Energy Companies

Energy Companies | EXCO Resources

Future of the Marcellus for EXCO Resources: Sell or Hold?
November 5, 2014November 5, 2014

Energy analyst Richard Zeits, writing on the Seeking Alpha website, does a deep dive into exploration & production company EXCO Resources. Zeits is a master and, as usual, digs up some great insights. EXCO operates in East Texas/North Louisiana (the Haynesville Shale), South Texas (the Eagle Ford Shale), and in the Marcellus/Utica in the northeast. In fact, EXCO holds some 161,000 acres of leases in the Marcellus–a sizable chunk. What are they doing to monetize their Marcellus acreage? Zeits tells us the possibilities…
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Energy Companies | Talisman Energy

Talisman Energy CEO Looking to Sell Marcellus Midstream Assets
November 5, 2014November 5, 2014

MDN has been following, with interest, the story of Canadian company Talisman Energy–a major exploration & production company in the Marcellus Shale. As we’ve previously reported, corporate raider Carl Icahn has been pressuring the company (like he did with Chesapeake) to make changes. One prospect on the horizon was Spanish energy giant Repsol, interested in purchasing some or all of Talisman. That deal seems to have gone cold (see Talks for Repsol to Buy Some/All of Talisman Energy are “Frozen”). However, recent comments from Talisman CEO Hal Kvisle made yesterday indicate some deal-making is still going on behind the curtain–deal making that concerns the Marcellus Shale…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources

GreenHunter 3Q14: More Red Ink; Wastewater Volumes Go Up
November 5, 2014November 5, 2014

GreenHunter Resources, the midstream (pipelines & disposal wells) division of Magnum Hunter Resources, issued their third quarter update yesterday. The company continues to bleed money: They’ve lost $6.1 million year-to-date during the first 9 months of this year (vs losing $1.8 million during the same period last year). However, amidst the bad news there was some good news: four new Class II saltwater injection wells in Meigs County, OH are almost ready to go online, and total wastewater disposal volumes are up 41% over this time last year. Now if they can only stop the bleeding on the profit side of the ledger…
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Energy Companies | Stone Energy

Stone Energy 3Q14: 35 Marcellus Wells in 2014; 1st Utica Test Well
November 5, 2014November 5, 2014

Stone Energy released their third quarter update on Monday. Stone is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Lafayette, LA with additional offices in New Orleans, Houston and Morgantown, WV. Stone is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of properties in the Deep Water Gulf of Mexico, Appalachia (Marcellus & Utica), and the onshore and offshore Gulf Coast. So the northeast is far from the only focus for Stone. We’ve culled through yesterday’s update and have pulled out those references to the Marcellus/Utica. We found that Stone expects to drill “over” 35 wells this year in the Marcellus–and they’ve just drilled their first Utica Shale test well (which will be completed during the fourth quarter of this year)…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | XTO

Minor Setback for XTO in PA AG’s Criminal Case for 2010 Spill
November 4, 2014November 4, 2014

Arriving with the promise to hassle the Marcellus drilling industry when she took office in January 2013, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane kept her promise. After assuming office, she promptly looked for old cases she could reopen in order to make a name for herself. She found one in a two year-old case of an accidental spill of frack wastewater by XTO Energy (part of ExxonMobil). She proceeded to abuse the power of her office by bringing criminal charges against XTO for that two year-old (now four year-old) case (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). There is a new development in the case. XTO requested the case be dismissed because it was previously investigated “jointly” by both state and federal investigators. The judge presiding over the case has found that there was no “jointly” in the investigation and eventual settlement…
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Beaver County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

MDN’s “Juvenile” Needling of Shell over Slow Cracker Pace
November 4, 2014November 4, 2014

An MDN reader wrote editor Jim Willis yesterday to take issue with our observation that “it’s about time” Shell did something to advance their ethane cracker project in Beaver County, PA (see Shell to Hold Info Session on Monaca Ethane Cracker Next Week). In a not-so-subtle way, the reader essentially told us to get our heads out of our…frac sand…and take note that Shell has been very active over the past year or so with advancing their project, contrary to our “juvenile” remarks suggesting otherwise. In particular, the old Horsehead Holding Corp. zinc smelter at the site was shut down this past May. The buildings were knocked down and are now almost completely removed from the site. Our not-so-subtle source also pointed us to Jeff Burd’s excellent blog site called Building Pittsburgh. Jeff refers to Shell and their cracker project as being like a duck…
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Chevron | Commodity Price | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnLink Midstream | Industrywide Issues

EnLink Takes Ownership of Henry Hub from Chevron
November 4, 2014November 4, 2014

Technically this is not a Marcellus or Utica story–but it does has implications for the Marcellus/Utica region. If you’re around the natural gas marketplace in the United States for any amount of time, you will soon run into this strange-sounding price point called “the Henry Hub.” The HH is a market point where natural gas is bought and sold in southern Louisiana. Once upon a time, because of the pipelines running through the Gulf Coast (many of them from off-shore), some 20% of all natural gas flowed through the HH, making it the “benchmark” or best average price for natural gas–used for futures contracts and by NYMEX in commodity trading. All natural gas prices quoted at other sales locations use the HH as its benchmark or “basis” and compare themselves with the HH price. It’s been that way for two decades. The new news is that EnLink Midstream (the former Crosstex Energy and Devon Energy midstream units merged together) has just taken ownership of the pipeline system that includes the HH…
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Chautauqua County | Economic Impact | EmKey Gathering | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Pipelines | Taxation

Cuomo Dithers and Towns Like Gerry, NY Pay the Bill
November 3, 2014November 3, 2014

Not only has NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s dithering and refusal to make a decision on whether or not to allow horizontal hydraulic fracturing in the state materially harmed tens of thousands of landowners and farmers in the state (not to mention all of those who would have had high-paying jobs in the industry), it’s also harmed taxpayers in places like Gerry (Chautauqua County), NY. Because Cuomo dithered and Norse Energy went bankrupt, a division of Norse, Norse Pipeline, also went bankrupt because the gas wasn’t available to run through their pipeline in places like Gerry. That pipeline was sold to Emkey and a court has just re-adjusted the assessment of that pipeline’s value–from $2,616,444 to $320,439, causing Gerry to lose $2,305,368 of its tax base. Not only that…
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Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell to Hold Info Session on Monaca Ethane Cracker Next Week
November 3, 2014November 3, 2014

All’s we can say is, It’s about time! Shell will hold a pair of public meetings next Thursday, Nov. 13, at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center in Midland (Beaver County) PA to discuss their plans for an ethane cracker plant in Monaca with area residents. Yes, no doubt the crazies from outside of the area will show up to gripe and complain, as always happens. No big deal. As of next week it be exactly one year ago that Odebrecht announced their “world scale” ethane cracker for Parkersburg, WV (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). Seems to us that since that time all of the momentum to actually build a cracker plant has been with Odebrecht/WV and that Shell’s PA effort seems to have lost steam. Perhaps Shell is finally stepping up their game once again and getting serious about building a plant, originally announced all the way back in March 2012 (see Shell Announces Location of Ethane Cracker Plant)…
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Alpha Natural Resources | Energy Companies

Alpha Natural Resources Back in the Marcellus
October 31, 2014October 31, 2014

Last December MDN reported that Alpha Natural Resources, a Virginia-based company and one of the country’s largest coal producers, had sold its Alpha Shale division with active Marcellus drilling in Greene County, PA to Rice Energy for $300 million (see Alpha Natural Resources Sells 50% Marcellus Stake to Rice Energy). We thought that was probably it for Alpha with respect to northeast shale drilling. But hold on, not so fast. What we weren’t aware of is that Alpha has a new joint venture with EDF Trading Resources and Alpha is drilling two wells this year in the Marcellus, with plans to drill another four next year…
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Accidents | American Energy Partners | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Ohio

AEP Well “Malfunction” Leads to Evacuation of ~400 Homes in SE OH
October 30, 2014October 30, 2014

A mechanical malfunction at a producing American Energy Partners Utica Shale well in Jefferson County, OH caused the evacuation of about 400 area homes from Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, according to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). The well, near the Mingo Sportsmen’s Club, was successfully shut down by Boots & Coots International Well Control Inc. Although area residents interviewed said they didn’t feel in danger, it’s still disconcerting (and a hardship) when something like this happens. Here’s an ear-witness account…
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Energy Companies | Range Resources Corp

Range Resources 3Q14: Production Hits 1.2 Bcf/d, Big Credit Line
October 30, 2014October 30, 2014

Range Resources released their third quarter 2014 operational and financial update yesterday. The report shows the company is now producing 1.2 billion cubic feet per day, on average, of natural gas equivalents–up 26% from the same time last year. The company says they continue to realize “outstanding” well results in the Marcellus Shale, which is their main focus. Range also has a new bank line of credit agreement in place that allows them to borrow up to a massive $4 billion…
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Energy Companies | Hess | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Hess 3Q14: Says Almost Nothing About Utica Operations
October 30, 2014October 30, 2014

Not long ago Hess sold off its retail (gas stations) and transportation operations, completing its transformation into an E&P-only company (see Marathon Petroleum Buys the Hess Truck! What Will We Do for Xmas?). One of the operational areas for Hess is the Utica Shale in Ohio. In May of this year, the company said it was in the process of drilling 35 Utica wells this year (see Hess Likes Early OH Utica Results, Drilling 35 Utica Wells in ’14). However, when we look at the latest quarterly update from the company, published yesterday, we find the following very brief references to the Utica…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot O&G 3Q14: A Wandering Eye + Welcome to the 2 Bcf/d Club!
October 29, 2014October 29, 2014

Last week Cabot Oil & Gas issued its third quarter update. The official announcement was long on the financials and very short on details for their ongoing Marcellus Shale program in Susquehanna County, PA. We’ve lifted the relevant (short) section below. However, the company also held the ubiquitous analyst phone call and in that phone call (transcript below), we get a lot more detail about Cabot’s Marcellus program. One gem: the company is now producing 1.8 to 2.0 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas in the Marcellus. Cabot will be the first company to be officially inducted into the record-breaking 2 Bcf/d Club! Although the company plans to drill 180-190 new wells in 2015, only about half of those wells will be in the Marcellus. Alas, another shale play is now turning the head of Cabot…
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Bradford County | Energy Companies | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Susquehanna County

Southwestern 3Q14: 2 Wells Near NY Border are “Promising”
October 29, 2014October 29, 2014

Southwestern Energy released their third quarter financial and operational update late last week. Picking through the release we find that their Marcellus gas production is up 47% from a year ago this time. At the end of September, the company had 234 operating Marcellus wells in production, and another 102 wells in various stages of being drilled. The vast majority of Southwestern’s wells are in Susquehanna and Bradford counties (PA), with a fair number also in Lycoming County, PA. Southwestern says they continue to test “the Upper Marcellus” and have drilled three such wells to date. Perhaps the biggest news (for New Yorkers) is this statement: “Two wells have also been drilled near the New York border in Susquehanna County. Early results are positive and work has begun to build a gathering system for future development in this area.” You can’t tell us there isn’t a boatload of gas sitting right across the border in the Empire State–if only the man-child Andrew Cuomo would make up his mind to allow drilling…
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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies

CONSOL Energy 3Q14: Splitting the Company in Two, 1 Bcf/d Club
October 29, 2014October 29, 2014

CONSOL Energy continues its transformation from coal company to oil and gas company. In fact, it’s nearly complete. On a conference call yesterday discussing the company’s stellar performance in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, CONSOL officials hinted that they will soon split the company, putting the coal operation into its own master limited partnership (MLP). Meanwhile, also on the same call, CONSOL CEO Nick Deluliis said any day now the company’s production volume will blow on by the 1 billion cubic feet per day mark. Welcome to the 1 Bcf/d club!…
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