Marcellus

Nearly all of the workers hired by the natural gas industry for jobs in the Marcellus and Utica shales in 2012 were residents of states in the region, according to a workforce survey conducted by the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC).

Big Oil’s attempt to take over the North American onshore from U.S. independents so far hasn’t paid off as some would have imagined just a few years ago, with the majors still struggling to capture the kind of profits and production results they may have been anticipating.

President Obama is scheduled to make a two-day trip, stopping at communities in northern New York and northeastern Pennsylvania later this week, traversing two states that so far have taken very divergent paths over Marcellus Shale development.

Prometheus Energy Group Inc. announced that it had signed a multi-year agreement to supply Antero Resources with enough liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power “a significant portion” of Antero’s natural gas-fueled drilling rigs in the Marcellus and Utica shales.

A biannual production report posted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) shows the state’s stable of unconventional gas wells produced a record 1.42 Tcf during the first six months of 2013.

Exploration and production (E&P) companies remain enthusiastic about the U.S. onshore, in particular the Permian Basin, Niobrara formation, Utica Shale and the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), based on observations at the recent EnerCom Consulting oil and natural gas conference, said two analyst teams who were there. However, Marcellus Shale pricing appears to be a “real concern for the buyside.”

Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission LP is holding a supplemental open season for firm transportation service on its Uniontown to Gas City (U2GC) Expansion Project, which offers shippers a new firm path from the Marcellus Shale in west Uniontown, PA, to the pipeline’s existing interconnect with Panhandle Eastern Pipeline near Gas City, IN.

The Shale Gas Roundtable (SGR) — a 26-member group that includes elected officials and representatives from the oil and gas industry, academia, environmentalists and philanthropic organizations — has issued a list of recommendations to advance shale gas development in Pennsylvania.

State regulators in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia collectively issued 411 permits for oil and gas drilling during the month of July, most of which targeted the Marcellus and Utica shales.