Chesapeake Sells 882K Acres & 5,600 Conventional Wells in WV, KY
Chesapeake Energy, which continues to be strapped financially, embarked on a mission to lighten the debt load years ago–first under co-founder Aubrey McClendon, and then more aggressively under his successor, Doug “the ax” Lawler. Many pieces of the company have been sold off: the Oilfield Services division, all of its Haynesville Shale assets, all of its Barnett Shale assets…we could go on. Chessy loves to do land deals. In December 2014 Chesapeake sold off 413,000 Marcellus acres mostly in West Virginia (see Southwestern Paid Chesapeake $12K/Acre for Land Signed @ $5/Acre). Once again Chesapeake is selling off assets in Appalachia. This time they have cut a deal to sell a mammoth 882,000 acres along with 5,600 operating gas wells in West Virginia and Kentucky. However, the land and wells are in the “shallow” Devonian layer. That is, they are conventional (not shale) wells and acreage. Who’s the buyer and how much is Chesapeake receiving?…
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Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently approved changes to environmental regulations that requires “mandatory disclosure of fracking chemicals, baseline water testing and monitoring, and spill prevention and response planning.” While leftie Big Green groups love the new rules, the drilling industry is working to ensure trade secrets (exact combinations of chemicals) can’t be discovered by using Freedom of Information Act laws. The big news, for MDN, is that with the enactment of these new rules (see a copy below), it appears shale fracking is a huge step closer to happening in the Old Dominion…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved a 7.8 mile off-shoot pipeline from the mighty Millennium Pipeline in Orange County, NY that will feed a new natgas-fired electric plant being built in Wawayanda. The pipeline will supply 130 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of Marcellus gas to feed the new power plant. This is the Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) $900 million plant being opposed by rich Hollywood actor James Cromwell, who lives near the plant site (see 
Hey, it’s great when the oil and gas industry is booming (figuratively)–when the drill bits are chewing away at rock and dirt and when fracking is blasting rocks apart. Love it! But it really sucks when the drill bits go quiet–especially for companies in the supply chain, those who sell goods and services to the industry. Obviously it helps to be diversified–to sell your goods and services to customers outside the o&g industry. That’s the approach taken by the prescient MMR Constructors Inc. MMR services a number of industries, but they LOVE the oil and gas industry–upstream, midstream and downstream. MMR, based in Baton Rouge, LA, is building a sizable new office in Lawrence, PA. They sell to the Marcellus/Utica industry. MMR is “hoping” Marcellus/Utica activity picks up again. But what they really have their eye on is the coming manufacturing boom that will follow Shell’s ethane cracker plant, once it is up and running…
We’ve long held that believing in man-made global warming is an act of irrational faith. In fact, it takes MORE faith to believe in global warming than it does to believe in God. We have long said that global warmists are, in fact, no different from religious zealots. We’re not comparing warmists to sane folks who believe in God, but those who take faith to an extreme–motivating them into rhetoric (and actions) that leave the realm of sanity. Such is it with some (not all) in the man-made global warming movement. Example: Some 40 far left, liberal “faith leaders” in Maryland this past weekend dispensed with delivering the Sunday sermon on God and Jesus, and instead elected to preach global warming hellfire and brimestone. That is, they have forsaken their first love, having been lured away by a false Gospel…
Nuverra Environmental Solutions is one of the largest companies in the United States that handles transportation and disposal of shale drilling wastewater and leftover rock and dirt from drilling. The company has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. In January the company, going through tough economic times, was de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange (see 
Events related to drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling.
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Utica & Marcellus shale permit trends; veterans thrive at Range Resources; spotlight turned on NY AG Schneiderman; oil by railroad seeing big decreases; Dakota Access Pipeline now 84% built, ready early next year; M&A analysis for o&g; former Obama DOE Secretary loves fracking; 5 dangerous government agencies getting chopped by Trump; and more!