Our representative up in Pittsburgh recently attended the Marcellus Shale Festival, and provided a write-up on key points from the panel discussions.

Panel #1

The first town hall breakout session was moderated by local KDKA radio personality Mike Pintek.

The 5 panelists were:

Rich Fitzgerald – Allegheny County Chief Executive
Tim Murphy – U.S. Congressman from Upper St. Clair Township
Matt Pitzarella – Range Resources’ Director of Corporate Communications
Tim Solobay – State Senator from Canonsburg, PA
Jim Christiana – State House from Beaver County

The two main topics here were jobs and Shell.  

First, a general consensus on shale developments' positive impact on jobs in the region and job resources at ShaleNet and the Marcellus Shale Coalition were reviewed.  As far as Shell, it was discussed that ZCA confirmed an end of operations at the end of 2013.  This means that a 2017 start for the ethane cracker is still feasible.  There were no direct representatives/comments from Shell.

Panel #2

The 2nd town hall breakout session was an update on PA government’s perspective that was moderated by Tara Howey, Govt Affairs Manager for WPX Energy. 

The 3 panelists were:

PA Public Utilities Commission
Robert Johnson – PA Governor’s Office in Pittsburgh, PA
Tyler Courtney - Board of Commissioners for Westmoreland County, PA

They discussed some of the technicalities of collecting and disbursing the fees, and concluded that the system has been a success thus far.

For more info, you can read more the whole article here: 

Marcellus Shale Festival Panels Discuss Shell Cracker and Impact Fees

Thanks.