Meanwhile... NYS Quietly Plans to... (Wait for it...) Burn More Natural Gas

[Original post Dec. 15.  Quick update Dec. 17.]

I noticed this beneath-the-radar development sometime last week on a link supplied by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York. 

JLCNY is the "coalition of coalitions," and has emerged as the leading, landowner-oriented voice on the pro-drilling, pro-fracking, pro-development side of the New York's Ceaseless Shale Gas Debates (though it has been often rendered invisible by state media's heroic preference for untruthfully seeing this contest solely as Homespun Greens Versus Heartless Industry).

This is an obscure document — several pages out of reams of annual flow — posted by a relatively obscure state agency, the Public Service Commission.NYS Public Service Commission Starts Proceedings to Expand Natural Gas Availability and Use

I haven't yet had a chance to absorb all of it, or all of the associated filings so far, but I think it's fair to say this represents a quiet shift in New York State energy policy — five years into the shale gas technological revolution:  The Empire State now proposes to comb through its thick catalog of outdated rules in order to get itself consuming more natural gas!

(Maybe not more natural gas from New York — but natural gas, nonetheless, much of it increasingly fracked from out of state.)

This policy shift is necessarily quiet, of course, because it's so embarrassing, hypocritical, and two-faced:  Upstate New York is geologically host to an estimated 20 percent of the now-essentially-proven Marcellus Shale resource, and it overlies who knows what proportion of the still-developing prospects in similar Utica and Upper Devonian shales.

And yet none of that indigenous resource has been tested, explored, or produced using full-scale technology — on account of New York's hotly contested moratorium on any drilling permit requiring a high-volume completion (which, by my stubborn reckoning, is now actually approaching the five-year mark, not the four-and-a-half year mark).

The NYS PSC file is Case Number 12-G-0297, and it can be read in full — as the paperwork piles up, and the decision-making evolves — by searching for those documents here.

As always, without hand-holding by sophisticated persuasive interests, state media reps are oblivious, unknowing, and incapable of independent analysis.  But I challenge any journalist, researcher, or citizen who truly cares about the full, honest story of New York's increasingly conflicted relationship with fossil fuels to look into this further, and to report the news.

You'll have your choice of angle and spin:

Real-deal finger-pointing:  New York is truly a selfish resource pig — hungry for all the benefits of natural gas, but flinching from the burdens and responsibility of its production.

Shrugging and apologetic:  Hey, it's complicated.

It's not as though the PSC, as an arm of the Cuomo Administration, hasn't specifically sought coverage of its ordinarily dull planning efforts, which offer an unassailable net win for the consumption side of the state's economy — even without accounting for the environmental side, which is also a net win.  I noticed the second time through the file that one of the first posted items is a press release, which helpfully connects the dots between the PSC's natural gas expansion effort and the governor's broader "Energy Highway" initiative:

Press Release -- Gov. Cuomo's "Energy Highway" Plan Includes More Natural Gas

Even with The Cuomo Imprint, however (which ordinarily would be reported Nine Ways from Sunday), the only coverage I've seen so far on this was in the Albany paper.  That piece unaccountably managed to avoid all reference to fracking, hydrofracking, or hydraulic fracturing.  It did happen to mention the economic impact of shale gas from out of state, whatever the hell that stuff is.

Killing Science: New York Establishment Births a Modern Dark Age

"...encourages and facilitates basic and applied research for the purpose of the creation and dissemination of knowledge vital for continued human, scientific, technological and economic advancement..."

— From SUNY's mission statement

Terrible news yesterday for New York State's academic freedom, public education, subject matter expertise, informed public policy, and a clear-minded approach to objective reality:  Brass at the SUNY University at Buffalo have reacted to howls of emotional protest, growing out of the fracking question, by yanking the rug out from under its nascent Shale Resources and Society Institute.

Probably no one but me statewide will say so, but this act is the modern-day American equivalent of the Vatican putting the screws to Galileo.

It is not so much the burning of witches, as it is — in parallel with the treatment throughout most of 2011 of New York State Geologist Dr. Langhorne "Taury" Smith — the muzzling of legitimate expertise.

It is a retreat from what is known and knowable, and an embrace instead of fear, feeling, and simply not wanting to know.  In this sort of Modern Dark Age, New York's educational institutions have flinched from their job of meaningfully informing the public, and training future expertise, with all that is necessary and proper for running and revising a modern society. 

SUNY has effectively said — screw the mission of our founding and our purpose — we just don't want to get into it.  We are too afraid to get involved in any balanced way in the modern era of exploitation of oil and gas resources.  There is public controversy here, and most of the press seems bad, and so we flee from all that.

It might be a little late to be bringing this up, but, in New York State, "The Man" — that is, "The Powers That Be," or "The Establishment" — no longer seeks to value or balance development and enterprise with science, regulation, or wisdom.

Instead, "The Man" in New York is a loose cabal of Anti-Development Activists and associated Appearance Jockeys — sensitive to gut persuasion, far more than rational substance — that simply doesn't want to know about such things, and is, in fact, afraid of knowledge, and the power it brings.

To me, it is very much like the official, simian crumpling of a paper airplane in a scene from the 1968 film "Planet of the Apes."  For some, knowledge is dangerous, and must be suppressed by any means necessary.

In September 2011, in Pennsylvania, after the passage of an over-tolerant year or so, the University of Pittsburgh killed off its activist-funded, activist-inspired FracTracker database, and associated exhortations.  Academic leaders said quite rightly their institution was not for sale — not to anyone, including the Heinz Foundation, which was outrageously open in its disappointment that its millions of dollars ultimately failed to buy the maximum amount of academically imprinted, anti-shale gas activism.  Heinz vowed to shop around for a replacement mouthpiece, but, to my knowledge, no one but the student newspaper felt compelled by duty to shed any alarming light on the underlying motives.

Now, in November 2012, in New York, just seven months after starting out, UB amputates its own shale gas policy research wing, without even any attempt at re-balance.  Activists and media are celebrating the news statewide, like the rolling out of a guillotine before a righteous mob.  The experts involved are doomed for having previously done their work directly or indirectly through industry dollars, and for holding to the mainstream, professional premise that hydraulic fracturing for unconventional fossil fuel resources can and should be done in a regulated way.

Are both these muzzlings the same thing in reverse?

They are not.

By stated mission, right from its legislative origins, SUNY is host to a number of academic institutions that can be historically witnessed as relevant to, and supportive of, the generalized fields of — openly stated — resource extraction.  All are free to fight this, even while it is necessary work to support their lifestyles, but such enterprises represent a fact of modern life.  Without controversy or question, money flows from the public, and from vested interests, to support this work.  Sometimes the public, and these vested interests, get the answers they want to hear.  And sometimes they don't.

Science has been, and will be, like that, always.  It is in the nature of evolution of knowledge.  The ongoing generation of new, reliable, objective information is something that society can only flee, suppress, or crumple at its peril.

My graduate alma mater, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, was, in fact, initiated as the State Forestry College.  That school is most decidedly not devoted to the emotional proposition that all cutting of trees is "bad."  Sun, soil, water, and trees form the basis for a multitude of values, including values to exploitive industries, to consumers, and to the economy generally.

In Ithaca, Cornell University hosts the SUNY College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and numerous other programs statewide are similarly aligned with expertly guiding the fates of farming.  These schools are most decidedly not devoted to the emotional proposition that all human manipulation of the environment for the purpose of food production is "bad."  Sun, soil, water, and crops form the basis for a multitude of values, including values to exploitive industries, to consumers, and to the economy generally.

Good?

Bad?

SUNY formerly stood for the proposition that only idiots prefer to engage the modern world in such uninformed, such simple-minded, ways.

Now, as for fossil fuels extraction generally, and as for the particular technological advent of extracting unconventional resources, SUNY stands for the proposition that public controversy trumps all.

It's a dark day dawning in New York, and I am shocked and ashamed to be living so powerlessly in this state's new era — as a native, as a resident, as a citizen, and as a SUNY alum.

New York's Referendum on Fracking: Ummm... Now for the Wool-Gathering

NY anti-fracking candidates fared poorly at polls MARY ESCH, Associated Press Updated 2:37 a.m., Thursday, November 8, 2012 ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Anti-fracking sentiment in the Southern Tier was felt at the polls this week when candidates opposed to drilling were beaten up and down the ballot after intense campaigns, some that were framed as referendums on shale gas development.

This lead paragraph reminds me of a great line from the Watergate Era's All The President's Men — an explanation for Bob Woodward's terrible rookie copy: Wags around the office water-cooler were said to joke that English was not his native language. Here, let's break it down:  Anti-fracking sentiment was felt...  as the anti-fracking candidates consistently lost their races...? Maybe Esch meant such sentiment was gauged at the polls, but found to be weak?  Wanting?  Over-hyped?  Under-sized?  Lackluster?  Tepid?  Flaccid?

... Anti-fracking groups focused their post-election comments on races in other parts of the state where winning candidates had taken a stand against fracking while not making it a central theme. Sue Rapp of Vestal Residents for Safe Energy, which opposes fracking, said pro-fracking groups should not take the election results as a referendum in favor of drilling. "All these election results mean is that big money is still a big factor in our electoral process," said Rapp, who said the gas industry and related businesses supported Preston and other drilling boosters. "We believe that the majority of residents understand that we are not ready for fracking anywhere in New York state."

I just love these guys. Anti-drillers, in other words, tout the vote as a referendum on drilling — but only if they had won. We see a lot of this kind of wishful, one-way logic going unchallenged in New York's shale gas debate: • Home Rule is a great concept — but not for Upstate towns ready already for the drilling to begin. • The federal EPA should uniformly regulate shale gas production nationwide — but they better not try handing out any drilling permits in New York. • Academic studies on the hydraulic fracturing issue should be burned as heresy, if they're traced in any way to industry dollars — but celebrated as gospel, if they're funded with activist and not-for-profit dollars.

The larger question regarding New York's ongoing shale gas saga is whether there is a consistent story-selection (or angle-selection) bias with in-state media outlets.  I mean — can we talk?  To me, it doesn't get any clearer than this already researched and written (though apparently not already edited) thing from the AP — landing like a turd within New York.  Though I realize it's still early in the day today, this might prove to be another one of those even-handed, New York-relevant stories — datelined from the state capitol — that runs virtually nowhere in New York State. Looking for it a number of different ways, Google News at the time of this posting is showing Mary Esch's story sits solely on web pages traced to the San Francisco Chronicle and Bloomberg Business Week. Maybe everybody else is still kerflummoxed by the lead.

EmKey, Successor to Part of Norse, Planning Broome-Chenango-Madison Natgas Pipeline

Map depicting the north end of the sequence of already-inked pipeline easements,
originally collected over a number of years by Norse, and now in EmKey's hands.
This and the map which follows, depicting the south end, were put of public record in
October 2012 in Broome County, NY (and probably also in Chenango and Madison counties),
as an exhibit within the suite of documents necessary for setting down the transfer. 

Map depicting the south end. 

[First draft Nov. 5. Updated with some additional detail.]

Another pipeline!

Word is trickling out from both pro- and anti-drilling sources regarding a plan from EmKey Resources to significantly expand upon a sequence of on-paper natural gas pipeline easements originally pulled together by predecessor Norse Energy.  The points of expansion include longer length, potential throughput interconnections, fatter diameter, and therefore, bigger transport volumes. 

As will always be the case, not all those affected, or potentially affected, have yet been fully informed about the ultimate plan, or have gotten on board with it.

Who should be paying close attention?  The route as initially proposed runs north to Morrisville from Windsor — so citizens of, and officials in, and media who do their best to cover, the Townships of Eaton and Lebanon in Madison County; Smyrna, Plymouth, Preston, Smithville, Oxford, Coventry, and Afton in Chenango County; and Colesville and Windsor in Broome County. 

Needless to say, folks in the larger universe of New York's ongoing shale gas battle — those who say "no" versus those who say "grow" — are also likely to see this development as another good place to jump in and start spinning.

I've embedded between paragraphs here a copy of the developer's preliminary Point And Click Show (there's another map on page 5) announcing this project.  I'm told Chenango County leaders first quietly glimpsed it just last week.  I got my hands on it through my non-resident connection with some of the most resourceful landowners in all of Upstate — those who participate in the CNY Landowners' Coalition Discussion Forum, and who are committed to the free flow of useful information (even when it inevitably leads to yet more controversy).
Proposed EmKey Resources Pipeline — Color Version Questions:

How big?  The developer says 24 inches in diameter, which is not as big as Constitution (30 inches), but still a big job.  The biggest project Norse or EmKey has previously officially put forth was an 8-mile, 16-inch gathering pipeline, but without any potential south-to-north throughput connection.  I interpret Norse-to-EmKey transfer documents already filed with the New York State Public Service Commission as indicating that the digging on that project hasn't started yet.  EmKey appears to believe the enlarged scheme will not take the already green-lighted 16-inch plan back to Square One with state officials, though I do kinda wonder about that.

How long?  The route was described (at the point in time of the Norse-to-EmKey transfer) as running 75 miles measured from the Tennessee Pipeline on the north to the Millennium on the south.  Current project summaries indicate that's still the number.

How much?  I heard second-hand the developer is putting out the figure of $135 million, about half of which will be in search of other investment sources.

Timing?  Notification to landowners by the end of the month (October or November?), and survey work possibly to begin soon after.  Preparation of an application to lead agency NYS PSC by the first or second quarter of 2013.

Is it big enough to set the stage for another round of ideological, political and land-rights conflict within the ordinarily dull, decision-making process established by the NYS PSC?  I'm sorry to say I expect it is.

Does the pipeline mean consumption-level natural gas service might be on the horizon for those unserved residents, businesses, and public institutions nearby that have especially large needs, or which occupy areas that are already pretty well densely settled?  That would sure seem like a promising possibility to me if I lived out in that area, hustling firewood, or paying the bills for trucked-in fuel.

Local property tax impact?  Jobs impact?  Better not get me started on that stuff.

What inter-connects does this pipeline intend to connect?  I'm seeing potential for connections to both the only-proposed Constitution and the already-built Millennium at the south end, and for connections to the already-built Tennesee and Dominion on the north end.  Near the middle, there's a previously obvious crossing with an 8-inch NYSEG line which already feeds such select, built-up areas as Oneonta, Norwich, and Oxford.  (Another edgy scenario where some folks pre-disposed to work against such a project happen to live in a situation where they "already got theirs.")

Does the developer intend to build this thing, regardless of whether New York State is ever able to see the pragmatic, non-hypocritical wisdom of making way for local landowners to make deals with drillers to help feed this supply with their own indigenous shale gas?  EmKey is saying no — the plan is another developmental carrot that's dependent upon New York State finally resolving to put its tortured shale gas environmental review to bed, and to open itself up for drilling.  To me, the alternate scenario would be a little bit like state and local government approving private sector construction of a yogurt plant — where all the milk is supplied from out of state.  But this is New York, after all.

Other sources out there so far:

Word from the Lebanon Town Board, led by a more-contentious-than-average Supervisor, that they have scheduled Stephen Keyes of EmKey to come meet with them Nov. 12.

A conversation among mostly Chenango County landowners which may be enlarged upon in the days ahead.

EmKey's existing north-south system in Central New York (though, at this point,
I am unable to vouch for this being already fully built at the already green-lighted sizes). 
The map has been borrowed from one of many investor-oriented documents put out there
by leading area leaseholder Norse Energy, which initiated the pipeline development work
before transfer to EmKey.

Constitution Raises Stakes in Poker Game with Pipeline NIMBY's: Natural Gas, Anyone?

Copied and pasted below, this announcement came out this morning — a local, consumer-level, natural gas supply framework between the developer of the interstate Constitution Pipeline, and Leatherstocking Gas, a new, Binghamton, NY-based partnership between a traditional upstate utility, and a company known largely for delivering fuel oil and propane by truck.

What this does is it ups the ante for localized benefits to rural NY and PA communities that have been targeted as ground zero (negative spin), or chosen as hosts (positive spin), for this proposed, 120-mile, 30-inch interstate natural gas pipeline.  The Constitution project was originally pushed into public view by the actions of a competitor in April February 2012, and it has of course already devolved into the realm of New York's all-too-familiar, fracking-enhanced Enviro-NIMBY Versus Economic Growth debate.

Politically, today's announcement works like this:  It takes the legs out from under opponents by challenging their fundamental hypocrisy — on grounds of both ideology and economic self-interest.  After all, lots of folks — who prefer to consider themselves well-informed, well-meaning, and righteous — are already caught in the trap of railing against fossil fuels, while they at the same time directly or indirectly burn the stuff daily.  This announcement invites many thousands more New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians to ultimately jump into the Pool of the Pragmatically Conflicted.  What side would you be on in this pipeline battle, if you foresaw the potential for this kind of fuel choice in your small town?

It brings the question much closer to the doorsteps and basements of rural homes, schools, businesses, and other institutions.

It asks this:  Whatever New York State ultimately decides to do — drill-wise and frack-wise — would you rather burn this stuff, partly mostly fracked out of Pennsylvania and elsewhere — or keep on keeping on with your trucked-in fuel oil (partly fracked and partly OPEC), propane (partly fracked), or electric (based on sources largely partly fracked, partly nuclear, and partly coal)? 

Even if you've already invested in private setups to capture energy from firewood, solar, wind, or geothermal (good for you, in my book, by the way, and I really mean that), would you like to have methane by metered pipe as a backup, and as a choice?  (The reflexively frackophobic college town of Hamilton, in Madison County, NY, has already, by village referendum, answered a very similar question in the affirmative.)  Would you rather your community had this kind of choice?  What's really better for your planet?  What's really better for your budget?  Have you run the numbers lately?

I'm going to make a prediction now:  Upstate media outlets, especially the Oneonta and Binghamton newspapers, will go out of their way to ignore this Leatherstocking development, or to find a way to under-cover it, or to re-spin it entirely.  Some news is just too psychologically painful to report straight-forwardly, honestly, and independently — and both organs have already lost all reliability and credibility on these scores.  Reporters and editors are at least partly human; it happens.

But, here, I'll make it easy for these guys, and find that alternate angle for a slick re-spin:  Though nifty Cooperstown's own Otsego County is on the Constitution developer's alternate routing for this pipeline, that area is not on Leatherstocking's list of future supply areas!  Nor is the pipeline's interconnect endpoint of Schoharie County!  What's that about?  Is that an oversight, or extortion, or what?  That ought to piss somebody off, which is all that local news consists of, these days, anymore.  Mad about the pipeline — and, at the same time, mad about getting screwed out of local supply — sure, it makes no logical sense.  But it is good copy.

(Should there be any free-thinking journalists left in Upstate, in the alternative, I see that there is, between the lines, a story inside the story here:  Even if the Constitution Pipeline ultimately dies another politically charged death at the hands of the ever-hostile New York mob, Leatherstocking claims to already have Summer 2013 construction plans for serving a number of unnamed, previously un-served, communities.  I wonder what areas are on that list.  If I was paying fuel oil bills in Great Bend or Hallstead, PA, or Windsor or Bainbridge or Sidney, NY, that would sure seem like news to me.)

NEWS RELEASE
Nov. 2, 2012

Constitution Pipeline Agrees to Work with Local Gas Provider

Rural communities in PA, NY could have access to natural gas in the future

Constitution Pipeline Company and Leatherstocking Gas Company, LLC have signed an agreement to work in good faith to pursue agreements for the design, construction and operation of delivery interconnects along Constitution’s proposed pipeline route.

If constructed, the Constitution Pipeline would be classified as an “open access pipeline,” meaning that local municipalities or public utilities like Leatherstocking Gas Company, LLC could potentially tap the line in the future to provide residential, commercial and industrial natural gas service.

“Leatherstocking’s plan is to provide lower cost, clean burning, abundant, domestic natural gas to rural communities,” said Leatherstocking CEO, Mike German. “Tapping into the Constitution Pipeline would help us achieve that goal.”

Leatherstocking’s vision is the development of natural gas local distribution systems within Broome, Chenango, Delaware, and Madison Counties in New York State and Susquehanna County in Pennsylvania in locations currently without natural gas service.  The company plans to begin constructing portions of its natural gas distribution networks not dependent upon Constitution Pipeline in the summer of 2013.

Constitution Pipeline Project Manager Matt Swift says the possibility that local communities, who currently don’t have access to natural gas, might be able to take advantage of the resource is very exciting.

“We believe working with Leatherstocking is a great opportunity for the Constitution Pipeline to potentially facilitate a direct, tangible benefit for communities along the pipeline route,” added Swift.

Leatherstocking believes providing one of the area’s most abundant natural resources to the people living in the region makes good business and environmental sense.

“Our goal is to provide a lower cost, cleaner burning energy source to the people of the region than what they currently utilize,” said Leatherstocking Secretary, Lindsay Meehan.  “That is very exciting.”

Dryden & Middlefield Drill Ban Appeals Filed; NY Media Still Screwing It Up

Trying something new here:  A paragraph-by-paragraph critique of some below-the-radar reporting on a recent development in New York State's ongoing contest over shale gas.

(Yes, yes — I'm familiar with the concept of lost causes; just can't help myself, at least for today.)

Appeals Filed In Middlefield And Dryden Fracking Ban Cases Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:16 pm by Liz Benjamin Attorney Tom West has formally appealed two watershed state Supreme Court decisions that upheld local hydrofracking bans in the towns of Dryden and Middlefield.

Statewide story selection bias:  In the day-and-a-half-long period following this post, which represents a minor scoop for Liz Benjamin, writing for the Albany Times-Union's Capital Confidential blog, Google News searches show that not a single mainstream media outlet in or out of New York State followed up with their own coverage of the news developments reported here.  Given the volume of reportage the Dryden and Middlefield cases have received, both prior to and after the early 2012 decisions by the first-round judges — and given the ease with which developments slanting in the drilling opposition's favor receive nearly instantaneous, widespread coverage — this does seem remarkable.

Word choice:  Though I realize it's a little late in the game to be bringing this up, recent in-state public opinion surveys have demonstrated that the words "hydrofracking" and "fracking" are perjorative, as compared to "drilling," "shale gas," or "natural gas."  More to the point, in the context of this particular issue, these descriptors are incorrect:  Both towns, motivated by especially strong local public concern over the issue of fracking for shale gas, have decided to attempt to zone out (within the category of heavy industry) any drilling for fossil fuels, including old-school wells.  (Though not, apparently, salt mining, or geothermal development, both of which involve similar equipment, impacts, and land use.)

The Dryden (Tompkins County) case was initial brought by brought by an oil and gas company, the Middlefield (Otsego County) case by Jennifer Huntington, a dairy farmer and president of Cooperstown Holstein Corporation. Both cases, which essentially held that state law regulating gas drilling does not take away a town’s right to enact zoning, were initially decided in February.

Misleading and incorrect through imprecision:  Neither town sought to keep drilling out of certain zones, such as what is currently being contested in PA (in that state's carrot-and-stick, impact fee showdown); both sought to zone it out completely through townwide bans.

Appeals were expected, so the news that they are now formally in motion does not come as a surprise.

Errant observation:  It's true that lawyers for the pro-drilling side had long previously preserved their clients' right to appeal.  But a number of anti-drilling activists have since put forth the theory that Anschutz, the plaintiff in the Dryden case, had had enough of the deteriorating situation in New York State, was dropping out, and that the appeal would therefore die through lack of funding.  Though Benjamin failed to notice or report a secondary development on this point, this speculation has now been proven as partly true:  The papers show Anschutz is out, and Norse Energy has substituted itself, taking over at least part of the local lease interest, as well as the plaintiff role.  So the perfection of that appeal, especially through this substitution, might come as a surprise to some.

West said the records on appeal, appellate briefs and fees for the appeals were filed in both cases yesterday in the Appellate Division, Third Department Since the Dryden and Middlefield decisions, the city of Binghamton saw its moratorium struck down by a judge who argued that it was premature because the state hasn’t yet made a decision about whether to allow the controversial natural gas drilling process in the Marcellus – and eventually perhaps the Utica – shales.

Omission:  In addition to the City of Binghamton's (so-far struck down) temporary moratorium — not a permanent ban — a fourth municipality has at least technically entered the realm of litigation on this same issue.  An acreage-owning hunting association, the Highland Field & Stream Club, on Oct. 11 was reported solely by pro-drilling sources as preparing to sue the Town of Highland (Sullivan County) on constitutional "takings" grounds.  Unfortunately — except, by my count, two outlets local to the Catskills — media statewide have either missed or chosen to ignore this story. Also, errant observation:  The potential of the Utica shale in NY is no longer uniformly discounted by current conventional wisdom.  See, for instance, Norse Energy's list of permit requests, as well as Minard Run's forecast for its Finger Lakes interests, purchased from Chesapeake Energy. Lastly, this is incorrect through imprecision:  NY's moratorium, impact study, and draft regs concern high-volume hydraulic fracturing within tight reservoir rocks.  No distinction is made between development of Marcellus or Utica shales (nor, for that matter, Upper Devonian shales, ownership of which a partly overlapping set of NY landowners also possess — whether or not in-state media continue to remain ignorant of this fact).

There has been some question as to who would be paying for these appeals. I asked West about that, and this was his response: “There is very little funding for these appeals. In fact, although one operator has pledged a small amount, we have not been paid yet. Although this issue is critical to industry, the lack of funding is directly related to the apathy towards New York based upon the low commodity pricing and the high degree of regulatory uncertainty.” “Even in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, which does not have any liquid fractions, most operators have substantially curtailed their operations or mothballed their drilling operations until the commodity price increases. I believe that I read somewhere that the rig count in the US is the lowest in 10 years.” So, in other words, West is appealing without getting paid? “Yes,” he said.

Bias due to ignorance, bad assumption, and blindness to obvious facts:  As should be clear from Jennifer Huntington's role as the Middlefield plaintiff, industry is not the only interest group with a motive for funding these cases.  In fact, landowners and ideologically supportive non-industry others have fund-raised to support the Middlefield lawsuit (though, for all I know, they may not have raised enough to cover all the costs to date, or future costs).  A phone call to Dick Downey of the Unatego-area coalition, or Binghamton lawyer Scott Kurkoski, who's been involved in the Middlefield case, would certainly firm this up. Lastly, here are some presumably newsworthy future sequencing forecasts from Tom West that have been left out:  "The Appellate Division, Third Department will establish a briefing schedule and ultimately schedule these cases for oral argument. There will be briefing from the Respondents and Amicus filings in support and in opposition to these appeals. We are cautiously optimistic that the matter will be scheduled for the February Term of the Appellate Division, which occurs in early February. Typically, the Appellate Division renders a decision 6 to 8 weeks after the oral argument."

Albany Rally For Truth & Energy, Oct. 15

Best hat of the day.

Nobody brought pitchforks, except for the one in this image, marking New York's
repeated delays on the question of shale gas (positive spin), or fracking (perjorative spin).
On the left, that's Susan Dorsey of Chenango County, 
one of the primary firebrands to this rally..

Probably the best reporter statewide on this issue (but still not as good as he could be),
Jon Campbell of the Gannett chain, appearing to be in the act of actually counting the crowd. 
But here's how Campbell's count wound up getting reported:  "Several hundred."
Some partisans put attendance at more than 1,000, while I figured it peaked at about 700 —
including construction workers in hard hats joining late on their lunch breaks. 
I can tell you this for sure:  It took 16 busses to get most of the out of towners there,
probably all of them run on diesel.

Facing the crowd, with the Hudson River behind.

Landowners and supporters filled the amphitheater in Albany's Corning Preserve along the Hudson.

Landowners from Steuben County hit the road at 5:30 a.m., but were among the first to arrive. 
The pro-drilling side has been torn by those who are now ready to attack 
Governor Cuomo directly for his leadership pattern of delay, 
and those who still think it's smarter to counsel continued patience.

U.S. anthem sung by a Chinese choir from Queens, as viewed by one-time chicken farmer
Doug Lee, a landowner activist who emceed for the day, despite his middling accent. 
One of the most interesting, but totally blown, angles to New York's shale gas fight is the
disproportionate number of recent immigrants who are right in the thick of it.
I suspect this phenomenon has to do with New York populations who have personally experienced
oppression overseas — and are now fired up, watching their opportunities again under a
similar threat here in their adopted U.S.  It's a familiar pattern for anyone who's ever hung out
over the last two or three decades with exiles of Cuba, South Vietnam, China, or
eastern Europe:  Their political outlook has been shaped much more forcefully in the direction of
traditional American values than that of most pre-existing citizens. 
I think that would make a helluva story, and some of it did get rare notice in the Albany paper here.

Crossing the pedestrian bridge into downtown Albany.  City police had officers mounted on
some really nice-looking workhorses to lead the protest march through street crossings.

Out-of-their-depth, anti-fracking celebrities were a frequent target, and rightfully so. 
But, on the same day as this rally, Yoko Ono and her son Sean Lennon were consulted by
New York media outlets for their expertise on health studies.

Race car van in parade of marchers and vehicles.  Does anyone know if
Kyle DeMetro's Number 15 car actually runs on natural gas?

Rosie the Riveter reincarnated.  I have a soft spot for persuasive material that lives on
in re-purposed forms, especially stuff with appeal to both the left and the right. 
Like peace signs surrounding "Drill a Gas Well, Bring a Soldier Home,"
this is another good one.

Message about mineral rights (in German) for Governor Cuomo.
Again, I ask, what is with these immigrants who seem to take their American rights much
more seriously than the largely jaded majority that's been kicking around here for generations? 
Upstate's remaining, largely old, largely white, largely rural guard has, in fact, counter-intuitively
joined forces with small circles of recent immigrants — to defend property rights and
economic opportunity against the continued onslaught of government control,
which lives on from the Sixties.  Unfortunately, this theme is a nearly complete turnoff for the younger
generations shaping modern media, especially in New York and the rest of the Northeast U.S. 
To most of them, it's just not a story.  I think that's nuts.

State Senator Tom Libous, representing the Binghamton, NY area, and one of the few
pol's statewide to consistently and forcefully support the pro-development cause. 
Most leaders, including Governor Cuomo, seem too afraid of the omnipresent shaming from
drilling opponents to take an unequivocal stand for (what I see as) the middle, regulated ground.
It's a failure of leadership in a democratic society, and New York State has a long,
colorful history of such failures.

Awesome Quotes From NY's Frack War

"Transportation Agreement — I am reserving seats on this bus in order to support the cause of natural gas development by attending a pro-gas rally in Albany.  If it is determined by any of the organizers of this event or their agents that I have another agenda making my claim of support fraudulent, the organizers or their agent shall have the right to refuse seats, to drop me off where ever they see fit, or to refuse any other service with no obligation to me.  The organizers reserve the right to claim theft of services and pursue all legal recourse against me should I act in any manner detrimental to the cause of promoting natural gas development in NY State.  Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

— Legalese accompanying an online sign-up for bus transportation to attend an Oct. 15,
2012 pro-gas rally in Albany, NY, put on by the new Landowner Advocates of NY.

“If you want to discourage fracking, ban gas in New York City, where your other house is.”

— Sidney, NY Town Supervisor Bob McCarthy, pointedly taking on opponents of natural gas
in all infrastructural forms by accusing them of being only part-time residents of NY's Leatherstocking
Region.  This is from an Oct. 11, 2012 article in the Oneonta Daily Star reporting Delaware County's
Board of Supervisors voted 17-to-3 in favor of the PA-NY Constitution Pipeline traversing at least
some part of its jurisdiction, despite significant protest from the usual forces.

"Please add my name to the list of citizens opposed to Route M of the Constitution Pipeline.  While I agree that natural gas, taken in isolation, has certain benefits to goals such as cleaner-burning fuels, my own opinion is that the hydrofracturing extraction process used in the Northeast to recover it has many impacts that militate against natural gas on a net basis."

— Huffington Post "journalist" — and Burlington, NY, resident — Andrew Reinbach, joining
hundreds of other pipeline/shale gas opponents with his own Oct. 8, 2012 comment,
dutifully posted to the official web-filed record by FERC (search Docket Number PF12-9-000).
"Route M" is the developer's primary alternative, devised in mid-stream in an attempt to
meet opponents halfway — by running much of the pipeline in or along the government's
Interstate Route 88 corridor.  Pipeline supporter NY Shale Gas Now was the first
statewide to advocate for such an idea in March 2012.

"...[W]e don't think this is going to happen anytime soon.  And there is a good possibility that by the time all of these things come to be true, all of our leases will have expired."

— Carrizo Oil & Gas investor relations officer Richard Hunter, quoted in an Oct. 12, 2012 story by NGI's
Shale Daily (sorry, paid subscription required).  This was the Texas explorer's avowed lack of a plan for any follow-up to its vertical Marcellus shale test well — "discovered" by drilling opponents and media to be
underway some three weeks after it was started in the Town of Owego, Tioga County, NY.  Note that this company doesn't seem to view as viable a claim of "force majeure" — which others have argued could legally extend leases on the grounds that New York State's shale gas moratorium has made it impossible to operate.

“We’ve heard of a lot of ways to do outdoor cooking but Troop 57 of Skaneateles certainly pulled a new one out of the bag recently.  The girls hiked along Otisco Lake through Puddin’ Mill Gorge where they cooked their lunch with natural gas which came up through the creek bed.”

— Item headlined “Troop 57 Does Out-Door Cooking in a New Way,” from the Skaneateles Historical
Society’s "Girl Scout Scrapbook," Skaneateles, NY, Dec. 1942.  This was side-barred in a Sept. 4, 2012
report on New York State's pre-existing condition — regarding naturally occurring methane-infused
water — by William M. Kappel and Elizabeth A. Nystrom of the United States Geological Survey.
This illuminating report was virtually ignored by New York media, but you can find an intro, and a link to a
downloadable, six-page PDF, here — complete with flaming water pics from the still-frackless Empire State.

"Man Allegedly Tries to Grab Officer's Handgun During Traffic Stop...  Man Indicted for Using Enemas, Resealing and Returning Them to Store...  Cornell’s International Ag Program Earns First USDA Global Award...  Man Has Pinkie Finger Severed in Machete Attack Over Beer at Daughter's Birthday Party...  Mother Accused of Burning Son's Hands on Stove For Touching iPad...  Man Cooking Squirrel For Lunch Ignites Fire That Destroys Apartments...  Mother Who Beat Toddler, Glued Child's Hands to Wall Sentenced to 99 Years in Prison..."

— Verbatim selection of top news headlines from WBNG TV, Channel 12, of Binghamton, NY
appearing on Oct. 13, 2012.  Only the Cornell one was of local or statewide relevance.

ExxonMobil Gets in NY's Stalled Shale Gas Queue: Two Tickets to Sanford, Please

Two full-on Marcellus shale drilling applications from ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy popped within New York State's electronic records yesterday — mapped with pins marking top and bottom holes below, and summarized at the end of this post (together with links to detailed maps of the proposed units).

(The map has since been updated with three additional applications from XTO, as covered here.)


View XTO Energy (ExxonMobil subsidiary) — Five Marcellus shale gas applications in NYS in a larger map

It's the first of any sort of drilling application statewide for XTO, and the first horizontal shale gas request from a well-known, well-funded developer — at least since New York State started informally refusing such applications sometime during the early months of its now 4.5-year-old moratorium.

Both wells propose more than two miles of drilling, if you count the vertical, one-mile-plus trip down to the Marcellus layer.

XTO's projects are both within Broome County's easternmost Sanford, a township which adjoins the politically significant NY-PA state line (though the shale has been sitting for many years under both jurisdictions without knowing the difference).  Sanford also straddles the equally politically significant watershed divide between the incapacitated Delaware Basin, and the much more accommodating Susquehanna River drainage area.  (Yes, they're both free-flowing rivers; but, again, it's just that the bureaucracies are different.)

The surface pads for both of these XTO wells — including the Dew Dec A 1H, which I'm told is named for landowner Dewey Decker, Sanford Town Supervisor, and an early advocate for upstate's budding lease opportunities — are proposed for hilltop wooded terrain draining to Oquaga Creek, which in fact feeds the Delaware.

What this all means is that XTO — for reasons that probably only an optimist could explain — is now ready and eager to get into a line that's been long blocked, not by one, but by two, shale gas moratoriums.

For the first moratorium, New York environmental officials have been flat-footed since Feb. 15, 2008 (the date of the first such stalled application anywhere statewide from industry).  Then — since July 23, 2008, the birth date for the tortured and still-unresolved SGEIS process — these officials were busy coping with studious delay, and unprecedented public commentary, on this question.

For the second moratorium, the federal-state compact Delaware River Basin Commission has been stymied from reaching a consensus (or even just taking a vote) on its own version of over-lapping regulations governing such activity.  Unlike the similar, adjoining federal-state compact Susquehanna River Basin Commission, the DRBC decided early on it had to do much more than simply regulate water withdrawals in its zone of influence.  But then the DRBC's proposed, over-the-top regulatory scheme got bogged down in politics, same as in New York — a pool of quicksand from which the path of least (short-term) resistance always seems to mean... don't sink; don't swim; don't even struggle; just delay, delay, delay.

These XTO applications also represent a challenge to anti-leaning observers (most mainstream reporters, and a handful of pseudo-journalistic bloggers), as well as to basically-burned-out well-wishers for progress (such as myself, at least on certain days) — all of whom have become increasingly hopeful/fearful that indigenous shale gas will never be produced from under gridlocked New York.  (At least not within the foreseeable future.)

It's true that Norwegian penny stock Norse Energy has made similar filings — camping out in the DEC's stalled shale gas queue since July 2011 with 29 new, mostly horizontal, Marcellus and Utica shale applications.  But it's been easy for many to ignore Norse's efforts as a persuasive stunt, or as a prop to the hopefulness of its investors, or as a sweetening to its underlying assets for an eventual sale.

But, as of just this week, we also have an arm of Carrizo Oil & Gas — a Houston, TX-addressed driller never before active in New York State — nearing completion on a nearly one-mile-deep Marcellus Shale vertical test well in the Town of Owego, Tioga County, NY.  I reported the original application here back in May 2012, but until very recently nobody had noted that the job had actually gone beyond the paperwork stages. 

Here's how that happened:  NYS DEC computers have been mutely showing Carrizo's Wetterling 1 had been "spudded," or started, as far back as Sept. 18.  But ordinary citizens on the ground appear to have only noticed when the larger rig was moved in and erected to breach the treeline off the sparsely populated McHenry Road.  (So much for the supposed industrialization of the landscape; it took neighbors three weeks to even notice.) 

These folks alerted anti blogger Heavenrich, whose posting in turn was noticed by anti blogger Wilber.  And that publicity appears to have finally spurred a short AP story datelined Owego, NY — which somehow managed to spell the developer's name wrong, use the amateur word "digging" for the professional reality of "drilling," and to also deploy yet again this freakout description for the whole shale gas completion process:  "Fracking injects millions of gallons of chemical-laced water into the ground to crack rock and release gas."  [Underlining is mine.  "Laced" is neutral?  And why can't these guys just say "into the shalebed"?]

To my knowledge, nobody's asked Carrizo these questions yet:  Are you just gonna test the shale flakes in a lab?  Or are you gonna frack it vertically, at permissible low volumes, and see what happens?

And now XTO gets in New York's line. 

Here's the cheap, conspiratorial angle, which I'm sure will have great appeal for both audiences — those demanding at last some headway, and those who are deathly afraid of it:  What now has mighty ExxonMobil come to know — or come to believe — about the Cuomo Administration's ultimate plan for finally, reluctantly, coming to terms with this log jam?

Cue ominous background bass noise.  Shouldn't be too hard to get a "no comment," or a "no call back," from the XOM flacks — which always adds some zazzle to the suspicious subtext.  Plus I bet you could get the Mountainkeeper or the Riverkeeper out in the field for an outraged soundbite; they're really good at that stuff.  But, whatever you do, don't bother trying to get ahold of Dewey Decker, or his fellow Sanfordians, perched above the potential wellbores.  Most of them are probably pretty busy working for a living, anyway.  And it's only technically, on paper, their land, their resource, their leases, and their economic (and environmental) futures.  In reality — and because it's journalistically more rewarding — this conflict belongs to all of us.

API Well Number:  31007300060000 (proposed unit map obtained and uploaded off-site here)

Well Name:  Dew Dec A 1H

Company Name:  XTO Energy

Well Type:  Not Listed

Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert

Objective Formation:  Marcellus

County:  Broome

Town:  Sanford

Status Date:  10/11/2012

Permit Application Date:  10/3/2012

Well Orientation:  Horizontal

Surface Longitude:  -75.519335

Surface Latitude:  42.064837

Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.506605

Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.054007

True Vertical Depth:  -75.506605

Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  6050

Drilled Depth:  11000

Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat

Spacing: 

Spacing Acres:  619.1

Integration: 

Last Modified Date:  10/11/2012

API Well Number:  31007300070000 (proposed unit map obtained and uploaded off-site here)

Well Name:  Cempa Unit A 1H

Company Name:  XTO Energy

Well Type:  Not Listed

Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert

Objective Formation:  Marcellus

County:  Broome

Town:  Sanford

Status Date:  10/11/2012

Permit Application Date:  10/3/2012

Well Orientation:  Horizontal

Surface Longitude:  -75.503886

Surface Latitude:  42.079922

Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.514772

Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.091136

True Vertical Depth:  6077

Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  10795

Drilled Depth:  10795

Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat

Spacing: 

Spacing Acres:  635.2

Integration: 

Last Modified Date:  10/11/2012

Norse Adds 8 Utica Drilling Requests; NYS Shale Gas Wish List Now Totals 29

Still using sluggish Google Maps to illustrate, so you'll have to be patient and let it load.

View Norse's Shale Gas Drilling Permit Applications in a larger map

These pins pin all proposed surface locations (blue or purple), and all associated "bottom holes" (red or pinkish, if there is a discrete bottom hole) for a long slew of shale gas drilling permit applications from Norse Energy.  The list now totals 29 proposed Marcellus or Utica wellbores, all filed since NYS put out the last draft of its new drilling rules more than a year ago, July 2011.

The locations for the eight most recent applications — all Utica projects in Chenango County, and all horizontal except for one vertical — are marked in purple pins sometimes partially hidden behind their pinkish "bottom holes" (if applicable).  So you'll have to do some zooming for the best view.  The pins should stay put.

These sorts of subterranean news developments are distilled — not from our selectively unentrepreneurial Upstate media — but from checking in occasionally with the NYS DEC's wells database, which all are free to comb for themselves, later on.

Norse applications One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six/Seven, and Eight/Nine were previously covered on this blog, through annotated details, and occasionally maps, so feel free to poke around.

Note that — as of Sept. 28, 2012, through very limited publicity — Norse essentially acknowledged that its Plan A would actually be not to involve itself directly in doing all the work of well pad construction, drilling, completion, and pipeline hookups — when and if NYS gives up its long-running shale gas moratorium.  Instead, the company listed its remaining NYS assets for sale with a specialized broker.

I have also gone to the trouble of collecting from the DEC Minerals Division the associated, as-initially-proposed Spacing Unit Maps.  To get your hands on the more recent ones, look below for well-by-well links to a freebie, off-site document warehouse — or click through the full list of Norse shale gas requests, which I've set up altogether in separate post.

Recapping once again — except for Numbers 11 and 24, the Finelli, J. 1 and the Petkash, T., both vertical drilling proposals — none of these projects can go forward until NYS — and, in what now numbers five cases, the Delaware River Basin Commission — green-light the permitting.  Norse has been taking numbers early, though, on the theory that permits will eventually be issued similarly to the way that deli's deal with their customers.

Here's the 10th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300170000
Well Name:  Hansen, B. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Chenango
Town:  Afton
Status Date:  3/29/2012
Permit Application Date:  3/28/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.539042
Surface Latitude:  42.244539
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.536898
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.251547
True Vertical Depth:  4053
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  6582
Drilled Depth:  6582
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:
Spacing Acres:  112.37
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  3/29/2012

The 11th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300180000
Well Name:  Finelli, J. 1
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Coventry
Status Date:  4/3/2012
Permit Application Date:  3/27/2012
Well Orientation:  Vertical
Surface Longitude:  -75.56551
Surface Latitude:  42.24963
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.56551
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.24963
True Vertical Depth:  8500
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  8500
Drilled Depth:  8500
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:
Spacing Acres:  39.46
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  4/3/2012

The 12th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300190000
Well Name:  Simpson, R. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Chenango
Town:  McDonough
Status Date:  4/4/2012
Permit Application Date:  3/30/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.739669
Surface Latitude:  42.488964
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.745612
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.500695
True Vertical Depth:  2943
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  7636
Drilled Depth:  7636
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:
Spacing Acres:  312.75
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  4/4/2012

The 13th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31007300040000
Well Name:  Woodford, D. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Broome
Town:  Sanford
Status Date:  4/4/2012
Permit Application Date:  3/30/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.461671
Surface Latitude:  42.139871
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.457646
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.134937
True Vertical Depth:  4844
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  6836
Drilled Depth:  6836
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:
Spacing Acres:  111.14
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  4/4/2012

The 14th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31007300030000
Well Name:  WF, D. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Broome
Town:  Sanford
Status Date:  4/4/2012
Permit Application Date:  4/2/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.461241
Surface Latitude:  42.14197
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.466229
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.152367
True Vertical Depth:  4814
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  8650
Drilled Depth:  8650
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:
Spacing Acres:  155.89
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  4/4/2012

The 15th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31007300050000
Well Name:  Helm, R. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Broome
Town:  Sanford
Status Date:  4/20/2012
Permit Application Date:  4/9/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.480911
Surface Latitude:  42.157057
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.472617
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.143747
True Vertical Depth:  4800
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  10313
Drilled Depth:  10313
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  281.86
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  4/20/2012

The 16th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300200000
Well Name:  Lightning Rod Hollow 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Chenango
Town:  Smithville
Status Date:  5/4/2012
Permit Application Date:  4/25/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.741841
Surface Latitude:  42.446041
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.739778
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.433927
True Vertical Depth:  3245
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  7528
Drilled Depth:  7528
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  196.84
Integration:  Integration order pending
Last Modified Date:  5/4/2012

The 17th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300210000
Well Name:  Hardiman, M. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  German
Status Date:  5/24/2012
Permit Application Date:  5/17/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.854253
Surface Latitude:  42.449786
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.851421
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.438428
True Vertical Depth:  7125
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  11519
Drilled Depth:  11519
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  380.21
Integration:  Integration order pending
Last Modified Date:  5/24/2012

The 18th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300220000
Well Name:  Lopresti, W. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  German
Status Date:  5/24/2012
Permit Application Date:  5/17/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.83699
Surface Latitude:  42.47061
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.828571
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.464042
True Vertical Depth:  6990
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  9977
Drilled Depth:  9977
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  122.89
Integration:  Integration order pending
Last Modified Date:  5/24/2012

The 19th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300230000
Well Name:  Handley, G. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  German
Status Date:  5/24/2012
Permit Application Date:  5/22/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.85276
Surface Latitude:  42.4755
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.860788
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.487368
True Vertical Depth:  6915
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  11649
Drilled Depth:  11649
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  423.81
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  5/24/2012

The 20th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300240000
Well Name:  Wolford, C. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Smithville
Status Date:  6/13/2012
Permit Application Date:  5/25/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.743664
Surface Latitude:  42.405612
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.737168
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.388422
True Vertical Depth:  7362
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  14193
Drilled Depth:  14193
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  614.85
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  6/13/2012

The 21st (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31053300010000
Well Name:  Miller, E. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Madison
Town:  Georgetown
Status Date:  6/13/2012
Permit Application Date:  5/29/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.722614
Surface Latitude:  42.737587
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.740576
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.751741
True Vertical Depth:  4935
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  12314
Drilled Depth:  12314
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  386.57
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  6/13/2012

The 22nd (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300250000
Well Name:  Lyon, G. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Smithville
Status Date:  6/27/2012
Permit Application Date:  6/13/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.690459
Surface Latitude:  42.425999
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.697482
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.435295
True Vertical Depth:  7075
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  11119
Drilled Depth:  11119
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  194.66
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  6/27/2012

The 23rd (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300260000
Well Name:  Smith, D. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Afton
Status Date:  6/27/2012
Permit Application Date:  6/18/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.606663
Surface Latitude:  42.202658
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.6084
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.196789
True Vertical Depth:  8810
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  10925
Drilled Depth:  10925
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  107
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  6/27/2012

The 24th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300270000
Well Name:  Petkash, T.
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Coventry
Status Date:  6/27/2012
Permit Application Date:  6/18/2012
Well Orientation:  Vertical
Surface Longitude:  -75.619063
Surface Latitude:  42.305772
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.619063
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.305772
True Vertical Depth:  8275
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  8275
Drilled Depth:  8275
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing: 
Spacing Acres:  39.91
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  8/27/2012

The 25th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300290000
Well Name:  Rusweiler, B. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Bainbridge
Status Date:  6/27/2012
Permit Application Date:  6/18/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.44643
Surface Latitude:  42.30645
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.453005
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.313939
True Vertical Depth:  7283
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  10381
Drilled Depth:  10381
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  186.02
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  7/12/2012

The 26th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300280000
Well Name:  Faber, P. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  McDonough
Status Date:  6/27/2012
Permit Application Date:  6/19/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.716117
Surface Latitude:  42.477035
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.715093
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.488953
True Vertical Depth:  6755
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  11119
Drilled Depth:  11119
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  239.15
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  6/27/2012

The 27th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300300000
Well Name:  Baciuska, V. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Afton
Status Date:  7/30/2012
Permit Application Date:  7/13/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:      -75.610916
Surface Latitude:  42.232063
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.595312
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.215876
True Vertical Depth:  4227
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  15795
Drilled Depth:  15795
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing: 
Spacing Acres:  414.45
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  7/30/2012

The 28th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300310000
Well Name:  Crumb, E. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Smithville
Status Date:  7/30/2012
Permit Application Date:  7/23/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.780585
Surface Latitude:  42.421023
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.78843
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.430827
True Vertical Depth:  7000
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  11093
Drilled Depth:  11093
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing: 
Spacing Acres:  428.61
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  7/30/2012

The 29th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300320000
Well Name:  Brown, K. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  German
Status Date:  7/30/2012
Permit Application Date:  7/23/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.85321
Surface Latitude:  42.49195
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.859457
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.500737
True Vertical Depth:  6842
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  10480
Drilled Depth:  10480
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing: 
Spacing Acres:  141.82
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  7/30/2012