared first on Shale Gas Reporter. Continue Reading: Shale Gas Reporter