It appears that what's been happening in Ohio's shale was the major fracking news this week, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration decided it was important enough to include the Utica in their monthly productivity report, along with the better known fracked up areas such as the Bakken, the Marcellus, and the Eagle Ford; this in turn generated a lot of national coverage on eastern Ohio, especially on industry sites, calling the Utica the fastest growing gas producing area in the US, noting a ten-fold increase in production over 2 years as the ODNR reports that we've just fracked our thousandth well the past week, and the American Petroleum Institute claims that those 1,000 wells are just the beginning of what we'll see in the future...
In other news, despite the economic sanctions imposed by the US and its NATO allies against Russia and the Russian embargo of everything, including food, from the US due to the ongoing civil war in the Ukraine, which has the US moving troops & military hardware all over eastern Europe, Exxon began drilling a $700 million well in the Russian Arctic in partnership with Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned oil company on Saturday in clear defiance of the government's economic sanctions, and a report issued by the Environmental Integrity Project found that at least 33 fracking companies in 12 states were illegally using diesel fuel as a component of their fracking fluids, a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act..
We'll start with a few local stories...first, Gates Mills' profracking Council and mayor are trying to keep a fracking ban off the ballot, and then there's a Youngstown Vindicator editorial calling just such a ballot issue in their area "litter":
Gates Mills residents argue with law director, council over anti-fracking bill of rights — Gates Mills Village Council refused on Tuesday to consider residents' petition for a bill of rights to ban additional fracking in the village. Residents formed the Citizens for the Preservation of Gates Mills when Mayor Shawn Riley announced his plans for villagers to pool their land to prepare for gas wells in the village. The group has gathered more than 130 signatures to have a bill of rights placed on the November ballot that would outlaw all new wells in the village. Council was supposed to vote on Tuesday whether to submit the issue to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. Council has until Sept. 6 to do it, but members "need more time to review the issue," Councilman Will Barnes said, refusing to comment further. On Friday, Law Director Margaret Cannon told petitioners they do not have enough valid signatures. She said 10 percent of the total 1,976 registered voters have to sign the petition and that adding more signatures isn't an option since the group has already filed the petition with the board of elections.The group's lawyer, though, argues that they needed 10 percent of the total voters in the last general election.
Anti-fracking charter issue will litter city ballot — again - Youngstown Vindicator -- Given that Utica shale exploration is virtually nonexistent in Mahoning County, what purpose does the pretentious Community Bill of Rights proposed amendment to the Youngstown charter serve? The proposed charter amendment to ban hydraulic fracturing was unenforceable when it was written, it would have been unenforceable had the voters approved it over the past 15 months, and it will be unenforceable if, by some outside chance, it passes in November. As we’ve argued ad nauseam, the amendment will not give Youngstown city government any of the rights detailed in the 1,300-word tome. On the key issue of hydraulic fracturing — fracking in common parlance — the Ohio General Assembly years ago gave the state Department of Natural Resources sole authority to oversee the process used to extract oil and gas from shale formations deep beneath the earth’s surface. The Ohio Constitution, which supersedes the Youngstown Home Rule Charter, gives the Legislature the authority to act on issues of statewide importance. That authority has been upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court. The Community Bill of Rights would place the city of Youngstown outside the reach of both the Ohio Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.It should also be pointed out that every time the charter amendment issue is on the ballot, it costs money (public dollars). And yet, individuals who claim to be so concerned about the welfare of Youngstown residents have no qualms about taking money out of the public treasury in pursuit of an issue they concede will end up in the courts. If the amendment is adopted in November, city government will be required to enforce it. And the first time it attempts to do that, there will be a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Community Bill of Rights. And that means a further drain of the public treasury. As we’ve said before, “Enough’s enough.”
Ohio's Utica Region now included in EIA's monthly Drilling Productivity Report - Today in Energy - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) -- The Utica Region in eastern Ohio, one of the fastest growing natural gas production areas in the United States, has been added to the Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). Total natural gas production in the Utica Region, which includes production from the Utica and Point Pleasant formations as well as legacy production from conventional reservoirs, has increased from 155 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) in January 2012 to an estimated 1.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in September 2014. Utica formation drilling activity has been primarily focused in eastern Ohio since mid-2012, although the geologic formation extends into Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Some producers are successfully targeting the Utica formation in northern West Virginia, but these wells fall within the existing DPR Marcellus Region. The DPR analyzes all drilling and production within geographic areas in order to capture total production volumes supplied to the market and is not limited to the formation name used for the region.
ODNR data: Ohio’s Utica shale play home to 1,004 drilled horizontal wells - Looks Like We Made It could be the song du jour Tuesday, when Ohio recorded its 1,000th horizontal well drilled into the ground. To be precise, it was well No. 1,004, according to data from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The Utica play is approaching another milestone, too, with 1,431 drilling permits, just 69 shy of 1,500. Well No. 1,000 is a nice round number, but it’s notable nonetheless for an area that the federal Energy Information Administration recently called “one of the fastest-growing natural gas production areas in the United States.” The state recorded seven new drilled wells since last week, when the Utica field in Ohio was three short of No. 1,000.
Ohio Shale Production Up Ten Fold Since 2012 » WOSU News: A new federal report says that natural gas production in Ohio’s Utica Shale region is growing rapidly. The report issued Monday found that production from the Utica region in eastern Ohio increased by more than 10 times over the last two years, from 115 million cubic feet per day in 2012 to an estimated 1.3 billion cubic feet per day by September 2014. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says the Utica is one of the fastest growing natural gas production areas in the United States. Utica oil production has also increased to about 40,000 barrels per day. But the Utica production numbers are still far smaller than leading regions such as the Marcellus in Pennsylvania, the Bakken in North Dakota, or the Eagle Ford in Texas.
Second natural gas pipeline planned to cross Stark - The CantonRep - A second interstate pipeline is being planned to ship natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus shale regions across Stark County. Energy Transfer’s planned Rover Pipeline would carry up to 3.25 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to the project website. The main pipeline would leave the gas-processing plant in Leesville, cut across the northeastern edge of Tuscarawas County, then head west across southern Stark and Wayne counties on its way to the Midwest Hub in Defiance, according to a project map. From there, more pipeline would be built to take natural gas to Michigan and Canada. In total, the Rover mainline will include 380 miles of 36-inch and 42-inch diameter pipe and five compressor stations, plus 197 miles of supply laterals ranging in diameter from 24 to 42 inches, according to the project website. If approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the mainline from Leesville to Defiance is expected to open by December 2016. The section between Defiance and the Union Gas Hub in Canada would begin serving the Michigan and Ontario markets in June 2017.
API analyst says Ohio just getting started with Utica, - Ohio only has seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to developing the Utica Shale, said Rayola Dougher, senior economic adviser for the American Petroleum Institute. Across the county, shale oil development is reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and fueling the economy, said Dougher, who is one of several speakers slated for the Utica Summit II program Oct. 14 at University Center on the Kent State University Stark Campus. Utica Shale drilling — currently focused in a half dozen southeastern Ohio counties — should complement Ohio’s existing manufacturing base, especially the steel and chemical industries, Dougher said. “It’s just only the beginning of the journey,” she said. Utica Summit II has been organized by the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Shale Directories and The Repository. Dougher and other speakers will lead discussions on what Utica Shale development can mean for manufacturing, transportation, job creation and more. Shale drilling has been evolving for several years as companies improve techniques for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking. Horizontal drilling lets companies cut through a shale rock vein. Fracking, is a process where a slurry of water, sand and chemicals are forced into the well to break the rock and release trapped oil and gas. Companies began drilling the Utica Shale in southeastern Ohio late in 2010. Now more than 1,000 horizontal wells have been drilled in shale formations, with more than 500 wells listed as producing. The Utica Shale is one of the newest areas being drilled. Shale formations in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Dakota and Pennsylvania are where horizontal drilling and fracking techniques have been refined.
Project helping Ohio communities avert bust after shale boom - Boom, then bust. It’s a scenario often played out in local economies heavily reliant on one type of industry, especially in the energy sector. And it’s an underlying concern for Ohio communities experiencing a boom in shale oil and gas development. But the cycle isn’t inescapable, say community development specialists with Ohio State University Extension. They have received funding to help eastern Ohio communities examine how shale development, also known as fracking, is affecting their economies, environmental conditions and social structures and to create plans for long-term viability. With $200,000 in funding for a three-year project from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, OSU Extension has joined forces with four regional economic development districts representing 25 eastern Ohio counties. “We are trying to help the communities in the region position themselves for sustainable economic development that leverages the shale play and prevents the bust that inevitably would happen,” said Nancy Bowen-Ellzey, an OSU Extension field specialist in community economics and one of the project’s principal investigators.
Ohio Supreme Court to hear mineral rights cases that affect landowners, drillers - The Ohio Supreme Courtwill hear two cases next week on a law that has caused mass confusion among Ohio oil and gas landowners and drillers. Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act has been the focus of many lawsuits since production began a few years ago in the state’s Utica shale play as land and mineral-rights owners dispute ownership of valuable underground minerals. Earlier this month, I wrote about the court approving another mineral-act related case, separate from the two being heard next week. That case and next Wednesday’s could wind up redirecting tens of millions of exploration dollars to landowners from drillers. It’s been common since the 19th century for mineral rights underneath the ground to be split from surface rights. But mineral rights can be fragmented on big parcels and mineral rights owners could be heirs who are oblivious to a long-deceased relative’s ownership. It can make determining ownership difficult. Ohio’s law, adopted in 1989, can be simply described as “use-it-or-lose-it.” If a certain action isn’t made on the minerals in a 20-year period, those rights float to the surface owner. In 2006, the state legislature amended the law demanding a surface owner tell a mineral owner of his intention to declare the mineral interest abandoned. The amendment also clarified the 20-year rule. Now, a surface owner’s claim for mineral surrender starts 20 years before they declare the minerals abandoned. So, if a surface owner today tried to declare mineral rights abandoned, there couldn’t have been mineral activity on the land since 1994. But Utica exploration began in 2010, so that claim likely would lose. Drillers have signed contracts worth millions, so the decisions the court makes can wind up shifting loads of money.
Editorial: EPA, Ohio lawmakers must reconsider self-reporting rules for private companies - The Canton Repository - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the federal EPA must think twice about allowing private companies to self-report spills and chemical leaks that threaten not only the environment but public health. While the state and federal arms of the agency claim “there are tremendous penalties for incorrect reporting,” we seriously doubt fines of several thousand dollars provide a serious-enough deterrent to multibillion dollar companies and are likely written off as the cost of doing business. When companies, such as Dover Chemical Co., are dealing with probable carcinogens and are located within an arm’s length of Tuscarawas County’s drinking supply, it’s imperative that adequate checks and balances are in place. Meanwhile, residents in both Stark and Tuscarawas counties must worry about waste products from horizontal shale drilling — also known as fracking. And while both communities have benefited from gas and oil exploration and all the ancillary businesses that support this industry, it’s important that laws are in place to provide for timely reporting. After all, these companies are part of our communities, they are our neighbors and like good neighbors we have an expectation they will balance their business interests with the best interests of their communities. Our children attend the same schools, we shop in the same stores and drink the same water — the quality of which could be at risk. In July, The Columbus Dispatch reported a fracking company — Halliburton — waited five days before it released to federal and state EPA officials a list of toxic chemicals that spilled from a drilling site into a tributary of the Ohio River. The spill, which occurred after a fire on a well pad in Monroe County, killed more than 70,000 fish and wildlife, state officials said. Did it affect drinking water? Environmental advocacy groups say the state can’t be sure
Report: Too few safeguards for drinking water near fracking wells - Federal and state governments do not do enough to safeguard drinking water around the nearly 200,000 wells where fracking wastewater is injected deep underground, according to a federal report. The U.S. Government Accountability Office investigation found that existing regulations do not adequately protect against contamination that could occur after earthquakes, which is increasingly a concern at injection wells and fracking sites in Ohio and out west. In some states, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversees injection wells. On others, state agencies, such as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, regulates oil and gas drilling. Julia Ortiz, a spokeswoman for the U.S. EPA, said the agency is reviewing the report, but generally agrees with the findings. Bob Worstall, an oil and gas resources management deputy chief with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said that after earthquakes connected with an injection well rolled through Mahoning County in 2011, ODNR started requiring seismic monitoring near injection wells. Additional earthquakes occurred this year in Northeast Ohio near fracking sites. “Our experience has been — and I think the results will bear it out — that if the well is constructed properly, the likelihood of any issues down the road are greatly diminished,” he said.
Fracking's threat to drinking water is getting little EPA scrutiny, studies find - Two new reports on fracking's potential threat to American aquifers suggest that drinking-water contamination is significantly more likely than energy producers, and regulators, have been willing to acknowledge. Neither has gained much attention in the national press — and none locally that I can detect. A two-year audit by the Government Accountability Office, made public two weeks ago, concluded that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is doing a poor job of protecting drinking-water supplies from the many fracking-related activities that fall outside the so-called "Halliburton loophole." Since 2006, most injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids done to directly produce oil and natural gas has been exempt from EPA oversight. But other phases of the fracking operations — injection of wastes or returned water for long-term storage — are supposed to be regulated by EPA or state agencies to which it delegates the responsibility.There are now some 172,000 such wells across the U.S., and though at least some of these are known to have contaminated drinking water sources, the GAO found that no long-term monitoring is being done, and short-term oversight is deficient in many respects as well. The second report was delivered earlier this week to the national conference of the American Chemical Society by Stanford scientist Rob Jackson, of whom I have written before.
EPA must step in after WV's repeated failure to protect drinking water from oil and gas waste -- Today NRDC sent a letter to U.S. EPA calling on them to crack down on the state of West Virginia’s lax oversight of oil and gas and fracking wastewater disposal wells—that is putting drinking water at risk of contamination, and could trigger man-made earthquakes. The West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization, which works to protect landowners from abuses by the oil and gas industry, joined us in sending the letter. The oil and gas industry creates an enormous amount of wastewater – more than 2 billion gallons per day. This wastewater includes the “flowback” that comes up the wellbore after fracking is completed, as well as “produced water” that was trapped in oil and gas formations. The wastewater is often toxic and can contain chemicals used in fracking and naturally occurring substances, including heavy metals like arsenic and lead, and radioactive materials. Over 90% of this wastewater generated by the industry is disposed of by pumping it underground via “injection wells.” But there is mounting evidence that the underground injection of this waste is risking the safety of drinking water. A recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), a federal watchdog agency, found that EPA was not doing enough to ensure state oil and gas waste injection programs are not contaminating underground drinking water supplies, risking earthquakes, or causing “over pressurization,” in which pressures build up to unsafe levels and waste can spill onto the surface.
New Jersey Governor Vetoes Fracking Waste Ban Despite Bipartisan Support - If New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose presidential potential is still being touted by some supporters despite a series of scandals surrounding him, is trying to demonstrate that he’s on the far right fringe of his own party when it comes to the environment, he’s doing a good job of it. Last week, he vetoed a bill dubbed the Frack Waste Ban Bill which would have barred the disposal, treatment, storage and discharge of fracking waste in the state. It’s the second time he’s done so; he vetoed a similar bill in 2012. And he’s done so despite overwhelming support of the measure in the New Jersey legislature from both parties. The bill had four dozen sponsors, both Republicans and Democrats. The vote in the N.J. Senate was 33-4. In the state Assembly it was 62-16-1. Currently, no fracking is going on in New Jersey, but there’s plenty in neighboring Pennsylvania, which is already bringing some of its waste to New Jersey for disposal. When he previously vetoed the bill, Christie claimed it violated the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. However, New Jersey’s nonpartisan legislative Office of Legislative Services, says it doesn’t because it would treat in-state and out-of-state waste equally.
Pennsylvania Town Votes To Allow 6 Fracking Wells Within 3,000 Feet Of School Buildings - The Geyer farm, where as many as six unconventional gas wells are waiting to be placed by Rex Energy, sits just half a mile from the Mars School District, a campus of 3,200 children. If Rex Energy’s permits for the wells are approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, residents say the school buildings could be within the radius of a possible explosion.At a township public meeting Wednesday night, Rex Energy came one step closer to having those permits approved. Middlesex supervisors Michael Spreng, Donald P. Marshall, and James Evans voted unanimously to approve changes to the town’s zoning laws that would legally open up residential and agricultural lands for drilling, despite the protests of concerned parents and residents. In essence, the ordinance opens up most of the township to drilling. That zoning law change has wider implications for the town in the long run, but at the moment, it has everything to do with the schools. “In essence, the ordinance opens up most of the township to drilling,” said John Neuhror, communications director at Keystone Progress, who also lives in a development adjacent to the well site. “But it’s pretty clear to an objective observer that the ordinance was written to make it very clear that the Geyer farm’s wells are allowed in the township.”
DEP gets 2nd dour report on gas well oversight - The issuance last week of a second report detailing myriad shortcomings in the state Department of Environmental Protection’s oversight and enforcement of Marcellus Shale gas development might have the agency feeling like a pinata after a party. The latest report, which Earthworks, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental organization, released Thursday, reviewed and analyzed DEP Marcellus Shale gas well drilling files and conducted its own air and water testing to detail how the DEP’s enforcement of shale gas regulations has been less than transparent or effective in controlling the exposure of Pennsylvania residents to unhealthy air and water. Three weeks ago, state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issued a highly critical performance audit of the DEP’s shale gas industry oversight, including its failure to consistently pursue citizen complaints about drinking water degradation or issue enforcement orders for regulatory violations as the state oil and gas law requires. Among its 25 findings, the 70-page Earthworks report alleges that the DEP’s oil and gas office:
■ has failed to consider the cumulative health impacts from shale gas development;
■ keeps incomplete permitting and enforcement records that make it impossible for residents to assess their exposure to air and water emissions;
■ has increased inspections, but they still don’t meet even the voluntary goals the department set;
■ poorly tracks, records and responds to citizen complaints;
■ puts a higher premium on speedy permitting than enforcement.
Drillers did not report half of spills that led to fines - Half the spills at Marcellus Shale well sites that resulted in fines weren’t spotted by gas companies, which are required by state law to look for and report spills of drilling-related fluids. That is one of the main conclusions of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette review of hundreds of thousands of state and company documents for every incident at a Marcellus well site that led to a fine against a driller through the end of 2012. The documentation showing that companies often failed to detect spills on their own sites offers a look at self-regulation in the shale gas industry. State regulation of the industry was the subject of a withering state auditor general review of the Department of Environmental Protection’s oversight issued July 22. The audit detailed the agency’s shortcomings, including failing to consistently issue enforcement orders to drilling companies after regulators determined that gas operations had damaged water supplies, even though the state’s oil and gas law requires it. The Post-Gazette investigation using well permit file documents and other DEP data focused on 425 incidents involving 48 companies that resulted in nearly $4.4 million in fines. Of those 425 fines, 137 were due to spills at or near a well site. They ranged from relatively small incidents involving a couple of gallons of diesel fuel on a well pad to larger accidents involving thousands of gallons of hydraulic fracturing flowback fluid that killed vegetation or fish.
Study raises red flags on fracking fluids - - A new study on the contents of the fluids utilized in the gas and oil drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, raises concerns about several ingredients. Scientists presenting the work Wednesday at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) say that out of nearly 200 commonly used compounds, there's very little known about the potential health risks of about one-third, and eight are toxic to mammals. William Stringfellow, Ph.D., says he conducted the review of fracking contents to help resolve the public debate over the controversial drilling practice.“The industrial side was saying, ‘We're just using food additives, basically making ice cream here,'” Stringfellow says. “On the other side, there's talk about the injection of thousands of toxic chemicals. As scientists, we looked at the debate and asked, ‘What's the real story?'” To find out, Stringfellow's team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scoured databases and reports to compile a list of substances commonly used in fracking. What their analysis revealed was a little truth to both sides' stories — with big caveats. Fracking fluids do contain many nontoxic and food-grade materials, as the industry asserts. But if something is edible or biodegradable, it doesn't automatically mean it can be easily disposed of, Stringfellow notes. “You can't take a truckload of ice cream and dump it down the storm drain,” he says, building on the industry's analogy.
The Science Against Fracking -- Three or four years ago, the chief environmental concern about fracking involved the contamination of drinking water through the fracking process—blasting water, sand, and chemicals underground in vast quantities and at extreme pressures to force open shale layers deep beneath the Earth, and release natural gas. But the science was still pretty ambiguous, and a great deal turned on how “fracking” was defined. The entire mega-process of “unconventional” gas drilling had clearly caused instances of groundwater contamination, due to spills and leaks from improperly cased wells. But technically, “fracking” only refers to the water and chemical blast, not the drilling, the disposal of waste, or the huge industrial operations that accompany it all. Nowadays, explains Cornell University engineering professor Anthony Ingraffea on the latest installment of the Inquiring Minds podcast (stream above), the scientific argument against fracking and unconventional gas drilling is more extensive. It involves not simply groundwater contamination, but also at least two other major problems: earthquake generation and the accidental emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
EIP investigation finds continued use of diesel in fracking -- The illegal injection of diesel fuel during hydraulic fracturing has continued over the last four years, despite repeated denials by the drilling industry, according to a report by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP). In its investigation, EIP also found troubling evidence that drilling companies have been changing and eliminating their disclosures of past diesel use from the industry self-disclosure database of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, called FracFocus. Injecting diesel fuel into the ground to fracture shale and extract gas or oil is a potential threat to drinking water supplies and public health because diesel contains toxic chemicals, such as benzene, that cause cancer or other serious health problems, even at low doses. EIP’s report, “Fracking Beyond The Law,” uses self-reported data from drilling companies and federal records to document at least 33 companies fracking at least 351 wells across 12 states with fluids containing diesel from 2010 through early August 2014. Diesel fuels were used to frack wells in Texas, Colorado, North Dakota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Montana without required Safe Drinking Water Act permits. “We urge EPA and the states to exercise their legal authority by immediately investigating the compliance status of these 351 wells and taking all necessary steps to make sure they are properly permitted. Companies that inject diesel without permits should be fined for ignoring the law.” EIP’s investigation also revealed that some oil and gas companies have been changing their disclosures submitted to FracFocus, the privately-run fracking chemical disclosure registry, in a manner that removes any and all indication of past injection of diesel. FracFocus, which was created by industry as an alternative to mandatory disclosure to federal or state governments, allows operators to change or replace previous disclosures, at any time, without leaving any record of or justification for the change.
Diesel Used To Frack Oil And Gas Wells Without Permit, Report Finds - A new report has found that since 2010 fossil fuel companies have used more than 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel across the country to frack for oil and gas without obtaining the required federal permits. The report, called, “Fracking Beyond The Law,” by the Environmental Integrity Project, a D.C. nonprofit established by environmental attorneys, found that at least 33 companies fracked at least 351 wells across 12 states with fluids containing diesel. The passing of the 2005 Energy Policy Act by Congress established what is commonly known as the “Halliburton Loophole” in which the EPA was stripped of its authority to regulate a number of fracking fluids that could reveal the companies’ trade secrets. However diesel fuels, which contain high levels of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, or xylene — known carcinogens and neurotoxins — remain under the jurisdiction of the EPA as part of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The industry has repeatedly asserted the the use of diesel fuel in fracking no longer occurs and those denials along with the release of this report. The industry groups say that companies are phasing out diesel, which as of earlier this year was used in around two percent of wells, and that companies were using kerosene, which wasn’t listed as a diesel fuel until February. The industry group Energy in Depth also pointed out that the 351 wells the project cited as using diesel make up less than 0.5 percent of the 77,000 wells registered on FracFocus. The EIP investigation asserts that the 351 wells they found using diesel is likely an underestimate as some oil and gas companies have been changing their FracFocus disclosures to remove indication of past diesel injections.
North Carolina Frack Study: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell - North Carolina’s governor has decided he wants the state to get fracked. Whether it’s safe or not. One thing we know for sure, the shale there is really shallow, so if they hit gas anywhere during the drilling or fracking – up she comes. Turning Tar Heels into Tar Balls.
Duke Scientists’ Fracking Warnings Fall on Deaf Ears: Robert Jackson and Avner Vengosh of Duke University’s esteemed Nicholas School are viewed by some in the oil and gas industry as enemies. At Duke, they’ve done studies with compelling evidence that shale gas extraction, fracking, causes drinking water problems in other states. The industry, which got North Carolina to lift its moratorium on fracking with drilling next year, has long made the case that drilling is absolutely safe. Jackson and Vengosh have serious doubts about that, and given that the Nicholas School in the field of environmental science is considered among the elite in the county, it would be logical to assume that state officials developing rules to govern shale gas exploration would want to hear from them. But the N.C. Mining and Energy Commission did not invite either Jackson or Vengosh to offer any views while commission members were in the process of determining the rules.“With all due respect to Avner Vengosh,” said recently resigned commission Chairman James Womack, “he’s not interested in drilling. His studies are all aimed at the downside of oil and gas development.” (Which is normally how you make regulations . . . )Vengosh says instead that he’s all about science. And Vengosh and Jackson, who’s taking a job at Stanford University, have some pretty strong science behind their belief that fracking causes contamination of drinking water, among other problems.
Busting the Bureau of Land Management’s Frackopoly -- BLM-managed land like near Moab Valley, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park and so many others in the U.S., may be at risk from nearby fracking. President Obama’s BLM controls access to more than 700 million acres of federally owned mineral rights, some of which sit adjacent to public parks. Some 38 million acres of that land is currently leased, and over the past three years, the oil and gas industry has drilled over three thousand new wells, 90 percent of which have been (or will be) fracked. In fact, existing and proposed drilling and fracking operations overseen by the BLM threaten public lands, nearby watersheds, air quality and the health and safety of surrounding communities in 27 states. The mission of the BLM, according to its own website, is “to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of America’s lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.” But how can future generations be expected to enjoy lands that sit adjacent to hardcore industrial activity?
Poll Shows Californians Oppose Dumping Fracking Chemicals Into Ocean -- A poll commissioned by the Center for Biological Diversity and conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP), surveying 500 California voters, found that a majority of Californians opposed fracking in their state and an even larger number support a ban on dumping fracking chemicals in the ocean. In response to the question “Do you favor or oppose increased use of hydraulic fracturing in California, which is also known as fracking, a drilling method that extracts oil and natural gas from underground using a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and assorted chemicals?,” 36 percent said they favored increased fracking, while 56 percent opposed it and 8 percent were not sure. In response to “The federal government currently allows oil companies to dispose of fracking fluid with wastewater into the ocean. Do you support or oppose a ban on dumping fracking chemicals into the water off California’s coast?,” 65 percent supported such a ban, 25 percent opposed it and 9 percent were not sure. When presented with the choice of two viewpoints—one offering fracking as a danger to the environment which should be banned and the other saying it will create jobs and reduce energy prices and should therefore remain legal,” 55 percent agreed it was a threat to the environment, 35 percent agreed it was a job-creator and 10 percent were not sure.
Fracking Waste Disposal Fuels Opposition in U.S. and Abroad - A poll taken by Public Policy Polling revealed this week that 65 percent of California residents oppose dumping fracking waste in the ocean. The actions of fracking companies in both the U.S. and England, the eagerness of many government bodies and officials to cater to them, and the obfuscation around the disposal of the waste show they have reason to be concerned. Ban Michigan Fracking reports that 12 tons of radioactive fracking waste is heading for a hazardous waste facility in the Detroit area from Pennsylvania. The facility, Wayne Disposal Inc., is one of only two in the country that accepts this waste (the other is in Idaho), which was already rejected by a West Virginia facility for its high level of radioactivity. The lack of places to dump fracking waste is emerging as one of the industry’s biggest problems. Recently, for the second time, the New Jersey legislature voted by an overwhelming bipartisan majority to prohibit the treatment, storing and disposal of fracking waste water in that state And last week it was vetoed for the second time by Governor Chris Christie, angering environmentalists, as well as legislators.
Oil and gas company debt soars to danger levels to cover shortfall in cash - The world’s leading oil and gas companies are taking on debt and selling assets on an unprecedented scale to cover a shortfall in cash, calling into question the long-term viability of large parts of the industry. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said a review of 127 companies across the globe found that they had increased net debt by $106bn in the year to March, in order to cover the surging costs of machinery and exploration, while still paying generous dividends at the same time. They also sold off a net $73bn of assets. This is a major departure from historical trends. Such a shortfall typically happens only in or just after recessions. For it to occur five years into an economic expansion points to a deep structural malaise. The EIA said revenues from oil and gas sales have reached a plateau since 2011, stagnating at $568bn over the last year as oil hovers near $100 a barrel. Yet costs have continued to rise relentlessly. Companies have exhausted the low-hanging fruit and are being forced to explore fields in ever more difficult regions. The EIA said the shortfall between cash earnings from operations and expenditure -- mostly CAPEX and dividends -- has widened from $18bn in 2010 to $110bn during the past three years. Companies appear to have been borrowing heavily both to keep dividends steady and to buy back their own shares, spending an average of $39bn on repurchases since 2011.
EIA Corroborates the Work of Energy Policy Forum -- Over a year ago, on 19 June, 2013, Energy Policy Forum (EPF) wrote a post exposing the explosion of capital expenditure by shale operators to drill and complete wells and the concomitant lack of free cash flow. Unless operations can produce sufficient cash, the exercise is obviously unsustainable. At some point a company simply hits the proverbial financial wall. http://energypolicyforum.org/
2013/06/19/huge-capex-free-
cash-flow-not-in-shales/ Now EIA, the forecasting arm of the US Department of Energy has corroborated EPF’s work. EIA states: “Based on data compiled from quarterly reports, for the year ending March 31, 2014, cash from operations for 127 major oil and natural gas companies totaled $568 billion, and major uses of cash totaled $677 billion, a difference of almost $110 billion. This shortfall was filled through a $106 billion net increase in debt and $73 billion from sales of assets, which increased the overall cash balance.” EIA went on to say: “The gap between cash from operations and major uses of cash has widened in recent years from a low of $18 billion in 2010 to $100 billion to $120 billion during the past three years.”
Wall Street's Shale 'Fraud' Exposed - U.S. energy independence, we're told, is at our fingertips thanks to the so-called “shale revolution”. Offsetting declines in conventional oil and gas production, shale gas and tight oil (shale oil) are being heralded as the means by which the U.S. will become energy independent – a net exporter of natural gas and once again the world’s largest oil producing nation. But two new reports by Post Carbon Institute and Energy Policy Forum show that the hype simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
KEY FINDINGS, SHALE GAS
High productivity shale gas plays are not ubiquitous: Just six plays account for 88% of total production.
Individual well decline rates range from 80-95% after 36 months in the top five U.S. plays.
Overall field declines require from 30-50% of production to be replaced annually with more drilling – roughly 7,200 new wells a year simply to maintain production.
Dry shale gas plays require $42 billion/year in capital investment to offset declines. This investment is not covered by sales: in 2012, U.S. shale gas generated just $33 billion, although some of the wells also produced liquids, which improved economics.
KEY FINDINGS, TIGHT OIL (SHALE OIL)
More than 80 percent of tight oil production is from two unique plays: the Bakken and the Eagle Ford.
Well decline rates are steep – between 81 and 90 percent in the first 24 months.
Overall field decline rates are such that 40 percent of production must be replaced annually to maintain production.
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