Energy Companies

Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Marion County | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

Did Antero Pull the Rug Out from Under Fairmont Brine Processing?
August 20, 2015August 20, 2015

MDN brought you the news today that Antero Resources is building its own frack wastewater treatment facility in Doddridge County, WV (see today’s lead story). It’s great news–great for Antero, but not great for some. One company feels betrayed by the announcement–Fairmont Brine Processing. Let’s back up. In December MDN told you the story of Fairmont Brine Processing, once called AOP Clearwater (see New Brine Processing Plant Coming to Panhandle of WV). Fairmont operates a small wastewater processing plant in Marion County, WV and has spent $2 million on engineering work and plans to build a new, larger facility near Wheeling, WV. Fairmont’s #1 customer is Antero Resources. All along Fairmont has been sharing plans and inside information with Antero to be sure the new facility they build meets Antero’s needs. And then Antero seemingly pulled the rug out from under them…
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Inflection Energy | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY | Tioga County (NY)

US Circuit Court: NY Landowners Released from Marcellus Leases
August 20, 2015August 20, 2015

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, located in New York State, released a decision yesterday in a case known as Beardslee v. Inflection Energy, LLC (copy of the decision is embedded below) that may create problems for future shale drilling in New York State–should the existing statewide ban ever be lifted. Yesterday’s decision is good news for landowners in one sense–it officially upholds the right of Tioga County, NY landowners party to the lawsuit to be released from old leases made in pre-Marcellus days when landowners signed leases for $3 per acre. Those leases were signed before the words “Marcellus” or “Utica” meant anything other than municipalities in New York State. (Interesting factoid: both shale plays are named after the NY towns where they were first identified. Further interesting factoid: both Marcellus, NY and Utica, NY banned fracking before the statewide ban was official.) The Second Circuit upheld a previous decision which we first wrote about in 2012 (see Judge Rules Against Chesapeake, Inflection in NY Lease Case), a decision appealed to NY’s highest court that upheld it (see NY High Court Decision Creates Toxic Environment for O&G Companies). The energy companies then appealed the decision to U.S. District Court, where they have now lost. The ultimate issue at the core of this case is whether or not New York’s government action in disallowing fracking of shale wells should be considered a “force majeure” event that extends a lease beyond the initial term. It is the one issue the none of the courts ever directly answered, including the Second Circuit…
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Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Warren Resources | Wyoming County (PA)

Warren Resources Releases Details on 2 “Upper” Marcellus Wells
August 20, 2015August 20, 2015

Warren Resources is an independent exploration and production company (E&P, or what we call a driller) with an active drilling program for oil in California, undrilled acreage in the state of Wyoming, and a small but growing operation in the Marcellus Shale. Warren owns 6,982 gross (5,289 net) contiguous acres in Wyoming County, PA, the northeastern part of the state. As of July 2014 Warren had drilled 30 Marcellus Shale wells (some of those drilled by a joint venture partner) in what they call the Lower Marcellus layer. Earlier this year the company drilled two new Marcellus wells in the Upper Marcellus layer. On Tuesday, Warren released initial production results for their first two Upper Marcellus Shale wells…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lawrence County | Mahoning County | Ohio | Pennsylvania

Tiny Protest (in PA) Claims to be Part of “Hands Across Our Land”
August 20, 2015August 20, 2015

Yesterday we told you about the “nationwide” protest that was a bust–held in three locations in Virginia and one in West Virginia by less than a cumulative 100 people (see Anti-Pipeline “Hands Across Our Land” Protest in VA & WV a Bust). The protest was supposedly against two natural gas pipelines planned to run from West Virginia through Virginia and for one of the pipelines, into North Carolina. We spotted one more protest that claims to have been part of the Hands Across Our Land “movement”–a protest at a well pad site in Pennsylvania. Of course the PA gathering had nothing to do with being against pipelines, the supposed reason for the protest in the first place. This particular group of protesters slipped across the border from Ohio (an anti-drilling group called Frackfree Mahoning Valley) to show their “solidarity” with a family who didn’t want a drill pad operating near their property. Once again it illustrates that whether they claim to be “against” fracking/drilling, or “against” a pipeline–it’s really neither. These protesters are “against” fossil fuels, period. That’s what motivates them–an irrational hatred of fossil fuels…
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American Energy Partners | Ascent Resources | Energy Companies

Has Aubrey McClendon Finally Hung Himself with High Debt?
August 19, 2015August 19, 2015

An article on Bloomberg takes aim at famed wildcatter Aubrey McClendon, calling his move into the Marcellus Shale a “misadventure” that has left investors holding an empty bag. According to the article (excerpts below), McClendon’s strategy after leaving Chesapeake Energy was to get a bunch of money from investors (load up on debt) and then work off the debt over time as production ramps up. Problem is, the price of natural gas and oil collapsed after he loaded up on debt, and consequently there’s been very little production, and the money that comes from production is tiny. The debt hangs around Aubrey’s neck like a millstone. The question now is, has Aubrey finally hung himself with high debt? Can Ascent Resources–the one-time American Energy Partners subsidiary that broke away–survive the mountain of debt it carries long enough for prices to turn around?…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia | West Virginia

Anti-Pipeline “Hands Across Our Land” Protest in VA & WV a Bust
August 19, 2015August 19, 2015

Hands Across Our Land, a minuscule gathering in three locations in Virginia and one location in West Virginia organized by the far left Sierra Club and the extremists of 350.org, held “protests” so small yesterday that if it weren’t for local media looking for any story to report during the summer doldrums, nobody would have noticed there even was a protest. Casual observers would have thought, “Oh, there’s a small group, perhaps a (nutty looking) family out for a stroll.” The “protesters” were there to object to two necessary, innocuous, safe natural gas pipelines from being buried in the ground–Dominion’s 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline which is due to run from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina; and EQT/NextEra US Gas Assets’ 330-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline from West Virginia into southern Virginia. As is typically the case, most of the protesters were in their 50s and 60s, former hippies who have found a new cause (anti-fossil fuels) to rejuvinate their otherwise meaningless lives…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

GreenHunter Changes Strategy with USCG re Wastewater Barging
August 17, 2015August 17, 2015

GreenHunter Resources, the fresh water and wastewater subsidiary of driller Magnum Hunter Resources, has changed strategies and has backed off their tough talk in dealing with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) with respect to barging brine down the Ohio River. You may recall MDN was the first to decipher just what was going on between GreenHunter and the USCG with respect to GreenHunter’s intention on barging (see GreenHunter/Coast Guard War of Words — MDN Explains It). The USCG is being manipulated by the Obama administration into blocking a request for GreenHunter to begin barging of wastewater (brine, actually). GreenHunter informed the USCG they have the legal right to do it under an existing 1987 rule that allows for it. The USCG has said not so fast, brine from shale wells may contain more radioactivity than brine from conventionally drilled oil and gas wells. In so many words, GreenHunter told the USCG they would move forward, daring the USCG to stop them (see GreenHunter to Coast Guard, We’re Barging While You Fiddle Around). As recently as May, GreenHunter claimed barging would begin soon (see GreenHunter Says OH River Wastewater Barging to Begin September). However, in an analyst conference call on Friday reviewing second quarter 2015 results, both parent company CEO Gary Evans and GreenHunter COO Kirk Trosclair changed their tune. Now GreenHunter is talking with the USCG again and attempting to convince them to let barging operations begin. You can hear the frustration both in GreenHunter’s comments, and in the comments by investors probing them on the topic…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources

GreenHunter Resources 2Q15: Revenue Down, But Bleeding Less Too
August 17, 2015August 17, 2015

GreenHunter Resources, the fresh water and wastewater subsidiary of driller Magnum Hunter Resources (now focused totally on the Marcellus/Utica), issued its second quarter 2015 update on Friday. The company is a small company compared to others in the oil and gas space with revenues in the few million per quarter. In 2Q15 GreenHunter’s revenues were $4.6 million, down 33% from $6.9 million in 2Q14. No surprise there since drillers are scaling back their activities. GreenHunter has trimmed its operating loss number–from $3 million in 2Q14 to $1.6 million in 2Q15–so the bleeding is slowing, a good sign. The 2Q15 update below brings us up to speed on a number of interesting initiatives at GreenHunter, including their new wastewater injection wells in Meigs County, OH. However, the interesting thing MDN picked up on was in the unscripted comments during GreenHunter’s earnings call held on Friday with analysts. That’s so important we’re dedicating a separate post to it today. Here is the 2Q15 update from GreenHunter…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Elk County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Seneca Resources | Wastewater

It Speaks! An “Ecosystem” has Filed to Join a Lawsuit in PA
August 14, 2015August 14, 2015

Better be careful, the water table running under your property may decide to sue you for sinking a water well into it and withdrawing water for drinking, showers, etc. What…Absurd? Funny? Foolish? We’re not kidding. It seems that water tables and rock and dirt are now considered “ecosystems” and, if a lawsuit is allowed to stand in a Pennsylvania court, such an “ecosystem” has the right, under law, to sue. A motion has been filed by the radical leftist PA-based group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) on behalf of an ecosystem to intervene in a federal lawsuit to defend its own “right” to exist and flourish. Background: In 2013 the CELDF convinced enough ignoramuses in Highland Township in Elk County, PA to pass a so-called Community Bill of Rights. Essentially it’s a way to prevent wastewater injection wells from being drilled in the township. Seneca Resources filed a lawsuit to overturn the illegal law. Highland Twp taxpayers are now defending their illegal action with $upport from the deep pockets of Big Green groups (i.e. the CELDF). In an attempt to bully Seneca into backing down from the lawsuit, the CELDF claims to speak for the ecosystem and has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the ecosystem. It’s utter bull crap of the highest order–but a dangerous precedent if allowed. We can see your dog suing you, the trees that ring your property suing you, wrongful death lawsuits for killing a snake…you get the idea. An ecosystem filing a lawsuit would be funny, if it weren’t such a tragically vicious attack against the fabric of this country and the HUMANS that live in it (the only living things with “rights” under our Constitutional form of law)…
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Energy Companies | EXCO Resources

Moody’s Downgrades EXCO Resources Credit Profile to the Basement
August 14, 2015August 14, 2015

We don’t mean to be piling on EXCO Resources–honest. We just report what we notice. We’ve been reporting for some time that EXCO appears to be in financial trouble (see our EXCO stories here). Just yesterday we brought you information about EXCO’s #1 stockholder, Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. (see EXCO Resources #1 Stockholder and his “Distressing” Investment). Today we noticed an investment bulletin issued by Moody’s Investors Services, one of the top two or three such credit ratings agencies that evaluate the credit worthiness of companies, governments, even countries. Moody’s issued a notice yesterday about EXCO–essentially downgrading the company’s credit risk to one of Moody’s lowest ratings categories–Caa1 and Caa3…
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Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Pipelines | Utica Shale

MarkWest to Build $1B OH Utica Dry Gas Gathering System for Ascent
August 13, 2015August 13, 2015

Although it seems there is no end of bad news in drilling company financials right now, here’s a spot of good news: MarkWest Energy, the premier midstream/pipeline company in the Marcellus/Utica (selling itself to Marathon Petroleum), has just announced they are investing $1 billion over the next three years to install a new gathering pipeline system in eastern Ohio–particularly in Belmont and Jefferson counties–mostly for Ascent Resources. Ascent, backed by major investor EMG, was once Aubrey McClendon’s subsidiary company called American Energy Appalachia Holdings that has since broken free of McClendon and American Energy Partners and is now its own 100% standalone company. The MarkWest/Ascent deal is to build a 250-mile pipeline system in the Utica dry gas region that will gather more than 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas not only from Ascent, but also from other producers in the area. Here’s the details from MarkWest…
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Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies

Eclipse Resources 2Q15: Revenue Up, Bleeding Less than Last Year
August 13, 2015August 13, 2015

Eclipse Resources, a smaller but important Utica/Marcellus driller based in State College, PA (but mostly drilling in eastern Ohio) released an operational but not financial update at the end of July (see Eclipse Resources Releases Operations but not Financial Update). We noted at the time that typically the operations update is the “good news” and the financial update would likely be the “bad news.” Eclipse released their financial update yesterday and hey, contrary to other companies, the news is pretty good. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Yes, they lost money in second quarter 2015–$42.0 million. But the net loss was much less than 2Q14 when it was $112.6 million. The good news? Revenue was up 181% to $73.4 million (amidst a price collapse over the past year), net production was up 374% to 198.6 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d), and Eclipse increased their estimates of production for 2015 by another 5% over last year…
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Energy Companies | EXCO Resources

EXCO Resources #1 Stockholder and his “Distressing” Investment
August 13, 2015August 13, 2015

EXCO Resources, a sizable independent driller with operations in several shale plays including the Marcellus Shale, is a company in trouble. The price of EXCO’s stock has dropped 96% during the last 5 years, 71% since the beginning of this year, and 86% during the last 12 months. EXCO appeared on David Fessler’s “Death List” of oil and gas companies earlier this year (see 19 Oil/Gas Companies on “Death List” – 8 are in Marcellus/Utica). In April, EXCO experienced a major shake-up and saw the installation of new leadership managing the company and new members on the board of directors (see Bluescape Pulls Strings Installs New CEO, COO at EXCO Resources). The numbers for second quarter weren’t so hot (see EXCO 2Q15: Marcellus Production Down 23%; Net Income Down 1,991%), and the New York Stock Exchange has put the company on notice their stock is about to be de-listed (see More Trouble for EXCO Resources – NYSE Threatens to De-List Stock). We ran across an interesting reference to who owns the most stock in EXCO. Turns out the #1 stockholder is Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., founder of private equity firm WL Ross & Co.–someone known for investing in “distressed” companies. How much EXCO stock does Ross own and how much value has that stock lost for Ross?…
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Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lawrence County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines

Hilcorp Enclosing PA Compressor Station to Please the Neighbors
August 13, 2015August 13, 2015

Hilcorp Energy is doing the right thing in Lawrence County, PA. Back in June, MDN told you the story of residents living near a compressor station owned by Hilcorp in Mahoning Township, Lawrence County (see Tackling a Tough Issue: Compressor Stations Near Populated Areas). Residents living near the compressor station said the noise level is intolerable. It took a few months, but Hilcorp has agreed to build a new structure around the compressor station lined with special noise-deadening blankets that should take care of the problem. Kudos to Hilcorp for doing the right thing for the neighbors on Baird Road…
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American Energy Partners | Ascent Resources | EMG | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation

Ascent Resources/EMG Sues Aubrey McClendon’s Law Firm for Fraud
August 12, 2015August 12, 2015

Everybody’s suing everybody. That about sums up the mess created (sadly) by none other than Aubrey McClendon. The subsidiary businesses that were once part of McClendon’s new company, American Energy Partners (AEP), continue to run away from Aubrey as fast as they can. On Monday, Ascent Resources, once called American Energy Appalachia Holdings but separated from the AEP mothership in June (see Big McClendon News: Sells 35K Utica Acres, Creates New Company), sued the law firm representing Aubrey in the “stolen data” case brought by Chesapeake Energy. Yes it’s complicated and it’s a mess. We’ll attempt to sort this all out so it’s understandable…
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Commodity Price | Energy Companies | EV Energy Partners | Industrywide Issues

EVEP’s John Walker: NatGas Demand & Prices Heading Higher in 2016
August 12, 2015August 12, 2015

EV Energy Partners (EVEP) is a master limited partnership, or MLP, which distributes profits to “unit holders” instead of plowing profits into more projects. They like to invest in mature, already drilled wells and pipeline companies–things that act like an annuity throwing off profit with very little risk. Over the years EVEP amassed a huge amount of acreage in Ohio–before the Utica was known–mostly for conventional (vertical only) wells. That acreage is held by production and can also be drilled for unconventional/Utica Shale wells. Since 2009 EVEP has been trying to sell some/most of their Utica acreage. Seems like every year we hear “this is the year” from EVEP. Will 2015 be that year? Possibly. EVEP Chairman John Walker, in wide-ranging remarks during a quarterly earnings analyst conference call on Monday hints that new deals are coming, both third party and “drop down” deals where they sell things to themselves on paper. Most interesting to MDN were Walker’s remarks that he believes demand for natural gas will begin to really take off in 2016, and along with it, prices will go higher (more demand than supply)…
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