Background
Range Resources drilled Pennsylvania’s first Marcellus Shale well back in 2004, striking gold long before “fracking” or “severance tax” became household terms. With more than a million acres leased in the Marcellus Shale region, Range is one of the most active natural gas drilling companies in the state. Based in Texas, Range recently pulled up stakes in the Barnett Shale in order to concentrate their operations in the Keystone state.
Range CEO John Pinkerton appears regularly on CNBC’s Mad Money and Fox News. You can watch one of the most recent interviews with Pinkerton here. Pinkerton plans to step down as CEO next year when Pennsylvania native Jeffrey Ventura takes over. Range has launched a visable public relations campaign across the state using the testimony of lease holders.
The company’s senior vice president, Ray Walker, chairs the Marcellus Shale Coalition – the industry’s main trade group within Pennsylvania.
Range was also the first company to reveal the fracking chemicals used in each well. But environmentalists say the information is not detailed enough to determine the risk.