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Motley Fool’s “Ubiquitous in the Utica”

The Motley Fool investing website published a “round-up” type of article two days ago that focuses on the major players (drillers) in the Marcellus Shale (see this MDN story), part of a series that looks at major energy plays in the U.S. Yesterday they continued the series with an article that looks in detail at the Utica Shale.

The article starts off by listing the top 7 companies by the amount of acreage they lease. They are (from highest to lowest amount of acreage):

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Motley Fool’s “Moguls of Marcellus”

The Motley Fool investing website published a “round-up” type of article yesterday that focuses on the major players (drillers) in the Marcellus Shale, part of a series that looks at major energy plays in the U.S.

The article starts off by listing the top 11 companies by the amount of acreage they lease. They are (from highest to lowest amount of acreage):

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ExxonMobil Predicts World Fossil Fuel Usage Up 5% by 2040

ExxonMobil, not only the world’s largest energy company but the world’s largest company period by revenue, publishes an annual Outlook for Energy. Yesterday they issued the 2013 edition (embedded below). The annual publication is an inside look at how some of the world’s keenest minds in energy view what’s coming down the road for energy over the next 30 years.

A few (very interesting) highlights from this year’s edition:

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Exxon Mobil Foolishly Backs Obama Carbon Tax Idea

Exxon Mobil is a major disappointment. Since 2009 they’ve supported a so-called “carbon tax” over what they consider a less-desirable alternative—legislation capping carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide, in case you didn’t know, is the substance you breathe out with every breath you take. Plants breathe it in. Plants, on the other hand, expire oxygen that we animals breathe in—something called the circle of life. Obama and green wackos want to tax carbon dioxide emissions in the misbegotten belief it’s “polluting the planet” and that by taxing it, you will cause its use to go down. (Maybe a tax on breathing will be next?) Boggles the mind.

What boggles the mind even more is Exxon’s support for the idea. A carbon tax is nothing more than a huge, new tax increase that gives greedy politicians more money to play with, reduces manufacturing activity (and jobs at those manufacturers), and overall is about the worst idea anyone has had in oh, about a century.

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Top 10 Energy Companies & Top 10 Drillers Worldwide

Each year Platts publishes a list  of the top 250 energy companies in the world. They evaluate companies using four metrics: asset value, revenue, profit, and return on invested capital. It probably won’t surprise you to find out that 7 of the top 10 energy companies in the world have a presence in the Marcellus or Utica Shale.

Here’s the Platts list of the top 10 energy companies in the world for 2012:

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Will Exxon’s Lack of Marcellus Drilling Lead to Expired Leases?

slipping awayAn energy industry consultant and investment analyst writes an interesting article on Seeking Alpha about Exxon Mobil’s commitment to dry shale shale (“methane only”). Richard Zeits characterizes Exxon’s shift away from dry to wet gas (oil and natural gas liquids) as “radical,” citing Exxon’s onshore rig count decline from 71 to 50 rigs (a 30% drop) since the beginning of this year as evidence of the change. He estimates they use less than 10 of the remaining 50 rigs for drilling in dry gas areas.

Zeits says that Exxon may not be able to hold a sizable amount of leased acreage they hold in dry gas areas of the Marcellus and Fayetteville Shale basins because of the reduced rig count. That is, they won’t be able to drill on the leased acreage by the time the leases expire—especially in the Marcellus where they’re only operating four rigs on 660,000 acres of holdings.

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ExxonMobil CEO Delivers Major Speech on U.S. Energy

In a speech delivered at the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson said fears about climate change, drilling and even energy dependence on other countries are all overblown. He said he believes burning fossil fuels does lead to global warming, but it’s no big deal and certainly not an impending cataclysm. He also said the press and environmentalists are manufacturing fear about fracking and fossil fuels.

Perhaps the most controversial thing he said is that the general public is “illiterate” when it comes to science and math.

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Full Speed Ahead in the Marcellus for Chevron & Exxon Mobil

Not every driller is pulling back from drilling natural gas to focus on oil and gas liquids. In fact, for two of the largest energy companies in the U.S., it’s full speed ahead with drilling in the Marcellus. Those two companies? Chevron and Exxon Mobil. Chevron is planning to double its drilling in the Marcellus in the near term.

From a recent story in the Wall Street Journal:

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Correction: Exxon Buys 25K Acres of Utica Shale Leases in OH

Two days ago MDN reported, based on copies of paperwork filed with Monroe County, Ohio, that Exxon Mobil via its subsidiary XTO Energy had acquired 13,200 acres of Utica Shale gas leases from Beck Energy (see this MDN story). It turns out there’s more to the story.

MDN received a copy of an additional purchase agreement between Beck and Exxon for another 7,627 acres, for a total deal between the two companies of 20,827 acres of leases in Monroe County. The new/second agreement appears to be property held by Beck with delayed rental payments—that is, property where there is currently no active drilling.

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Exxon Buys 13,200 Acres of Utica Shale Leases in Ohio

Exxon Mobil, through it’s subsidiary XTO Energy, recently acquired just over 13,200 acres of Utica Shale leases from Beck Energy Corp. in Monroe County, Ohio. A copy of the Bill of Sale, dated Dec. 20, 2011, is embedded below, containing a list of all the parcels in the transaction. Terms of the purchase are not disclosed in the document. Neither Exxon Mobil nor Beck Energy have disclosed the price and terms of the deal.

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Exxon Pays for After Hours Access to OH Property Records

Interest from drilling companies in Eastern Ohio continues to be red hot with respect to the Marcellus and Utica Shales, as proven by how local county offices are overrun with researchers wanting access to property deed records. One such place is the Belmont County Recorder’s office in Belmont, Ohio. One company, Permian Oil (acting as an agent for XTO Energy, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil) has gone so far as to pay for after hours access.

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Exxon Acquiring Acreage in OH Utica Shale for Oil Drilling

Utica and Marcellus Shale playsA rather generic story put out by Reuters yesterday refers to Exxon Mobil’s interest in acquiring acreage in the Utica Shale in Ohio as a new source of oil drilling. Details are sparse about Exxon’s plans, but it points out the white-hot interest there is in Ohio’s Utica Shale since Chesapeake announced in July they have struck oil, as well as natural gas and gas liquids, in Eastern Ohio (see this MDN story). Looks like Exxon considers Eastern Ohio to now be “one of the biggest sources of crude oil in the United States.”

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Belmont County, OH Landowners Sign Utica Shale Leases

sign leaseA number of landowners from Belmont County, Ohio made the trip to Wheeling, WV last week to sign leases to allow drilling in the Utica Shale on their property. The leases were signed with XTO Energy, now a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil. The price landowners got for Utica leases rivals the highest prices MDN has heard of for any Marcellus Shale lease, in no small part because of Chesapeake Energy’s recent discovery of natural gas liquids and even oil in the Utica Shale in Ohio.

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