Energy Companies

Butler County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Chimes In on MarkWest Expansion Announcement
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

Yesterday MDN told you the news that MarkWest Energy is building two additional natural gas processing plants at their Keystone processing complex in Butler County, PA–one for EdgeMarc Energy and the other for Rex Energy (see MarkWest Expanding Again in Butler County, PA with Rex & EdgeMarc). Today we bring you Rex Energy’s press release announcing the same news. We don’t detect any real new news in Rex’s version of the release, although there are a few additional details not found in the MarkWest release. We bring it to you because it’s always fascinating to us to see how different companies present news that highlights what they want it to highlight…
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Allegheny County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

Sky is the Limit: CONSOL Begins Drilling at Pittsburgh Airport
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

Yesterday was a special day at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). Yesterday CONSOL Energy, winner of the right to drill on airport property, broke ground in a big ceremony that included Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald, and CONSOL Energy President and CEO Nick DeIuliis. A host of other politicians and business leaders were also present. CONSOL previously paid PIT a $50 million signing bonus, after initially floating a lowball offer of $20.8 million for a signing bonus, plus 18% royalties (see CONSOL Increases Bonus Offer to Pgh Airport by 2.4 Times to $50M). CONSOL later raised their price and won the contract, which will eventually pay out something like $500 million to PIT. Beyond drilling 45 wells in the Marcellus layer, CONSOL has the option to later drill even more wells in the Utica and Upper Devonian layers at PIT. In other words, the sky’s the limit for both CONSOL and PIT…
Read More “Sky is the Limit: CONSOL Begins Drilling at Pittsburgh Airport”
Chief Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Tug Hill Operating

Tug Hill’s Wandering Eye – JV with Quantum Targets Non-Marcellus
August 26, 2014November 13, 2014

Tug Hill, Inc., an investment firm owns an oil and gas drilling subsidiary called Tug Hill Operating. Tug Hill, to date, has been bosom buddies with Chief Oil & Gas in the Marcellus Shale region (see these MDN articles). Together Tug Hill and Chief have established a lease position of a massive 600,000 Marcellus Shale acres. But what’s this? Tug Hill has a new dance partner. While Tug Hill is not abandoning Chief and their current joint drilling program in the Marcellus, they went looking and found some big money backing from Quantum Energy Partners, a Houston, TX-based private investment firm. Quantum and Tug Hill together (mostly Quantum) is pumping $450 million into a brand new joint venture between the companies to drill in other shale (and perhaps non-shale) plays across the U.S….
Read More “Tug Hill’s Wandering Eye – JV with Quantum Targets Non-Marcellus”
CONE Midstream | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Noble Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

CONSOL & Noble Energy Form New Marcellus Midstream Company
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

Rather than contract with MarkWest Energy, Williams, or another midstream company, CONSOL Energy and Noble Energy, who together have a joint venture to drill in certain areas of the Marcellus Shale (or “upstream” venture), have now decided to form their own “midstream” (or pipeline) company too. Dubbed CONE Midstream–perhaps some weird amalgamation of the CONSOL and Noble Energy names–the new midstream company will take the form of a master limited partnership, or MLP. So far CONSOL and Noble have only filed paperwork and announced who will sell units (rough equivalent of shares of stock). While the announcement from CONSOL doesn’t say who will operate the new midstream company, it sure looks to us like CONSOL will be the one calling the shots…
Read More “CONSOL & Noble Energy Form New Marcellus Midstream Company”
Beaver County | Butler County | EdgeMarc Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Rex Energy

MarkWest Expanding Again in Butler County, PA with Rex & EdgeMarc
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

When you have a good thing going, like MarkWest Energy does with its Keystone processing complex in Butler County, PA, you keep growing it. And that’s just what MarkWest is doing. The company announced today they have a couple of new customers for the complex–Rex Energy and EdgeMarc Energy. The new customers will each get their own 200 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) processing plants in the Bluestone facility–part of the Keystone complex that includes Bluestone and Sarsen facilities. In addition, MarkWest is also adding an additional 40,000 barrels per day (Bbl/d) of de-ethanization capacity and over 20,000 Bbl/d of additional propane and heavier NGL fractionation capacity. It means more capacity, more production, more money for landowners, and more major money will be invested in Butler County…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero Boasts 5K Potential Drilling Locations in Marcellus/Utica
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

Antero Resources continues to impress. The company has now amassed 493,000 acres of leases in the Marcellus/Utica, which includes access to the Devonian layer as well. As we told you a month ago, their drilling program is rapidly expanding (see Antero Resources: Marcellus/Utica Program Going Gangbusters). And as we told you barley three weeks ago, they had a tremendous second quarter (see Antero Resources 2Q14: Gas Production Doubles, NGLs Quadruple). Following on their 2Q14 update, MDN has located a copy of the Antero PowerPoint slide deck, recently updated and jam-packed with charts and maps and graphs. One very interesting statistic is Antero’s 3P (proved, probable and possible) drilling locations…
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Air Quality | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | West Virginia | Wood County

Cracker Race Continues: Odebrecht Files Remediation Application
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

The race continues to see who will build the first multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant in the Marcellus/Utica region. Yesterday MDN brought you the news that Shell had filed, back in May, a detailed air pollution application with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for their proposed cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (see Details for Shell Ethane Cracker Revealed in Air Pollution Application). Although arriving on the scene several years after Shell’s project, Odebrecht announced last November they want to build a cracker plant near Parkersburg, WV (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). Odebrecht has now filed a similar document–a Voluntary Remediation Program application–with the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP)…
Read More “Cracker Race Continues: Odebrecht Files Remediation Application”
Broome County | Chenango County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Delaware County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

Final EIS for Constitution Pipeline Delayed Another 2 Months, Ugh
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

The Constitution Pipeline, which MDN has covered for more than two years, is a $683 million Williams pipeline project with backing from Cabot Oil & Gas that will run from Cabot’s gas fields in Susquehanna County, PA all the way to Schoharie County, NY. It’s an important project for Cabot Oil & Gas since it will move an additional half billion cubic feet of natural gas per day for the company. A month ago MDN told you the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was due “any day” (see Constitution Pipeline Update from Cabot – Final EIS Due Any Day). The EIS was already delayed, and now we learn that it’s delayed yet again. According to top energy blogger and analyst Richard Zeits, the EIS for the Constitution is now delayed until the end of October–another two months…
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Chesapeake Energy | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Southwestern Energy | Statewide PA

PA Production Smashes Record Again – Top 10 Wells, Top 5 Counties
August 25, 2014August 25, 2014

Without a doubt the biggest story from last week, which broke on MDN’s first day off in our one-week vacation, was the new natural gas production numbers coming from Pennsylvania and the Marcellus Shale. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection released production numbers for the first six months of 2014, which show that PA produced an incredible 1.94 trillion cubic feet during that period–up 14% from the last half of 2013 (1.697 Tcf), and comparing apples to apples, up an astonishing 38% from the same period a year ago, the first half of 2013 (1.406 Tcf). PA also produced 1.7 million barrels of condensate (or natural gasoline) and 182,000 barrels of oil. Below we list the Top 10 producing wells in 1H14. Would it surprise you to learn that 9 of the top 10 are found in the same county, drilled by one company? We also include the full list of all 7,679 wells drilled so far…
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Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Susquehanna County

DEP Fines Cabot $76K for Out-of-Control Well in Susquehanna County
August 25, 2014August 25, 2014

Back in January Cabot Oil & Gas “lost control” of a well in Susquehanna County, PA for a period of 27 hours. Cabot said it could not determine the exact amount of natural gas or fluid released because it was not possible to safely measure the flows. However, most of what got released was methane–the same thing that comes out of cow butts in prodigious volumes. Even though the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) says there were “no significant environmental impacts,” the DEP slapped Cabot with a $76,546 fine for their inability to keep control of the well and for the unquantified discharges that came from it…
Read More “DEP Fines Cabot $76K for Out-of-Control Well in Susquehanna County”
Air Quality | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Regulation | Shell

Details for Shell Ethane Cracker Revealed in Air Pollution Application
August 25, 2014August 25, 2014

We now have a very detailed, inside look at Shell’s proposed ethane cracker plant. In May, Shell filed an Air Quality Plan Approval application with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection. The 715-page document (just now coming to light, full copy embedded below)–mammoth in scope and size–lays out, in detail, just how much air pollution the proposed ethane cracker would produce. As part of that document we gain insight into the technology Shell plans to use at the plant. The application also outlines other potential impacts from the plant, including soil and vegetation. The application concludes that the proposed plant emissions “are not expected to result in adverse effects to soils, crops, or plant species of concerns, within the vicinity of the project site”…
Read More “Details for Shell Ethane Cracker Revealed in Air Pollution Application”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Natural Resource Partners | Statewide WV | Supply Chain | West Virginia

NRP Buys VantaCore to Supply Rocks to Marcellus/Utica Drillers
August 25, 2014August 25, 2014

Natural Resource Partners (NRP), a company headquartered in Houston, TX but with it’s operations headquarters in Huntington, WV has its fingers in a lot of pies–including coal companies, concrete companies, and oil and gas companies. NRP has just added yet another aggregates (concrete and rocks) company to its portfolio of companies. NRP purchased VantaCore Partners, a Philadelphia company, mainly because of VantaCore’s operations that supply limestone and base material to oil and gas companies in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. NRP knows a good thing when it sees it…
Read More “NRP Buys VantaCore to Supply Rocks to Marcellus/Utica Drillers”
Butler County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Potter County | Rex Energy | Shell | Tioga County (PA) | Ultra Petroleum

After Selling 208K Marcellus Acres, Shell “Buys” 155K More Acres!
August 15, 2014August 15, 2014

In a seemingly strange twist, Shell has just picked up more Marcellus and Utica Shale acreage. Say what? Yesterday MDN told you that Rex Energy just bought 208,000 Marcellus acres from Shell in southwest Pennsylvania’s wet gas area (see Rex Energy Takes Shell to the Cleaners – Picks up 208K Acres). We pointed out that many majors like Shell seem to have a hard time turning a buck in American shale plays, and that Shell CEO Ben van van Beurden had warned of scaling back their shale operations. So what happened a day later? Shell further divested itself of both conventional and unconventional holdings–this time in Wyoming and Louisiana. As part of the same deal, the picked up new Marcellus acreage (155,000 acres) in Pennsylvania’s dry gas area. Let’s try to sort through these Shell gyrations…
Read More “After Selling 208K Marcellus Acres, Shell “Buys” 155K More Acres!”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County | Wastewater

Range Resources to Begin Closing Yeager Impoundment on Monday
August 15, 2014August 15, 2014

As we promised two weeks ago, we have more news and developments on Range Resources’ Yeager Wastewater Impoundment in Amwell Township (Washington County), PA. Range will begin the process of decommissioning the impoundment (i.e. pond) starting Monday, August 18th. As they do so, a lawyer for the three families suing Range with charges of well water contamination will be at the site to take their own so-called “independent” soil samples, right alongside Range. What Range (and the lawyer) will be looking for is any evidence that the two rubber liners have, in the past, leaked wastewater and therefore salts or chlorides, into the ground. Below we have a brief backgrounder, a copy of the Range 98-page plan to close the Yeager impoundment, and the recommended tweaks to that plan by the state DEP…
Read More “Range Resources to Begin Closing Yeager Impoundment on Monday”
1st NRG | Energy Companies | Utica Shale

1st NRG Begins Pushing Dirt on First Utica Well Pad
August 15, 2014August 15, 2014

Going all the way back to 2012, MDN has chronicled, from time to time, the myriad press releases issued by a small driller headquartered in Denver called 1st NRG Corp. They’ve been saying since that time that they really really really really want to drill in the Utica Shale–on a small 7,000 acre leasehold they own (see our stories about 1st NRG here). Ever hear of the boy who cried wolf? Eventually the wolf does show up, but no one believes the boy. So, believe it or not, it appears the bulldozers are finally pushing the dirt around on 1st NRG’s very first Utica Shale well pad in Ohio–for a well that 1st NRG will own a 20% stake in…
Read More “1st NRG Begins Pushing Dirt on First Utica Well Pad”
Butler County | East Resources | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy | Shell

Rex Energy Takes Shell to the Cleaners – Picks up 208K Acres
August 14, 2014August 14, 2014

What is it about the oil majors that they can’t seem to turn a profit in America’s shale plays? Somehow the smaller, leaner independents keep beating the majors, time and again. Latest example: Shell. In 2010, Shell paid a whopping $4.7 billion to buy East Resources (see East Resources Sells to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 Billion, Deal Includes All of East’s Marcellus Shale Operations). The deal included 650,000 acres of Marcellus Shale leases in PA, WV and NY. Shell is now starting to divest itself from that acreage. They just sold 208,000 acres in the Butler, PA area to Rex Energy for $120 million in cash. Talk about a fire sale! In very rough numbers, Rex just picked up nearly 1/3 of Shell’s acreage for chump change–for 2.5% of the money Shell paid back in 2010…
Read More “Rex Energy Takes Shell to the Cleaners – Picks up 208K Acres”