Gastar Adds 2 New Independent Directors to Board
Gastar Exploration, a major driller in the Marcellus/Utica, has added two new independent directors to its board of directors–bumping the number of directors from five to seven. “Independent” means what it sounds like–no prior affiliation or agenda other than to help the company grow and expand. Often times board directors are populated with major investors or, unfortunately, corporate raiders like acolytes of Carl Icahn who infest the board at Chesapeake Energy. The two new board members at Gastar have no such agendas: one is the previous Chairman of the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M, and the other is a petroleum engineer with 30 years of experience. Just the kind of people you want to have guiding the management team at one of the most important drillers in the Marcellus/Utica…
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One of the original seven selfish townships in Pennsylvania that sued the state over the Act 13 Marcellus Drilling law because of its zoning provisions–and won–has just become less selfish. In fact, the town, Robinson Township in Washington County, PA, has done a complete reversal. Two of the three anti-drilling supervisors were voted out of office last November. On their way out they tried to pull a fast one by passing super restrictive zoning (in December). Last night, the incoming two supervisors who are pro-drilling repealed the law and passed one of their own that’s favorable to the drilling industry. Below we take a look at Robinson’s complete reversal, which offers a fascinating preview into what’s coming to townships across New York State when Gov. Andrew “man child” Cuomo finally decides to make a decision to allow fracking…
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 
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…