WV Senate Bill Stops Frivolous Nuisance Lawsuits Against Drillers
There’s been an interesting twist in pack of so-called “nuisance” lawsuits filed against Antero Resources in West Virginia (see Scores of “Nuisance” Lawsuits Against WV Drillers Combined). As we reported, more than 200 residents in WV (likely those who don’t own the mineral rights under their land) began filing “scores” of “nuisance” lawsuits over the past couple of years against Antero Resources and Hall Drilling, in places like Doddridge County. The lawsuits claim excessive traffic, odors and noise from nearby drilling make it “impossible” for them to enjoy their homes. The individual lawsuits were rolled up into one mega lawsuit that, at the time, sat before the WV Mass Litigation Panel. More recently it seems the mass lawsuit was transferred to Ohio Circuit Court (see More People Pile on Antero, Seek to Join Mass “Nuisance” Lawsuit). The strategy by anti-drillers is to form a piranha-like school of fish to attack a large mammal and kill it with thousands of tiny bites. But a problem has appeared for the antis. A bill was just introduced in the WV Senate on Feb. 4, Senate Bill (SB 508) that defines what, exactly, a nuisance is for the purposes of such lawsuits. In other words, legislators are about to plug a hole being exploited by antis–and the antis are squealing like stuck pigs…
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Antero Resources, perhaps the largest driller completely focused on the Marcellus/Utica (by acreage), is also one of the few drillers that separates their operational updates from financial updates. Two weeks ago Antero published their third quarter 2015 operational update–the “good news” if you will (see 
Along with releasing their third quarter financial update yesterday, Antero Resources also released an updated investor PowerPoint presentation. There’s a lot of interesting slides in the deck, and we didn’t want it to get lost with the other (big) Antero news in their update, so we’re bringing you this second, separate post. Below we have the presentation embedded, along with a listing of our favorite slides and brief description of what they show/why the slides are notable…
In August MDN brought you the news that Antero Resources has decided to build a new state-of-the-art frack wastewater treatment plant in Doddridge County, WV for $275 million (see 
Today Antero Resources became the first major Marcellus/Utica driller to issue their third quarter 2015 update. The company reports a 39% increase in production over the same quarter last year, and a 1% increase from 2Q15. They must have some sharp financial types at Antero because the average price they received for their natural gas was $3.99 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) in 3Q15, which is $1.22 higher than gas sold for in the NYMEX futures market. What that means is that they’re really good at hedging and using complicated financial instruments called derivatives in order to get a higher price for their gas than many others get. Good for them! However, not part of the update released today are Antero’s income statement and balance sheet–which will show the true financial condition of the company. They’re holding that back until the quarterly analyst phone call on Oct. 28. Here’s the operational report they filed today, with details about their Marcellus and Utica operations. We also spotted a new 10-year agreement to LNG to Chubu Electric via the Freeport (TX) LNG terminal…
Antero Resources’ chief administrative officer, Al Schopp, shared an update on Antero’s activity in WV at the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association’s annual meeting two weeks ago at Oglebay Resort. Schoop’s update was enlightening. Although Antero has cut back from running 15 drilling rigs in WV last year to only 6 this year (due to the low price of natural gas), they remain active and employ 2,000 people in the state–that’s LOCAL people. Since 2009 Antero has spent nearly $5 billion (!) in WV. Some of that money–$500 million–was spent to create a pipeline system to deliver water to drill pads so they don’t have to clog narrow mountain roads with thousands of truck trips. The company spends $20 million a year to employ safety consultants at every major Antero construction, drilling and fracking operation 24/7/365. How long does Antero plan to be a major presence in the Mountain State, and what’s ahead in the near-term? Read on…
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 
Antero Resources announced today it will sell its integrated water delivery business in the Marcellus/Utica to itself for $1.05 billion. That is, Antero Resources (the drilling company) is selling the water business to Antero Midstream (subsidiary pipeline company) in what is called a “drop down” transaction–for more than a billion dollars. All lighthearted joking aside about Antero selling something to itself, this is a big and complex deal. In the announcement below we get a number of details for both Antero the driller and Antero the pipeline company, including how much Antero the driller will pay for the water from Antero the pipeline company ($3.69/barrel in WV, and $3.64/barrel in OH)…
We have a troubling development to report about the future of drilling in West Virginia–something that has happened largely under the radar, until now. More than 200 residents in WV (likely those who don’t own the mineral rights under their land) began filing “scores” of “nuisance” lawsuits over the past couple of years against Antero Resources and Hall Drilling, in places like Doddridge County. The lawsuits claim excessive traffic, odors and noise from nearby drilling make it “impossible” for them to enjoy their homes. Each lawsuit has its own unique circumstances and should be handled separately–one size does not fit all. The troubling development is that all of these lawsuits (dozens? hundreds?) have been rolled up into one mega lawsuit that sits before the WV Mass Litigation Panel…