Tagged: Marcellus Shale

Production of Marcellus Shale natural gas in Pennsylvania rose again in the second half of 2011, slightly
exceeding projections.

The state reported Friday that drillers produced the equivalent of 1.66 billion cubic feet of gas per day from July to December.

That's up from about 1.19 billion cubic feet per day in the previous six months.

That translates into a yearly average of about 1.42 billion cubic feet per day. That's up slightly from previous industry projections of 1.3 billion for 2011.

The data also showed that the industry is recycling more of the drilling wastewater, and sending less to municipal or industrial treatment plants. That's in response to pressure from state officials. The amount of waste injected deep underground nearly tripled.

As natural gas prices continue to drop, the recent nationwide boom in drilling is slowing.

Several companies have said in recent weeks they plan to cut back production, but experts say the low prices are also opening up new markets.

Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, says there will be fewer natural gas wells drilled in 2012.

Yet Klaber says that even as drillers are pressured by low prices, the cost creates opportunities for more people and industries to use the product.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio is the latest state where opponents are pushing a ban on a form of drilling that injects chemicals into shale to release natural gas.

Democratic state Sen. Michael Skindell of suburban Cleveland introduced a bill Tuesday calling for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," to await results of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study of potential environmental hazards.

Ohio would join New York and New Jersey among states above the fuel rich Marcellus shale if it imposes the ban. Calls for bans in West Virginia and Michigan have been unsuccessful.

Skindell also introduced a bill requiring drillers to publicly report on chemical use and disposal in the fracking process.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department says it will reduce its estimate of undiscovered natural gas in New York, Pennsylvania and other states following a new report by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The USGS report, released Tuesday, estimates that the Marcellus Shale region contains some 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, recoverable natural gas. That is far more than geologists had thought nearly a decade ago, but far below a recent projection by the Energy Department.

A spokesman for the Energy Information Administration says the USGS report supersedes a report last month by the energy agency.

That report projected about 410 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves in the eight-state region, which stretches from New York to Tennessee.