Range Resources
 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| NYSE: RRC | |
| Industry | Oil and Gas exploration & production[1] hydraulic fracturing[2][failed verification] |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Headquarters | Fort Worth, Texas, USA |
Key people |
|
| Revenue |  $907 million USD (2009) |
| $59 million USD (2009) | |
| ($54)million USD (2009)[3] | |
Number of employees | 787 (2009)[3]b |
| Website | www.rangeresources.com |
Range Resources is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company based in Fort Worth, Texas. Range is best known for its lead role in applying high-volume slickwater hydraulic fracturing ("new fracking") [4] techniques to produce shale gas from the Devonian-aged Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, which has generated considerable controversy. Because much of the Marcellus Shale lies under rural but significantly-populated areas, the company routinely purchases leases from small homeowners for the rights to drill on their land. They have over $1 billion USD invested in southwestern Pennsylvania, [5] while it also has operations in the Southwestern United States. Founded in 1976, the current CEO is John Pinkerton and its current COO and president is Jeffrey Ventura. [6]
History
Range Resources traces its roots to Lomak Petroleum, which was based in Hartville, Ohio in 1976, and drilled wells in eastern Ohio. In 1992, it moved its headquarters to Fort Worth and merged in 1998 with Domain Energy Corp. to become its present form. It also participated in a joint venture with FirstEnergy called Great Lakes Energy Partners LLC which it bought out in 2004 to form the subsidiary Range Resources Appalachia LLC.[7] Before its major expansion into the Marcellus Shale, Range Resources only held a small position in the Texas Barnett Shale and 9000 "worn-out gas wells across the Appalachian basin that had been producing for 25 years". However, geologist William Zagorski, who worked for the company, used the knowledge of fracking gained working in the Barnett Shale (pioneered in the region by Mitchell Energy) to attempt fracking in Appalachia, where according Ventura, "it worked on the first try". The first test used a vertical drill, but Range Resources built three horizontal test wells in 2005 (in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania) and bought $200 million USD worth of land in 2007. The company had spent less than $1000 per acre on average to acquire land suitable for drilling, compared to larger traditional oil and gas players who joined the exploration rush late in the game who had "recent deals primed at $14,000 an acre". [8]In 2010, Forbes called Range Resources "King of the Marcellus Shale" with an enterprise value of $8 billion USD, suggesting that its position should attract energy investors scared by offshore drilling's unlimited liabilities, as shown by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It suggested that after factoring Range's profitable use of land acquisitions, a true value could be closer to $20 billion USD. [8]
Environmental record
Investigative reports by This American Life and New York Times investigated the company, using operations in Amwell Township and Mount Pleasant as case studies. Journalists Eliza Griswold and Sarah Koenig found water pollution and air pollution of lease-held land to be an endemic problem. Problems included residents complaining of black running water that corroded faucets and household machinery, showers smelling of "rotten eggs" (hydrogen sulfide) and diarrhea, "mysterious stomach pains", extreme fatigue or anemia. Medical tests of residents complaining of headaches, nosebleeds and the inability to concentrate showed elevated blood levels of industrial organic solvents and heavy metals such as toluene and arsenic. When presented with such complaints, Range Resources argued their labs' test results show that complaints of illness and dying animals may have causes other than poisoning or pollution.[9] [5] According to a letter from Range Resources to a complainant, "On November 10, 2010, you voluntarily supplied Range Resources with lab results from both your dog and horse veterinarians. Upon review of these results, Range contacted the canine and equine veterinarians. … [I]t was stated by the veterinarian that the test results were inconclusive for anti-freeze [ethylene glycol] poising. … The veterinarian indicated that the horse had toxicity of the liver, which he felt was not related to [ethylene glycol] poising.[10]
One resident in Amwell was riding her horse behind Range Resources' chemical pond for holding fracking flowback when she encountered "a hissing and bubbling sound in the stream" and a "red foamy oil slick" that caused the stream to exhibit "rainbow water". Range maintained that it was likely caused by "decayed vegetation that gave off gas", having attributed previous complaints of malodor to harmless anaerobic bacteria that grew near their fluid compressor stations. However chemical tests of the area later "revealed the presence of acetone, toluene, benzene, phenol, arsenic, barium, heavy metals and methane". [9] The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) tested the landowners water, and found that her water was not contaminated. The DEP sent Ms. Beth Voyles a letter that concluded there was no evidence to substantiate the complaint.[11]
Chemical Disclosure
Range Resources displays the list on its website giving regulators and landowners an account of the chemicals injected into each well. Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection made public a list of more than 80 chemicals used by the drilling industry. The Range list, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, included the volume, concentration and purpose of the chemicals.[12]
Sanctions
Range Resources has paid $219,875 in fines to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as of May 2010. The bulk was $141,175 levied for a fracking fluid spill that killed aquatic life in Washington County's Brush Creek — protected by the state as a "high-quality waterway") — according to the Pittsburgh Business Times. However, Ray Walker, vice president, said that Range Resources has "made a lot of adjustments since then". The fluid spill was due to a "faulty elbow pipe"; according to Walker, Range has since "gone to a completely different pipe manufacturer and a completely different pipe design". Firings and changed procedures also followed the incident. [13]
Public relations
Range Resources has sponsored public relations campaigns supporting permitted use zoning regulations rather than conditional use regulations, which could permit citizen review of Range's activities near their land or neighbourhoods. According to NPR, the campaigns sometimes are thinly-veiled coercion. "Mount Pleasant and its three citizen supervisors were ridiculously outmanned...in [an ensuing] full-scale PR war" with Range Resources when the supervisors decided to follow conditional use zoning policy used in other states such as Texas, Colorado and Wyoming. Through letters to citizens, Range threatened to cut off funding to the township if the township refused to support permitted use zoning for Range. Other opposing townships have also been sued by Range Resources over zoning policies.[5] On November 8 2011, CNBC reported on a conference which Range Resources attended, in which those in the energy industry were advised to "download the US Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Manual, because we are dealing with an insurgency". In the conference, Range Resources spokesman Matt Pitzarella also said that Range had "several former psy ops folks...[who are] very comfortable in dealing with localized issues and local governments. Really all they do is spend most of their time helping folks develop local ordinances and things like that. But very much having that understanding of psy ops in the Army and in the Middle East has applied very helpfully here for us in Pennsylvania." [14] Pitzarella later clarified that he meant to refer to "one employee of the firm", whose psy ops background made him adept at handling emotionally-charged township meetings. However, Sharon Wilson, the recorder of the remarks, said "the comments reveal what the fracking industry thinks about people in the communities that are impacted by the industry." [14]
"My Range Resources"
As part of an effort to reassure the public of its activities, Range Resources has started a campaign, "My Range Resources" which depict "ordinary people... who have benefited from allowing drilling on their land". The ad campaign includes, in the words of one Centre Daily Times journalist Bob Myers, "real Pennsylvanians talking earnestly about the wonderful experiences they’ve had with Range Resources". [15] According to Elwin Green of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Range Resources stands out because most gas companies generally prefer to keep a low profile, preferring to "tout their successes to Wall Street, but not to Main Street". In contrast, Range Resources' campaign uses testimonials such as, "Natural gas has been ... a godsend to this area," from farmers or "In the last two years, probably 60 percent of our business is natural gas," from local business owners. [7] Vice president Ray Walker was quoted as saying, "A lot of people don't know much about our industry or about Range Resources...we're committed to being the very best that we can be. We want to be accountable, transparent and accessible to people." Videos produced by public relations firms Big Picture Communications and Downtown's Animal Inc. used "unscripted video and purposely avoided using company spokespeople". Blake Lewis, CEO of Lewis Public Relations in Dallas and a board member of the Public Relations Society of America gave Range Resources' website "high marks". However, journalists' reactions been skeptical or mixed. According to Myers, "a quick review of the state Department of Environmental Protection records suggests that the truth is more complicated than the ads suggest...the folks at Range define good stewardship in a slightly different manner than is customary." Reg Henry of the Nashua Telegraph thought "the whole promotion was skin crawling... but now I read MyRangeResources and I think: How cute is that for a gas drilling company? It makes me think of my daughter’s My Little Pony when she was a mite". [16]
References
- ^ New York Times - Companies: Range Resources Corporation
- ^ Hydraulic Fracturing - Marcellus Shale, Rangeresources.com
- ^ a b http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=RRC+Profile
- ^ This is contrast to older hydraulic fracturing techniques, which uses two orders of magnitude less water per well.
- ^ a b c Glass, Ira. "Game Changer, episode 440". This American Life, National Public Radio.
- ^ http://www.rangeresources.com/Our-Company/Senior-Management.aspx
- ^ a b Green, Elwin (13 October 2010). "Ads say Range Resources is a responsible driller". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ a b Helman, Christopher (9 August 2010). "Range Resources Is King Of The Marcellus Shale". Forbes Magazine. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- ^ a b Griswold, Eliza (17 November 2011). "The Fracturing of Pennsylvania". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ Voyles, Mr. and Mrs. "Water Well Complaint" (PDF). Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ DEP. "Certified Mail" (PDF). State of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ Public, Pro. "Drilling Company Says It Will List Hazardous Chemicals Used in Fracking". Pro Publica. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ "Pennsylvania collects $1M in fines since spike in Marcellus Shale drilling,", Anya Litvak, Pittsburgh Business Times, May 31, 2010. Retrieved on 2010-11-29.
- ^ a b Javers, Eamon (8 Nov 2011). "Oil Executive: Military-Style 'Psy Ops' Experience Applied". CNBC.
- ^ Myers, Bob (26 January 2011). "A vast wasteland awaits". Centre Daily Times.
- ^ Henry, Reg (21 August 2011). "Corporations are the funniest people". The Telegraph (Nashua).