Explosion & Fire at Rice Energy Drill Pad in Washington County, PA
What a way to ring in the New Year. Some 16 different fire departments were called out to a 4-alarm fire at Rice Energy’s Papa Bear well pad in Somerset Township (Washington County), PA, on January 1st. Rice contractors were in the process of fracking the Papa Bear well pad on Sunday afternoon (yes, gas workers work on Sundays and holidays!) when one of the 20 pumps being used experienced “equipment failure.” Fortunately, no one was injured. The blaze ended up ruining six of the 20 pumps, and damaging four pumper trucks. When nearby neighbors heard an explosion and saw black smoke, they “self evacuated” and got out of Dodge quick. Smart neighbors! The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is on the scene investigating and Rice does not yet have an estimate for when operations will resume at Papa Bear…
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On the last business day of 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a favorable final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline (see today’s companion story). Not to be confused with that project, also on the last business day of the year, FERC issued a favorable draft (not final, but draft) EIS for the $5 billion, 594-mile Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. This is a huge milestone and an indication that FERC will later issue a favorable final EIS, and then a certificate to allow the project to get built. FERC cautioned there is still more work to be done by Dominion to complete field surveys and submit proposals on certain issues that need to get resolved. However, the draft EIS says based on what they see so far, FERC has confidence that Dominion can minimize damage to the environment in building the pipeline. Of course the childish antis came out of the woodwork to begin bleating and blatting, as they so often do, that they pipeline will kill everyone and everything in its path. Typical…
In September, MDN brought you research on 10 of the largest Marcellus/Utica drillers that have “hedged” their 2017 production (see 
In December MDN told you that anti-fossil fuelers who oppose Sunoco Logistics Partners’ Mariner East 2 Pipeline were making a last, desperate attempt to stop the project by appealing an eminent domain case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (see 
In April 2016 MDN told you about the Guernsey Power Station–a new Utica/Marcellus natural gas-fired electric generating plant proposed for Guernsey County, OH (see 
In the closing days of 2016, Gulfport Energy, an Oklahoma City-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company (“driller”) that is a “top 5” driller in the Ohio Utica Shale, announced that its chief financial officer (CFO) has up and left. Just like that. Aaron Gaydosik, Gulfport CFO, is leaving “to pursue an external opportunity.” While defections in the top ranks of big drillers like Gulfport are not unheard of, they do give investors the jitters. And it makes one wonder what’s going on at the company, given that Gaydosik had only been in that job for the past 2.5 years. Was he pushed out? Did he find a better gig? Inquiring minds want to know…
Last week the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry released employment numbers for the Marcellus industry for the second quarter of 2016. Yes, you read that right–the jobs numbers released were for 2Q16, April through June. Why such a delay? Who knows!? What followed is instructive. The numbers show that year over year, from 2Q15 to 2Q16, those employed by the Marcellus industry went down by 32%. However, the same report shows overall those directly employed by the drilling industry doubled over the past nine years. Yes, we hit a down cycle and lost some jobs, but we’re still light years ahead (and a heck of a lot better off) than where we were just a decade ago. Also keep in mind: we are once again on the upswing with jobs, since 2Q16…
Each weekday Marcellus Drilling News locates and shares news from the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Over 50,000 people read MDN each month. Here is a summary of the top 10 most-read stories on MDN for all of 2016. We hope this will give you insight into what stories captured the interest of those in the industry, and landowners as well. Let’s do this David Letterman Top 10 style…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Friends and foes wait on appeals court for ruling in Constitution Pipeline; OH voters want no part of frack bans; natgas shows signs of returning to Lycoming County; PA Gov Wolf rejects natgas-powered data center, kills 500 jobs; Spectra paying $1.2 million to run pipe through few miles of New England forest; shale gas in north Georgia?; RBN’s top 10 for 2017; Trump’s energy policy; what lies ahead for 2017; and more!