Marcellus Shale Web Resources Highlight Facts About Hydraulic Fracturing

Pamarcellus.com Includes Detailed Information, Independent Reports

WEXFORD, Pa., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Marcellus Shale Committee today
announced a new feature on its Web site, www.pamarcellus.com, which provides
factual information on all aspects of hydraulic fracturing, including a
step-by-step summary of each phase of the process, third-party reports and
letters from several state regulators regarding the safety of what is often
called "fracing" a natural gas well.

The Web page, "A Focus on Hydraulic Fracturing," is featured prominently on
the committee's homepage.

"Hydraulic fracturing has been used to produce oil and natural gas in this
country for more than 60 years, and has been continuously improved through
research and investment," said Ray Walker, MSC Co-Chair and Vice President of
Range Resources. "Hydraulic fracturing is a safe technology that has been
applied successfully at more than one million oil and gas wells, and this
resource provides a significant amount of information on this and other
misrepresented aspects of the fracture process."

The Web page includes a list of the additives used in the process, along with
common consumer uses of those ingredients, such as food additives, soaps,
lubricants and other products people use daily. The site also provides links
to reports regarding fracturing and natural gas development by government
agencies and other national groups, as well as letters from several regulatory
agencies refuting claims that cite groundwater contamination from hydraulic
fracturing.

"It is important to address the truth about hydraulic fracturing, the
composition of the fluids used in the process and the safety and reliability
record this technology has demonstrated over the past six decades," said Rich
Weber, MSC Co-chair and President and Chief Operating Officer of Atlas Energy
Resources. "A detailed list of chemicals used by the five primary well
service companies operating in Pennsylvania was provided to the state
Department of Environmental Protection, and is available on the agency's
Marcellus Shale webpage."

Visitors to this featured Web page can view detailed reports from the U.S.
Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National
Energy Technology Laboratory and industry groups about the importance of
natural gas to our country's energy needs and the safety of fracture
stimulation. Letters from five state regulatory agencies, including the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, to the Groundwater
Protection Council cite the lack of evidence of impacts to groundwater from
the fracture process.

Editor's Note: The links to all third-party reports and informational
resources on the Marcellus Shale Committee's hydraulic fracturing Web page can
be found below.

About the Marcellus Shale Committee: Formed in 2008, the Marcellus Shale
committee represents the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania on matters
pertaining to the acquisition, exploration, drilling, and development of the
Marcellus Shale natural gas resource and provides a unified voice before all
state, county, and local government or regulatory bodies. The committee,
sponsored jointly by the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association and the
Independent Oil and Gas Association of Pennsylvania, includes independent
producers with historical expertise in the Pennsylvania oil and gas fields and
national companies dedicated to bringing their industry experience and
resources to achieve common goals.

Hydraulic Fracturing and Natural Gas Development Information Sources:
1. Letters from State Regulatory Bodies on Environmental Protections and
Safety Records of Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation in Oil and Gas Wells

http://www.energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/state-letters_hf-
and-gwpc.pdf
2. Modern Shale Gas Development: A Primer

http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/publications/naturalgas_general/
Shale_Gas_Primer_2009.pdf
3. IPAA's "Energy In Depth" Web site about Hydraulic
Fracturing http://www.energyindepth.org/in-depth/frac-in-depth/
4. Environmental Benefits of Advanced Oil and Gas Exploration and
Production
Technology

http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/publications/environ_benefit
s/env_benefits.pdf
5. EPA Study to Evaluate the Impacts to USDWs by Hydraulic Fracturing of
Coalbed Methane Reservoirs
http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/uic/wells_coalbedmethanestudy.html

6. Policy Facts on Hydraulic Fracturing
http://www.netl.doe.gov/publications/factsheets/policy/Policy001.pdf

SOURCE Marcellus Shale Committee

Danielle Boston, +1-724-933-7306 ext. 21, or Dave Mashek, +1-412-281-5555,
both for The Marcellus Shale Committee