Tag: Utica Shale

Mountain Valley Pipeline Gets Big Push In Debt Ceiling Bill

A provision in the debt ceiling bill heading to the U.S. House of Representatives includes language that would expedite the final permits for construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

A provision in the debt ceiling bill heading to the U.S. House of Representatives, called the Fiscal Responsibility Act, includes language that would expedite the final permits for construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. 

Once it is completed, the pipeline will move natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale deposits in West Virginia to North Carolina. The 304-mile pipeline is being held up by a 3.5-mile segment where it crosses the Jefferson National Forest. 

Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., along with Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., have supported the pipeline and worked to get the permits approved. 

According to Manchin, the pipeline will put about 2,000 people to work building the pipeline, although it is unclear if those are jobs at one time or cumulative over the entire course of construction that was done in phases. 

“I’ve been told it’s about $40 million a year in tax revenues to the state of West Virginia,” Manchin said. “And about $300 million a year in revenue to the royalty owners.”

Environmental groups have opposed the pipeline, and it has faced court challenges since 2015. Manchin said the provision in the debt ceiling bill will put an end to all of that, requiring judges to dismiss any pending litigation and forcing any new lawsuits to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit. 

Earlier this year, West Virginia Coal Association President Chris Hamilton said he opposed the pipeline out of concern that it would displace coal-fired electricity generation at four power plants in North Carolina. 

“I don’t know why coal and gas are going after each other when everybody else is going after both of them,” he said. “They should join forces that show, between coal and gas, 60 percent of the energy product provided in this country comes from those two sources.” 

Federal Report Touts Appalachian Gas Storage Hub

 

A new report fedeal report finds developing ethane storage in Appalachia could provide a boost for the entire petrochemical industry.

The report, asked for by members of Congress and released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Energy, examined the feasibility of developing underground storage and distribution infrastructure for ethane, a natural gas liquid brought up during shale drilling and a key feedstock for most plastics.

 

The findings were praised by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who added that the Trump administration also supports ethane storage in the region.

 

“There is an incredible opportunity to establish an ethane storage and distribution hub in the Appalachian region and build a robust petrochemical industry in Appalachia,” he said, in a press release. “As our report shows, there is sufficient global need, and enough regional resources, to help the U.S. gain a significant share of the global petrochemical market. The Trump Administration would also support an Appalachia hub to strengthen our energy and manufacturing security by increasing our geographic production diversity.”

The Marcellus and Utica shale formations, located under West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, are ethane-rich, and the agency estimates the largest growth in natural gas liquids production is expected from this region.

 

“Ethane production in Appalachia is projected to continue its rapid growth in the coming years, reaching 640,000 barrels per day in 2025 – more than 20 times greater than regional ethane production in 2013,” the report states.

 

Developing a natural gas liquid storage “hub” is critical to growing the plastics and chemicals industries.

 

Some storage capacity is under development in the region.

Energy Storage Ventures LLC is developing the Mountaineer NGL Storage project. When completed, the project would store 2 million barrels of ethane, butane and propane in four underground salt caverns on a 200-acre site, about a mile north of Clarington, Ohio, on the Ohio River.

Another high-profile public-private natural gas liquid storage project is also in the works. The Appalachia Storage and Trading Hub cleared its first major hurdle earlier this year when it got approval for the first of two phases for a $1.9 billion U.S. Department of Energy loan.

Republican Sen. Shelly Moore Capito of West Virignia priased the report’s findings in a tweet.

“This is something I have long advocated for & something I believe could be a game-changer for #WV & our economy,” she wrote.

DOE said building underground storage and distribution in Appalachia could benefit the entire industry and offer a “competitive advantage,” in part because it would diversify where ethane is stored geographically.

Currently, the bulk of America’s petrochemical industry and 95 percent of ethane storage is located near the Gulf Coast, which makes it vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events.

The report focused largely on the economic benefits of ethane storage and did not examine the environmental costs, or factor in how increased flooding across Appalachia due to climate change might affect ethane storage or a petrochemical system.

Environmental groups say ethane storage and any petrochemical industry buildout in the region jeopardizes the region’s air and water quality and would negatively impact public health.

W.Va., Ohio, Pa. Form Agreement To Grow Shale Gas Industry

West Virginia has joined Ohio and Pennsylvania in an effort to grow the shale gas industry on a regional level. An agreement solidifying that partnership was signed Tuesday, Oct. 13, in Morgantown.

The agreement spells out four main areas that the three states will work together on to grow the natural gas industry: Marketing, workforce development, infrastructure and research.

“We have so many universities, great universities – WVU, Pitt, Carnegie Melon, Ohio State, Cleveland State – who are looking at all these different issues, doing all kinds of research on it,” Vision Shared president and CEO Cory Dennison said. “We’re going to be getting them working together and collaborating together and then taking that information and then benefiting from it.”

Vision Shared is a nonprofit that focuses on economic development in West Virginia and was one of the groups that brought leaders from the three states together.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed Tuesday’s agreement, along with Ohio Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe, during the Tri-State Shale Summit in Morgantown. The summit bills itself as bringing industry leaders together to discuss opportunities in the Marcellus and Utica shale regions.

Tomblin said you don’t often hear about the Texas or Louisiana oil and gas industries on their own, but you do hear about the Gulf Coast as a region. He said it’s time for the tri-state area to market itself in a similar way.

“I think it’s very important that we work as three states, or as a region that has the gas in common, to promote the Appalachian Basin as a good place for companies to invest in our region and to create jobs here,” Tomblin said.

That regional approach also applies to growing the natural gas industry workforce. Dennison said that when companies think about moving into a region, they look to see how many qualified workers are available nearby.

“When you put a 50-mile radius, a 100-mile radius and a 250-mile radius over most of the large cities in West Virginia and southwest Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, you’re going to be crossing state lines. So for the workforce effort, I think that’s really where we can collaborate together as three states,” he said.

The agreement says each state will pay for its own expenses in meeting their common goals and  will automatically renew every year until Dec. 31, 2018.

Watch the 2015 Tri-State Shale Summit

Watch the Tri-State Shale Summit, a collaborative effort on behalf of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia to bring together industry leaders to facilitate a discussion on the opportunities in the Marcellus and Utica shale regions.

The summit features engaging and enlightening panels and keynotes on topics such as regionalism, research and innovation, manufacturing, and workforce and education.

With a focus on cooperation and agreement, the three state governments will establish a foundation for the future of the oil and gas industry in the tri-state area, with a focus on opportunity specific to you and your company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgJeI-ShWSk

Reaction to Utica Shale Study Mixed

A study released earlier this week about the potential of the Utica Shale formation was met with praise from the Consumer Energy Alliance. But the West Virginia Sierra Club doesn’t share that enthusiasm.

 

The Utica Shale Play Book Study released on Tuesday says there may be 20 times as much recoverable gas and twice as much recoverable oil in the Utica Shale formation as was previously thought.

 

Brydon Ross was very excited to hear the news.

 

“And it’s great news, it really is. It’s fantastic news, even if it’s 50 percent right,” he said.

 

Ross is the vice president of state affairs with the Consumer Energy Alliance, a nonprofit group that bills itself as an advocate for energy consumers with ties to the energy industry.

 

“For companies and industries that are looking to invest in the Utica Shale area and all through Appalachia as well, I mean you’re talking about areas that really need the money and need the investment is right where a lot of this resource potential is, so we see this as nothing but positive,” he said.  

 

The Utica Shale runs under parts of five states, including northern West Virginia and Kentucky, eastern Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

 

Sierra Club

Not everyone agrees that looking for more fossil fuels is the way to go. Jim Kotcon deals with energy issues for the West Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club. He says the emphasis on hydro-carbon extraction is misplaced.

 

“We cannot use all of the reserves we’ve already found without very serious adverse affects from climate change. And so if we’re going to control the increase in temperature from climate change, then finding more gas won’t help us,” Kotcon said.

 

Fracking Potential

The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey in Morgantown was one of four state geological survey groups that contributed to the Utica Shale Play Book Study.

 

Michael Hohn is the Survey’s director. He said that eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania could see new hydraulic fracturing well pads developed as a result of the new Utica Shale study. But because many fracking wells can be drilled on one pad and the fact that the Utica Shale formation lies below the Marcellus Shale in West Virginia, Hohn says companies can use existing well pads to tap into the Utica.

 

“So, more wells in West Virginia, but the footprint will be similar to the Marcellus,” Hohn said.

 

But more fracking activity isn’t a good thing, according to Kotcon. He said the government isn’t doing a good enough job of regulating existing fracking operations.

 

“As a result, many of the local communities, although they benefit financially, are seeing some very significant adverse effects,” Kotcon said.

 

Hey said those effects include things like air and water pollution, increased truck traffic and the resulting damage to roads.

 

Ross disagrees. He said the fracking industry is being regulated properly.

 

“You can have economic development, energy security without harming your environment. We think this study is nothing but good news for the people of the Utica Shale area as well, who frankly need the investment and need the jobs and the money,” Ross said.

 

Either way, it appears the energy industry is quickly moving toward natural gas. SNL Financial issued a report earlier this week that shows natural gas overtook coal as the top source of U.S. electric power generation for the first time ever in April. 

Study Suggests Utica Shale Holds 20 Times More Recoverable Gas Than Previously Thought

A study released Tuesday, July 14, at a workshop in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, shows there may be 20 times more recoverable natural gas in the Utica Shale and surrounding hydrocarbon-rich formations than previously thought.

 

While a 2012 study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that 38 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be extracted from the Utica Shale reservoir using existing technology, Tuesday’s study puts that number at 782 Tcf.

 

The two-year study and ensuing report called the Utica Shale Play Book Study, was produced by the Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Consortium housed at West Virginia University’s National Research Center for Coal and Energy.

 

The consortium’s director and study co-author Doug Patchen said the revised estimate puts the Utica Shale play on par with the more explored and well-known Marcellus Shale formation.

 

“The technically recoverable resource could be very comparable. And the acreage of the Utica play physically could be a little bit bigger geographically, if it’s all drilled off, if it all proves to be productive,” Patchen said.

 

The Consortium

According to a WVU press release, the consortium’s members are the WVU National Research Center for Coal and Energy, Washington University, the Kentucky Geological Survey, the Ohio Geological Survey, the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, the U.S. Geological Survey, Smith Stratigraphic and the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory.

 

The consortium was sponsored by Anadarko, Chevron, CNX, ConocoPhillips, Devon, EnerVest, EOG Resources, EQT, Hess, NETL Strategic Center for Natural Gas and Oil, Range Resources, Seneca Resources, Shell, Southwestern Energy and Tracker Resources.

 

Patchen said the study was first released to those companies a year ago and kept confidential. It was released publicly for the first time Tuesday. 

 

The Utica Shale formation spans five states, including northern West Virginia, part of Kentucky, Pennsylvania, western Ohio and New York, and runs between 4,000 and 6,500 feet below the Marcellus Shale formation. 

 

Click here to download a full copy of the study.

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