Drilling company names fracking sites after superheros

Western Pennsylvania-based Rice Energy has been truly unconventional when it comes to naming its natural gas wells.
The company has appropriated monikers of superheros, including Batman and Robin, the Hulk, X-man, Zorro– even Captain Planet, an early 90’s cartoon promoting environmentalism.
Gas wells are typically named after the landowners who lease their property to drillers. After a recent StateImpact Pennsylvania story on some of the odd addresses the state has given to gas drilling sites, we heard about Rice’s superheros.
The Canonsburg-based company has recently been in the news for other reasons. Last week, Rice went public on the New York Stock Exchange, and its new board chairman is former Heinz Endowments president, Robert Vagt.
The company declined to comment for this story.
See all the names below:
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 Source: Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection

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