Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Sep 25, 2013

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

New York

Irony Knows No Limits in Dryden
Natural Gas Now
Dryden is one of the two New York towns who enacted natural gas development bans now under appeal before that state’s highest court. The irony is that they also ban most wind energy and promote wood burning.

Ohio

Ohio’s gas boom is still in the future, says CSU economist
Cleveland Plain Dealer
It’s been two years since former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon said shale gas would be the biggest thing here since the plow — and two years since Gov. John Kasich’s energy summit promised thousands of jobs. But real jobs have been difficult to count. Now comes the truth. “The gas boom is not here yet,” economist Iryna Lendel, assistant director of Center for Economic Development at Cleveland State’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, told a crowded lecture hall Tuesday morning at the John S. Knight Convention Center.

Gulfport Producing Despite $250K Fine
The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register
Even though Gulfport Energy had to pay a $250,000 fine for “ground contamination” at some eastern Ohio Utica Shale operations recently, the driller continues pumping large quantities of natural gas. Gulfport’s Clay 3-4H well, just west of Piedmont Lake in Harrison County, is now in production. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, this well pad was one of the seven found with contamination earlier this year.

Ohio landfills taking drill cuttings from Pennsylvania drilling
Akron Beacon Journal
Five facilities in Ohio are continuing to accept shale drill cuttings from Pennsylvania. The five, mostly landfills, took in 42,101.16 tons in the first six months of 2013. The five are: Tunnell Hill Reclamation Landfill inPerry County, 38,68.87 tons. It also accepted 58.56 barrels of service fluid. Waste Management’s Mahoning Landfill, Mahoning County, 2,937.96 tons. Carbon Limestone Landfill, also Mahoning County, 340.8 tons. Apex Sanitary Landfill, Jefferson County, 272.34 tons. Soil Remediation Inc. in Mahoning County, 181.19 tons. Those totals are what drillers reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

National

Natural Gas Producers Could Soon Be Victims Of Their Own Success
Seeking Alpha
Natural gas investors are making a mistake. Natural gas and gas-weighted E&Ps are in the media for many reasons now and attracting capital. Unfortunately, it is too early to invest in this sector. Sentiment may be bullish, but the math is not. Let us look at the commodity, then at some of the equities.

Alaska’s New Fracking Regulations Could Be Issued Later This Year, Officials Say
Reuters/Huffington Post
New regulations to oversee hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells in Alaska could be issued later this year by state regulators, officials said at a public hearing on Monday. The regulations, proposed by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, would require the approval of regulators before fracturing is conducted, notification of landowners and testing of water wells within a half-mile radius, and the full disclosure of chemicals in the hydraulic-fracturing liquids.

Raymond James Devises Substitute for Rig Count
NGI’s Shale Daily (paid or free trial subscription required)
The move to horizontal drilling and longer laterals has made the domestic land rig count not so simple anymore, leading Raymond James & Associates Inc. on Monday to launch well and footage count forecasts. Analysts J. Marshall Adkins and Colin Gerry also see higher capital expenditures (capex) in 2014 by domestic exploration and production (E&P) operators. “The logic is simple: since 2013 has been a rare year of dramatic ‘underspending’ by the U.S. E&P complex, 2014 should be a ‘rebound year,’ where E&P companies spend excess cash from 2013 plus new cash generated in 2014,” wrote the analysts. U.S. E&P capex in 2014 should be stronger than ever, particularly for oil operators, with spending 5-10% higher than this year.

Oil and gas jobs plentiful in Houston area, state
Houston Chronicle
Living up to its reputation as a state rich with oil and gas deposits, Texas is home of several very active shale plays, including increased exploration and drilling in the Permian Basin in West Texas. This uptick in exploration and production is putting a crunch on housing. eateries and other businesses in these region, not to mention the job boom across South Texas, and this is only inland activity.

The Weekly Oil & Gas Follies
Forbes
EnergySense Weekly Oil and Gas Follies – Volume 12, September 20, 2013 (David Blackmon)…In which we drill down into the @GDBlackmon Twitter feed to briefly chronicle the week’s silliness, foibles, fake news and real news related to the oil and natural gas industry.

Duke Energy seeks proposals to build new natural gas plant
Tampa Bay Times
Duke Energy plans to issue a request for proposals Oct. 8 for construction of a new natural gas plant in Citrus County to replace the power lost by its shuttered nuclear facility. Proposals will compete with Duke Energy’s option of building the new plant itself. The plant will be a highly efficient, combined-cycle, natural gas unit with 1,640 megawatts of capacity starting operation in 2018.

US natural gas production to reach 80 Bcf/d by 2018: Bentek
Platts
Barring a ban on hydraulic fracking, US natural gas production will rise to 80 Bcf/d by 2018, with demand increasing to similar levels, pushing up prices slightly, according to a Bentek forecast delivered Tuesday at Platts Coal Marketing Days in Pittsburgh. Jack Weixel, the director of energy analysis at Bentek, a division of Platts, said even with a projected increase of LNG exports, demand from industrial, residential and electric power use will keep up with production growth. As a result, Bentek forecasts natural prices will reach a 2018 average of $4.09/MMBtu, compared with an average price of $4.24/MMBtu based on the current Henry Hub forward curve.