USGS: 4,100% increase in technically recoverable Marcellus natural gas from 2002

Canonsburg, Pa. – Today, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – an independent research arm of the Interior Department – released an updated assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable American natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation, considered to be second largest natural field in the entire world. According to USGS, “the Marcellus Shale contains about 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas and 3.4 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas liquids.”

USGS notes that “these gas estimates are significantly more than” its previous 2002 Marcellus assessment, “which estimated a mean of about 2 trillion cubic feet of gas (TCF) and 0.01 billion barrels of natural gas liquids” – representing a 4,100% and 33,900% increase, respectively.

Kathryn Z. Klaber, president and executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, issued this statement upon reviewing the new USGS assessment:

“These new figures are further affirmation that the Marcellus Shale will continue to safely produce prolific amounts of clean-burning American natural gas for generations to come. While advent of shale gas development in the United States was only several years ago, its impact is proving to be profound and lasting.

“Gone are the days of America potentially relying on often-unstable regions and countries around the world to meet our growing natural gas demands. As this responsible development continues to expand across the Marcellus region, and the country, tens of thousands of Americans are finding work in an industry that is fundamentally strengthening our nation’s core.

“While some critics continue to question the viability of responsible domestic shale gas development, it is abundantly clear – as laid out by this new data – that the Marcellus Shale will continue to lead the way in meeting American’s energy needs for years to come.”

NOTE: Click HERE to view USGS’s updated assessment online. The USGS report follows a recent economic impact analysis conducted by researchers at Penn State University, which found that the Marcellus Shale formation could become the leading supplier of natural gas in the United States within a decade.

Posted at marcelluscoalition.org

By Evamarie Socha

“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”

NEW BERLIN — 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.

That pilot program, called Penn College Now, is a natural gas technical education partnership, focusing on fields in demand for Marcellus Shale workers: welding, electronics, electrical work, diesel and computer networking.

“Whether you agree with the drilling and what it might do to the environment, there are still jobs issues, and the economy, and people out of work,” he said. “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.

To that end, the school created Penn College Now, a dual-enrollment program in which high school teachers train to teach Penn College courses. The students who take them earn college credits and then enroll at Penn College at a reduced tuition.

SUN Tech is one of two vocational schools in the state very involved with this program, Brundage said. As a result, students taking the courses could earn up to 15 credits before enrolling at the college.

Generally, 11th- and 12th-grade students are eligible to participate in the program. Limited classes are available to 10th-graders.

A three-year National Science Foundation grant for about $882,000 helps support the dual-enrollment program in technical fields that lead to associate degrees in areas employed for Marcellus Shale, Brundage said.

“In general, our job is really to connect secondary and post-secondary education together, especially in technical fields,” Brundage said. “We focus to make sure technical education at the high school level and Penn College have alignment.”

Penn College operates 14 majors in 20 vocational schools for this. Other occupations include computer-aided design, information technology, geology and forestry.

Jeannette Carter, director of the outreach for K-12 office at Penn College, said the NSF funding helps provide technician courses at up to 15 high schools and career and technical centers in 15 counties across the central and northern parts of Pennsylvania.

It also helps the school reach out to nontraditional people in the field, such as women.

Carter said the NSF grant let the school realign curriculum to some core competencies of the natural gas industry, as well as work with local career and technology centers to prepare workers’ transition from other industries.

Hain has observed this change firsthand. “What’s happening is our businesses here are starting to lose people going up there (Marcellus Shale) for higher wages,” he said. “A lot of our students are filling positions in this area as well as going up there.”

Brundage knows that well. “What happens is the best workers who want to work in the natural gas industry migrate out of other occupations and industries,” she said. That leaves job opportunities for people to fill the vacated slots.

“Often, the people with the most talent go work for the big fish, where they’ll make the most money, if that’s what motivates them,” she said.

One twist is that this helps supply workers to Pennsylvania’s manufacturing industry, which has a brewing skills gap, Hain said.

“The older people with skills are retiring, and there aren’t enough young people to replace them,” he said.

That’s a boost to the state that Brundage likes.

“Manufacturing is an awesome part of central Pennsylvania,” she said. “We have to make sure it stays healthy, because it produces significant benefits to communities. Both Marcellus Shale and manufacturing need a good supply of trained workers.”

NOTE: Click HERE to view this story online.

6-month figures show 60% increase for Marcellus Shale wells
By Laura Olson, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG — Gas production continues to skyrocket in Pennsylvania, with the latest six-month figures showing a 60 percent increase in output for the commonwealth’s Marcellus Shale wells.

The more than 1,600 Marcellus wells currently in production put out a total of 432 billion cubic feet of natural gas in the first six months of the year, according to the figures provided to the state Department of Environmental Protection by drilling companies.

The data is available on the DEP’s website.

Those numbers likely will be scrutinized by state lawmakers as they return this fall, with debate over how to assess a tax or fee on gas production at the top for their fall agenda.

Counties in the state’s northern tier — Bradford, Susquehanna and Tioga — led the pack for most production, followed closely by Greene and Washington.

Those two southwestern counties each produced more than 10 percent of the state total: Greene tallied 51.1 billion cubic feet, and Washington reported 45.9 billion cubic feet.

For Greene and Washington counties, that reflected a boost from the previous six-month period, when both counties had production levels between about 30 billion and 35 billion cubic feet.

It was also a Greene County well that had the highest volume during the reporting period: an EQT Corp. well in Morris produced nearly 3 billion cubic feet of gas.

Combined, the five top counties accounted for more than 80 percent of the gas produced during the first six months of the year.

The total production is up from 271.8 billion cubic feet of gas reported for the state during the final six months of 2010. It’s also more than double the amount of gas produced during the 12 months from July 2009 to June 2010.

“I think what we’re seeing are the kind of production numbers that the report we put out in July projected,” said Kathryn Klaber, Marcellus Shale Coalition president.

“We’re seeing the actual production reflect that strong anticipated growth, and it’s still in the early stages.”

The trade group’s report, released last month, boosted its prior projection for how much gas would be flowing from Pennsylvania wells this year.

Ms. Klaber noted that at the end of 2010, wells were already beating production estimates, and fewer sites than thought were needed to hit those figures. Last year’s average daily production was double what the group had estimated, with 300 fewer wells.

She said that means “a smaller footprint is needed for producing clean-burning energy.”

Penn State geologist Terry Engelder also said the numbers showed promising production levels, particularly in Susquehanna and Bradford counties.

He said those two northern counties are “holding up extraordinarily well” to expectations. According to Mr. Engelder, four wells in Susquehanna County have cumulative produced more than 4 billion cubic feet each.

NOTE: Click HERE to view this story online.

DLP partner Brian Price, formerly a Peace Corp Volunteer in Guatemala and fluent in the Spanish language continues to represent Latino individuals seriously injured in tractor trailer/truck accident,car accident, work accidents, nursing home accidents and other serious accidents  in Northeastern and Central  Pennsylvania.   Attorney Price is assisted in his representation of the Latino Community by three (3) bilingual Paralegals at DLP.  Attorney Price is representing Latino workers in the gas drilling rig and Marcellus Shale Gas industry throughout Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.  Attorney Price has received numerous honors from the Latino community for his dedicated service.  Attorney Price is a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyers.  He is a named Super Lawyer by Philadelphia Magazine.

DLP partners Joseph Price and Paul Oven filed today a lawsuit in Federal Court involving a serious auto accident case in Carbon County Pennsylvania.  Attorney Oven notes that the case involves serious bodily injury.  More details are forthcoming.  DLP Pennsylvania truck accident lawyers represent individuals seriously injured in truck accident, car accidents, gas drilling rig accidents, nursing home accident and other serious accident matters.

With the continuing increase in Marcellus shale gas rig drilling production, more gas drilling waste is being hauled on the highways of Pennsylvania especially in the Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania counties including Bradford, Susquehanna, Tioga, Lycoming, Sullivan, Potter, Wyoming and Potter.  Truck traffic has increased on Pennsylvania interstate highways.  More and more gas industry related trucks and tractor trailers are being involved in serious truck/car accidents.  DLP, Pennsylvania serious truck accident lawyers continue to monitor this and other gas drilling rig related stories.

U. of Wyo. Prof: “Pennsylvania is becoming a big gas producer in a major way”

As jobless claims once again ticked upward this past week, it’s no wonder why consumer confidence dropped “in August to the lowest level since the recession.” Yet, despite these broader, national economic trends, there’s a silver lining in the Rust Belt, of all places — and it comes in the form of American oil and natural gas. This from today’s Pottsville Republican-Herald under the headline “Marcellus Gas production continues steady growth in Pa.”:

Marcellus Shale natural gas production in Pennsylvania continued its rapid rise in the first half of 2011, according to figures released this week by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The state’s 1,632 producing Marcellus wells pumped out 432.5 billion cubic feet of gas during the first six months of the year – a 60 percent increase from the amount of gas produced in the second half of 2010. The three counties that led the state in gas production, Bradford, Susquehanna and Tioga, pulled 260 billion cubic feet of gas from the shale – slightly less than all of the Marcellus Shale gas that was produced in the entire state in the last half of 2010.

Timothy Considine, a professor of energy economics at the University of Wyoming, said the production numbers are in the ballpark of what the state’s shale gas operators forecast for the year in a report he co-authored this summer.“Pennsylvania is becoming a big gas producer in a major way,” he said. The state is now a net exporter of gas, he added. “That’s changing the entire natural gas market picture in the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic region.”

So what does a 60 percent increase in Marcellus Shale natural gas production mean to consumers and small businesses across the region? Well, in addition to saving Pennsylvania consumers nearly $633 million on their utility bills over the past year, according to a recent study by Penn State University researchers, news broke these week that UGI – a Marcellus Shale Coalition member – will be providing even more clean-burning, American natural gas to the region. The Standard Speaker reports this under the headline “NEPA natural gas customers could benefit from Marcellus Shale by 2012”:

By next year, Wilkes-Barre area UGI customers should be getting natural gas from Northeastern Pennsylvania instead of other states and countries. UGI Vice President of Government Affairs Michael Love made the revelation Monday during a hearing in front of the state House Democratic Policy committee at Wilkes University.

“Natural gas is the cheaper fuel today, will be tomorrow and for the foreseeable future because of shale gas,” Love said. Until recently, Pennsylvania imported 75 percent of its natural gas from other states or countries.

More affordable and reliable supplies of American energy is helping to create jobs at a time when they’re most needed. Indeed, our region’s demonstrable shale gas-related economic growth is even making its way to the editorial pages of newspapers in Connecticut. In an editorial today, the Waterbury Republican American notes that responsible Marcellus Shale development has “created 13,000 jobs in Pennsylvania in 2010, according to the state’s Department of Labor.” And as responsible domestic shale gas and oil production continues to expand in earnest, more jobs and more access to homegrown, reliable energy resources are being realized. It’s been called a lot of things: a game-changer; a revolution; and of course, “An American Renewal.”

Posted at marcelluscoalition.org

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A series of Web-based seminars aimed at helping local businesses prosper from natural-gas drilling and development will be offered this fall by Penn State Extension’s Marcellus Educational Consortium.

“Your Business and Marcellus Shale: Moving Forward 2011″ is a five-part program intended to help local businesses understand and take advantage of the opportunities arising from development of the Marcellus Shale.

“Participants will expand their knowledge of the opportunities that exist in the market and learn how to make connections and plan for doing business in this growing industry,” said Jonathan Laughner, extension educator in Beaver County who is moderating the sessions, one of which will be held every other week. Each webinar will feature speakers who are experts in the field.

“Our webinar speakers will include natural-gas industry representatives, local business people successfully responding to opportunities, financial specialists and business-development representatives,” Laughner said. “Anyone interested in learning more about this aspect of the industry is welcome to attend.”

Each session will last approximately 75 minutes, from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Following is the webinar schedule:

–Sept 13, “Local Business View: Experience in the Northeast”

–Sept. 26, “Industry View: What Does Industry Look For?”

–Oct. 11, “Local Business View: Experience in the Southwest”

–Oct. 24, “The Process: How Do You Sell Into Industry?”

–Nov. 8, “The Work Plan: Financial and Planning Suggestions”

This webinar series is for educational purposes only, Laughner cautioned. No part of the presentations is to be considered legal advice. “Please consult with your attorney before signing any legal document,” he said. “Where trade and/or company names appear, no discrimination is intended, and no endorsement by Penn State Cooperative Extension is implied.”

The website for the webinars is https://meeting.psu.edu/marcellusbiz. Webinar access requires a free Friends of Penn State account, which can be obtained at https://fps.psu.edu.

For more information, contact Carol Loveland, Penn State Extension energy development and special projects coordinator, at 570-433-3040 or by e-mail at cal24@psu.edu.

Posted at psu.edu

Marcellus gas has less impact on global warming than coal, according to a recent study by scientists at Carnegie Mellon University.

Article was originally published on August 17, 2011 by The Patriot News.

Marcellus gas has less impact on global warming than coal, according to a recent study by scientists at Carnegie Mellon University.

The peer-reviewed study published Aug. 5 in “Environmental Research Letters” appears to be a direct refutation of an April study from researchers Robert Howarth and Anthony Ingraffea at Cornell University that indicated that shale gas was worse for global warming than coal.

The Cornell study had a number of faults — acknowledged by its authors — including sketchy data that did not directly apply to Marcellus drilling operations.

The Carnegie Mellon study looks specifically at Marcellus and the “life cycle greenhouse gas emmissions” associated with its production and consumption.

Marcellus gas is essentially no different than conventional natural gas, the study found, and 20-50 percent cleaner than coal for producing electricity.

“Marcellus shale gas emits 50 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than any U.S. coal-fired plant,” said study co-author Chris Hendrickson. “We favor extraction of Marcellus shale natural gas as long as the extraction is managed to minimize adverse economic, environmental and social impacts.”

Former DEP Secretary John Hanger lauded the new study on his blog, saying it “debunks and decimates professor Howarth’s hit piece study that the NYT gas reporter and other media gave so much attention.”

“By contrast,” Hanger said, “the CMU study has received very little press attention so the result remains that many people think Howarth is the final word on this important matter.”

The new study does support “green completions” — in which gas is captured during the earliest stages of production rather than being vented or flared into the atmosphere. Proposed shale gas rules from the EPA would require green completions.

“Green completion… would significantly reduce the largest source of emissions specific to Marcellus gas preproduction,” the study says, but it adds that such emissions are a small portion of the life cycle estimates.

The study’s authors said greenhouse gas emissions are not the only challenge when it comes to extracting shale gas.

“We still need to study other environmental issues, including use of water and disruption of natural habitats,” said co-author Paulina Jaramillo.

Posted at Pioga.org