| | | | | | |

Atlantic Sunrise Changes Course in Lancaster County, PA

adults acting like babiesOnce again anti-drillers who were denied the chance to bleat and blat before a microphone behaved like the adult babies they are–by staging a “sit in” and chanting at an open house hosted by Williams to talk to landowners and others about the much-needed and excellent Atlantic Sunrise Expansion pipeline project. This particular misbehaving group was composed of anti-drillers and hippies from Lancaster County, PA, not dissimilar (maybe some of them the same) as those from neighboring Lebanon County (see Lebanon, PA Group Coaches Blind Followers to Oppose Pipeline). When denied a public forum to act like asses, anti-drillers go ahead and make asses of themselves anyway. And that’s just what a group calling themselves Lancaster Against Pipeline did Wednesday night. Meanwhile, the adult and sane-acting Williams representatives announced they heard the concerns about the route in Lancaster County and have changed the route to avoid going through a couple of nature preserves…
Continue reading

| | | | | |

CONSOL & Noble to Form New MLP Midstream Subsidiary

In 2011 CONSOL Energy had amassed some 750,000 Marcellus Shale acres but didn’t have enough money to drill it all on their own. So they did what many energy companies do–they got a joint venture partner. CONSOL cut a deal with Noble Energy to split the proceeds 50/50, with CONSOL drilling in the dry gas areas and Noble drilling in the wet gas areas (see Noble Energy and CONSOL to Partner on Marcellus in $3.4B Deal). The two jv partners announced yesterday their intent to form a master limited partnership (MLP) that will form a new midstream company (pipelines) to service their vast drilling operations…
Continue reading

| | | | | | |

EQT Announces New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Southeastern US

Yesterday CONSOL Energy and Noble Energy announced a new gathering pipeline company plan (see MDN’s story published today). Not to be outdone, EQT announced yesterday an open season for the Mountain Valley Pipeline project–a new Marcellus/Utica pipeline. According to the announcement, EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets intend to build a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA to deliver abundant, cheap Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to markets throughout the southeast. An “open season” is a chance for drillers to contract a portion of the pipeline over the long term (15-20 years), commitments needed before companies like EQT will pony up the hundreds of millions needed to build a major project like this one…
Continue reading

| | | |

Patience Gone: OH County Recorder Threatens to Sue for More Space

The County Clerk–or in some places County Recorder–is usually a pretty low-key person in a low-key job. It’s that person’s job to keep track of land deeds and official paperwork for the county. MDN has previously pointed out an early indicator of where there will soon be drilling is when the County Clerk/Recorder’s office gets busy. In some cases, land agents have camped out overnight waiting to get in to a deed records office (see Title Researchers Camp Out at Tyler County (WV) Clerk’s Office). Harrison County, OH’s County Recorder is Tracy Boyer. The records office where she works has been hopping busy going on two years now. Tracy is normally a patient person, but her patience, after two years, has run out. She’s threatening to sue Harrison County commissioners over the need to expand the physical space her office needs to accommodate the ongoing flood of people who use it…
Continue reading

| | | | | |

Muchas Gasias: Beaver Run Reservoir Hires Auditor for Royalties

Waaaaay back in March 2009, when MDN was still in it’s blog infancy, we told you that Westmoreland County, PA supervisors had voted to lease land at the Beaver Run Reservoir to Dominion to drill five Marcellus Shale wells (see Westmoreland County, PA Supervisors Vote to Approve Drilling on County Land). The reservoir provides drinking water to some 60,000+ customers in five southwestern PA counties. What! Marcellus wells next to–even under–a fresh water reservoir? Say it ain’t so!! But it is, and it’s worked out so well (with NO water contamination issues), that over the years those initial five wells have sprouted to become 37 wells with more on the way. The wells at Beaver Run Reservoir are raising so much money for the county they’ve hired a “drilling auditor” to keep track of royalty revenues, which this year will exceed $6 million…
Continue reading

| | | |

New Duke Study Shows Shale Drilling Benefits Municipalities

In the past, researchers at North Carolina’s Duke University have published some really sloppy research when it comes to shale drilling (see What’s Missing in Latest Duke “Radioactive” Study? Real Science). Then at other times, it seems as if a different set of profs and students would turn around and do some real research (see Duke/Kent State Publish New Research on Marcellus Wastewater). We always felt like Duke picked on the Marcellus as a way to score more grant money. So when we saw a new Duke study–this one on the economic benefits or lack thereof for municipalities–we were skeptical. However, the new study, titled “Shale Public Finance: Local government revenues and costs associated with oil and gas development” (full copy embedded below) seems to indicate all in all, shale drilling is a benefit to local municipalities…
Continue reading

| |

NGSA Predicts Summer Natgas Prices Will Rise

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) is fresh out with their own prediction for where the price of natural gas may be heading in the near-term–meaning this summer. According to a press release and PowerPoint presentation (both embedded below), the NGSA says natgas prices will be slightly higher this summer compared to last summer, mainly due to the brutal winter and drawdown in stored supplies. Those low storage volumes mean producers have to fill them back up and that will lead to a bit more demand and in an almost pure commodity market like natural gas, more demand matched to the same or slightly more supplies means prices will go up. Here’s what the NGSA says…
Continue reading

| | | | | | | |

Important Supply Chain Takeaways from Chamber Midstream Meeting

The Canton, OH Regional Chamber of Commerce recently hosted the Midstream Ohio 2014 event to help connect companies seeking to sell to the Utica drilling industry with those drilling and building pipelines. By all accounts it was a huge success for both sides. Here’s some great takeaways from the event, to help supply chain companies that want to sell, or sell more, to the Utica industry:
Continue reading

|

Looking for a Shale Industry Job? API’s New Website Can Help

Want a job in one of the greatest (and fastest growing) industries in the world? We’re talking of the oil and gas industry, of course. IHS reports by 2030 the oil and gas industry will need an additional 1.3 million new workers. Yikes! Time to get busy plugging people into jobs, so the American Petroleum Institute has just launched a new website called Oil & Gas Workforce (www.oilgasworkforce.com) to do just that. The website’s aim is to help you find a job or get trained/certified for a job in the oil and gas (including shale drilling) industry…
Continue reading