Archive for January, 2010
In a press release yesterday, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell announced a host of new regulations for Marcellus shale gas development. He is also directing the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to hire 68 (we’re not sure where he got this number either) new employees to oversee and enforce shale gas and environmental regulations and laws, according to the statement.
Safe, responsible shale gas production helped create 50,000 jobs in Pennsylvania last year alone, and Rendell highlights this significant economic impact:
“As I’ve said all along, we want to encourage the development of this resource because it’s a tremendous economic opportunity for the state, but we will not allow that to happen at the expense of our environment.”
Here are the specific new regulations that Rendell laid out:
• Require the casings of Marcellus Shale and other high-pressure wells to be tested and constructed with specific, oilfield-grade cement;
• Clarify the drilling industry’s responsibility to restore or replace water supplies affected by drilling;
• Establish procedures for operators to identify and correct gas migration problems without waiting for direction from DEP;
• Require drilling operators to notify DEP and local emergency responders immediately of gas migration problems;
• Require well operators to inspect every existing well quarterly to ensure each well is structurally sound, and report the results of those inspections to DEP annually; and
• Require well operators to notify DEP immediately if problems such as over-pressurized wells and defective casings are found during inspections.
The governor’s announcement was welcomed with opened arms from the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC). In a release, MSC President and Executive Director Kathryn Klaber says:
“The Marcellus Shale Coalition has consistently supported the hiring of additional DEP staff to monitor natural gas wells in the commonwealth, as reflected in its proactive endorsement of permit fee increases in 2009 to add and train new inspectors. Our support continues with today’s announcement of an additional 68 DEP staff dedicated to the oil and gas program. This sustainable approach is working and will help to ensure the continued responsible development of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.”
MSC also underscores the fact that shale gas producers in Pennsylvania have a remarkable environmental safety record, thanks in large part to the sensible state regulations coupled with efforts by the industry to ensure that every aspect of production is done responsibly. This from their release:
•Inspections: A total of 14,000 field inspections, including shallow well locations, were made by DEP in 2009, with enforcement action resulting from Marcellus Shale drilling activity accounting for only 1.1 percent of the state’s total actions. Often times, those findings were easily and quickly corrected.
Only 1.1 percent of the state’s total enforcement actions were associated with Marcellus shale gas production. An awfully insignificant amount of cases by any metric. Agreed? Well, if you were fair-minded, sensible and make informed decisions based on facts, then the answer would most likely be yes.
But if one opposes safe, well-regulated, environmentally-sound shale gas production – which is helping to create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and delivering affordable energy to struggling families and small businesses – one may choose to disregard such facts and cherry-pick isolated cases to help build a presupposed narrative.
Enter ProPublica, a mouthpiece for out-of-the-mainstream environmental zealots cloaked as “journalists”. Under the headline “Pennsylvania’s Gas Wells Booming–But So Are Spills,” ProPublica’s Sabrina Shankman reports this earlier in the week:
As more gas wells are drilled in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, more cases of toxic spills are being reported.
Ms. Shankman highlights several uncommon incidents that have occurred in Pennsylvania associated with shale gas production in her “article.” One “spill” that she hand-picked to showcase was caused by vandalism.
Any mention of the fact that 1 percent of the energy-related incidents that occurred in Pennsylvania last year were related to Marcellus shale gas production, helping to provide adequate context for readers? Of course not. How silly would that be?
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Earlier this week, hundreds of concerned New Yorkers made the trek to Albany to tell state leaders the time is now to move forward with responsible, 21st century shale gas production in the state. Cold weather and a driving rain didn’t deter the scores of landowners, county and state legislators and everyday working families who are committed to strengthening New York’s economy.
And building on Monday’s groundswell of support, yesterday the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce met to discuss the economic potentials presented by responsibly developing natural gas in the Marcellus shale. The economic impact – as we’ve both written and reported – would be staggering. Here are a few highlights from the event that were covered by the local media.
WICZ-TV reports this under the headline “Marcellus Shale Could Be a Gold Mine”:
Natural Gas supporters say the Southern Tier is sitting on a gold mine … in the form of the Marcellus Shale.
“In terms of the world, resources for oil or natural gas, this is second only to the middle east,” said Rayola Dougher, Senior Economic Advisor for the American Petroleum Institute. The formation is 10 times larger than the Barnett Shale in Texas. Supporters say drilling there increased jobs in the area by about 100,000… and they insist those jobs won’t go away after the wells are drilled.
“With more money coming into the community, more people will be eating out, going out for entertainment and recreation,” said Terry Stark of Broome-Tioga Workforce. “Jobs are leaving our area, our children are leaving our area. We need to bring this opportunity here and really capitalize on it.”
WBNG-TV went with the headline “Gas Drilling Could Mean Economic Opportunity.” Key excerpts from their report:
If New York State gives companies the green light to begin drilling, the natural gas industry could help bring about an economic revival in Broome County. The Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce examined the possibilities today during an economic development forum.
A panel of gas drilling experts say hundreds of jobs would stimulate Broome’s economy, but that’s only if New York State allows natural gas drilling to move forward.
“The Marcellus Shale is going to be a real game changer in the United States and especially for this region of the country. It’s going to mean economic growth, it’s going to mean new jobs, it’s going to attract manufacturing jobs to the area,” said Rayola Dougher, Senior Economic Advisor from the American Petroleum Institute.
Panelists claim more than 1,000 local jobs will be created in Greater Binghamton.
The Binghamton Press & Bulletin reports this under the headline “Chamber forum argues in favor of gas drilling”:
The panel — made up of representatives from county government and work force development, the American Petroleum Institute and Chesapeake Energy — touted new jobs, both direct and indirect, and other economic benefits that would come from any local drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale.
“The Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce strongly supports natural gas exploration as long as adequate policies are developed to protect our environment and infrastructure,” said Lou Santoni, president and CEO of the chamber, which presented the forum, held Tuesday at the Binghamton Regency Hotel and Conference Center. “We believe that the county and DEC are ready to do that.”
“This is a major job creation opportunity and probably the largest job creation catalyst by one industry,” Deputy County Executive Darcy Fauci said.
And News 10 Now reports this a segmented entitled “Business-friendly forum supports gas drilling”:
“I’d like to see this get moving,” said Chris Ostrowsky, a Conklin landowner. “New York is in dire need of something to go on here and it’s right under our feet, literally.”
A series of speakers at Tuesday’s forum said this is the area’s best hope for a bright economic tomorrow.
“We’re talking billions of dollars of economic activity, you’re talking millions in state and local revenue. I think it’s going to transform the region,” said Rayola Dougher, a senior economic advisor with the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group.
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Should state officials remain in charge of regulating fracturing activity in their communities? Yes. And EID counts the reasons why
Support for the safe development of clean-burning natural gas has always been a bipartisan affair. But to listen to Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle (Pa.) extol the virtues of modern-day shale gas exploration at a hearing in Congress last week, one was left to wonder how anyone, of any party, of any sensibility, could possibly oppose it.
Remember, Rep. Doyle still apparently supports the ill-advised windfall profits tax; he’s hardly a shill for the oil and natural gas industry. But the congressman can’t ignore the potential – heck, the reality – for shale gas to create jobs, revenue and opportunity for the residents of Pennsylvania. Just take a look at key segments of his excellent opening statement:
“We have had enormous success in my State of Pennsylvania with horizontal drilling in natural gas shale plays.”
“My State, Pennsylvania, has done a great job in regulating the natural gas industry, while allowing it to grow and prosper.”
“We have been known as a steel city, but pretty soon we may be known as the Saudi Arabia of natural gas with the Marcellus shale sitting underneath western Pennsylvania.”
“Last year alone Pennsylvania could attribute nearly 50,000 jobs to environmentally safe natural gas production.”
All that’s true, by the way – according to Penn State University, “in excess” of 48,000 jobs were created in the state in 2009 alone (and nearly $4 billion in economic activity) all thanks to a technology that allows producers to access and recover resources that would be too deep and difficult to otherwise get. Congressman Doyle certainly read the Penn State study, and it’s clear he knows a thing or two about the safeguards in place to ensure the critical work of developing these job-creating shale resources doesn’t come at the expense of our air, water or surrounding environment.
But that’s not to say that Rep. Doyle claims to know it all; as he made clear during last week’s hearing, he’s still got plenty of questions on the design, intent and potential impact of the FRAC Act on his district. Fortunately for Rep. Doyle, the bill’s lead sponsor – Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) — sat only a few seats away from him at last Wednesday’s hearing, eager to explain the functions of her bill to a subcommittee of which she isn’t even a member. Unfortunately for Rep. Doyle, Rep. DeGette’s characterization of her bill was, in the final analysis, so irreconcilably divorced from reality that it’s tough to imagine how anyone could have left the room with more or better information on the legislation than when he came in.
Which is too bad, really – because Rep. Doyle came to this hearing with a series of important questions on the FRAC Act, for which he expected answers. Here, according to the hearing transcript, is how Rep. Doyle set up his line of questioning:
Statement #1: In Pennsylvania, officials have “done a great job in regulating” Marcellus Shale exploration in the state;
Statement #2: In Pennsylvania, “we have rules in place to protect our underground sources of drinking water”;
Statement #3: In Pennsylvania, “in order to obtain a permit, drillers must identify any anticipated impacts of water withdrawals on water resources.”
Statement #4: In Pennsylvania, the “law requires drillers to case in grout wells through all freshwater aquifers before drilling through deeper zones in order to protect ground water from pollutants inside wells”;
Statement #5: In Pennsylvania, “there are also rules that require operators to disclose all chemicals to be stored and used at a drilling site, including chemicals and fracking fluids in order to guard against contamination and ensure safe disposal of these chemicals. That is Pennsylvania law.”
And Now His Question: Having established that Pennsylvania’s laws 1) are tough, 2) work well, and 3) haven’t forced producers to leave the state – what would be wrong with imposing a “national regulatory framework” based on the Pennsylvania model to create “uniformity and predictability” for those who operate in multiple states?
Why not back a national standard? And while we’re at it, why not back the FRAC Act – since all it’s trying to do is put a uniform rule in place? Reasonable questions, to be sure. Thankfully, they’re questions for which there are similarly reasonable and straightforward answers. Energy In Depth counts the ways:
1) Fractured Thinking on the FRAC Act. Those who say the FRAC Act will setup a straightforward, uniform standard for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing nationwide are simply not telling you the truth. In reality, and made clear by the actual text of the bill, the FRAC Act has only one single purpose in mind: prevent the development of America’s shale gas by establishing a de facto ban on the technology needed to produce it. Mechanically, the means by which the bill seeks to do that are genius: It doesn’t actually ban fracturing from taking place in explicit terms, it simply mandates that no fracturing activity can proceed until EPA issues the appropriate permits/approval under the Safe Drinking Water Act – something EPA literally cannot do under the current structure of SDWA.
2) The Fallacy of the Slacker State. One of the central justifications for imposing an EPA-driven, one-size-fits-all regulatory regime on hydraulic fracturing is that some states, to put it plainly, just aren’t doing their job. Observe here (page 80 of the PDF) how Rep. Doyle puts forward the proposition at the hearing:
“So my question is, because this Marcellus shale formation goes over several States and we have some laws that have regulations ?? some States that have regulations, some States that have no regulations and everything in between, would a national regulatory framework … create uniformity and predictability for a company like yours?
Here are the facts: Of the 27 states that support 99.9 percent of all oil and gas exploration activities nationwide, all 27 have permitting requirements in place, right now, governing the siting, drilling, completion and operation of wells – which include operations related to hydraulic fracturing. Some of these states have had experience in regulating this process for more than 100 years. You can find a fact sheet on our website capturing all the relevant rules, regulations and data in the individual states.
3) Shale Plays are Like Snowflakes. No two are alike. Plainly put, the subsurface geology of Pennsylvania is dramatically different from the composition of underground strata in Texas. New York is different from West Virginia. Colorado is different from Kansas. Each state presents unique challenges to producers operating in that region – from the depth of the shale play, the volume of resources attached, to the temperature of rock below, to the availability of injection wells as an option for disposal. No two states – not even any two regions – will require the same exact fracturing treatment, and therefore no two states should be forced to live under the exact same regulatory system for bringing these resources to market. Regulators on the ground, in the community, know this terrain – physical and regulatory – better than anyone sitting at a desk in Washington, D.C.
4) EPA is Simply Ill-Equipped to Do the Job. Every month, more than 35,000 separate wells in 27 states undergo fracture stimulation work, and nine out 10 wells in America will require this technology to yield additional energy in the future. The idea that EPA staff – the majority of whom work out of offices in Washington, D.C. – would have the ability to properly oversee this system, and issue permits pursuant to it, is ridiculous. Even Carol Browner, the president’s current energy and environment czar, admitted that in a letter she wrote while serving as administrator of EPA. And, not for nothing, but doesn’t EPA already have enough on its plate these days without injecting itself in process the state’s have managed well for decades?
5) The Current System Works – and History Bears That Out. To accept the argument that EPA regulation of hydraulic fracturing is necessary, first you need to accept the premise that the current system of state-based regulation is broken. But the facts simply don’t bear that proposition out. From North Dakota to Texas, Montana to New Mexico, Colorado to Pennsylvania, Tennessee to Alaska – every one of these states has testified that fracturing activities pose no discernable threat to local drinking water. And as we’ve written before, there’s a darn good reason for why that’s the case: The areas we frac are isolated from the areas the house drinking water by thousands of feet in distance and millions of tons of impermeable rock. And on the surface, when a rare spill or incident does occur, state regulators – to a man – have testified that they’ve got all the authority they need to prosecute the offending parties, and ensure those incidents do not occur in the future.
Now are you starting to get the picture here? Truth is, energy producers encourage commonsense regulations. Fortunately, under the present system, operators have the ability in most states (New York, we’re looking at you) to produce these abundant shale gas resources in a way that’s both economical for their businesses, and safe for the surrounding communities in which they work. Those are the facts – and at a time of record unemployment and winnowing state revenues, those are the realities that policy-makers should consider before walking into the buzz saw known as the FRAC Act.
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Democrats and Republicans from western PA confirm, applaud state’s stringent regulatory standards
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Federal legislation that seeks to destroy the current state-federal regulatory partnership on hydraulic fracturing in favor of an EPA-directed regime would “substantially increase” the cost of clean-burning natural gas “with no resulting environmental benefits.” That’s the message state Rep. Jim Christiana (R-Beaver) is taking to his colleagues in Harrisburg today – introducing a new resolution reaffirming the ability of state-based regulators to properly regulate and oversee a process that’s central to Marcellus Shale exploration in the state.
“Hydraulic fracturing is absolutely essential to produce natural gas from the Marcellus Shale and other gas shales that promise to hold more than a 100-year supply of natural gas for our nation,” said Rep. Christiana, a member of the House committee on environmental resources and energy. “Pennsylvania’s oil and gas regulatory program is among the most stringent in the United States and places great emphasis on protecting groundwater supplies. I believe that additional and costly Federal oversight is unnecessary and cost-prohibitive.”
The resolution introduced today by Rep. Christiana, who represents several communities in western Pennsylvania, is consistent with remarks offered by U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) during a hearing last week of a key Energy & Commerce subcommittee. Just as Rep. Christiana did today, Congressman Doyle took the time to remind his colleagues then that “in Pennsylvania, we have rules in place to protect our underground sources of drinking water” – and that “Pennsylvania law requires drillers to case in grout wells through all freshwater aquifers before drilling … to protect ground water from pollutants inside wells.”
Congressman Doyle also remarked during the hearing that Pittsburgh may “have been known as a steel city, but pretty soon we may be known as the Saudi Arabia of natural gas with the Marcellus shale sitting underneath western Pennsylvania.” In highlighting the economic benefits for the commonwealth, Rep. Doyle added that “last year alone, Pennsylvania could attribute nearly 50,000 jobs to environmentally safe natural gas production.”
Louis D. D’Amico, executive director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of Pennsylvania, and someone with nearly 40 years of experience in the energy sector, called Rep. Christiana’s resolution “a potential breakthrough” in the debate over shale gas exploration in Harrisburg, and applauded the lawmaker for his “willingness to educate his colleagues on the real-world facts related to the safe and decades-old application of fracturing technology, as well as the many misconceptions that persist.”
With the introduction of the Christiana resolution today, Pennsylvania joins at least 11 other states, several federal agencies, and countless local communities in either taking up or formally adopting robust declarations of support for the economic potential of American shale gas – as well as for the key technologies needed to produce it.
Now a full two years into the development of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, the safe and responsible use of hydraulic fracturing, as well as other critical technologies, have already helped the state create more than 48,000 new jobs, according to Penn State University – and generate a staggering $3.8 billion in economic development.
NOTE: A copy of the PA House resolution, as introduced, can be accessed HERE.
Additional resources available at Energy In Depth:
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Landowners, Local Leaders Say Fracturing Is Safe, Will Create Jobs, Economic Opportunity
Mike White of the Twin Tiers Landowners Coalition: “Marcellus will be huge. I don’t think people understand how big economically this will be for the area. From what I can see, it’s the single biggest thing that’s ever happened to this area, ever – certainly in our lifetime.” (1/23/10)
Robert Moore of Broome Co., NY: “Natural gas exploration using horizontal wells and a process called hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’, is safe and the economic development benefit would be great. The jobs would be astronomical. Without it, we’re done.” (1/25/10)
Randall Slimak of Chemung Co., NY: “I support natural gas exploration. It’s a source of jobs and revenue.” (1/25/10)
Marie Lusins of the Unatego Area Landowners Assoc.: “People who don’t want drilling don’t have the facts on how safe it is. There never has been one instance in New York of fracking fluid contaminating someone’s water.” (1/26/10)
Steven Palamatier of Chemung Co., NY: “If they don’t pass this law [allowing Marcellus development to take place in New York] hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost to Pennsylvania.” (1/25/10)
Joe Axtell of Broome Co., NY: “In our area, there used to be tons of dairy farmers. Now, they can’t pay their taxes, and you can count the number of farms on one hand. This would help them, help the state.” (1/25/10)
Douglas Lee of Sullivan Co., NY: “It would be the biggest thing, bigger than casinos. The jobs and money could solve economic problems.” (1/26/10)
NY Assemblyman William Parment (D-North Harmony): “It’s proven and safe.” (1/26/10)
Hydraulic Fracturing “Could Fundamentally Reshape the Whole World Gas Market”
AFP: “If several years ago not a single organisation known to us was forecasting the rapid growth of gas extraction in the United States, today practically all companies are discussing the prospects of shale gas extraction, which could fundamentally reshape the whole world gas market. … The improvements [in extraction techniques] have opened up reserves of gas embedded in shale rock that were previously too costly to extract, leading energy companies to snap up drilling rights in unlikely places such as New York state.” (1/26/10)
Bloomberg: “The sort of technology improvements you as a consumer see in the iPod are also happening in the oil and gas industry to help production,” said Nansen Saleri, chief executive officer at advisory firm Quantum Reservoir Impact in Houston. “It’s a different picture than people were projecting five years ago.” (1/22/10)
Those Who Actually Study This Technology – Not Just Blog About It – Recognize its Safety
PSU Geoscience Prof. and Marcellus Shale Expert Terry Engelder: “The Marcellus Shale lies more than a mile beneath the earth. That’s the equivalent of ‘seven Empire State buildings stacked end on end’ between the shale and the surface. … There is so much rock between where the fractures are taking place and the surface that chances of anything down there disturbing the surface is geographically as close to zero as you can possibly get.” (1/25/10)
Independent Petroleum Association of America: “Industry’s case is well presented at the website, Energy in Depth, sponsored by the Independent Petroleum Association of America. You’ll find there a regulatory timeline, IPAA’s Open Letter to Congress, and some interesting animations which depict the process of drilling and completing a well.” (1/23/10)
Industry Expert: “Lowry, like most who support the practice, argued that ‘fracking’ has never been credibly tied to water pollution. Yet his company – which opened an office in Binghamton – had to shut down that office about a year ago because of a drilling moratorium imposed by the state. ‘It’s about rights being taken away – rights of the people. These people – the landowners – stand to gain something from this, and environmentalists are trying to take away these people’s rights.’” (1/25/10)
Creating Jobs, Economic Activity and Even Saving Schools
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Some experts estimate that development of the natural gas contained in the shale — a geological formation that stretches from West Virginia and eastern Ohio through Western Pennsylvania to the New York state border — could result in a $14 billion boost to Pennsylvania’s economy this year and create more than 176,000 new jobs by 2020.” (1/24/10)
NY’s News 10 Now: “The gas drilling industry hasn’t just helped the fate of the school, it’s also had a positive economic impact on the community. … The community says they’re ready to reap the benefits. ‘Especially with the Marcellus Shale play, we’re really focusing now on showing how Blossburg is a great place to live,’ said Nickerson. ‘I’m sure there’s always somebody somewhere that’s going to find something wrong, but again, the economy, it’s going to be just great for this area.” (1/26/10)
Marcellus Shale Coalition: “[The economic impact] doesn’t stop with the natural gas companies. There are law firms, accounting firms, small town grocers and dry cleaners all starting to realize — in the areas where this is happening — that there is business to be had and economic opportunities throughout the supply chain.” (1/24/10)
PA’s WJAC-TV: “Halliburton is planning to add jobs at its facility in Indiana County. … Officials didn’t have an exact count of how many jobs are available. People packed the Indiana County PA Careerlink office Thursday to learn about the jobs. Halliburton is involved in servicing of gas wells, including Marcellus shale gas wells. Company officials said a wide variety of jobs are available, including jobs for equipment operators. They’re planning several more job fairs in February and March.” (1/21/10)
Newspapers Back Safe, Responsible Shale Gas Production
Houston Chronicle: “When coupled with discoveries of huge new reserves of natural gas across Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, and in Colorado and Pennsylvania and West Virginia, this latest projected Gulf find makes natural gas a truly abundant fuel for this country. … Domestically produced natural gas, whether from Gulf waters or Texas shale — or for that matter from coal-rich Pennsylvania and West Virginia — can help make that bridge a sturdy and clean one.” (Editorial, 1/12/10)
Washington Examiner: “Key to unlocking energy resources like the Marcellus Shale deposit is a process known as hydraulic fracturing. Drillers inject fluid — 99.5 percent of which is water — into wells to create horizontal fractures, which enable recovery of trillions of cubic feet of natural gas and billions of barrels of oil that would otherwise be inaccessible. Hydraulic fracturing has been widely used for 60 years, especially in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. But now, as energy companies greatly expand the use of hydraulic fracturing in other areas of the nation, environmental extremists see an opportunity to mount a new national scare campaign. … studies by multiple reputable organizations, including the EPA in 2004, concluded that hydraulic fracturing poses no danger to drinking water after being used more than 1.1 million times in the U.S.” (Editorial, 1/20/10)
Top Energy Leaders in Washington Weigh-In
Congressman Cliff Stearns (FL): “Since the 1940s, hydraulic fracturing has helped to produce more than 7 billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the United States. … Hydraulic fracturing is essential to produce more of the oil and natural gas that the U.S. will consume in the next decades ahead. … Without [fracturing] most of our country’s abundant natural gas resources cannot be produced.” (Energy & Commerce Committee remarks, 1/20/10)
Congressman John Shadegg (AZ): “A vast majority of our domestic supply is accessible only through hydraulic fracturing, a technique that has been used to extract gasoline or oil for more than 50 years. The EPA itself found, quote, “no confirmed cases that are linked to fracturing fluid injection into CBM wells or subsequent underground movement of fracturing.” … EPA did not find confirmed evidence that drinking water wells have been contaminated by hydraulic fracturing. … If we ban hydraulic fracturing, either outright or through the unintended consequences of legislation we pass, then all of these numbers that we have been talking about ?? the 100?year supply, the reasonable price that you just talked about ?? you would tell me are gone.” (Energy & Commerce Committee remarks, 1/20/10)
Congressman Gene Green (TX): “With recent advances in technology to extract more natural gas from unconventional gas resources, such as extended reach, horizontal drilling or hydraulic fracturing, we can unlock America’s 100 years’ supply of natural gas. This hydrofracking, U.S.?developed technology, is being exported to Europe and China.” (Energy & Commerce Committee remarks, 1/20/10)
Congressman Fred Upton (MI): “The oil and natural gas industry supports more than 9 million American jobs and adds more than $1 trillion to the national economy. I hope I don’t need to remind our colleagues about the state of our economy, that unemployment is still in double digits nationally and 15 percent in Michigan. … Without that hydraulic fracturing, you wouldn’t be able to get, what, 20 percent, maybe out of these fields?” (Energy & Commerce Committee remarks, 1/20/10)
Congressman Mike Doyle (PA): “Last year alone Pennsylvania could attribute nearly 50,000 jobs to environmentally safe natural gas production.” (Energy & Commerce Committee remarks, 1/20/10)
Congressman Greg Walden (WA): “It looks to me like if we can invest in our own resources using new technologies in environmentally safe ways, we can generate revenues to the government and create jobs in our hometowns. (Energy & Commerce Committee remarks, 1/20/10)
Congressman John Sullivan (OK): “One of the reasons we have gotten so much of that [energy] is because of the drilling techniques, the horizontal drilling and the hydraulic fracking. I read a report, and you guys would know more, but I hear like 60 to 80 percent of the wells drilled in the next 10 years are going to have to use hydraulic fracking, so I think it is horrible, it would be detrimental to this country if they outlaw that practice.” (Energy & Commerce Committee remarks, 1/20/10)
Congressman Steve Scalise (LA): “So this really has nothing to do with safety. It is about a policy decision we are going to make, and do we really want to utilize the resource that this country has and the ability that we have to make our country independent of especially Middle Eastern oil, countries that don’t necessarily want to do good things with the money that they are getting to our country.” (Energy & Commerce Committee remarks, 1/20/10)
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Gazprom frets about surge in US gas production: report. AFP. “The state-controlled firm is reconsidering its strategy in light of the US “revolution” in shale gas extraction, Kommersant said, citing a company document due to be presented at a board meeting on Tuesday. “The situation is aggravated by the so-called revolution in gas extraction from nontraditional sources in the United States,” said the document, a speech by Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev, quoted by Kommersant. “If several years ago not a single organisation known to us was forecasting the rapid growth of gas extraction in the United States, today practically all companies are discussing the prospects of shale gas extraction, which could fundamentally reshape the whole world gas market.”
Gas drilling rallies pit environmentalists against pro-growth advocates. Democrat and Chronicle (NY)/Press & Sun-Bulletin. “Robert Moore, a resident of Port Crane, Broome County, said New York is “running people out of the state” because of high taxes. Natural gas exploration using horizontal wells and a process called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, is safe and the economic development benefit would be great, he said. “The jobs would be astronomical,” said Moore, 49, adding, “Without it, we’re done.” … Randall Slimak of Horseheads, Chemung County, held a sign that said “My land. My gas.” as he waited in the pouring rain in Lafayette Park, near the Capitol, for the pro-drilling rally to begin. … he and other landowners think of themselves as the original conservationists. The DEC’s drilling rules are the most restrictive of any state, he said. “I support natural gas exploration. It’s a source of jobs and revenue,” he said.”
Exxon-Xto Deal Forces Congress to Reconsider Natural Gas. New York Times. “Natural gas is the cleanest of the fossil fuels, and electric utilities that burn it to generate electricity belch out half the amount of carbon dioxide emissions they produce when when they burn coal. Exxon’s decision in December to purchase Fort Worth, Texas-based XTO Energy, one of the nation’s largest gas producers, could mark a dramatic shift in the way Washington understands domestic energy supply. It also underscores the role that gas is likely to play in cutting industrial emissions, in the United States and in fast-growing developing countries such as China and India.”
Area gas-drilling supporters, opponents rally in Albany. Daily Star (NY). “The weather was horrible,” said Marie Lusins of Oneonta, a member of the Unatego Area Landowners Association. Still, Lusins said the landowners were cheered by good speeches delivered by political allies, including state Sen. Thomas Libous, R-Binghamton, and state Assemblyman Clifford Crouch, R-Guilford. ‘They were tremendous and right on target: It’s time to let the DEC get on with this,’ Lusins said, referring to the approval of its draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement. … Now, with horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – called “fracking” – the gas boom is poised to come here if allowed by state regulators. … Lusins, a former Oneonta town councilwoman, said people who don’t want drilling don’t have the facts on how safe it is. ‘There never has been one instance in New York of fracking fluid contaminating someone’s water,’ she said.”
North Dakota Raises Oil Forecast on Advances by Shale Explorers. Bloomberg. “North Dakota raised its forecast for oil output on growth in and around the Bakken Shale formation, portending further gains nationwide after the largest U.S. increase since Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first term as president. Output may reach 300,000 to 400,000 barrels a day by mid- 2011 and stay at that level for 10 to 15 years, said Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Mineral Resources Department. The state’s previous estimate was 220,000 to 280,000. … “The sort of technology improvements you as a consumer see in the iPod are also happening in the oil and gas industry to help production,” said Nansen Saleri. … Oil companies use horizontal drilling to expose rock and fracture it, allowing crude to flow. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the formation to hold as much as 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil in North Dakota and Montana.”
Protesters fight for their cause (and against the elements). Albany (NY) Times-Union. “The pro-drilling rally, organized by the Independent Oil and Gas Association, was safeguarded from the powerful winds and featured a 15-foot by 20-foot tent for the speakers and a number of the supporters. The majority of the pro-drilling crowd was made up of struggling farmers dressed in jeans and work boots, who claimed that drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale would provide thousands of jobs for the struggling economy. “If they don’t pass this law hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost to Pennsylvania,” Steven Palamatier, a landowner from Norwich who has a 4,800 foot well on his property, said.”
Drilling naysayer no more. Press & Bulletin (NY), Op-Ed. “Opponents of drilling (for which read “progress”) and the right of honest landowners to get enough cash out of their impoverished farmlands to pay for a move to Florida or some other Sunbelt oasis, have been quick to blame “fracking” the process of blasting through the shale encapsulating the gas, thus freeing it. … They carry on about trees and foliage and rivers and trout streams being threatened, but I would point out that Pennsylvania’s got just as many trees as New York, maybe more, and its trout streams are good as ours, maybe better. But the point is that three counties in northern Pennsylvania alone have got nearly a hundred gas wells operating, and we’ve got none, nada, zippo right here in Broome County. … Take a look at the buildings and trucks in that photo I mentioned. What colors do you see? Red, white and blue. Those are America’s colors, my friends, and those drilling sites are America’s future.”
Listen to WAMC/Times Union hydrofracking debate. Albany (NY) Times-Union. “Click here for audio of this morning’s WAMC/Times Union debate on some of the issues surrounding the natural gas drilling technique known as hydrofracking. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is currently formulating a final draft of regulations for the use of hydrofracking in the extraction of vast quantities of natural gas from the Marcellus shale in south-central New York.”
Gas drilling debate hits Albany. Observer-Dispatch (NY). “Those who support the [fracturing] process said that developing natural gas would create jobs and safely generate millions for the state. Many of them identified themselves as landowners who want to sell their development rights to drilling companies. Joe Axtell of Deposit, located east of Binghamton said a number of dairy farmers in his area would like to sell their development rights. “In our area, there used to be tons of dairy farmers,” Axtell said. “Now, they can’t pay their taxes, and you can count the number of farms on one hand. This would help them, help the state.” … Lowry, like most who support the practice, argued that “fracking” has never been credibly tied to water pollution. … “It’s about rights being taken away – rights of the people,” Lowry said. “These people – the landowners – stand to gain something from this, and environmentalists are trying to take away these people’s rights.”
Anti-drilling critics misguided. Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette, LTE. “In response to the Dec. 30 letter about gas drilling, I would encourage the writer and the other anti-drillers to do some research in lieu of hysteria and hearsay. After my Internet search, I have concluded that most, if not all, problems related to water contamination were corrected. In nearby Millerton, Pa., there is natural gas present in some water wells. This condition has been present for at least 50 years and is not the result of gas drilling contamination. … Drilling prospects are significantly better in western New York and thus gas drilling companies are concentrating their efforts where they are most likely to succeed. In my opinion, those opposed to drilling took way too much credit for what was a good business decision by drilling interests.”
Riches from natural gas industry are fueling acquisition of the Texas Rangers. Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. “The Rangers Baseball Express, racing full speed ahead for home plate, is being fueled by natural gas. The Express, the investment group poised to become the new owners of the Texas Rangers, is apparently drawing a significant chunk of its bankroll for the $500-million-plus acquisition from Bob Simpson of Fort Worth and Ray C. Davis of Dallas. Both have made their fortunes from natural gas and benefited from the riches of North Texas’ Barnett Shale, perhaps the hottest gas drilling play in the nation over the past several years. … Simpson co-founded XTO, originally known as Cross Timbers Oil Co., and stepped down as CEO in late 2008. Exxon is acquiring XTO primarily because of its expertise in “unconventional” shale plays such as the Barnett, which has about 14,000 producing wells thanks to advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.”
Anti-drilling coverage. Press & Bulletin (NY), LTE. “It’s interesting how the Press & Sun-Bulletin consistently chooses to promote the most negative aspects of the proposed gas drilling in our area. Very little is printed about the possible immediate and long-term benefits to our community. I am wondering what the spin will be if we lose the only possible economic boost this area may experience for many years.”
Both sides in gas-drilling dispute rally in Albany. Times Herald-Record (NY). “Douglas Lee of Livingston Manor, who works with computers, agrees that extracting gas with the controversial horizontal drilling method called “fracking” would be life-changing. But he thinks it could turn poor Sullivan around. “It would be the biggest thing, bigger than casinos,” he said. “The jobs and money could solve economic problems.” … Assemblyman William Parment, D-North Harmony, pointing to scores of wells in his western New York district — on golf courses, school grounds, even in Jamestown’s aquifers. “It’s proven and safe,” he said to a crowd of landowners, like Long Eddy’s Noel Van Swol and Bethel’s Al Larson, who head leasing groups. “Extremists,” is what state Sen. Tom Libous, R-Binghamton, called opponents.”
New York protesters divided over natural gas drilling. Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard. “Others at the rally were landowners backing regulations that would let them sell leases for the deep reserves. The owners want to sell rights in the western Catskills and Southern Tier to drilling companies. They say detailed lease terms and proposed Department of Environmental Conservation rules will protect them, their water and the landscape while generating hundreds of millions of dollars. “The environmentalists are right here; we’re the people who own the land,” said Dale Roe, an IBM retiree with 85 acres in the Broome County town of Glen Aubrey. Roe, chairman of the Western Barker Landowners Coalition, said it’s one of 27 affiliated groups that collectively represent some 17,000 households. They would be the first to experience problems with their own water wells and property; he’s investigated it closely and said he’s not concerned.”
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More than 700 farmers, small business owners & landowners take pro-gas message directly to their state lawmakers
ALBANY, N.Y. – Hundreds of local landowners, community leaders, and elected officials descended upon the Capitol building in Albany this morning, determined to show their support for commonsense efforts to leverage the state’s abundant energy resources into jobs, revenue and opportunity for New York – and equally determined to separate fact from fiction on the critical technology needed to safely convert that potential into reality.
“For the better part of two years, those who oppose the responsible development of New York’s natural gas resources on ideological grounds have dominated the discussion in Albany,” said Dan Fitzsimmons, director of New York’s Joint Landowner’s Coalition, a group that turned out hundreds at the rally this morning. “Today’s event marks a turning point in that debate. We’re talking about a resource base that could put thousands of New Yorkers back to work, produced with a technology that’s been used here in the state for decades without incident. The problem is: No one in this town seems to know it. Our hope is that after today, they will.”
Held this morning on the east side of the Capitol complex, early estimates suggest the rally attracted the participation of more than 700 citizens – none of whom were deterred by the steady rain that fell throughout the demonstration.
Despite the weather, the crowd stood firm and brought forward a very simple list of requests: 1) that policy-makers do their part to educate themselves on the safety and necessity of natural gas exploration in New York, and 2) that the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) do its part to put in place a sound regulatory framework needed for that work to finally proceed.
Lee Fuller, executive director for Energy In Depth, applauded the group’s efforts this morning, and used the occasion to remind lawmakers that New York has been safely producing natural gas for more than 150 years, and has been relying on hydraulic fracturing technology to bring local wells to life for more than a generation.
“Those who are actively fighting to ban hydraulic fracturing in New York today apparently are unaware that operators have been safely deploying fracturing technology in the state for decades,” said Fuller. “The only difference now is that we’re looking to explore formations that are deeper in the ground, and further from water aquifers nearer to the surface. If anything, the work we’re looking to undertake today is safer and more tightly regulated than anything that’s ever been done in the past. To the extent that message was sent today in Albany, it could represent a pivotal change in the dynamics of the current debate.”
NOTE: Click HERE to view pictures from today’s event.
Additional resources available at Energy In Depth:
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An Open Letter to Congress Regarding Rep. DeGette’s Comments on Hydraulic Fracturing
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Bloomberg News
January 20, 2009
“Tillerson told the House subcommittee that the deal [with XTO] will expand natural gas production without harming the environment.”
Tillerson:
“With recent advances in extended-reach horizontal drilling, combined with the time tested technology of hydraulic fracturing – a process in use for more than 60 years – we can now find and produce unconventional natural gas supplies miles below the surface in a safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible manner.”
NOTE: To view this full segment, click HERE.
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CNBC’s “Squawk Box”
January 20, 2009
“What Exxon gets as part of this deal is a huge new stake — 8 million acres in unconventional natural gas. And at the heart of how they’re going to develop that … is a technique called hydraulic fracturing and its possible effect on drinking water supplies.”
“There is legislation pending to have the EPA study [the effects of hydraulic fracturing]. At the same time, Exxon has filed or is lobbying for contingency legislation so it wouldn’t impact the merger…”
NOTE: To view this full segment, click HERE.
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New Environmental Working Group white paper cites ProPublica, TEDX, and even itself in desperate smear campaign targeting HF
Lip gloss, sunscreen, and gummy bears – any idea what these three things have in common? Key ingredients of each are derived from a barrel of oil, believe it or not – so-called “petroleum distillates” that are essential to making everyday household items like deodorant and shampoo work the way they’re intended, albeit used in small enough quantities to ensure they’re safe for the millions of Americans who consume them.
You know what else is considered a petroleum distillate? Diesel fuel. Thankfully, you won’t find any of that in your lip balm. And the truth is, you won’t find any of it in the solutions used during the hydraulic fracturing process either.
Of course, irrespective of the materials used in fracturing a well, for those interesting in determining how safe the procedure is, the central question remains a simple one: How is that substance supposed to find its way through inches-thick steel casing cemented into the well bore? In other words, what are the pathways of exposure here? What exactly is it about a technology that’s been used millions times that just now, out of the blue, is suddenly so deleterious to our drinking water supplies? State regulators learned long ago that the way you protect groundwater is by keeping oil production fluids out of it. It’s a system that works; it doesn’t need EPA to be called in to slap it around.
On those questions, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) doesn’t claim to have many answers. In fact, all the group appears able and willing to claim in its recently posted white paper is that diesel fuel is being used in frac operations – notwithstanding the fact that federal statute explicitly identifies diesel fuel as a substance that, if used, immediately lands that operation under the regulatory authority of EPA.
But why would a fossil fuel-distillate like diesel be targeted for elimination when the formations being fractured already contain naturally occurring fossil fuels as it is? Good question. But it was. And so today, diesel fuel is simply not used in fracturing operations. Except in the trucks, of course – they still need diesel to run.
Whether EWG genuinely understands any of this, it’s tough to say. On one hand, the group states categorically on the opening page of its report that “toxic petroleum distillates” – which “include diesel” – are “threatening drinking water supplies from Pennsylvania to Wyoming,” citing a recent article by the advocacy group ProPublica in a half-hearted attempt to legitimize the assertion (ProPublica writer Abrahm Lustgarten is actually cited 12 separate times in 23 pages of text – but who’s counting?)
But here’s the thing: Later on that same page, we learn that a different culprit is to blame for these alleged incidents: Not diesel fuel itself per se, the report says, but “petroleum distillates that can be similar to diesel.”
Nonetheless, there you see “diesel” popping up again on EWG’s list of “petroleum distillates used in hydraulic fracturing,” with the group even citing an Aug. 2009 document published by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to back up its assertion. The only problem? The report to which they point says precisely the opposite of what EWG alleges. Here’s the report. See there on page 2 where it says the use of diesel fuel in fracturing operations has been “discontinued”? EWG must not have.
But let’s get back to these petroleum distillates for a second. Sure, you can find them in nail polish and wax paper, but how much of the fracturing solution do these things actually make up? Well, remember first that more than 99.5 percent of the materials used in a typical fracturing job is water and sand. So what makes up the remainder? Included below is a cut-away image of one of Energy In Depth’s most popular downloads.
Adapted from a similar chart organized by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Ground Water Protection Council (page 78 of the PDF, available here), this document shows us a couple things: For starters, specific to the one-half of one-percent of the fracturing solution that’s not water or sand, only 0.088 percent of what remains is made up of these distillates. And second: Even if you accept the premise that infinitesimally small amounts of those distillates are used in the typical frac job, we’re talking about a substance that you could just as easily find in “make up remover, laxatives, and candy.”
See the game being played here? EWG has no evidence that diesel fuel is being used in fracturing operations; it has no evidence that rounding error-volume distillates are dangerous; and it has no interest in providing the proper context to its readers so that they might be able to make these determinations for themselves.
And as mentioned, perhaps the most regrettable reality of this whole report is that the group barely even attempts to explain to its readers how these “dangerous” materials are supposed to gain access to our drinking water – sine qua non to this entire debate. And once again, there’s a reason for that too: Steel casing is installed and cemented into place in each well that’s fractured nationwide, ensuring that what’s going down inside the wellbore has no chance of affecting that which is occurring naturally outside it. They know this. And that’s why they worked hard to ensure their report doesn’t say it.
As for the other blatant errors in the EWG report, perhaps we’ll leave some of those for another day. After all, how many times should we be expected to remind these folks that hydraulic fracturing has never been regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and therefore would’ve never needed an “exemption” from it? Our sense is that, by now, they know what’s factually accurate in this debate and what is not.
Our other sense is this: They just don’t care.
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