Comment

Comment by John Reed on May 17, 2010 at 2:21am

Range Resources - Appalachia, LLC may have started the Marcellus Shale gas play. In 2003 they drilled a Marcellus well in Washington County, Pennsylvania and found a promising flow of natural gas [2]. They experimented with drilling and hydraulic fracturing methods that worked in the Barnett Shale of Texas. Their first Marcellus gas production from the well began in 2005. Between then and the end of 2007 more than 375 gas wells with suspected Marcellus intent had been permitted in Pennsylvania [2].

No geoligist to my knowledge has guaranteed that fracking fluid will not seep into water aquifiers. I have heard several say that the bigger concern is surface spills of flowback fluid. They have also said the chemicals used in fracking that are a portion of the flowback is not the big concern, rather the naturally ocurring heavy elements that exist deep underground. This is why I am all for deep injection wells. Logically the less you handle and transport the flowback water the less likley it will be to have spills and contamination in general. I beleive the total number of deep injection wells in PA stands at eight, but their are hundreds and maybe thousands across the US.

Wikipedia- Hydraulic fracturing for stimulation of oil and natural gas wells was first used in the United States in 1947.[2] It was first used commercially in 1949,[2] and because of its success in increasing production from oil wells was quickly adopted, and is now used worldwide in tens of thousands of oil and natural gas wells annually. The first industrial use of hydraulic fracturing was as early as 1903, according to T.L. Watson.[3] Before that date, hydraulic fracturing was used at Mt. Airy Quarry, near Mt Airy, North Carolina where it was (and still is) used to separate granite blocks from bedrock.

http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/news/2010/05/accelerating-activity
The total number of Marcellus wells drilled since 2008 is 1239. If you add the 375 from 2003 to 2007 from above a rough number is 1614. I do not have a breadkown of horizontal vs vertical. I would think the vast majority are horizontal.

http://www.barnettshalenews.com/documents/SumChart%201-1-08.pdf From 1-1-1982 to 1-1-2008 The total number of Barnett shale wells is 8960, 3978 vertical and 4982 horizontal.

Comment by Robin Fehrenbach Scala on May 17, 2010 at 1:41am

CJK-
To answer your question about how many wells have been drilled in PA, just go to the DEP website and read all the answers. They are there.

http://www.ahs2.dep.state.pa.us/eFactsWeb/default.aspx

Comment by John Reed on May 17, 2010 at 1:14am

Carolyn, it is fact and it has been confirmed by several high ranking government officials that by converting our transportation fleet to NG, we cut our OPEC consumption in half. If you couple that with converting our coal burning power plants to NG we cut into this by another large percentage. To me this would go a long way in ending our energy dependence while taking money out of the pockets of our adversaries in the middle east. The most effective way to win any war is to financially cripple the enemy. It always has been , and believe it or nor we are at war. We have been attcked on land as well as monetarily. We have been for years.

The biggest reason we are selling our gas abroad is because the demand is too low in the US. Companies are in business to profit. If we are dumb enough to continue to burn coal in our power plants and consume diesel in our transportation fleets the US demand will remain low and we will continue to export the NG. The environmentalists are doing their best to make this happen, for no other reason than politics. If they truly believed in protecting the environment it would be a no brainer to accept NG as a logical energy alternative. Some of the environmentalists say I'm not against NG exploration but I beleive we should move forward cautiously. I have much less of a problem with these individuals. I have found however, they say this and then do nothing but badmouth the entire industry. This exposes their true agenda.

You are correct, NG is a fossil fuel. However, you are incorrect in saying it is not a cleaner alternative to coal, oil or diesel. This is simply untrue. You are also correct the NG will run out. The problem is you are not looking at the big picture. We cannot wave a magic wand and construct the millions of windmills and/or water turbines needed to replace our power plants. A much more feasible alternative is to utilize the NG under our feet. Think of NG as a stepping stone that goes a long way in reducing our targeted greenhouse emissions while helping to bess less dependent on foriegn oil, while helping to stop terrorism, putting more Americans to work, stimulating local economies. At no other time in our nations history has all of the above been so important. It really surprises me more people don't see this and embrace the opportunity we have.

Comment by CJK on May 17, 2010 at 12:15am

I am hoping for some help with some facts- John you has said this:
"Hydraulic fracturing is a process that results in the creation of fractures in rocks. This petroleum engineering method has been used over the past 60 years in more than one million wells by the worldwide natural gas and oil exploration and production industry.."

Can you tell me how many wells were drilled and fraced in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania? When did the earliest occur and where? I would also like to know the depths of all those wells? It would be good to have their locations as well. Is there somewhere that I might go to get all of this information?

I also would like to know what geologist(s), if any, have said that they are sure that the fracing fluid that is being left in the ground will not seep into any fresh water aquifer or migrate to the surface?
I am trying to put together a report and I would like to have the correct information. Any help here as to these questions? I may have more shortly.

Comment by John Reed on May 14, 2010 at 11:51am

Seems like that's what you are wishing for anyway Marie.

Comment by John Reed on May 14, 2010 at 2:28am

T. Boone Pickens
“Senators Kerry and Lieberman are to be commended for a plan that recognizes the economic and national security threat of our ever-increasing dependence on foreign oil, particularly OPEC oil. Achieving energy security is not easy and I applaud their focus on a broad energy package that includes replacing foreign oil/diesel/gasoline with cleaner, abundant domestic natural gas in America’s heavy duty vehicle fleets. I look forward to working with them in the coming weeks to focus attention on that aspect of their legislation. More than 1.6 million Americans have signed on to my campaign to solve the foreign oil crisis, and I’m going to see to it that this objective is achieved as the legislative process evolves. Using natural gas as a transportation fuel is a non-partisan issue. The time to act is now.”

Comment by John Reed on May 14, 2010 at 2:24am

Carolyn, you seem passionate about this. Very respectable. I suggest you stop using oil or electricity to heat your home or to power all of the luxury items in your household such as TV, microwave, stove, washer, dryer etc...
If you use any of these items you are contradicting the points you are trying to make. They complain about an oil spill but continue to use oil and gas every day. They offer no solutions. Stop driving your car Carolyn if you are truly passionate about the gulf disaster. They complain about water usage by NG exploration but continue to use electricity to power their homes. Power plants use alot more water to cool their turbines than the NG industry by an enormous margin. Offer us an alternative Carolyn. How do we get around the enormous water consumption by these power plants?

The wells will be plugged when they are finished. Hopefully well below the water aquifiers. The toxic waste water should be sent down deep under the surface into a deep injection well or properly treated and reintroduced into our streams and rivers. They have been doing this for years with minimal problems. I'm all for biodegradeable compounds being used but it's the least of our worries right now.

Carolyn, are you only concerned with our region or are you truly passionate about the environment in general ? Do you think the energy we currently use via burning of coal, gasoline, oil and diesel fuels is a better choice for us to make as a nation? Or do you think NG is a cleaner, better alternative? I'm interested in your answer.

Comment by John Reed on May 14, 2010 at 1:06am

CJK hydro fracking is a technique utilized in rock formations that are under great pressure due to being at great depths. The sand used in the process helps to keep the fractures open in order to help free the gas or targeted liquid. The chemicals are used to keep the bore hole and casings etc. free of corrosion. Corrosion would inhibit their ability to efficiently extract their target. The Marcellus is considered impermeable. This is why hydrofracking is considered the only technologically effective process in our area. The deeper a formation lyes underground the greater the impermeablity of the formation. The likliehood of methane migration or other naturally occurring migration of methane from the Marcellus is very low because of it being impermeable due to the great depth at which it exists. Obviosuly in other areas where the Marcellus is not deep such as outcrop areas or border areas the less permeable the shale is. I think this is one reason oil and gas companies like to avoid these areas. To me the casings are of utmost importance to us as other shale formations that exist at shallower depths and less impermeable and are much closer to aquifiers so they have a greater risk of methane migration. Surface spills to me are a far greater risk that we should focus on along with casings. I know I sound like a broken record. I also found out that currently the average recovered percentage of frack water in the Marcellus is 12%. This is a little lower than I expected. Another thing to think about. The projection of water usage for hydrofracking in PA when we are consider nearly fully developed (years down the road) is 10 billion gallons per year. Sounds like a huge number right ? Power plants use a little over 10 billion gallons of water in just three days currently in PA. Maybe we should start to focus on the other industires who are truly depleting our water supply. Below is a detailed definition of hydrofracking with a little history.

Hydraulic fracturing is a process that results in the creation of fractures in rocks. This petroleum engineering method has been used over the past 60 years in more than one million wells by the worldwide natural gas and oil exploration and production industry to create fractures that extend from a wellbore drilled into targeted rock formations to enhance oil and natural gas recovery. These fractures are typically kept open by a proppant such as grains of sand, which prevents the fractures from closing. The permeable proppant packed in the fracture provides a conductive channel, resulting in increased reservoir production. The method is informally called fracing or sometimes hydrofracing.

Hydraulic fractures may be natural or man-made and are extended by internal fluid pressure which opens the fracture and causes it to grow into the rock. Man-made fluid-driven fractures are formed at depth in a borehole and extend into targeted rock formations. The fracture width is typically maintained after the injection by introducing a proppant into the injected fluid. Proppant is a material, such as grains of sand, ceramic, or other particulates, that prevent the fractures from closing when the injection is stopped. The method is informally called fracing or hydrofracing. The terms fracking or hydrofracking are often used by opponents of hydraulic fracturing. Natural hydraulic fractures include volcanic dikes and sills.

Comment by CJK on May 13, 2010 at 3:46pm

John- When they have hydrofraced these thousand of wells you speak of did they use all of the water and chemicals that they are using for the gas well process?
When you speak of the Hydro Fracking being around for natural gas exploration for 25 years where, when are you refering to? Is it in the Marellus shale formation or in others? Is that vertical wells or horizontal wells? If it is any of the others you are attempting to compare apples to oranges? Please specify the"being around for 25 years" quote.

"Accidents do happen and will continue to happen but again, they are an acception to the rule and you are greatly overestimating and sensationalizing your points." How can you validate this statement? As far as I am concerned accidents are almost always at least 90% avoidable.

With reference to your lease negogiations you are wise but not everyone is. But the sad fact is that even though you might think that it is an "everyone for themselves" atmopshere, that might not be the case. What you do as a landowner does and will continue to effect your neighbors.Please remember this because when the gas companies come by to sign the agreements and you sign in the interest of gas exploration, you as the landowner risk the possiblity of being sued for damages incurred as a result of the operations of the well pad.

Comment by John Reed on May 13, 2010 at 2:43pm

CJK, you make good points about the landmen. However, I've been told the same thing by two landmen. I had enough common sense to join a landowner group and to educate myself. I was offered $25.00 an acre 1 1/2 years ago. I was told you better sign now or you will miss the boat. We're gone in two weeks. Well they're still here. They are offering $1000.00 an acre now. It's a case of risk vs. reward. $1000.00 is not enough for me or any of my neighbors in comparision to the potential riasks involved.

As for these not being isolated instances of contamination well of course they're not. I just went to the Penn State presentation at Lake Lehman High school this evening. Accidents do happen and will continue to happen but again, they are an acception to the rule and you are greatly overestimating and sensationalizing your points. Hydro fracking has been around for 25 years with regard to natural gas exploration. Also it is and has been utilized to drill thousands of water wells in PA. It is not new at all to PA, just new to our areas.

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