|
|
|
Controversial geologist says Marcellus Shale drilling less profitable than believed and that wells may "decline so fast that you never stop drilling."
If geologist Arthur Burman's math is right, Marcellus Shale wells will devlier less gas than expected. That means, he says, "you never stop drilling."
Controversial geologist says Marcellus Shale drilling less profitable than believed and that wells may "decline so fast that you never stop drilling."
In my piece in this week's City Paper, lone-wolf geologist Arthur Berman — one of the sources for the recent NY Times piece citing disputes within the energy industry over whether shale drilling is actually profitable — describes how he came to believe that gas companies are understating their cost and overstating their profits.
How — given the thousands of Marcellus Shale wells that have been drilled already in Pennyslvania — can that be?
For one thing, Berman says, some drilling activity is taking place simply in order for drillers to preserve their leases, which often contain clauses reverting the land back to the owner if production doesn't begin.
Indeed, Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon told the Inquirer last year that: "Half of our drilling is kind of nonvoluntary in the sense that we're drilling to hold leases, not drilling because we think $4 is a great gas price."
Berman also argues that gas companies may have overestimated (or, to be less generous, exaggerated) the amount of gas an individual well will actually produce before it ceases to be economically useful. Berman suspects the wells are drying up quicker than previously thought.
If that's the case, he says, "the drilling never stops ... Our findings say … that the wells decline so fast that you never stop drilling. You have to continue at the rate you’re drilling now."
Berman, who maintains the blog Petrolium Truth Report, is a controversial figure, and one of the first (if not the first) experts to challenge the economic model of shale gas drilling.
You can read my full story on Berman and his findings here.
Great article. People also need to know how dangerous drilling for gas is to our water supply. My father's gas tank on our tobacco farm in NC ruined our water supply. Just think what would happen if one of these drills caused gas to flow into our drinking water here in Philadelphia.— drjeanette
- ActiVman
- adventures
- Arts
- Ask A Man-About-Town
- Award Tour
- Awards
- Bad Idea Factory
- Beer
- Below the Curve
- Bikes
- Booze
- Brian Hickey
- BRT
- Budget
- Budget Fuss
- Business
- Casinos
- City Council
- City Hall
- CouncilMANIC
- CP Abroad
- CP in the Community
- Criminal Justice System
- Day Tripper
- Death and Taxes
- Delaware River
- Design
- DROP
- Drugs
- Dubious Distinction
- Elections
- End of Days
- Environment
- Fashion
- Film Fest
- Financial Meltdown
- FrackTrack
- Free Library
- Gambling
- Gay Stuff
- Get Lit
- Greenstorming
- guns
- Hall Monitor
- Health
- Health Care
- Hello, Kitty
- Holidays
- Ice Cubes
- Iggles
- Immigration
- In Memoriam
- Labor
- Lawsuits
- Letters
- LGBTQ
- Maps
- Marcellus Shale
- Media
- MMA
- Mummers
- Music
- MUST READ
- Mysterious Mysteries
- Nation
- News
- Non Sequitur
- Opinion
- PA politics 2010
- Parking Wars
- Parks and Recreation
- People Send Us This Stuff
- Philadelphia Police
- Philadelphia Union
- Philaphemera
- Philly From Scratch
- philly madness
- Photos
- Poverty
- PPA
- President Obama
- Print Edition
- Prisons
- Protest
- Readers Write
- Real Estate
- Rock Bottom
- Schools
- Science
- Screwing Philly
- SEPTA
- snow
- So Lush
- Soccer
- Sporting Life
- Sports Complex
- State Politicians
- State Politics
- Street Art
- Strike
- Stuff We Like
- Taxes
- Taxi Drivers
- Tech Fetish
- television
- The Budget Crisis
- The City Paper
- The CLOG
- The Human Condition
- The Mayor
- The Phightin Phils
- The World
- Things that make you go hm
- Tinfoil Hats Off
- Under the Table
- Under the Tables
- Urban Development
- Urban Planning
- urban wildlife
- Video Poker
- We Call Shenanigans
- Weather
- Web Junk
- Weekend Omnibus
- White House
- What We've Found
- Women's Issues
- Flyered Up!
- How 'Bout That Weather?
- it's always sunny in philadelphia
- Stu!
- Shopping
- get out
- 10-track mind
- ArtsFlash
- Bloggity
- Bruce Being Bruce
- Colleges
- Comedy
- Gigantic Surprises
- Hello Canary
- Hello Puppy
- errata
- get lost
- Inside The Fishbowl
- Library Closings
- Local Support
- Movies
- Murder
- Night Moves
- Recycling
- radio
- Scientology
- Sex
- Sixers
- Skeeze Police
- State Politicians Screwing Philly
- That's a cool stencil!
- Theater
- Things We See
- This Week
- This Week in Oates
- University City
- WIN
- What we don't heart
- trailer!
- what we heart
- Feeling Guilty
- Askadelphia.
- Broke in Philly
- Contest
- Dance
- Dear Paper Doll
- Do A Good Thing
- Education
- Film Fest Schism
- G20-20 Vision
- Goodbye
- Gossip
- Great American Heroes
- PATCO
- Pearl Jam Week
- Puppy
- Stars of the Photostream
- sustainability
- Lower Merion Webcam-Gate
- The Cycle
- Equality Forum
- Bureaucrat of the Week
- Animals
- ElectionEar
- Photostream
