Marcellus Region Leading in Output per Gas Well and Total Production

Rig Count Down, Gas Output Up Marcellus Region Leading in Output per Gas Well and Total Production  From the Article by Laura Legere, State Impact – PA, October 24, 2013 Improvements in drilling efficiency and increasing productivity from new wells are driving the recent growth in oil and gas production across six key shale regions in the country, including the Marcellus. In the first of what will be a monthly report on drilling productivity, the U.S. Energy Information Administration noted this week that “new technologies for drilling and producing natural gas and oil have made traditional measures of productivity, such as a simple count of active rotary drilling rigs, obsolete.” So the agency is using different measures to record productivity, especially an estimate of how much gas or oil is produced from new wells in a month per average rig operating in the region. The estimate indicates both the time it takes to drill a well and the well’s production, the agency said. A graph captures the trend in the Marcellus: fewer rigs are drilling new wells in the shale since a peak in early 2012, but the wells they drill are producing more gas at the start. The report held surprises for energy experts who did not expect the Marcellus Shale to reach its current output of more than 12 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day this year, or even for several years.

What You Need to Know Before Signing a Mineral Owners Lease

From the Article by Jamie Stover, WBOY, 12 News, Clarksburg, WV

Natural gas development has brought hundreds of jobs and boosted the local economy in north central West Virginia, but workers and business owners aren’t the only ones who can cash in. Mineral owners are entitled to royalties for minerals extracted by natural gas producers.  For some families in W.Va., such royalties are like hitting the lottery.

“Some people on a fixed income, this could make a big difference in their lives,” said Tammy Beamer, a mineral owner in Doddridge County. It’s a seemingly solid offer, thousands of dollars and all the mineral owner really has to do is sign on the dotted line. But experts said mineral owners need to do more before they make that binding agreement.

Hydraulic Fracturing Operations could be affected by OSHA Proposed Crystalline Silica Rule

Posted by Wayne J. D'Angelo Fracking Insider  

In late August, the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a long-awaited rule that is intended to limit workers’ exposure to crystalline silica. OSHA claims that exposure to crystalline silica kills hundreds of workers and sickens thousands more each year through lung cancer, silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and kidney disease.

MarkWest Cites ‘Erosion And Run-Off’ in Fish Kill

By CASEY JUNKINS - Staff Writer , The Intelligencer

A "major landslide" caused a MarkWest Energy pipeline in Wetzel County to leak, the company said Wednesday. The leak spilled natural gas liquids into Rocky Run, leading to a fish kill.

MarkWest Energy officials said in a statement they are repairing the 10-inch, 27-mile pipeline that connects natural gas processing facilities in Marshall and Wetzel counties. "Initial indications are that the landslide originated from significant erosion and run-off from recent heavy rainfall and impacted the right-of-way," said MarkWest spokesman Robert McHale, regarding the rupture of the line that connects the company's Mobley and Majorsville sites. "No one was injured." The leak occurred last week.

A lawsuit brought over a 2010 natural gas explosion in Marshall County has been settled

By JOHN O'BRIEN

On July 30, U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey, of the Northern District of West Virginia, signed a dismissal order noting a settlement reached in the lawsuit brought by Sean and Monica Porcuri against Union Drilling, Chief Oil Gas, AB Resources and BJ Services Company.

CONE Gathering LLC has applied for a permit to construct a Compressor Station along Route 33 in Gilmer County West Virginia

On June 28, 2013, CONE Gathering LLC applied to the WV Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Air Quality (DAQ) for a permit to Construct and Operate a Natural Gas Compressor Station located US Highway 33 West, Normantown, Gilmer County, WV at latitude 38.851944 and longitude - 80.967222.

A preliminary evaluation has determined that all State and Federal air quality requirements will be met by the proposed facility. The DAQ is providing notice to the public of its preliminary determination to issue the permit as R13-3099.