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An exploration & production company operating in the Marcellus region is so confident that unconventional gas development won’t harm local waterways that they donated $750,000 to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to install real-time water quality monitoring equipment in area waterways.   Before East Resources was bought out by Royal Dutch Shell in the summer of 2011, they provided funding to set up a remote water quality monitoring network in the Susquehanna River Basin where they were operating.  You can read more about East Resource’s donation here.  There are currently three monitoring stations located in Clearfield County (Moose Creek, Trout Run, Little Clearfield Creek).  If you are interested in viewing real-time data about any of these locations or others located in the Susquehanna River Basin, you can visit this site.

If you are interested in knowing how many rigs are operating in the state or county at any given time, Baker Hughes issues a weekly rig count with location information.  You can find out more information from their interactive rig count website located here.

The construction of the CCEDC’s Energy Complex is now complete. The new building is located in the Clearfield County Alliance Park and has five tenant spaces available for lease. It has 10-ton overhead crane capacity; 22 foot ceilings, 14-foot bay doors and a full sprinkler system. Secured fencing surrounds the property which sits within three miles of Interstate 80 Exit 120 as well as near Routes 322, 219 and 119. The official ribbon cutting for the Energy Complex was held on September 22, 2011 with over 100 people in attendance.

Guest speaker Judith Herschell, president of Herschell Environmental of Pittsburgh, was the keynote for the event. Herchell Environmental is an engineering firm that specializes in design and planning related to hydrological issues in the gas and oil industry. Ms. Herschell discussed statistics related with the gas and oil industry, she said that by 2014 there would be 19,000 new direct jobs due to Marcellus Shale and 88,000 new jobs from indirect businesses working with the Marcellus Shale Industry. Ms. Herschell stated the Marcellus Shale Industry out-produced their estimated production for last year despite drilling only 1,400 of the 1,700 planned wells.  Pennsylvania is now responsible for 18 percent of the worlds natural gas with predictions that those numbers could increase to 45 percent over the next few years. Ms. Herschell talked about using resources such as CareerLink and local vocational technical schools to get the workers trained.

The CCEDC would like to thank Buster’s Sports Bar for the delicious food and the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging for the use of their PA System. To view more photos of the Afterhours Ribbon Cutting visit the CCEDC Facebook Page.

On August 12th at the EOG: B2B Network Day, the CCEDC officially launched its new real estate website: www.rigmonkeyapp.com.

The website features over 70 commercial and industrial properties in Clearfield County geared towards the unconventional gas industry.  Listings can be searched by property type, building size, and location.  Users can then view property specifications, pictures, the location of the property, as well as direct contact information for the seller.

Another desirable feature of RigMonkeyApp.com is the “supermap”, which displays all listings on an interactive google map. In addition, a Rig Monkey application is currently being developed for the iPhone and Android platforms.

It’s no secret that Pennsylvania has an abundance of municipalities within its
borders: 2,566 to be exact. Of those municipalities, 51 lie within the borders
of Clearfield County. For an industry that spans many different municipalities,
such as the unconventional gas industry, it can be extremely difficult to keep
track of the different ordinances and regulations in each one.

The CCEDC is closing in on completion of its Clearfield County Municipal Regulations
Database. With a phone call to our office, a company can find out if a
municipality has an ordinance applicable to the oil & gas industry. If so,
the details of the ordinance will be available along with municipal contact
information. We feel this database is a valuable tool in assisting the
development of the unconventional gas industry in Clearfield County.

Forum Energy Technologies is a manufacturer of processing & drilling equipment for the natural gas industry.  They located to Clearfield at the Fireman’s Industrial Park on Oct. 2, 2010.  They occupy the former Marathon Equipment building.  Forum employs 17 local people at the current time with plans for over 100 local employees within two years. 

Additionally, Wood Flowline Products and Select Energy Services also operate out of the former Marathon Equipment building employing local people.

Horizontal Well Drillers are located at 7350 Coal Hill Road in Luthersburg and specialize in meeting the drilling needs of the gas industry.  They moved to the area 6 months ago and have been experiencing rapid growth ever since.  Plans for the near future include quadrupling the size of their facility to accomodate the current demand.  

They employ 30 local employees and are currently accepting applications.  Applying is as simple as walking into their office and filling out an application.  HWD offers a customized training program on one of their active drill rigs to bring the employee up to speed with the skills necessary to succeed in their organization.

Activity in the Marcellus Shale is creating jobs for Pennsylvanians all across the state.  Below are just a few of the companies that recently located close to home and are providing employment for our local residents.

Shortfuse Gasfield Trucking LLC was created in Feb. 2010 and began servicing the industry in July 2010.  Shortfuse is a total water management firm located in Bigler, PA.  They can assist companies with water procurement, transport, treatment, and anything in between.  They are striving to help meet the gas industries water needs from start to finish or in other words “from river to river.”  Shortfuse’s truck fleet consists of 13 trucks which results in 21 employees.  Plans for the 2^nd quarter of 2011 include increasing the fleet to 25 trucks and employing as many as 50 local people.

Spenergy Well Services LLC was created in 2006 to serve the needs of the gas industry.  They are located in Bigler, PA.  With the nature of the work Spenergy performs being seasonal, they employ between 4 and 18 local people at any one time.

RNI Trucking located to Falls Creek, PA in March of 2009 to serve the transport needs of the Oil & Gas industry.  They employ approximately 95 local people.

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Speaker’s Series: A Geologist’s View on Marcellus Shale
Professor Tristan Ashcroft
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
7:00-8:30pm
LHU Clearfield Campus- Free & Open to Public
201 University Drive
Clearfield, PA 16830

Why is there a gas drilling boom in the Marcellus? It is a simple question, but there are many answers, and some can be controversial. Tristan Ashcroft, Instructor in the LHU Geology & Physics Department, offers his viewpoint as a geologist on the Marcellus Shale and associated natural gas.

The presentation will include discussion of why there is natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, why it is now of interest to the gas industry, the basics of fracking, an overview of environmental questions, and what role Pennsylvanians might have in the impending gas boom. Geologists study topics related both to the gas industry and to the environment, so they are perhaps unusual in that they are not required to view either field as adversaries.

CLEARFIELD – The CCEDC has scheduled an Afterhours Mixer  for Tuesday, March 15th from 4:30-6:30pm.  The mixer will be held at the Clearfield County Economic Development Corporation in Clearfield.  This will be a joint celebration with the Clearfield and DuBois Chambers to welcome the new vice-president of energy development, Paul McCloskey.  This will be a great way to see all that is happening in our county with regard to all forms of energy.  For more information and to make reservations please call the CCEDC at 814-768-7838 or the chamber office at 814-371-5010.