Marcellus Drilling News

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Public Opinion

Nationwide Poll Finds Majority of Americans Support Fracking
November 19, 2013November 19, 2013

A new nationwide poll by Robert Morris University (RMU) finds a big majority of Americans support fracking. Here are the numbers: 42.3% strongly support fracking; 32.8% somewhat or strongly oppose fracking; and 24.9% are unsure. And get this: 40% of all respondents support fracking in their own hometown! You certainly won’t read these poll results in mainstream media outlets like Bloomberg, Reuters or AP. Even the company that paid for the poll–the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review–only gives it a small mention in a “roundup” article with a bunch of other news (see it here).

The FACT that most Americans support fracking is simply not the narrative the liberal media is willing to report–once again showing that the mainstream news you consume is extremely biased. The media silence on this poll illustrates the lie of so-called impartial reporting…
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BP | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

Decision Point: Will BP Drill Their Utica Acreage? Or Pass?
November 19, 2013November 19, 2013

In March 2012, BP leased 84,000 Utica Shale acres in Trumbull County, OH for $3,900 per acre and 17.5% royalties (see BP’s Big Utica Shale Deal, Leases 84K Acres in Ohio). They now have a total of 104,000 acres under least in northeast Ohio. But it’s been hurry up and wait. For an entire year we heard nothing from BP about drilling. A year later, in March 2013, BP obtained their first permit to drill in the OH Utica (see Better Late than Never: BP Gets First Permit for OH Utica). The original plan was to drill 10 test wells. So far they’ve drilled four, one of which is actually producing and online. Which seems like an awfully slow start for one of the world’s largest oil & gas companies. Landowners are frustrated at BP’s lack of drilling.

BP’s problem is, of course, that the more profitable “wet gas” zone for Utica drilling is well south of the acreage they’ve leased. So the question becomes, how much wet gas is there in the BP acreage? And if there’s not much, how productive (and cost effective) is the methane or “dry gas” they’re able to extract from the acreage? The jury is still out. NGI’s Shale Daily reports BP will make a decision “early next year” about whether or not they’ll commit to drilling on their OH Utica acreage…
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Accidents | Blue Racer Midstream | Caiman Energy | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Processing Plants | West Virginia

Blue Racer’s Natrium Plant to Remain Offline Until Jan 2014
November 19, 2013November 19, 2013

Blue Racer Midstream, a joint venture between Dominion Resources and Caiman Energy II, had an explosion and fire at its Natrium, WV processing plant/fractionation facility in September (see Explosion/Fire at Blue Racer’s Natrium, WV Processing Plant). Since then, at least two Blue Racer customers have found alternatives to using the Natrium facility: Rex Energy and Atlas Resources. More drillers adversely affected by the facility being offline (some of whom complained about the plant closure last week at the DUG East conference in Pittsburgh) may also be in the hunt for alternatives, especially with the announcement the plant will remain offline until “at least January” of 2014. That’s bad news for drillers and for Blue Racer, although they obviously have to repair the facility and ensure whatever caused the explosion/fire does not happen again.

As part of upgrades at the facility, Blue Racer is installing an emergency siren system in the neighboring community of Kent–to warn them of any problems at the plant. The latest on the closed facility and its prospects for re-opening:

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Columbiana County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | Utica East Ohio Midstream | Utica Shale

Behind the Scenes at UEO Buckeye’s Kensington, OH Cryo Plant
November 19, 2013November 19, 2013

MDN friend and ace reporter Bob Downing (Akron Beacon Journal) recently went on a field trip to visit the Utica East Ohio Buckeye Midstream Kensington (Columbiana County), OH. The $400 million cryogenic plant processes natural gas, separating methane–or what we think of as natural gas–from “wet gas” compounds like ethane and butane.

Ever wondered what it would be like to visit a processing plant? Bob filed this “behind the scenes” report for the Beacon Journal:
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CNX Resources | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies

CNX Gas Chief Randy Albert Retiring, Search On for Successor
November 19, 2013November 19, 2013

Oh no! Randy Albert, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of CNX Gas–that is, the guy who runs the natural gas drilling division of CONSOL Energy–is retiring. CNX/CONSOL is a major Marcellus/Utica driller (347,000 acres in the Marcellus, 80,000 acres in the Utica). Randy is not only the guy who helped set CONSOL on the path to change from coal mining to natural gas production (having worked for CONSOL for 34 years), he’s also a founding board member of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) and most recently its chairman. MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Randy at the recent Shale Insight event in Philadelphia.

Randy is “good people” and he will be sorely missed–but we wish him well! He has some big shoes to fill. CONSOL is currently conducting a nationwide search for his successor. The announcement from CONSOL:
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues

Gender Equality and Global Warming Linked – Who Knew?
November 19, 2013November 19, 2013

We don’t know whether to laugh or cry. We don’t often talk about so-called climate change (i.e. global warming) because it’s not popular to say you don’t believe the science supports it. (You do know the earth hasn’t been warming for 15 years now, right?) When you dare to say such things in polite company you’re viewed as the modern-day equivalent of a hillbilly snake handler–unschooled, uncouth and unintelligent. Whatever. Our current let’s-poke-fun-at-the-warmers comes from a press announcement we received for something called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – COP (Conference of the Parties) 19–also known as “UNFCCC COP 19”–currently underway in Warsaw, Poland. Stick with us, there is a (funny) point.

The press announcement MDN received has this headline: WOMEN TAKE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND GENDER EQUALITY. Well there’s a first–for us. Who knew that climate change and gender equality were scientifically linked? What does “gender equality” have to do with so-called climate change, anyway? Being climate change-challenged and unschooled and unintelligent, we were eager to learn, so we read on…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Nov 19, 2013
November 19, 2013November 19, 2013

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