Friday, April 27, 2012
Energy: Pennsylvannia’s Choice, America’s Model
"We can’t drill our way to energy independence. Or so proclaims the president and many of his supporters. Here in Pennsylvania, the proclamation rings hollow; we are in the midst ofa historic natural gas boom."
Full story: http://www.themoralliberal.com/2012/04/26/energy-pennsylvannias-choice-americas-model/
Full story: http://www.themoralliberal.com/2012/04/26/energy-pennsylvannias-choice-americas-model/
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Local Businesses to Benefit from Utica Interest
"If the Utica shale evolves into the oil and natural gas producer some predict, the shoppers will be in offices within the coming year, which means new customers for local businesses.
The chamber already has conducted a seminar to help local companies that want to do business with the oil and gas industry. A second seminar is planned.
Kaminski believes local companies will prosper. “For some places, as the ripples in the pool extend, there’s going to be opportunity.”
What is Hydraulic Fracturing?
"Hydraulic fracturing is a procedure that can increase the flow of oil or gas from a well. It is done by pumping liquids down a well into subsurface rock units under pressures that are high enough to fracture the rock. The goal is to create a network of interconnected fractures that will serve as pore spaces for the movement of oil and natural gas to the well bore. "
Full article: http://geology.com/articles/hydraulic-fracturing/
Full article: http://geology.com/articles/hydraulic-fracturing/
Low Natural Gas Prices Good for Economy
"The real, sustainable, economic impact for Columbiana, Trumbull and Mahoning counties is in manufacturing, directly and indirectly related to the shale play. The low prices should actually stimulate that development if local leaders continue handling the boom properly.
The low price and easy access of natural gas and its byproducts make it more attractive for companies to build factories here."
Friday, April 20, 2012
Utica Shale is Creating Jobs
"Job creation is one of the main arguments in favor of natural gas drilling using the controversial technology of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." Industry opponents, who believe health and environmental risks outweigh economic gains, say job numbers are inflated and the economic impact will be a boom-to-bust one.
But jobs are being created, not only in the gas industry and the hotels and restaurants that cater to its rig workers, but also in numerous companies that are filling industry-related niches."
Full story here: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20120417/NEWS11/204170321/-1/
But jobs are being created, not only in the gas industry and the hotels and restaurants that cater to its rig workers, but also in numerous companies that are filling industry-related niches."
Full story here: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20120417/NEWS11/204170321/-1/
U.S. Energy Independence in 15 Years?
"According to a recent Forbes Insights survey of more than 100 energy executives, “2012 U.S. Energy Sector Outlook,” sponsored by middle market lender CIT, fully 70% of energy executives believe that, given a true national commitment, the U.S. could achieve a high degree of energy independence within 15 years. Admittedly, energy executives are hardly a disinterested group, but they should have a good sense of their own industry’s capabilities."
Read full article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesinsights/2012/04/18/u-s-energy-independence-in-15-years/
Read full article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesinsights/2012/04/18/u-s-energy-independence-in-15-years/
Will US Stop Importing Oil?
“The idea that the U.S. could be importing almost no foreign oil within the next 10 years was dismissed by most folks, but now most people in the energy business think it could happen.’’
- Former state Department of Environmental Protection Agency Secretary John Hanger
Read the full story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47109728/ns/local_news-delaware_valley_pa_nj/#.T5F6OKtDySo
Early Flows from Utica Well Promising
"Anadarko Petroleum likes what it sees from its first three wells in Ohio’s Utica shale.
The Houston-based company says one of the wells in Noble County delivered 9,500 barrels of crude oil and 12 million cubic feet of natural gas in just 20 days. The other two, both in Guernsey County, had a combined total of 20,000 barrels of oil and 37 million cubic feet of natural gas in about two months."
Read the full article here: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2012/04/20/early-flows-from-anadarko-wells-promising.html
Utica Shale Stealing Spotlight
"The Utica Shale has been stealing some of the spotlight from the Marcellus in recent months, with joint venture deals in the billions of dollars and natural gas companies announcing they’re rededicating their rigs to more liquid-rich areas."
Read the full article here: http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/print-edition/2012/04/20/eyes-are-turning-toward-utica-shale.html
Read the full article here: http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/print-edition/2012/04/20/eyes-are-turning-toward-utica-shale.html
Thursday, April 19, 2012
What Are Mineral Rights?
"In the United States and a few other countries, ownership of mineral resources was originally granted to the individuals or organizations that owned the surface. These property owners had both "surface rights" and "mineral rights". This complete private ownership is known as a "fee simple estate". "
Read full article here: http://geology.com/articles/mineral-rights.shtml
Read full article here: http://geology.com/articles/mineral-rights.shtml
What is Directional Drilling?
"Most wells drilled for water, oil, natural gas, information or other subsurface objectives are vertical wells - drilled straight down into the earth. However, drilling at an angle other than vertical can obtain information, hit targets and stimulate reservoirs in ways that can not be achieved with a vertical well. In these cases, an ability to accurately steer the well in directions and angles that depart from the vertical is a valuable ability. "
Read the full article here: http://geology.com/articles/horizontal-drilling/
Read the full article here: http://geology.com/articles/horizontal-drilling/
Utica Shale Wells Are Better!
According to an article put out by the Associated Press, a Utica Shale well can produce 300 times more than a traditional well.
Read the full story here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/46939099
Read the full story here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/46939099
What is the Utica Shale?
"The Utica Shale is a rock unit located a few thousand feet below theMarcellus Shale. It also has the potential to become an enormous natural gas resource. The Utica Shale is thicker than the Marcellus, it is more geographically extensive and it has already proven its ability to support commercial production.
It is impossible to say at this time how large the Utica Shale resource might be because it has not been thoroughly evaluated and little public information is available about its organic content, the thickness of organic-rich intervals and how it will respond to horizontal drillingand hydraulic fracturing. However, the results of early testing indicate that the Utica Shale will be a very significant resource. "
Full article: Utica Shale - The Natural Gas Giant Below the Marcellus?
It is impossible to say at this time how large the Utica Shale resource might be because it has not been thoroughly evaluated and little public information is available about its organic content, the thickness of organic-rich intervals and how it will respond to horizontal drillingand hydraulic fracturing. However, the results of early testing indicate that the Utica Shale will be a very significant resource. "
Full article: Utica Shale - The Natural Gas Giant Below the Marcellus?
Utica Shale Affects Commercial Real Estate
It seems that almost daily we hear reports on Utica or Marcellus Shale in the paper or on the news. There is a good reason for all the hype! Utica Shale alone has an estimated worth in the billions of dollars, much of which will go to landowners in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia. According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio will likely see an increase in drilling, due to the simple fact that the state sits over the Utica Shale formation, which experts predict holds large natural gas reserves.
Energy companies have taken great interest in the potential supply of natural gas trapped in the shale, and are competing to secure mineral rights and leases in order to harvest the gas. These companies are now engaged in purchasing and leasing land so that they can capitalize on this incredible natural resource.
The buying and leasing frenzy currently taking place in the shale areas has positively affected nearby real estate markets. This is good news for property owners who experienced the difficulties of the recent recession. One region reaping the benefits is the Northeast Ohio/Cleveland area. The Northeast Ohio and Cleveland commercial real estate market has begun to see an upswing in leasing and purchasing due to the Marcellus Shale development, despite being located several counties away from the bulk of Marcellus related activity. Cleveland's commercial properties and industrial buildings and have seen three straight quarters of positive absorption. More space is being leased/bought than vacated. Rents in Northeast Ohio have also stabilized, and in some sub markets, rents are even on the increase. Cleveland's office market is also improving, having reached its bottom at the end of 2010. Although vacancy is declining slowly, the most recent quarter saw a revival of investment sales. Real estate absorption is expected to increase as development continues in the rel=nofollow [http://geology.com/articles/utica-shale/]Utica and Marcellus shale regions, with energy companies seeking warehouse and office space located nearby their drilling sites.
Although the direct economic benefits to the Utica and Marcellus shale regions will consist primarily of royalties and lease payments, the development of these areas will have a positive impact on the local and national economies. Commercial real estate will benefit as companies seek out office space for their employees, industrial facilities and warehouse space for storage, and land sites for drilling. Northeast Ohio, and the Cleveland area in particular, located near the heart of both Marcellus and Utica Shale activity, stands to benefit greatly as energy companies move into the area.
Terry Coyne, SIOR, CCIM, Executive Vice President, Grubb & Ellis.
Is your organization involved with the Marcellus or Utica shale drilling? If your company is looking for industrial, office or warehouse space in the Northeast/Cleveland area, we encourage you to browse available commercial buildings at [http://www.terrycoyne.com]http://www.terrycoyne.com. Or, call 216-453-3001 for assistance.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Northeast-Ohios-Commercial-Real-Estate-Market-Benefiting-From-Natural-Gas-Reserves&id=6721134] Northeast Ohio's Commercial Real Estate Market Benefiting From Natural Gas Reserves
Fracking in the USA by Andy Waldock
The three-way balancing act between the environment, job growth and energy self sufficiency are all going to play out in earnest here in Ohio during the coming elections. The primary reason for the growing interest in our State is the fossil fuel production capabilities of the shale fields throughout Ohio, with a special emphasis on the Utica shale deposits east of Columbus. The process of fracking, which drills down on average, 4,000 feet in Ohio and just as far horizontally, pumps the well full of chemically treated, "slick water" to crack the shale deposits, displace the gas and force it to the surface. This has dramatically lowered the cost of production and is ushering in significant economic prosperity.
There are always unintended consequences when theoretical models face real world application in high volume. There were more than 400 fracking wells drilled in Ohio in 2010. The Bakken shale reserves in North Dakota employ more than 6,000 wells to produce twice as much natural gas while also producing enough oil to place them at number 10 on the OPEC production list ahead of Ecuador. The production of natural gas and oil through the fracking process is not limited to the United States. Qatar, Russia and Iran contain about 70% of the overseas, undeveloped supply. This is why environmentalists are sounding such an alarm. Here in the U.S., fracking, while regulated by the EPA, is blamed for everything from contaminated drinking water to the recent earthquake, measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale outside of Youngstown. In fact, the EPA just approved a 100% green replacement for the biocide, "slick water" industry standard. How many Russian state subsidized fossil fuel producers do you think are lining up to purchase SteriFrac to protect the environment?
The economic prosperity that fossil fuel production is bringing to our area cannot be ignored. Ohio is making waves on the international energy production scene due to the volume and quality of its reserves. France's largest oil company, Total SA, just purchased the rights to drill 619,000 acres of the Utica Shale Field for a total of $2.32 billion dollars. This shale field is expected to produce not only natural gas but also enough crude oil to put Ohio in the top five U.S. producers. The production boom is expected to bring more than 200,000 jobs to Ohio by 2015 and provide an annual income of more than $12 billion to Ohioans. These numbers can be extrapolated to include the Bakken fields as well as the Eagle Ford field in Texas, which is expected to drill more than 3,000 wells in 2012 alone.
The last issue to address is energy independence. The most promising estimate comes from London's Daily Telegraph, citing British Petroleum research, stating that the U.S. could become entirely energy independent by 2030. More realistic research points to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which recently stated that we pay $4 in natural gas for the equivalent energy as $25 worth of oil. This is up from less than a 4 to 1 ratio just 18 months ago. The price gap between domestic and overseas natural gas is nearly as wide. Most of Europe pays upwards of $16 per mmbtu (million metric British thermal units) compared to $4 per mmbtu here in the U.S. This price differential makes exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) a growing business opportunity while the world catches up.
Comparing the cost of electricity to the cost of gasoline clearly explains the efficiency of natural gas. Forty percent of our electricity comes from natural gas. Massachusetts's Institute of Technology published a paper this summer showing that the price of electricity has remained stable as gas prices have sky rocketed. Barring the extraction of shale gas, they expect the price of oil to increase five fold over the next 20 years. Meanwhile, allowing the use of shale oil would only see crude double in price while electricity will climb by a mere 5-10% in the same timeframe.
The issues we've addressed are merely the broadest points of a discussion that requires much further debate on all fronts. The simple facts are that we have a global production advantage that we haven't seen in at least a generation. However, as a natural resource, we must respect the ground from which it flows and treat it accordingly. Finally, all fossil fuels have a finite supply. We must not allow cheap access to a new source to stall the development money and efforts flowing into renewable energy sources.
Andy Waldock http://www.commodityandderivativeadv.com http://www.cotsignals.com
866-990-0777
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Fracking-in-the-USA&id=6828511] Fracking in the USA
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