Surface

Two communities in suburban Pittsburgh voted against a proposal for their regional park authority to sign a five-year, non-surface lease with a land brokerage firm this week, effectively killing the deal.

A suburban Pittsburgh regional park authority in Allegheny County, PA, voted Thursday to sign a five-year, non surface lease with a Pittsburgh land brokerage firm that could lead to Marcellus drilling under the one park the authority runs. The agreement still needs to be approved by four of the five communities that the authority represents.

The industry has just “scratched the surface” of the unconventional gas potential of Appalachia, according to the head of one of the first companies to operate in the play, but producers need to partner if they hope to realize its full potential.

The industry has just “scratched the surface” of the unconventional gas potential of Appalachia, according to the head of one of the first companies to operate in the play, but producers need to partner if they hope to realize its full potential.

Board members of the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) are mulling a report they received Tuesday that recommends significant policy changes for gas drilling near schools and are expected to discuss the items early next month. However, the executive director of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council (BSEEC) told NGI’s Shale Daily the document they are holding is essentially “a hoax.”

A new La Nina event — the cooling of ocean surface temperatures off the western coast of South America — and other conditions are likely to bring warmer-than-normal temperatures to much of the United States through September, according to the latest seasonal forecast from Andover, MA-based WSI Corp.

The application of oil dispersants 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) was set to begin in a matter of hours Friday afternoon as responders continued to combat oil leaking from the deepwater well ruptured last week 42 miles from shore south of Venice, LA (see Daily GPI, April 27). An attempt to drill a relief well to stop the oil’s flow was to begin Saturday.

A “strong and mature” El Nino — the warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean — persisted during January, but it is likely to fade this spring, increasing the chances for an active Atlantic hurricane season this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC).

A “strong and mature” El Nino — the warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean — persisted during January, but it is likely to fade this spring, increasing the chances for an active Atlantic hurricane season this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC).