Marcellus Drilling News

Shell & Williams Tie the Knot on New Midstream JV for NW PA

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013

tie the knot More pipelines for both dry and wet gas, and perhaps just as important, a new cryogenic gas processing plant is coming to northwestern PA courtesy of a brand new joint venture partnership between midstream giant Williams and exploration & production giant Shell. The new jv will service not only Shell (the first customer to be signed), but also other energy producers in the area. It will be aimed at both the Marcellus and Utica Shale in the region.

Here’s the announcement from the happy newlyweds:

Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH

New OH Group Agrees with Gov. Kasich: Keep the Foreigners Out

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013

Echoing the same sentiment expressed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich that out-of-state workers are considered "foreigners" (see OH Gov. Kasich Continues Trash Talk Out-of-State Workers), a grassroots group in Ohio has formed to "protect" Ohio workers and lobby and "hold energy companies accountable" for hiring more Ohioans for Utica Shale oil and gas drilling jobs. The group, called Protecting Ohio Workers, Employing Residents (or POWER for short), issued the following press release on Wednesday:

Energy Companies | Range Resources Corp

Range Hits New Record Production for 1Q13 – Thanks to the Marcellus

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013

Range Resources announced first quarter production numbers yesterday and its very good news. Production volume is up 34% over the first quarter of 2012–to a new high of 876 million cubic feeet per day (Mmcfe/d). According to Range, the increase is mostly due to the Marcellus Shale.

The Range announcement:

Punxsutawney Phil Gets a New Neighbor: Marcellus Wastewater Plant

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013

Canadian company Ridgeline Energy Services announced yesterday that it will build a new Marcellus Shale wastewater treatment facility in Punxsutawney, PA. They already have an unidentified customer willing to send 2,500-4,000 barrels of wastewater per day to the new facility when it becomes operational. Construction will begin in about a month.

Ridgeline’s announcement:

Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Schramm

New Schramm "Monster" Drilling Rig Almost Ready, Heading to Ohio

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013

West Chester, PA company Schramm Inc. is putting the finishing touches on a new automated drilling rig, the very first T500XD Telemast, that can lift 250 tons of pipe and drill more than 15,000 feet deep. The first new rig of its kind is already spoken for: It’s headed to Ohio where Alpha Hunter will use it to drill in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale…

Another Day, Another Misguided NY Community Bans Fracking

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013

The Oneida County legislature has banned fracking on county-owned lands—even though fracking isn’t currently allowed in the state. Apparently fixing problems that don’t exist passes for doing important legislative work in Oneida County. Must be the taxpayers in Oneida like funding that sort of thing…

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Taxation

API Says Obama Budget Punishes Oil & Gas Industry, Destroys Jobs

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013

The American Petroleum Institute is not impressed with the budget recently released by President Obama. They point out the way Obama (once again) attempts to punish the oil and gas industry. In typical Democrat fashion, Obama wants to slap higher taxes on oil and gas. Of course anything you tax you get less of, which is exactly the wrong thing to do in the jobless Obama economy. Some people never learn.

Since Obama trotted out a retread of last year’s budget, the API decided to simply re-issue their statement from last year too. Clever…

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

DOI Sec. Salazaar Says New BLM Fracking Rules Release "Imminent"

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013

MDN has previously chronicled the proposed new rules from the Dept. of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management for fracking on federal lands in the past. Recently BLM floated a copy of those new rules which were roundly criticized by the drilling industry. So they pulled the new rules, revised them, and sent them to the White House for review (see BLM Sends New Draft Fracking Rules to White House for Review).

The release of the revised BLM rules, according to outgoing Secretary of Interior Ken Salazaar, is "imminent"…

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Apr 12, 2013

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013

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