Energy Companies

CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies

CONSOL Energy 2Q14: Production Up, Margins Up, Costs Down
July 30, 2014July 30, 2014

CONSOL Energy issued their second quarter update yesterday. Although the company lost $25 million for the quarter due to accounting this and write-down that, the shale drilling division of the company performed like a star. Production was 51.9 billion cubic feet equivalent, up 34% over the same period a year ago. That converts to an average of 576 million cubic feet per day. Although the update contains a lot of information about the Marcellus/Utica, most of it relates to the financial aspects and not to operations. Here’s the brief couple of paragraphs of most interest to MDN:
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Allegheny County | Chevron | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

Chevron Puts Moon Twp, PA Office Building Project on Hold
July 30, 2014July 30, 2014

In February 2011 Chevron completed the purchase/buyout of Atlas Energy and with it, some 622,000 acres of Marcellus Shale leases. Atlas was located in Moon Township, PA (Allegheny County, near Pittsburgh). In September 2011, Chevron picked up another 228,000 acres–this time from Chief Oil & Gas (see Chevron Continues Aggressive Expansion into Marcellus Shale in PA – Buys Leases for Additional 228K Acres from Chief Oil & Gas). In May 2013 it was rumored that Chevron would build a new, massive 350,000 square foot headquarters in Moon Twp, a rumor that was confirmed when Chevron gained initial approval for the new facility in September 2013 (see Chevron Wins 1st Approval for New Regional HQ Near Pittsburgh). Chevron has just put those plans on hold…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Rex Energy

Martians Still Trying to Invade Neighbors to Prevent Drilling
July 30, 2014July 30, 2014

Nasty, and frankly loony, anti-drillers in Mars, PA want to exceed their constitutional authority. They want a 2 mile exclusion zone around the school to deny landowners the right to allow Marcellus Shale drilling on or under their land. State law already prohibits drilling within 500 feet of a school. As we frequently point out, the Elk Lake School District in Susquehanna County, PA has a couple of wells right on school property (see Rural NE PA School Nets $1.7M in Royalties from 2 Marcellus Wells). The Elk Lake wells totally debunk any arguments from Mars parents that their little Martian crumb-crunchers would be damaged by drilling…
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Cameron County | Elk County | Energy Companies | Lycoming County | McKean County | Pennsylvania | Seneca Resources

Seneca Resources 3Q14: Drilling Moves Away from Lycoming County
July 29, 2014July 29, 2014

Seneca Resources, the Marcellus Shale drilling division of midstream and utility company National Fuel Gas headquartered in Buffalo, NY, issued their fiscal third quarter (everyone else’s calendar second quarter) update yesterday. Among the interesting items: Seneca has shifted its focus on new drilling away from Lycoming County, PA (Williamsport area) westward to Elk, McKean and Cameron counties. The shift in focus will remain until Williams completes its recently announced Atlantic Sunrise Expansion pipeline project. Also of note was the increase in Seneca’s production and where it came from…
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Energy Companies | Range Resources Corp

Range CEO Says Path to Producing 3 Bcf/d in Company Sights
July 29, 2014July 29, 2014

By all accounts, Range Resources had a busy second quarter 2014. The company increased production by 21% over the same period last year–to 1.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas–most of it coming from the Marcellus. And that was despite the problems with a MarkWest processing plant going offline from late May to mid-July following a lightening strike (see MarkWest Re-Opens Chartiers, PA Plant, New Plant in OH) and despite unplanned downtime for the Mariner West pipeline which carts Range’s ethane to Canada. Even so, production (and profits) were at record highs for Range in 2Q14…
Read More “Range CEO Says Path to Producing 3 Bcf/d in Company Sights”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

EQT’s (Mis)Use of 2013 Royalty Law Creates Forced Pooling
July 29, 2014July 29, 2014

A Pittsburgh-based attorney who, it appears (from his byline) sues shale drillers for a living, nevertheless offers up an excellent article in the Harrisburg Patriot-News that helps us understand the ill-advised royalty bill signed into law one year ago this month (see PA Gov Corbett Signs Back-Door Forced Pooling Bill into Law). The bill was meant to help landowners receive better, more transparent information in their royalty statements, but at the last minute a provision was added that allows leased properties to be pooled for horizontal drilling. Immediately after the royalty bill passed, EQT used the eleventh hour provision, called Secton 2.1 of the law, to sue 70 landowners (see Bad News: EQT Sues 70 Landowners Using New PA Forced Pooling Law). As with all things legal, this is complicated, but thanks to the lawyer’s article, we now have a better understanding of it…
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Industrywide Issues | Keystone Pure Water Tech | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Supply Chain | Wastewater

Exclusive: Breakthrough Tech Cleans Frack Wastewater <30 Minutes
July 28, 2014July 28, 2014

What if you were convinced an invention IS the greatest thing since sliced bread–at least as it applies to the world of shale drilling? And what if that invention could clean thousands of gallons of frack wastewater right on site and turn it into DRINKABLE water–in less than 30 minutes? And what if this process uses no chemicals, and even eliminates radioactivity, producing inert minerals (like iron) that can be sold for profit? Oh, and what if your cost, as the driller, was only $3 per barrel to work this magic? Would you believe such a tall tale? You would if you were me…
Read More “Exclusive: Breakthrough Tech Cleans Frack Wastewater <30 Minutes”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Pennsylvania | Utica Shale

EQT Takes the Plunge: Drilling 1st Utica Well in SWPA
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

Yesterday EQT released an update for second quarter 2014 (see EQT 2Q14 Update: Profit & Production Way Up). The top brass for EQT also held an analyst phone call/update to discuss that update–to elaborate and add some color and additional information. It was an informative phone call. Among the most interesting items to be discussed is that EQT has finally found its way on the Utica. They plan to begin drilling what is likely the deepest Utica well ever drilled at a depth of 13,500 feet–in Greene County–Pennsylvania’s most southwestern county…
Read More “EQT Takes the Plunge: Drilling 1st Utica Well in SWPA”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

EQT Midstream: 2 Major Pipeline Projects Advance, 1 Doesn’t
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

In addition to yesterday’s big news that EQT has decided to “take the plunge” and drill what is thought to be the deepest Utica Shale well yet, in Greene County, PA (see MDN’s related story today), EQT also announced yesterday their plans for their midstream operations over the coming months. CEO David Porges said EQT Midstream will spend “over $350 million” on midstream projects in 2014. The company has three major pipeline/midstream projects on the books. Porges said two of those projects are advancing while one is going “on the back burner”…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT Analyst Presentation: Acreage Maps, Decline Curves & More
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

It’s “EQT Day” on MDN. In addition to two other stories on EQT–one about the company drilling their first-ever Utica well in SWPA, the other about which pipeline projects made the cut and will get built–we bring you the latest analyst presentation slide deck (below). Full of interesting charts and graphs from the July 24, 2014 analyst presentation given by EQT’s management team. Here’s a guide to our favorite slides (just about all of them are our favorites!)…
Read More “EQT Analyst Presentation: Acreage Maps, Decline Curves & More”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot O&G: Afterburners Kick in on Rocket to the Moon
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

MDN has an admitted soft spot for Cabot Oil & Gas. We know a number of Cabot personnel–all extremely talented and top-drawer professionals. Cabot has been (in our opinion) unfairly maligned for “causing Dimock” which is still a rallying cry for hacks like Josh Fox and his Gasland fictional movies. Even though we have an admitted crush on Cabot, the fact is, they are a stellar performer by everyone’s standards. Yesterday the company released second quarter results for 2014 and they report, among many interesting things, that the company produced an average 1.26 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from their wells in Susquehanna County, PA. Folks, the entire country produces 70 Bcf/d (see U.S. Hits New Daily Production Record Thx to Marcellus/Utica). If you do the math, the amount of gas a single driller is producing from a single PA county (Cabot/Susquehanna County)–is nearly 2% of all gas produced in the U.S. every day. Simply astonishing…
Read More “Cabot O&G: Afterburners Kick in on Rocket to the Moon”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County | Williams

Cabot CEO Dinges Talks Marcellus, Midstream Challenges
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

MDN brought you the Cabot Oil & Gas second quarter update today in a related post. The company released their update yesterday. They also held a call for analysts and investors in which CEO Dan Dinges talked pretty frankly about his frustrations with Williams over problems with pipelines in Susquehanna County, PA where Cabot has drilled all of their PA Marcellus wells–to date anyway. Seems that Williams had some difficulties during the harsh winter and those difficulties stretched into 2Q14 as well…
Read More “Cabot CEO Dinges Talks Marcellus, Midstream Challenges”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

Constitution Pipeline Update from Cabot – Final EIS Due Any Day
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

The Constitution Pipeline, as MDN has covered numerous times before, is a 30-inch, 124-mile pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY to carry cheap, abundant Marcellus Shale gas to markets that include New York City and New England (see Vicariously Attend FERC Scoping Hearing on Constitution Pipeline). The $683 million project will be built by Williams, although Cabot is also a partner in the project. In fact, the pipeline will carry mostly Cabot natural gas–another half billion cubic feet of Cabot gas per day will flow through it. So it was no surprise that Cabot CEO Dan Dinges took time to mention the Constitution in an analyst call yesterday. Here’s what he said about timing for the project:
Read More “Constitution Pipeline Update from Cabot – Final EIS Due Any Day”
Energy Companies | Noble Energy

Noble Energy 2Q14: 249 Mmcf/d Marcellus Production, Up 120%
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

Noble Energy is a big on- and off-shore driller with operations that span the world. A very successful single off-shore project in the Mediterranean, just off the coast of Israel, has essentially made Israel energy independent–no longer relying on Arab countries for natural gas. Noble also has a big presence in the Marcellus Shale–especially in West Virginia. Noble issued their second quarter 2014 update yesterday. MDN has extracted two sections from the update for MDN readers. The first is the general introductory overview, the second the operations update for the Marcellus with particulars on number of wells drilled, where, etc….
Read More “Noble Energy 2Q14: 249 Mmcf/d Marcellus Production, Up 120%”
Anadarko | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Bradford County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Southwestern Energy | Sullivan County

Save the Loyalsock Coalition Attempts a New Spin Job Against DCNR
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

Another anti-drilling spin job by the partisan, biased “reporters” at PBS’ StateImpact Pennsyvlania. The reliably anti-drilling Marie Cusick–who (going by her previous articles) hasn’t encountered a fossil fuel she likes–is once again trying to stir the anti-drilling pot against legitimate, legal and ethical drilling in the Loyalsock State Forest in central Pennsylvania. Anadarko Petroleum owns mineral rights for 25,000 acres of the Forest. Anadarko presented a plan in March 2012 (!) to drill there, a plan that STILL has not been approved by the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (see PA DCNR Blocks Drilling in Loyalsock State Forest – For Now). Finally, there have been some baby steps toward granting Anadarko access to what they legally have a right to do…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Talisman Energy

Repsol Eyes Talisman Energy for “Assets” – Takeover Target?
July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

MDN told you last October that evil corporate raider Carl Icahn had begun to sink his claws into his next shale victim. Like he had done at Chesapeake Energy, Icahn started snapping up stock in Canadian company Talisman Energy (see Carl Icahn Snaps Up 6% of His Next E&P Victim: Talisman Energy). Icahn quickly became the puppet master pulling the strings, forcing the company to begin selling assets (see Icahn Now Throwing His Weight Around at Talisman, Like Chesapeake). You knew what was coming when he scored two seats on the board of the directors just a few months later, in December 2013 (see Carl Icahn’s Claws Go Deeper into Talisman – 2 New Board Members). Indeed, what we feared is now coming true. Talisman is now actively considering a buyout/takover from Spanish oil company Repsol…
Read More “Repsol Eyes Talisman Energy for “Assets” – Takeover Target?”