Energy Companies

Energy Companies | Warren Resources

New Entrant in the Marcellus: Warren Resources Drilling 2 Wells in 2015
February 6, 2015February 6, 2015

So far as we can tell, Warren Resources, a small driller headquartered in New York City, hasn’t drilled a thing in the Marcellus or Utica Shale (for background, see CEO of Warren Resources Quits, Replaced by Citrus Energy CEO). According to Warren’s recently released 2015 capex budget and guidance announcement, that will change in 2015. Warren plans to drill two Marcellus Shale wells at a cost of $13 million. In fact, one well is already drilled and will be completed in March…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Fire at Range Resources Well Pad in Washington County, PA
February 5, 2015February 5, 2015

Photo Credit: NewsChopper 2/KDKA

A “large fire” broke out at a Range Resources well pad in Washington County, PA last night. Fortunately no one was injured. The fire was caused by “equipment failure” according to Range. The fire did not at any time involve the well itself. It was a fire in the machinery on the well pad. The details as we know them…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

Breaking: Coast Guard Says They Did NOT Grant Barge Permission to GreenHunter
February 5, 2015February 5, 2015

Was GreenHunter fibbing when they claimed the U.S. Coast Guard has given them permission to barge produced water down the Ohio River? MDN brought you the news yesterday that parent company MagnumHunter CEO Gary Evans and GreenHunter COO Kirk Trosclair said they have received approval from the U.S. Coast Guard to ship produced water via barge down the Ohio River (see US Coast Guard Approves Brine Shipping via Barge on Ohio River). You can listen to them say it themselves on this analyst phone call. However, according to an article in today’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Coast Guard is saying that’s not true–they have NOT yet given a final go-ahead to GreenHunter…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | Regulation | Wastewater | West Virginia

GreenHunter Faces Challenge to Get Wheeling Barge Facility OK’d
February 5, 2015February 5, 2015

Yesterday MDN shared the big news that GreenHunter Resources has now received permission from the U.S. Coast Guard to haul produced water via barge down the Ohio River (see US Coast Guard Approves Brine Shipping via Barge on Ohio River). Today that assertion is in question (see our related story on the Coast Guard’s response). Aside from the question of whether the Coast Guard did or did not grant permission for barging of produced water, GreenHunter has another problem–getting permission to load the water onto barges in the first place at their facility in Wheeling, WV…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Southwestern Energy | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gov Tomblin Signs “We Love You Southwestern” Bill into Law
February 5, 2015February 5, 2015

Last week MDN told you about the hurry-up-and-pass-it Senate Bill (SB) 280 in the West Virginia legislature. Southwestern Energy has just paid over $5 billion to acquire a bunch of land and drilling operations from Chesapeake Energy, most of it in WV (see Chesapeake Sells Close to 25% of Marcellus/Utica Operation). A new drilling law passed a few years ago stipulates if leases/operations change hands, the new owner must apply for permits to drill all over again, even if the previous owner had already been awarded those permits. The law threatened to shut down a number of drilling operations for new owner Southwestern. So the legislature passed a law “fixing” that problem–in record time. They then hustled it over to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s desk where, as we predicted, he was waiting with bells on to sign it…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Meigs County | Ohio | Regulation | Ritchie County | Wastewater | West Virginia

US Coast Guard Approves Brine Shipping via Barge on Ohio River
February 4, 2015February 4, 2015

Some big news coming from GreenHunter Resources, the wastewater disposal arm of MagnumHunter Resources. As MDN has chronicled for the past several years, MagnumHunter has been trying to secure a permit from the U.S. Coast Guard to transport frack wastewater via barges down the Ohio River. The Coast Guard floated a preliminary plan to allow it all the way back in November 2013 (see More on Coast Guard Plan to Allow Barging of Frack Wastewater). However, until now, they have withheld permission due to meddling by The White House and other federal agencies. According to a conference call last week, MagnumHunter/GreenHunter officials said the Coast Guard “quietly” granted permission in December to allow them to begin barge shipments down the Ohio River. The permission apparently applies only to brine, or “produced water” and not flowback for frack wastewater…
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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

CONSOL Proved Reserves Jump 19%, Completed 53 Wells in 2014
February 4, 2015February 4, 2015

Yesterday CONSOL Energy, the coal company that’s rapidly converting into a gas drilling company, issued an update to say that their proved gas reserves jumped 19% in 2014 over the same estimates in 2013. CONSOL says they now can reasonably expect to extract 6.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, of which 89% is in the Marcellus Shale. CONSOL produced 236 billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas in 2014. They drilled and completed 53 new wells in 2014…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

PennFuture Does Happy Dance for Stopping Range Wells in SWPA
February 4, 2015February 4, 2015

The anti-drilling organization PennFuture–once the employer of newly nominated Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Quigley, and the organization whose president was, until recently, Cindy Dunn, now nominated as Secretary of the PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources–is once again celebrating that shale drilling won’t happen. PennFuture has just pushed out a press release to claim credit for stopping Range Resources from drilling at a site in Washington County because the well pad would be a mile away from a school. They’re such heroes, such champs of the environment. What a positive organization serving the great good in PA (not!)…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia

WV to VA Mountain Valley Pipeline Changing Routes?
February 4, 2015February 4, 2015

Last October the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 330-mile project that will run from Wetzel County, WV to Pittsylvania County, VA, completed a successful open season to sign up potential customers (see EQT’s WV to VA Pipeline Open Season a Success, FERC Filing in Oct). However, the map we included in the October article is changing. The current path will take it through Giles, Montgomery, Roanoke and Franklin counties before ending at the Transco pipeline in Pittsylvania County. Word is out that the pipeline has been looking in Craig County, VA, which borders Giles, as an alternative path…
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Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

WPX Finalizes Sale of NEPA Marcellus Leases/Wells to Southwestern
February 3, 2015February 3, 2015

WPX Energy announced yesterday they have completed the sale and transfer of some 46,700 acres of leases and 63 operational Marcellus Shale wells in northeastern Pennsylvania to Southwestern Energy. MDN first told you about the $300 million deal in early December (for details and a map, see: First Shoe Drops: WPX Sells 1/2 Marcellus Assets to Southwestern). As we said at the time, that was the first shoe. We’re still waiting for the other shoe. WPX owns acreage and/or wells in Centre, Clearfield and Westmoreland counties, in southwestern PA. According to WPX spokesperson Susan Oliver-Stough, the company is actively shopping those assets too. When sold, WPX’s presence in northeast shale drilling will be done…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EV Energy Partners | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica East Ohio Midstream | Utica Shale

EVEP Wants to Sell Interest in Utica East Ohio/More Utica Acreage
February 3, 2015February 3, 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. However, some of that property is in prime Utica territory–so EVEP has been looking, since 2009, to sell it. They reiterated that in November (see EVEP Selling More Ohio Utica Acreage in 2015). There’s another fleeting reference to selling more Utica leases in EVEP’s fourth quarter 2014/guidance for 2015 press release issued yesterday. The “new news” (for us) in yesterday’s announcement is that EVEP plans to sell their 21% interest in Utica East Ohio–a midstream/pipeline company operating in Ohio…
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Bedford County | Blair County | Cambria County | Chevron | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

Chevron Selling 17K Marcellus Shale Acres, More Sales Coming
February 2, 2015February 2, 2015

Chevron, according to NGI’s Shale Plays Factbook, is the fourth largest acreage holder in the Marcellus Shale with some 700,000 acres. It appears Chevron is looking to sell off at least some of that acreage. MDN received an email notice (below) from EnergyNet, hired to broker a sale for two of what they say will be an eventual 12 tracks of Marcellus acreage that Chevron owns. The current two are located in Bedford, Blair and Cambria counties in Pennsylvania and represent just over 17,000 acres total. EnergyNet is accepting sealed bids on various tracks, some held by production, some not…
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Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration

Gastar Finishing 5 Wells, Then Idling Rigs in Marcellus/Utica
February 2, 2015February 2, 2015

Gastar Exploration released an update today to crow about an 87% increase in their proved reserves, and to whisper that they’ve further reduced their 2015 drilling budget–all the way down to $103 million. The news, for the Marcellus, gets worse. Of that $103, they’ll spend a measly $20 million in the Marcellus–$12 million to complete five wells and another $8 million on “acreage costs.” In other words, for all intents and purposes, Gastar has stopped drilling in the Marcellus and the Utica “until economic conditions are more favorable.” Gastar is keeping three drilling rigs active in their midcontinent drilling program–for the time being…
Read More “Gastar Finishing 5 Wells, Then Idling Rigs in Marcellus/Utica”
Energy Companies | Seneca Resources

Seneca Resources Hits 1/2 Bcf/d Production in Previous Quarter
February 2, 2015February 2, 2015

Last week National Fuel Gas Company, parent of Marcellus Shale driller Seneca Resources, reported its quarterly update for the quarter ending Dec 31, 2014. Everyone else calls it fourth quarter 2014, but for National Fuel Gas, it’s their first quarter 2015. What does the latest report show? During the quarter Seneca produced 48.2 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe), an increase of 11.1 Bcfe or 30% over the prior year’s first quarter. Seneca has hit the half billion cubic foot per day club: average daily production during the quarter was 524 million cubic feet equivalent (MMcfe) per day…
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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies

CONSOL Energy 2015: E&P Budget Cut 33%, Utica Expands
January 30, 2015January 30, 2015

CONSOL Energy released its fourth quarter 2014 and plans for 2015 today. Overall CONSOL’s revenues were way down for 4Q14 over 4Q13–down 90%. But that was due to a number of coal operations they discontinued in 2014. The gas drilling division had another outstanding quarter–pumping 70.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas for the quarter, up 45% year over year. For 2015 CONSOL plans to spend $1 billion on their Marcellus drilling budget (down from $1.5 billion in 2014). Marcellus Shale costs for CONSOL were $2.83 per million cubic feet equivalent (Mcfe) in 4Q14, a $0.18 per Mcfe improvement from 4Q13 which saw costs of $3.01 per Mcfe. The company achieved “all-in cash costs” of only $1.71 per Mcfe in the Marcellus Shale. And no, we’re not sure what the difference is between costs and “all-in cash costs.” Perhaps one of our smart readers can enlighten us in the comments? The trend is obviously good–it’s costing them less and less to produce more and more gas. CONSOL says in their update that the Utica Shale continues to grow in importance for the company…
Read More “CONSOL Energy 2015: E&P Budget Cut 33%, Utica Expands”
Energy Companies | Ohio | PDC Energy | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

PDC Energy’s Interesting 2014 – “Dynamite” in the Utica
January 30, 2015January 30, 2015

PDC Energy had an interesting 2014 in the Marcellus/Utica. During the year they sold off their 131,000-acre Marcellus Shale operation to Mountaineer Keystone for $500 million (see Major New Player in the Marcellus Emerges: Mountaineer Keystone). They entered the year intending to drill 18 Utica Shale wells (they came close). Along the way they had an accident and spilled drilling mud into a creek (see PDC Accident: Drilling Mud Spills into Creek in Morgan County, OH). During the year they fired (?) reassigned (?) their CEO back to the board and promoted the COO to be CEO (see Changing Chairs at PDC Energy: New President/CEO). And at the end of last year, the company announced they will push the pause button on new Utica drilling in 2015 (see PDC Energy Pushes Pause Button on OH Utica Drilling for 2015). Yesterday PDC provided a high level overview of 2014 (none of the above items mentioned) which includes a few brief statements about the Utica and Marcellus. One of the items their most excited about? A 4-well Utica pad called (we kid you not), “Dynamite”…
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