One year ago EV Energy Partners (EVEP) emerged from bankruptcy court a mere two months after entering with $355 million of debt erased and sporting a new name: Harvest Oil & Gas Corp. (see EV Energy Partners Emerges from Bankruptcy with New Name). On Wednesday the company issued its first quarter 2019 update. How has the company performed since last year?
Read More “Harvest O&G (former EV Energy Partners) 1Q19 Update”
Yesterday MDN told you that Pin Oak Energy Partners has purchased Protégé Energy’s 10,000 acres of Utica Shale leases (and other assets) located in Washington and Noble counties in Ohio, and Wood County in West Virginia (see Pin Oak Buys Protege Energy’s Utica Assets in Ohio, W.V.). It didn’t take long for Pin Oak to form their first drilling unit in Washington County, called Big Red. We have the details on where it is, and which properties are included.
Read More “Pin Oak Already Planning 1st Utica Well on Protege Acreage in OH”
From time to time we check in on Epsilon Energy, which concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. Does Epsilon actually do any of its own drilling? No. They partner with (give money to) other companies and the other companies do the actual drilling. Epsilon, according to their website, owns ~4,000 net acres in the PA Marcellus–down from 5,750 net acres which their website showed in February. Epsilon released their first quarter 2019 update earlier this week.
Read More “Epsilon Energy Drilling 4 “Lower Marcellus” Wells in NEPA”
The best teachers (people) and the best teacher (method of instruction) have the same thing in common: Hands on. As in tactile, doing stuff, rather than sitting in a chair attempting to learn by information dumping. Particularly with elementary-age kiddies. Cabot Oil & Gas and Southwestern Energy recently sponsored the annual Vehicular Career Day where 400 fifth graders from school districts across Susquehanna County climbed into big rigs, buses, and emergency vehicles. The shale industry was well-represented. Needless to say, the kids loved it.
Read More “Capturing the Interest of the Next Generation to Work in PA Shale”
Listen up landowners in Washington County, OH: For some of you, your shale lease may now be owned by someone else. Pin Oak Energy Partners, a relatively young Marcellus/Utica driller based in Akron, OH, has purchased all of Protégé Energy’s Utica Shale leases (and other assets) located in Washington and Noble counties in Ohio, and Wood County in West Virginia. The vast majority of the lease transfers are in Washington County.
Read More “Pin Oak Buys Protege Energy’s Utica Assets in Ohio, W.V.”
EdgeMarc Energy, headquartered in Canonsburg, PA (with 45,000 acres of Marcellus/Utica leases), is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, looking to sell all of the company’s assets. The reason? They can’t move their production to market because their main pipeline partner, Energy Transfer’s Revolution Pipeline, exploded last September and ET has not been able to get the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection to allow them to restart it.
Read More “EdgeMarc Energy Files for Bankruptcy, Blames Revolution Pipe”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has just upheld a lower court opinion that allows shale drilling to happen *anywhere* in a township, so long as such drilling satisfies standards to protect public health, safety and welfare. This is the end of the road for a lawsuit funded by Big Green that began in 2015 in Westmoreland County, PA.
Read More “PA Supremes Say Drilling Allowed in ALL Districts of SWPA Town”
The former Blue Ridge Mountain Resources (formerly Magnum Hunter Resources) and Eclipse Resources tied the knot and merged at the end of February, promptly renaming itself Montage Resources (see Blue Ridge Merges with Eclipse, Renamed to Montage Resources). The newly merged entity released its first quarter 2019 update last week. We found some fascinating details about Montage’s plans for 2019.
Read More “Montage Resources Drilling 33% of 2019 Wells in Ohio Marcellus!”
Bray Cary, the EQT board member who refused to leave the administration of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice even though many said he had a conflict of interest by staying, is finally leaving the EQT board in July. We first told you about Cary’s exit last week (see EQT Issues List of Board Nominees; Adopts Universal Proxy Card). Cary had a few comments for the media about his departure.
Read More “WV Gov. Justice’s Top Adviser Bray Cary Leaving EQT Board in July”
Another day, another episode of the ongoing soap opera that is the power struggle to retain (or take over) control of the country’s largest natural gas producer: EQT. Yesterday we told you about current CEO Rob McNally’s bold and gutsy move in adopting a “universal proxy” and about going on offense with a scorching letter written to Toby Rice (see EQT Issues List of Board Nominees; Adopts Universal Proxy Card). Following EQT’s letter, Toby and brother Derek Rice issued a rebuttal letter of their own.
Read More “Rice Boys Respond to Scorching Letter from EQT Board”
Several members of the Marcellus Shale industry spoke at a meeting of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce yesterday, including MDN friend George Stark from Cabot Oil & Gas. George is director of external affairs. At the meeting he said the Marcellus industry has made tremendous strides in the last 10 years and will be around for decades to come. He said, “It’s booming in our area.” George also said Cabot is having trouble filling vacant jobs.
Read More “Cabot O&G Having a Tough Time Filling Open Jobs in NEPA”
In the fight to control EQT, it appears like the momentum has just shifted in favor of EQT’s existing management. No more defense, EQT’s management team and board are now on offense. Yesterday the board and CEO Rob McNally released their list of proposed nominees to be voted on at the annual meeting in July. Three longtime members of the existing board including (surprisingly) board chairman Jim Rohr, will be out. Three new members have been named to replace them. Most important, in a bold move, EQT is adopting a “universal proxy card”–something advocated by Toby and Derek Rice in their attempt to replace the board. We explain this important development below…
Read More “EQT Issues List of Board Nominees; Adopts Universal Proxy Card”
Chesapeake Energy CEO Doug Lawler continues his quest to transform what used to be the nation’s second largest natural gas producer into an oil company. Yesterday the company issued its first quarter 2019 update. From that update we learn that Chessy will pull money out of its Marcellus and Haynesville shale gas drilling programs, dropping from three to two rigs in the Marcellus and from two to one rigs in the Haynesville, in order to put more money, rigs, time and effort into the company’s Powder River Basin oil drilling program. We liken their pursuit of oil riches to trying to grab St. Elmo’s Fire–it appears, and as soon as you reach to grab it, it’s gone.
Read More “Chesapeake Turns its Back on NatGas in Pursuit of St. Elmo’s Oil”
Whew, that was close. We’ve had a concern that if Chevron ended up buying Anadarko Petroleum (for Anadarko’s Permian Basin oil assets), it might lead to Chevron pulling back from their drilling program in the Marcellus/Utica (see Permian Love Story: Chevron Buying Anadarko in $50B Megamerger). We don’t have to worry any more. Even though Anadarko signed a deal to sell itself to Chevron, Occidental Petroleum made a bid to buy the company too (see Occidental Petroleum Offers 14% More than Chevron to Buy Anadarko). There’s a breakup clause in the signed Chevron deal. Anadarko would have to pay Chevron $1 billion for leaving them at the altar.
Read More “Chevron Leaves the Altar with $1B, Waves Goodbye to Anadarko”
Saudi Arabia is sniffing around the Marcellus Shale. Bloomberg reports that super secret talks are happening between Saudi Aramco (largest oil company in the world, owned by the Saudi government) and Equinor, which until recently was called Statoil. Equinor is majority-owned by the government of Norway. The Saudis are considering “buying a stake” in or possibly a joint venture with Equinor. It seems Norway is hesitant to hop into bed with the Saudis. We don’t blame them.
Read More “Saudi Arabia Wants to Buy Piece of the Marcellus via Equinor”
A Pennsylvania federal judge has ordered a former EQT employee to turn over his cell phone to EQT so they can have experts examine it for deleted text messages to Toby Rice and others helping him. You may recall EQT accused two fired workers of stealing company secrets and sharing those secrets with Toby and Derek Rice, who are trying to take over EQT (see EQT Accuses Fired Employees of Colluding with Rice Boys). EQT maintains one of the fired workers has evidence on his phone that can corroborate their claims of collusion. Hence the judge’s order.
Read More “Court Lets EQT Examine Cell Phone of Worker Accused of Helping Rice”