The Daily Digger

From Ohio Gas & Oil: A boom in new construction across Stark County in the past year is thought by Commissioner Richard Regula to be due to Ohio's emerging gas and oil industry. This is because the growth mainly consists of new housing, businesses and factories.  Regula gathered data from the county auditor's office on Wednesday on the number of new building permits that have been issued in the past year and the values attached to each of those new projects. The data indicates building has almost doubled from 2013 to 2014. In 2013, the county had 548 new construction projects valued at $88,768,185, compared to 635 new projects valued at $170,818,974 at the same time this year.  "This is new construction," said Regula. "It appears to be a lot of new housing, and I also know there are seven new hotels being built across the county this year." Click here to read the whole article. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlo...

From The Marietta Times: Ohio is leading a group of drilling states working with seismology experts from energy companies, government agencies and universities across the U.S. on how best to detect and regulate human-induced earthquakes. The initiative follows Ohio's discovery in April of a probable link between the drilling practice called hydraulic fracturing and five small tremors in eastern Ohio, a first in the Northeast.  In 2012, Gov. John Kasich halted disposal of fracking wastewater surrounding a well site in the same region after a series of earthquakes later tied to a deep-injection well. The company that ran the well has disputed the link.  Ohio Oil & Gas Chief Rick Simmers said in an Associated Press interview that state regulators are seeking up-to-date information so they can develop appropriate detection procedures and regulatory practices.  "I think we're being proactive in some ways," he said. "We're not waiting until something ...

From Ohio Gas & Oil: The Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce's Midstream Ohio 2014 event proved there are plenty of opportunities to get in on Ohio's gas and oil boom.  Adam Beck, a project manager at Access Midstream, said the company wants to connect with local vendors.  "It's been our goal from early on to try to gain as many local businesses as possible," Beck said.  Beck said the company will always take the time to hear what services local companies can provide, trying to maintain a balance between sticking with companies with which it currently works and starting contracts with outside companies.  It's all about staying competitive, he said. Click here to read the whole article , which includes some of the advice shared for vendors. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Duke University Energy Initiative : Oil and gas development from shale fields has generally helped the public finances of local communities, providing new revenues and resources that usually -- but not always -- outweigh the increased demand for public services and other costs, according to a new analysis from two Duke University researchers. Snapshot of the project's interactive map Daniel Raimi and Richard Newell gathered data from communities surrounding 10 oil and gas "plays" from September 2013 through February 2014, traveling to Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming to interview local officials and collect information firsthand.  The report, which appears online at the Energy Initiative's website , describes major revenue sources for local governments, which can include property taxes, sales taxes and state-collected severance taxes or fees that are sent back to the local level. Some local governm...

From WTOV News: A dispute over space at the Harrison County Recorder's Office has grown to the point where lawyers are getting involved.  Tracy Boyer, right The problem is costing residents time and the county additional money it could be bringing in.  County Recorder Tracy Boyer said she's been asking commissioners for upwards of 2 years for more room for the Recorder's Office, but her request has fallen on deaf ears, and now she's taking legal action against the commissioners.  Boyer is looking for ways to increase the Recorder Office's productivity because of the influx is the oil and gas companies.  "In 2009, the first gentleman came and we couldn't figure out what he was doing," Boyer said. "Since then, it hasn't stopped." Read more by clicking here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Fuel Fix: Natural gas, and not oil, has turned out to be the dominant fossil fuel in Ohio’s Utica Shale, a big disappointment to the industry that prompted BP and Halcón Resources to abandon the play earlier this year.  But Aubrey McClendon’s new wildcatting venture American Energy Partners and a handful of players are racing to snap up land in the southeastern corner of the play , where operators have found wet gas and high-performing, affordable wells that rival some in the core of the Marcellus Shale, an analyst said at a press briefing last week.  “The wells are so strong in the southeast that $4 gas is fine out there,” said Jeanie Oudin, an analyst with Wood Mackenzie.  Domestic gas prices sank to record lows two years ago after shale gas supplies flooded U.S. markets, leading to a mass exodus of companies from gas fields . But Henry Hub natural gas prices rose to $6 per million British thermal unit in February, and traded around $4.72 on Thursday. Cl...

Kathleen Kane is being accused of selective prosecution to support an anti-drilling agenda From Philly.com: XTO Energy Inc. is seeking the dismissal of criminal charges for a 2010 gas-drilling spill, saying Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane selectively prosecuted the company in pursuit of a politically motivated anti-fracking agenda.  The Exxon Mobil subsidiary filed a motion in Lycoming County Court on Monday arguing that the Office of Attorney General had failed to prove a criminal case against it in connection with the spill of about 50,000 gallons of wastewater at a Marcellus Shale drilling site.  The natural-gas producer, based in Fort Worth, Texas, also argues that Kane's office is prosecuting XTO even though the company remediated the spill and agreed to a $100,000 settlement to resolve federal civil claims. XTO says more serious environmental violations have not drawn the same level of prosecution or publicity from Kane. You can read the rest of...