Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell
Shell Announces Full PA Cracker Plant Will Go Live in 2022
We finally have word from the metaphorical horse’s mouth about when we can expect the mighty, multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant under construction in Beaver County, PA will go online and become fully functional. According to Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden, the cracker will become “fully operational” sometime in 2022. However, it’s not just a flip-the-switch kind of thing. Bits and pieces of the plant will come online at different times, including a key piece coming online “in the coming weeks.” In fact, some of the pieces are already functional.
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All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received 18 new permits for three drillers, all of them in the western part of the state. Ohio received 5 new permits for two different drillers. And West Virginia received 5 new permits, all for the same company in the same county on the same well pad.
Gulfport Energy continues to try and wiggle out of legally-signed and binding long-term contracts with multiple pipeline companies, including deals that move Marcellus/Utica gas through the Rover and Rockies Express (REX) pipelines. Last year the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) told Gulfport a very loud NO in breaking those contracts (see 
Ascent Resources, originally founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately-held company that focuses 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. The company issued its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 update earlier this week. According to Ascent CEO Jeff Fisher, “Ascent has successfully delivered on its operational and financial objectives in 2020.” Ascent reports it shut-in (curtailed) roughly 100 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d) of production in 4Q. The company produced 1.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcfe/d) during 4Q, down from 2 Bcfe/d in 3Q.
Here’s a company we’ve not written about since 2016: IOG Capital. Back in 2015 we first told you that IOG Capital had cut a deal with Seneca Resources to fund Seneca’s Marcellus drilling program in Elk, McKean and Cameron counties in northcentral Pennsylvania (see 
Diversified Gas & Oil (DGO) owns close to 8 million acres of leases with some 60,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. Their focus has been to acquire quality production and cash flow–regardless of the well or commodity type (gas or oil)–in the Appalachian Basin. DGO currently owns over 400 Marcellus/Utica shale wells in their portfolio too. Earlier this week the company issued its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 update. Although the company reported a $23 million loss for 2020 (versus making $99 million in 2019), CEO Rusty Hutson says he is “exceptionally pleased with our results in 2020” and the way the company navigated a turbulent 2020.
Hilcorp is a major driller founded in 1989 by Jeff Hildebrand. It is one of the largest privately-held (stock not publicly traded) oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the U.S. Headquartered in Houston, TX, Hilcorp has over 1,825 employees in multiple operating areas including the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Alaska, and (yes) in the Marcellus/Utica. While they don’t have a huge presence here in the northeast, Hilcorp does actively drill shale wells in Lawrence County, PA and Columbiana County, OH. The Youngstown Business Journal reports Hilcorp is advancing its program in the northern portion of the Ohio Utica.
In early February, Northern Oil and Gas, Inc., a company that invests in non-operated oil and gas assets (they let others do the drilling), announced it had purchased 64,000 net acres producing ~120 MMcfe/d (million cubic feet equivalent per day) in the Marcellus/Utica from Reliance Industries Limited (see 
In early February MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of doing a remote video interview with George Stark, Director of External Affairs for Cabot Oil & Gas. Jim has known George (via various industry events) for perhaps the last 10 years. Cabot is the sponsor of a series of in-person and online events called Think About Energy (TAE). George is conducting a series of interviews about good sources of information for the oil and gas industry and he wanted to highlight MDN. Thanks George! In the interview (watch it below), Jim talks about how MDN got started and some of the key issues facing the M-U today. Enjoy!
Chesapeake Energy has screwed over landowners in northeastern Pennsylvania (and elsewhere) for years. Under the provisions of a “settlement” just brokered by PA’s shale-hating Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, Chesapeake will get away with settling the royalty case for pennies on the dollar. The average landowner will get just over $300 from this “settlement.” What a cruel joke. This is all about headlines and showmanship for Shapiro who hopes to run for governor next year. Don’t fall for his “I’m the savior of landowners” schtick. He just sold landowners down the river in return for a headline his campaign can use.
Last November Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), filed for a “pre-arranged” Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see 
Banpu is Thailand’s largest coal mining company. But Banpu is far more than just a coal company. It has multiple subsidiaries in various energy industries scattered around the globe. For example, here in the U.S. Banpu partners with Kalnin Ventures and operates BKV Corporation, the American shale drilling arm of Banpu. We spotted an article in today’s Bangkok Post that says Banpu is about to enter the U.S. power generation market by purchasing a gas-fired power plant–this year.