Posts Tagged ‘gas’

Canonsburg, Pa. – According to a new USA Today analysis, “The share of the population that is working fell to its lowest level last year since women started entering the workforce in large numbers three decades ago.” In today’s paper, reporter Dennis Cauchon notes that “only 45.4% of Americans had jobs in 2010, the lowest rate since 1983 and down from a peak of 49.3% in 2000. Last year, just 66.8% of men had jobs, the lowest on record.”

The nation’s economic outlook, by most metrics, is grim. In Pennsylvania, modest overall employment growth is projected over the next year, the USA Today reports. Yet there’s a silver lining. While many industries have experienced cutbacks and lower rates of projected job growth, Pennsylvania’s ‘Natural resources & mining’ and ‘Professional & business services’ — at respective rates of 4.0% and 3.2% — continue to be leading sources of job creation in the Commonwealth.

Natural resources jobs account for direct Marcellus Shale-related employment. And according to the USA Today, professional and business services jobs included ‘scientific, technical services, management of companies, administrative support, waste management and remediation services.’ (Yes, these numbers are in line with the Marcellus Shale’s Coalition’s (MSC) analysis from earlier this month – available HERE).

We call it the ‘Marcellus Multiplier’ – the powerful supply chain, made up of a host of small and mid-sized businesses, that plays a critical role in enabling the responsible development of clean-burning American natural gas from up to 9,000 feet below ground. Here’s a quick look at how this job-creating impact is revitalizing communities:

• While Fewer Than Half Americans Had Jobs Last Year, Penn Tech Grads “Can Pick From 15 to 20” Marcellus Jobs: Students graduating from the Pennsylvania College of Technology with two-year degrees in heavy equipment technology and diesel mechanics are being offered up to $20 an hour, said Mary Sullivan, dean of natural resources management. Some graduates are earning $70,000 a year, she said. Companies are telling the college “we’ll take everyone you can give us and then some,” Sullivan said. A graduate can pick from 15 to 20 jobs, she said. (Patriot News, 4/9/11)

• “Pennsylvania Enters ‘Golden Age’ of Natural Gas”: More [Marcellus] jobs draw in more people, boosting the state economy and the finances of individuals. Supply store owners like Paul Battista have tailored their inventories to meet the demands of the natural gas industry, resulting in a boom in profits. “From ‘08 to ‘09, we probably had a 30-35 percent increase in our gross sales,” Battista said. “And from ‘09 to ‘10, we had a 100 percent increase in our business. And so far, 2011, we’re seeing another 100 percent increase over 2010.” (CBN News, 4/14/11)

• “Landscape Architects Find New Business in Marcellus Shale”: The term “landscape architect” is more likely to conjure images of Central Park in New York than it is drilling rigs in Pennsylvania, but the natural gas boom in the Marcellus Shale has brought new life to a profession hit hard by the recession. … However, work generated by the Marcellus industry has become the bread and butter for many of his colleagues in the west and north-central portion of the state, said [Thomas] McLane. …McLane said he’s already seeing a surge in commercial and residential work along Route 6, the main road across the northern tier. (Patriot-News, 4/11/11)

Families, consumers, small businesses and those looking for steady work across the region recognize these clear economic benefits. In fact, a recent Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development poll analysis determined that a clear majority of Pennsylvanians support the responsible development of American natural gas from the Marcellus Shale. According the survey, “among those who did have opinions, more than two times as many expressed support for developing the gas industry as opposed it.” By clear margins, respondents not only support or strongly support Marcellus Shale development, but they also believe the “availability of jobs and job training opportunities were more likely to be expected to ‘get better.’”

More important than new jobs and millions in tax revenue generated for local governments and for the Commonwealth, though, is the industry’s unwavering commitment to protecting the environment and getting this historic opportunity right. “Drilling can proceed safely,” said PennFuture president and CEO Jan Jarrett this week. She’s absolutely right. And as Ray Walker Jr., senior vice president of Range Resources and chairman of the MSC, told a crowd of 700 in Pittsburgh on Monday evening: “Nobody wants to do it right more than the companies that do it.”

Interested in joining our industry? Please visit the MSC’s Jobs Portal to learn more about employment opportunities, because we’re hiring.

http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/553796/Keep-Drilling-Rigs-at-Work.html?nav=511 Keep Drilling Rigs at Work April 6, 2011 By The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register “Moratoriums such as New York’s make no sense in view of the gas drilling industry’s environmental record. We are aware of no serious, proven environmental problems with Marcellus Shale wells. … Americans need all the help we can get with new sources of energy. Economically beleaguered areas such as ours need every dime gas drilling and production can pump into our communities.” Officials in West Virginia and Ohio have taken a relatively wise course regarding natural gas drilling. They are investigating the process used to exploit gas in the Marcellus Shale, discussing new regulations – and allowing wells to be drilled in the meantime. Not all states have been as rational. New York has enforced a moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling since 2008, while new regulations are being drafted. Maryland lawmakers are considering restrictions while they spend two years studying the industry. That’s fine – at least for Ohio and West Virginia residents – unless the federal government gets into the act. We encourage members of Congress from our states to resist any suggestions the EPA interfere with state regulation of gas drilling. A coalition led by several environmental groups is demanding the government conduct a “programmatic environmental impact statement” study of Marcellus Shale drilling. That would require the Environmental Protection Agency to intensify the study already in progress on issues such as drinking water quality and gas wells. Rest assured that at some point, the more radical in the environmentalist community will suggest the government should impose its own moratorium on Marcellus Shale wells until an exhaustive study is completed. We have no concern about such a study. The more we know about any industry, the better. That should be obvious. But moratoriums such as New York’s make no sense in view of the gas drilling industry’s environmental record. We are aware of no serious, proven environmental problems with Marcellus Shale wells. The existing regulatory framework in most states seems to address most concerns, and new rules on the way should take care of issues unique to the Marcellus Shale drilling process. In the meantime, Americans need all the help we can get with new sources of energy. Economically beleaguered areas such as ours need every dime gas drilling and production can pump into our communities. By all means, then, investigate gas drilling scientifically – but don’t hamper it until and unless good reason is found to do so. # # # NOTE: Click HERE to view this editorial online.

By Michael Bradwell
Washington Observer-Reporter
4/2/2011

CANONSBURG – The head of the Marcellus Shale Coalition said Thursday she is pleased to see President Obama include natural gas as part of a national energy strategy.

But Kathryn Klaber, executive director of the 2-year-old industry group that represents about 180 companies working in the shale strata said policies regarding the use of the fuel must be consistent going forward.

Klaber addressed more than 350 members of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce during the group’s “Executive Series” dinner at the Hilton Garden Inn, Southpointe.

“It’s good to see that natural gas is on Obama’s list,” Klaber said, “but policies need to be consistent.”

On Wednesday, Obama called for a one-third reduction in U.S oil imports by 2025, but offered little in the way of new initiatives for an energy policy, instead providing a list of energy proposals he’s already called for, including increasing domestic oil production, increasing the use of biofuels and natural gas and making vehicles more energy efficient.

Klaber, noted that because of the use of hydraulic fracturing and the production of natural gas from several large shale fields around the country, including the Marcellus, the U.S. now has an abundance of natural gas supplies that continue to grow by the month.

After stagnating at 3 trillion to 24 trillion cubic feet between 1970 and 2006, U.S production numbers have pushed to new record levels, reaching 26.85 TCF from 2009 to 2010. Last year, the industry set new records in every month except January, February and July.

At the same time, natural gas prices have declined from $8 to $10 per thousand feet in the middle of the last decade to just over $4 per mcf now.

“The big reason we’re seeing lower prices is supply,” Klaber said.

Closer to home, Klaber said the coalition, which is headquartered in Southpointe, is focused on making the gas industry’s work transparent to Pennsylvanians.

“This is an industry that’s clearly focused on doing this right,” she said, adding that drillers and regulators are dealing with an “incredibly complex set of issues” to put natural gas squarely in the middle of the national energy landscape.

According to Klaber, the industry has made safety its top focus, and she disputed claims that the shale gas industry isn’t adequately regulated in Pennsylvania.

“There’s not a single (area) of the well process that is not covered by a regulation,” Klaber said, showing a slide from the state Department of Environmental Protection website that showed 12 separate regulations for construction of a well site, 18 each for drilling and hydraulic fracturing; 10 for site reclamation; and 11 rules for midstream (processing) operations.

While acknowledging that much of the industry’s current focus is on drilling, the coalition has a longer-term goal of promoting “not just home heating and electric generation from natural gas” but finding markets for the hydrocarbons like propane, ethane and butane that accompany methane extracted from the shale, to helping to grow the use of natural gas vehicles.

Klaber said Washington County stands to benefit from those developments, by virtue of its role as the epicenter of the Marcellus Shale development, now seen as the world’s second-largest gas field.

“We are really sitting in a place that makes it strategic from a headquarters place,” she said, noting that many companies located here are involved with developing the shale across the state.

On the environmental front, she said that the industry is also making strides in recycling the millions of gallons of water required to hydraulically fracture the shale to free the natural gas from the highly compacted rocks a mile or more beneath the earth’s surface.

“We’re driving water use down and it’s making a real difference in this part of the country,” she said.

Despite facing a major uphill battle, Democratic Pennsylvania State Senator John Yudichak of Luzerne County has moved a bill that would tax natural gas as it comes out of the ground. The bill calls for a tax on the gross value of the gas.

In the first three years of production, a well would be taxed at 2% and then jump up to 5% in year four. It would stay at that level until production fell below 150 MCF of natural gas per day. Once that threshold is reached, the tax would slip back to 2% as long as it stays above 60 MCF per day. Any well below 60 MCF would be exempt from the tax.

Yudichak says the tax would bring in $125 million in the first year and as much as $400 million a year after five years.

The measure is unlikely to win approval despite having Republican State Senator Edwin Erickson of Delaware County as a co-sponsor. Most Republicans in Harrisburg are against such a tax and the GOP holds a 30-20 majority in the PA senate. Yudichak says it is time to listen to the residents not the party, “The need to enact a natural gas severance tax is obvious to more than 60% of Pennsylvanians.” Yudichak was sighting recent polls that show public support for such a tax. “Gas drilling can potentially impact us all, in every corner of Pennsylvania,” says Yudichak.

Republicans have argued that such a tax will kill the young Marcellus Shale industry before it has a chance to grow. Yudichak disagrees, “We can have a thriving natural gas industry in Pennsylvania but it must be responsibly regulated and taxed to protect our communities, our land and our water.”

Even if it gets past the Republican controlled legislature, it would most likely face a veto from Governor Tom Corbett who made it a campaign pledge to not tax shale gas extraction. However, in recent weeks the governor and much of the rest of the party have begun to indicate that they may be willing to enact an impact fee that would stay with a host municipality.

In an effort to appeal to the Republicans, a third of the tax under Yudichak’s bill would be set aside for water supply and waste water issues, a third would go to an environmental stewardship fund and the rest would stay with local governments.

Originally Posted At: http://wduqnews.blogspot.com

HARRISBURG, PA.

Approval of enforcement actions and punishments aimed at Marcellus Shale drilling operators must now go through top officials in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in a change that the agency said Wednesday is aimed at improving its consistency in handling the rapidly growing industry.

Acting Secretary Michael Krancer is changing the procedure after receiving complaints that agency staff in different regions of Pennsylvania were carrying out their responsibilities unevenly, a department spokeswoman said.

The new policy covers a variety of enforcement actions that can require a company to pay a fine or correct a problem, spokeswoman Katy Gresh said. In some cases, those matters reach top officials. But the policy also covers notices of violation — which Krancer’s predecessor, John Hanger, equated to a traffic ticket making its way up to the chief of police and said it represents an encroachment onto the professional independence of the agency’s inspectors.

The policy applies strictly to Marcellus Shale-related drilling activity, and not to any other activities that the agency also inspects across six regions, including mining, construction, water and sewer treatment, power generation and medical X-rays.

Gresh said the week-old policy may be only temporary.

“We need to make sure we are consistent and that we make our best effort to be the most effective regulator of this industry, which will benefit all Pennsylvanians,” Gresh said.

Gov. Tom Corbett, whose successful campaign last year received sizable donations from members of the natural gas industry, has said he wants to make Pennsylvania the Texas of the natural gas boom. Pennsylvania is the largest natural gas state not to tax the activity, and Corbett is against imposing a new tax on it.

Notice of the change surrounding the hotly pursued natural gas formation wasn’t announced publicly. Rather, a March 23 email from a top department official ended up in the hands of reporters.

In the email, the department’s regional directors and the director of the bureau of oil and gas management were instructed to seek approval for actions involving Marcellus Shale drilling from two top agency deputies, with final clearance from Krancer.

“Any waiver from this directive will not be acceptable,” wrote John Hines, the agency’s executive deputy secretary.

On Wednesday, Hanger called the change to longstanding practice “ill-advised.”

“I can’t think of anything more likely to erode public confidence in the inspection process than this,” Hanger said. “I urge them to rethink and reconsider.”

Hanger said it oversteps the built-in checks and balances that give every company the ability to contest a notice of violation by responding in writing, asking for a meeting with regional staff to discuss it, appealing a decision to the Environmental Hearing Board and even going to court.

If there are complaints about consistency, the best way to handle those complaints is to carry out a management-level review of consistency and then train staff, if necessary, Hanger said.

“The idea that the secretary himself and the deputy secretary would presumably review, literally hundreds if not thousands of (notices of violation) before they were issued, when they were not on the site, they didn’t do the inspection, is incredible,” Hanger said. “It’s a new full-time job for the secretary, is what’s going to happen.”

 

Copyright: BusinessWeek.com

MARC LEVY Associated Press

 

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Approval of enforcement actions and punishments aimed atMarcellus Shale drilling operators must now go through top officials in the Department of Environmental Protection in a change that the agency said Wednesday is aimed at improving its consistency in handling the rapidly growing industry.

Acting Secretary Michael Krancer is changing the procedure after receiving complaints that agency staff in different regions of Pennsylvania were carrying out their responsibilities unevenly, a department spokeswoman said.

The new policy covers a variety of enforcement actions that can require a company to pay a fine or correct a problem, spokeswoman Katy Gresh said. In some cases, those matters reach top officials. But the policy also covers notices of violation — which Krancer’s predecessor, John Hanger, equated to a traffic ticket making its way up to the chief of police and said it represents an encroachment onto the professional independence of the agency’s inspectors.

The policy applies strictly to Marcellus Shale-related drilling activity, and not to any other activities that the agency also inspects across six regions, including mining, construction, water and sewer treatment, power generation and medical X-rays.

Gresh said the week-old policy may be only temporary.

“We need to make sure we are consistent and that we make our best effort to be the most effective regulator of this industry, which will benefit all Pennsylvanians,” Gresh said.

Gov. Tom Corbett, whose successful campaign last year received sizable donations from members of the natural gas industry, has said he wants to make Pennsylvania the Texas of the natural gas boom. Pennsylvania is the largest natural gas state not to tax the activity, and Corbett is against imposing a new tax on it.

Notice of the change surrounding the hotly pursued natural gas formation wasn’t announced publicly. Rather, a March 23 email from a top department official ended up in the hands of reporters.

In the email, the department’s regional directors and the director of the bureau of oil and gas management were instructed to seek approval for actions involving Marcellus Shale drilling from two top agency deputies, with final clearance from Krancer.

“Any waiver from this directive will not be acceptable,” wrote John Hines, the agency’s executive deputy secretary.

On Wednesday, Hanger called the change to longstanding practice “ill-advised.”

“I can’t think of anything more likely to erode public confidence in the inspection process than this,” Hanger said. “I urge them to rethink and reconsider.”

Hanger said it oversteps the built-in checks and balances that give every company the ability to contest a notice of violation by responding in writing, asking for a meeting with regional staff to discuss it, appealing a decision to the Environmental Hearing Board and even going to court.

If there are complaints about consistency, the best way to handle those complaints is to carry out a management-level review of consistency and then train staff, if necessary, Hanger said.

“The idea that the secretary himself and the deputy secretary would presumably review, literally hundreds if not thousands of (notices of violation) before they were issued, when they were not on the site, they didn’t do the inspection, is incredible,” Hanger said. “It’s a new full-time job for the secretary, is what’s going to happen.”

___

Information from: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, http://www.post-gazette.com

 

Reposted from: Times Leader

 

The Marcellus Shale natural gas boom in Pennsylvania has brought both negative and positive attention from drilling companies, media outlets, environmental protection agencies, politicians, and most importantly, concerned citizens.

It is imperative to stay well informed. The following websites provide thorough and up-to-date information regarding various aspects of natural gas drilling:

 

The Times Leader, which covers news from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to surrounding areas, publishes stories daily concerning natural gas drilling. The Marcellus Shale section can be accessed here. Additionally, they have compiled a database of natural gas drilling leases, which can be found here.

The Times Tribune covers breaking news from the greater Scranton area. Here you can find the most recent articles and news items concerning natural gas drilling. Also provided are two collections of stories. The first, entitled the “Deep Pockets Series” dates back to 2008 and the second, the “Deep Impact Series” covers 2010. The “Gas Drilling Editorials” section provides both editorials and comments from readers that have been published pertaining to Marcellus Shale exploration.

The Times Tribune’s database contains natural gas leases from the following counties:

• Lackawanna;
• Luzerne;
• Wayne; &
• Wyoming.

Search the natural gas lease database here.

In addition, the Times Tribune provides a database to search for various violations issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. This user friendly database allows you to search by choosing from:

• 37 gas companies;
• Nearly 50 municipalities, From Banks to Wayne;
• 13 counties; &
• 9 types of violations, including frack fluid spills, blowouts, and wastewater spills.

Visit the database here.

Congressman says federal agency can’t wait to regulate

By CASEY JUNKINS Staff Writer

 

Report: American natural gas a “winning proposition for consumers, America’s economy, the environment, our nation’s energy security”

Canonsburg, Pa. –  A jointly sponsored Bipartisan Policy Center and American Clean Skies Foundation report released today touts the unprecedented potential of American natural gas to dramatically bolster domestic supplies, reduce carbon emissions and improve national energy security. The 76 page report, entitled “Task Force On Ensuring Stable Natural Gas Markets,” was crafted through the work of a broad Task Force made up of “industry participants and experts, including industrial consumers, electric utilities, independent and integrated gas producers, chemical companies, public utility regulators, environmental experts, financial analysts and consumer advocates.”

Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), issued this statement regarding the report’s findings:

“The hard work over the past year by so many involved in this undertaking was incredibly worthwhile. Having such strong and independent voices clearly lay out the fact that the responsible development of our abundant natural gas resources is ‘a winning proposition for consumers, for America’s economy, the environment, and our nation’s energy security’ is positive news by any measure. And with so much uncertainty throughout the economy, including the global energy landscape, these findings only strengthen the fact that America’s clean-burning natural gas resources will play an increasingly critical role in meeting our future energy challenges.”

Key report excerpts:

• “The United States recently became the world’s largest natural gas producer. … Technology advances combined with new shale gas discoveries have more than tripled estimates of the nation’s economically recoverable natural gas resources. … Expanding our use of this comparatively clean–burning, domestic fuel in an efficient manner is a winning proposition for consumers, for America’s economy and industrial competitiveness, for the environment, and for our nation’s energy security.”
• “The Marcellus shale, extending from Virginia in the south to New York to the north, is the largest shale resource, conservatively estimated to be approximately 700 Tcf.”
• “Government policy at the federal, state and municipal level should encourage and facilitate the development of domestic natural gas resources.”
• “Policies that discourage the development of domestic natural gas resources” will cause “adverse effects on the stability of natural gas prices and investment decisions by energy-intensive manufacturers.”
• “The efficient use of natural gas has the potential to reduce harmful air emissions, improve energy security, and increase operating rates and levels of capital investment in energy-intensive industries.”
• “ICF International, Inc. recently estimated that almost 1,500 Tcf of shale gas can be produced at prices below $8 per million Btu (MMBtu). By comparison, annual U.S. consumption of natural gas currently totals approximately 22 Tcf.”
• “At a time when political and economic conditions have paralyzed much of the national-level energy policy debate, the fact that a group as diverse as the Task Force could reach consensus on these measures suggests that here is at least one important area—natural gas markets—where progress is well within reach.”

NOTE: Click HERE to view this study online.

Copyright: MarcellusCoalition.org

 

Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania’s oil and natural gas industry, represented by the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), American Petroleum Institute of PA (API-PA) and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association (PIOGA) issued the following joint-statement in response to news reports that a waste transportation company illegally discharged “sewer sludge and greasy restaurant slop” as well as produced water from drilling operations, “in holes, mine shafts and waterways,” across a six-county region in southwestern Pennsylvania:

“Illegal actions that threaten Pennsylvania’s environment and waterways cannot be tolerated. If found guilty of these appalling acts, those charged must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The oil and natural gas industry speaks with one voice in condemning these unthinkable acts and blatant disregard for the environment.”

NOTE: A press release from Commonwealth’s Acting Attorney General announcing these charges, ranging from 2003 and 2009, is available HERE.

 

Copyright: MarcellusCoalition.org