Review W.Va. Drilling Rules
The IntelligencerIt has been suggested that West Virginia legislators should put oil and gas drilling rules on the agenda for their annual regular session early next year. We agree.
Two news stories from this week make it clear that a new gas production boom is on the horizon. Our state needs to be prepared for both the rewards and pitfalls it will bring.
Dominion Resources announced last week that it will spend $253 million to expand its natural gas operations in West Virginia. That includes obtaining, processing and shipping gas. The project is expected to be completed by 2012.
Gas producers who use the system will fund the expansion, according to Dominion. Obviously, gas is about to become very big business again in the state. Dominion's expectation of a quarter-billion dollars in revenue from those who drill gas wells and produce from them makes that clear.
A second story, this one from Pennsylvania, is relevant to our state. The report involved Range Resources Corp., which has said that it is producing 100 million cubic feet of gas a day from wells in southwestern Pennsylva-nia. The wells are in the Marcellus Shale formation - which underlies much of West Virginia.
Intensive gas exploration and drilling activity already is occurring in sections of this area. More - probably much more - will occur within the next few years.
West Virginia's rules regulating gas and oil drilling have not been updated comprehensively for many years. They do not take into account new technology such as that used to exploit Marcellus Shale resources. They also are lacking in some respects in protection for property owners and the general public.
For example, we have heard several complaints about heavy drilling rigs damaging roads in this area.
When legislators go into session in early January, they will have much on their plates. We urge them not to let a crush of concerns about the economy and state finances overwhelm them to the point that they do not act on other pressing matters, including oil and gas drilling rules.
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TruthSeeker
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12-20-09 1:04 PM
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Oh like you'd recognize a good oil and gas drilling rule if it bit you on the arse, Mikey!
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dyingov
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12-19-09 11:22 PM
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DO you have "proof" that the coal is used in WV? McElroy sends the majority of it's mined coal to Indiana and Illinois...even with Kammer and Mitchell right across the highway. Mitchell uses some Kammer uses none!!!
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BurlEFolger
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12-19-09 7:10 PM
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What this newspaper and its editors cannot see is that unlike coal, the natural gas produced in this state will not be used in this state. These people who claim to keep the public informed of happenings within our state have also missed the ball.
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ConservativeKaty
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12-19-09 5:58 AM
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Coal is the low-hanging healthy, wealthy and wise fruit in West Virginia, not natural gas. Use the coal first and foremost, and save the gas (Marcellus and his Tonight Show band will protect it for us). It seams the coal is the best play to keep roads free of potholes and to keep a chicken in each and every pot, heated by locally grown coal for the next couple of decades and then by locally harvested natural gas after that. With President Palin serving 8 years during that boom period for coal, she will bring Alaska-style energy policies to the whole country. She knows how to Drill Baby Drill, and she knows we need to protect our roads but also protect the country by weening ourselves off any fossil fuels sourced by, and likely funding, the Anti-American ilk of Islamic Muslims.
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