The commission regulates water use and quality along the Delaware River under a 1961 compact among the states of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania and the Federal Government.

In May 2009, the commission notified the natural gas industry that new Marcellus wells cannot be drilled within the river’s drainage area without first applying for and obtaining its approval. At the same time the commission released a set of proposed development rules as part of its water quality regulations.

The regulations are intended to protect the river’s water resources and apply to all gas-development activities including withdrawing water from the river system and the disposal of wastewater (including fracking fluids) from fracking projects.

The public comment period on the proposed regulations, which closed on April 15, drew a heavy response with approximately 58,000 public submissions received, of which more than 36,000 were hostile to the further expansion of Marcellus drilling.

Read more here

Highlighting some of the key differences between oil production, and shale gas production, the article provides pictures and descriptions of some of the highly specialized equipment needed to extract shale gas.

“Just above the target, the driller begins to “land the curve,” and continues to drill horizontally into the shale—typically a distance of 3,500 feet (1,070 meters) or more,” the magazine writes below a photo of dozens of green pipes. “By reaching more surface area, the producers are able to capture more fuel. Using the measure “Mcf,” which translates to “thousand cubic feet,” energy companies say horizontal wells in the Marcellus shale yield from 1 million Mcf to as high as 10 million Mcf or 15 million Mcf per day, compared to just 100 Mcf to 500 Mcf of natural gas per day for conventional Pennsylvania wells.”

The pictorial also talks about the recent shale boom in the US, the role of both independent and major companies in the exploration and extraction of shale, and the potential lucrative benefits of this new energy market.

SEE ALL THE PHOTOS AND READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Enerplus already has several investments in US shale plays, including undeveloped land in northwest West Virginia and Maryland that is prospective for Marcellus shale gas.

The Calgary Herald reports that Enerplus is looking to expand on it’s current shale assets in Marcellus by also targeting acquisitions in the Bakken Shale play.

Of course, Enerplus isn’t the only company jumping on the shale bandwagon. Major oil players like Statoil and Shell have re-tooled their company outlook to focus more on the unconventional gas – a resource that sources call “revolutionary.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

The deal is joint venture with Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc and will see RIL cover an additional 104,000 gross acres in the Pennsylvania shale.

Though this is the largest shale deal RIL has completed on US soil this year, the company said last week it isn’t finished with US buys.

According to reports, Reliance is looking to make a full buyout as it builds the knowledge needed to run shale gas operations independently.

Potential targets for acquisition are Forth Worth’s Quicksilver Resources Inc, Colorado’s Enduring Resources and Houston’s EOG Resources.

READ MORE ABOUT RIL’S LATEST BUY

n the 12 months between July 1, 2009. and June 30, 2010, the state’s 632 producing Marcellus wells released 180 billion cubic feet of gas – an amount that more than doubles Pennsylvania’s annual natural gas production from the years before the shale exploration began.

These numbers not only mean that Marcellus is on track for producing large amounts of shale gas, they also mean that Marcellus is producing more gas than ever imagined.

“Everybody is going to be happy with these numbers,” said Terry Engelder, a geosciences professor at Penn State University who studies the Marcellus Shale. “These numbers are huge.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

“Our goal is to take what we are now learning in Marcellus and transport these skills to other parts of the world,” said John Knight, head of Statoil’s Global Unconventional Gas Department. “Our current joint venture with Chesapeake is giving us an opportunity to train our people in the US shale gas industry.”

Statoil has been a joint-venture partner in Marcellus with Chesapeake Energy since 2008, and currently has 118 wells in production in the Pennsylvania shale play. This year, Statoil acquired even further interest in the play adding 59,000 acres to its current 600,000 acres. In addition to its operational wells, Statoil also has 105 wells awaiting completion and infrastructure.

Helge Lund, Statoil’s CEO, said his company chose a joint venture with a company such as Chesapeake rather than an outright acquisition to gain technical know-how. Now, along with Chesapeake, Statoil is taking that know-how and looking for potential unconventional reserves in under-serviced areas.

“We are now completing a two-year analysis of shale cores from around the globe,” said Knight, including shale plays in China, South Africa and the Gulf of Mexico.

SOURCES:
E&P Magazine: “Statoil Outlines Plans for US Marcellus Operations”

Coal – Virginia’s primary source of income in the energy sector – is still making the most money for the state, but natural gas is closing the gap at a very quick pace.

“The amount of money the state and counties get from natural gas severance taxes is increasing at more than twice the rate of coal severance taxes,” the article says.

Stricter regulations on carbon emissions in the state are even leading some companies to shut down their coal-fired plants in favour of gas-powered plants.

According to a federal government report, there are expected to be about 900 Marcellus wells in West Virginia by the year 2020.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

“In North America, natural gas production from continuing operations grew 5% year over year,” said John A. Mazoni, President and CEO of Talisman. “In Pennsylvania, Marcellus shale gas volumes exceeded 190 mmcf/d during July and we remain on-track for our exit rate target of 250-300 mmcf/d. We’ve also made significant progress in the Montney shale, drilling six development and four pilot wells during the quarter.”

For the last two years, Talisman has been repositioning itself as an unconventional shale gas player. Read more about that here.

“We remain cautious in our short-term outlook,” Manzoni said in a Calgary Herald article, “but we’re well positioned.”

READ TALISMAN’S PRESS RELEASE

From Shell to Total, from BP to Chesapeake and ExxonMobil, nearly every major oil company has been making mergers and acquisitions to become players in the shale gas game.

Coupling the advancement of hydraulic fracturing technology with the seemingly abundant resources in plays like Marcellus, Haynesville and Eagle Ford, shale gas is not only revolutionizing the oil and gas industry in America, but is also making an impact around the world.

Shale gas was cited by Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, for example, as a reason for shutting down one of their major projects in the Shtokman oil fields.

Moreover, the rush to shale gas is a rush towards a more renewable energy source and a more environmentally friendly option, says The Economist.

“The majors’ dash for gas is a bet on demand and climate-change policy,” the article states. “Efforts by the world’s governments to cut carbon emissions have stalled, but the oil majors are voting with their drill bits. The future, they believe, will be less oily and a lot gassier.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

The Midcontinent region, which includes the Woodford and Fayetteville shale plays in the Arkoma Basin, will contribute an estimated .972 Tcf of shale production in 2020 and 1.25 Tcf in 2035.

Southwest shale gas plays, which include older Barnett shale, will produce 1.1 Tcf in 2020 and 1.2 Tcf in 2035, while Northeast region, which includes the Marcellus shale play, will produce .8 Tcf of shale gas in 2020 and 1.2 Tcf in 2035.

SOURCE:
Rigzone: “Today’s Trends: Gulf Coast to Dominate Future Shale Gas Production”