Posts Tagged ‘Marcellus’

A few years ago every geologist involved in Appalachian Basin oil and gas knew about the Devonian black shale called the Marcellus. Its black color made it easy to spot in the field and its slightly radioactive signature made it a very easy pick on a geophysical well log.

However, very few of these geologists were excited about the Marcellus Shale as a major source of natural gas. Wells drilled through it produced some gas but rarely in enormous quantity. Few if any in the natural gas industry suspected that the Marcellus might soon be a major contributor to the natural gas supply of the United States – large enough to be spoken of as a “super giant” gas field.

Copyright: Geology.com

Natural gas captured from organic shale formations is not new to the oil and gas industry; shale gas has been produced since the early 1800s (DOE, 2009).  Most shale gas formations have historically been deemed economically impractical to drill due to the available technology and relative abundance of domestic conventional natural gas sources.  However, recent technological advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing along with increasing demand for natural gas and recent price trends for natural gas, have allowed previously inaccessible reserves to become technologically feasible and economically efficient to recover (DOE, 2009).

The Annual Energy Outlook for 2009, recently released by the United States’ Energy Information Administration, projects an increase of 0.5% total primary energy consumption annually through 2030 (EIA, 2009).  The majority of this demand increase will come from the residential sector’s demand for additional electricity (EIA, 2009).  Currently, coal-fired electricity generation dominates the electricity generation sector at approximately 49% of total U.S. domestic generation capacity (EIA, 2009).  However, due to emerging concerns and public policy developments regarding greenhouse gases and renewable portfolio standards for a sustainable energy supply, lower carbon energy sources needed for electricity generation are expected to gain marketplace demand (EIA, 2009).  Unfortunately, conversion from a fossil fuel-dependent energy economy to a low-carbon energy economy will take time and significant capital investment for infrastructure development (DOE, 2009).  A recent Wall Street Journal article cites Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club as viewing natural gas as a “bridge fuel” from carbon-intensive fossil fuels, such as coal and petroleum, to cleaner future fuel sources (Casselman, 2009).

In order to meet the expected increased demand for natural gas without increasing dependence on foreign imports, development of domestic unconventional natural gas sources will need to grow rapidly.  Production from unconventional natural gas sources, namely organic shales, tight sand formations, and coal-bed methane, currently account for approximately 50% of the total domestic natural gas production (DOE, 2009), this total production from unconventional resources was estimated at 8.9 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) per year in 2007 (ALL, 2008c).  Of the 8.9 Tcf of unconventional natural gas produced in the United States in 2007, 1.2 Tcf was from shale formations; however, shale gas production is expected to grow to 4.2 Tcf by 2030, accounting for an estimated 18% of the total U.S. gas production in 2030.  Unconventional sources combined are predicted to grow to nearly 56% of total U.S. domestic natural gas production (EIA, 2009).  To date, four evolving shale gas plays (Haynesville, Marcellus, Fayetteville and Woodford) are estimated to have over 550 Tcf of total recoverable gas resources, these formatiosn are expected to be capable of providing sustainable production of 2-4 Tcf of natural gas annually for decades (DOE, 2009).  Of these four, the Haynesville Shale and Marcellus Shale may have the most significant additions to domestic reserves of natural gas in recent decades.

Copyright: GoMarcellusshale.com

(Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) tracking By Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Mar. 24–The discovery and development of the Marcellus shale natural gas deposits has been big news in Pennsylvania and neighboring states for several reasons.

One is the massive energy resource it represents. Another is the jump in jobs it could create. A third is the tax revenue that might be reaped. And one more is the concern that widespread drilling poses for the environment.

That worry covers a range of issues, but a major one to catch the eye of the Environmental Protection Agency is “fracking,” the hydraulic fracturing technology that breaks the rock deep in the ground to release the gas. The process injects millions of gallons of water mixed with chemicals and sand under great pressure into a gas well to crack the shale. How should drillers best dispose of this water?

While fracking has been used for decades at shallow depths, the EPA said last Thursday it would do a $1.9 million study of the potential adverse effects of the process at a mile or more underground. The EPA wants to gauge the impact on water quality and public health — and that makes this money well spent.

In Pennsylvania alone, 2,500 drilling permits were issued by the state for Marcellus shale gas wells between 2007 and 2009, with another 5,000 expected this year. The Marcellus Shale Coalition, a trade group, says 1,100 Marcellus shale wells have been drilled so far, as a way to get to some of the estimated 363 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

While the coalition and others in the industry say they are committed to ensuring a safe approach to treatment and disposal of wastewater due to fracking, it’s good to know the EPA study will provide an objective, scientific view on how well they are doing.

It’s unfortunate the study could take two years to complete, but Americans should be willing to sacrifice speed for thoroughness on a question that involves community health.

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A panel offers an update on legislation, which turns out to center on money.

By Rory Sweeney rsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

BENTON – With interest increasing in drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, there’s a whole swirl of legislation related to it being considered in Harrisburg, but much of it comes down to money.

“A lot of what goes on in Harrisburg is who’s gonna pay to make the pie and who’s going to get a piece,” said state Rep. Garth Everett, R-Lycoming. “The fight is how we’re going to divide up the pie. … We want to see the Commonwealth get its fair share, but we also don’t want to … go New York on them and drive them away.”

Everett was among two other representatives – Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, and David Millard, R-Columbia – who spoke on Thursday evening at a meeting of the Columbia County Landowners Coalition.

A state Department of Environmental Protection official and a Penn State University educator were also on the panel.

Everett described the intention and status of nearly 20 bills throughout the legislature, noting that they fit into four categories: taxation and where the money goes, water protection, access to information and surface-owner rights.

While some likely won’t ever see a vote, Everett said a few will probably pass this session, including a bill that would require companies to release well production information within six months instead of the current five years.

He said a tax on the gas extraction also seems likely “at some point.”

For the most part, the industry received a pass at the meeting, with most comments favorable. One woman suggested companies might underreport the amount of gas they take out and questioned what’s being done to help landowners keep them honest.

Dave Messersmith of Penn State suggested that an addendum to each lease should be the opportunity for an annual audit of the company’s logs.

Robert Yowell, the director of the DEP’s north-central regional office, said the rush to drill in the shale happened so quickly that DEP is still trying to catch up with regulations. Likewise, he said, companies are still becoming acquainted with differences here from where they’re used to drilling.

“When they first came to town, I don’t think they realized how widely our streams fluctuated,” he said.

He added some public perceptions need to be changed – such as the belief that people aren’t naturally exposed to radiation all the time – and that he felt confident that “this can be done safely.”

In response to contamination issues in Dimock Township in Susquehanna County, DEP is upgrading and standardizing its requirements for well casings, Everett said. He added that it’s being suggested the contamination in might have been caused by “odd geology.”

“Every time humans do anything, there’s an impact on the land,” he said. “We just need to balance this right so that we end up with something we’re happy with when we’re done.”

Rory Sweeney, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7418.

View the original article here

College in Williamsport preparing workers

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

WILLIAMSPORT – Like many of his classmates, Mike Harris already has a job in electricity-generation lined up for when he graduates this spring.

The only problem is it will require the Dalton native to relocate to Illinois.

Soon enough, though, future students in these same welding classes at Pennsylvania College of Technology could be in a curriculum that funnels them into local jobs with natural gas drillers working in the Marcellus Shale region.

The Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center at the college is in its early infancy, only envisioned late last year and opened earlier this year, but plans are for it to expand quickly.

A collaboration with the Penn State Cooperative Extension, the center will identify the industry’s work force needs and respond with education tracks that train people for those jobs, said Jeffrey Lorson, an industrial technology specialist at the college who’s running the training center.

“With the escalation and the things with the Marcellus, there was clearly a need in the work force,” he said. “We knew we had a tremendous fit to support the industry.”

The jobs are certainly here, Harris said, and there aren’t enough local workers. “They can’t find anybody,” he said about drillers.

Lorson’s family has a motel in Bainbridge, N.Y., near Binghamton, and the place is constantly packed. “There’s guys coming from all over the place” to work for the drilling companies, he said.

He felt Penn College graduates would be “competitive” for jobs in the industry, which could feed off the college for workers in fields from welding to heavy machinery operation.

“The center has the potential to provide very meaningful training options for local residents,” said Stephen Rhoads, the president of the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Association. Certain skills, such as building and maintaining infrastructure and inspecting gauges and other moveable parts, “are all skills that could very easily find a home up in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” he said.

“If the industry grows as we expect it to, there will be long-term career opportunities.”

While he plans to enjoy traveling while starting his career, Harris said he’s looking ahead to hometown job security.

“I feel very confident, and I’d love to stay in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but right now as things are starting to take off, I think it’s easier for me to leave and get some experience,” he said.

The center could also help students outline career paths, an idea Harris has already considered. He’s planning to become certified in visual inspections.

“It keeps me out in the field, but it’s managerial,” he said. “You’re in the middle, which is pretty much where I wouldn’t mind being.”

See more photos of the Pennsylvania College of Technology Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center at www.timesleader.com.

Copyright: Times Leader

Gas industry officials told state senators in Dallas that cumbersome rules make it difficult to operate.

MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press Writer

DALLAS — Executives of drilling companies exploring a huge untapped reserve of natural gas say the economic windfall expected from the Marcellus Shale may not come to pass if Pennsylvania doesn’t get its regulatory house in order.

Industry officials complained Tuesday about a time-consuming and lengthy permitting process and cumbersome regulations that, on top of plummeting natural gas prices and the credit crisis, is making it difficult for them to operate in Pennsylvania.

“I have great hopes for what the Marcellus Shale play might still hold for Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, my experience to date does not lead me to be very optimistic,” Wendy Straatman, president of Exco-North Coast Energy Inc., told Republican state senators at a hearing in northeastern Pennsylvania.

She said the Akron, Ohio-based company has moved drilling equipment to West Virginia and delayed its plan to transfer a “significant number” of employees into Pennsylvania because of DEP permitting delays that are “unlike anything we have seen in any other state in which we operate.”

Another executive, Scott Rotruck of Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp., the largest natural gas producer in the United States, predicted “ominous” consequences for Marcellus development if Pennsylvania’s regulatory environment doesn’t become more welcoming. He said the permitting process is easier and less costly in other states.

Sympathetic GOP senators pressed acting Environmental Secretary John Hanger for answers, warning that Pennsylvania can’t afford to scare off an industry that has promised to create tens of thousands of new jobs.

The state needs to be “careful we are not killing the goose that’s laying the golden egg,” said Sen. Mary Jo White, R-Venango.

Hanger agreed that regulations need to be streamlined and said his agency is working on it, but added that most applications are processed within 45 days.

“There has to be a smart way to protect what we need to protect, and at the same time (prevent) a delay that really serves no purpose,” he said. “I believe there’s a learning curve here for everyone involved.”

Part of the problem may be a lack of DEP manpower to cope with a record number of natural gas applications. The agency is on track to issue 8,000 permits in 2008, up from 2,000 in 1999, yet staffing in the agency’s oil and gas division has remained stable at about 80. The DEP has proposed to raise fees on drilling companies to pay for additional staff to process applications and inspect wells.

Tuesday’s hearing at Misericordia University was called by the Senate Majority Policy Committee to explore the economic and environmental impact of drilling in the Marcellus, a layer of rock deep underground that experts say holds vast stores of largely untapped natural gas.

Industry executives also opposed a tax on natural gas that the administration of Gov. Ed Rendell has said it is considering.

“New taxes will stymie Marcellus development,” said Ray Walker Jr., vice president of Range Resources Corp., a Texas-based oil and gas company with an office in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Copyright: Times Leader

Texans to share their experiences

HUGHESVILLE – As night falls over Beaver Lake Road, work lights gradually accentuate a towering structure visible between the rolling hills. In the middle of a roughly square-acre site, the drilling rig is about halfway through a four-week stay at this rural Lycoming County site.

Soon thereafter, the rig will leave, crews will arrive to tap the natural-gas well, gas will begin being pumped into regional transmission pipelines and Chief Oil & Gas LLC of Dallas, Texas, will begin reaping income.

So will Neil and Louise Barto, though hardly what they say they deserve. They signed over the mineral rights to their nearly 178 acres three years ago for $888.45 and the state-minimum 12.5-percent royalties on the production.

“Everybody made money except us,” Neil Barto said. “Hell yes, it irritates me. … Every time I see somebody from Chief, I tell them I’m not happy about it.”

That’s the sort of cautionary tale the Joint Urban Studies Center is hoping to keep to a minimum in the area by hosting the Marcellus Shale Symposium on Nov. 19 at the Woodlands Inn & Resort in Plains Township. Cost is $30. The symposium will feature experts from the Fort Worth area, which witnessed during the past two decades a historical revolution as the oil and gas industry figured out how to tap gas stores under urban centers.

“The energy companies are used to operating out in rural areas where there’s nothing to bother but some cows and horses and whatnot,” said Will Brackett, the managing editor of the weekly Powell Barnett Shale Newsletter. With people came environmental concerns, landowners organizing to leverage better offers and opposition from those left out of the Barnett Shale windfall.

John Baen, a real estate professor at the University of North Texas, said he’s in a unique position to comment on the Marcellus because he used to fish in the Susquehanna River growing up as a boy, but also watched 9,000 wells be drilled in five Texas counties within seven years. “We had a lot of people who said, ‘Not in my back yard,’ then we had a lot of people who said, ‘Well maybe,’ and people who said, ‘Drill every square foot,’” he said.

Brackett noted that people who hadn’t finished high school were landing $50,000-per-year jobs, making it difficult for other industries to keep workers. As the companies struck more and more hydrocarbon gold, they offered leases to ever more landowners, who began organizing and using the Internet to publicize offers. Bidding wars erupted, with offers at $25,000 per acre and 25-percent royalties on production. “It got to be, I’d have to say, surreal around here,” he said. “Last year, if you went to a party, everyone was talking about the Barnett Shale.”

One of the most important steps to expanding exploitation of the shale is placating objectors, Baen said.

“I have a theory that everyone should be a stakeholder, and everybody should win,” he said. “It might take some pretty big changes in some of your laws up there to have everybody benefit.”

He noted that Texas has no state income tax, but that every mineral-rights owner pays a severance tax that has left the state with an $11-billion overabundance.

Both Brackett and Baen agree Pennsylvania and its citizens stand to benefit extensively from the advances made in Fort Worth in recent years, but only if the state refocuses its mineral-rights policies from coal to gas and oil.

“I’m calling it the Jewel of the Northeast,” Baen said, but “will it be allowed to be developed? And it may not.”

If the state legislature doesn’t act quickly, he predicted the economic benefit could be delayed up to five years.

Copyright: Times Leader

ALBANY, N.Y.

Marcellus Shale gets upgraded sevenfold

A geologist says the Marcellus Shale region of the Appalachians could yield seven times as much natural gas as he earlier estimated, meaning it could meet the entire nation’s natural gas needs for at least 14 years.

Penn State University geoscientist Terry Engelder says in a phone interview Monday that he now estimates 363 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be recovered from the 31-million-acre core area of the Marcellus region, which includes southern New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and eastern Ohio.

Engelder and geologist Gary Nash of the State University of New York at Fredonia touched off a gas rush in the region last January with their study estimating that the Marcellus could yield as much as 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

LANCASTER, Pa.

Man gets 2 DUIs in five-hour period

Police say a central Pennsylvania man was arrested on drunken driving charges twice in less than six hours.

Michael Hufford’s first arrest came just before 11 a.m. Sunday. Police say his car hit the back of a stopped vehicle in Manheim Township, Lancaster County.

Hufford was arrested for suspected DUI. After he was processed, he was released to his girlfriend.

Hufford was arrested again just before 4 p.m. Police say the second accident happened after he turned left in front of another vehicle.

The 50-year-old was arraigned by a magisterial district judge after the second crash. Police say he was sent to Lancaster County Prison.

YORK, Pa.

Man kills wife, toddler and then himself

A suburban York man killed his wife and 2-year-old son before committing suicide inside their home, police said Monday.

John D. Goodman, 39, did not leave a note before he shot his wife, Julia, multiple times and shot their son, Langon, early Sunday morning, said Spring Garden Township Chief George Swartz.

Swartz said investigators were still trying to determine what happened and why. He said there is no evidence that the couple was divorcing or that any protective orders were in place.

York County Coroner Barry Bloss Sr. told the York Dispatch that John Goodman may have been recently laid off from his job as a surveyor in Lancaster. Bloss also said his office would try to confirm reports that 39-year-old Julia Goodman was pregnant.

The Goodmans had lived in the neighborhood near York Hospital since 2003, and before that they lived elsewhere in Spring Garden Township.

ERIE, Pa.

Freight-train death perplexes coroner

A Pennsylvania coroner is hoping toxicology tests and more investigation will help him figure out why a man was killed by a passing freight train.

Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook says the body of 23-year-old Timothy Villa, of Erie, was found near the CSX railroad tracks in the city Sunday about 2 a.m.

Cook says the investigation indicates Villa may have left a Halloween party shortly before he was struck and killed by the train. An autopsy Sunday confirmed the man died of massive trauma.

Cook says police are trying to contact the train’s crew. Cook is waiting for toxicology tests on Villa’s body before ruling whether the death was an accident, but says it does not appear to be foul play.

Copyright: Times Leader

YOU CAN practically hear the Luzerne County Commissioners yelling: “Eureka! Thar’s treasure in them thar’ hills.”

The trio knows that – much like a century ago – a potential financial bonanza lies below our feet in the form of a coveted fuel. This time, it’s not anthracite.

Instead, companies aim to extract natural gas from deep below Northeastern Pennsylvania’s crust, using new drilling technology to tap a rock formation known as the Marcellus shale. The drillers, and speculators hoping to profit by hoarding land-lease agreements, have knocked on doors throughout the region, promising to put money in the pockets of cooperative property holders.

Luzerne County officials rightly recognize that this region’s (second) energy revolution offers a rare opportunity.

If handled properly, it can provide a much-needed source of relatively inexpensive fuel for home-heating and other purposes. Plus, the industry can be a significant money-maker for private landowners as well as public entities, including the commonwealth (which controls state forests and game lands) and the county.

Pennsylvania’s natural gas boom, therefore, deserves to be handled with extreme care so that current residents and future generations reap the full benefits. The approach will require specialized knowledge of geological, environmental and legal issues, coordination among all involved parties and patience.

With no disrespect intended, this is not a job for the Luzerne County Commissioners to attempt on their own.

Commissioner Greg Skrepenak’s proposal to create a gas exploration task force, which will involve professionals, makes sense in the short term. After studying the issue, however, this task force might decide it’s more sensible to combine efforts with a regional or statewide group that has even more expertise and can leverage the best deals on behalf of the taxpaying public.

The commissioners could vote as soon as Wednesday to request proposals for drilling in the county-owned Moon Lake Park area. What’s the rush? Most advisers have been telling private property owners that there is no need to leap on this bandwagon; indeed, better deals probably can be secured at a later time and by coordinating efforts with surrounding property owners rather than trying to compete with them.

In recent years the county has entered into some poorly arranged contracts, such as the juvenile detention center deal. The stakes are too high to botch this one.

Unfortunately, the current commissioners might see natural gas leases as an easy out – an escape from the burdensome budget deficits that have become all-too typical here in recent years. It would be a mistake, however, to make hasty decisions for short-term gain that could impact this region and its residents for the next century.

Luzerne County

officials rightly recognize that this region’s (second) energy revolution offers a rare opportunity.

Copyright: Times Leader

Gas-drilling firm increased original request tenfold.

After it received approval to withdraw about 2 million gallons of water daily from the Susquehanna River, Chesapeake Energy Corp. is trying to increase that allowance roughly tenfold.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission approved the original allowance in September, but Chesapeake applied earlier this week for a modification of the approval to allow withdrawing 20 million gallons each day.

The approval is only for natural-gas drilling in eight counties in New York and 15 counties in Pennsylvania, including Luzerne.

Chesapeake did not immediately return a request for comment.

Whether the request is approved remains to be seen.

“They can request however much, but that doesn’t mean that’s what the commissioners would ultimately approve,” SRBC spokeswoman Susan Obleski said. “We have gotten a few others (requests for withdrawal increases) … but certainly no increase like this.”

The increase seems to be to allow multiple well drillings each day, she said. New techniques, called hydrofracturing, have made it economical to attempt extracting gas from Marcellus shale deposits deep underground, but the drilling is heavily water intensive, requiring millions of gallons for each “fracing” process.

She noted the SRBC is considering changing its rules so that each well pad would require a withdrawal permit instead of one for the company’s entire leased area.

The commission is scheduled to vote on the issue in December. The public can comment on the increase request or rule changes by e-mailing the commission or by attending public meetings.

If you go

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission is holding a public meeting at 7 p.m. on Oct. 21 at Lycoming College’s Academic Center’s Lecture Hall, Room D001, on Mulberry Street in Williamsport. Notice of attendance or submission of testimony should be sent to Richard Cairo at rcairo@srbc.net.

Copyright: Times Leader