The Daily Digger

The Social Silo:   Promised Land : The movie has ties to western Pennsylvania Zanesville Times Recorder:   Zanesville area saw shale development starting to perk, national candidates stumping WKBN News:   Trumbull County's First Horizontal Drill in Place The Morning Journal:   Conservation groups say merger will benefit local scenic land The Review:   FirstEnergy sells property for shale activity Free Press Standard:   Year in Review Environmental Defense Fund:   Promised Land : A Love Letter to Longmont PRWatch:  "Energy In Depth" - A Reporters' Guide to Its Founding, Funding, and Flacks Akron Beacon Journal:   McClendon investigation likely to wrap up by mid-January Akron Beacon Journal:   Four Ohio Utica shale short news items Akron Beacon Journal:   Fracking sand storage facility coming to Columbiana County Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Free Press Standard: Chesapeake Energy officials weren’t clad in Santa Claus suits when they visited the Carroll County Genealogy Society last week, but they did come bearing gifts.   Out of their bag of goodies they pulled a new Dell computer and a 22-inch screen that flips to provide a full-length view of long documents.   The gift, which was a surprise to the society, goes along with a much larger gift Chesapeake is providing: digitizing records that date back to 1833 at a cost of about $200,000. Read the whole story here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Community Environmental Defense Council: Fracking Double Talk OR "What lawyers and PR people for tobacco companies have in common with lawyers and PR people for the gas companies,"  OR "The gassers finally seem to be conceding that fracking contaminates groundwater."   "'There is no hard scientific evidence that fracking is an immediate and irreversible risk to drinking water resources,'  said Steve Everley  a spokesperson for Energy in Depth, an arm of the Independent Petroleum Association of America."   What? Read the rest of the article here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: Whatever happened to the state's plan to triple the number of oil and gas inspectors as fracking intensifies in Ohio?   The state has not met the goal it set in May.   The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has hired eight new inspectors, which leaves it far short of its goal of having 90 inspectors by early next year.   The department now has 36 full-time inspectors, eight supervisors with inspection duties and nine vacant inspection positions, spokeswoman Heidi Hetzel-Evans said in an email. Read the whole article here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register: There is little doubt that one of the busiest offices in Belmont County this year has been the recorder's office in the courthouse. It has been literally jammed every day by abstractors searching records for the oil and gas companies that have been lured into the county by the rich deposits in the Marcellus and Utica shale. "And it hasn't let up for the holidays," exclaimed Recorder Mary Catherine Nixon in a rather tired fashion as she poured over records in her office. Space is limited in the office, which means the crowd of record searchers has to squeeze by one another to retrieve deed books and then do more squeezing to find space on the crowded tables to do their search work. Nixon has strict rules that none of the deed books are to be removed from her office. Read the whole article here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Akron Beacon Journal: Not many people had heard the terms “Utica shale,” “fracking” or “natural gas liquids” as recently as a few years ago. That’s changing quickly. Development in Ohio’s Utica shale formation is still in its infancy, but its huge potential for jobs and the state’s economy is becoming clearer. To date, 45 Utica shale wells are in the production stage in Ohio and those sites, which employ horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are yielding staggeringly big numbers for natural gas, oil and such natural gas liquids as ethane, butane and propane. Read the rest of the article here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From DW: A flood of natural gas books A vacation to the Amazon takes an odd turn when a gecko introduces young Rick to the Amazonian Gecko King. The latter confers a combination of gecko and snail powers upon the boy, allowing him to fight environmental destruction back home in the US. The brainchild of a child, "Geckoboy: The Battle of Fracking, Volume 1," was written by 12-year-old California native and founder of the non-profit Green Kids Now, Pavan Raj Gowda. Read about other fracking-related entertainment products here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

More tough times ahead for McClendon & Chesapeake? From Reuters: Aubrey McClendon, 53, endured a trying year running the second-largest  natural gas  producer in the United States, Chesapeake Energy Corp. But as corporate, state and federal probes into McClendon and the company continue, 2013 isn't looking much easier. Facing a cash crunch, the natural-gas giant that McClendon founded had been counting on profits from land that was leased in Colorado, North Dakota and Wyoming. The deals, however, have soured - at a cost to Chesapeake of more than a billion dollars, the company told investors in November. Like property owners in Michigan and Texas, land owners in North Dakota have sued Chesapeake over allegations that the company reneged on leasing agreements. And now, one of its leading regional contractors is suing Chesapeake for allegedly failing to pay a $15 million bill, court documents show. McClendon's personal finances also remain strained: This autum...

From Pittsburgh Business Times: Chesapeake Energy has closed on the sale of its midstream assets in the Marcellus, Utica and other shale plays to Access Midstream Partners LP, the natural gas producer said in  an SEC filing Thursday. The sale price of Chesapeake Midstream Operating was $2.16 billion. It also includes midstream gas processing and processing assets in the Niobrara, Haynesville and Eagle Ford shales, according to the SEC filing. Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) is a major driller in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania with local headquarters at Southpointe. Read more here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From USA Today: Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson announced Thursday that she's stepping down after a four-year tenure marked by her agency's first greenhouse gas regulations and repeated battles with industry groups and GOP lawmakers. Jackson, the first African American to serve as EPA administrator, came into office with bold plans to address climate change but accomplished only part of her agenda, foiled by opposition on Capitol Hill and occasionally the White House. Read the whole article here. And from Reuters comes a look at how this might affect the EPA's look at fracking: Following  Lisa Jackson 's resignation on Wednesday, her successor will inherit the tricky task of regulating a drilling boom that has revolutionized the  energy industry  but raised fears over the possible contamination of water supplies. The controversial technique at the center of the boom, hydraulic fracturing, involves injecting millions of gallons of water ...

From Forbes: “There are high hopes that the natural gas extraction technique known [as] hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, will boost the economy and bring the U.S. closer to energy independence, but if the energy industry expects to break new ground and fulfill a growing demand anytime soon, they need to make friends with the people who reside near the drilling rigs.” So begins a recent Reuters story titled “A Local Obstruction in the Fracking Pipeline”.  It’s difficult to imagine any other 60 word sentence ever written that contained more false premises and incorrect assumptions.  As such, it is an unfortunately excellent example of the sort of inaccurate reporting about the oil and natural gas industry that takes place in the American media many times every day. Read the rest of the article here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

Two experienced midstream companies, Dominion (NYSE: D) and Caiman Energy II, LLC, (Caiman) have announced they are forming a $1.5 billion joint venture to provide midstream services to natural gas producers operating in the Utica shale in Ohio and portions of Pennsylvania.  The companies expect to close on the joint venture by the end of the year. The joint venture, Blue Racer Midstream, LLC, will be an equal partnership between Dominion and Caiman, with Dominion contributing midstream assets and Caiman contributing private equity capital.   The joint venture will leverage Dominion's existing presence in the Utica with significant additional new capacity designed to meet producer needs as the Utica shale acreage is developed. Midstream services offered will include gathering, processing, fractionation, and natural gas liquids transportation and marketing. "The Utica shale has enormous potential to provide jobs and revenues for the local Ohio economy," said Thomas F...

From the Akron Beacon Journal: The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has approved 11 new Utica shale drilling permits. Chesapeake Energy Corp. got eight of the new permits: seven in Carroll County and one in Columbiana County. The other permits were in Guernsey (one) and Monroe (two). The companies involved are PDC Energy Inc., Eclipse Resources LLP and Antero Resources. The latest listing from the ODNR's Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management covers through Dec. 12. To date, Ohio has 485 active permits that have resulted in 196 wells beuing drilled. At present, 45 of those wells are in production. Read the rest of the breakdown here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

At only 49% positive, reviews suggest that Promised Land is "rotten" Promised Land , a new film starring and co-written by Matt Damon and John Krasinski, has been anticipated for some time by pro and anti-fracking crowds alike.  Now that the movie is here, the oil and gas industry is ramping up its efforts to counteract any anti-fracking buzz the film creates.   Click here to read our rundown of how things have unfolded since the movie really gained some attention earlier in the year. Now the reviews are coming in, and they continue to be disappointing - especially for a movie that was getting some Oscar buzz.  It is currently sitting at a 49% positive rating with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and an even more disastrous 39% from audiences.  For the sake of comparison, Oscars frontrunners like Steven Spielberg's  Lincoln , Quentin Tarantino's  Django Unchained , Ang Lee's  Life of Pi , and Paul Thomas Anderson's  The Master sit at 91%, 88...

The Review: Students head OSU's vision into the shale bonanza Tribune Chronicle:   Progress evident in Utica area The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register:   Rails Boosted by Gas Industry The Plain Dealer:   State Rep. Matt Lynch vows to take action on damages with "covert" seismic mapping of state Route 306 Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

EV Energy Partners, L.P. ( NASDAQ :  EVEP ) provided the following update on its Utica Shale sales process: EVEP has received bona fide offers to purchase its operated acreage in the Utica Shale, and is in substantive negotiations with potential purchasers to sell the acreage. However, EVEP does not expect to announce any agreements for the sale of the Utica Shale prior to the end of 2012. This press release includes "forward-looking statements" as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the partnership expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the sale of the Utica Shale are forward looking statements. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of EVEP, which may cause ou...

From The Daily Caller: As the television network HBO greenlights a second documentary about the dangers of fracking, investigative journalist Phelim McAleer prepares for the release of his own documentary, “FrackNation,” which sets out to find the truth about fracking and expose “misinformation” spread by anti-fracking groups. “It’s not pro-fracking, it’s pro-truth and pro-journalism,” McAleer told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview. McAleer made the documentary with his wife Ann McElhinney and colleague Magdalena Segieda. “There’s a lot of emotions out there, there’s a lot of allegations out there, there’s a lot of lawsuits out there,” he continued. “Let’s look at the science and the truth behind the emotion and the science and the lawsuits.”  Read more here: http://dailycaller.com/2012/12/21/new-documentary-aims-to-correct-lies-misinformation-spread-by-anti-fracking-groups/#ixzz2G0UIGVj2 Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Reuters (via Yahoo! News): Not so long ago, fracking was a technical term little known beyond the energy industry. Now it's coming to Hollywood, as the fierce battle between environmentalists and oil firms is played out in several forthcoming films. Hydraulic fracturing, the controversial drilling technique also known as fracking, has lifted U.S. energy output dramatically, despite warnings from critics who fear it pollutes water deep underground. Any shift in public opinion could impact policy - and huge sums in energy spending - since drilling regulations are under review by the Obama administration and local officials around the country. The high stakes involve a range of issues from U.S. energy independence, to protection of drinking water. Both sides are using movies to try to win the debate, though actor  Matt Damon  says viewers should not assume the movie he stars in, "Promised Land," is "a rabid anti-fracking polemic." Read the rest ...

From the Canton Repository: In December 2010, Chesapeake Energy started drilling the Buell well in Harrison County. Now it has 32 producing wells in Ohio, while another 37 wells are waiting for pipeline connections. This month marked Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake’s two-year anniversary for drilling operations in Ohio. The company actually started doing business here earlier in 2010, accumulating what still are the largest holdings in Ohio’s Utica shale formation. Because they started sooner, Chesapeake remains far ahead of other oil and natural gas exploration companies when it comes to land leased, wells drilled and drilling permit applications granted by the state. Read the rest of the article by clicking here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

DENVER, CO -- (Marketwire) -- ENSERVCO Corporation (OTCBB: ENSV) (OTCQB: ENSV), a provider of well-site services to the domestic onshore conventional and unconventional oil and gas industries, today announced it will be working under master service agreements (MSAs) with five major exploration and production companies targeting eastern Ohio's Utica Shale formation. Preliminary work with three of the companies has already commenced, although most services are expected to begin in January 2013. Primary services covered under the MSAs include frac heating, hot oiling, pressure testing and water hauling. Eastern Ohio is one of ENSERVCO's newest operating regions, and the latest customers, which include four of the five largest operators in the Utica, represent a significant incremental growth opportunity. Recent studies by Ohio's Department of Natural Resources suggest the Utica Shale has the potential to become one of the United States' most prolific oil and gas plays,...

From Shale Reporter: BETHANY, W.Va. — Officials are investigating the death of worker while installing a natural gas pipeline in Bethany. Media outlets report that crews were using heavy equipment to lift a 120-foot section of pipeline around 7 p.m. on Sunday when it swayed into another piece of equipment and crashed through its windshield and struck the operator. Read the whole article here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From The Morning Journal: The Buckeye Water District board on Thursday approved a one-year agreement to supply bulk water for use in the shale gas industry. BWD will sell treated water to Keystone Clearwater Solutions, a Hershey, Pa., based firm that "provides customized water transfer/frack support services and water supply/turnkey water intake construction/management for Marcellus & Utica Shale operators," according to the company website. Though a contract has yet to be written, BWD board President Mike Ryan announced the terms of the agreement. Read the rest of this story by clicking here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: This month marks Chesapeake's well-drilling second anniversary in the Buckeye State.   So far, Chesapeake:   •Has drilled 134 wells with 65 others drilled but not completed. The company now has 13 drilling rigs in the state and the rights to 1.3 million acres.   •Has spent $3.3 billion by Sept. 30, which included $2.2 billion in lease payments to landowners.   •Has paid contractors more than $58 million on road improvement projects.   •Now employs 550 Ohio residents, up from 40 in January 2011, annually paying them a total of $32 million.   •Has donated nearly $1 million to charitable groups for Ohio projects. Read the entire article here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From The Motley Fool: To help Foolish Investors better understand the oil and gas boom in the United States, we are putting together a series of articles focusing on the major energy plays in the lower 48. We'll need to rely heavily on these areas to achieve North American energy independence. Today we're going to take a look at the Utica Shale. Introduction The Utica Shale is an oil and gas play that's still in its infancy, but it could hold lots of potential energy. The shale is located in the Appalachian Basin, primarily in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Virginia, and West Virginia, and sits under another famous shale play, the Marcellus. Similar to the Marcellus Shale, the Utica Shale is comprised of rock pores that hold hydrocarbons like oil and gas. One difference between the two, though, is that Utica holds more "wet" natural gas, which consists of ethane, butane, propane, and pentane. Dry gas consists primarily of methane. The Utica Shale is also d...

WASHINGTON  - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today provided an update on its ongoing national study currently underway to better understand any potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. Results of the study, which Congress requested EPA to complete, are expected to be released in a draft for public and peer review in 2014. The update provided today outlines work currently underway, including the status of research projects that will inform the final study.  It is important to note that while this progress report outlines the framework for the final study, it does not draw conclusions about the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, which will be made in the final study. As the administration and EPA has made clear, natural gas has a central role to play in our energy future, and this important domestic fuel source has extensive economic, energy security, and environmental benefits. The study EPA is cu...

SNL:   Will Utica Shale be a 'home run,' or will it strike out? Press release:   Williams Partners Provides Update on Investment in Utica Shale Joint Venture; Caiman Energy II JV to Partner with Dominion Columbus Business First:   Ohio House speaker Batchelder hints at Republican support coming for Kasich fracking tax hike CentreDaily:   Shots fired at shack near well drilling site in Snow Shoe Canton Repository:   Dominion strikes deal in Utica Bloomberg:   Gusher of Texas Oil-Patch Divorces Leads Breakup Trend Shaleshock:   Cabot at it Again?  Black water reported, finger pointed at fracking site U.S. Chamber of Commerce:   New Study Details Job, Revenue Growth from Shale Energy Production in All 50 States R&D Magazine:   Analysis of Marcellus flowback finds high levels of ancient brines Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog