This is amazing.
Utica, Upper Devonian Reserves in Pa. May Match Marcellus’ Bounty
http://rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=105984
Natural gas drillers are accelerating exploration of several Appalachian rock formations that sandwich the Marcellus Shale beneath Pennsylvania, and some experts say the new discoveries may be as prolific as the Marcellus itself.
“What we’ve got is Marcellus times two,” said Terry Engelder, the Pennsylvania State University geosciences professor whose Marcellus Shale estimates in 2008 first drew public attention to the region’s shale gas potential.
Since The Inquirer reported in May that drillers had found recoverable gas in the Utica and Upper Devonian Shales, several operators have become more openly optimistic about a potential natural gas triple play in the region. The new discoveries add momentum to an industry that is rapidly reshaping the economy and the environment of large swaths of rural Pennsylvania.
“A year ago, I didn’t have a feeling the tests were going to be as large as I’ve seen,” Engelder said. “The implications of this are just amazing.”
Range Resources Corp., the Texas company that drilled the first Marcellus well in 2004, is bullish about multiplying output from its acreage, mostly in southwestern Pennsylvania.
IMO, they are after the technology to exploit their own reserves.
Oil and its energy equivalents are pretty much fungible. That’s why prices go up in the US when Libyan supplies are interrupted even though our oil doesn’t come from there. It’s a global market. If our resources are developed, they are here and we can always impound them should there be an emergency.
In a way this may be a good thing. The radical enviro-NIMBY crowd that is doing it’s best to shut down shale fracking here in PA is gonna have their hands full battling the ChiComs.
Cnooc in $2.2 Billion Deal With Chesapeake Energy - NYTimes.com
Oct 11, 2010 ... Cnooc, one of the largest Chinese state-run oil companies, has agreed to buy a third of Chesapeake Energy's oil and gas assets in a south ...
dealbook.nytimes.com/.../cnooc-in-2-2-billion-deal-with-chesapeake-energy/ - Cached
Chinese “partners” will be stealing our advanced fraking technology in no time flat. It’s disgusting that we allow them to buy into a Chesapeake natural gas project. I believe with Donald Trump as president this would not go on
Anything to reduce the trade deficit.
When handed lemons, make lemonade. Sell 'em enough to reduce the trade imbalance, and buy back some of our debt.
1. Drilling is labor intensive and the jobs will be US jobs. Doesn't matter if the owner of the well is US, UK, China or whatever.
2. Oil and gas are fungible commodities. Doesn't matter who buys the gas. Whatever contributes to worldwide supply helps reduce the price.
This may be a good thing if it moderates the price swings of natural gas in the USA. I’m not sure, but I think gas is experiencing a glut now and prices have dropped a bit. If they can export some gas to keep demand for drilling up in the USA, then our drilling industry will stay healthy and be able to provide domestic demand. I am not sure what the cut off is for gas prices that make fracing feasible.
We ain’t seen nothing yet. Just wait til the dollar collapses in the next couple of years!