Patriot Energy center first of its kind




Montgomery, PA – November 16 marked the next step in the Central Pennsylvania natural gas market. The wells have been drilled, the pipeline network expands every day and now, the gas is being used to power our homes and businesses. More specifically, November 16 marked the official commissioning of the Panda Patriot Generating Station in Montgomery. The 829 megawatt natural […]

Pipeline Outlook 2017

As the pipeline buildout continues, many factors will have an impact on which projects go forward


Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia have produced 12 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day since 2011, which accounts for 89 percent of the total growth in natural gas production in the U.S. The Marcellus region is now producing 17.0 BCF/day, which represents a quarter of the entire U.S. gas supply. Despite this abundance of cheap natural gas, many […]

Marcellus gas-fired electric generation plants power up in Pennsylvania




Last year, natural gas-fired power generation in the U.S. increased by nearly 20 percent due to low natural gas prices, increased gas-fired generation capacity, coal power plant retirements and new pipeline networks in the Northeast, which are increasing takeaway capacity from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), by the end of the year, […]

Annual Indiana County chamber meeting focuses on the future of the Marcellus shale




Indiana, PA – The Indiana County Chamber of Commerce held their 104th Annual Meeting of the Chamber Membership on Dec. 2 at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex (KCAC). The event began with an hour of networking, followed by committee business and a series of speeches from David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition; Greg Sipos, chairman of the […]

Community College of Beaver County hosts hundreds at career expo




Monaca, PA – Almost 1000 attendees poured into the recent Cracker Plant: Building/ Construction Trades and Manufacturing Career Expo hosted by the Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) along with regional leaders. The event took place in CCBC’s Dome and boasted industry professionals from Shell and several other companies aiming to work both directly and indirectly with the plant. Plans […]

November DEP well permits report




There were 102 drilling permits issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in the Marcellus Business Central coverage area in the month of November. Unless otherwise stated, all permits issued are for new, unconventional, horizontally- drilled natural gas wells. This is the first time since February that our coverage area has had more than 100 permits. The past few […]

Baker Hughes November 2016 rig counts



HOUSTON, Texas – According to Baker Hughes Incorporated, the international rig count for November 2016 was 925, up 5 from last month’s 920 rigs and down 184 from the 1,109 counted in November 2015. The international offshore rig count for November 2016 was 211, up 11 from the 200 counted last month, and down 48 from the 259 counted in November […]

Study finds pipeline overbuilding creates financial risk




Nationally, natural gas has long been the primary heating fuel in the residential sector, but over the past decade, electricity has been gaining market share while natural gas, coal, fuel oil, kerosene and propane have declined due in part to population migrations to the West and South. The exception is the Northeast where both natural gas and electricity have been […]

Tioga County moves forward after the boom

Spotlight on Tioga County


Even if the gold-rush mentality of the boom has calmed down, Tioga County, just like most of the northern tier, is still very much an integral part of the upstream sector of the natural gas industry. With the wells now drilled and the brunt of the work done, only 3.1 percent of the county’s workforce remains in mining, quarrying and […]

After Marcellus Shale boom, picturesque Tioga County resumes quieter life




WELLSBORO, PA (AP) – Erick Coolidge, county commissioner, dairy farmer, genial ambassador of Tioga County, drove his SUV on a warm fall day past the crests and valleys of farms south of the county seat that obscured about half a dozen shale gas well sites, all of them what he called “locked up.” The wells had been drilled to secure […]