Energy Companies

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    Cabot Says 2 NEPA Gas-Fired Plants Go Operational by June 1

    Lackawanna Energy Center – concept drawing

    Tucked away in the comments made by Cabot Oil & Gas CEO Dan Dinges on an investor conference call last Friday, MDN picked up on what we consider big news: Both the Moxie Freedom (Luzerne County, Wilkes-Barre area) and Lackawanna Energy Center (Lackawanna County, Scranton area) Marcellus-fired power plants are about to go fully operational–sometime in May (by June 1). Both plants will exclusively use Marcellus gas extracted by Cabot in Susquehanna County, PA. For nearly a year the plan had been for Moxie Freedom to be built and online in May of this year, so that announcement isn’t so much a surprise as it is welcomed news (see NEPA Moxie Freedom Power Plant on Track for May 2018 Launch). However, in March we reported Lackawanna was going through a “short” commissioning stage and would be firing up at any time (see Gas-Fired Power Plant Near Scranton Nears Startup; Yellow Smoke). The Lackawanna project has faced fierce local resistance. A group of Democrats got themselves elected to the local town board in Jessup, taking office in January, trying their best to block startup of the Lackawanna project by employing a Big Green lawyer (who works for Riverkeeper) at a cost to taxpayers of $225/hour. Looks like it was wasted money as Dinges says Lackawanna will be operational, with large volumes of Cabot gas flowing to it, within weeks…
    Read More “Cabot Says 2 NEPA Gas-Fired Plants Go Operational by June 1”

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    Range Resources 1Q18: Drills 2 Longest Marcellus Wells Ever!

    Range Resources, the very first driller to sink a well in the Marcellus Shale, provided their first quarter 2018 update yesterday. And what an update it was! First thing that jumped out for us is that Range says they drilled “the two longest laterals to date by Range at 18,129 feet and 17,875 feet.” We checked, and the previous record holder for drilling the longest Marcellus well was EQT, which drilled a Marcellus well with a lateral of 17,400 feet long in Washington County last December (see EQT Drills Longest Marcellus Well Ever, Reveals 2018 Plans). Although Range isn’t claiming they’ve drilled “the longest Marcellus well ever”–they actually have! (Note to Range’s PR department–you’re missing an opportunity to toot your own horn.) Range did not say where (which county or counties) the long lateral wells were drilled–only that it was in southwestern PA. Our guess is Washington County. Range’s long laterals caught the attention of analysts on yesterday’s quarterly phone call. Range personnel were peppered with questions about the long laterals. Other news coming from yesterday’s update: The company made $49 million in profit during 1Q18, down 71% from the $170 million Range made in 1Q17. The company is still larded up with debt–$4.1 billion worth of debt. Range CEO Jeff Ventura said, “Our plan is to continue the process of high-grading our portfolio and accelerate the de-leveraging process by targeting non-core assets sales and the thoughtful monetization of under-appreciated inventory in our portfolio. We currently have processes underway, pursuing various transactions that would support our near-term goal of getting leverage below 3 times, as we ultimately move towards an investment-grade leverage profile.” Translation: We’re selling stuff as fast as we can that doesn’t make us a lot of money. Some of those sales likely will include Range’s Marcellus assets in northeastern PA…
    Read More “Range Resources 1Q18: Drills 2 Longest Marcellus Wells Ever!”

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    EQT 1Q18: Interim CEO Porges Focused on Splitting Company in Two

    EQT, now the largest natural gas-producing company operating in the United States (since its acquisition of Rice Energy in 2017) issued its first quarter 2018 update yesterday. Among the flood of news coming from the update: EQT lost $1.6 billion in 1Q18, versus making a $164 million profit in 1Q17. But the big loss was not money out of pocket–it was a paper loss, mostly due to “writing down” the value of assets in the Permian (Texas) and Huron (Kentucky) shale plays. EQT is ending its flirtation with the Texas Permian, selling its Permian assets for a minuscule $64 million. The company refused to talk about whether or not they plan to sell or keep the Huron assets. Most of EQT’s drilling remains Marcellus Shale-focused. In 1Q18 EQT drilled 24 Marcellus wells, 2 Upper Devonian wells, and 6 Ohio Utica wells. Kind of funny (for us) was the way acting CEO David Porges described the current situation he finds himself in. Porges was CEO of EQT until early 2017 when Steve Schlotterbeck took over as CEO (groomed by Porges for the job). Porges has been Executive Chairman of the board since that time. But Schlotterbeck suddenly resigned in March when the board refused to pay him what other top energy CEOs make (see EQT CEO Steve Schlotterbeck Suddenly Quits, Leaves Company). Apparently his abrupt departure didn’t sit well with Porges. On yesterday’s analyst phone call, Porges said this: “Approximately one year ago, I retired as CEO and transitioned to the role of Executive Chairman. As you know, my replacement resigned in mid-March and I assumed the role of CEO to give the board a chance to decide upon a replacement. That search has begun and we expect to have a new CEO in place by the time of separation, which is still scheduled for the third quarter.” Porges wouldn’t even mention Schlotterbeck by name! Called him “my replacement.” Talk about frosty. We don’t think Schlotterbeck will be getting a Christmas card from Porges this year. 🙂 At any rate, as Porges said in his statement, the company expects to name a new CEO no later than third quarter of this year–when the existing EQT splits in two and becomes a drilling company AND a separate midstream (pipeline) company…
    Read More “EQT 1Q18: Interim CEO Porges Focused on Splitting Company in Two”

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    2 Horiz. Clinton Sandstone Wells Drilled in Ashtabula County, OH

    Ashtabula County, OH

    Once upon a time the Clinton Sandstone layer was the most drilled rock layer in Ohio. Then the Utica/Point Pleasant came along and it seemed as if everybody forgot about the Clinton. Previously the Clinton was drilled vertically, or conventional-only. But what if you drilled the Clinton horizontally, like you do in the Utica? You might get a “Utica-lite” well, as we commented back in 2015 (see Ohio Clinton Sandstone Horiz Wells on the Increase – Utica-Lite?). EnverVest, among others, has experimented with horizontal drilling in the Clinton Sandstone (see EnerVest Likes Clinton Sandstone “Utica-lite” Oil Wells in OH). According to drillers who have experimented in the Clinton, drilling a horizontal Clinton well is anywhere from 3-10 times more expensive than a conventional well, but it produces anywhere from 7 to 20 times more oil, which is typically the hydrocarbon companies drill for in the Clinton. Today we spotted a story about a driller we had not previously heard of (which is rare), currently drilling two horizontal Clinton wells in Ashtabula County, OH. Here’s an update on drilling in the Clinton Sandstone in Ohio…
    Read More “2 Horiz. Clinton Sandstone Wells Drilled in Ashtabula County, OH”

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    Antero Res. 1Q18: Record High 2.4 Bcfe/d Production, $4+ Hedges

    Part of the rush of first quarter 2018 updates released this week included an update from one of the biggest Marcellus/Utica drillers–Antero Resources. Antero drills in WV, OH and PA–but their main focus is on drilling in WV (see Antero Resources Spent $1B in WV Last Year, Another $1B This Year). In a trend we’ve seen with other early-reporting drillers, Antero’s net income was down. However, the company still made money–$14.8 million of net income in 1Q18, down from $268 million of net income in 1Q17. Antero arguably has the best hedging program in the business–the ability to pre-sell their gas (and liquids), fetching prices higher than most others get. Most of Antero’s sales are hedged. The company reports that in 1Q18, if you were to combine natural gas and NGLs and oil, converting it all to natural gas equivalents, Antero sold their production for an average of $4.04 per thousand cubic feet equivalent (Mcfe). Impressive in a market where sometimes the price dips below $1/Mcfe. Speaking of impressive, Antero CEO Paul Rady opened his comments on an analyst phone call by saying, “First and foremost we had an exceptional quarter on the operational front. Despite difficult operating conditions, processing outages and severe weather, Antero delivered record production volumes.” The company hit a record-high of 2.4 billion cubic feet equivalent per day of production…
    Read More “Antero Res. 1Q18: Record High 2.4 Bcfe/d Production, $4+ Hedges”

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    EQT Midstream Consolidates, Buys Gulfport JV Share for $175M

    As EQT gets ready to split the company into two companies later this year, the midstream (pipeline & processing plants) portion of the company yesterday announced a complicated “drop down” deal to streamline the midstream operation. The short version is this: EQT has midstream assets spread throughout three companies on paper–EQT Midstream Partners, EQT GP Holdings, and Rice Midstream Partners. Yesterday the company announced all three are being merged under one umbrella–EQT Midstream Partners. As you’ll read in the EQT announcement, the entire deal is complex–with various entities buying assets from the others. One of the more interesting aspects of the deal is that EQT Midstream is buying EQT’s (the driller’s) Olympus Gathering System and EQT’s 75% interest in the Strike Force Gathering System. EQT Midstream is also buying out Gulfport Energy’s 25% interest in Strike Force, meaning EQT Midstream will now own 100% of Strike Force–a gathering pipeline system in the dry gas Utica covering 98,000 acres in Belmont and Monroe counties, in Ohio. Here’s the news that EQT is getting its midstream ducks in a row…
    Read More “EQT Midstream Consolidates, Buys Gulfport JV Share for $175M”

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    XTO Plan to Drill Wells at Former Golf Course Delayed by Zoning Bd

    In February MDN told you that XTO Energy, the shale drilling arm of Exxon Mobil, has plans to begin drilling five new shale wells in Armstrong County, PA on a former golf course (see XTO Plans 5 Shale Wells at Former Golf Course in Armstrong County). XTO presented a plan in February to build a drill pad on what used to the seventh green at the former Phoenix at Buffalo Valley Golf Course in Freeport, PA. The plan calls for drilling 4 Marcellus wells and 1 Utica well on the pad. Some 20 residents showed up for the February meeting. Not a single one spoke out against the plan. Nor did any of the Freeport officials. Last night the Freeport Zoning Board met, ostensibly to vote on XTO’s plan. However, the officials delayed the vote, claiming “there was just too much information to digest.” No date is yet set for another meeting to consider XTO’s “too much information” proposal…
    Read More “XTO Plan to Drill Wells at Former Golf Course Delayed by Zoning Bd”

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    BLM Blocks Eclipse from Completing Utica Well in Wayne Natl Forest

    Melissa Hamsher, Eclipse Resources

    Something pretty cool took place yesterday in Washington, D.C. MDN friend Melissa Hamsher, vice president for Health, Safety, Environmental and Regulatory with Eclipse Resources (headquartered in State College, PA), testified before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Resources Committee. Melissa has been a speaker on several panels MDN editor Jim Willis has moderated over the years at the annual Oil & Gas Awards Industry Summit in Pittsburgh. The uncool thing is what Melissa was in D.C. to testify about, which is that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), after auctioning off parcels in the Wayne National Forest (WNF), is now stopping Eclipse from drilling under those parcels. Eclipse had already bundled some of the BLM parcels they won at auction with neighboring private land, setting up a drill pad on private (not public) land when the BLM stepped in and stopped Eclipse’s first under-construction Utica well in WNF, claiming the BLM needs to conduct a “new environmental analysis” before drilling can continue. At every turn BLM, while pretending to act in good faith by conducting auctions of WNF land, has acted in bad faith to block Eclipse’s progress after winning those auctions. Melissa shined a bright light on the sleazy tactics used by BLM at a Congressional hearing exploring the “unfair weaponization of the National Environmental Policy Act”…
    Read More “BLM Blocks Eclipse from Completing Utica Well in Wayne Natl Forest”

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    XTO Selling 9,400 OH Utica Acres in Monroe & Washington Counties

    XTO Energy, the shale drilling arm of Exxon Mobil, wants to sell ~9,400 Ohio Utica Shale acres in Monroe and Washington counties. Have no fear, XTO isn’t going anywhere. According to XTO’s website, the company currently owns 82,000 acres of Utica Shale leases in Belmont and Monroe counties. The tiny 9,400-acre sale appears to us to be selling off acreage in areas that don’t fit with XTO’s future drilling plans. XTO maintains a regional office in Belmont County. According to the sale announcement appearing on Oil & Gas Asset Clearinghouse, there are potentially 40 drilling locations on the 9,400 acres. The acreage has dry gas potential. The sale is not exactly an auction, but it is timed and uses bids. XTO is accepting sealed bids on the property through May 17. Here’s a copy of the listing, along with a flyer…
    Read More “XTO Selling 9,400 OH Utica Acres in Monroe & Washington Counties”

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    Rex Energy Gets 3rd Extension to Pay Defaulted IOU

    Three weeks ago Rex Energy filed a notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission to alert shareholders that the company has defaulted on an interest payment due on senior notes (see Rex Energy Defaults on IOUs, Can’t File Annual Report on Time). Rex said in the filing that the noteholders to whom payment is due (Angelo, Gordon & Co.) signed a temporary “forbearance” agreement that gives Rex a little breathing room–until April 16 to pay up. Angelo, Gordon & Co. promised not to take any action until that date. April 16 arrived without a deal, so Rex and Angelo signed a second forebearance agreement giving Rex another extension–until April 23–to either pay or agree to a new deal (see Rex Energy Gets 1 Extra Wk to Pay Defaulted IOU, Files Annual Report). April 23 came and went with no deal, and once again Rex and Angelo signed an agreement, the third such forbearance agreement, giving Rex one more week. Rex is not only having trouble paying its debt obligations, a few weeks back Rex’s stock was relegated to the penny stock Pink Sheets (see Rex Energy Stock De-Listed by Nasdaq as of April 12th). We have no inside knowledge of what’s happening behind the scenes, but we’re sure of this: There is a lot of heated discussion taking place. Rex previously floated the possibility of declaring bankruptcy. One thing’s for sure–something will have to happen soon…
    Read More “Rex Energy Gets 3rd Extension to Pay Defaulted IOU”

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    Some PA Drillers Threaten to Spoil it for All via Royalty Shenanigans

    We’ve written a number of posts over the years about the ongoing, sometimes quiet sometimes not, civil war between Pennsylvania landowners and some (not all) drillers who use inflated post-production deductions to pad their own bottom lines, leaving landowners with peanuts–sometimes with no royalties at all (see Deep Dive: PA Royalties Civil War Between Landowners & Drillers). If we can oversimplify and summarize this complex issue, landowners maintain that a 1979 PA law guarantees landowners a 12.5% royalty regardless of expenses involved in extracting the gas, and drillers say no, landowners must abide by the contracts they’ve signed and if those contracts allow post-production costs to be deducted before calculating a royalty, the rate may go lower than 12.5%–sometimes to zero and below. PA landowners have, for the past six plus years, lobbied for legislation to clarify and protect a 12.5% minimum royalty. Today we have a guest post from the landowner point-of-view. Thad Stevens is a Gaines, PA resident and real estate developer. Thad has negotiated more than 50 oil and gas leases. He sits on the Dept. of Environmental Protection Citizen Advisory Council and is a director with the National Association of Royalty Owners PA chapter. We consider Thad a friend. He’s smart and he’s passionate about the the ongoing issue that some companies take inflated post-production deductions leaving PA landowners with little or nothing. Thad writes that some of PA’s gas drillers are displaying real arrogance in their attitudes toward the very people they need the most–landowners…
    Read More “Some PA Drillers Threaten to Spoil it for All via Royalty Shenanigans”

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    Penn State to Help Create New Biz Opportunities from Shell Cracker

    The Penn State campus in Erie County (called Penn State Behrend) has been tapped by the PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development (DCED) to be the “lead partner” for developing business and market opportunities for the state related to the mighty $6 billion Shell ethane cracker–currently under construction in Beaver County. Erie County where Behrend is located is certainly not next door to the cracker, not nearly as close as some other Penn State campuses. So why was Behrend selected? In a word, plastics. “The strength of Erie’s plastics industry and the success of Penn State Behrend’s School of Engineering, which offers one of only six accredited U.S. plastics undergraduate programs, makes Erie of particular interest to DCED.” According to DCED’s Denise Brinley, senior energy adviser, “Penn State Behrend can provide critical connections to research support, materials testing and a talent pipeline that will add value to this large-scale petrochemical investment and associated growth in the plastics sector.” Penn State is kicking in a $250,000 grant to their Energy University Partnership for oil and gas strategies, to help prime the pump…
    Read More “Penn State to Help Create New Biz Opportunities from Shell Cracker”

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    New Cabot Drilling Program Kicks Off This Week in Ashland, OH

    As we have reported since last December, Cabot Oil & Gas, long-known for the incredible amount of Marcellus natural gas they produce out of a single northeastern Pennsylvania county (Susquehanna), is eyeing north central Ohio as a potential spot for “what’s next” after the Marcellus (see Cabot O&G Considers Drilling in Ashland County, OH). Cabot locked up leases and is planning to drill a number of test wells in not only Ashland, but also Holmes, Knox, Richland and Wayne counties in the Buckeye State (see New Details Emerge on Cabot’s Shale Plans in Central Ohio). The company doesn’t know exactly what it will find–gas, NGLs or perhaps even oil (see Just What is Cabot Looking for in Ohio – NatGas, Oil or NGLs?). Cabot is about to find out. Beginning tomorrow (Tuesday), Cabot says they will start to push dirt around and build their very first well pad in Ashland County. If all goes according to plan, Cabot will spud (begin to drill) the well itself in about three weeks. Plans for a second well, also located in Ashland County, are already in the works and will come along after the first well is drilled…
    Read More “New Cabot Drilling Program Kicks Off This Week in Ashland, OH”

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    Seneca Resources Wastewater Recycling Plant Largest in PA

    A few years ago Seneca Resources (wholly-owned drilling subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company) purchased a wastewater treatment facility at the McKean County Landfill and began using it to recycle Seneca’s brine (wastewater). The operation was renamed Highland Field Services and now handles all of the “sourcing, handling and recycling of fluids associated with the Seneca’s Appalachian development program.” Because of the facility, last year Seneca was able to recycle 100% of it’s brine/wastewater, and because of that, some 75% of all the fluids Seneca used in their 2017 drilling activities came from the Highland facility. Put another way, Seneca had to acquire and use fresh water sources for only 25% of all the water they needed to drill and frack–far less fresh water was needed in Seneca’s operations last year than in previous years. Not only did the Highland facility handle 100% of Seneca’s wastewater, it also handled wastewater for other drillers too–a total of 7.9 million barrels between Seneca and other drillers, making Highland the largest oil and gas wastewater recycling facility in PA…
    Read More “Seneca Resources Wastewater Recycling Plant Largest in PA”

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    Gulfport 1Q18 Update: Utica Production Up 37%, SCOOP Up 198%

    Yesterday Gulfport Energy released an initial look at the company’s first quarter operations (full copy below). The update does not include financial performance–only operational performance. Gulfport is an “independent” oil and gas driller with significant acreage positions in the Utica Shale of eastern Ohio and the SCOOP Woodford and SCOOP Springer plays in Oklahoma. Gulfport also owns acreage along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Our primary interest is in Gulfport is their Ohio Utica Shale program. In 1Q18, when you role everything together (methane, NGLs and oil) converting it all to natural gas “equivalent,” Gulfport produced 92,772 million cubic feet equivalent (MMcfe), versus producing 67,559 MMcfe in 1Q17–a 37% increase year over year. However, what you can’t ignore in this update is that Gulfport has really turned up the activity in the Oklahoma SCOOP. In 1Q18 Gulfport brought online 3 Utica wells, but 7 SCOOP wells. In 1Q18 Gulfport produced 22,103 MMcfe in the SCOOP, versus producing just 7,398 MMcfe in the SCOOP a year ago in 1Q17–a 198% increase. The conclusion is inescapable: the SCOOP is ascending for Gulfport, occupying the company’s time, attention and money…
    Read More “Gulfport 1Q18 Update: Utica Production Up 37%, SCOOP Up 198%”

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    EQT Sues WV for Passing Minimum Royalty Law re Flat Rate Leases

    Earlier this year the West Virginia legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 360, which Gov. Jim Justice subsequently signed into law (see WV Gov Justice Signs Bill to Guarantee 12.5% Minimum Royalty). SB 360 overturns a ruling by the WV Supreme Court in Leggett v. EQT Production, a case in which the Supremes (in a very unusual move) reversed their own previous decision and allowed EQT to deduct post-production expenses in an old flat rate lease. In essence, SB 360 guarantees rights owners/landowners a 12.5% minimum royalty, regardless of post-production deductions–but only in flat rate leases. A flat rate lease is a lease in which a company pays a regular (in EQT’s case, annual) payment, regardless of how much oil/gas is produced. Traditionally drillers don’t deduct post-production expenses because the payments they make aren’t all that much anyway. But then EQT began to claim deductions, prompting a lawsuit that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The legislature aimed to “fix” what they considered an error in the court’s ruling. EQT claims the new law is unconstitutional and last week filed a lawsuit (copy below) asking a judge to block implementation of the law, set to take effect on May 31…
    Read More “EQT Sues WV for Passing Minimum Royalty Law re Flat Rate Leases”