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Shale Wastewater Treatment Plant Planned for Potter County, PA

A new shale wastewater treatment facility that works in tandem with a local sewage treatment plant may be on the way in Coudersport (Potter County), PA. Epiphany Water Solutions, via a subsidiary company called Epiphany Allegheny, filed for a permit to build a centralized water treatment facility in Coudersport in July 2017. The initial application with the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) was deemed “incomplete”–so Epiphany filed again and this time the application was complete. The DEP will hold a Jan. 16 public hearing in Coudersport to gain local resident’s input on the facility. This is not the first we’ve heard of Epiphany. They were one of four winners of the Ben Franklin Institute’s Fifth Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest in 2016 (see 4 Winners Bag $80K at 5th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest). Epiphany started life as a company with a mission to pioneer the use of solar technology to desalinate water so people in poor countries have safe drinking water. Laudable goal. However, Epiphany found they actually need to turn a profit and pay bills first–and their technology works equally well for the oil and gas industry. CONSOL Energy (now CNX Resources) was an early backer and user of their technology. JKLM Energy, owned by Buffalo “Marcellus” Bill’s owner Terry Pegula and with active drilling in Potter County, needs a better way to dispose of frack wastewater. So Pegula turned to Epiphany and Epiphany is working with the Coudersport Area Municipal Authority (CAMA) to make it happen…
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Seneca Resources 100% PA Utica Focused by ‘End of Fiscal Year’

While Buffalo “Marcellus” Bills owner Terry Pegula’s JKLM Energy has been “steadily increasing activity” in Potter County, PA (northcentral PA) grabbing headlines, another company, National Fuel Gas (NFG) subsidiary Seneca Resources, is also active in Potter and several neighboring northcentral PA counties (Cameron, McKean, Elk, and Lycoming). We spotted a pair of stories in a local newspaper recounting Seneca’s activity to date, and outlining plans for the future. One statement in particular stood out for us: Seneca will be “shifting to 100-percent Utica development by the end of this fiscal year.” At first blush, you might think “end of fiscal year” means by Dec. 31, 2017. However, NFG and subsidiary Seneca operate on a strange fiscal year. Fourth quarter 2017 (Oct-Dec) is NFG/Seneca’s first quarter 2018 fiscal period. Since the quote about focusing 100% on PA Utica drilling came at the end of November, we interpret the quote to mean “Seneca will be 100% focused on the PA Utica by September 2018.” At any rate, let’s not get caught up in semantics and timing. The takeaways from the pair of articles below, which appeared about a week apart at end of November/beginning of December, are: (1) Seneca is shifting to 100% Utica drilling; (2) Seneca spent 60% more on drilling in 2017 than 2016; (3) Seneca is currently running either 1 or 2 rigs, depending on which quote from which story you read; and (4) between royalty payments, impact tax payments and money spent with local PA businesses, Seneca has now spent nearly $1 billion on shale drilling–all of it in northcentral PA…
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Eclipse Buys 44.5K “Core” Utica Acres for $93.7M…in Central PA!

Eclipse Resources, a Marcellus/Utica pure play driller headquartered in State College, PA, drills almost exclusively in the Ohio Utica. That is, until now! Yesterday Eclipse announced it has purchased 44,500 acres of oil and gas leases and producing wells in Tioga and Potter counties in north central Pennsylvania for $93.7 million–which works out to be ~$1,900/acre (very low cost). The aim of the purchase is to drill in the Pennsylvania Utica Shale. For the past few years MDN has heard about/highlighted stories of drillers going after the Utica Shale in PA–particularly in Tioga County (see Another Impressive Utica Well Pops Up…in Pennsylvania!). Eclipse cut a deal to buy the land and wells from Travis Peak Resources. We wrote about Travis Peak in December 2015 (see The 411 on New Driller Firing Up Rig in Tioga County, PA). Travis Peak, based in Austin, TX, was founded in November 2013 by a group of experienced guys who previously worked for companies like Amoco, Exxon, Pioneer Natural Resources and Newfield Exploration. A small company consisting of industry pros with financial backing from EnCap Investments. The best part of this deal for Eclipse? No money changed hands. Eclipse issued shares of stock in the company in return for picking up the acreage/wells. Also part of yesterday’s announcement by Eclipse is that they have picked up “outstanding equity interests” in small Marcellus/Utica pipeline company Cardinal Holdings–paying $18.3 million in cash. We have the full announcement below, a copy of the Eclipse presentation with lots of pretty maps and charts, and commentary about the Eclipse purchase…
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Buffalo Bills Owner Terry Pegula Lives a (Fracking) Double Life

Terry Pegula is an interesting guy. He’s a billionaire who owns both the Buffalo Sabres (NHL hockey team) and the Buffalo Bills (NFL football team). Pegula is the owner of East Resources, once a big driller (and holder of acreage) in the Marcellus Shale. Pegula sold off East’s Marcellus assets and used the money, in part, to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014, which gave rise to MDN calling the team “the Marcellus Bills”–since it was Marcellus money that kept the team in Buffalo, instead of moving to another market (see Buffalo Bills Stay in Buffalo, Thanks to $1.4B of Marcellus Money and Buffalo “Marcellus” Bills – Team Sold to Fracker for $1.4B). Yes, “dirty” fracking money saved the Bills! That’s a real conundrum for the lefties in Buffalo, including the Buffalo News. The lefties love the fact the Bills stayed in town, but it was “blood money” that bought the team. That’s the attitude. Recently the Buffalo News woke up to the fact that Pegula is still fracking. He started up a new company, JKLM, in order to keep his finger in the Marcellus/Utica pie. JKLM is, as we reported in July, fracking 12 Utica wells in Potter County, PA this year (see JKLM Drilling 12 Utica Wells in Potter County, PA This Year). The News has finally figured it out, and written an expose on Pegulas “other world,” like he’s hiding another wife and family somewhere secret, living a secret double life. Kind of funny! In a “rare interview,” Pegula is unapologetic for his fracking roots, and for his continued fracking practices. The article shares insights into Pegula’s fascination with the oil and gas industry, and his interest in Potter County, PA…
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Potter County, PA Could Support 3K+ Shale Wells, Theoretically

When it comes to shale drilling in the northern-tier of Pennsylvania, counties like Susquehanna (#1 producing county in the state), Bradford (#3 producing county) and event Tioga (#7 producing county) may come to mind. But what about the county west of Tioga–Potter County? Potter isn’t even in the top 10 producing counties in the state. But that doesn’t mean there’s not shale drilling activity. In July MDN reported that JKLM Energy (owned by Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula) is in the process of drilling a dozen Utica wells in Potter this year (see JKLM Drilling 12 Utica Wells in Potter County, PA This Year). The residents in the county are being proactive about promoting shale drilling in Potter. They’ve formed the Potter County Natural Gas Resource Center Steering Committee, complete with its own website. At a recent meeting of the Steering Committee, Penn State’s Jim Ladlee told attendees that Potter County could, theoretically, support 3,000+ shale wells. That certainly doesn’t mean it will ever see that many, but what it does indicate is that there is potential in Potter County far beyond the dozen or so shale wells currently planned. Here’s a report from the meeting…
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JKLM Drilling 12 Utica Wells in Potter County, PA This Year

It’s been a while since we’ve updated you on a little-known (but rapidly becoming better known) company called JKLM Energy. In May 2016, the last time we wrote about JKLM, we told you the company had successfully drilled and was flowing gas from Potter County, PA’s first Utica Shale well (see Potter County, PA’s First Utica Well Fracked & Flowing). JKLM is owned by Terry Pegula, the guy who sold most of his Marcellus assets and used the money to buy the Buffalo Bills football team (see Buffalo Bills Stay in Buffalo, Thanks to $1.4B of Marcellus Money and Buffalo “Marcellus” Bills – Team Sold to Fracker for $1.4B). Pegula’s former company is East Resources. [Update: an alert MDN reader informed us that Pegula still owns East Resources.] JKLM is Pegula’s way of keeping his finger in the Marcellus/Utica pie. So what’s the latest? According to a brief article we spotted, JKLM “continues to move forward with an ambitious plan” to drill a dozen Utica wells in Potter County this year…
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SWEPI Puts 9,346 Acres of PA Marcellus Leases Up for Auction

auctionFrom time to time exploration and production companies (aka “drillers” or “producers”) decide to sell leases for acreage they don’t plan to drill on or under. Typically when a new play is discovered there is a bit of a land rush as drillers begin leasing. In the Marcellus, a driller may decide to concentrate on a specific county in the state, as Cabot Oil & Gas did with Susquehanna County in northeastern PA. Cabot happened to hit the jackpot with some of the most productive gas wells on the planet. Other times, when the leasing is done and drilling has begun drillers begin to figure out where they want to spend their money. It takes a lot of money to drill a Marcellus well–on the order of $7 million. Eventually drillers find there are isolated tracts of acreage they’ve leased that don’t fit with their future plans, so they either horse trade and swap, or perhaps put the acreage leases up for public auction. Such is the case with Shell’s SWEPI subsidiary. They recently posted three largish tracts of leased acreage up for auction–two in Tioga County, PA and one in Potter County, PA. Here’s a description of the land SWEPI is trying to dump…
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REV LNG Building Small-Scale LNG Facility Near Towanda, PA

Yellow, green and red semi-trailer trucks stand side-by-side at a rest area in North America.

We’ve unearthed what we think is a neat story about a company we’ve written about before: REV LNG. Through his work with Shale Daily, MDN editor Jim Willis has had the pleasure of working with, and learning about, the unique technology REV LNG has developed. The company is one of the very few in the United States that buys, transports and sets up “mobile filling stations” (at drill pad sites) so drillers can use liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power their equipment. REV LNG’s uniqueness is that it’s a turn-key service. Customers just pay a “per gallon” fee to fill it up, and REV LNG takes care of the rest. REV LNG was one of the winners of the Shale Gas Innovation Contest in 2013, taking home $25,000 to help spread their technology (see Envelope Please: Winners of Shale Gas Innovation Contest are…). REV LNG is putting the money to good use. REV LNG is using that money plus an $800,000 technology innovation award from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program to build a small-scale LNG facility near Towanda (Bradford County), PA, with possible plans to build another such facility in Potter County. The LNG produced by REV LNG will be used not only in the drilling industry, but also to power LNG truck fleets…
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Potter County, PA’s First Utica Well Fracked & Flowing

JKLM logoAn MDN reader recently alerted us to a little-known fact: JKLM Energy has successfully drilled and is flowing gas from Potter County, PA’s first Utica Shale well. JKLM is owned by Terry Pegula, the guy who sold most of his Marcellus assets and used the money to buy the Buffalo Bills (see Buffalo Bills Stay in Buffalo, Thanks to $1.4B of Marcellus Money and Buffalo “Marcellus” Bills – Team Sold to Fracker for $1.4B). Pegula’s former company is East Resources. JKLM is Pegula’s way of keeping his finger in the Marcellus/Utica pie. We reported in Feb. 2015 that JKLM had signed a lease deal in Potter County (see Potter County, PA Hospital Leases Land to JKLM for Utica Drilling). There was an unfortunate incident during the drilling process (see JKLM Energy Accident Contaminates 5 PA Water Wells with Soap and PA DEP Issues Notice of Violation to JKLM Energy for Spilled Soap). But that got cleared up earlier this year (see DEP Gives All Clear for JKLM-Contaminated Water Wells in PA). Now, the first-ever Utica well in Potter County is flowing gas, and has been since January. Here’s the details…
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Mr. Causer Goes to Washington – To Talk About PA Pipelines

Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonPennsylvania State Rep. Martin Causer (R-Turtlepoint) testified before the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture in Washington, DC on Wednesday, April 13. Causer was there to tell the House Agriculture Committee that new pipelines are desperately needed in the farm country he represents. We have a copy of Rep. Causer’s masterful testimony below…
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DEP Gives All Clear for JKLM-Contaminated Water Wells in PA

Last September MDN told you about an accidental spill (or rather migration) of soap into a local water aquifer in Coudersport, PA (see JKLM Energy Accident Contaminates 5 PA Water Wells with Soap). JKLM Energy was trying to free a drill bit stuck in the hole about 570 feet down. The soap they used migrated into a local water aquifer and contaminated five nearby private water wells with very low levels of soap. Not long after the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a Notice of Violation to JKLM (see PA DEP Issues Notice of Violation to JKLM Energy for Spilled Soap). Throughout the “crisis”, if you can call it that, JKLM communicated constantly with local residents to get them what they need, and share full information. Since last October we’d not heard anything about the situation until yesterday when the DEP issued a press release saying two of the wells are now cleared to be used again. Apparently the other three wells belong to the hospital (on whose land JKLM was drilling) and the hospital switched to municipal water so they’re in no hurry to begin re-using those wells again–if ever…
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Coal-Fired Electric Plant in PA Closes Instead of Using Natgas

missed opportunityMore electricity is disappearing from the electrical grid thanks for Barack H. Obama’s war on coal. AES had considered converting a coal-powered electric plant is operates in Potter County, PA into burning natural gas–indeed had applied for and received permits to do it–but instead they reversed course and have now shuttered the plant they operate in Potter known as the Bear Valley plant…
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PA DEP Issues Notice of Violation to JKLM Energy for Spilled Soap

Dawn dish soapOn Monday MDN told you about an accident in Sweden Township (Potter County), PA where JKLM Energy released soap into a water aquifer while trying to fish out a broken drill bit from a Utica Shale bore hole (see JKLM Energy Accident Contaminates 5 PA Water Wells with Soap). The soap migrated into five nearby water wells. JKLM promised to provide daily updates on the situation and their progress with correcting the soap leak, and they’ve kept their word. Our previous post brought you all of the updates through Sept. 27. This post brings you the updates from Sept. 28 through yesterday, Oct. 1. We also have more news about the accident: the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection has issued a notice of violation because of the accident. No word yet on how much money spilling 55 gallons of soap into a water aquifer is going to cost JKLM, but you can be sure it won’t be cheap. Here’s the latest on the accident…
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JKLM Energy Accident Contaminates 5 PA Water Wells with Soap

Dawn dish soapIn February MDN told you about a deal signed by a hospital in Potter County, PA to lease 742.9 acres of hospital-owned land to JKLM Energy to drill Utica Shale wells (see Potter County, PA Hospital Leases Land to JKLM for Utica Drilling). Since that time, drilling under the property (and presumably under surrounding properties) has taken place. And, unfortunately, there was an accident. JKLM discovered that 55 gallons of soap (yes, soap) used to free a broken drill bit around 570 feet down the bore hole on Sept. 18 leaked into the water aquifer and migrated to five local water wells. No one is in danger. The soap is already heavily diluted and will soon disappear. There is no lasting damage. But the way the Harrisburg Patriot-News is covering it, you would think a chemical tanker had overturned irreparably polluting an entire town’s water supply. The way JKLM has responded has been exemplary, testing everything in sight, communicating with landowners and the hospital, issuing press releases with full details on a daily basis…
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Dr. Terry Engelder Says Utica the Best Bet in Potter County, PA

At a recent meeting in Coudersport (Potter County), PA, Dr. Terry Engelder of the Dept. of Geosciences at Penn State University and one of the leading experts on the Marcellus spoke to a packed room of more than 100 people about the Marcellus, the Utica, and the prospects for drilling in Potter County. Engelder said Potter County’s best bet is likely the Utica Shale layer…
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Crushing Defeat for PennFuture in Lawsuit re Compressor Stations

Bill Clinton definition of is isPennFuture, the anti-drilling organization that has produced three top lieutenants in the PA Gov. Tom Wolf administration (see Ripping the Face off PennFuture & It’s Former Employees), frequently uses the court system in its attempt to slow or stop the Marcellus industry. One such case was a lawsuit PennFuture filed against Ultra Resources in 2011. Ultra had eight compressor stations scattered across Tioga and Potter counties–all of them many miles apart from each other. PennFuture tried to make the legal argument that all of the compressor stations should be combined together and treated as a single entity for the purposes of the federal Clean Air Act, which would have resulted in either very expensive equipment to reduce each facility’s nitrgen oxide (NOx) output, or perhaps closed some of them down to make the combined total come in under a certain threshold. PennFuture tried to say the eight facilities are “adjacent” for the purpose of the Clean Air Act. Ultra argued adjacent means “next to,” as in sharing a border. It all boils down to what the definition of adjacent means. Earlier this week U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania’s Middle District ruled in favor of Ultra and against PennFuture…
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