Big Oil Companies Move In as Land Values are Down

June 14, 2011

Exxon Mobile, Royal Dutch Shell, and Chevron– three of the biggest six oil companies in the world– now have significant holdings in the Marcellus Shale field. Investors are moving in while land prices are down: Exxon paid only $5000 per acre in it’s most recent purchase of Phillips Resources and TWP–less than a third of what [...]

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Exxon-Mobil Expands Gas Reserves With $1.7 Billion Purchase

June 12, 2011

Exxon-Mobil, the largest U.S. natural-gas producer, paid $1.69 billion for two closely held energy explorers to gain shale-gas reserves in Pennsylvania and neighboring states.  Exxon completed the purchases of Phillips Resources Inc., based in Warrendale and TWP Inc. of Butler on June 2. The 200 employees at the two companies may be retained, it was [...]

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Ethane from Marcellus Shale to be Cracked into Ethylene by Shell Oil

June 11, 2011

Shell Oil Co. has announced plans to develop an ethane cracker making the plastic feedstock ethylene — and possibly downstream polyethylene units — at an undisclosed location in Appalachia, which includes parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. In a June 6 news release, officials with Houston-based Shell said polyethylene (PE) is “the leading option” [...]

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Ban on Horizontal Drilling and Fracking in Morgantown Passes First Reading

June 9, 2011

The City of Morgantown hereby ordains that Article 721 of its Business and Taxation Code is repealed in its entirety and replaced with a new Article 721 which reads as follows: 721.03 DRILLING PROHIBITED; PENALTIES AND ENFORCEMENT. (a) Drilling a well for the purpose of extracting or storing oil or gas using horizontal drilling and/or [...]

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Brine Water & Oil Residue Spilled into Doddridge County Stream

June 9, 2011

The Department of Environmental Protection is monitoring cleanup efforts after a spill at a Doddridge County well-site. Hall Drilling has leaked close to 30 barrels of brine water containing oil residue. The leak happened on England’s run, with the brine and residue flowing into a nearby creek.    The liquid was not frack fluid from [...]

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Other Fracking News This Week

June 3, 2011

Drilling Halted After Quakes in UK. Earthquakes suspected to be in association with drilling, hydraulic fracturing or injection of frack wastewater into Deep Injection Sites aren’t new.  See also events in Texas, Arkansas, West Virginia. Environmental groups submit proposals to Marcellus Shale Commission NY attorney general suing feds over gas drilling Energy execs: States should [...]

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“Regulatory Structure Isn’t Prepared” States WVDEP Secretary Huffman

June 3, 2011

At a public meeting held Thursday evening in Morgantown at Skyview Elementary School,  West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman faced a crowd of incensed citizens.  The approval of two drilling permits within 1500 feet of the Monongahela River, 3000 feet from a public water intake, and close to two public schools has [...]

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Morgantown City Council to Consider Proposals to Restrict Fracking

May 31, 2011

The Dominion Post, May 30, reported that on the evening of Tuesday May 31, the Morgantown City Council will consider two proposed resolutions which have spawned from concerns about protecting the city’s water supply after the WVDEP issued permits to drill gas wells very close to the city’s water intake on the Mon River. One [...]

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Democrats Press for Hearings on Fracking and on Climate Change Science; GOPs Push for Job Creation

May 31, 2011

The dichotomy between the priorities of the Republicans and the Democrats which populate the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce is readily apparent on the respective partisan committee websites at this time. In light of recent reports, the Democrats are calling for a committee hearing on the use of hydraulic fracturing in [...]

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Conference Focused on Shale Gas Criminal Law

May 30, 2011

Monday,May 30,  WDUQ (Pittsburgh) reported that last week a conference was held in State College, Pa which trained those attending in the environmental impact and law enforcement issues surrounding Marcellus shale.  ”…..(M)ore than 200 federal, state and local law enforcement officers, prosecutors and environmental officials from Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio participated in [...]

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