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Explosion, Fire at Meter Station Along Williams Ethane Pipeline in SWPA

A meter station along the Williams Ohio Valley Ethane pipeline reportedly exploded and caught fire in in Chartiers Township (Washington County), PA–about four miles from Houston, PA–on Christmas Eve. The fire has caused the shut-down of the ethane pipeline that runs some 50 miles from Marshall County, WV to an ethane hub in Houston…
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Range Resources Drills Highest-Ever Initial Producing Utica Well

top prizeYesterday Range Resources released an announcement with two big pieces of news. The first (and lesser) news is this: Range is trimming its 2015 exploration and production budget by 18% compared to what they spent this year. The 2015 capital expenditure budget is now set at $1.3 billion. However, the company says production will continue to increase, even with less spending on drilling. The second and more important news: Range has drilled a Utica Shale well that has dethroned Magnum Hunter’s Utica well (see Magnum Hunter Takes the Prize: Top Producing Utica Well) as being the most initially productive horizontal shale well ever–in the Marcellus, Utica or any other shale play. Range says their Utica well is producing an initial production rate of a mind-blowing 59 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d). In the course of a single month, that one well produces enough gas to heat more than 25,000 U.S. homes for an entire winter. Oh…and just where is Range’s new gargantuan Utica well located? In Washington County, PA…
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Go it Alone? Or Join a Landowner Coalition/Group?

Not every landowner can belong to a group that negotiates a lease to allow Marcellus or Utica Shale drilling. In some areas (like PA, WV and OH), much of the large tracts of land is already leased. However, if you can belong to such a group, MDN believes it is in your best interests to do so. For example, take the experience of landowners in Washington County, PA…
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MarkWest Builds/Operates Compressor Station w/o Building Permit

Hmmm. Here’s a story we don’t like to report, and fear there’s more to the story than we now know, but report it we must. MarkWest Energy, arguably the largest and most important midstream (pipelines & processing plants) company in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, was denied a building permit to construct a building to house several natural gas compressors in West Alexander (Donegal Township, Washington County), PA–but they went ahead and built it anyway, without the permit. The rogue compressor station is now up and running but has to use generators to supply power because the town won’t let them hook up electric since they’re still in violation of the building permit…
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Marcellus Supply Chain Success for PA Company Producing Mulch

We love a good supply chain story, and we’re always surprised at the innovations small business owners create to meet the demands of the growing Marcellus Shale industry. Here’s a new one for us: A company in southwestern Pennsylvania has quadrupled the number of employees–from 25 to 100–over the past five years by creating…mulch?! Yep, mulch. You know, wood chips. And the business has grown like a rocket because of the Marcellus Shale…
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Range Resources to Flare Their First Utica Well in Western PA

well being flaredFlaring a well–which involves burning the initial volume of natural gas (typically waste gas) or because a pipeline is not yet available to hook up to the well–is increasingly a rare event. Most companies attempt to capture even the initial amounts of gas. However, Range Resources is set to begin flaring their very first Utica Shale well, drilled about 10 miles from Washington, PA on the property of the Claysville Sportsmen’s Club in Donegal Township, east of Dutch Fork Lake. The flaring will begin on Dec. 7 and according to Range it will be really big, and really noisy…
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PA Family Sues Range Resources over Nearby Drilling, Impoundment

Range Resources has for years been battling allegations that their wastewater impoundments in Washington County, PA have leaked and polluted nearby water wells. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigated and in September levied a $4.15 million fine against Range, requiring the company to close five of seven impoundments (see PA DEP Fines Range Resources $4.15M for Wastewater Impoundments). Along the way several landowners have sued Range–over the impoundments and over nearby drilling. Add one more to the list: The Lauff family in Mt. Pleasant Township has filed a lawsuit alleging negligence by Range in the way they drilled several nearby wells and in their operation of a wastewater impoundment…
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South Strabane Twp Approves Range Plan for 10 Wells in W PA

Last night the South Strabane Township (Washington County, PA) board of supervisors voted to allow Range Resources the right to drill up to 10 wells on an 80-acre site. They did, however, impose some 46 conditions on the drilling–conditions Range said it “could live with.” The drill site is near Kopper Kettle Road and Range likely will not begin active drilling until October 2015. Three supervisors voted in favor, one against and one abstained. The interesting thing, to MDN, is that earlier this month anti-drillers were out in force to oppose drilling under (not even on top of) Mingo Creek County Park, about 12 miles from the Kopper Kettle Road site, spouting silly things like drilling will create a “ring of fire” (see Washington County Votes to Establish “Ring of Fire” at Mingo Park). However, at least night’s meeting, most of the residents who attended support Range’s request…
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Marcellus Industry Lends a Hand with Nabbing Trucking Violations

There’s no getting around the fact that when drilling comes to an area, so too does a LOT of truck traffic. Anyone who lives in an area with active drilling can attest to the headaches of following a water truck up a hill going half the speed limit. Because the industry is high profile, those who operate truck fleets (and the energy companies who hire them) typically enforce strict rules for drivers. They also maintain their fleets in tip-top shape to ensure there are no safety violations. Case in point: Washington County, PA…
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NEPA Anti-Driller Gets Permanent Injunction Against Trespassing

Vera Scroggins, outside of NEPA a little-known anti-driller from Susquehanna County, PA with a potty mouth (see this video of Vera harassing filmmaker Phelim McAleer), has been permanently barred from stepping foot on property leased (or owned) by Cabot Oil & Gas. This has been a long-running court case/issue in northeast PA. Scroggins refuses to stop her so-called tours of Cabot well sites where she brings along fellow anti-drillers to point out…what? A drilling rig? A little, tiny well head sitting on an acre of land so small you can’t see it from 100 feet away? A truck lumbering up a road? She continually endangers herself and those she carts along on her trespassing adventures. Cabot had to sue to keep her off their land. Scroggins was slapped with a temporary injection last year (see NE PA Anti-Driller Slapped with Trespassing Injunction). The temporary injunction has just been made permanent by a Susquehanna County judge…
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Washington County Votes to Establish “Ring of Fire” at Mingo Park

Two days ago MDN told you that Range Resources is the winner of a contract to drill under (not on) Mingo Creek County Park in Nottingham Township in Washington County, PA (see Range Resources Wins Contract to Drill Under Mingo Creek Park). Precisely 2 (out of 207,820) Washington County residents turned up Thursday night to ask county commissioners to delay their impending vote to move forward with the lease. Certainly nothing out of the ordinary about that–except that the language used by those who oppose drilling (and fossil fuels) never ceases to surprise and amuse us. They intentionally attempt to conjure up images of environmental disaster and holocaust, even though there is no evidence to support their claims. For example, one of the two last night told commissioners by drilling under the park from land adjacent to the park it will create “a ring of fire” around the park. Of course, we immediately thought of Johnny Cash…
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Range Resources Wins Contract to Drill Under Mingo Creek Park

Range Resources has won the right to drill under (not on) the Mingo Creek County Park in Nottingham Township in Washington County, PA. We told you back in December that county commissioners were soliciting proposals to drill under the county park (see Washington County Seeks Proposals to Drill Under Mingo Creek Park). In the end, Range Resources, Rice Energy and EQT were all interested–but it was Range’s terms of a $6,500 per acre signing bonus with 18% royalties that won the day…
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End of an Ignominious Era: PA Rep Jesse White Loses

The voters in Washington County, PA finally rejected PA Rep. Jesse White, Democrat, in the first election he faced since revelations that he abused his office by using fake online IDs to criticize and impugn some of his own pro-drilling constituents (see How the Mighty Have Fallen: PA Rep White Admits Guilt, Not Sorry). In the end, White was as unrepentant and unwilling to blame himself as he has been since the beginning. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions and acknowledging it was his own stupidity that led to his fall from grace, he blamed negative ads and the media for his defeat! Talk about gall. The major media powerhouse in the Pittsburgh region, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, has been in the Jesse White tank from the beginning and offered several editorials supporting him (see PPG (Incredibly) Supports Discredited Dem Rep. Jesse White and PPG Tries to Prop Up Discredited/Shamed PA Rep Jesse White). The folks in SWPA have had enough of White’s anti-drilling tirades and sneak attacks. Bye bye Jesse…
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Fracking is Feeding Americans by Saving the Family Farm

Natural gas drilling is saving the family farm in Pennsylvania–literally. Farmers who receive bonus and royalty checks are using that money to buy new equipment and continue doing what they love to do–operate the family farm. It would not be a stretch to say that fracking is helping to feed Americans. Take the case of this organic farmer in Washington County, PA…
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Civil War Between Cecil Supervisors/Zoning Board Over Compressor

As MDN reported in early October, MarkWest Energy finally (after four years) won the right to build a compressor station in Cecil (Washington County), PA (see MarkWest Wins Court Case to Build Compressor Station in Cecil, PA). The compressor station will be built on property owned by Range Resources. It’s Range’s gas that will flow through that station on its way to market. The Cecil Board of Supervisors voted to not challenge a Commonwealth Court (a lower court) decision that said the zoning board erred when denying MarkWest a permit to build the compressor station. However, the zoning board itself can still appeal the decision (see Cecil Supervisors Vote to NOT Appeal MarkWest Compressor Decision). It appears to us like a civil war has erupted between the Cecil board of supervisors and the zoning board…
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Chesapeake Sells Close to 25% of Marcellus/Utica Operation

fire saleThe Chesapeake Energy fire sale continues–and this time it’s cut right into the bone and sinew of the company. The beneficiary of Chesapeake’s ongoing divestiture, this time, is Southwestern Energy. Southwestern has signed a deal to pick up 413,000 (!) Marcellus/Utica acres, most of it in West Virginia with some of it in Washington County, PA. Much of the land is in prime wet gas areas (see the map below). The deal includes 256 (!) operating and producing Marcellus and Utica Shale wells and another 179 (!) non-operated, non-producing wells–a total of 435 drilled wells. Southwestern is paying Chesapeake $5.375 BILLION for the deal–which will make Chesapeake’s real boss, corporate raider Carl Icahn, very happy…
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