Category:marcellus shale
>Local Citizens Form New Group To Educate Public About Gas Drilling
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Jul. 7, 2011
A group of Garrett County property owners announced this week they have formed an organization to provide public information about concerns related to natural gas drilling. The group, called CitizenShale.org (CSO), will hold two high-profile education events next week.
The organization’s executive committee is currently taking shape, and anyone wanting an active role is encouraged by organizers to get involved.
“People in Garrett County – landowners, renters, business owners – need to be informed,” said Eric Robison, CSO’s director of educational outreach. “CitizenShale hopes to play an active role in that education and seeks members of the community to help us develop a broad consensus for involvement.”
Robison, a candidate for Garrett County commissioner last fall who campaigned for enhanced local control of industrial Marcellus shale drilling, said the local citizens who formed CitizenShale have been involved in the public debate about industrial drilling since a Texas corporation, Chief Oil & Gas, announced it wanted to drill four wells in the county last November.
“Large corporations from outside Garrett County and Maryland do not have our community’s best interest at heart,” said Robison. “With that in mind, several residents have questioned state and county officials to see what should be done. We found a void that needed to be addressed.”
Chief Oil announced in May that it had sold all of its leased holdings in Garrett County, amounting to several thousand acres, to California-based Chevron. Although the purchase price has not been disclosed, national media reports have put the price at about $10,000 per acre, on 288,000 total acres in three states, including the Maryland holdings.
A survey of Chief Oil’s leases in Garrett County shows a typical price paid for shale gas leases first bought in 2006 and 2007 was $5 to $7 per acre. Some of those five-year leases began expiring earlier this year. Approximately 110,000 acres in Garrett County, plus several thousand in Allegany County, are leased. More than a dozen companies, all from outside Maryland, own the leases.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Enerplus Closes Sale of Marcellus Acreage
>CALGARY, June 28, 2011 /CNW/ – Enerplus Corporation (“Enerplus”) (TSX: ERF) (NYSE: ERF) is pleased to advise that we have closed the previously announced sale of a portion of our Marcellus natural gas interests in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland and are in receipt of proceeds of approximately US$580 million. The sale is subject to ordinary course post-closing adjustments and consents. Proceeds from the sale will be used to repay our current outstanding bank debt resulting in our entire $1 billion credit facility being undrawn and available to support our growth strategies.
Following this transaction, Enerplus has retained approximately 110,000 net acres of Marcellus land comprised of 45,000 net acres with an average 20% non-operated working interest in the prolific northeast area of Pennsylvania in Bradford, Susquehanna, Lycoming, Columbia, Tioga, Wyoming and Sullivan counties and 65,000 net acres with an average 90% operated working interest in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, Garrett County, Maryland and Preston County, West Virginia. The leases have been evaluated by an independent third party and determined to contain a best estimate of 2.3 Tcfe of natural gas contingent resource and 92 Bcfe of proved plus probable natural gas reserves as of December 31, 2010.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Editorial: Proceed carefully on fracking
>Posted: 5:06 pm Thu, June 9, 2011
By Daily Record Staff
Gov. Martin O’Malley made the right call this week in commissioning an in-depth study of drilling for natural gas in Western Maryland’s portion of the Marcellus Shale.
Such drilling would require the use of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” — a process that pumps millions of gallons of water, chemicals and sand underground at extremely high pressure to break through shale formations and release the natural gas beneath.
This is the ultimate high-risk, high-reward endeavor. That’s why the governor’s approach — a three-layer analysis that could take as long as three years — makes good sense.
Fracking is already underway in Pennsylvania, which lies atop a vast expanse of the Marcellus Shale, a geological formation underneath much of the northeastern United States believed to contain large amounts of natural gas. Estimates range as high as $2 trillion worth of economic activity that could be generated in Pennsylvania by the fracking boom there.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Governor’s order a shale setback, local legislators say
>Matthew Bieniek
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Wed Jun 08, 2011, 11:26 PM EDT
— CUMBERLAND — Gov. Martin O’Malley’s executive order on studying drilling for Marcellus Shale is a setback for natural gas exploration in Western Maryland, say the two legislators who represent the only region in the state where Marcellus Shale harbors trapped natural gas.
“If we were a country they’d be begging us to produce energy,” said Sen. George Edwards. “It’s disheartening really, this executive order is stretching this thing out longer than either bill we considered during the session,” Edwards said.
When a bill requiring a study of drilling supported by the governor failed to get through the legislature, the governor must have “decided to take matters into his own hands,” said Delegate Wendell Beitzel.
The order, signed Monday, will create a task force to study the impact of drilling for natural gas in Western Maryland and how to tax that drilling and liability for damage caused by gas exploration and production. The state Department of the Environment and the Department of Natural Resources will do the study.
The governor’s office said the study will have three parts. The task force will present recommendations by the end of the year on legislation to tax drilling and establish liability standards. Recommendations on best practices for natural gas exploration and production are to be delivered by Aug. 1, 2012, and a final report including environmental impacts of drilling is to be issued by Aug. 1, 2014.
“It’s denying the local people the ability to create revenue,” Edwards said. Marcellus Shale has been discussed for 17 months already, now the governor wants to add three more years to that discussion-that’s five years, Edwards said.
“We’ve just put a sign up at the border saying ‘Gas companies not welcome in Maryland,’” Beitzel said. Beitzel said since he lives in and represents the Marcellus-rich area of Western Maryland, he has no wish to “see things messed up.”
“It’s our culture and it’s our water,” he said.
Both he and Edwards said what they want is jobs and revenue. Beitzel thought it telling that figuring out how the state can get tax money from natural gas production was a major purpose of the study.
The main interest of the state is finding ways to bring in revenue from something produced in Western Maryland, Beitzel said.
“What you have to look at is we need energy,” Beitzel said.
At a recent conference in Pennsylvania, a former official told those gathered that he was tired of people saying Pennsylvania wasn’t “doing it right” but then using the gas coming out of Pennsylvania at much lower prices than importing it from a distance.
The federal Department of Energy has a task force to examine natural gas drilling and fracking in shale and is expected to complete its work in 90 days.
“Why will it take us five years?” Edwards asked. “Companies that use natural gas to create other products are looking to build factories. They’re not going to look at Maryland,” Edwards said. “Everyone wants it done right.”
Edwards said Maryland mines successfully and has stricter laws than West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The other states are already drilling and learning from their experiences. There’s no reason Maryland has to reinvent the wheel, he said. Energy independence is a national security issue and “this little piece can be helpful” in making the U.S. energy independent, he said.
Marcellus Shale formations throughout the Eastern United States harbor large untapped natural gas resources. The total value of the natural gas in Allegany County’s Marcellus Shale could be close to $15.72 billion, with the average well earning $65,000 to $524,000 yearly, University of Maryland Extension staff has said.
“It appears that due to the order, nothing is going to happen until 2014,” Beitzel said.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
http://times-news.com/local/x300517779/Governor-s-order-a-shale-setback-local-legislators-say
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>O'Malley study to further delay shale-gas drilling
>ANNAPOLIS, MD, (June 6, 2011) – Governor Martin O’Malley today signed an Executive Order (Order) establishing the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative. The Order requires the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), in consultation with an advisory commission made up of a broad array of stakeholders, to undertake a study of drilling for natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in Western Maryland. “While we are mindful of the potential economic and energy benefits that could arise from the
production of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale reserves in Maryland, we are also very concerned about an array of issues that have been raised regarding the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract this fuel,” said Governor O’Malley. “Our decisions must be guided by scientific knowledge about the effects of this type of drilling to ensure that we protect public safety and health, groundwater, surface water, and the rural lifestyle and natural resources in Maryland.” Under the Executive Order, the study will be conducted in three parts: • A presentation of findings and related recommendations regarding the desirability of legislation to establish revenue sources, such as a State-level severance tax, and the desirability of legislation to establish standards of liability for damages caused by gas exploration and production. These findings and recommendations will be made by December 31, 2011. • Recommendations for best practices for all aspects of natural gas exploration and production in the Marcellus Shale in Maryland by August 1, 2012. • A final report which will include findings and recommendations relating to the impact of Marcellus Shale drilling including possible contamination of groundwater, handling and disposal of wastewater, environmental impacts, impacts to forests and important habitats, greenhouse gas emissions and economic impact. This report will be issued no later than August 1, 2014. The Study will also include a review of available results from studies on the issue being done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Department of Energy, the State of New York, and the Delaware River Basin Commission, among others. Membership in the advisory committee is designed to ensure that the study includes individuals from the drilling industry, Western Maryland where Marcellus Shale reserves are located and members of the environmental community. The advisory commission will include: an expert on geology or natural gas production from a college or university; a private citizen from Western Maryland; representatives from the gas industry and an environmental organization; and representatives from Western Maryland local governments and business. “I applaud the Governor and his administration for taking this step toward insuring that any drilling in Marcellus Shale or the use of ‘fracking’ techniques in Maryland will be safe for our citizens,” said Maggie McIntosh, Chair of the MD House of Delegates’ Environmental Matters Committee. “While I acknowledge that the extraction of natural gas is important to our state and country, we must also understand that oil and gas activities, including hydro-fracking, are exempt from many federal environmental laws. Experiences in nearby states have demonstrated that the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources and the legislature must set standards to protect our drinking water, land and air when drilling in Marcellus Shale.” “Fortunately, Maryland is taking the time to ensure drilling occurs only after proper safeguards are in place. Given that our drinking water and other natural resources are at risk, and given Pennsylvania’s checkered experience with fracking, we applaud the Governor for his leadership on this issue. Maryland has the opportunity to get it right,” said Kim Coble, MD Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The Marcellus Shale is a geological formation that underlies a large area of the northeastern United States, including portions of Western Maryland. It is believed to contain significant amounts of natural gas, which when burned to produce electricity produces lower greenhouse gas emissions than oil and coal. The production of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale involves deep wells with long horizontal sections and a process known as hydraulic fracturing. Advances in technology have helped spur a dramatic increase in the use of this process in the United States. Exploration for and production of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in nearby states have resulted in injuries, well blowouts, releases of fracturing fluids and methane, spills, fires, forest fragmentation, road damage, and evidence of contamination to groundwater and surface water. Other states have revised or are reevaluating their regulatory programs for gas production or assessing the environmental impacts of gas development from the Marcellus Shale. State law allows MDE to specify conditions that the Department deems reasonable and appropriate in a permit to ensure that an operation fully complies with the law and to provide for public safety and the protection of the State’s natural resources. Maryland law requires that the proposed activity be subjected to a formal public review and comment process prior to any permit decision.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Enerplus selling portion of shale gas interests
>By Carolyn King
Enerplus Corp. expects to record a significant gain on the $575 million sale of a portion of its Marcellus natural gas interests in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia.
But the Calgary-based oil and gas producer will retain a “concentrated, meaningful position” in the shale play, which it said will enhance its ability to control the pace and level of capital spending going forward.
The buyers of the primarily non-operated portion being sold weren’t identified. The sold interests include about 91,000 net acres in southwest and central Pennsylvania, Garrett County in Maryland and northern West Virginia. Current output is about 5.4 million cubic feet equivalent a day.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Upcoming Marcellus Shale events
>MSNG Advisory Committee Meeting
April 26, 2011, 4:30 PM Garrett County Hesalth Dept. 1st floor meeting room
Marcellus Shale Farm Walk
May 7, 2011, 12:00 noon
Clark Farm, 11257 Mason Dixon Hwy, Burton, WV
To RSVP Contact the WVU-Monongalia County Extension Service at 304-291-7201
Fundamentals of Natural Gas Exploration and Leasing
May 10, 2011, 6:30 pm
Agricultural Science South, Room 1021, WVU Evansdale Campus, Morgantown, WV
Learn more at http://anr.ext.wvu.edu/oil_gas
Marcellus Shale Webinar – Agricultural Potential Impacts
May 11, 2011, 1:00 – 3:30 pm
This webinar will focus on the potential impacts on agriculture from Marcellus drilling and how they can be mitigated . George Frantz from Cornell University, Ken Smith from Cornell Cooperative Extension in Chenango County, and Judy Wright from the American Farmland Trust will present.
More information can be obtained from the county’s web site at http://marcellusshale.garrettcounty.org/
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Cardin Pushes For Oversight Of Gas Fracking
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Apr. 14, 2011
by Laura E. Lee
Capital News Service
WASHINGTON – Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., on Tuesday called for a change to federal law to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
Cardin, chairman of the Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, held a hearing on Capitol Hill to examine the advantages and challenges of fracking.
“We want to be able to tap into the natural gas reserves of this nation,” Cardin said, “and we want to do it in a safe and environmentally sound manner.”
Gas companies could use the hydraulic fracturing process to extract natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation, which runs under Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, West Virginia, and western Maryland.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Fracking bill deep-sixed
>An update on an earlier post – the bill calling for a two-year study of natural gas drilling in western Maryland’s Marcellus shale deposits is dead.
Drew Cobbs, a lobbyist for the natural gas industry, said he was informed recently that the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee has given up on trying to forge a consensus on the bill, HB852/SB634. A committee staffer confirmed it.
Cobbs, director of the Maryland Petroleum Council, said what killed the bill was the O’Malley administration’s insistence on limiting the ability of state regulators to approve natural gas wells after the first year of the study.
Talks between the gas industry, legislative leaders and the administration had yielded a tentative agreement to ban any drilling using hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” for the first year of the study.
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
>Marcellus Shale Lecture Series To Continue April 7
>Mar. 31, 2011
The University of Maryland’s Extension’s lecture series on Marcellus shale education will continue at the Eastern Garrett County Fire Department, Finzel, on Thursday, April 7, at 7 p.m. The topic will be safety policies implemented by the industry since drilling began in 2007 in Pennsylvania.
Since last fall, the University of Maryland Extension has provided educational programs related to natural gas extraction from the Marcellus shale to citizens of Garrett and Allegany counties. With the potential passage of Maryland’s Safe Drilling Act, Marcellus shale drilling may be delayed until an interagency study concludes that adequate regulations are in place to minimize potential adverse environmental and socioeconomic impacts.
“University of Maryland Extension (UME) plans to continue offering educational forums throughout this regulatory development process,” noted Dr. Jennifer Bentlejewski, area extension director. “UME plans to continue to compile and share research related to drilling so that citizens of western Maryland may make informed decisions about their natural resources in an environmentally responsible manner.”
Drilling is currently taking place in neighboring West Virginia and Pennsylvania, with several Garrett County businesses being affected. These businesses include local motels and restaurants and excavating and engineering firms. Job opportunities created by this industry are increasing, according to Bentlejewski.
“In fact, we just lost our Marcellus shale program assistant Mikal Zimmerman to the industry,” noted Bentlejewski She has been a great asset to our outreach program over the last several months, and we wish her the best in her new career.” Zimmerman resigned her position at UME effective April 8 to take a public relations position in the industry.
“Our plan is to hire a qualified individual for this position as soon as possible so that programming can continue. We have already reached more than 500 residents, but the need for additional education still exists,” said Bentlejewski. “The slower pace enables us to work with Garrett County government and concerned citizens to identify specific needs then develop and implement long-term educational goals to meet those needs.”
If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.
