Although it seems there is no end of bad news in drilling company financials right now, here’s a spot of good news: MarkWest Energy, the premier midstream/pipeline company in the Marcellus/Utica (selling itself to Marathon Petroleum), has just announced they are investing $1 billion over the next three years to install a new gathering pipeline system in eastern Ohio–particularly in Belmont and Jefferson counties–mostly for Ascent Resources. Ascent, backed by major investor EMG, was once Aubrey McClendon’s subsidiary company called American Energy Appalachia Holdings that has since broken free of McClendon and American Energy Partners and is now its own 100% standalone company. The MarkWest/Ascent deal is to build a 250-mile pipeline system in the Utica dry gas region that will gather more than 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas not only from Ascent, but also from other producers in the area. Here’s the details from MarkWest…
