The Daily Digger

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer: It's been two years since former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon said shale gas would be the biggest thing here since the plow -- and two years since Gov. John Kasich's energy summit promised thousands of jobs.   But real jobs have been difficult to count. Now comes the truth.   "The gas boom is not here yet," economist Iryna Lendel, assistant director of Center for Economic Development at Cleveland State's Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, told a crowded lecture hall Tuesday morning at the John S. Knight Convention Center.   "We are a very young player in this game," Lendel told an audience attending the 8th annual energy conference sponsored by the Manufacturers' Education Council, COSE, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Industrial Energy Users of Ohio. Read the entire article by clicking here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From The Times-Reporter: No one was injured as firefighters from four departments responded to a fire that spread to the well head of an oil and gas drilling site near Carrollton on Friday night.  The fire was reported at 8:11 p.m. as a petroleum tanker truck on fire. Carrollton Village Fire Chief Tom Mesler said at about 9:30 p.m. that firefighters had to pull back from the area for safety reasons because of the intensity of the flames and potential for an explosion.  Firefighters from the Carrollton Village, Carroll County and Fox and Augusta townships departments responded to the site off of Brussell Road, off state Route 9, a few miles north of Carrollton. It is called the Brice well. Read the whole article here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Two years after residents of the Woodlands in Butler County began complaining that shale drilling was contaminating their well water, the gas company they believe is a culprit may be the community's best hope for a clean water pipeline.  At least that's how Butler County Commissioner Jim Eckstein sees it.  Mr. Eckstein is leading the charge to establish a homeowners association in the Woodlands, a low-income community of about 200 homes, 50 of which told Duquesne University professor John Stolz that their water has changed following Rex Energy Corp.'s drilling activity in the area.  Thirty-four families now pick up drinking water from a donated water bank at White Oak Springs Presbyterian Church each Monday, while they wait for a more permanent solution.  Mr. Eckstein says the solution is to tap into a water pipeline that was built by State College-based Rex Energy to supply water for its fracking activities. Rea...

From the Carrollton Free Press Standard: A quarter interest of Carrollton Village’s 20 percent of future gas and oil royalties is up for grabs.   At the Monday village council meeting, Mayor Frank Leghart said he wanted to clear things up regarding the offer from Gateway Royalty to purchase a quarter interest of the village’s future gas and oil royalties.    Council agreed at the Aug. 26 meeting to sell the royalty percentage for $555,000 to Gateway Royalty, Inc.  Village Solicitor Clark Battista was to work on the verbal details.   However, with a motion approved but no contract signed, Leghart said Monday, Battista advised him it would be in the best interest for the village to advertise for bids. According to the Ohio Revised Code, selling future royalties is a gray area.  The sale of specific assets, such as the mineral rights, is required by law to be put up for bid.  However royalties are considered revenue and the statute is not c...

From the Canton Repository: Looking to increase marketing of available business sites, Carroll County commissioners filled a newly created position of assistant economic development director.  Tana McClelland begins her $31,000-a-year job Oct. 7.  “With everything going on with oil and gas in Carroll County, there is a lot of industry in commercial and manufacturing  wanting to come,” said Aaron Dodds, director of Carroll County’s Economic Development Department.  Carroll County, within the Utica Shale, has attracted significant interest and exploration from companies seeking to extract petroleum products.  County commissioners hired McClelland this week. She is a Kent State University graduate. Read the whole article here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

Press release from Food & Water Watch: New Food & Water Watch Analysis Reveals the Hidden Social Costs of Fracking Increased Heavy Truck Accidents, Disorderly Conduct Arrests and Sexually Transmitted Infections Undermine Quality of Life in Fracked Rural Communities Washington, D.C.—New analysis released today by the national advocacy organization Food & Water Watch shows that oil and gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is associated with increased incidence of traffic accidents, disorderly conduct arrests and sexually transmitted infections in rural communities. The Social Costs of Fracking: A Pennsylvania Case Study found that once fracking began in 2005, these social indicators worsened in counties with fracked natural gas wells, and the trends were especially pronounced in the rural counties with the highest density of fracked wells. “We need clean energy jobs that are good for communities, workers and the environment, but fracking isn’t going to get...

From Reuters: Gulfport Energy Corp  ( GPOR.O ), a publicly-traded oil and gas company based in Oklahoma City, allowed its former chairman to receive millions of dollars in equity interests at no cost in more than a dozen firms that have done  business  with Gulfport. The equity stakes awarded to Mike Liddell, who stepped down as Gulfport chairman in June, were granted by Wexford Capital LP as part of an uncommon arrangement. While working for Gulfport, Liddell also served as an advisor for energy investments by Wexford, a $4.3 billion Connecticut investment firm. In response to questions from Reuters about Liddell's dual roles, Gulfport said all "material terms" of Liddell's equity stakes had been disclosed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Gulfport appears to be in compliance with SEC disclosure requirements, said three corporate-governance specialists who reviewed Gulfport's SEC filings and its responses to Reuters. The stakes awarded to...

The latest permitting roundup from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has been released.  After issuing only 2 permits the week of September 8-14, things picked back up last week, with 12 new permits. The busiest spot was once again Carroll County, as 5 of the 12 permits were issued for wells in Carroll's Union and Washington townships.  3 permits were for Harrison County, while Guernsey, Columbiana, Monroe and Washington counties each saw 1 new permit last week. The cumulative total of permits for horizontal drilling in the Utica shale is now 899, with 561 wells drilled and 152 producing.  The Utica rig count is 34. View the report here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

Daily Jeffersonian:   Noble Co. Chamber hosts luncheon about gas/drilling industry drilling update Canton Repository:   Republic Steel steps up to meet demand Forbes:   Colorado's Ambulance Chasing Fracktivists OOGA:   Common Cause Cries Foul, Lacks Facts to Support Claims Energy in Depth:   Univ. of Michigan Study Confirms Safety of Hydraulic Fracturing Graham Sustainability Institute:   Hydraulic Fracturing - Technical Reports and Integrated Assessment Comment s (view the reports referenced in the Energy in Depth article on the U of M study above) Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From WFMJ News: A Houston based company plans to construct a facility near Lake Erie that will convert natural gas to liquids. According to a news release, Pinto Energy LLC plans to build a 2,800 barrel per day (bpd) plant on the company's 80-acre industrial site east of Ashtabula, Ohio. It will convert abundant low-cost natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus shale region, into high value specialty products, such as solvents, lubricants and waxes, as well as ultra clean transportation fuels. The news release says that the state of the art GTL facility will create 30 new, direct, well-paying jobs, 400 temporary construction jobs, as well as result in the creation of an estimated 112 indirect jobs, to give a total of 542 local jobs. Pinto recently filed the project's air and water permits, and is in discussions with regional economic authorities for further local support. Read the entire article right here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter...

From StateImpact Pennsylvania: A group representing Pennsylvania mineral owners says Chesapeake Energy leaseholders should pay very close attention to news of  a recent $7.5 million class action settlement . The agreement  still needs to be approved by a federal judge, but if that happens, letters alerting landowners will be mailed throughout the state. The deal could affect more than 1,000 Chesapeake leaseholders. Anyone who ignores  the letter  will be automatically made part of the class and gives up the right to pursue future royalty claims against Chesapeake. Read the whole article here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

Youngstown Vindicator:   State and drilling company to monitor Weathersfield injection well Shale Reporter:   Westmoreland County, Pa. to audit gas royalties The Breakthrough Institute:   Gas Industry Should Embrace Regulation Youngstown Vindicator:   Scientists seek sites to pump fracking wastes Shale Reporter:   Agency reports land disturbance from gas development Via Meadia:   Study Gives Fracking Green Bill of Health The Barrel Blog:   Fracking fans and foes trade jabs on latest study Youngstown Vindicator:   Oil, gas case heading to Ohio top court will spotlight local control Forbes:   University of Texas-Environmental Defense Fund Shale Gas Study Unmasks Politics of Anti-Fracking Activist Cornell Scientists Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From The Columbus Dispatch: When a former U.S. energy secretary tells a Columbus audience that hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and natural gas from shale formations can be done in a clean, safe way, that it’s all a matter of fixing errors in the process, that should inspire confidence. And that’s obviously great news for Ohio, which has started to benefit economically from advances in this extraction process. Because of the newly accessible supply of natural gas, consumers have seen the cost come down after spiking in 2008, and prices could stay in the current range for decades. Steven Chu, energy secretary under President Barack Obama from 2009 until this past April and now a Stanford University physics professor, was the keynote speaker on Tuesday at a conference by America’s Natural Gas Alliance. He called it a “false choice” to say that the U.S. has to choose between the environment and inexpensive natural gas. He said about a study out of Cornell University that war...

From Ohio Fire Chiefs' Association: First Responders Have Access to Necessary Chemical Information On behalf of the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association, I respond to an article that appeared on Bob Downing’s Ohio Utica Shale blog on September 13. The article referenced a forum being hosted in Bowling Green for the community and first responders claiming that the oil and gas industry is exempt fromthe federal Emergency Planning Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA). On any given day, a first responder in Ohio could be called to an incident that may include a leak or spill of some chemical substance at an emergency location. The priority for all first responders is to first ensure their personal safety and the safety of others directly involved with the incident, including the surrounding inhabitants. To meet that obligation, Ohio first responders are trained to react to all such incidents using a standardized approach, whether the chemical is used to process drinking water, keep a swimming ...

Environmentalists' effort for a ban get shot down in Athens From the Associated Press: ATHENS, OHIO: The fall ballot in one southeastern Ohio city won’t include an initiative seeking to ban the controversial high-pressure oil and gas drilling technique of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.   The Athens County Board of Elections rejected the ballot initiative without elaborating, and supporters of the proposal tell the Athens Messenger it’s too late to make the Nov. 5 ballot. Read the entire article here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From FuelFix: Pipeline operators have been roaring into public markets in search of badly needed capital, diving into an untapped money pool as the country grapples with a lack of energy transportation infrastructure.  Yield-starved investors, bouncing from low interest rates on bonds to a choppy stock market, have appeared happy to fork over the millions that midstream companies — most of them tax-advantaged master limited partnerships — have asked for in the past year.  And based on the market’s momentum, the industry could see five to 10 more similar public offerings announced before the year is out, said Joe Dunleavy, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Houston.  “It’s a very active and frothy market, and there’s a lot of chatter; I’ve had several phone calls on it — today,” Dunleavy said. “There’s a great need for infrastructure development. A lot of the pipelines were built for World War II, and there’s a need for repair.” Read the entire article by cli...

From the Associated Press: An environmental group seeking documents related to alleged illegal dumping of wastewater from oil and gas drilling into a northeast Ohio storm sewer is suing the state for access to the records. The Sierra Club filed its suit Monday in the Ohio Supreme Court. The group alleges the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has failed to produce public records it requested six months ago. The club’s Ohio chapter is seeking documents related to the department’s investigation of D & L Energy and Hardrock Excavating in Youngstown. The department revoked the firms' permits in February amid a federal investigation into the dumping of wastewater from hydraulic racturing into a storm sewer that drains into the Mahoning River. A spokeswoman said the department does not comment on pending litigation. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Business Journal Daily: Within the next year, Blue Racer Midstream should know whether a business case exists to construct a new cryogenic processing plant in Petersburg, Breon reports. The general site in southeastern Mahoning County is less than 10 miles from where a $150 million processing plant operated by Pennant Midstream LLC, a joint venture between NiSource Transmission and Hilcorp Energy Co., is under construction in Springfield Township. The Pennant Midstream plant, as well as M3 Midstream’s larger scale complex that recently came online in Kensington, Columbiana County, separates “dry” gas from “wet” gas that is piped from wells in the region. The dry gas – in this case, methane – is transmitted to lines such as Dominion’s. The natural gas liquids are then sent to fractionation plants that separate it into products used to make ethane, propane and butane. “There’s a reason why NiSource looked at [southeast Mahoning County.] There’s a reason we’re looking at it. T...

From Energy in Depth: Over the past month, the  Niles City Council  has been dealing with buyer’s remorse since it was misled into  passing  an ill-advised community “ bill of rights .” The measure was drafted and delivered to them by the Sierra Club and  Community Environmental Legal Defense fund , with the intent to ban oil and gas development in the city.  To its credit, however, once it realized its mistake, the Niles City Council didn’t wait long to get itself up to speed on the facts. Following  presentations  by the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program ( OOGEEP ) and Energy In Depth, the Niles City Council gained a much better understanding of the history and execution of oil and gas development in Ohio. They also got a firsthand look at some of the pitfalls that the so called “bill of rights” resolution sought to place upon the city. Gamely, activists continued to push the Council to retain its ban on development, notwithstandi...

The Hill:   Halliburton pleads guilty to destroying evidence in aftermath of BP oil spill Rolling Stone:   Flooding and Fracking in Colorado: Double Disaster (despite the alarmist headline, the article states that the EPA has searched for contamination from flooding of drill sites or pipelines and has not found anything significant) Shale Reporter:   Youngstown debates a ban on fracking Forbes:   The Media and the UT/EDF Methane Study: Job Well Done CNN Money:   The world's next fracking hot spots The Athens News:   Shale drilling moving steadily closer to Athens County E&E:   Local control is an issue as Utica Shale drilling ramps up Akron Beacon Journal:   Chesapeake Energy CEO says more layoffs are possible StateImpact Pennsylvania:   Gas Industry Survey Contradicts Claims Of Widespread Drug Use Fuel Fix:   LNG fuels consortium to build plants in Texas, other states (including Ohio) Connect with us on Facebook...

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: William J. Ray, 29, of Monroeville, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and could face about three years in prison under federal guidelines when he is sentenced on Jan. 10.  Mr. Ray's accused business partner, Derek A. Candelore, 33, of Jeannette, has pleaded not guilty to similar charges. The two were "landmen," securing drilling leases for sale to firms working in the Marcellus Shale.  According to assistant U.S. attorney Nelson Cohen, the two wrote up and filed false deeds and forged the signatures of property owners, transferring mineral rights to "bogus companies" they created.  "They thereafter sold and leased the mineral rights to Range Resources" and other companies, he said. Read the entire article by clicking here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Youngstown Vindicator: City council unani- mously repealed its ordinance banning oil and gas drilling in the city limits before a council chamber packed with anti-drilling advocates pleading for council to keep the ban and labor unions encouraging its repeal.   “The oil and gas industry has put money in our pockets, and we support economic development,” Don Crane, president of the Western Reserve Building and Construction Trades Council said at Wednesday night’s meeting. “You don’t want to scare off companies.”   Council had passed the ordinance, known as the “Community Bill of Rights,” Aug. 21 after learning about possible plans for a hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, operation in a Robbins Avenue neighborhood.   Council members, however, began changing their minds after hearing from industry representatives that the neighborhoods did not contain sufficient acreage to set up a well for shale drilling. Read the whole article here.  Connec...

CNN Money:   Colorado flooding may unleash fracking fluids  (the most interesting takeaways I found in this article: there is currently no tangible evidence that supports the assertion in the headline, and the environmentalists quoted seem excited that these floods are happening because they hope it will give them ammo in their fight against drilling) Energy in Depth:   Former Obama Energy Secretary Touts Safe Shale Development The Barrel Blog:   Sign of the times: Chesapeake lays off NGV development team The Youngstown Vindicator:   Utica Shale Conference Focuses on Moving Forward Columbus Business First:   Utica shale report by Benesch finds 133 pipeline projects in eastern Ohio as companies scramble to set up infrastructure Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

We mentioned a new study earlier this week which contained many interesting findings from a study of methane emissions at 150 drilling sites.   Here is the original post, to give you the background. To gain even more insight into the study, click here .  This is an essential resource in increasing understanding of the study, as it contains the FAQ posted by the Environmental Defense Fund. Now, more reaction continues to pour out from various outlets. From Forbes: First, the researchers did find significant leakage, but at other points than the wells, most notably in the gas-water separation process.  This highlights the fact that methane leakage is important and needs to be addressed, but independently of the question of hydraulic fracturing.  The natural gas supply chain is long and some parts of it, such as urban distribution systems, are thought to be possible sources of significant leakage.  In all likelihood, the Power  Law  applies, wher...

From the Toledo Blade: By a 7-0 vote, the Bowling Green City Council on Monday night approved an ordinance that bans fracking and disposal of fracking waste fluids in the city limits. Now the question becomes how strong the action would be if it is ever challenged in court. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources claims it maintains legal authority to issue all drilling permits throughout the state, even in cities that pass ordinances to ban the activity. But Bowling Green City Attorney Michael Marsh, in a Sept. 4 letter to council members, said he wrote the ordinance to be a part of the city’s criminal code, not its zoning code. “It is an exercise of our police powers,” Mr. Marsh wrote. “The same tack was taken by us several years ago when we were the first city in Ohio to regulate cigarette and cigar smoking in certain facilities. Smoking at that time was also a ‘legal’ activity and was heavily regulated by the state of Ohio. Our ordinance was challenged, and it was uph...

From the Akron Beacon Journal: The Utica and Marcellus shales are poised to produce significant volumes of natural gas that can benefit utilities and manufacturers in the Midwest and the Northeast, according to a new report. Bentek Energy, the Colorado-based energy market analytics company, says continued development of Utica and Marcellus natural gas and a rapidly growing infrastructure to transport the gas will result in “substantial opportunity” for natural gas users in Ohio, Pennsylvania and the Northeast United States, said spokesman Justin Carlson. He added that more than 16 billion cubic feet per day of pipeline capacity is under construction or planned in the two states. The two shales are capable of producing enough natural gas to power electric-producing power plants now fueled with coal and other large customers, he told 250 people on Tuesday at the Think About Energy Summit sponsored by America’s Natural Gas Alliance, a national trade group. Read the rest of this a...

From Columbus Business First: Rutledge said some landowners have cashed in big time, pointing to an analysis by a couple banks in Carroll County that found about 200 property owners became instant millionaires from bonuses they received for signing lease agreements with oil and natural companies. That’s in a county with fewer than 30,000 people. Many of the new millionaires are farmers who have been land rich but cash poor for much of their working lives. “These are guys who have been scraping that ground and trying to turn it into something for years,” Rutledge said. She also said Carroll County’s piggyback sales tax generated an additional $1 million in 2012 compared with the prior year, and it’s on pace for another increase of $500,000 this year. The county has used the extra cash to cover cuts in state and federal funding as well as provide funds to help the sheriff’s department handle more calls tied to traffic and noise from drilling operations. Read much more by click...

OKLAHOMA CITY, Sept. 17, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulfport Energy Corporation (Nasdaq: GPOR ) today announced production results on its Wagner 3-28H, Clay 3-4H, and Lyon 3-27H wells in the Utica Shale. Utica Shale Gulfport's Wagner 3-28H well was recently placed on production in the Utica Shale. The Wagner 3-28H produced at an average seven-day sales rate of 9.7 million cubic feet ("MMCF") per day of natural gas, 214 barrels of condensate per day and 1,067 barrels of natural gas liquids ("NGLs") per day assuming full ethane recovery and a natural gas shrink of 18%, or 2,607 barrels of oil equivalent ("BOE") per day. Gulfport's Clay 3-4H well was recently placed on production in the Utica Shale. The Clay 3-4H produced at an average seven-day sales rate of 2.5 MMCF per day of natural gas, 392 barrels of condensate per day and 323 barrels of NGLs per day assuming full ethane recovery and a natural gas shrink of 27%, or 1,019 BOE per day....

Last week was another slow one for Utica shale permitting, according to the latest report from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Only 5 new permits for horizontal drilling in the Utica shale were issued.  4 of those permits were for Monroe County, while the other one was for Guernsey County. The activity last week brings the total number of permits to 887.  The number of wells drilled is 557, and 153 are producing.  The Utica rig count is down to 30. View the full report here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

Citizens' Voice:   Driller seeks sanctions in suit Forbes:   In Restructuring, Chesapeake CEO Lawler Axes God and Bees From Payroll Herald Star:   Shale play focus for Rotary meeting in Steubenville Cleveland.com:   Increased fracking tax could send gas companies packing Forbes:   "Clean Energy" is Cooling the Economy and Damaging the Environment Crain's Cleveland Business:   Turning dirty drill cuttings into clean soil - and profits Bloomberg:   Fracking Moves U.S. Crude Output to Highest Level Since 1989 CBS Pittsburgh:   Pa. Rep. Jesse White Apologizes For Fake Online Posts Boulder Daily Camera:   Boulder County activists concerned about flooded oil, gas wells Energy Tribune:   Greens Anti-Coal War Turns Heat on World's Poor The Daily Caller:   Global warming documentary to premier on Al Jazeera Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog