Energy Environmental Blog

Prices Driving Oil and Gas Development

Written by Greg Russell | Aug 4, 2012 11:20:42 AM

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an interesting article on how development is moving west from Pennsylvania to Ohio.  It starts:  "If you're looking for a shale success story, look no farther than Lisbon, a small town that's hit it big. *** Local roads have been transformed from gravel to asphalt. There's talk of widening Lincoln Way, the main thoroughfare, to four lanes. And three new restaurants have opened -- including The Shale Bar and Grille, a nod to the industry that's making all this possible. *** It's everything the proponents of natural gas development have promised Pennsylvania. There's only one problem: Lisbon is in Ohio."

A problem?  Not really.  The explanation:  "But as a glut of natural gas drives prices down, drillers are increasingly willing to shoulder the cost of processing wet gas in exchange for the valuable liquid hydrocarbons that come with it, including ethane, propane and butane."

Read the whole thing.