Energy Companies

Axiall | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Gastar Exploration | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Marshall County | West Virginia

Gastar Fracking Near WV Chemical Plant Halted Pending Court Review
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

Chemical manufacturer Axiall, with a plant in Natrium (Marshall County), WV, has successfully stopped Gastar from fracking several drilled shale wells located near the chemical plant. Why? They’re afraid that the fracking process will allow gas to travel underground and affect their previously drilled brine wells in the area. That exact scenario, according to Axiall, played out last year when Triad Hunter fracked wells nearby. The fracking, according to Axiall, led to a blowout at one of their brine wells and the well began emitting natural gas–an explosion hazard. A judge agreed with Axiall and put a stop to any fracking by Gastar pending a full hearing before the court…
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Energy Companies | Hess | Utica Shale

Hess Talks Utica at Investor Day – Predicts 40,000 Boe/d by 2020
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

Earlier this week Hess hosted an analyst/investor day to discuss the company’s plans and strategies now that it has shed its retail and transportation operations (Hess doesn’t own those green Hess gas stations any more, see Marathon Petroleum Buys the Hess Truck! What Will We Do for Xmas?). Two weeks ago we noted with interest that Hess said almost nothing about the Utica in its third quarter update (see Hess 3Q14: Says Almost Nothing About Utica Operations). That changed earlier this week. During the analyst/investor soirée, Hess had quite a bit to say about the Utica…
Read More “Hess Talks Utica at Investor Day – Predicts 40,000 Boe/d by 2020”
American Energy Partners | Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH

Muskingum Watershed District Sells only 136M Gal of Water So Far
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), organized in 1933 to reduce the effects of flooding and conserve water for beneficial public uses, oversees 16 dams and reservoirs across 22 counties in Ohio, covering 20% of the state. It is a massive area under the oversight and control of the MWCD. We’ve previously covered their deals with Antero Resources to lease District property for drilling. We’ve also covered District deals to sell water to Antero and other shale drillers (see Muskingum Watershed Votes to Sell 209M Gals of Water for Fracking). Although the district has voted to sell 209 million gallons of water, so far in 2014 they’ve only sold 136 million gallons–or the amount of water used in four days by the city of Akron, OH. According to officials with the MWCD, water sales have had a “negligible” impact on the reservoirs–lowering the several reservoirs used by less than 3/4 of an inch. MWCD lowers reservoirs more than that each year for winter anyway–so actually there’s been no impact, especially since much of the water sold flows through pipelines instead of tanker trucks…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Pennsylvania | Shell | Tioga County (PA) | UGI Energy Services | Utica Shale

UGI First Utility in PA with Direct Connection to Utica Shale
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

The next big story for the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale is not the Marcellus…it’s the Utica Shale, a layer a few thousand feet below the Marcellus. Our first piece of evidence? In September we brought you the exciting news that Shell has drilled six Utica wells in Tioga County, PA, two of them going online with stellar production (see Shell Drills 2 Successful Utica Wells in NEPA Marcellusland). Our second piece of evidence? UGI, a major utility company in Pennsylvania, reports they’ve just hooked one of those Utica wells into their natural gas distribution system–making UGI the first PA utility to directly tap into a Utica Shale well for retail residential delivery…
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Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Marshall County | Ohio County | Tug Hill Operating | West Virginia

Panhandle WV Landowners Broker $100M Deal with Tug Hill Operating
November 12, 2014November 12, 2014

We have some information, but not a lot, on a recent deal to lease land in Marshall and Ohio counties in West Virginia. Tug Hill Operating, a small, privately owned exploration & production company headquartered in Fort Worth, TX, has just brokered a deal with the Marshall and Ohio County Landgroup. We don’t know how many acres are involved in the lease, nor how many families. What we do know is that the money Tug Hill is paying the landowners, collectively, is an eye-popping $100 million. We don’t have a copy of the lease, but we have little doubt that both Marcellus and Utica layers are part of the deal. Here’s what we do know about Tug Hill and the deal:
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Carroll County | Energy Companies | EnerVest | EV Energy Partners | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

EVEP Selling More Ohio Utica Acreage in 2015
November 12, 2014November 12, 2014

When you’ve been writing about the Marcellus and Utica since 2009, you notice some stories that just keep repeating–year after year. EV Energy Partners selling (more of) their Utica acreage is one of those stories. EVEP is still one of, if not the, largest acreage holder in the Ohio Utica Shale. The company is a master limited partnership, or “MLP”, which means it’s organized to distribute all profits to shareholders (or unit holders) instead of plowing profits back into investments and large projects. MLPs don’t make good exploration and production companies. The way MLPs are structured makes them more suited for mature, already-drilled wells and businesses like pipelines. They want less risk and more long-term revenue potential. So it’s no surprise that EVEP has, since 2012, tried to sell large swaths of their massive holdings (see EnerVest Puts 539,000 Utica Shale Acres on Auction Block). Over time they’ve sold some of that acreage, but they still hold hundreds of thousands of acres. On an analyst phone call Monday, EVEP President & CEO Mark Houser once again said “next year” the company will sell more Utica acreage. How much acreage, and where?…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Rex Drilling Operation Near Mars School Put on Hold
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Nearly two months ago Rex Energy received permits to drill five wells on a single well pad in Middlesex Township (Butler County), PA. The site is something like 3/4 of a mile from a school and some of the dunderheaded anti-drilling parents at the school are opposing it (see Rex Gets Permits to Drill Near Martian School, Antis Apoplectic). Those parents should take a short trip south to Allegheny County where the East Allegheny School District has just leased school property for drilling (see today’s lead story). Anywho, even though the Delaware River Basin is clear across the state and hundreds of miles from Middlesex Township, THE Delaware Riverkeeper along with another virulent anti-drilling group, Clean Air Council (also from the Philly area), have launched a challenge against Rex Energy to prevent them from drilling on the opposite side of the state. Talk about sickos…
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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | EXCO Resources

CONSOL, EXCO and Low Natgas Prices in the Marcellus
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

An interesting article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by the only reporter they have left that still reports objectively on the Marcellus Shale: Anya Litvak, formerly from the Pittsburgh Business Times, tackles the topic of the Marcellus and other shale plays as being a “long game” for energy companies. In fact, some producers still don’t turn a profit in this “low price” environment. As part of her article, she shares two pieces of information that caught our eye: How much it costs CONSOL Energy per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) to get the gas, and when we can expect to see EXCO Resources return to active drilling in the Marcellus…
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Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies

Eclipse Resources 3Q14: 16 New Utica Wells Drilled, 13 in Prod
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Eclipse Resources, an exploration & production company totally focused on the Utica and Marcellus Shale region, issued their third quarter 2014 update yesterday. During 3Q14 Eclipse reports drilling 16 new Utica Shale wells, completing 17 Utica wells and bringing 13 Utica wells online for production. The company produced an average of 85.8 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, a 104% increase from the same period last year. Here’s the details…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies

Magnum Hunter CEO Evans Says Natgas is the Future, Not Oil
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Magnum Hunter Resources is a Texas-based driller that concentrates mostly on the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Magnum’s CEO Gary Evans was on CNBC last week (watch it below) to say some interesting things. Among his comments, Evans said that natural gas, and not oil, is the key to U.S. energy production and the future of energy in this country. Evans also said he sold most of his company’s oil leases two years when the market was high, proving to be a prescient move now that the price of oil has collapsed and appears to be going lower since Saudi Arabia has committed to lowering their price for the foreseeable future. How low will the price of oil have to go before the rigs stop drilling here at home?…
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Allegheny County | Chevron | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

Chevron Scaling Back in the Marcellus/Utica? Maybe
November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

What a difference just a year or two makes–at least in the plans of a major oil and gas company like Chevron. It wasn’t so long ago that Chevron (2011) that Chevron bought out Atlas Energy and along with it 622,000 acres of Marcellus Shale leases. Chevron then picked up another 228,000 acres of Marcellus leases from Chief Oil & Gas. A little over a year ago Chevron got an initial approval to build a massive new 350,000 square foot headquarters in Moon Twp, PA, near Pittsburgh. Then the first red flag–Chevron put that project on hold in July of this year (see Chevron Puts Moon Twp, PA Office Building Project on Hold). Now a second, big red flag: Chevron is “restructuring” its northeast business unit. When a company throws around words like “become more efficient” and “long-term growth” that, frankly, does not foreshadow good things for some of the 700+ people who work in the Appalachia unit…
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Energy Companies | Seneca Resources

Seneca: Volume Up 44%, Drilling Utica Well in Tioga County, PA
November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

National Fuel Gas and its wholly-owned drilling subsidiary, Seneca Resources, filed their fiscal year fourth quarter (everyone else’s third quarter) update late last week. National Fuel Gas is not only a Marcellus/Utica E&P but also a midstream company (pipelines) and a utility in western NY and northwestern PA. Among the pickings from this latest update: Seneca’s drilling program continues to generate success–natural gas volumes were up 43.8% in the northeast compared to a year ago. Seneca is operating two rigs in the Marcellus and a third rig is currently drilling a Utica Shale well in Tioga County, PA…
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Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell (Finally) Buys Site for Cracker Plant in Beaver County, PA
November 7, 2014November 7, 2014

We’re still a long way from a decision by Shell on whether or not they will build a $2-$3 billion ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA. However, today the company took another giant step forward in that process. Shell has told the current owner of the site, Horsehead Corporation, that Shell is exercising their option to buy the property…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Stone Energy | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Stone Energy Fined $177K by EPA for Fouling WV Creeks
November 7, 2014November 7, 2014

Stone Energy has been slapped with a fine of $177,500 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for violating the Clean Water Act and dumping dirt and stone into a couple of creeks (without a permit) in Wetzel County, WV during well pad and roadway construction related to Marcellus Shale drilling. Here’s the details from the EPA…
Read More “Stone Energy Fined $177K by EPA for Fouling WV Creeks”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero Midstream IPO Hauls in $1B, Stock Trading High
November 7, 2014November 7, 2014

Amidst the flurry of news about third quarter updates, we almost overlooked one important piece of news about Marcellus/Utica driller Antero Resources. As you may recall, Antero floated an initial public offering (IPO) of stock last year hoping to raise $1.4 billion. They got $1.57 billion (see Antero’s IPO Fetches $1.57B, Company Valued at $11B!). Just a few weeks ago Antero announced they were spinning off their midstream operation into its own company and floating an IPO for that new entity–hoping to raise nearly $1 billion more (see Antero Resources Launches Midstream IPO, Seeks $1B+). We’re happy to report–mission accomplished. Antero reported earlier this week they sold 40 million “units” (think shares of stock) for $25 each, which is higher than they were hoping–bringing in $1 billion…
Read More “Antero Midstream IPO Hauls in $1B, Stock Trading High”
Energy Companies | PDC Energy | Utica Shale

PDC Energy 3Q14: Drills 3 New Utica Wells, 11 Utica Wells Online
November 7, 2014November 7, 2014

PDC Energy, an independent exploration and production company that produces, develops, acquires and explores for crude oil, natural gas and NGLs with primary operations in the Wattenberg Field in Colorado and in the Utica Shale in southeastern Ohio, provided their third quarter 2014 update yesterday. PDC has sold their Marcellus operations and now concentrates on the Utica in the northeast (see PDC Energy to End Marcellus Drilling in 2014, Continue in Utica). PDC reports adding a second drilling rig to their OH Utica operation in July and, as a result, they’ve drilled 3 new Utica wells during 3Q14. Below we’ve pulled out relevant portions of the update dealing with the Utica Shale…
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