Posts Tagged ‘EnCana Oil’

New gas entry alters picture

People are wondering just what EnCana will bring to Marcellus Shale drilling.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Edward Buda had been dealing with representatives of Whitmar Exploration Co. for about two years since he, his late brother and sister-in-law negotiated a lease with the company for natural gas drilling on their Fairmount Township property.

Crews clear the way Thursday along Route 118 in Lake Township for construction of a road to the Buda natural gas well to be drilled by EnCana Oil & Gas.

ENCANA FACTS

• Based in Calgary, Alberta, EnCana was formed in 2002 through the business combination of Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. and PanCanadian Energy Corp. It is one of North America’s leading natural gas producers with a land base of 15.6 million acres in North America.

• The company produces 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day and operates about 8,700 wells.

• EnCana operates in the United States through its subsidiary Encana Gas & Oil (USA) Inc., with its U.S. headquarters in Denver, Colo., and field offices in Denver, Texas, Wyoming and Louisiana.

• In addition to the Marcellus Shale, EnCana is active in four key natural gas resource plays: Jonah in southwest Wyoming; Piceance in northwest Colorado; and the East Texas and Fort Worth, Texas basins. The USA Division is also focused on the development of the Haynesville Shale play in Louisiana and Texas.

• EnCana Corp. reported sales of $11 billion in 2009. Its stock trades under the symbol ECA. It has traded between $27.56 and $63.19 per share in the past 52 weeks and closed Friday at $30.28.

Many area properties are leased for drilling

The list of Luzerne County properties leased for natural gas drilling is long – more than 1,000 just with EnCana Oil & Gas. Chesapeake Energy holds dozens more leases, although the company so far has not begun any drilling operations.

Work began last week on the site of Encana’s first exploratory well in Luzerne County, off Route 118 in Lake Township.

The Times Leader obtained drilling leases filed with the Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds as of last week. They range from slivers of land – less than one-tenth of an acre – to huge spreads of hundreds of acres. Most are with individuals, others with well-known organizations, such as the Irem Temple Country Club.

All of them are in the Back Mountain or other areas in the north and west parts of the county. Most of the land will never host a gas well but may be needed for access roads, equipment storage and to buffer drilling pads from neighbors.

The lists are in pdf format, sorted by municipality. Duplicate filing numbers were removed, but most properties show up twice because leases originally signed with Whitmar Exploration Co. have been assigned to EnCana. The lists can be searched by name using later versions of Adobe Reader, a free computer program.

Find the lists accompanying the main story under “Related Documents” at www.timesleader.com.

Now, there’s a new player in the mix, since Whitmar announced a partnership with EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. in November for a joint venture in drilling and development of the Marcellus Shale in Luzerne and Columbia counties.

Like others in the Back Mountain, Sweet Valley and Red Rock areas, Buda is a bit wary of the Denver-based energy company.

“We did business with Whitmar. How (Encana is) going to be, I don’t know. How they honor the contract, that’s to be seen. I still don’t know much about them,” said Buda, 75, who lives in Ross Township.

Buda’s brother Walter and Walter’s wife Eleanor signed a fairly simple three-page lease with Whitmar in February 2009, a month before Walter died. Eleanor passed away in November, Edward said, and he became the new lease holder just as EnCana came into the picture.

Now, EnCana wants to lease Edward’s property in Ross Township, but he isn’t too impressed with the $1,000-per-acre offer. And the 16-page lease proposal that has undergone many revisions is written in legalese, he said.

“They wanted to put a drill pad on my property (in Ross Township). I said I want to wait and see what happens in Red Rock (section of Fairmount Township). Everybody’s waiting to see whether it’s going to be a gusher or a fiasco in Red Rock,” Edward said.

Wendy Wiedenbeck, a public and community relations adviser for EnCana, said the well on Buda’s property and a second well planned for a Lake Township property owned by township Supervisor Amy Salansky and her husband, Paul, are exploratory ventures.

If those wells produce an acceptable amount of natural gas, EnCana will develop a plan for expanded drilling operations in the area, Wiedenbeck said. Drilling is expected to begin in July on Buda’s property and gas production should start by October. Clearing of an access road to the site began last week.

Company has won honors

For the past few months, Wiedenbeck has been the face of EnCana locally, arranging and attending meetings with people who live or own property within a mile of the planned drilling sites as well as attending meetings with local groups concerned about drilling activity in their communities.

A self-described “Army wife” with two sons – one in first grade, the other a senior in college, Wiedenbeck has lived in Colorado since 1989 and has been working in community/public relations since the early 1990s. She’s been with EnCana for five years.

“They’re a cultural fit for me. I believe they truly believe in responsible development,” Wiedenbeck said of her employer.

To prove her point, Wiedenbeck provided a long list of awards EnCana has received over the past few years. Just a few include:

• The 2008 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Natural Gas STAR award, recognizing outstanding efforts to measure, report and reduce methane emissions;

• Interstate Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Chairman’s Stewardship Awards, recognizing exemplary efforts in environmental stewardship by the oil and natural gas industry;

• The 2009 Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission Award for Courtesy Matters program in the Denver-Julesburg Basin surrounding Erie, Colo.

“Courtesy Matters” is EnCana’s community engagement program that brings EnCana staff and third-party contractors together with the community to discuss the nuisance issues associated with company operations,” Wiedenbeck said.

“Courtesy Matters creates a working environment where open and ongoing dialog are paramount. Discussions generally include concerns with traffic, noise and dust associated with our operations,” she said.

Community investment vital

Marty Ostholthoff, community development director for Erie, Colo., said in a teleconference that EnCana is one of four major energy companies drilling in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, the others being Noble Energy Inc., Kerr-McGee Corp. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Fred Diehl, assistant town administrator in Erie, said he would be remiss if he didn’t point out “how far ahead of the other operators EnCana is” when it comes to community investment.

Diehl said he mentioned to Wiedenbeck that officials wanted to install solar panels on a new community center being built, and EnCana donated $250,000 to make that happen. A month ago, the company donated $175,000 for eco-friendly lighting at community ball fields.

“It’s not a requirement that they make notifications to our residents (about drilling activities or problems), but they do. It’s not a requirement that they make financial investments into our community, but they do,” Ostholthoff said.

Of course, there’s a downside to the presence of the drilling companies in the suburban area, which lies in one of the largest natural gas fields in the country, Diehl said.

“These things are still loud,” he said of the drilling rigs. “People come into our offices complaining, ‘We can’t sleep.’ But we worked with the operators to put up hay bales and cargo trailers to minimize the noise. The only good thing is, (the drilling is) temporary.”

As far as addressing concerns of residents, Diehl said all of the companies seem willing and responsive. “If they’re not, one of them can give the whole industry a black eye,” Diehl said.

Wiedenbeck said EnCana will have a toll-free number posted at its drilling sites that people can call to report concerns. Callers who choose the Pennsylvania prompt will be automatically directed to her office or cell phone. An operations phone number also will be established, she said.

And while EnCana will hire someone locally to help with community relations efforts, Wiedenbeck said she will continue to be “that face” for the community. She has spent about half her time in Pennsylvania since EnCana partnered with Whitmar, sometimes bringing her youngest son, Sammy, on trips here.

“He loves Pennsylvania,” she said.

Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7311.

Copyright: Times Leader