Michigan Oil & Gas Exploration – A Look From 2014

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Have you noticed respectmyplanet.org? We’ve been mapping data related to Michigan’s natural resources and environmental protection.

Welcome to respectmyplanet.org’s first article in a long time published from the WordPress software application.   We’re glad to again be putting stories together that will help people understand more about oil & gas exploration in Michigan.  We have been reviewing Michigan oil & gas data for 4 years now.   We would like to share what we have learned from the past up through the present.  We would also like to write about what future oil & gas exploration might look like in Michigan as our public owned hydrocarbon resources become increasingly more difficult for private companies to recover for profits.

We have a series of posts planned for our oil & gas exploration category that will chronicle events in the Michigan oil patch since January of 2010 when drilling started on a well named the State Pioneer 1-3 HD1 in Missaukee county.  The January through April period of 2010 set the stage for increased awareness of oil & gas operations in Michigan because completion capabilities that had never before existed were used for the very first time.  2010 marks the first time the Collingwood formation was ever targeted for production in Michigan history.

Much debate, leasing activity, and permitting activity ensued after the State Pioneer 1-3 HD1 well was completed1.  Information and disinformation flooded the internet and it became difficult to determine who was telling the truth and who was trying to mislead the public.   Activity spiked hard after the Pioneer well.  Now, as we take a look back on 2010 from our 2014 vantage point, we have learned that actual results of the Collingwood have not lived up to the hype.   The Pioneer 1-3 HD1 well that got everyone so excited for a hydrocarbon boom in Michigan was more recently called a dry hole by Chesapeake lawyers in a Cheboygan courtroom.   Chesapeake and Encana were charged with criminal misconduct by colluding to keep lease prices artificially low and thus cheating Michigan landowners out of fair compensation for their mineral rights.  Criminal charges of collusion were filed after emails between the two companies demonstrated secret efforts to not bid against each other.   Lease prices fell by over 95% after these emails and corresponding actions described in the emails took place.

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respectmyplanet.org has been keeping an eye over Michigan’s natural resource data to look for interesting new perspectives on how to interpret so much data. Follow our articles and subscribe to our YouTube channel to learn more.

Needless to say, a lot has happened since completion of the Pioneer 1-3 HD1 well that started the Michigan hype.  It is ironic that the same well initially touted as a bellwether event of an oil boom has been called a dry hole by the same companies who have now been charged with criminal misconduct.    We have followed the stories of a May 2010 leasing frenzy and the subsequent actions of companies like Encana, Devon, GeoSouthern, Rosetta Resources, and Whiting in the Michigan basin.  And, since this new technology became available in Michigan in 2010 to test formations like the Collingwood and A1, we have been working hard building a website that allows us to keep gigabytes of Michigan oil & gas information organized for fast retrieval.

Our software and data allows us to spot misleading information or propaganda and quickly expose it as dishonest.   We have requested information via the Freedom of Information Act to help get all the data we needed to employ sound scientific analysis.  Now we are ready to share many of the conclusions we have come to know which are open to anyone’s review.   We have production numbers, pictures, videos and field notes that tell a story irrespective of hype and unsubstantiated claims.

respectmyplanet.org
If you haven’t seen us yet, take a closer look. We’ve been watching over Michigan natural resource data. We have been committed to keeping our eyes trained on gigabytes of data related to protecting Michigan’s environmental quality.

Follow along with our articles and videos and you will see how this website works and will start to realize the power it gives you to learn the facts about locations that you care about.    Even though we have been spending most of our time lately learning about oil & gas exploration in Michigan, we will also be looking at other types of locations and things that pose a risk to Michigan’s environment like:  military bases, industrial sites, gas stations, farms, septic systems, municipal sewage systems, invasive species, landfills, et Al.  respectmyplanet.org is a website that is always changing.   It always looks like a work in progress; because that’s what it is.   Form follows function on this website and tools are being added all the time that help our users find what they’re looking for fast.

The end goal and general functionality of the site, however, has not changed and will never change.  Our mission is to provide the public with a non partisan web based resource for sharing information and educational material to help promote water conservation and environmental protection. Thank you for reading the first post on RMP’s publications platform.  We hope you’ll stayed tuned and follow our articles as we begin publishing data to help you learn more about Michigan’s oil & gas exploration history and future.  We look forward to providing information that is clear, informative, and helpful.


Bibliography
1 – “Title of article” published by Author on December 22, 1971, page 77 of 307.

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