Addressing the Environmental Risks from Shale Gas Development

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Colorado‘s example provides valuable lessons to other states pursuing their own reform of oiland gas regulations. The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission passed a package ofnew oil and gas drilling rules on June 8, 2010. These rules make Wyoming the first state torequire operators to disclose the composition and concentration of chemicals used in hydraulicfracturing. 61 Other shale-producing states may soon follow suit. 62New York, a relative newcomer to the modern oil and gas industry, has been the site of acontentious debate over future development of the state‘s gas resources in the Marcellus Shale.The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has been charged withupdating rules regulating horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing and iscurrently evaluating public comments on a draft Supplemental Generic Environmental ImpactStatement that it released in September 2009. 63 In the meantime, 10 bills relating to shale gasdevelopment, including one that would place a moratorium on drilling until 120 days after theEPA‘s study of hydraulic fracturing is completed, are making their way through the statelegislature. 64 In neighboring Pennsylvania, where over 564 wells were drilled in the MarcellusShale during the first half of 2010, Governor Ed Rendell has said that he would sign a bill callingfor a three-year moratorium on new leasing of state forest land for gas exploration whilepotential environmental impacts are studied. 65The experiences of Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and New York have demonstrated thatstrong public pressure exists for stricter oversight of the oil and gas industry and that stateregulators can and will move forward in strengthening their own regulations. If they areproduced responsibly, shale gas resources in the United States could play a central role inbuilding a low-carbon energy economy. Greater outreach and public education about shale gasdevelopment are clearly necessary to enable the many stakeholders engaged in shale gasdevelopment to work together to find the most effective technological and regulatory solutionsfor developing shale gas resources while protecting the environment and public interest.15
Endnotes1Worldwatch Institute, The Role of Natural Gas in a Low-Carbon Energy Economy (Washington, DC:April 2010).2Groundwater Protection Council (GWPC), Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: APrimer, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)with ALL Consulting (Oklahoma City, OK: April 2009), p. 13.3Figure 1 from U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration (EIA), ―Shale GasPlays, Lower 48 States,‖ available at www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/rpd/shale_gas.pdf, viewed 7 July 2010.4Calculated based on 2009 U.S. crude oil production of 5.31 million barrels per day, and conversionfactor of 1 billion cubic feet NG = 0.19 million barrels of oil equivalent. Shale gas production rates for2009 from Vello Kuuskraa, Advanced Resources International, ―The ‗Paradigm Shift‘ in U.S. andWorldwide Natural Gas Supplies,‖ presentation at Global Unconventional Gas Conference 2010,Amsterdam, 17 June 2010. U.S. crude oil production from EIA, ―Crude Oil Production,‖ PetroleumNavigator, available at www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbblpd_a.htm, viewed 7 July 2010.Conversion factor from BP, Statistical Review of World Energy June 2010 (London: 2010).5Figure 2 from GWPC, State Oil and Natural Gas Regulations Designed to Protect Water Resources,prepared for NETL (Oklahoma City, OK: May 2009), p. 20.6State regulations requiring surface casing to be set below the deepest ground water exist in 25 of the27 oil and gas-producing states surveyed by the GWPC in 2008. Twenty-four states required surfacecasing to be cemented along its entire length. GWPC and NETL, State Oil and Gas RegulationsDesigned to Protect Water Resources (Oklahoma City: May 2009), p. 19.7Twenty-four of 25 states surveyed required surface casing to be cemented along its entire length, perIbid.8Not all states require blowout preventers for all wells. Colorado‘s new rules regulating oil and gasdrilling, which may be considered a best management practice, requires operators to: install blowoutpreventer equipment (BOPE) on any well expected to flow, inspect it daily, ensure that it has asufficient rating to accommodate the maximum anticipated surface pressure, and ensure that rigemployees understand and can operate it. Operators must also pressure test the casing and BOPE aftereach new string is added, and proceed with drilling only when this equipment has been tested andfound to be functional. Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), ―Rules andRegulations, 603 (i) (as of 1 April 2009),‖ available at http://cogcc.state.co.us/.9The Barnett Shale is a notable exception, with a thickness of 100 to 600 feet. GWPC, op. cit. note 2, p.17.10 GWPC, op. cit. note 5, p. 21.11 Figure 3 created by Mark Zoback, Stanford University.12 M.J. Economides and K.G. Nolte, eds., Reservoir Simulation (West Sussex, U.K.: John Wiley & Sons,Ltd., 2000).13 Figure 4 was created by Bradford Copithorne and Mark Zoback and is based on proprietary data madeavailable by a gas company currently operating in the Barnett Shale.14 Thomas R. Driscoll, ―Marcellus Could Become Largest Gas Play,‖ Barclays Capital, 15 March 2010.15 S.M. Currie, D. Ilk, and T.A. Blasingame, ―Continuous Estimation of Ultimate Recovery, SPE132352,‖ paper presented at 2010 SPE Unconventional Gas Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, 23–25February 2010.16 E. Siebrits et al., ―Refracture Reorientation Enhances Gas Production in Barnett Shale Tight GasWells,‖ presented at the 2000 Society of Petroleum Engineers Annual Technical Conference andExhibition, Dallas, TX 1–4 October 2000; Mukul Sharma, ―Improved Reservoir Access throughRefracture Treatments in Tight Gas Sands and Shales,‖ presentation (Golden, CO: 15 April 2009).17 GWPC, op. cit., note 5, p. 27.18 Figure 5 from GWPC, op. cit., note 2, p. 54.16
Page 1 and 2: Briefing Paper 1Addressing the Envi
Page 3 and 4: provides an overview of the industr
Page 5 and 6: After drilling the horizontal secti
Page 7 and 8: Cumulative Number ofMicroseismic Ev
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Page 11 and 12: Fluids used for slickwater hydrauli
Page 13 and 14: Other Surface ImpactsDrilling opera
Page 15: IV.ConclusionNew supplies of gas fr
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Addressing the Environmental Risks from Shale Gas Development

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