Stone Energy Shuts in Most of their WV NatGas Production
There is a direct connection between lack of pipeline takeaway capacity and drillers’ willingness to either drill more–or even continue producing–gas in the Marcellus/Utica. Although we’re pretty sure this has happened with other drillers, this is the first overt announcement we’ve seen (and hope it’s not a trend) that a sizable driller in the northeast is simply shutting in (stopping) production for a major portion of their operations. Stone Energy, an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana and with a large regional office in Morgantown, WV, has just announced they are shutting in production for their Mary Field in West Virginia. Stone drills in two geographies: the Marcellus/Utica, and the Gulf of Mexico. The GOM appears to be their primary focus at the moment. Stone’s announcement, which to us is a pretty big deal, means they will simply stop producing 100-110 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d) of natural gas in the western Wetzel County, WV area…
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MDN recently received a tip from a reader who said that WPX Energy, which has been exiting the Marcellus for more than year, is plugging and abandoning its wells in Cook Township (Westmoreland County), PA. We asked WPX about it and got the scoop about what’s happening with WPX in southwestern and central PA…
Party time! Yesterday PennEast Pipeline filed their full, official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to commence building their $1 billion, 118-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline that will deliver approximately 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Marcellus gas fields of northeastern PA to locations in southeastern PA and across the border to Trenton, NJ. The long-term benefits to the pipeline are many–lower natural gas and electricity costs for millions of consumers. In addition, during construction the pipeline will generate an estimated $1.6 billion of economic impact during design and construction alone, supporting approximately 12,160 jobs and an associated $740 million in wages. This is good news for all Pennsylvanians and New Jerseyites. Of course anti-fossil fuel nutters also issued an angry press release claiming the PennEast Pipeline will do “irreparable harm” if built…
THE Delaware Riverkeeper, Maya van Rossum, and a bunch of her anti-fossil fuel pals delivered a letter on Wednesday to America’s most liberal governor, PA Gov. Tom Wolf, asking him to immediately suspend all further Marcellus drilling in the state and while he’s at it, stop building any new pipelines. They also “demand” (their words) that Wolf shut down his Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force which he created back in May (see 
A new research paper has just been published that purports to evaluate potential “stressors” on streams from unconventional (i.e. shale) oil and gas drilling–including drilling in the Marcellus/Utica. The paper is titled “Stream Vulnerability to Widespread and Emergent Stressors: A Focus on Unconventional Oil and Gas” (full copy embedded below) and is written by a group of researchers from the University of Arkansas, University of Central Arkansas, University of Wyoming, Wilkes University, the U.S. Geological Survey and Waterborne Environmental Inc. In a cursory review the paper does indeed appear to be heavy on science and absent the usual political arguments. However, the one great negative for this paper is that it is published in the online “journal” PLOS ONE, a publication with very low academic standards and home to a number of previous “fracking will kill you” types of “research” papers (see 
When you sell something to yourself, it doesn’t take nearly as long as selling it to someone else. One week ago MDN told you that Antero Resources (the drilling company) is selling their integrated water delivery business to Antero Midstream (subsidiary pipeline company) in what is called a “drop down” transaction (see 
Dominion, one of the biggest utility companies in the Marcellus/Utica region, is going on a buying spree. The object of their desire? Their very own midstream (pipeline) company subsidiary, Dominion Midstream Partners. Dominion’s board has authorized the company to spend up to $50 million to buy units (think shares of stock) in their midstream subsidiary. Usually companies buy their own stock/units for two reasons: (1) because they believe it to be undervalued/a bargain (i.e. opportunism), or (2) to prop up the share price (i.e. defending their investment). Which one is this?…
Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR), a significant independent gas driller focused exclusively on the Marcellus/Utica region, continues to build out its executive team. In August MHR added a new Chief Operating Officer (see 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: OH judge ruling Oct 2 on NEXUS; antis fighting OH EPA compressor station regs; Mass. AG still trying to stop NED pipeline; silly fractivist antics during Pope visit; El Niño a nightmare for gas producers; does OPEC have the last laugh; and more!