PA Marcellus News Digest 1/31/13

PA Marcellus News Digest

January 31, 2013

Releases

DEP Announces Final Air Quality Permit for Natural Gas Operations, Proposes New Environmental Controls
Comment Period on Proposed Changes Open until March 19
DEP Newsroom
Jan 31
HARRISBURG -- The Department of Environmental Protection announced today it has finalized revisions to a general permit for natural gas-fired engines and equipment at compressor stations, which help move gas from well sites into transmission pipelines. The revised general permit includes significantly lower allowable emission limits than the previous general permit, called GP-5.
Link: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=19840&typeid=1

Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners Approves Oil/Gas Agreement In Washington County; Board Approves Oil/Gas Agreement In Lawrence County; Board Approves Surface Support Lease Extension; Board Approves Oil/Gas Lease Amendment In Greene County; Board Approves Restricted Surface Oil/Gas Agreement
Wallaby
PR Newswire
Jan 30
HARRISBURG, Pa., - The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today approved an oil and gas agreement involving State Game Land (SGL) 232 in Washington County.
Under the agreement, the Game Commission has offered its oil and gas ownership under 1,201.33 acres of SGL 232 in Donegal and Independence townships, Washington County, for non-surface use oil and gas development by a competitive royalty bid. The offering was announced for competitive royalty bid in October, with a one-time bonus/rental payment of $2,500 per acre for a one year paid up primary term agreement. The minimum royalty was set at 18 percent for all oil, gas, and condensate produced and sold from under the premises.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2013/2013013088.HTM

Articles

Gas drilling issues explored
Wyoming Seminary discussion covers topics from ‘walking’ drill rigs to safety concerns.
Times Leader
Matt Hughes
Jan 31
FORTY FORT – Much has changed in the landscape of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s natural gas drilling in the last five years, but as the old adage advises: The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Link: http://www.timesleader.com/stories/Gas-drilling-issues-explored,258018?category_id=487&town_id=1&sub_type=stories

Fracking for State Dollars
Wallaby
Pamela M. Prah
Jan 31
Could Ohio, New York or Pennsylvania be the next North Dakota and “frack” its way to budget surpluses?
The United States is on track by 2020 to become the world’s largest oil producer and a net exporter of natural gas, a reversal of fortunes with huge consequences for many state budgets. But it depends on what kinds of taxes the states want to impose.  States as varied as Pennsylvania and Louisiana have already lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars from the energy boom because of their tax policies, while Texas and North Dakota continue to cash in.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2013/2013013185.HTM

Game commission OKs drilling underneath game lands near school
Times Online
J.D. Prose
Jan 29
The Pennsylvania Game Commission board Tuesday approved a Texas company’s bid to extract oil and natural gas from state game lands in Lawrence County two days after it received a petition bearing nearly 5,000 signatures opposing the move.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/game-commission-oks-drilling-underneath-game-lands-near-school/article_b21a849c-87b3-5613-83b4-872ac5d03068.html

Corbett: Shell tax breaks a way to expand manufacturing in state
Pitt Trib
Timothy Puko
Jan 30
Gov. Tom Corbett came Downtown to talk to the natural gas industry about sparking a new industrial revolution in the state.
Link: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3379253-74/gas-corbett-build#axzz2JEjcjHNT

Poll: Voter Concern About Fracking/Drilling In PA Far Down (a very long ) List
PA Environment Daily
Blog
Jan 30
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found concerns about fracking and drilling were far down the list of issues that worry Pennsylvania voters.  Just 2 percent thought it was the most important issue facing the state.  Just 1 percent felt energy and gasoline prices were a concern.
Link: http://paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com/2013/01/poll-voter-concern-about.html

Corbett: Shell not considering other sites for Beaver County ethane cracker
Post-Gazette
Erich Schwartzel
Jan 30
Royal Dutch Shell is not scouting other states for sites to put the massive petrochemical plant that it has delayed building in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett said Wednesday.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/corbett-shell-not-considering-other-sites-for-beaver-county-ethane-cracker-672617/

West Vincent formalizes opposition to proposed gas pipeline
The Mercury
Sara Mosqueda-Fernandez
Jan 30
WEST VINCENT — The township supervisors voted unanimously to oppose the recent Commonwealth Pipeline LLC application to install a natural gas pipeline in the township and other neighboring municipalities.
Link: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130130/NEWS01/130129286/west-vincent-formalizes-opposition-to-proposed-gas-pipeline

Gas company sues township over permit delays in Washington County
Pitt Trib
Timothy Puko
Jan 29
Range Resources Corp. is taking Robinson, Washington County, to court to win approval for two gas well sites.
Link: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3385796-74/company-gas-township#axzz2JUDyQsET

Good start for DePasquale
Times-Tribune
Jan 30
The state auditor general can't answer one of the most fundamental and vexing questions resulting from the natural gas boom - whether deep drilling and fracking has had a long-term negative impact on water quality.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/good-start-for-depasquale-1.1436773

McClendon Steps Down From Chesapeake Energy
NPR State Impact
Scott Detrow
Jan 30
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/01/30/mcclendon-steps-down-from-chesapeake-energy/

Corbett to gas industry: Pennsylvania won't trade health for wealth
SNL
Bryan Schutt
Jan 31
(full text below)

Despite a rollback in activity as gas prices reduce the Marcellus rig count, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett sees a great future ahead for the Marcellus and Utica shale industries as long as companies are willing to partner with government.

"What Marcellus began, Utica will sustain," Corbett said in a Jan. 30 speech at Hart Energy's Marcellus-Utica Midstream conference in Pittsburgh. "We don't want just the rigs on our land; I want to see the headquarters being built here in Pennsylvania."

To create an attractive investment environment, Corbett spoke of bringing stability and certainty to state regulations. Just as his administration requires drillers to follow the rules, Corbett said the government will follow the rules as well.

"We choose to partner with the industry," Corbett said. "Now, when I say partner, we're not going to roll over or anything like that. What we are going to do is buy in, we're going to join with you."

As part of that commitment, Corbett said his administration has set up environmental regulations to prevent pollution, not to create revenue. And the revenue that is generated from programs like the state's impact fee is used to rejuvenate the communities hosting industry operations. Corbett acknowledged that progress comes with costs, but he said the state has no plans to pass those costs onto the next generation.

"It's true you don't see as many smokestacks here, but the fires of progress that we have here are burning brighter than ever. Our new industrial revolution has learned from the old one," he said. "This revolution has ignited a new commitment to doing things the right way, to guaranteeing that we are not trading health for wealth."

While the state has been working to ensure the long-term safety of the environment, Corbett said it was unwilling to sacrifice industry growth. His message could be interpreted as a shot at New York, where Marcellus drilling continues to be held hostage to pending regulations.

"Government is responsible, and should be, for guaranteeing the safety of our water, the purity of our air, and the integrity of our land," Corbett said. "But that has to mean making change in an orderly way. Not freezing the world in place at the expense of the people who live in it, not living a decade or century ago."

Corbett said he views the gas industry as more than a one-time proposition, where companies come, drill and leave. He said the abundant gas production should be leveraged toward inexpensive energy for new projects across the state.

To that extent, Corbett said his administration offered "creative tax incentives" to Shell to make the ethane cracker proposed in the western portion of the state a reality. Corbett said the idea was simple: if a company wants tax breaks, they will have to process Pennsylvania gas in Pennsylvania.

"I remain committed to bringing Shell's ethane cracker plant to Beaver County in the midst of our wet gas fields," he said. "That project, if built, will mean an investment here of $4 billion to $6 billion in one our most depressed areas that was the site of the steel industry."

The cracker would be a major step toward ensuring industry activity continues beyond the well development stage. And although the energy sector is worth building around, the state cannot "count on gas and oil to take care of us forever," Corbett said. "We need to constantly be drilling, not just for minerals, but for new ideas."

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