Oil Majors Moving Into Natural Gas

ExxonMobil has released it's annual energy forecast and predicts that natural gas will overtake coal as the second-most consumed fuel in the world by the year 2030. Due to (1) future oil shortages and (2) the environmentally unfriendly nature of coal, many of the largest, most successful, oil majors appear to agree with ExxonMobil and are positioning themselves to profit from the expected increased demand for natural gas.

Everywhere But New York

As the demand for 'fracking' continues to grow, oilfield services companies like Baker Hughes, Haliburton, and Schlumberger are struggling to keep up with the demand. Baker Hughes reportedly earned $335 million in the 4th quarter of 2010, a sharp rise compared to the $85 million they earned for the same period in 2009. This heightened demand for fracking is not just in the U.S. either. It's spreading internationally as more and more countries all over the world hope that their own shale formations will offer them the promise of a home-grown energy supply.

West Virginia's Marcellus Boom

Pennsylvania's not the only state that's benefitting from the Marcellus Shale. According to a study by West Virginia University's 'Bureau of Business and Economic Research', drilling operations helped pump $2.3 billion into West Viginia's economy in 2009. The report generated by the group also states that Marcellus activity helped generate 7,600 jobs, $298 million in worker pay benefits, and $14.5 million in tax revenues.

Hello? ...... Mr. Cuomo? .......

Governor Paterson Does The Right Thing

Congratulations to Governor David Paterson for vetoing the misguided anti-drilling legislation. It was clearly the right thing to do. By doing so, the Governor has saved the operations of over 300 companies who have been operating safely in New York for decades. Had the legislation been approved, 5000 existing jobs would have disappeared. This is the 'vision' that the down-staters and anti-drillers would bestow upon the working people of New York ... lose more jobs, reduce the tax rolls, and put even more people on unemployment! All because they want to subject the natural gas industry to standards that other industries don't have to adhere to. The anti-drilling crowd wants a 100% guarantee that there will never be any sort of pollution caused by the production of natural gas. Well, if you held other industries to the same standards, you would not have any industry at all.

Rep-elect Reed Seeks Marcellus Caucus

According to buffalonews.com, newly elected Representative Tom Reed, R-Corning, "plans to pull together like-minded members of Congress to push for fuller development of the natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale." Reed was quoted as saying, "I am a promoter of developing the Marcellus Shale. I believe we can do it responsibly. Now is the time to move forward."

NY State Politicians Show Their Ignorance

Both the state Senate and Assembly have now passed a temporary moratorium on natural gas drilling. We now wait on Governor David Paterson to decide if he'll sign the legislation. The backers of this legislation have shown through their actions that they are either a) ignorant to the facts involving gas drilling or b) just plain stupid. This bill affects not only future exploration that could add thousands of NEW jobs, but it will affect existing exploration & production that could kill hundreds of EXISTING jobs.

We're not excusing or condoning any action akin to natural gas production that contaminates our earth, air, and water. We simply want to move FORWARD safely (it can and is being done) and in a reasonable time frame. This issue has been 'on our doorstep' for almost THREE YEARS and these clowns are just now deciding to put things on hold so we can 'study' the situation. Why do we even have a Department of Environmental Conservation if politicians don't accept their input? Should we just fire all of the DEC employees? No, in this case 'study' means avoiding a vote that might upset some constituents. As with our state deficit and, in typical political fashion, they're just 'kicking it down the road'.

Chesapeake Opens Training Center in Athens, PA

Chesapeake Energy recently opened it's 7 million dollar Training and Housing Facility in Athens Township. It will provide a convenient housing option for drill rig workers as well as state-of-the-art training for local job seekers. A large number of local contractors benefitted from the construction of the 11 building complex.

Gas Demand Slowly Rising

While demand for natural gas dropped off in 2009, it's slowly making a comeback. This is good news. The EIA is projecting that US consumption will increase 4.5% in 2010 with industrial consumption estimated to be up 7.5%. A continually improving economy will create even more demand, thereby helping to 1) reduce the current glut 2) raise the price of gas and 3) get oil & gas companies moving again. Then, all we'll need are state government officials who understand that, when you're 10 billion dollars in debt, you shouldn't be shutting down a developing new industry that could add a billion dollars a year in tax receipts.

Fear Mongers at Work in Pennsylvania

Despite there never being a documented case of hydro-fracking ever contaminating a drinking water supply, a Pittsburgh politician is trying to swell the ranks of the uninformed anti-drilling community and attempting to ban shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania. Generating fear is a great tool of professional politicians and, if 'played' properly, can help get them elected into office or help them stay in office.

One can't help but wonder why these same politicians aren't outraged and demanding legislation to stop the transportation of all petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, heating oil, crude oil). The amount of fresh water contamination due to accidents involving these products absolutely dwarfs any contamination that has ocurred as a result of natural gas drilling. But then, that might mean they would have to ride a bicycle to their next fund raiser ... held in an unheated room.

Marcellus Is The Place To Be

Below is an excerpt from a recent article on Forbes.com written by Christopher Helman.


"Engineers at Range Resources discovered the Marcellus gas in 2004, giving Range a two-year head start in scooping up 1.3 million acres of leases. Marcellus' choice spots, 6,000 feet underground, hold 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 20 years of current U.S. demand. "Because the Marcellus is cheap to develop and so close to market, it will make other plays in the South and Midwest uneconomic," says Russell Braziel at gas market forecaster Bentek. "If you want to be in the gas business, you'll have to be in the Marcellus."