Energy Companies

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…
Read More “AEP Well “Malfunction” Leads to Evacuation of ~400 Homes in SE OH”
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…
Read More “Range Resources 3Q14: Production Hits 1.2 Bcf/d, Big Credit Line”
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…
Read More “Cabot O&G 3Q14: A Wandering Eye + Welcome to the 2 Bcf/d Club!”
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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Energy Companies | Noble Energy

Noble Energy 3Q14: Production Up 95%, Drilled 23 New Wells
October 29, 2014October 29, 2014

Noble Energy released their third quarter numbers and operational update yesterday. The company operates in several U.S. shale basins as well as the Gulf of Mexico and several foreign locations. Of note is their ongoing program in the Marcellus Shale. Production for Noble from the Marcellus is up 31% from 2Q14 and up a big 95% year over year in 3Q14. They drilled 23 Marcellus wells during 3Q14 and brought 23 wells online during the quarter as well. Here’s the low down on Noble’s Marcellus program over the last three months:
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Accidents | Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio

Explosion at Eclipse Resources Site in Guernsey Cnty – 1 Injured
October 28, 2014October 28, 2014

There was an explosion at an Eclipse Resources drilling site in Guernsey County, OH late last Friday night. One worker was reportedly hurt and taken by helicopter to the burn unit at the Akron Children’s Hospital. There are virtually no news accounts (so far) about the accident, and Eclipse has not yet posted anything on their website about the accident. Here’s the very brief (and only) account we can find, thus far:
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants

Antero Resources Launches Midstream IPO, Seeks $1B+
October 28, 2014October 28, 2014

Can Antero Resources do it again? A little over a year ago, in October 2013, Antero, one of the biggest players in the Marcellus/Utica Shale, floated an initial public offering (IPO) for the company, called “taking it public” because shares of stock will be owned and traded on a public stock exchange–and raised an incredible $1.57 billion (see Antero’s IPO Fetches $1.57B, Company Valued at $11B!). Antero is hoping lightening will strike twice, and indeed it may. Yesterday the company announced that it will spin off its midstream division into a new wholly-owned subsidiary, under a master limited partnership (MLP) structure, and offer “units” (think shares of stock) that will be publicly traded. The company plans to offer more than 43 million units to investors and if it gets the target $19-$21 per unit, the grand total will once again exceed $1 billion of new investment…
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Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies

Eclipse Resources 3Q14: Production Up 104% from 2Q14
October 28, 2014October 28, 2014

Yesterday MDN ran what we thought was a stellar analysis between two sets of wells drilled by Eclipse Resources in the Ohio Utica Shale (see Eclipse Numbers: Dry Gas vs Wet Gas in Utica – Which One Wins?). In addition to details for those two sets of wells, Eclipse also released (yesterday) a brief summary of third quarter production numbers. The numbers, compared to the biggies in the Marcellus/Utica like Cabot and Range, are small. But definitely trending in the right direction. Production for Eclipse is up 104% from previous 2Q14 levels–an average 85.8 million cubic feet equivalent per day. The production mix during 3Q14 was 78% natural gas, 9% natural gas liquids and 13% oil…
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Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Monroe County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Eclipse Numbers: Dry Gas vs Wet Gas in Utica – Which One Wins?
October 27, 2014October 27, 2014

Some encouraging numbers from a set of well pads in the Ohio Utica Shale from Eclipse Resources. Eclipse’s Shroyer well pad in Eastern Monroe County, OH has two wells producing a combined 42.5 MMcf/d–VERY healthy initial production numbers and something to crow about. They also have a 5-well pad, the Mizer pad in Central Harrison County, OH, that’s producing a combined 10.1 MMcf/d of natural gas and approximately 1,800 Bbl/d of condensate. Not much in the way of methane but a decent amount of condensate production. How do the two sets of wells stack up against each other? Let’s run the economic numbers for Eclipse on the methane only vs condensate wells. Which do you think earns them more money?…
Read More “Eclipse Numbers: Dry Gas vs Wet Gas in Utica – Which One Wins?”
Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Marshall County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Gastar Wins Lease to Drill Under Ohio River in WV
October 27, 2014October 27, 2014

As MDN previously reported, the state of West Virginia had previously put out to bid state-owned land that sits along the Ohio River, and the land under the Ohio, for leases to drill under the Ohio for Marcellus and Utica Shale gas (see State of WV Looks to Lease Area Under Ohio River for Drilling). The state ultimately received four bids to drill three different parcels of land (see Details on 4 Bids to Drill Under Ohio River in WV). One of the four, Gastar Exploration, has been accepted and the final aspects of the lease are right now being negotiated. According to the WV Dept. of Commerce, the other two parcels also have been “identified” with a driller, but Commerce declined to ID who those winners are. Here’s more on the Gastar deal…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Upper Devonian Shale

EQT’s 19-Well Pad with 22 Miles of Laterals & 770 Frac Stages
October 27, 2014October 27, 2014

Last week EQT released their third quarter financial and operational update, which MDN chronicled (see EQT 3Q14: Revenue Up 12%, 91 New Wells Spud in Northeast). As often happens, the top brass from EQT held an analyst call to further spread the company message and to take questions from analysts who prepare reports read by investors. Sometimes you find a few gems in the prepared and off-the-cuff remarks in those calls. One such gem in the EQT call from last week is information about EQT’s drilling strategy–longer laterals–which are leading to a cheaper cost-per-foot (an average 6% cheaper). Another gem: EQT will drill a single pad in 2015 with 11 Marcellus wells and 8 Upper Devonian wells (a “stacked pay” well). If you add up the total length of all of the laterals that will be drilled, it adds up to 115,500 feet–nearly 22 miles! EQT will use 770 frac stages along those 22 miles of laterals. Ginormous well pad!…
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Accidents | Antero Resources | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | West Virginia

Antero Gets 30 Day Extension to Fix Problems @ Doddridge Well Pad
October 27, 2014October 27, 2014

The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) has granted Antero Resources another 30 days to get problems under control at a well pad in Doddridge County, WV. You may recall Antero was drilling a new well and the borehole penetrated an existing well at the pad, creating problems with local water wells (see Antero Hits Producing Well Drilling New Well, Methane in Local Water). A “cease operations” order was issued on Sept. 26 and that order has been extended another month while Antero awaits test results from local water wells that were affected by the accident…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

Constitution Pipeline Gets FERC Final Environmental Approval
October 27, 2014October 27, 2014

A VERY key piece of the puzzle for building the 124-mile Constitution Pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA north all the way to Schoharie County, NY fell into place late last week. On Oct. 24, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued final environmental review of the proposed pipeline, being built by Williams (with major partner Cabot Oil & Gas, whose gas will flow through it). The final environmental impact statement (EIS) issued by FERC says the pipeline can be built with a minimum impact to the environment. What potential obstacles now remain? Very few. FERC will issue a final “Order” to authorize the pipeline and is expected to do so by Jan. 22, 2015. Game over for anti-drillers on this one. They lost…
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Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Shore Exploration & Production | Statewide VA | Virginia

What Were Landowners in Central VA Paid for a Lease Bonus?
October 24, 2014October 24, 2014

We consider Virginia “northeast” as far as coverage goes on MDN. While the Marcellus skirts the very edge of the state and there’s very little Marcellus that would like ever get drilled in Virginia, there are other shale basins in the state, one of which is the Taylorsville Basin–south and east of Fredericksburg, VA. MDN told you in April that Shore Exploration has leased 84,000 acres in the Taylorsville Basin (see Virginia Inches Closer to Shale Drilling in Taylorsville Basin). We now know what they paid per acre for those leases (hint: not very much by Marcellus/Utica standards)…
Read More “What Were Landowners in Central VA Paid for a Lease Bonus?”