Gulfport Energy

Belmont County | Energy Companies | Guest Post | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio

Opposing Viewpoint on Gulfport Water Lawsuit Against Barnesville
April 21, 2015April 21, 2015

MDN reader Eric Fenster, who lives in the Piedmont Lake area of Ohio, wrote to take issue with MDN’s “take” on the lawsuit brought by Gulfport Energy against Barnesville for breach of contract in selling them water for use in drilling and fracking (see Barnesville Officials “Didn’t Think” When Signing Gulfport Water Deal). Mr. Fenster believes MDN has it mostly wrong and that the Gulfport lawsuit is frivolous and should be dismissed. He outlines his thinking in the following guest post…
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Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy

Gulfport Upsizes Stock Offering to 9.5M Shares, Seeks $454M
April 17, 2015April 17, 2015

An update to a story we brought you yesterday about Gulfport Energy. We told you that Gulfport is both floating 7.5 million shares of new stock and floating IOUs (senior notes) to raise money (see Gulfport Looks to Raise $600M+ with Notes & New Stock Offering). At the time Gulfport had not announced the price per share they were looking for and we theorized that if they got the current price of $49.15 they would haul in around $368 million from new stock sales. Gulfport updated the offering. It’s now 9.5 million shares and Gulfport has announced they’re looking for $47.75 per share. Consulting our handy calculator, that would generate $454 million…
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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Jefferson County (OH) | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Utica Shale

Gulfport Energy Pays $12,500 per Acre for 24K OH Utica Acres
April 16, 2015September 14, 2015

Gulfport Energy announced yesterday they’ve picked up 24,000 dry gas acres in the “core” of the Utica play–in Belmont and Jefferson counties in Ohio. The lease seller is Paloma Partners III, a small energy & exploration company headquartered in Houston and backed by Encap Investments and Macquarie Americas. According to the Paloma website, they own(ed) 24,000 in the Utica and had planned on drilling “in late 2015.” We’re assuming they added a few thousand acres to that total since the web page was last updated and that they will now not drill at all–since they’ve just sold all of their Utica acreage to Gulfport. The purchase price was $300 million. Doing the math, Gulfport paid Paloma $12,500 per acre–which is perhaps the highest such deal price per acre we’ve seen to date. Here’s the full update from Gulfport on the Paloma acreage purchase, along with production numbers from 1Q15 which show a 161% increase from 1Q14…
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Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy

Gulfport Looks to Raise $600M+ with Notes & New Stock Offering
April 16, 2015April 16, 2015

In addition to Gulfport’s big news yesterday that they are paying $12,500 per acre for leases in eastern Ohio (see today’s companion story), Gulfport also announced yesterday they are whole hog into the cash-raising business. The company says they’re raising more cash to help pay the $300 million it’s taking them to buy the Ohio acreage–plus have some left over to pay down current debt. Yesterday, in two separate press releases (see below), Gulfport said they are a) floating 7.5 million new shares of stock, and b) floating $300 million of new senior notes (IOUs). The price of Antero’s stock this morning is trading around $49.15 per share. If they get that price for the 7.5 million shares, it would raise something north of $368 million for the company…
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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio

Barnesville Officials “Didn’t Think” When Signing Gulfport Water Deal
April 8, 2015April 21, 2015

A few weeks ago MDN told you about a legal battle shaping up in Belmont County. Gulfport Energy has sued the town of Barnesville over a contract dispute (see Gulfport Energy Sues Barnesville, OH for Access to Water in Reservoir). Barnesville signed a contract with Gulfport to sell them water for drilling and fracking from the Slope Creek Reservoir–for 1 penny per gallon. Then Barnesville signed a contract with Antero Resources to lease land, and of course Antero needs water too (and apparently went to the head of the water line). Barnesville now says the reservoir has been drawn down too low to sell water to Gulfport (other drillers dipping in the reservoir?) so Barnesville wants to renege on the contract and now finds themselves in federal court. Now the 4,100 residents of Barnesville will pay out the nose for outside legal council to defend the town because of their leaders “didn’t think”…
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Antero Resources | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio

Gulfport Energy Sues Barnesville, OH for Access to Water in Reservoir
March 20, 2015March 20, 2015

A legal battle is shaping up in Belmont County, OH–in and around Barnesville. Way back in 2012, Gulfport Energy signed a contract with Barnesville to buy water from the Slope Creek Reservoir for 1 penny per gallon. Not long after, the Village of Barnesville (which controls the reservoir) signed a lease with Antero Resources for a sizable sum (see Barnesville, OH Signs Lease with Antero, Receives $6M). Antero also snapped up more acreage in the area (see Antero Offers Barnesville, OH Residents $5,700/Acre 20% Royalties). Gulfport and Antero reached a “mutual development agreement” in June and now Gulfport wants to start drilling in the area–but Barnesville is saying the reservoir is too low because other drillers (Antero?) have drawn it down. So Barnesville won’t let Gulfport, which has its own contract, to access water in the reservoir. Gulfport has just sued the Village to gain access…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy

Topeka Capital List of 7 O&G Takeover Targets Includes 3 in NE
March 19, 2015March 20, 2015

Investment firm Topeka Capital Markets recently issued a report (for their clients) of the “most likely” companies in the oil and gas space that will be takeover targets, presumably this year. Unfortunately we don’t have a copy of the report, but we do have a list of the names they say are likely targets. The list has seven companies on it–three of which are focused on the Marcellus/Utica. Two of them are some of the biggest in the Marcellus/Utica. One of them has our eyes popping out, frankly with disbelief…
Read More “Topeka Capital List of 7 O&G Takeover Targets Includes 3 in NE”
Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Utica Shale

Gulfport Production Up 255%, Spending 96% of $ on Utica in 2015
February 26, 2015February 26, 2015

Gulfport Energy CEO Michael Moore said 2014 was “a transformation year” for the company. Indeed it was. Yesterday Gulfport issued their 2014 year in review and predictions for 2015. Gulfport drills in the Utica and in other shale plays. Combined production for the company in 2014 zoomed up 255% over 2013–most of it from the Utica. Gulfport drilled 85 Utica Shale wells in 2014, and they hooked up/put into production 63 Utica wells in 2014. In 2015 the company plans to spend between $545-$595 million on drilling–96% of that will be spent in the Utica Shale. Below is yesterday’s 2014/2015 update…
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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio

Coal Company Leases 6K Acres for Natgas Drilling in Belmont, OH
January 20, 2015January 20, 2015

Murray Energy Corp. is a coal mining company headquartered in St. Clairsville (Belmont County) in eastern Ohio. In 2013, Murray’s CEO and founder, Robert Murray, sued Aubrey McClendon when McClendon named his new company American Energy Partners. Murray, you see, operates a subsidiary coal mining company called American Energy Corp. (see McClendon Gets Sued in OH Over New Company’s Name). We haven’t heard anything since that time, so presumably it’s all blown over by now. What’s interesting is that Murray, whom we assumed has a grudge against natural gas, has just leased 2,076 acres of his coal mining property owned by American Energy Corp., along with 3,849 acres from another Murray subsidiary mining operation, The Ohio Valley Coal Co., to Gulfport Energy so Gulfport can drill for natural gas under the coal mines…
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Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Marshall County | Ohio County | Utica Shale | West Virginia

Gulfport Energy Enters WV Utica, Leases in Ohio/Marshall Counties
January 19, 2015January 19, 2015

Looks like Gulfport Energy, with 184,000 acres of leases and an active driller in eastern Ohio’s Utica Shale, is making moves into the West Virginia Utica Shale. We spotted an article that says Gulfport has purchased an 87.5% stake in “hundreds of lease agreements” in Ohio and Marshall counties in WV. We don’t know how many acres are involved (yet). But we do know who they’ve purchased the leases from…
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Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Gulfport Production Soars in 2014, 6 Active Rigs in OH Utica
January 7, 2015January 7, 2015

On Monday Gulfport Energy, a major driller in the Utica Shale, released a high-level operational update. Gulfport CEO Michael G. Moore said the company produced more oil and gas in the fourth quarter of 2014 than they did in all of 2013. And the Gulfport production engine continues to chug away in the Ohio Utica Shale. Gulfport brought 22 new Utica wells online in 4Q14 and has six rigs currently drilling in the Utica. Gulfport is also wisely “hedged”–meaning they’re getting about $1 per Mcf more for their gas (they currently get $4.12/Mcf) than the current spot rate of ~$3.00/Mcf. Smart…
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American Energy Partners | Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH

Muskingum Watershed District Sells only 136M Gal of Water So Far
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), organized in 1933 to reduce the effects of flooding and conserve water for beneficial public uses, oversees 16 dams and reservoirs across 22 counties in Ohio, covering 20% of the state. It is a massive area under the oversight and control of the MWCD. We’ve previously covered their deals with Antero Resources to lease District property for drilling. We’ve also covered District deals to sell water to Antero and other shale drillers (see Muskingum Watershed Votes to Sell 209M Gals of Water for Fracking). Although the district has voted to sell 209 million gallons of water, so far in 2014 they’ve only sold 136 million gallons–or the amount of water used in four days by the city of Akron, OH. According to officials with the MWCD, water sales have had a “negligible” impact on the reservoirs–lowering the several reservoirs used by less than 3/4 of an inch. MWCD lowers reservoirs more than that each year for winter anyway–so actually there’s been no impact, especially since much of the water sold flows through pipelines instead of tanker trucks…
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Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Gulfport Energy 3Q14: 31 Utica Wells Drilled, 19 Brought Online
November 6, 2014November 6, 2014

Gulfport Energy, a major Utica Shale exploration & production company, reported their third quarter 2014 operational and financial results yesterday. The compan reports spudding/drilling 31 Utica Shale wells in 3Q14, bringing 19 new wells online for production during the quarter. Right now they operate 8 horizontal drilling rigs in the Ohio Utica Shale. By the end of the year Gulfport will have spent upward of $750 million (or more) on their Utica drilling program for 2014. Here’s more…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Hall Drilling | Hess | Monroe County | Ohio | Utica Shale

OH Utica Shale’s Most Productive Wells in 2Q14
September 29, 2014September 29, 2014

Recently released production numbers from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) show a bit of a surprise. The single most productive Utica Shale well during second quarter 2014 (April – June) was from one of the smallest drillers. A well drilled by Hall Drilling (headquartered in West Virginia) in Monroe County, OH produced 1.43 billion cubic feet of natural gas during 2Q14. Other top-producing wells were drilled by Gulfport Energy, Antero Resources and Hess. Here’s some numbers…
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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Pipelines | Rice Energy | Utica Shale

Gulfport Cuts Deal with Competitor Rice Energy to Build Pipeline
August 1, 2014August 1, 2014

An interesting announcement from Gulfport Energy earlier this week. The company issued a “midstream update” and a production numbers for 2Q14 going back one year. What’s interesting is that Gulfport has cut midstream (i.e. pipeline) deals to get its production out of the Utica Shale basin in eastern Ohio. One deal is with Rice Energy, a competitor who also drills in the Utica. Rice will construct and operate gathering pipelines for Gulfport in several townships in Belmont County, OH. (Interesting that Rice is becoming a midstream company as well as a driller.) The second deal is with midstreamer MarkWest Energy to construct pipelines to Gulfport wells in other parts of Belmont County, and in parts of Monroe County, OH…
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Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy

Top Management at Gulfport Energy Continues to Change – New CFO
July 11, 2014July 11, 2014

In January Gulfport Energy announced the sudden retirement of then-CEO James Palm. In April, interim CEO (formerly the CFO) Michael Moore, a numbers guy, was promoted to the top spot as CEO and Ross Kirtley, formerly COO for Ohio operations, was promoted to COO for the entire company (see New Top Management at Utica Driller Gulfport Energy). The vacant CFO position has now been filled. Gulfport reports that Aaron Gaydosik, most recently VP of Finance at Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp, will become the new CFO. Kodiak is a Bakken driller…
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