fracking – Page 2 – Jay's Real Estate Blog

Assembly votes to ban fracking for two years

Maryland lawmakers gave final approval Friday to a more than two-year fracking ban, marking the legislature’s most aggressive move yet to curb the controversial natural gas extraction process.

The legislation forbids drilling any wells until October 2017, and also requires the state to enact regulations next year to monitor the practice.

The plan drew accolades from opponents of hydraulic fracturing. They hope it gives them more time to build a case against the practice. But fracking supporters praised the legislation as well, saying it sets a clear timetable for when drilling could begin.

Gov. Larry Hogan has not said if he will sign the bill, which passed both chambers by veto-proof margins. The governor has said he supports fracking as a way to bring jobs to economically depressed Western Maryland as long as the process can been done safely.

Environmentalists had backed another bill that would have imposed a three-year moratorium and called for further study of the health and environmental impacts of fracking, but lawmakers instead passed a compromise that grants a shorter moratorium and forgoes another study.

Low oil prices hurt US frac sand producers as more states sour on fracking

The plunge in the price of oil has hit demand for frac sand in the US, just as many companies approach record output in the wake of the North American fracking boom. Meanwhile, fracking has come under renewed criticism in Maryland and California, while ONSOL Energy and Halliburton are seeking to improve the industry’s image with new low-emissions technology.

Low oil prices and reduced drilling in US shale exploration regions like North Dakota are pinching growth in the nation’s $4.2bn fracking grade silica sand (frac sand) industry, slashing demand and prices and forcing some frac sand producers to cut jobs.

According to a report by the Star Tribune, US sand mines, including 63 in Wisconsin and six in Minnesota, are projected to ship significantly less sand to oil drillers in 2015, compared with last year.

This pullback in deliveries comes at a time when producers including Fairmount Santrol, US Silica and Superior Silica Sands expect to set annual production records, having aggressively ramped up capacity in the last two years to meet demand from the North American fracking boom.

“This whole ripple effect has taken hold and it is going to continue,” Richard Shearer, CEO of Texas-based Superior Silica Sands, which operates mines in Wisconsin, told the Star Tribune. “There are peak cycles and trough cycles, and we have hit a trough.”

The US oil and gas sector now buys about 72% of the country’s silica sand output, which has more than doubled in the last five years, leaving the industry vulnerable to fluctuations in the price of hydrocarbons.

Maryland Senate approves fracking moratorium

The Maryland Senate approves legislation that would introduce a fracking moratorium until October 2017.

The bill, which was approved by a 45-2 vote, has been passed onto the House of Representatives.

The House sanctioned a bill last month that would introduce a three-year fracking moratorium, but that would also require investigation of the health and economic impacts of the technique.

The motion passed by the Senate does not require this measure.

Senator George Edwards of Garrett County, who voted in favour of the bill, described it as a “good first step” and noted that companies would have to wait at least two years for a fracking permit even if they applied immediately.

Md. county wants more info on fracking’s economic impact

FRIENDSVILLE, Md. — The Garrett County Commissioners say they want an objective study of the potential economic impact of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in western Maryland.

The Cumberland Times-News reports that board members expressed support for such a study Monday after hearing from some businesses near Deep Creek Lake that depend largely on tourism and second-home buyers.

More Information Here: http://bakken.com/news/id/236498/md-county-wants-more-info-on-frackings-economic-impact/

Garrett commissioners urged to undertake fracking study

FRIENDSVILLE – Elliott Perfetti, operations manager at Blue Moon Rising, an eco-friendly getaway at Deep Creek Lake, urged the Garrett County Commission on Monday to consider conducting an economic study on the impacts of fracking.

During a commission meeting held at Friendsville, Perfetti stressed that the study shouldn’t be co-opted by either those who were pro- or anti-fracking.

“It has to be a down the middle study …,” Perfetti said.

Commission chairman Paul Edwards said the county is considering such a study.

“We do need an economic study — it’s not been done specific to Garrett County,” said Edwards. “It’s going to be difficult to commission this study. I think we have to trust the people that are involved in making the decision.”

Edwards said it was going to be challenge to find someone who was in the middle on fracking.

“I think the challenge of admitting we need to do a study has been met,” said Edwards, who noted that the commissioners were trying to come up with money to fund it.

Commissioner Jim Hinebaugh said he suggested that the Garrett County Marcellus Shale Natural Advisory Group be formed. The group, which was formed last month, is charged with researching, analyzing, opining and providing updates to the commissioners on topics regarding Marcellus shale drilling.

Fracking moratorium passes Senate

The natural gas extraction method known as “fracking” would be banned in Maryland until October 2017 under legislation approved Monday night by the Maryland Senate.

By a 45-2 vote, senators sent the measure to the House, which has passed a version of the bill that environmental advocates believe is stronger. The House bill calls for a three-year moratorium and further study of the health and economic development impact of the practice. The Senate bill does not require a study.

Opponents of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, say the technique has been linked to contamination of water supplies and increased earthquake activity. The natural gas industry and its supporters insist it is safe and credit it with increasing the amount of energy produced in the United State.

Md. county wants more info on fracking's economic impact

FRIENDSVILLE, Md. (AP) – The Garrett County Commissioners say they want an objective study of the potential economic impact of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in western Maryland.

The Cumberland Times-News (http://bit.ly/1GHFEkS ) reports that board members expressed support for such a study Monday after hearing from some businesses near Deep Creek Lake that depend largely on tourism and second-home buyers.

An economic study done last year by Towson University said there is a dearth of usable data about the impact of fracking in tourist areas

For More Information Click Here: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/28739968/md-county-wants-more-info-on-frackings-economic-impact

Fracking Opponents Rally As Senate Takes Up Bill

More than 100 Western Maryland business owners and residents held a rally in Annapolis today to call on lawmakers to approve a moratorium on natural gas fracking.

The process is on hold in Garret and Allegheny Counties while Governor Larry Hogan studies regulations drafted by the O’Malley Administration.

Members of the group Citizen Shale want further study, though some want the practice banned outright.

Jess Whittemore, a town councilman in Friendsville in Garrett County, says he believes the underground natural gas drilling will contaminate the water supply, in spite of assurances from the oil and gas industry.

Fracking accidents will send tourists to the Shore

If I were to be a responsible Marylander or if I lived in western Maryland, I would think a three-year fracking moratorium would be an extremely good idea. In fact, if I lived in western Maryland and didn’t own mineral rights that made me rich, I would approve a hundred-year moratorium.

I have wondered, a little, about why, with the abundance of American oil and gas again, people think they need to start a new fracking rig right now. Seems it would be better just to relax and wait. Let the grandchildren or the great-grandchildren frack for oil after we are dead and everybody else is pumped dry. They would make real money.

Rascovar: Fracking follies at the State House

For MarylandReporter.com

Shakespeare, as usual, had it right. “Full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” That describes the squabbling in Annapolis over hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking.”

It is a phantom issue in Maryland.

Environmentalists and do-gooder legislators are panicked that fracking will mean earthquakes, tainted drinking water, dirty air, despoliation of pristine farmland and other biblical plagues. They want to bar this drilling procedure forever in Maryland.

Never mind that wide-spread fracking has been going on since 1950. In those 65 years, more than one million wells have been fracked, in which a combination of water, sand and chemicals is pumped under high pressure deep into shale formations. This fractures the rock and sends deposits of oil and/or natural gas gushing to the surface.

Low oil prices = No fracking

There’s only a tiny part of Maryland where hydraulic fracturing into the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation is viable — in far Western Maryland, i.e., portions of Garrett County and a bit of Allegany County. The number of farmers who might benefit from oil and gas royalties is very small.

Category: fracking