Energy Companies

American Energy Partners | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Marshall County | Monroe County | Ohio | Pipelines | Regency Energy Partners | Utica Shale | West Virginia

McClendon Invests in New Utica Pipeline Project, JV with Regency
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

It was only in June, less than two months ago, that MDN brought you the news that it sure seems like Aubrey McClendon is building a new company that looks a lot like the first company he built, Chesapeake Energy (see Aubrey McClendon Gets Back into the Midstream Business). McClendon is not only high on Utica and Marcellus drilling with his newly formed American Energy Partners company, he’s also high on building the pipelines needed to conduct the gas out of the borehole. His new midstream division was set up to work on such projects. And less than two months later, we have the first of those projects. Yesterday McClendon’s new midstream division and Regency Energy Partners announced a joint venture to build the Utica Ohio River Project for $500 million…
Read More “McClendon Invests in New Utica Pipeline Project, JV with Regency”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies

Magnum Hunter Moving its HQ from Texas to…Texas?
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

Magnum Hunter Resources sold off its Eagle Ford (TX) assets in April 2013 and the drilling and midstream company has become laser focused on the Marcellus and Utica Shale region–in West Virginia and Ohio–since that time. They also maintain operations in the Bakken Shale of North Dakota and Canada, but the Marcellus/Utica is where they are focused. Magnum also has several divisions that concentrate their work in the northeast–GreenHunter Water, Triad Hunter, Eureka Hunter Pipeline, Alpha Hunter Drilling. Like many companies they have a list of subsidiaries a mile long (see the list below)–most of them either wholly or mostly concentrated in the northeast. So when Magnum Hunter decided it was time to move out of their Houston headquarters, where did they decide to move? Pittsburgh, PA? Charleston, WV? Columbus, OH? Nope. They’re moving to…
Read More “Magnum Hunter Moving its HQ from Texas to…Texas?”
Accidents | Chevron | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

DEP Issues Final Report – What Caused Chevron Well Fire?
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

In early February, a well already drilled and completed by Chevron in Greene County, PA was in the process of being connected to a pipeline system. The well caught fire and exploded, eventually spreading to a second well close by (see Explosion & Fire at Chevron Well in SWPA – 1 Person Missing). The fire and explosion killed a worker at the site, a contractor with Cameron International (see Remains of Chevron Contractor Found at Greene County Well Site). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection did a thorough investigation and has just released its After Action Review of the incident (below). Here, in a nutshell, is what the DEP says caused the fire and death…
Read More “DEP Issues Final Report – What Caused Chevron Well Fire?”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County | Wastewater

More Problems for Range Resources with SWPA Impoundments
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

Range Resources has had ongoing problems with the neighbors and townships where they’ve built and maintained several frack wastewater impoundments (large ponds) in Washington County, PA for the past several years. MDN has chronicled the push back, threats, lawsuits and shenanigans (see our list of Range impoundment stories here). The saga continues. Late last week residents living near the Cecil 23 impoundment–formerly known as the Worstell impoundment, located in Cecil Township–were informed by the town that the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) would be testing the ground (and water supplies?) following an alert from Range that the impoundment may have leaked in the past. Then, on Tuesday of this week, Range received a Notice of Violation from the DEP for leaks found at the Yeager impoundment in Amwell Township…
Read More “More Problems for Range Resources with SWPA Impoundments”
Energy Companies | WPX Energy

WPX Energy 2Q14: No Mention of Marcellus; Focused on Oil
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

WPX Energy, the former drilling arm of Williams spun off into its own company back in January 2012, issued their second quarter 2014 update on Tuesday. The company has lately focused their efforts on oil and it shows. They report a 57% increase in oil production and “stronger than expected natural gas production” than for the same period a year ago. That news sent WPX’s stock price soaring–the biggest increase the stock has seen since it debuted in 2012. Although WPX has invested $1 billion to drill 100 or so Marcellus Shale wells (all of them in Pennsylvania), the one word you don’t find anywhere in WPX’s 2Q14 update is, “Marcellus”…
Read More “WPX Energy 2Q14: No Mention of Marcellus; Focused on Oil”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake Energy 2Q14: Profits Down, Gas & Oil Production Up
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

Chesapeake Energy issued their second quarter 2014 update yesterday–and there’s a lot in there. Chessy has been slashing and burning, selling assets all over the place, scaling back in certain areas, expanding in (precious few) others–all in the quest of “fiscal discipline” as is mentioned over and over in yesterday’s announcement. It may sound bad, but is being spun as good, that Chesapeake’s 2Q14 profits dropped 68% from a year ago at the same time. Meanwhile, net income for 2Q14 was $191 million, down from $457 million a year ago…
Read More “Chesapeake Energy 2Q14: Profits Down, Gas & Oil Production Up”
American Energy Partners | East Resources | Energy Companies

Aubrey McClendon’s Money Makes Purchase of Buffalo Bills Possible
August 6, 2014August 6, 2014

Two months ago MDN brought you the announcement that Aubrey McClendon’s American Energy Partners had cut a deal with East Resources to purchase 27,000 Utica Shale acres and 48,000 Marcellus Shale acres for $1.75 billion (see McClendon Buys 48K WV Marcellus Acres, 27K More OH Utica Acres). East was founded in 1983 by Terry Pegula. He sold most of East’s acreage and assets to Shell in 2010 for $4.7 billion. Pegula purchased the Buffalo Sabres NHL hockey team and with the potential sale to McClendon, would be the front runner to purchase the Buffalo Bills team, now for sale after the death of its previous owner Ralph Wilson. We believe MDN was the first to declare Aubrey was enabling the purchase the purchase of the Bills (see Fascinating Connection Between NFL & Marcellus/Utica). Yesterday Aubrey announced he was true to his word and the deal is now done and dusted–in the books. Pegula and Donald Trump have both been given permission to go to the next round in their bids to buy the Bills…
Read More “Aubrey McClendon’s Money Makes Purchase of Buffalo Bills Possible”
Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies

Carrizo 2Q14: Drills 9 Marcellus Wells, Buys More Utica Acreage
August 6, 2014August 6, 2014

Carrizo Oil & Gas is a big energy company, but has relatively small operations in both the Utica and Marcellus Shales. Lately they’ve been focusing their efforts on “oily” shale plays, like the Eagle Ford in Texas (they spent 78% of their drilling budget on the Eagle Ford last quarter). However, Carrizo does maintain a steady program in both the Marcellus and Utica. Yesterday Carrizo released their second quarter 2014 financial and operational update. Below we’ve pulled out those areas that touch on their operations in the northeast…
Read More “Carrizo 2Q14: Drills 9 Marcellus Wells, Buys More Utica Acreage”
Cameron County | Clarion County | Clearfield County | Elk County | Endeavour International | Energy Companies | Jefferson County (PA) | Pennsylvania | SM Energy

Endeavour 2Q14: Completes 3rd PA Marcellus Well of the Year
August 6, 2014August 6, 2014

Endeavour International, a driller with operations in both the North Sea (off-shore) and the U.S. (on-shore) issued their second quarter 2014 update yesterday. Does the Endeavour name sound familiar? Three years ago MDN told you about Endeavour’s deal to buy 50,000 Marcellus Shale acres, a pipeline and three working Marcellus wells, all located in McKean and Potter counties in Pennsylvania (see Endeavour International Buys Lease for Additional 50K Marcellus Acres & Local Pipeline in PA from SM Energy). Five months later Endeavour backed out of the deal and 2 1/2 years of litigation ensued, finally settling in April of this year (see Endeavour & SM Energy Settle Lawsuit over PA Marcellus Properties). Endeavour still owns 27,200 gross Marcellus acres in Elk, Cameron, Clarion, Jefferson and Clearfield counties, and in 2Q14 they successfully completed their third frack job…
Read More “Endeavour 2Q14: Completes 3rd PA Marcellus Well of the Year”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources

GreenHunter Resources 2Q14: Still Waiting to Launch
August 5, 2014August 5, 2014

GreenHunter Resources (i.e. GreenHunter Water) issued their second quarter 2014 update yesterday. We have the update below so you can read through it. Our quick take: GreenHunter is still “waiting to launch.” They are an important player in the freshwater/wastewater management arena for the Marcellus and Utica region. But the company is small (total revenue for the first six months of 2014 was just north of $15 million). According to GreenHunter’s COO, the projects they’re working on for the rest of this year and in 2015 will take the business “to an entirely new level.” If the Coast Guard allows them to launch barge shipments, we think he’s right. Revenue for the first six months of 2014 is up a very health 45%, and the bleeding (losses) have slowed from $0.30 per share for the first six months in 2013 to $0.14 per share for the first six months of 2014…
Read More “GreenHunter Resources 2Q14: Still Waiting to Launch”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Seventy Seven Energy

Seventy Seven Energy’s 1st Quarterly Update: Revenue Down 6%
August 5, 2014August 5, 2014

It was a loooong labor and delivery, but finally Seventy Seven Energy was born a little over a month ago (see Long Labor & Delivery: Seventy Seven Energy Born Yesterday). Who or what is Seventy Seven Energy? It’s the old Chesapeake Oilfield Operating (COO) division of Chesapeake Energy–the services arm that competes with companies like Halliburton and Baker Hughes. Chessy’s current CEO Doug Lawler, who seems to report to corporate raider Carl Icahn, spun out COO into its own company to improve Chessy’s balance sheet and make Carl’s stock holdings worth more. Such is life in corporate raider America. Anywho, the new Seventy Seven Energy (or SSE as they call themselves), a company with operations in both the Marcellus and Utica, issued their first quarterly operational and financial update yesterday–an update that will be watched closely…
Read More “Seventy Seven Energy’s 1st Quarterly Update: Revenue Down 6%”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Sand/Proppant | Trucking | Wastewater

New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers
August 4, 2014August 4, 2014

Three weeks ago MDN highlighted news from NGI’s Shale Daily that Magnum Hunter Resources had purchased the mineral rights for two former Ormet properties in Ohio and West Virginia (see Magnum Hunter Buys Ormet Property in OH/WV, More Wells Coming?). Ormet, you may recall, had a big aluminum plant in Hannibal (Monroe County), OH that sits on the Ohio River (complete with a big barge facility) that was bankrupted because they couldn’t get Ohio to lower the electricity bills long enough for them to convert their own coal-burning electric generation plant into using natural gas mined from under the property (see Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It). It was a big fail on the part of Gov. John “foreigner hunter” Kasich’s administration and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Magnum now owns the mineral rights, and Niagara Worldwide LLC now owns the real estate and plant itself in OH. Niagara issued a press release today advertising that they’re looking to re-open the Hannibal site for business. The announcement has a big tie-in with the shale drilling industry…
Read More “New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers”
Bradford County | Energy Companies | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Susquehanna County

Southwestern 2Q14: Marcellus Output Doubles, Investment Lowered
August 4, 2014August 4, 2014

Southwestern Energy released its second quarter 2014 financial and operating results last week. Among the big news is that Southwestern nearly doubled output in the Marcellus region from 34 billion cubic feet in 2Q13 to 61 Bcf for 2Q14–approximately 668 million cubic feet per day. Likewise Southwestern’s midstream division saw a 27% increase in revenue for 2Q14 over the year before. Noticeably, the company gathered 417 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from 61 miles of company-owned gathering lines in the Marcellus Shale. Unhappily, the company has revised down its project investment for drilling in the Marcellus from $760 million to $700 million in 2014. It appears the company will spend that (plus money from other scaled back plays) to invest in a new venture in the Niobrara basin in Colorado and Wyoming…
Read More “Southwestern 2Q14: Marcellus Output Doubles, Investment Lowered”
Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Pipelines | Rice Energy | Utica Shale

Gulfport Cuts Deal with Competitor Rice Energy to Build Pipeline
August 1, 2014August 1, 2014

An interesting announcement from Gulfport Energy earlier this week. The company issued a “midstream update” and a production numbers for 2Q14 going back one year. What’s interesting is that Gulfport has cut midstream (i.e. pipeline) deals to get its production out of the Utica Shale basin in eastern Ohio. One deal is with Rice Energy, a competitor who also drills in the Utica. Rice will construct and operate gathering pipelines for Gulfport in several townships in Belmont County, OH. (Interesting that Rice is becoming a midstream company as well as a driller.) The second deal is with midstreamer MarkWest Energy to construct pipelines to Gulfport wells in other parts of Belmont County, and in parts of Monroe County, OH…
Read More “Gulfport Cuts Deal with Competitor Rice Energy to Build Pipeline”
Anadarko | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Southwestern Energy | Statewide PA

Loyalsock Drilling Update: Public Will Have 15 Days to Comment
August 1, 2014August 1, 2014

Last Friday MDN told you about the latest spin job being run by the reliably anti-drilling PBS StateImpact Pennsylvania against the PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) over their constitutional requirement to allow drilling in the Loyalsock State Forest (see Save the Loyalsock Coalition Attempts a New Spin Job Against DCNR). PA does not own the mineral rights for 25,000 acres of the forest. Anadarko Petroleum and Southwestern Energy are the owners of those mineral rights and have, for years, been attempting to work out a plan to drill there. DCNR is working with both companies to get a plan in place, which has anti-drillers in a dither. Today we bring you the news that DCNR has issued an announcement about where they stand in the process–to let the public know that when a plan to drill has been worked out, the public (meaning anti-drillers) will have 15 days to gripe and moan before the microphones and via email and letters…
Read More “Loyalsock Drilling Update: Public Will Have 15 Days to Comment”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Revisiting the EQT “Forced Pooling” Lawsuit
July 30, 2014July 30, 2014

Yesterday MDN wrote a summary and interpretation of an article appearing in the Harrisburg Patriot-News about the recent court decision known as EQT Production v. Opatkiewicz, et al (see EQT’s (Mis)Use of 2013 Royalty Law Creates Forced Pooling). MDN friend and one of our legal idols–Dr. Michael Joy (with top law firm Reed Smith, holder of advanced degrees in both geology and the law) wrote to tell us–you’re wrong about your opinion of that case! When someone of Michael’s stature tells you you’re wrong, you step back and do some reflecting to see where you came off the tracks…
Read More “Revisiting the EQT “Forced Pooling” Lawsuit”