Pennsylvania's Shale Lessons Should Benefit Ohio as Boom Continues

By -
From the Zanesville Times Recorder:

Avoiding problems in Ohio

Much of what happened in Pennsylvania will not happen in Ohio, Pitzarella said, because the company already has fielded the complaints and made the adjustments. 
"It's like a toddler taking its first steps," he said. "When my wife and I had our first child it was a totally different experience than when we had our second child -- for us and the child." 
Chesapeake Energy, which has about 1.36 million acres worth of leases in the Utica Shale, doesn't dispute that oil and gas work can be noisy and sometimes inconvenient for the people in close proximity. 
"We stay in contact with the local residents and take steps to minimize any inconvenience through the use of sounds walls, directional lighting and other measures to address issues that may impact quality of life near a drill site," spokesman Pete Kenworthy said. 
Drilling violations were common in Washington County, although they recently have slowed. 
Range has committed 120 environmental, health or safety violations in Washington County alone and paid $1.6 million in fines dating back to May 2006. The company has been cited 26 times, although not since February 2011, for polluting surface water in the county. 
Landowners can request water testing from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection if they suspect shale drilling contaminated their source, Range spokesman Kevin Sunday said. 
In some cases, methane has migrated into private drinking water supplies, Sunday said. About a year ago, Pennsylvania fined Chesapeake Energy $900,000 for contaminating private water because of "improper well casing and cementing in shallow zones," a news release states. 
However, as oil and gas supporters often note, DEP has found no evidence of hydraulic fracturing itself causing water sources to be fouled, Sunday said. 
"There will no doubt be ups and downs for Ohio," Pitzarella said. "It is our desire as an industry -- even for a company (Range) that is not involved in Ohio -- for that to go smoothly."
Read the entire article here.

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Popular posts from this blog

Fracktivist in Dimock Releases Carefully Edited Video, Refuses to Release the Rest

By -
Image
From Energy in Depth: There is something very strange going on along Carter Road, in Dimock, Pennsylvania, and I’m not speaking of natural gas, methane migration, contamination, litigation or even the extensive water testing there by the EPA and others.  No, I’m talking about a new “Watergate” conspiracy, complete with 18 minutes of missing tape (well, video, actually). It seems the ever-present Green Party member and  naturist   Vera Scroggins  (a/k/a  Vera Duerga ) has posted a video of Craig Sautner meeting with the EPA.  Mysteriously, the video is but 14 seconds in length, cutting off conversation in what is obviously mid-stream.  It raises a question Craig Sautner, like  Ronald Reagan in Kings Row , might have asked, “Where’s the rest of me?’  Carter Road, isn’t Kings Row, of course, (at least not until you arrive at  the mansion Scott Ely, one of the Dimock litigants, is building with his royalty money ), but there appears to be...
Read more

The Second Largest Oil and Gas Merger - Cabot and Cimarex

By -
Image
       Due to investor pressure, the U.S shale drillers are being pushed to improve financial and operational performance after a few years of poor returns. Even though the industry has improved its numbers, when compared to last year, investors still want more to be done for them to earn more money.      That's why two mid-tier shale drillers, Cabot and Climarex, have decided to merge in order to eliminate $100 million in annual costs, which means more money for the investors. This all-stock transaction is valued at about $7.4 billion, which is relatively high for the oil and gas sector.      The new entity will be renamed and the headquarters located in Houston, Texas. Cabot shareholders will own 49.5 percent of the new entity, and Climarex the rest.       The Cimarex-Cabot merger will address the investor's demand for a higher amount of returning cash. The initial plan is to pay a 50-cent-per-share special dividen...
Read more

Do You Know The History of Fracking?

By -
Image
  In 2018, 59% of total oil production in the U.S came from hydraulic fracking, which means it accounted for more than two-thirds of domestically manufactured gas. By 2024, fracking will reach an astounding $68 billion market value! Of course, fracking is not a new drilling method as you can trace it back hundreds of years. That's why we want to consider the history of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). We will be stating historical facts about it and focusing on the major historical occurrences that have influenced modern-day fracking. Pre-Fracking Days The idea of fracking started back in 1862 when Edward A.L. Roberts (Civil War veteran) witnessed Confederate soldiers exploding artillery rounds into a canal that obstructed a battlefield. At the time, Edward A.L. Roberts called it superincumbent fluid tamping. On April 26th, 1865, Edward A.L. Roberts began experimenting with exploding torpedoes, which consisted of lowering a torpedo containing an amount of powder from fifteen to tw...
Read more