Range Res. 1Q16: Still Running 3 Rigs, Drilled a Big Utica Well
Range Resources, the very first driller to sink a hole in the Marcellus Shale back in 2004, issued their first quarter 2016 update yesterday. Range reports losing $92 million in 1Q16 after making $28 million in 1Q15 (not uncommon among drillers right now). The company cut production costs by 10%, always a good thing when every penny counts, and they secured a $3 billion borrowing base. During 1Q16 Range became the first U.S. driller to export ethane to Europe, a shipment that left from Marcus Hook near Philadelphia. Marcellus production was up 17% over 1Q15, and according to Range, they recently completed a new Utica well that “appears to be one of the best in the play” based on early results from the well. Range is currently operating three rigs in the Marcellus/Utica and plans to keep them busy for the rest of 2016. Here’s the full update from Range…
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National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), the utility giant headquartered in Buffalo, NY and parent of Marcellus driller Seneca Resources, issued what they call their second quarter 2016 update yesterday. NFG’s second quarter is everyone else’s first quarter–it covers January through March. Seneca was negatively impacted by low prices for the natural gas it drills for. NFG’s “upstream” unit (Seneca) lost $213 million in 1Q16, even though its hedging program got the company an average of $2.99 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) for their gas–about $1.12/Mcf above the going Nymex rate. The loss was all a paper loss–not out of pocket money–due to a writedown of assets. If you take out the writedown, Seneca actually made $17 million in profit for the quarter. NFG’s other units fared better on paper. The midstream unit (pipelines and storage) made $21.2 million in profit for 1Q16; NFG’s utility division made $32 million for the quarter; and their energy marketing unit made $3.5 million. Seneca’s production was up nearly 10% from a year ago. They continue to operate a single rig in the Marcellus/Utica region. Here’s the NFG/Seneca update…
Bucking the trend of other drillers, EQT Corporation, a major Marcellus/Utica drillers, posted a $5.6 million profit for first quarter 2016. Also of interest in EQT’s latest quarterly update: Production volume was 24% higher than last year this time, the price they got for natural gas was 35% lower than last year, and they still have a $1.5 billion line of credit with the bank–so far undrawn. EQT plans to drill 72 Marcellus wells in 2016, and 5-10 Utica wells. Here’s the update…
Each month MDN tracks the number of active rigs deployed by oilfield services drilling company Patterson-UTI Energy (see our 
As we reported in March, EV Energy Partners (EVEP)–an upstream master limited partnership (MLP) created by EnerVest that holds enormous acreage in the Ohio Utica Shale play–is in survival mode (see 
In addition to watching companies that operate drilling rigs, like Patterson-UTI Energy (see today’s companion story) for indications of how well (or not) the drilling industry is doing, another type of company to watch is a proppant company–the companies that supply sand and ceramic beads used in fracking. CARBO Ceramics is one of the premier such companies. Yesterday CARBO issued their first quarter 2016 update. Like Patterson, the news wasn’t so good. CARBO lost $25 million in 1Q16. In some cases E&Ps (exploration and production companies, or “drillers” here on MDN) are electing to complete previously drilled wells–and that’s good for CARBO. But in many cases drillers are electing to leave already-drilled wells uncompleted, i.e. not fracked, and that’s bad for CARBO. Here’s more of the good, the bad and ugly for CARBO Ceramics in 1Q16…
In November, MDN told you about Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings, developing an East Coast pipeline to carry refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and jet and aviation fuel northbound from Linden, New Jersey to Albany, New York (178 miles). In addition, a second Pilgrim pipeline will carry crude oil from Albany south to NJ and other locations. Two pipelines, side by side, liquids flowing through them in different directions (see 
In MDN’s daily trawl of the news, we came across a resource for landowners from Ohio State University (OSU), a program called “Pipeline Easement and Right-of-Way Agreements.” Apparently OSU’s Extension service conducts workshops on occasion for landowners and other interested parties. We don’t have a list of the workshops, but we do have copies of the resources they hand out–very useful resources, including four different fact sheets that we think landowners in any state will benefit from…
Teresa Heinz-Kerry, affectionately known on MDN as Mamma Teresa, is a well-known anti-fracker. In 2013 Mamma Teresa fired the head of the Heinz Endowments, Bobby Vagt, after he had the temerity to support the Center for Sustainable Shale (see 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Cuomo’s righteous regulators nix pipelines; NY state bans stymie prosperity; OH o&g expo draws thousands; horizontal drilling advances in the PA Marcellus – “mile a day” wells; antis pressure MI over NEXUS pipeline; pipelines next to feel the bust; dire news for Canada’s o&g industry; and more!