Tag: natural gas

Marcellus Shale Production Hits New High

Federal energy experts say Marcellus Shale natural gas production has hit an all-time high.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that production from West Virginia and Pennsylvania totaled about 15 billion cubic feet per day in July. That’s more than seven times the 2010 production.

The Marcellus Shale generally lies about a mile or more underground, and is the most productive natural gas field in the U.S. At current rates the total yearly production is the energy equivalent of about 800 million barrels of oil.

The EIA says it expects Marcellus production will continue to grow.

EPA Seeks Comment on Fracking Chemicals Disclosure

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public comment on ways to disclose information about the chemicals used in the oil and gas drilling process known as fracking.

The EPA says in a Friday release that it is also seeking input on incentives and programs that could help develop safer fracking chemicals.

The 90-day comment period is an advanced notice of proposed new rules, but is no guarantee that the regulations will become law. The EPA could also propose voluntary steps for energy companies to take. During the fracking process water, sand and chemicals are injected into such deep underground formations to free oil or gas.

The gas rich Marcellus Shale lies under large parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and New York. 

New Gas Processing Facilities Slated for Construction

  

MarkWest Energy Partners says it will expand two cryogenic gas processing complexes in West Virginia.

Denver-based MarkWest says in a news release that it plans to construct two new natural gas processing plants, one at the Sherwood complex in Doddridge County and one at the Mobley complex in Wetzel County.

The Sherwood complex’s new plant will have a processing capacity of 200 million cubic feet per day. It will increase the complex’s total production capacity to more than 1 billion cubic feet.

The new plant at the Mobley complex also will have a processing capacity of 200 million cubic feet per day. It will increase the complex’s total production capacity to 920 million cubic feet.

Both plants are expected to begin operations in 2015.

MarkWest announced the expansions Tuesday. They announced the completion of long-term, fee-based agreements with Antero Resources for the development of an additional cryogenic gas processing plant at the Partnership’s Sherwood complex in Doddridge County in late 2013.

 

　

 

Energy Corporation of America Won't Pursue UIC Project In Preston Co.

Energy Corporation of America says they won’t be planning to put an underground injection well in Preston County, following months of investigation into the project by the company.

ECA was looking to turn an old natural gas well near Masontown into a Class II Underground Injection Well. That would have essentially taken water from hydraulic fracturing processes and injected it in the ground there.
“In the end, our exploration simply concluded this well is not a good candidate for conversion to a Class II injection well at this time,” said ECA spokewoman Jennifer Viewig.

The proposal was met with criticism from the Friends of Decker’s Creek watershed organization. The Friends of Deckers Creek said the proposal would have done harm to the watershed.

ECA spent nearly a year in the investigation stage.

Antero to Supply Proposed W.Va. Cracker Plant

Antero Resources says it will be the anchor ethane supplier for a proposed cracker plant in West Virginia.
 
Antero announced an agreement on Wednesday to provide 30,000 barrels of ethane a day to the plant, if it’s built.
 
Brazilian petrochemical giant Odebrecht is exploring the possibility of building the ethane cracker and three polyethylene plants in Wood County. The complex would be known as Ascent, which stands for Appalachian Shale Cracker Enterprise.
 
Antero says in a news release that Ascent would use the ethane it supplies to manufacture polyethylene.
 
Odebrecht would lead the project’s investment and financing, along with water and electric utility operations. Plastics maker Braskem S.A. of Brazil would handle petrochemical-related activities.
 
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says the Antero agreement is a major step forward for the project.
 
 

Report: W.Va. Taxes Natural Gas Drilling Four Times as Much as Pa.

A new report from a nonpartisan office of the Pennsylvania Legislature says its state’s taxes on the natural gas drilling boom are among the lowest in the nation.

The figures released Thursday by the Independent Fiscal Office found that Pennsylvania is the only state with significant production that doesn’t impose a severance tax based on the volume of gas produced.

 
The report found that a Pennsylvania well that began producing in 2014 will be taxed at an effective tax rate of no more than 1.6 percent, and perhaps less than half of that.

By comparison, a similar well in West Virginia will be taxed at over seven percent.

 
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, says the analysis is flawed because it doesn’t include other factors, such as corporate taxes.

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