Pennsylvania's First Shale Driller: Range Resources

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.

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June 14, 2013

Corbett Defends Impact Fee Over Severance Tax

While making a stop in Philadelphia to tout the benefits of natural gas development to the Delaware Valley, Governor Tom Corbett defended his insistence on imposing an “impact fee” rather than a “severance tax.” His remarks made at the industry sponsored Keystone Energy Forum came just a day after the Public Utility Commission announced the [...]

June 6, 2013

Confidentiality Agreements Prevent Fracking Contamination Claims From Being Made Public

Bloomberg reports on how confidentiality agreements with landowners across the country have helped protect drilling companies from bad publicity and allegations of pollution. The article specifically mentions the Hallowich v. Range Resources case in Washington County. The Hallowich family sued gas drillers after they said drilling activity near their home outside Pittsburgh made their children [...]

April 5, 2013

Newspapers Seek Missing Court Documents in Fracking Contamination Case

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports they are seeking missing information from unsealed court documents related to a fracking contamination case in Washington County. Hallowich v. Range Resources is one of the most closely watched cases involving claims of health impacts and property damage against a Marcellus Shale gas driller. A Washington County judge heard testimony yesterday [...]

March 26, 2013

Legislative Proposal Aims to Re-unite Landowners with Mineral Rights

Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that the Hallowich family had a split estate. That’s not the case, the Hallowich’s retained their mineral rights and continue to receive royalties from natural gas production. Just as landowners across the state began to realize they were sitting on top of a lucrative slice of natural [...]

March 21, 2013

Unsealed Records in Contamination Case Claim Lax Oversight by DEP

A Washington County couple settled a high profile Marcellus Shale contamination case for $750,000 and signed affidavits that say no medical evidence ”definitively” connects their children’s health problems to drilling activity. Stephanie and Chris Hallowich also signed an affidavit that says their children were in good health. More than $155,000 will go to the plaintiff’s attorneys. [...]

Drilling Companies Agree to Settle Fracking Contamination Case for $750,000

Range Resources, MarkWest Energy and Williams Gas agreed to settle a high profile contamination case in Washington County for $750,000, according to recently unsealed court records. An order to unseal the records was entered Wednesday in Washington County Court of Common Pleas by President Judge Debbie O’Dell-Seneca. Judge O’Dell-Seneca reversed an earlier decision to permanently keep [...]

March 20, 2013

Secrecy Lifted in Fracking Case

Previously sealed records are now available in a high-profile drilling contamination case in Washington County. An order to unseal the records was entered Wednesday the county’s Court of Common Pleas by President Judge Debbie O’Dell-Seneca. Judge O’Dell-Seneca reversed an earlier decision to seal the records. In the order she stated that Range Resources’ arguments to [...]

March 18, 2013

Marcellus Production Tops Haynesville

Pipeline expansions serving the Marcellus Shale gas boom have helped boost production rates above seven billion cubic feet a day, according to an analysis by IHS. The report says the Marcellus now leads the Haynesville Shale as the most productive shale play in the country. The Haynesville Shale formation stretches beneath northwestern Louisiana, eastern Texas and [...]

Range Resources Fights Township’s Rejection of its Drill Permits in Washington County

Range Resources has filed an appeal in Washington County Court, after its application to drill at two sites in Robinson Township was rejected, according to the Observer-Reporter: Range Resources claims township supervisors abused their discretion and failed to apply the appropriate legal standards when they denied the company’s conditional use applications Feb. 12 to drill [...]

February 27, 2013

For Marcellus Drillers, Profits Rise

Good news seems to keep pouring in for Pennsylvania’s shale drillers. Last week, Cabot Oil and Gas reported record production volumes and earnings for 2012. Speaking at a hearing in Philadelphia City Council Wednesday afternoon, David Yoxheimer, from the Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research, says Marcellus wells produced 2 trillion cubic feet of natural [...]