State Website Gives Peek at Shale Gas Production
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
11 September 11, 2010
By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- So far it's just preliminary, but state environmental
officials have developed an online method for people to check how much
natural gas is being produced by each Marcellus Shale well around the
state.
"This offers more transparency to the public," said John Hanger,
secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. The list is
available at the department's website, http://www.dep.state.pa.us
Under a 6-month-old state law, operators of natural gas wells in areas
of Marcellus Shale -- which cover about 60 percent of the state -- had
to report, by mid-August, their well production totals from July 1,
2009 to June 30, 2010.
The data required by the new law show the huge amount of gas already
being produced, a number certain to grow as more wells are drilled. In
the 12 months ending June 30, there were 632 wells operating in
Marcellus Shale country that generated 180 billion cubic feet of gas.
The most productive wells were in northcentral and northeastern
Pennsylvania, in counties such as Susquehanna, Tioga and Bradford.
The Legislature is still considering Gov. Ed Rendell's call for a new
tax on the amount of natural gas pumped from Marcellus Shale areas.
The new law that took effect in March eliminated sections of the
state's previous Oil and Gas Act, provisions "that required production
data to be kept confidential for five years," Mr. Hanger said. It
removes "a much-criticized layer of secrecy and gives the public and
government unprecedented access to this information."
The online chart "modernizes our data collection and reporting
processes and gives the public and policy-makers a clear picture of how
much natural gas is being generated by the rapidly growing Marcellus
Shale industry," he added.
From the DEP's home page, click on "Oil & Gas" (on the left), then
click on "Bureau of Oil & Gas Management" (in the center), then
click on "O&G Production" (on the left).
Then click on the fourth bullet point, "Marcellus Production Data (as
reported by operators). Using the small triangle in the lower right,
move the chart over to column "M," called Vol., or "volume." The figure
listed is the number of "mcfs," or thousand cubic feet of gas pumped
from each well for the 12-month period ending June 30. The next column,
labeled N, or "Days," shows how many days during that 12-month-period
that the well was in operation.
However, not all of the 74 Marcellus Shale gas drillers in Pennsylvania
submitted their production data by the deadline of Aug. 15. So far, 18
companies have yet to be heard from. Mr. Hanger said his agency will
"pursue whatever enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance
with the law."
More data will be available online by Nov. 1, including all oil and
natural production statewide (including non-Marcellus wells), plus how
much solid waste from drilling operations (such as rock and dirt) and
how much wastewater is being generated at each drilling site.
Bureau Chief Tom Barnes: tbarnes@post-gazette.com or 1-717-787-4254.