January 2012 is almost gone, and it has been far tamer than December 2011. Still, the first month of the new year has seen plenty of fascinating and important events on the shale drilling front. The two most significant events have been the continued low price of natural gas and President Obama’s State of the [...]
Marcellus Shale Update – Youngstown, OH Earthquakes
A series of moderate earthquakes that may be related to wastewater disposal has struck near Youngstown, Ohio, with the latest being a 4.0 event that hit New Years Eve. Another tremor hit Christmas Eve. Since March, approximately 11 small earthquakes have hit the same area, which is close to a well in which D & [...]
Marcellus Shale Update – December 31, 2011
On the last day of 2011, it’s time to look both back and ahead in the development of Marcellus Shale and other shale‐based natural gas. There is no doubt that during this past year the words “hydraulic fracturing”, “hydrofracking” (or “hydrofracing”) and “fracking” (or “fracing”) became household terms. With that in mind, let’s isolate some [...]
Marc Zucker’s Summary of Recent Decision Tops ABA’s Commercial & Business Litigation Webpage
Marc Zucker’s summary of the recent KPMG case appeared on the top of the ABA’s Commercial & Business Litigation webpage on November 28, 2011. The full text is available as a PDF for download: ABA – KPMG v. Cocchi – Nov 2011
Datto Helps Client Avoid Paying $30 Million Judgment
Partner, Brett A. Datto, Esquire recently won summary judgment resulting in a $30 million dollar victory for five large, regional insurance clients of the firm. The case involved an insurance coverage action over a dispute as to whether an underlying copyright action was covered under a series of insurance policies that covered “advertising injury” stemming [...]
Marcellus Shale Update, December 15, 2011
West Virginia Earlier this afternoon, a special session of the West Virginia Legislature called by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin passed a bill to regulate Marcellus Shale gas drilling in that State. After two hours of discussion, the bill passed the House 92‐5. It then went to the Senate where, without discussion, it passed unanimously 33‐0. [...]
Marcellus Shale Update, November 30, 2011
As the holiday season commences, the drama over shale drilling expands and widens. Having watched its neighbors West Virginia and Pennsylvania wrestle with the issues, it is now Maryland’s turn. This shows both how the shale debate has expanded into geographic areas that once thought themselves far removed, and how significant the dollars are. Maryland [...]
Marcellus Shale Update, November 17, 2011
Moving separately but simultaneously, the States of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York are heading rapidly toward making serious decisions about mineral extraction. Let’s take them one at a time: West Virginia A State House-Senate Joint Select Committee on Marcellus Shale moved yesterday that a comprehensive Marcellus Shale regulation bill be directed back from the [...]
Marcellus Shale Update – November 7, 2011
Here are some of the latest events concerning Marcellus (and now Utica) Shale in three important states: Pennsylvania By a party line vote of 15‐10, the Pennsylvania State House Finance Committee last week passed a proposal that would mirror many of Governor Tom Corbett’s proposals when it comes to natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. The [...]