American Gas - July 2013 - (Page 38)

b u r ner tips A battle over drilling access to gas and oil continues in the industry’s birthplace. By r. TimoThy mccrum law Allegheny Agonistes M ost people in the gas and oil industries are aware that the first oil well in the world was drilled in 1859 by Col. Edwin Drake, in western Pennsylvania, and that much of the earliest natural gas production also occurred in the 1800s in that region. Now that Pennsylvania has again become a leading producer of natural gas, with enormous new reserves in the Marcellus and Utica Shales, and through the development of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, western Pennsylvania is again the center of drilling excitement. One recent controversy illustrates the importance of the gas and oil industries actively advocating for their interests against groups or policies limiting access to supplies. Western Pennsylvania is the site of the Allegheny National Forest, which covers major portions of four counties (Warren, McKean, Forest, and Elk), comprising over 500,000 acres and underlying gas and oil rights. Notably, when the federal government acquired private lands for the National Forest in the 1930s, the gas and oil mineral rights were severed from the land surface. Today, more than 93 percent of the National Forest is underlain by private gas and oil rights, and the current National Forest border is about 15 miles from Drake’s first oil well. The Allegheny National Forest has also been part of the 38 AmericAn GAs july 2013 A modern oil well along the Marcellus Shale. As in days of yore, western Pennsylvania remains critical to the gas and oil industries.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Gas - July 2013

American Gas - July 2013
Contents
President’s Message
Subject Index
Shining a Light for Gas Efficiency
Digest
Issues
Issues
Update
Need to Know
By the Numbers
Places
Scratch, Sniff—Evacuate?
Capitol Hill
Cape Canaveral
The Corner Office
AGA Ops Conference
Elm Street
Work in Progress
Profile
For Good Measure
Law
Jobs
Marketplace
Buyer’s Guide
Headway

American Gas - July 2013