Save New York....and America: Allow "Fracking" and Oil an Gas Production

Are Americans going to allow a few ideological environmentalists with dubious motives further damage our economy, put us deeper in debt, cause more job losses, and prolong the recession?  Isn't America's real problem with our spend and (over) regulate politicians in Washington, DC?

It is the height of folly to forgo developing our own oil and gas resources while sending our money and jobs to foreign producers.  What can the average person do about rising energy and commodity prices?  First vote the current naive, anti-growth politicians out of office, in your hometown, your state and in Washington.  Replace them with optimistic people with can-do attitudes.  America can fight its way out of this economic morass we are in, or we can lie down and die.  I choose to fight.  I owe at least that much to my forefather(s).

The follow editorial summarizes the issue quite well.  Support Rep. Thomas Reed New York.
Peter

Published on Washington Examiner (http://washingtonexaminer.com)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By The Examiner and by
Rep. Thomas Reed, a Republican who represents New York's 29th Congressional District.


Created Apr 14 2011 - 8:05pm

New York - and America - can profit from 'fracking' Marcellus Shale

It's no secret that we live in challenging times. Many sectors of our economy continue to struggle and our dependence on foreign energy sources continues to grow. However, there is some good news. Responsible development of the Marcellus Shale natural gas field has tremendous potential to help meet both of these challenges, and many, many more.

In 2009, the production of Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania had an economic output of more than $3.8 billion, and generated more than $400 million in state and local tax revenues, while creating 48,000 new jobs. There is no reason to believe that we wouldn't see a similar positive effect in New York.



We need this economic development. The 2010 census numbers released recently were, unfortunately, no surprise. Western New York and the southern tier of New York experienced concentrated levels of population decline.


I don't believe this is because people don't want to live here, but because they cannot find substantial employment to support their families. It's quite simple: People go where the jobs are.


Penn State recently determined that counties in Pennsylvania where Marcellus development has taken place saw, on average, an 11 percent growth in sales tax revenue. Our local governments could derive much needed revenue from Marcellus Shale production.


Some fear hydraulic fracturing. The Finger Lakes region is my home. We all agree that we need to keep our natural resources safe and free from pollutants. The reality is that hydraulic fracturing has been used for more than 60 years on more than one million wells nationwide.


New York has a long association with gas production. For decades, producers developed natural gas resources from rock strata residing thousands of feet below the Marcellus, tapping formations such as the Trenton Black River and the Medina.


Nevertheless, concerns regarding groundwater contamination exist. Geologists tell us that our groundwater aquifer is thousands of feet above the shale containing natural gas and is separated by thousands of feet of impermeable rock.


This virtually eliminates any potential risk of groundwater contamination from the process of hydraulic fracturing. Further, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is no shrinking violet.


The DEC has a long, effective record of monitoring the energy industry. It will ensure that exploration and extraction is done safely.


The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection just completed a study that found no radiation problem with drinking water in any of the seven rivers tested.  Any risk from industry wastewater is further mitigated by the fact that more fracturing fluid is being recycled and never goes to water treatment plants. Pennsylvania natural gas producers are recycling as much as 90 percent of their wastewater, an amount predicted to increase.



The same holds true in New York. Tens of thousands of natural gas wells have been produced in our state and the regulators charged with managing and overseeing their activities have proven that development can be done safely while protecting our environment.


In fact, the DEC recently noted there was "no record of any documented instance of groundwater contamination caused by hydraulic fracturing for gas well development in New York, despite the use of this technology in thousands of wells across the state during the past 50 or more years."


Other studies, including a 2004 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study, have concluded that hydraulic fracturing poses no significant environmental risk to drinking water supplies. There is no reason to expect anything different in developing the Marcellus Shale in New York.



The time has come to take appropriate precautions and move forward. Development of domestic energy resources today will lower our dependence on foreign energy tomorrow. We need to realize the potential that Marcellus Shale holds for improving our struggling economy and reducing our reliance on foreign energy.


Rep. Thomas Reed is a Republican who represents New York's 29th Congressional District.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source URL: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/2011/04/new-york-and-america-can-profit-fracking-marcellus-shale

.

Optimism Over The Marcellus Shale

In these difficult times, it is encouraging to read some positive economic news. Here we have an example of people doing what Americans do best, using creativity, new technology, and persistance to produce a valuable product where none existed before.

In this case, people are producing large amounts of natural gas from a thick and widespread layer of rock called the Marcellus Shale in the northeastern United States. The Marcellus Shale has been known for over 100 years to contain gas, but it is only recently that operators have found a way to coax this gas out of the ground in enough volume to be of interest. And it is attracting a lot of interest. Search this blog for many more articles about the Marcellus Shale and how it is being developed.
Peter

Marcellus Shale results have National Fuel happy

By David Robinson

NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER (source)

National Fuel Gas Co. executives said they are encouraged by the early results from a new well that the company and its joint venture partner drilled in a potentially lucrative region of Pennsylvania.

The new well, drilled as part of its joint venture with EOG Resources, is producing more than 3 million cubic feet of natural gas a day in its early days of production, National Fuel executives said.

That production rate is nearly nine times the initial production rate of the joint venture’s first well, which was drilled last year and yielded a disappointing gas flow because of an inefficient job fracturing the rock to release the gas.

In all, the joint venture has drilled and completed initial tests on four wells on land it controls in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. The latest well’s initial production is double the highest initial yield of any of the three other wells the joint venture has drilled.

“This flow test confirms our expectations for the potential of our Marcellus Shale position,” said Matthew D. Cabell, who runs National Fuel’s oil and natural gas drilling business.

National Fuel has drilling rights on 720,000 acres of land in northwestern Pennsylvania that covers the Marcellus Shale, a geological formation that many experts believe holds vast amounts of natural gas. That gas previously went untapped, until the launch of new drilling techniques that allow the well to be drilled vertically and then horizontally, unlike a traditional well that goes straight down.

Within two years, National Fuel believes the high-yielding Marcellus wells could produce between 30 million and 40 million cubic feet of gas per day. The joint venture is completing work on two other wells. National Fuel’s own drilling program in the region calls for 10 vertical wells and two to three horizontal wells to be drilled this year.

National Fuel also spending up to $30 million build a small-scale pipeline system that will run for about 30 miles through in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania to gather the gas produced at the new Marcellus wells and bring it to nearby higher-capacity pipelines that can access major U. S. markets.