德州頁岩天然氣事件前後的悲劇故事

In the great shale-drilling frenzy that spread fracking across America, Fort Worth, Texas—located at the center of the 5,000-square-mile Barnett Shale natural-gas field—was ground zero.

沃思堡市位於方圓5000平方英里的巴奈特頁岩天然氣田的中心地帶。在全美國陷入頁岩鑽探“大躍進”的年代，沃思堡市是天然氣鑽探搞得最紅火的地方。

The drilling boom has moved on now—first to Arkansas (Fayetteville Shale) and Louisiana (Haynesville Shale), then Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and New York (Marcellus Shale and Utica Shale). More recently, the excitement has centered on shale fields that produce crude oil, which is far more lucrative, such as the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford in South Texas.

但是現在，“鑽探熱”在沃思堡已經“退燒”，轉而傳染到阿肯色州（費耶特維爾頁岩田）、路易斯安那州（海恩斯維爾頁岩田），然後是賓西法尼亞州、西弗吉尼亞州、俄亥俄州和紐約州（瑪西拉頁岩田和尤蒂卡頁岩田）。由於原油鑽探的利潤更高，高近人們的興奮點也自然轉移到了能產出原油的頁岩田，比如北達科他州的巴肯頁岩田和德州南部的鷹堡頁岩田。

It’s now a decade since the boom began, and that makes it a fit moment to look back at what started in Fort Worth—and to see what it left behind. Like any economic mania, it came and went fast. In December 2004, drilling leases in North Texas brought a signing bonus of $500 an acre, plus a percentage of drilling royalties; four years later, bonuses topped $30,000. Today, any landowner signing a new lease gets a bonus of about $5,000 an acre. (I have some first-hand experience: I live in Fort Worth and in 2011, my wife and I signed a lease with Chesapeake Energy CHK 2.05% for drilling rights on the one-third acre of land under our home. We received a signing bonus of $1,239. Our most recent monthly royalty check was for $51.54.)

“頁岩熱”已經持續了十年了，所以現在也該對沃斯堡的今昔做一個對比，看看它在當年頁岩熱剛興起的時候是什麼樣子，現在又留下了什麼。像很多其它被炒熱的經濟概念一樣，頁岩熱來得快去得也快。2004年12月，德州北部的土地所有人每簽訂一英畝土地的租約，能獲得500美元的簽約獎金，以及一定比例的開採使用費。而四年以後，一英畝土地的簽約獎金最高達3萬美元。到了今天，一英畝土地的簽約獎金大約是5000美元。【我在這方面有第一手的經驗：我本人就住在沃斯堡，2011年，我和我妻子與切薩皮克能源公司（Chesapeake Energy）簽訂了授權其鑽探我家所有的三分之一畝土地的租約，我們獲得了1239美元的簽約獎金，最近我們每月獲得的開採使用費是51.54美元。】

At the peak, in 2008, there were about 200 active drilling rigs in the Barnett Shale, seeking to tap into new gas-production sites. Today, there are 22, according to RigData.

據RigData公司統計，2008年，在頁岩熱達到最高潮的時候，巴奈特頁岩田大概有200個活躍的鑽井平臺，而且還在不斷有人尋找新的鑽井點。但是到了今天只剩下了22個。

With 17,546 existing wells steadily producing less over their natural lifespan, the Barnett now yields about 4.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day—a drop of more than 20% from its 2011 peak, according to Gene Powell, publisher of the Powell Shale Digest, an online industry newsletter. Barnett gas production will continue for decades—and could rise again if a big jump in volatile natural gas prices (now about $4.55 per million BTU) makes new drilling more profitable. In the meantime, the fracking boom has created thousands of local jobs, and cushioned the area’s pain since the 2008 recession. Fort Worth’s unemployment rate remains well below the national average.

據行業網絡通訊《鮑威爾頁岩摘要》（Powell Shale Digest）的出版方吉恩鮑威爾公司估算，受自然壽命所限，巴奈特頁岩田現有的17,546口油氣井所出產的油氣量正在日益減少，每天大概只能產出49億立方英尺天然氣，比2011年的鼎盛時期下跌了20%多。巴奈特頁岩田的天然氣儲量還能繼續開採幾十年，如果天然氣價格出現了重大躍升（現價格約爲每百萬BTU4.55美元），使得鑽探新井變得更有利可圖的話，那麼這裏的天然氣產量可能還會再次上升。同時頁岩熱也爲當地創造了好幾千個就業崗位，緩衝了2008年經濟危機給本地區帶來的衝擊。正因爲這樣，沃斯堡的失業率要遠低於美國平均水平。

But the get-rich-quick dreams have faded, amid a considerably less thrilling reality. The Barnett boom has generated far less royalty income than many public officials and homeowners expected. Permitted even in Fort Worth’s residential neighborhoods, gas drilling has also generated industrial eyesores, broken roads, pollution concerns, and lawsuits. Geologists even link fracking—specifically, the disposal of liquid drilling wastes in underground wells—to dozens of small local earthquakes.

但是在漸漸變得沉重的現實面前，“賺快錢”的美夢已經失去了它的光環。巴奈特頁岩田分給土地所有者的開採使用費要遠低於許多政府官員和土地所有者的預期。另外，它還給沃斯堡當地帶來了許多負作用，比如道路破損、市民對環境的擔憂，以及層不出不窮的官司。地質學家甚至表示，鑽探頁岩氣所使用的液壓破碎法，即利用高壓將液態的鑽井廢棄物打入地下的方法，很可能正是導致了當地幾十次小型地震的元兇。

For a time, euphoria prevailed, amid talk of a vast new clean energy source that would move America toward independence from foreign oil and generate a local economic windfall. After drillers launched a bidding war to snatch up local drilling acreage, industry experts proclaimed the dawn of “a golden age” for natural gas. “Barnett Shale properties are like the beautiful woman at the prom,” one company PR man told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2005. “Everybody wants to dance with her.”

有一段時間，由於很多人深信開採頁岩會給美國帶來大量的清潔能源，從而使美國擺脫對外國石油的依賴，同時刺激地方經濟的發展，因而“頁岩狂熱派”一時佔據了上風。隨着鑽井公司爲了吃進土地而展開投標大戰，不少行業專家斷言天然氣的“黃金時代”即將拉開大幕。2005年，一家公司的公關人員對《沃斯堡明星電訊報》表示：“巴奈特頁岩田的財富就像是舞會上的漂亮女人，每個人都想和她跳舞。”

And no one put the moves on Fort Worth quite like Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy, led by then-CEO Aubrey McClendon. (Through a spokesman, Chesapeake declined to comment for this story.)

對沃斯堡展開最猛烈的追求的是總部位於俄克拉荷馬市的切薩皮克能源公司，當時這家公司的CEO名叫奧伯雷o麥克蘭登。（切薩皮克能源公司的發言人拒絕對本文發表評論。）

Vying for favor—and acreage—with XTO Energy, a Fort Worth homeboy, and other companies, Chesapeake lavished all manner of blandishments to win the locals’ hearts and minds: $100,000 toward a memorial for police and firefighters; $1 million to help build a new building for the city’s science and history museum (four other drillers chipped in $1 million apiece); $1 million to the YMCA to create the “Barnett Shale Endowment Fund.” The Oklahoma company helped underwrite Fort Worth’s biggest holiday event, rebranded the “Chesapeake Energy Parade of Lights.” In nearby Westworth Village (population 2,300), Chesapeake celebrated its drilling deal by providing three new elegant city-limits signs carved into giant stone slabs—with Chesapeake’s full-color logo etched in a corner of each.

爲了與沃斯堡市本土的XTO能源公司以及其它油氣企業爭奪當地人的芳心，切薩皮克公司使出了渾身解數。先是花了10萬美元爲當地警察和消防員建立了一座紀念碑，然後又出資100萬美元幫助當地蓋了一座新的科學歷史博物館（另外還有四家鑽井公司也各掏了100萬）。另外還向當地的基督教青年會捐贈100萬美元，成立了“巴奈特頁岩捐贈基金”。這家總部位於俄克拉荷馬州的公司還資助了當地最大的節日活動，將其冠名爲“切薩皮克能源公司燈火遊行”。爲了慶祝鑽探協議簽訂成功，這家公司在城郊附近一個名叫溫特沃斯的村子（人口2300人）樹立了三塊城市界碑，每塊界碑的角落上都刻着切薩皮克公司的彩色Logo。

Meanwhile Barnett Shale propaganda was everywhere. Chesapeake promoted the economic benefits of drilling with an ad campaign featuring actor Tommy Lee Jones. It produced a 30-minute infomercial called “Citizens of the Shale” and bought time to run it on local stations. It planned a regular TV broadcast—called “”—to be hosted by a retired local anchorman. It joined with ten other energy companies to form the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council, and hired a veteran industry economist to conduct local “outreach” programs.

與此同時，關於巴奈特頁岩田的宣傳無處不在。切薩皮克公司爲了宣傳鑽探頁岩氣的經濟利益，特地重金聘請著名演員湯米o李o瓊斯拍攝了一支廣告。另外，它還攝製了一部名叫《頁岩田的公民》（Citizens of the Shale）的電視宣傳片，買斷黃金時間在當地電視臺播放。它還打算專門開設一家名叫的電視臺，由當地一名退休主播擔任主持人。另外切薩皮克公司還與其他10家能源公司一道，成立了巴奈特頁岩能源教育委員會，聘請一名經驗豐富的行業經濟學家負責本地的“推廣”計劃。

On a drilling site next to a busy shopping mall in suburban Grapevine, the company erected the “ChesapeakeLearningCenter,” where visitors could go on self-guided tours to watch natural gas operations up close. (“Local families will benefit from multiple wells drilled on this site,” explained one sign.) What was soon dubbed “fracking tourism” led the local mayor to gush that it was a “one-of-a-kind attraction.”

在Grapevine郊區一座繁忙的購物中心附近有一個鑽井點，切薩皮克公司就在這裏成立了一座“切薩皮克學習中心”，遊客可以在這裏來一次“自遊行”，就近參觀這裏的天然氣鑽探操作。（有一塊牌子上寫着：“當地家庭將通過本鑽探點的多口油井受益。”）這種“鑽井一日遊”很快被當地市長吹噓爲“獨一無二的吸引力”。

In 2008, with gas prices briefly over $10, Chesapeake spent $104 million to buy a flashy 20-story office building in Fort Worth for its regional headquarters.

2008年，就在天然氣價勉強突破10美元時，切薩皮克公司斥資1.04億美元，在沃斯堡市買下了一座20層的大樓，作爲區域總部。

In drilling-friendly Texas, all this—and the lure of money for nothing—overwhelmed the few cautionary voices. Other cities would remain wary about the sights, smells, and sounds of urban drilling, which requires rigs, pipelines, noisy machinery, and heavy trucks. Even after the rigs go elsewhere, producing the gas requires wellhead equipment, storage tanks, and (often) a compressor, on a fenced or walled industrial site of three to five acres; heavy trucks come and go to haul off drilling wastes. That’s hard to ignore in a residential neighborhood. Pittsburgh would later ban drilling inside its city limits altogether.

儘管其他城市可能考慮到了城市鑽井可能導致的視覺污染、空氣污染和噪聲污染（因爲鑽井必然需要設備、管道、大噪音的機械和重型卡車），但是在熱情接納了鑽井業的德克薩斯州，金錢的誘惑還是戰勝了少數警惕的聲音。哪怕把鑽井平臺搭在別的地方，開採天然氣還是需要井口設備、儲存罐、壓縮機，一個平臺經常要圍上三到五畝地的圍牆或柵欄，重型卡車來來回回傾瀉廢料……這些問題在人口聚居區域很難被忽視。因此匹茲堡市後來乾脆禁止在城市界內進行鑽井。

But Fort Worth, led by an oilman-mayor—and a citizenry thrilled with the prospect of a leasing windfall—imposed only modest restrictions. Soon there were rigs everywhere: near parks and country clubs; in leafy residential neighborhoods; in downtown Fort Worth (considered a “sweet spot” in the Barnett field); even on the grounds of a local cemetery.

但是沃斯堡市在一位石油市長的領導下，由於堅信土地租約會給當地帶來經濟效益，因此只對頁岩氣開採出臺了一些不痛不癢的限制。很快沃斯堡市開始遍佈油井——在公園和鄉村俱樂部旁邊，在人口稠密的居民區附近，在沃斯堡市中心（因爲這裏被認爲是巴奈特油田的一個“最佳出氣點”），甚至連當地的一座公墓陵園裏，都能看到高大的鑽井機在轟鳴作業。

Everyone with a piece of land, it seemed, was signing leasing deals, including the city of Fort Worth itself. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram sold rights to drill under its printing plant. Dallas-Fort Worth Airport received a $186 million signing bonus from Chesapeake; airport officials and McClendon toasted the deal with champagne.

當時，沃斯堡市掀起了“全城租地”的風潮，似乎但凡名下有立錐之地的人，都在簽訂鑽探租約，甚至連城市本身也不例外。前文提到的《沃斯堡明星電訊報》就把自家印刷廠的鑽探權賣了出去。達拉斯-沃斯堡機場也從切薩皮克公司獲得了1.86億美元的簽約獎金，機場官員和切薩皮克公司CEO麥克蘭登還在簽約儀式上開了香檳。

Then, suddenly, the boom was over. Even as natural gas production soared and gas prices plunged, energy companies had kept bidding to sign new leases, driving some signing-bonus offers for neighborhood drilling rights over $30,000. One umbrella group of 28 southwest Fort Worth neighborhood associations, representing about 50,000 properties, had painstakingly negotiated a group deal with Colorado-based Vantage Energy, which agreed to pay a bonus of $27,500 an acre, abide by tough drilling restrictions, and donate $500,000 for area projects. Residents of the different neighborhoods would each have a turn to sign a lease during separate meetings that were expected to continue for months at a local Baptist church.

但是就在一夜之間，“頁岩熱”熄滅了。即便在天然氣產量激增、價格猛跌的情況下，各大能源公司依舊爭相簽訂新的租約，使有些買斷鑽探權的租約價格達到每畝3萬美元之高。當地一個由沃斯堡市西南28家社區協會組成的聯合會代表大約5萬戶家庭與總部位於科羅拉多州的Vantage能源公司進行了艱苦的談判，最終達成了一項集體協定，Vantage公司同意以27,500美元每英畝的價格租賃土地鑽探權，同時表示願意遵守嚴格的開採限制，並且向該地區的民生項目捐贈50萬美元。當地各個社區的居民可以輪流在當地的一座浸信會教堂裏與能源公司簽訂協議，整個簽約過程可能會持續好幾個月的時間。

Instead, on Oct. 14, 2008, with only a fifth of the leases signed, Vantage’s CEO summoned three top neighborhood leaders to a downtown office to tell them that day’s signing meeting—already underway—would be the last. The $500,000 charitable donation was also off the table. All this was to be kept secret until Vantage officially announced its action the next day, recalls Tolli Thomas, the neighborhoods’ lead negotiator.

但是到了2008年10月14日，在只簽訂了原定計劃的五分之一的租約的情況下，Vantage公司的CEO將三位社區領袖召集在市中心的一間辦公室裏，告訴他們當天的簽約會（當時已經在進行中）將是最後一場簽約會了。50萬美元的慈善捐助也宣告免談。社區首席談判代表託利o托馬斯回憶道，在Vantage公司第二天正式宣佈行動計劃之前，一切都處於保密狀態。

Instead, word quickly leaked out, and more than 1,000 frantic people rushed to the church, hoping to sign leases and collect on the offer, knowing the deal was about to be called off. But many of their leases hadn’t even been prepared. “We were trying to help pull files and get as many people signed up as possible,” says Thomas. As time ran short and the crowd grew angry, cursing and pushing and shoving in line, police were summoned. “There was panic in the air,” she says. The event was shut down around midnight. (In an “open letter” to area residents apologizing for “any inconvenience,” Vantage CEO Roger Biemans said his company would honor all executed agreements, but would sign no more leases under the negotiated terms due to “market turmoil” and “the drastic drop in natural gas prices.” Any future leases, he added, would need to “more accurately reflect current and expected oil and gas fundamental economics.”)

但是消息很快泄露了出去，1000多名憤怒的羣衆得知協議將被取消的消息後，一齊涌至教堂，希望簽訂租約，繼續履行協議。但是他們很多人的租約甚至都沒有準備好。托馬斯說：“我們當時想幫忙打印文件，儘可能讓更多的人簽約。”隨着剩下的時間越來越少，人們變得越來越憤怒，一邊咒罵一邊在隊列中推推搡搡，警察也趕到現場維持秩序。托馬斯說：“當時空氣中瀰漫着恐慌的氣味。”這次活動持續到午夜才結束。（在一封公開信中，Vantage公司CEO羅傑o畢曼斯表示對給當地居民造成的“任何不便”表示道歉，並稱公司會遵守所有已經執行的協議，但是由於“市場波動”和天然氣價格“顯著下跌”的原因，公司將不再根據已談妥的條款簽訂更多租約。他還補充說，未來簽訂的任何租約都需要“更精確地反映當前和預期的石油與天然氣的基礎經濟因素。”

Chesapeake, XTO, and the other drillers also yanked big bonus deals off the table. The new high-end offer (from the few companies still signing leases): $5,000 an acre. Angry residents who were shut out by Vantage, Chesapeake, and other companies filed dozens of suits against the drillers, seeking to force them to honor the original deals for them, too. But the litigation was unsuccessful.

切薩皮克和XTO等鑽探公司也砍掉了大量租約。對於少數仍在吃進土地的公司來說，每畝5000元的簽約獎金已經是高端合同了。被Vantage和切薩皮克等公司砍掉租約的居民在憤怒之餘，紛紛將這些公司告上了法庭，希望強制他們執行原來的協議，但是結果並不成功。

Homeowners who had signed leases were also disappointed to discover that drilling would provide only a modest ongoing windfall—for owners of an average residential lot, perhaps $25 to $50 a month. Several prominent landowners—including the city of Fort Worth, the school district, DFW Airport, billionaire Ed Bass, and the Star-Telegram—sued Chesapeake, accusing it of shorting them. (In 2012, Chesapeake paid $5.3 million in back royalties to settle with the airport. It continues to contest other cases, insisting it has paid what it owed in each instance.)

已經簽訂了租約的土地所有人也失望地發現，鑽探帶來的後續分紅遠沒有當初想象得那樣多——平均到每戶也就是每月25到50美元。有些在當地比較有地位的土地所有者，包括市政府、校區、沃斯堡機場、億萬富翁艾德o巴斯和《電訊報》都紛紛狀告切薩皮克公司，稱對方虧欠分紅。（2012年，切薩皮克公司向沃斯堡機場支付了530萬美元鑽探費，雙方達成和解。目前這家公司仍在就其他案件進行爭辯，堅稱它已經支付了每起訴訟中應付的分紅。）

Meanwhile, a state transportation official announced that repairing road damage throughout Texas caused by heavy drilling-industry trucks would cost as much as $2 billion. Residents have complained of groundwater pollution and contaminated air. (The industry has said there is no proof that drilling caused pollution problems.)

與此同時，德克薩斯州交通部門的一名官員稱，要修復鑽探業的重型卡車導致的路面破損可能需要最高20億美元的費用。當地居民也經常抱怨地下水和空氣遭到的污染。（鑽探行業則表示沒有證據表明鑽探導致了污染問題。）

On May 23, a local jury awarded $20,000 in damages to one Fort Worth man who filed suit against Chesapeake complaining that a well site behind his home was a nuisance. Other similar suits are pending.

5月23日，在一起當地居民狀告切薩皮克公司的油氣井擾民的案件中，當地法院的陪審裁定這位居民勝訴，並獲得2萬美元賠償。其它類似案件仍在審理中。

And finally there are the earthquakes—dozens of small localized rattlers that have frightened residents. Experts have linked them to disposal wells used to inject liquid fracking wastes deep underground. Although energy companies and state officials say there’s no firm proof of what causes the quakes, a string of temblors at Dallas-Forth Worth Airport lasting through 2009 ended after two disposal wells were shut down. An ongoing string of quakes near disposal wells northwest of Fort Worth remains under study.

最後還要說說地震——近年來當地發生的幾十起小型地震讓居民深感恐慌。已經有專家表示，這些地震與鑽井公司用來向地下注入液態廢棄物的廢液處理井有關。雖然能源公司和該州官員表示，目前還沒有確切的證據表明導致這些地震的具體原因是什麼，但是就在沃斯堡機場附近的兩口廢液處理井關閉後，這座機場2009年以來發生的一連串地震的確停止了。現在專家們仍在對沃斯堡西北部幾口處理井附近接連發生的一連串小型地震進行研究。

Chesapeake is far less visible around Fort Worth these days. It has sold off much of its Barnett acreage, cut back its local staff, and, in 2012, put its 20-story regional headquarters building—purchased just four years earlier—on the block. (It still hasn’t sold.) The company’s highly visible CEO, McClendon, announced his resignation in January 2013, amid big losses from the company’s huge bet on natural gas—then at near-record-low prices—and revelations about his sweetheart deals with the company. And Chesapeake has receded from the press. In 2008, Chesapeake was the subject of almost daily mentions in the Star-Telegram—309 in all. So far in 2014, it has been mentioned only 21 times. The company’s now down to just two Barnett Shale drilling rigs.

這些日子以來，切薩皮克公司在沃斯堡的出鏡率遠遠沒有以前高了。它已經賣掉了巴奈特頁岩田的很多土地，裁掉了很多當地員工，並且在2012年將那座20層的區域總部大樓送上了拍賣臺。2013年1月，隨着這家公司在天然氣上的豪賭遭遇鉅額虧損，加上天然氣價格達到接近歷史新低，再加上CEO麥克蘭登與公司的私下交易被公佈於世，這位高調的CEO只得宣佈辭職。媒體上也很難再尋覓到切薩皮克公司的蹤影。2008年，切薩皮克公司基本上每天都會在《電訊報》上露面——全年總共見報309次。但到了2014年，這家公司只見報了21次。目前，它在巴奈特頁岩田只剩兩套鑽井設備。

Chesapeake also no longer has its brand on the big downtown Fort Worth holiday festival of lights. For 2014, that event will be sponsored by XTO (now owned by ExxonMobil) instead.

切薩皮克公司也不再冠名沃斯堡的燈火節了。2014年，這項活動將由XTO公司贊助（現已被埃克森美孚控股）。