Marcellus Drilling News

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Research | Statewide PA

Anti-Drilling PA Auditor General Criticizes DEP in “Report”
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

Pennsylvania’s anti-drilling Democrat Auditor General Eugene DePasquale yesterday released a report (full copy below) criticizing the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) as being disorganized and ill-equipped to handle the rapid expansion of Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. What DePasquale forgot to mention in his report is his own whopping conflicts of interest. While he was a state legislator he pushed hard for so-called alternative energy programs to be funded by the state and as deputy secretary of the DEP he convinced a big wind farm operation to locate in the state. From his first day on the job, he was gunning for the Marcellus industry (see PA Auditor General Targets State’s Marcellus Drilling Industry)…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Equinor/Statoil | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio

EPA Reports on Enviro Damage from Statoil Well Fire in OH
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

On June 28 a fire at Statoil’s Eisenbarth eight-well pad in Monroe County, OH quickly spread and engulfed some 20 trucks on the pad site, along with other equipment, chemicals and supplies stored at the site. It was a devastating fire (see Statoil Frack Trucks Catch Fire in Monroe County, OH). Local, state and even federal agencies quickly responded to the incident and fortunately no one was injured. One of the responding agencies was the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA recently released their initial response report covering the period June 28 – July 5–a chronicle of actions taken, the facts known, and the EPA’s initial view on environmental damage caused by liquids escaping from the pad. We have the full EPA report (below), along with an update on the continuing fallout from that accident…
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American Energy Partners | Energy Companies

Aubrey Goes Shopping Again, Wants Another $2 Billion for Drilling
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

Last week the news broke that wildcatter Aubrey McClendon, former CEO of Chesapeake Energy and current CEO of American Energy Partners (AEP), has filed the paperwork to form a new “blind pool investment” company called Energy 11 LP–controlled by AEP with the sole purpose of raising another $2 billion from investors to continue leasing and drilling in U.S. shale plays. As MDN has previously noted, it appears Aubrey continues to get the band back together (see Aubrey McClendon Gets Back into the Midstream Business). This time around, Energy 11 LP includes some of Aubrey’s old mates from Chesapeake who either left or were downsized by Carl Icahn and Doug Lawler during the Chesapeake purge. Let’s take a closer look at this latest effort by Aubrey, who has raised an average of $1 million per hour since he left Chessy last year!…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Noble County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Washington County

MarkWest Re-Opens Chartiers, PA Plant, New Plant in OH
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

MarkWest Energy Partners provided an update yesterday for two of its processing plants–one in the Marcellus and one in the Utica. MarkWest said Plant III at its Houston complex (Chartiers, Washington County, PA) is back up and running after being damaged by a lightening strike back in May (see Lightening Strike at MarkWest Chartiers Plant Causes Evacuation). They also said a brand new processing plant at their Seneca complex in Noble County, OH is now online and running, adding an additional 200 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity (now totals 600 Mmcf/d). Next up? Yet another 200 Mmcf/d plant at the Seneca complex, due to open in 2015…
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Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources

GreenHunter Files to Form Master Limited Partnership
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

GreenHunter Water has been in the news lately-a lot. In just the past month the company, the wastewater and water hauling subsidiary of Marcellus/Utica driller Magnum Hunter Resources, launched a natural gas liquids hauling subsidiary (see GreenHunter Launches Hydrocarbon Hauling Subsidiary in Northeast), announced they will build three new pipelines in the northeast (see 3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area), and applied for approval to build a new barge facility on the Ohio River (see GreenHunter Seeks Approval for Barge Facility in Meigs County, OH). Chalk up another milestone for GreenHunter. Yesterday the company announced they’ve filed with the IRS to become a master limited partnership (MLP)…
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Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Reserves (Proved and Unproved) | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Proved Reserves Highest Yet: 1.1 Trillion Cubic Feet
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

Mid-year is the time oil and gas companies post an update on their proved reserves. MDN has run a few articles over the past couple of weeks highlighting some of those announcements for Marcellus/Utica drillers (see Gastar Proved Reserves Up 43% – 3/4 of it in the Marcellus and Magnum Hunter Proved Reserves Up 10.7%, Marcellus/Utica Tops). We provided an EIA article that helps define what proved (and other types of) reserves are (see Defining Our Terms: Different Types of O&G Reserves). On Monday Rex Energy got in the act and released their mid-year update on proved reserves. The company reports reserves have hit their highest level ever, exceeding 1 trillion cubic feet…
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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Research

U.S. Hits New Daily Production Record Thx to Marcellus/Utica
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

Genscape, an information company that tracks the flow of natural gas through pipelines in the U.S. (with some of the best intelligence in the business) announced that on Monday, natural gas production in the lower 48 states reached a new high water milestone: 70 billion cubic feet of natgas production in a single day. Which shale plays are “leading the way” in this record production, according to Genscape? Why, the Marcellus and Utica, of course!…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Wayne County (OH)

ET Rover Pipeline – The Right Way to Respond When Opposing It
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

Just about a month ago, MDN brought you the news that Energy Transfer Partners was planning a major new Marcellus/Utica Shale pipeline to transport up to 3.25 billion cubic feet per day of northeast shale gas to markets in the Midwest and Canada (see Big News: ETP “Rover” Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Midwest/Canada). The project includes building 600 miles of 24, 36 or 42-inch pipeline mainly through Ohio and Michigan and into Ontario, Canada. On this side of the border it will be reviewed and permitted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The problem with the pipeline, from landowners’ perspective, is that it will have the power of eminent domain, leaving them with little negotiating power…
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