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Marcellus shale

A Lesson In How Crackers are Made
With EID programs currently up and running in both Pennsylvania and Ohio -- and having great, collaborative relationships with our friends in West Virginia as well -- it's fair to say that EID is more than a little bit conflicted when it comes to our institutional position on where Shell should build its new $2-billion ethane-fed cracker facility among the several sites currently under review throughout the three-state region.

With EID programs currently up and running in both Pennsylvania and Ohio — and having great, collaborative relationships with our friends in West Virginia as well — it’s fair to say that EID is more than a little bit conflicted when it comes to our institutional position on where Shell should build its new $2-billion ethane-fed cracker facility among the several sites currently under review throughout the three-state region.

But as you might expect, the senior U.S. senator from Pennsylvania isn’t quite so torn. In a letter sent this week to Mark Quartermain, president of Shell Energy North America, U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) lays out a pretty compelling case for why Shell should set-up shop in Pennsylvania, citing the state’s skilled workforce, extensive rail transportation network, and the “great potential that Marcellus Shale resources” has to offer. Not to be outdone, federal lawmakers from Ohio and West Virginia (and governors too) have weighed in as well, each hopeful that their workforce, infrastructure and shale-related geology will help put their state over the top – and snag 10,000 new jobs in the process.

As Sen. Casey alludes to his letter, the reason Shell’s in the position today to make such an enormous investment in the region is directly related to the remarkable volumes of natural gas (and especially, natural gas liquids) currently being produced from shale. What the senator doesn’t mention in his letter, though, is the fact that he’s currently the co-author and chief sponsor of legislation in the Senate that has the potential to shut down shale development all across the country, starting in his home state of Pennsylvania.

At least that’s the position of Gasland director Josh Fox, who has called for a nationwide ban on the technologies needed to harvest energy from shale, and for good measure, a global ban on all fossil fuels. Over on his website, Fox directs visitors to call their elected representatives and “let them know you support the FRAC Act.” Why that bill? Because “we can’t stop fracking without you.” Does that sound like a disclosure bill to you?

All of which sets up an interesting question: Had Sen. Casey actually passed his legislation when it was first introduced a couple years back, would Shell have decided to invest $2 billion in a facility whose entire business case is premised on continued access to affordable energy resources from the Marcellus and Utica shales? We can’t say for sure. What we do, though, is that one of the provisions included in the $41-billion merger between Exxon and XTO in December 2009 was a clause suggesting the deal could be called off if Congress were to pass a bill making “hydraulic fracturing or similar processes… illegal or commercially impracticable.” Sounds a little bit like Sen. Casey’s bill, doesn’t it?

Separate and apart from the legislation, the senator also appears to have a habit of “shooting first” and asking questions later when it comes to assigning blame in rare occasions when things go wrong. In March 2011, Sen. Casey wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy asking the agency to investigate “yet another gas-migration-related explosion” in McKean Co., Pa. – telling Secretary Chu that, to him, “it appears” the incident was caused by “extensive new deep drilling activities.” Less than a month later, PA DEP released the findings of its investigation, showing the source of methane migration to be shallow, abandoned wells drilled in the area more than 125 years ago. Not shale. And not new.

All that aside, though, Sen. Casey deserves credit for standing up for his state and fighting for thousands of family-supporting jobs at an otherwise very difficult time for our country and our economy. The good news for everyone is that, wherever the cracker is located, most experts believe that the entire region will benefit tremendously from the multi-billion dollar shot-in-the-arm that this facility portends. According to Keith Burdette, West Virginia’s commerce secretary, “the sites [are] just so closely grouped together that the impact across state lines will be significant.”

Of course, all things being equal, Mr. Burdette wants that sucker in West Virginia. Ohio governor John Kasich wants it in Ohio. And Sen. Casey? Well, he wants that cracker in Pennsylvania. As for us? We’d settle for a box of wheat thins. That, and maybe before anyone sends out any more letters – perhaps a moment of reflection on what’s made this entire conversation possible?


*Update II* Fracturing Technology Lowering Energy Prices – Even In Areas It’s Not Used

Try as some folks might, it’s just getting tougher and tougher to avoid/ignore/deny the reality of responsible shale development qua massive creator of jobs, revenue and American opportunity. Just this week, the Associated Press highlighted the significant employment gains being made right now in the Buckeye State — where natural gas development is re-invigorating the U.S. steel industry and pumping literally billions of dollars back into communities that could sure use the lift right now.

Of course, you could also look west to North Dakota, where the state is enjoying a nation leading 3.5% unemployment rate thanks to the development of the Bakken.  And as those development activities have continued across the country, another benefit is making itself known to the American consumer: significant cost savings in the form of lower energy bills.

In a recent article in the Buffalo News, Gary Marchiori, President of Energy Mark, a local energy services firm in upstate New York, summed this up quite succinctly stating:

Whether they realize it or not, consumers in the Buffalo Niagara region are benefiting from natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale every time they turn their furnace on.

Here, he’s talking about how the responsible development of the Marcellus Shale – and other tight reservoirs in the east – has had the effect of driving down natural gas prices across the entire country, reducing the cost of heating homes, cooking your food and manufacturing just about anything in the world that matters.

In New York, this trend is borne out in estimates for heating costs this year put forward by the National Fuel Company.  The company declared that the typical residential household will have winter heating costs of approximately $719 which is a $350 decrease from prices paid just two years ago.

Sounds nice right? Just to make sure, we thought we’d give Mr. Marchiori a call ourselves, having never spoken to the man previous to seeing him quoted in the newspaper. And guess what? Turns out Gary’s a great guy who knows a great deal about energy markets in western New York, and beyond. According to Gary:

Due to excess surplus from shale, you should have [natural gas] stored and retained throughout the year, keeping prices low well through next year.  Adding to this stability is presence of major natural gas producers, whose additional exploration and production can be expected to lead to a more predictable supply, thus removing significant market volatility and also helping to keep prices low for the consumer.”

Of course, these benefits are not limited to New York.  In fact, the UGI corporation, one of the largest utilities on the east coast providing natural gas to approximately 56,000 customers, also announced that it would be lowering its natural gas prices resulting in cost savings on average of 13.5% to residential customers. While a rate decrease of this magnitude may not seem significant, with this decrease natural gas costs for UGI customers will be about 27% less than they were just three short years ago.  This good news may just end up meaning an extra present or two below the Christmas tree this year in many homes thanks to cost savings brought about by shale development.

According to Vicki O. Ebner, Senior Vice President, Customer & Government Relations at UGI, this all attributable to the safe and responsible development of our nation’s shale resources:

The increase of supplies of natural gas from Marcellus Shale has helped create continued downward price pressure on natural gas. We are pleased to pass this cost savings on to our customers as we approach the winter heating season, especially in the midst of extreme price volatility for other energy sources. Now more than ever, natural gas is an affordable, efficient and reliable American fuel, and the energy source of choice for homes and businesses.

All of this comes on top of news released earlier this year from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).  EIA stated earlier this year that throughout the northeast, wholesale natural gas prices were down between 2% and 15% over the summer, reflecting both lower regional demands and growing natural gas production from the Marcellus Shale.

Benefits like these can’t be trivialized easily by those opposing natural gas development as it means the chance to breathe a bit easier for our nation’s neediest families. After all with announcements earlier this year indicating that  16 million U.S. children are living below the poverty level this year (highest level since 1962) we are pretty sure that many families appreciate cost savings wherever they can be found.  Thanks to natural gas development one place to look is your monthly utility bill.

Update 1- December 1, 2011

Today, the Scranton Times Tribune also featured the cost-savings brought about in northeast Pennsylvania thanks to Marcellus development.  The paper adds to this already great story, stating:

Update II- December 2, 2011

The hits just keep on coming.  Today, the Des Moines Register confirmed that shale gas is significantly bringing down consumer prices of natural in the Hawkeye State and across the continental United States.  The article, titled “Natural Gas Story Warm and Fuzzy” highlighted the benefits shale development is bringing to folks in Iowa, among many other places.  Specifically informing Iowans that while they may be preparing for their first sub-freezing temperatures of the year staying warm may be just a bit less costly as:

 the price of natural gas, the prime heating fuel in the state, is running at a five-year low thanks to expanded domestic production.

Iowa joins Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island (and just about all of New England for that matter) and countless other states enjoying reduced utility bills this winter thanks to the safe and responsible development of our natural gas resources.  As our nation continues to struggle with stubbornly high unemployment rates for many Americans struggling to make ends meet it is  likely comforting to know that staying warm will cost less and that continued production should keep this the case for some time.


The Griswolds Go to Pittsburgh

Sprawling piece on natural gas development in SWPA lands in NYT Sunday Mag; EID sorts through the data that NYT’s Griswold leaves behind

If it’s true that the definition of a good compromise is one in which both sides leave unhappy, it might seem that the 5,700-word piece on Marcellus development in Washington Co., Pa. filed this past weekend in the Sunday magazine of The New York Times comes close to being one heck of a deal.

Writing about the piece on the environmental website Grist – no friend to shale – Sarah Laskow concludes that “anyone who already understands the issue should probably skip it, to avoid getting ticked off.” For what it’s worth, we happen to agree — albeit for different reasons.

On the positive side of the ledger, NYT contributor Eliza Griswold includes about a half-dozen stories from real folks in the Amwell Twp. community whose lives have been made materially better owing to the local development of enormous reserves of clean-burning natural gas from shale. Folks who now can keep their farms, send their kids to college, maybe even retire somewhere someday. Folks who care deeply about the quality and nature of their local environment, and who, despite the hype, have seen no evidence heretofore that Marcellus activity is deleterious to it.

Those are the parts that Grist doesn’t like, preferring instead the ones in which Griswold attempts to paint a picture of natural gas development as scourge to air, water, and land; hoof, hound and equine. But a closer look at the air and water testing data compiled by state regulators and third-party technicians – every bit of it publicly available; very little of it mentioned in this piece — reveals a reality in tiny Amwell Twp. very much at odds with the narrative put forth by the Times.

Below, we take a closer look at some of the claims made in the piece, and see how they stack-up when juxtaposed with the science.

Wrong on the basics

NYT: “’Fracking,’ as it is known, is a process of natural-gas drilling that involves pumping vast quantities of water, sand and chemicals thousands of feet into the earth to crack the deep shale deposits and free bubbles of gas from the ancient, porous rock.”

NYT: “This summer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York moved to lift the state’s yearlong moratorium on fracking against vocal opposition from environmentalists and many local residents. Following a series of hearings this month, New York will decide whether to allow fracking early next year.”

Wrong on Amwell Township

NYT: “Beth Voyles, 54, a horse trainer and dog breeder … signed the lease with Haney in 2008. She told Haney that her 11 /2-year-old boxer, Cummins, had just died. Voyles thought that he was poisoned. She saw the dog drinking repeatedly from a puddle of road runoff, and she thought that the water the gas company used to wet down the roads probably had antifreeze in it.”

NYT: “Voyles … called the Department of Environmental Protection to register yet another complaint about the stench. The D.E.P. sent out a water specialist, John Carson. … Voyles claims that Carson refused to take her complaint.”

NYT: “In Amwell Township, your opinion of fracking tends to correspond with how much money you’re making and with how close you live to the gas wells, chemical ponds, pipelines and compressor stations springing up in the area.”

Wrong on disclosure

NYT: “Popular concerns about natural-gas drilling have centered on what chemicals companies are putting into the earth, not least because this list is a proprietary secret.”

NYT: “In 2005, Vice President Dick Cheney spearheaded an amendment to the energy bill, which critics call the Halliburton Loophole. This legislation exempts hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act and protects companies like Halliburton, of which Cheney was once the C.E.O., from disclosing what chemicals are going into the ground.”

Wrong on the numbers

NYT: “There are more than 4,000 Marcellus wells in Pennsylvania, with projections ranging from 2,500 new wells a year to a total of more than 100,000 over the next few decades.”

NYT: “According to a recent study by Pennsylvania State University, the industry has created 23,000 jobs, including employment for roustabouts, construction workers, helicopter pilots, sign makers, Laundromat workers, electricians, caterers, chambermaids, office workers, water haulers and land surveyors.”

NYT: “Currently, companies operating in Pennsylvania pay no tax to extract gas.”

NYT: “Banks have expressed reluctance to back home mortgages within up to three miles of a well. Whole towns could become brown fields, and home values would drop precipitously.”

Wrong on water management

NYT: “Disposing of the chemical water has meant trucking it to another state or paying local treatment facilities to process it. The facilities, which are not equipped to remove salts, have often sent the frack water back into local rivers.”

NYT: “Thanks to the money [Ray] received from allowing Range Resources to drill, build a compressor station and dig a chemical pond on his land, he has been able to reroof two barns, buy a new hay baler and construct an addition to his house for his 94-year-old mother.”

Wrong on “The Mon”

NYT: “In 2008 … [f]or several months, the Monongahela River, which provides most people in the Pittsburgh area with drinking water, no longer met state and federal standards. Following a request from the State of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found it would require five times the amount of water in their reservoirs to dilute the river. It took five months to clean it up.”


NPR: Shale Development a Huge Boon to U.S. Manufacturing

Today, National Public Radio’s Morning Edition highlighted the remarkable impact that responsible shale development is having on American manufacturing, filing a short piece focusing on Marcellus development in Pennsylvania. The program highlighted how hydraulic fracturing is stimulating significant job growth for the manufacturing sector due to affordable and stable supplies of clean-burning natural gas — which is helping to create thousands of jobs during these challenging economic times. Here are several key excerpts from the story:

Energy production is stimulating growth along the supply chain. You can’t drill without steel; you can’t weld without workers. Whether an oil and gas producing state or not, domestic energy production is creating jobs in a wide array of manufacturing sectors.

And the American people are catching on! A poll released today by the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI) noted that 80% of Americans support increased energy development to create jobs. Natural gas is no exception.

With the American economy currently on the ropes, natural gas development continues to be a light at the end of the tunnel (or well hole) for thousands of Americans trying to provide for themselves and their families. American innovation created hydraulic fracturing; American determination has enabled it to prosper and will continue to provide for our growing, energy-consuming nation.

Before increasing our reliance on foreign fuels and “our so-called friends in the Middle East” (CBS-21’s RJ Harris, 10/10/11), let’s look to the great domestic energy potential—right beneath our feet.


High Flies the Falcon: HF Helping to Create Jobs from Pennsylvania to Poland

What does Pennsylvania and Poland have in common other than a love for polka, a taste for haluski, and a propensity for Babushkas? Well, the responsible development of clean-burning natural gas from shale formations – enabled by hydraulic fracturing – is helping to create jobs. Thousands of them.

In fact, Dow Jones reports this today under the headline “Polish Shale Sector Needs Hands”:

If Poland is to develop its reserves of shale gas, the material that has created an energy bonanza in the U.S., one of its biggest obstacles is likely to be securing a qualified labor force, industry participants say. “There are about 1,000 shale jobs in Poland right now, but there will be 50,000 to 100,000 in the next 10 years,” says Jakub Kostecki, chief executive of New Gas Contracting, a Warsaw-based recruiting firm.

Poland has recoverable shale-gas resources of 5.3 trillion cubic meters, equal to more than 300 years of the country’s annual natural-gas consumption, the US Department of Energy says in a report.

Business is picking up, but Geofizyka Torun is facing increasing competition as rival companies set up shop in Poland, bringing their own equipment to do seismic testing and hiring young professionals, says Sylwia Kowalska, a human-resources director at the company. But Geofizyka Torun offers to pay for its employees’ lodgings and provides them with English classes, she says. “We’re seeing employees who left coming back,” Ms. Kowalska says. “They miss Poland.” She estimates that in May the company hired at least 70% more people than a year ago.

Responsible American natural gas production in Pennsylvania continues to be an economic catalyst for small businesses and those looking for work. This from today’s Sunbury (PA) Daily Item:

Dennis Hain believes in learning a trade, then being able to find a job in that trade. As director of SUN Area Technical Institute, he sees the school’s pilot program with Pennsylvania College of Technology as fitting the bill by preparing students to work in the natural gas industry. … “I can tell you I’ve never received as many phone calls from businesses asking for students. We don’t have enough to fill the positions.”

If working for a natural gas company is an ethical issue for some, for others it’s a means to a good paycheck and benefits that they wouldn’t have otherwise without leaving the state. “A high school diploma and a real good work ethic are about what you need to get hired in an entry-level job up there,” said Tracy Brundage, assistant vice president of workforce and economic development at Penn College. She noted that a good driving record and clean background also are important.

Take it a step further with more education, and a student can make a solid career with a salary two or three times what he or she would make in another industry, plus good benefits.

And in a weekend editorial, the Altoona (PA) Mirror underscores the important fact that “the Marcellus industry has pumped needed dollars into rural areas of our state.” This all, of course, helps explain why Gallup’s Chief Economist Dennis Jacobe recently said “One thing the U.S. could do to stimulate job growth going forward would be to place more emphasis on expanding the nation’s energy and commodity sectors.”


Just The Facts: University of Pitt. Prof. Sets the Record Straight on Hydraulic Fracturing

Just The Facts: University of Pitt. Prof. Sets the Record Straight on Hydraulic Fracturing
Positive benefits created by fracture stimulation technology continue to pour in from coast to coast

In an interview with KDKA radio’s Mike Pintet, Professor Radisav Vidic of the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, sets the record straight on hydraulic fracturing – the 60 year-old energy stimulation technology that has been safely used to produced domestic oil and gas over 1.1 million times. Dr. Vidic, who holds a Ph.D. in environmental engineering, underscores hydraulic fracturing’s tight regulations and long and clear record of environmental safety.

On Hydraulic Fracturing’s Clear, Long Record of Protecting Groundwater: “There hasn’t been any proven case”

On Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Disclosure: “Go on the DEP’s website”

On GasLand Claims About Flaming Faucets: “It’s not caused by drilling”

What are others saying about domestic oil and natural gas production enabled by hydraulic fracturing? We’re glad you asked.

 

 

 

 


Dem. Pa. House Policy Chief Sinks to New Low in Debate Over American Energy Production

According to his website, Pennsylvania state Representative Mike Sturla’s (D-96) — as the House’s Democratic Policy Chairman — “is instrumental in crafting the caucus’ policy agenda.” This is a very unsettling notion, considering the coarse rhetoric he offered yesterday about the region’s natural gas industry. Mr. Sturla’s commitment to new, massive taxes on responsible, clean-burning, job-creating American natural gas development cannot be questioned.

And while reasonable minds may disagree about natural gas tax policy and the associated economic impacts that such proposals may carry, Mr. Sturla – a key legislative leader in Pennsylvania – stooped to a new low yesterday about Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry, which has helped put more than 140,000 folks to work at a time when our national economy remains anemic.

As reported by the Harrisburg, Pa.-based news outlet Capitolwire (“Walker says forestland royalties key to solving state’s economic problems”) today, Mr. Sturla – in several emails to reporter Pete DeCoursey – lodges a host of unsubstantiated claims about the natural gas industry, including that its responsible for spreading “venereal disease.”

This direct quote – via email – from Mr. Sturla, as reported by Capitolwire:

“Also, aside from building roads so their trucks can get to drill sites and doing a little stream work to mitigate damage from their road building, exactly what are all those things the drillers are doing for the local communities? Patronizing the bars at night? Driving up the cost of rental housing? Spreading sexually transmitted disease amongst the womenfolk? Causing school districts to ask local governments to ban truck traffic on local roads during school bus pick up and drop off times so kids don’t get killed? Upgrading emergency preparedness equipment to handle a well blow out? Running compressor stations that have decibel levels equal to a jet engine?…Really community oriented stuff…”

Disparaging usage of ‘womenfolk’ aside (it’s 2011 by the way, good representative), Mr. Sturla’s comments are downright arrogant, inflammatory and, above all else, patently false.

While there’s not – and will likely never be any Marcellus Shale development in Mr. Sturla’s district – he should be aware of the impact that our industry is in fact having throughout communities across the region. As much it may pain Mr. Sturla, he – and others interested – should take a good, hard look at a series of recent news reports about the “really community oriented stuff” that our industry is responsible for:

Note to Mr. Sturla: Facts and science must serve as the foundation for our dialogue — not hyperbole, bald-faced lies and scare tactics.


NYT Doubles-Down on a Really Bad Bet

*** Cross-posted on MasterResource.org and EIDMarcellus.org

When New York Magazine reported earlier this month that the national editor of The New York Times had sent an internal memo laying out a “surprisingly detailed” defense of reporter Ian Urbina’s latest front-page attack on natural gas, the hope was that the memo would spur an equally detailed response by Arthur Brisbane, the Times’ public editor. That hope was realized when Mr. Brisbane’s 1,100-word piecewas posted on the paper’s website over the weekend, a column in which Brisbane takes square aim at theTimes for going “out on a limb” and “lack[ing] an in-depth dissenting view in the text.”

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Investment from state shows gas is our future

Congressman Tom Reed (N.Y.-29)

A recent article in this newspaper said that New York has invested more than $1 billion from its pension fund into natural gas companies. I applaud state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for recognizing the importance of this valuable natural resource and for investing in America’s energy future as well as the American economy.

New York’s decision speaks volumes about the stability and economic importance of our natural gas resources. It illustrates that natural gas development is seen as a predictable and enduring investment.

More so, this is an investment in the United States. This decision reinforces my belief that natural gas will be important to our economy and for reducing our dependency on foreign energy for years to come.

As a whole, the natural gas industry employs nearly 3 million people in all 50 states. In states that allow development of the Marcellus Shale, the economic effects are already being realized. A Penn State University study determined that 48,000 jobs have been created as a result of Marcellus development. By 2020, it is estimated that the Marcellus-related industry could create 175,000 jobs.

Additionally, in times of fiscal crisis, development of Marcellus Shale is generating badly needed revenue for state and local governments. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue (DOR) announced on May 2 that companies engaged in and related to natural gas drilling activities in Pennsylvania, primarily in the Marcellus Shale, have paid more than $1.1 billion in state taxes since 2006. According to the DOR, those taxes came on top of the billions of dollars of infrastructure investments, royalty payments and permit fees paid by the industry.

Beyond the economic benefits of extracting natural gas are the national security considerations. One of the biggest threats to our nation is our continued dependence on fossil fuels from other countries. In order to stop being victim to instability across the world, we must develop our own energy solutions that will reduce our dependence on foreign energy.

Hydraulic fracturing in New York can be done in a safe and responsible way. It is time that our leaders move forward with natural gas development and do so in a transparent manner.

The honest public dialogue on natural gas exploration must continue, with a focus on the areas of well siting and completion, chemical use, wastewater treatment and air quality. We must stress the need for adequate safety standards and the importance of accountability. New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation has a long, effective record of monitoring the energy industry. It will ensure that exploration and extraction is done safely with appropriate oversight.

We must bring all stakeholders together to have an honest conversation that will move development forward and allow New York to realize the benefits for our state and our nation. I was pleased to learn of DiNapoli’s investment in natural gas. It is an investment in all of us.

Reed, of Corning, represents New York’s 29th congressional district.

NOTE: This op-ed originally appeared in the Elmira Star-Gazette. Click HERE to learn more about Congressman Reed.


Posts Tagged ‘Marcellus shale’

A Lesson In How Crackers are Made

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

With EID programs currently up and running in both Pennsylvania and Ohio — and having great, collaborative relationships with our friends in West Virginia as well — it’s fair to say that EID is more than a little bit conflicted when it comes to our institutional position on where Shell should build its new $2-billion ethane-fed cracker facility among the several sites currently under review throughout the three-state region.

But as you might expect, the senior U.S. senator from Pennsylvania isn’t quite so torn. In a letter sent this week to Mark Quartermain, president of Shell Energy North America, U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) lays out a pretty compelling case for why Shell should set-up shop in Pennsylvania, citing the state’s skilled workforce, extensive rail transportation network, and the “great potential that Marcellus Shale resources” has to offer. Not to be outdone, federal lawmakers from Ohio and West Virginia (and governors too) have weighed in as well, each hopeful that their workforce, infrastructure and shale-related geology will help put their state over the top – and snag 10,000 new jobs in the process.

As Sen. Casey alludes to his letter, the reason Shell’s in the position today to make such an enormous investment in the region is directly related to the remarkable volumes of natural gas (and especially, natural gas liquids) currently being produced from shale. What the senator doesn’t mention in his letter, though, is the fact that he’s currently the co-author and chief sponsor of legislation in the Senate that has the potential to shut down shale development all across the country, starting in his home state of Pennsylvania.

At least that’s the position of Gasland director Josh Fox, who has called for a nationwide ban on the technologies needed to harvest energy from shale, and for good measure, a global ban on all fossil fuels. Over on his website, Fox directs visitors to call their elected representatives and “let them know you support the FRAC Act.” Why that bill? Because “we can’t stop fracking without you.” Does that sound like a disclosure bill to you?

All of which sets up an interesting question: Had Sen. Casey actually passed his legislation when it was first introduced a couple years back, would Shell have decided to invest $2 billion in a facility whose entire business case is premised on continued access to affordable energy resources from the Marcellus and Utica shales? We can’t say for sure. What we do, though, is that one of the provisions included in the $41-billion merger between Exxon and XTO in December 2009 was a clause suggesting the deal could be called off if Congress were to pass a bill making “hydraulic fracturing or similar processes… illegal or commercially impracticable.” Sounds a little bit like Sen. Casey’s bill, doesn’t it?

Separate and apart from the legislation, the senator also appears to have a habit of “shooting first” and asking questions later when it comes to assigning blame in rare occasions when things go wrong. In March 2011, Sen. Casey wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy asking the agency to investigate “yet another gas-migration-related explosion” in McKean Co., Pa. – telling Secretary Chu that, to him, “it appears” the incident was caused by “extensive new deep drilling activities.” Less than a month later, PA DEP released the findings of its investigation, showing the source of methane migration to be shallow, abandoned wells drilled in the area more than 125 years ago. Not shale. And not new.

All that aside, though, Sen. Casey deserves credit for standing up for his state and fighting for thousands of family-supporting jobs at an otherwise very difficult time for our country and our economy. The good news for everyone is that, wherever the cracker is located, most experts believe that the entire region will benefit tremendously from the multi-billion dollar shot-in-the-arm that this facility portends. According to Keith Burdette, West Virginia’s commerce secretary, “the sites [are] just so closely grouped together that the impact across state lines will be significant.”

Of course, all things being equal, Mr. Burdette wants that sucker in West Virginia. Ohio governor John Kasich wants it in Ohio. And Sen. Casey? Well, he wants that cracker in Pennsylvania. As for us? We’d settle for a box of wheat thins. That, and maybe before anyone sends out any more letters – perhaps a moment of reflection on what’s made this entire conversation possible?

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*Update II* Fracturing Technology Lowering Energy Prices – Even In Areas It’s Not Used

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Try as some folks might, it’s just getting tougher and tougher to avoid/ignore/deny the reality of responsible shale development qua massive creator of jobs, revenue and American opportunity. Just this week, the Associated Press highlighted the significant employment gains being made right now in the Buckeye State — where natural gas development is re-invigorating the U.S. steel industry and pumping literally billions of dollars back into communities that could sure use the lift right now.

Of course, you could also look west to North Dakota, where the state is enjoying a nation leading 3.5% unemployment rate thanks to the development of the Bakken.  And as those development activities have continued across the country, another benefit is making itself known to the American consumer: significant cost savings in the form of lower energy bills.

In a recent article in the Buffalo News, Gary Marchiori, President of Energy Mark, a local energy services firm in upstate New York, summed this up quite succinctly stating:

Whether they realize it or not, consumers in the Buffalo Niagara region are benefiting from natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale every time they turn their furnace on.

Here, he’s talking about how the responsible development of the Marcellus Shale – and other tight reservoirs in the east – has had the effect of driving down natural gas prices across the entire country, reducing the cost of heating homes, cooking your food and manufacturing just about anything in the world that matters.

In New York, this trend is borne out in estimates for heating costs this year put forward by the National Fuel Company.  The company declared that the typical residential household will have winter heating costs of approximately $719 which is a $350 decrease from prices paid just two years ago.

Sounds nice right? Just to make sure, we thought we’d give Mr. Marchiori a call ourselves, having never spoken to the man previous to seeing him quoted in the newspaper. And guess what? Turns out Gary’s a great guy who knows a great deal about energy markets in western New York, and beyond. According to Gary:

Due to excess surplus from shale, you should have [natural gas] stored and retained throughout the year, keeping prices low well through next year.  Adding to this stability is presence of major natural gas producers, whose additional exploration and production can be expected to lead to a more predictable supply, thus removing significant market volatility and also helping to keep prices low for the consumer.”

Of course, these benefits are not limited to New York.  In fact, the UGI corporation, one of the largest utilities on the east coast providing natural gas to approximately 56,000 customers, also announced that it would be lowering its natural gas prices resulting in cost savings on average of 13.5% to residential customers. While a rate decrease of this magnitude may not seem significant, with this decrease natural gas costs for UGI customers will be about 27% less than they were just three short years ago.  This good news may just end up meaning an extra present or two below the Christmas tree this year in many homes thanks to cost savings brought about by shale development.

According to Vicki O. Ebner, Senior Vice President, Customer & Government Relations at UGI, this all attributable to the safe and responsible development of our nation’s shale resources:

The increase of supplies of natural gas from Marcellus Shale has helped create continued downward price pressure on natural gas. We are pleased to pass this cost savings on to our customers as we approach the winter heating season, especially in the midst of extreme price volatility for other energy sources. Now more than ever, natural gas is an affordable, efficient and reliable American fuel, and the energy source of choice for homes and businesses.

All of this comes on top of news released earlier this year from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).  EIA stated earlier this year that throughout the northeast, wholesale natural gas prices were down between 2% and 15% over the summer, reflecting both lower regional demands and growing natural gas production from the Marcellus Shale.

Benefits like these can’t be trivialized easily by those opposing natural gas development as it means the chance to breathe a bit easier for our nation’s neediest families. After all with announcements earlier this year indicating that  16 million U.S. children are living below the poverty level this year (highest level since 1962) we are pretty sure that many families appreciate cost savings wherever they can be found.  Thanks to natural gas development one place to look is your monthly utility bill.

Update 1- December 1, 2011

Today, the Scranton Times Tribune also featured the cost-savings brought about in northeast Pennsylvania thanks to Marcellus development.  The paper adds to this already great story, stating:

Update II- December 2, 2011

The hits just keep on coming.  Today, the Des Moines Register confirmed that shale gas is significantly bringing down consumer prices of natural in the Hawkeye State and across the continental United States.  The article, titled “Natural Gas Story Warm and Fuzzy” highlighted the benefits shale development is bringing to folks in Iowa, among many other places.  Specifically informing Iowans that while they may be preparing for their first sub-freezing temperatures of the year staying warm may be just a bit less costly as:

 the price of natural gas, the prime heating fuel in the state, is running at a five-year low thanks to expanded domestic production.

Iowa joins Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island (and just about all of New England for that matter) and countless other states enjoying reduced utility bills this winter thanks to the safe and responsible development of our natural gas resources.  As our nation continues to struggle with stubbornly high unemployment rates for many Americans struggling to make ends meet it is  likely comforting to know that staying warm will cost less and that continued production should keep this the case for some time.

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The Griswolds Go to Pittsburgh

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Sprawling piece on natural gas development in SWPA lands in NYT Sunday Mag; EID sorts through the data that NYT’s Griswold leaves behind

If it’s true that the definition of a good compromise is one in which both sides leave unhappy, it might seem that the 5,700-word piece on Marcellus development in Washington Co., Pa. filed this past weekend in the Sunday magazine of The New York Times comes close to being one heck of a deal.

Writing about the piece on the environmental website Grist – no friend to shale – Sarah Laskow concludes that “anyone who already understands the issue should probably skip it, to avoid getting ticked off.” For what it’s worth, we happen to agree — albeit for different reasons.

On the positive side of the ledger, NYT contributor Eliza Griswold includes about a half-dozen stories from real folks in the Amwell Twp. community whose lives have been made materially better owing to the local development of enormous reserves of clean-burning natural gas from shale. Folks who now can keep their farms, send their kids to college, maybe even retire somewhere someday. Folks who care deeply about the quality and nature of their local environment, and who, despite the hype, have seen no evidence heretofore that Marcellus activity is deleterious to it.

Those are the parts that Grist doesn’t like, preferring instead the ones in which Griswold attempts to paint a picture of natural gas development as scourge to air, water, and land; hoof, hound and equine. But a closer look at the air and water testing data compiled by state regulators and third-party technicians – every bit of it publicly available; very little of it mentioned in this piece — reveals a reality in tiny Amwell Twp. very much at odds with the narrative put forth by the Times.

Below, we take a closer look at some of the claims made in the piece, and see how they stack-up when juxtaposed with the science.

Wrong on the basics

NYT: “’Fracking,’ as it is known, is a process of natural-gas drilling that involves pumping vast quantities of water, sand and chemicals thousands of feet into the earth to crack the deep shale deposits and free bubbles of gas from the ancient, porous rock.”

NYT: “This summer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York moved to lift the state’s yearlong moratorium on fracking against vocal opposition from environmentalists and many local residents. Following a series of hearings this month, New York will decide whether to allow fracking early next year.”

Wrong on Amwell Township

NYT: “Beth Voyles, 54, a horse trainer and dog breeder … signed the lease with Haney in 2008. She told Haney that her 11 /2-year-old boxer, Cummins, had just died. Voyles thought that he was poisoned. She saw the dog drinking repeatedly from a puddle of road runoff, and she thought that the water the gas company used to wet down the roads probably had antifreeze in it.”

NYT: “Voyles … called the Department of Environmental Protection to register yet another complaint about the stench. The D.E.P. sent out a water specialist, John Carson. … Voyles claims that Carson refused to take her complaint.”

NYT: “In Amwell Township, your opinion of fracking tends to correspond with how much money you’re making and with how close you live to the gas wells, chemical ponds, pipelines and compressor stations springing up in the area.”

Wrong on disclosure

NYT: “Popular concerns about natural-gas drilling have centered on what chemicals companies are putting into the earth, not least because this list is a proprietary secret.”

NYT: “In 2005, Vice President Dick Cheney spearheaded an amendment to the energy bill, which critics call the Halliburton Loophole. This legislation exempts hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act and protects companies like Halliburton, of which Cheney was once the C.E.O., from disclosing what chemicals are going into the ground.”

Wrong on the numbers

NYT: “There are more than 4,000 Marcellus wells in Pennsylvania, with projections ranging from 2,500 new wells a year to a total of more than 100,000 over the next few decades.”

NYT: “According to a recent study by Pennsylvania State University, the industry has created 23,000 jobs, including employment for roustabouts, construction workers, helicopter pilots, sign makers, Laundromat workers, electricians, caterers, chambermaids, office workers, water haulers and land surveyors.”

NYT: “Currently, companies operating in Pennsylvania pay no tax to extract gas.”

NYT: “Banks have expressed reluctance to back home mortgages within up to three miles of a well. Whole towns could become brown fields, and home values would drop precipitously.”

Wrong on water management

NYT: “Disposing of the chemical water has meant trucking it to another state or paying local treatment facilities to process it. The facilities, which are not equipped to remove salts, have often sent the frack water back into local rivers.”

NYT: “Thanks to the money [Ray] received from allowing Range Resources to drill, build a compressor station and dig a chemical pond on his land, he has been able to reroof two barns, buy a new hay baler and construct an addition to his house for his 94-year-old mother.”

Wrong on “The Mon”

NYT: “In 2008 … [f]or several months, the Monongahela River, which provides most people in the Pittsburgh area with drinking water, no longer met state and federal standards. Following a request from the State of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers found it would require five times the amount of water in their reservoirs to dilute the river. It took five months to clean it up.”

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NPR: Shale Development a Huge Boon to U.S. Manufacturing

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Today, National Public Radio’s Morning Edition highlighted the remarkable impact that responsible shale development is having on American manufacturing, filing a short piece focusing on Marcellus development in Pennsylvania. The program highlighted how hydraulic fracturing is stimulating significant job growth for the manufacturing sector due to affordable and stable supplies of clean-burning natural gas — which is helping to create thousands of jobs during these challenging economic times. Here are several key excerpts from the story:

Energy production is stimulating growth along the supply chain. You can’t drill without steel; you can’t weld without workers. Whether an oil and gas producing state or not, domestic energy production is creating jobs in a wide array of manufacturing sectors.

And the American people are catching on! A poll released today by the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI) noted that 80% of Americans support increased energy development to create jobs. Natural gas is no exception.

With the American economy currently on the ropes, natural gas development continues to be a light at the end of the tunnel (or well hole) for thousands of Americans trying to provide for themselves and their families. American innovation created hydraulic fracturing; American determination has enabled it to prosper and will continue to provide for our growing, energy-consuming nation.

Before increasing our reliance on foreign fuels and “our so-called friends in the Middle East” (CBS-21’s RJ Harris, 10/10/11), let’s look to the great domestic energy potential—right beneath our feet.

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High Flies the Falcon: HF Helping to Create Jobs from Pennsylvania to Poland

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

What does Pennsylvania and Poland have in common other than a love for polka, a taste for haluski, and a propensity for Babushkas? Well, the responsible development of clean-burning natural gas from shale formations – enabled by hydraulic fracturing – is helping to create jobs. Thousands of them.

In fact, Dow Jones reports this today under the headline “Polish Shale Sector Needs Hands”:

If Poland is to develop its reserves of shale gas, the material that has created an energy bonanza in the U.S., one of its biggest obstacles is likely to be securing a qualified labor force, industry participants say. “There are about 1,000 shale jobs in Poland right now, but there will be 50,000 to 100,000 in the next 10 years,” says Jakub Kostecki, chief executive of New Gas Contracting, a Warsaw-based recruiting firm.

Poland has recoverable shale-gas resources of 5.3 trillion cubic meters, equal to more than 300 years of the country’s annual natural-gas consumption, the US Department of Energy says in a report.

Business is picking up, but Geofizyka Torun is facing increasing competition as rival companies set up shop in Poland, bringing their own equipment to do seismic testing and hiring young professionals, says Sylwia Kowalska, a human-resources director at the company. But Geofizyka Torun offers to pay for its employees’ lodgings and provides them with English classes, she says. “We’re seeing employees who left coming back,” Ms. Kowalska says. “They miss Poland.” She estimates that in May the company hired at least 70% more people than a year ago.

Responsible American natural gas production in Pennsylvania continues to be an economic catalyst for small businesses and those looking for work. This from today’s Sunbury (PA) Daily Item:

Dennis Hain believes in learning a trade, then being able to find a job in that trade. As director of SUN Area Technical Institute, he sees the school’s pilot program with Pennsylvania College of Technology as fitting the bill by preparing students to work in the natural gas industry. … “I can tell you I’ve never received as many phone calls from businesses asking for students. We don’t have enough to fill the positions.”

If working for a natural gas company is an ethical issue for some, for others it’s a means to a good paycheck and benefits that they wouldn’t have otherwise without leaving the state. “A high school diploma and a real good work ethic are about what you need to get hired in an entry-level job up there,” said Tracy Brundage, assistant vice president of workforce and economic development at Penn College. She noted that a good driving record and clean background also are important.

Take it a step further with more education, and a student can make a solid career with a salary two or three times what he or she would make in another industry, plus good benefits.

And in a weekend editorial, the Altoona (PA) Mirror underscores the important fact that “the Marcellus industry has pumped needed dollars into rural areas of our state.” This all, of course, helps explain why Gallup’s Chief Economist Dennis Jacobe recently said “One thing the U.S. could do to stimulate job growth going forward would be to place more emphasis on expanding the nation’s energy and commodity sectors.”

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Just The Facts: University of Pitt. Prof. Sets the Record Straight on Hydraulic Fracturing

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Just The Facts: University of Pitt. Prof. Sets the Record Straight on Hydraulic Fracturing
Positive benefits created by fracture stimulation technology continue to pour in from coast to coast

In an interview with KDKA radio’s Mike Pintet, Professor Radisav Vidic of the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, sets the record straight on hydraulic fracturing – the 60 year-old energy stimulation technology that has been safely used to produced domestic oil and gas over 1.1 million times. Dr. Vidic, who holds a Ph.D. in environmental engineering, underscores hydraulic fracturing’s tight regulations and long and clear record of environmental safety.

On Hydraulic Fracturing’s Clear, Long Record of Protecting Groundwater: “There hasn’t been any proven case”

On Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Disclosure: “Go on the DEP’s website”

On GasLand Claims About Flaming Faucets: “It’s not caused by drilling”

What are others saying about domestic oil and natural gas production enabled by hydraulic fracturing? We’re glad you asked.

 

 

 

 

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Dem. Pa. House Policy Chief Sinks to New Low in Debate Over American Energy Production

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

According to his website, Pennsylvania state Representative Mike Sturla’s (D-96) — as the House’s Democratic Policy Chairman — “is instrumental in crafting the caucus’ policy agenda.” This is a very unsettling notion, considering the coarse rhetoric he offered yesterday about the region’s natural gas industry. Mr. Sturla’s commitment to new, massive taxes on responsible, clean-burning, job-creating American natural gas development cannot be questioned.

And while reasonable minds may disagree about natural gas tax policy and the associated economic impacts that such proposals may carry, Mr. Sturla – a key legislative leader in Pennsylvania – stooped to a new low yesterday about Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry, which has helped put more than 140,000 folks to work at a time when our national economy remains anemic.

As reported by the Harrisburg, Pa.-based news outlet Capitolwire (“Walker says forestland royalties key to solving state’s economic problems”) today, Mr. Sturla – in several emails to reporter Pete DeCoursey – lodges a host of unsubstantiated claims about the natural gas industry, including that its responsible for spreading “venereal disease.”

This direct quote – via email – from Mr. Sturla, as reported by Capitolwire:

“Also, aside from building roads so their trucks can get to drill sites and doing a little stream work to mitigate damage from their road building, exactly what are all those things the drillers are doing for the local communities? Patronizing the bars at night? Driving up the cost of rental housing? Spreading sexually transmitted disease amongst the womenfolk? Causing school districts to ask local governments to ban truck traffic on local roads during school bus pick up and drop off times so kids don’t get killed? Upgrading emergency preparedness equipment to handle a well blow out? Running compressor stations that have decibel levels equal to a jet engine?…Really community oriented stuff…”

Disparaging usage of ‘womenfolk’ aside (it’s 2011 by the way, good representative), Mr. Sturla’s comments are downright arrogant, inflammatory and, above all else, patently false.

While there’s not – and will likely never be any Marcellus Shale development in Mr. Sturla’s district – he should be aware of the impact that our industry is in fact having throughout communities across the region. As much it may pain Mr. Sturla, he – and others interested – should take a good, hard look at a series of recent news reports about the “really community oriented stuff” that our industry is responsible for:

Note to Mr. Sturla: Facts and science must serve as the foundation for our dialogue — not hyperbole, bald-faced lies and scare tactics.

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NYT Doubles-Down on a Really Bad Bet

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

*** Cross-posted on MasterResource.org and EIDMarcellus.org

When New York Magazine reported earlier this month that the national editor of The New York Times had sent an internal memo laying out a “surprisingly detailed” defense of reporter Ian Urbina’s latest front-page attack on natural gas, the hope was that the memo would spur an equally detailed response by Arthur Brisbane, the Times’ public editor. That hope was realized when Mr. Brisbane’s 1,100-word piecewas posted on the paper’s website over the weekend, a column in which Brisbane takes square aim at theTimes for going “out on a limb” and “lack[ing] an in-depth dissenting view in the text.” (more…)

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Investment from state shows gas is our future

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Congressman Tom Reed (N.Y.-29)

A recent article in this newspaper said that New York has invested more than $1 billion from its pension fund into natural gas companies. I applaud state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for recognizing the importance of this valuable natural resource and for investing in America’s energy future as well as the American economy.

New York’s decision speaks volumes about the stability and economic importance of our natural gas resources. It illustrates that natural gas development is seen as a predictable and enduring investment.

More so, this is an investment in the United States. This decision reinforces my belief that natural gas will be important to our economy and for reducing our dependency on foreign energy for years to come.

As a whole, the natural gas industry employs nearly 3 million people in all 50 states. In states that allow development of the Marcellus Shale, the economic effects are already being realized. A Penn State University study determined that 48,000 jobs have been created as a result of Marcellus development. By 2020, it is estimated that the Marcellus-related industry could create 175,000 jobs.

Additionally, in times of fiscal crisis, development of Marcellus Shale is generating badly needed revenue for state and local governments. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue (DOR) announced on May 2 that companies engaged in and related to natural gas drilling activities in Pennsylvania, primarily in the Marcellus Shale, have paid more than $1.1 billion in state taxes since 2006. According to the DOR, those taxes came on top of the billions of dollars of infrastructure investments, royalty payments and permit fees paid by the industry.

Beyond the economic benefits of extracting natural gas are the national security considerations. One of the biggest threats to our nation is our continued dependence on fossil fuels from other countries. In order to stop being victim to instability across the world, we must develop our own energy solutions that will reduce our dependence on foreign energy.

Hydraulic fracturing in New York can be done in a safe and responsible way. It is time that our leaders move forward with natural gas development and do so in a transparent manner.

The honest public dialogue on natural gas exploration must continue, with a focus on the areas of well siting and completion, chemical use, wastewater treatment and air quality. We must stress the need for adequate safety standards and the importance of accountability. New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation has a long, effective record of monitoring the energy industry. It will ensure that exploration and extraction is done safely with appropriate oversight.

We must bring all stakeholders together to have an honest conversation that will move development forward and allow New York to realize the benefits for our state and our nation. I was pleased to learn of DiNapoli’s investment in natural gas. It is an investment in all of us.

Reed, of Corning, represents New York’s 29th congressional district.

NOTE: This op-ed originally appeared in the Elmira Star-Gazette. Click HERE to learn more about Congressman Reed.

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