Energy Companies

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?…
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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)…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT 3Q14: Revenue Up 12%, 91 New Wells Spud in Northeast
October 24, 2014October 24, 2014

Northeast drilling was good for EQT in the third quarter of 2014. The company released their 3Q14 numbers yesterday and it shows revenue was up 12% from a year ago. During 3Q14 EQT, spud (drill bit hits the ground and starts drilling) 42 wells in the Marcellus, 13 Upper Devonian wells, and 36 Huron wells–all in the northeast. Production sales volume was up 25% in 3Q14, midstream gathered volumes were up 24%, and midstream costs were down 18%. The numbers are going in the direction they should be going. The only problem for the company is the low price of natural gas…
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Energy Companies | Rex Energy

Rex Energy 3Q14: Production Up 72%, Oil & Condensate Up 61%
October 24, 2014October 24, 2014

Rex Energy, the little energy company that could (and is) continues to impress. Earlier this week Rex released their third quarter 2014 production update. Rex, focused mainly on Marcellus and Utica drilling, increased production 72% over 3Q13–to 169.7 million cubic feet equivalent per day, or Mmcfe/d. That’s a very healthy 32% jump from second quarter this year. They expect to be producing 179 Mmcfe/d by the time Dec. 31 rolls around. Here’s the full update from Monday:
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Tyler County | Utica Shale | West Virginia

More Details on Magnum Hunter Super Utica Well Pad in WV
October 23, 2014October 23, 2014

We now have more details on the ginormous Utica Shale well drilled by Magnum Hunter Resources in Tyler County, WV. MH confirms that the Stewart Winland 1300U (Utica well) tested at a peak rate of 46.5 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d). The entire 4-well pad together has a combined flow test of 97.4 Mmcf/d. The Winland 1300U is the single most productive Utica Shale well every drilled–at least so far! Here’s more details on all four Stewart Winland wells…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies

Magnum Hunter Loan Reshuffling Continues
October 23, 2014October 23, 2014

The loan reshuffling continues at Magnum Hunter Resources. Yesterday the company reported they’ve just received $390 million in new loans and have used it to pay off $241 million in old loans. This is not the first time this has happened (see Magnum Hunter Shops for New Loans to Pay Old Loans + New Slides). Here’s the latest loan reshuffling at MH…
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Energy Companies | Total

French Supermajor Total CEO Killed in Freak Runway Accident
October 23, 2014October 23, 2014

Tragedy has struck Total, a French multinational integrated oil and gas company and one of the six “Supermajor” oil companies in the world. Total has a small presence in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Late Monday night, Total’s colorful CEO, Christophe de Margerie, was killed in a tragic airplane accident in Moscow, Russia. The plane that de Margerie was traveling in was taking off and a drunk snowplow driver cut across the path of the plane. The plane hit the snowplow and burst into flames. Everyone aboard (four people in all) were killed. The drunk idiot driving the snowplow wasn’t hurt–go figure…
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Chevron | Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Chevron Launches Appalachia Partnership Initiative with $20M
October 22, 2014October 22, 2014

Kudos to Chevron. Yesterday the company announced $20 million in grants for education and workforce development in 27 counties across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Called the Appalachia Partnership Initiative, Chevron aims to fund education (for students) and training (for workers) in STEM–Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. A variety of programs and organizations will be the recipients of Chevron’s largess…
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Cardinal Gas Services | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EV Energy Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Total

Done Deal: S Koreans Buy 34% of Cardinal Gas Services for $612M
October 21, 2014October 21, 2014

As MDN told you a month ago, South Korea wants in on the Marcellus/Utica action and two South Korean companies had committed to buying up to a 34% stake in Cardinal Gas Services (see Total, EVEP Sell Interest in Cardinal Midstream to S Koreans for $612M). The deal is now done. Yesterday Samchully, the lead South Korean company, announced they have completed the purchase of the full 34% stake in Cardinal for $612 million…
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY | Tompkins County

NY High Court Rebuffs Norse Request to Re-hear Town Ban Case
October 20, 2014October 20, 2014

We won’t bother to chronicle, once again, the long fight in New York State over the right of a town board with 3-5 members deciding that every resident in a township will lose the right to use their property the way they want to (even though property ownership is sacrosanct under the U.S. Constitution). In the People’s Republic of New York, the mob rules. The rule of law is out the window. And so, a few New York high court judges who want to retain their posts under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, decided nobody really reads the Constitution anymore anyway–and that local town boards (not individual landowners) will now decide whether or not shale drilling will take place (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). One of the litigants in the case was Norse Energy, forced into bankruptcy by New York’s now 6+ year moratorium on fracking. Norse took over leases from Anschutz Exploration and sued the Town of Dryden, NY over their idiotic frack ban. Based on a recent Colorado case that is similar (and found against so-called “home rule” by towns), Norse asked New York’s highest court to re-hear the case (see Norse Energy Appeals Town Ban Case Back to NY High Court). The ~~crooked~~ judges said “nope”…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Civil War Between Cecil Supervisors/Zoning Board Over Compressor
October 20, 2014October 20, 2014

As MDN reported in early October, MarkWest Energy finally (after four years) won the right to build a compressor station in Cecil (Washington County), PA (see MarkWest Wins Court Case to Build Compressor Station in Cecil, PA). The compressor station will be built on property owned by Range Resources. It’s Range’s gas that will flow through that station on its way to market. The Cecil Board of Supervisors voted to not challenge a Commonwealth Court (a lower court) decision that said the zoning board erred when denying MarkWest a permit to build the compressor station. However, the zoning board itself can still appeal the decision (see Cecil Supervisors Vote to NOT Appeal MarkWest Compressor Decision). It appears to us like a civil war has erupted between the Cecil board of supervisors and the zoning board…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Southwestern Energy

Fitch Ratings Says Chesapeake/Southwestern Megadeal a “Win/Win”
October 20, 2014October 20, 2014

There are three ratings agencies (the “big three”) that rate companies and governments on their financial health, including the ability to borrow money and pay it back. The big three are Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings. Fitch, in a move we have not seen before, issued a press release on Friday commenting on last Thursday’s really big news that Chesapeake is selling 413,000 acres and 435 drilled wells–all of it in the Marcellus/Utica–to Southwestern Energy (see Chesapeake Sells Close to 25% of Marcellus/Utica Operation). Fitch jumped in with their own analysis of the deal and has pronounced it a “win/win”…
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