Post contributed by Brittany Thomas – Coordinator, External Affairs

Last weekend was so full of events, it took us until Thursday to have all of the photos uploaded!

Armed Forces Day Parade – Scranton

Cabot was a proud sponsor of this year’s Armed Forces Day Parade in Scranton. Despite the overcast weather, people lined the streets to see the parade which proudly featured military units, VFW members, the American Legion and many local groups and organizations as they showed support for the men and women protecting our country.

You can view photos from the parade on our Flickr account and see a recap of the parade thanks to WVIA.

Chocolate & Wine Festival – Montrose

The Chocolate & Wine Festival is a wonderful event for more than the obvious reasons (chocolate & wine) but because the proceeds from the day go to benefit local nonprofits and scholarships. Cabot helped to sponsor the event which featured local wineries, chocolatiers, live music, crafts, a cupcake war and a BBQ contest.

I’m proud to say that this year Cabot came home with the gold in the BBQ contest – winning not just the Judge’s Choice Award for the tastiest ribs but also the People’s Choice Award! Congratulations and a huge thank you to Cabot’s BBQ Master Jerry Dugas and to his apprentice chef Kevin Dawson.

SSDHHC Annual Car Show – Clarks Summit

The Scranton School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children (SSDHHC) hosted its 10th Annual Car Show to benefit the school and got quite a turnout of automobiles. The CNG powered 1955 Chevy was also there for the show and drew quite a crowd from the car enthusiasts present.

Be sure to check out all of the amazing vehicles present on our Flickr site.

In case you happened to miss the news on earlier this week, Cabot made an announcement regarding using natural gas to power hydraulic fracturing equipment in partnership with FTS International and Caterpillar Global Petroleum. Below is the full release: 

SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, Pa., May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) announces the use of Marcellus Shale natural gas to fracture wells via innovative dual fuel technology. This marks the first time “field” gas has been used in northeastern Pennsylvania for this purpose. The process of using clean-burning natural gas can displace up to 70 percent of the diesel fuel traditionally used to operate fracturing equipment. This successful effort was a partnership with FTS International (FTSI) and Caterpillar Global Petroleum(NYSE: CAT).

Use of dual fuel technology, where the engines operate on a mixture of natural gas and a small portion of diesel, provides several benefits:

• Reduced air emissions for a cleaner environment, due to a reduction in diesel usage
• Reduced truck traffic when field gas at or near the well site is used due to a reduction in the transportation of diesel fuel to site
• Reduced costs, as natural gas can be a less expensive fuel option than diesel, providing potential cost savings for the industry and for energy consumers

“Cabot is continually searching for ways to utilize cutting-edge, environmentally friendly technology during our operations,” explained Dan O. Dinges, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer for Cabot. “We are already converting our vehicle fleet and currently have a drilling rig using natural gas as well, so the next step is to utilize the technology on a hydraulic fracturing site.”

In order to operate using natural gas, FTSI’s mobile pressure pumping unit at the site was retrofitted with a Dynamic Gas Blending (DGB) kit from Caterpillar. The system enables substitution of diesel fuel with natural gas during high pressure pumping operations and is compatible with field gas, compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

FTSI Chief Executive Officer Greg Lanham said, “This is a terrific example of the oil and gas industry working together to develop and implement innovative technologies that are both environmentally conscious and operationally efficient. FTSI has been evaluating dual fuel conversion technologies for the last year to identify the best solution for our well completion fleets. Our goal is to increase efficiencies for our customers while ensuring the safety and equipment reliability our customers expect from FTSI.”

“Caterpillar is pleased that the Cat Dynamic Gas Blend system has performed exceptionally well and met FTSI and Cabot’s expectations,” Bart Myers Caterpillar Global Petroleum product director commented.  ”The Cat well stimulation DGB system makes no compromise with performance, safety, and reliability while burning a mixture of diesel and natural gas fuels. User feedback has been very positive regarding engine performance, and the integrated safety features of the Cat DGB system.”

“We congratulate Cabot on this remarkable accomplishment of using clean and abundant natural gas from the production process for an extensive hydraulic fracturing operation,” said America’s Natural Gas Alliance President and Chief Executive Officer Marty Durbin. “Cabot’s commitment to using natural gas to power its own operations is another in a long list of cost-effective and smart decisions ANGA members all over this country are making to use their own natural gas resources to save money, contribute to air quality improvements, and put an American fuel to work.”

Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a leading independent natural gas producer, with its entire resource base located in the continental United States. For additional information, visit the Company’s Internet homepage at www.cabotog.com.

FTS International (www.ftsi.com) is a leading provider of well completion services for the oil and gas industry. Exploration and production companies use FTSI’s products and services primarily to enhance their recovery rates from oil and gas wells. FTSI’s integration provides a competitive edge, as the company custom manufactures, assembles and produces many key components used in its operations, including high-pressure hydraulic pumps and mobile pressure pumping units. FTSI also offers wireline services and water management services, and owns and operates sand mines and facilities for producing proppants.

Caterpillar Global Petroleum, Caterpillar Inc.’s oil and gas division with headquarters in Houston, Texas, consolidates all the sales and service activities for Cat oil and gas power solutions. Since the 1930s, Caterpillar has manufactured engines for the oilfield and today provides premier power solutions with outputs from 31 to 16,000 kW.  The sales and service network includes more than 2,100 dealer locations world-wide dedicated to support customers in the drilling, production, well service and gas compression segments. More information is available at: http://www.catoilandgasinfo.com

The Cabot Community Picnic is less than two months away…are you ready?

Hello everyone! My name is Sarah Lynch, and I am the summer 2013 External Affairs Intern. I’m finishing up my first week here at the Pittsburgh office and I learned very quickly that I will certainly have my hands full this summer!

I just completed my junior year at Penn State, majoring in Public Relations with a minor in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management (RPTM). When you go to Penn State you become part of a HUGE family, and it is a pleasure to be working so closely with Brittany, an enthusiastic PSU alumna!                                                                          

Last semester I was interning in the corporate office for Skills of Central Pa. Inc. Skills is a non-profit organization that provides an array of support services to people with special needs across 16 counties. While interning there I was able to learn, and sharpen my talents in social media, marketing and event planning.

Though I am not an expert in the oil and gas industry, I am excited to learn and am confident that my knowledge from Penn State and my work with Skills will provide a good foundation for the work that I will be doing with Cabot.

George and Brittany have been very helpful getting me acquainted with my role in the External Affairs department. I’ve only been here for a week but I have already dived into planning the update for the Cabot website, working on new blog ideas and attended the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce (PAACC) “Get To Know Your Energy Neighbors” Breakfast Briefing.

While working with the website and blog I’ve already started to pick up knowledge about the field. I think it’s amazing the Cabot has taken the steps to make sure close to 100% of the water that they use while fracing can be recycled!

Going to the briefing was a really cool experience. I was able to see George moderating the event, meet people from all different types of organizations that interested in the benefits from natural gas and learn from the panel of speakers.

I always thought of coal and natural gas as competitors, but at the briefing they were both “playing for the same team”, with the same goal being to get PA to start acting like the natural energy rich state that it is.

Life at Cabot moves quickly! As for my summer, I predict a lot of work, learning, fun and A LOT of coffee in my future and I can’t wait!

Post contributed by Eric Blackshire - Supervisor, Gas Control for Cabot

With many of you probably reading this on a hand-held electronic device, you will understand that we have all grown a custom to information being accessible 24\7. In the Oil & Gas industry, we are no different. Knowing how our business is performing at any given moment is valuable information. Over the years, technology has enhanced our daily lives, so too has it enabled the Oil & Gas industry to increase its productivity and efficiency.

Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) with a radio tower at a production facility

One of the many ways technology has touched our industry is how electronic data can be collected from remote well locations. The Oil & Gas industry uses many of the same communications technologies as we do in our everyday lives, such as, cellular, land-line telephone, satellite and radios. When you are relaxing and spending time with family members watching a Pay-Per-View movie at home, many times it is being transmitted to you through telephone lines or a satellite dish. When you are talking to a loved one at home on your cordless phone, your cordless phone uses similar spread-spectrum radio technology that we do in the Oil & Gas industry.

As you know, it is not feasible to have someone at every location all the time. So by using various communications media in association with industrial software, known as Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA), we can display remote data at a central monitoring location.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation has a whole team dedicated to monitoring our remote facilities, we call them Gas Control. This team operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Cabot has had a Gas Control department since 1990. Our Gas Controllers’ view monitors that display pressure, flow and other data from wells to keep things running smoothly and to achieve our goals. They are also there to notify field personnel and management at the first indication of a system upset. They are responsible for sending timely reports to operations’ personnel to keep them abreast of ongoing activities. They are like a shepherd watching over its flock.

Cabot is expecting to open a new Gas Control monitoring center in their Pittsburgh office by mid-July.

So the next time you are driving past a Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation facility, look for the antenna and take comfort that someone is out there keeping an eye on it.

Cabot hires local employees, employs thousands in energy related jobs, pumps millions of dollars in the local economies, produces a clean, energy efficient fuel, while meeting our business goals and doing it SAFELY.