Energy Companies

Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

Corbett Story Changes: Decision on PA Cracker Plant Delayed Again
April 29, 2013April 29, 2013

In what looks to be like more backpedaling, PA Gov. Tom Corbett told the Pittsburgh Business Times on Friday he now doesn’t expect a final decision on whether Shell will build a new $2 billion ethane cracker plant in Monaca, PA until 2014. Last December he said Shell needed another six months (until the end of June) for lawyers “dotting I’s and crossing T’s” (see Gov Tom Corbett: Shell Cracker Plant in PA Not “Off the Rails”). Now the story is, “I’ve always thought it would be early next year,” meaning 2014. Hmmm. Then why didn’t he say that last December?

From the Pittsburgh Business Times:

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Antero Resources | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Utica Shale

OH School District Gets $400K Lease Bonus from Antero Resources
April 29, 2013April 29, 2013

The Barnesville Exempted Village School District in Belmont County, OH has just signed a lease with Antero Resources for $5,700 per acre plus 20% royalties. Antero also kicked in an extra gift of $37,500 making the grand total for the lease bonus just over $400,000 for the school district. The school’s superintendent Randy Lucas said Antero plans to start drilling “sometime over the next two years”…

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CNX Resources | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies

CONSOL 1Q13 Update: Transition from Coal to NatGas Continues
April 29, 2013April 29, 2013

CONSOL Energy is one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus Shale. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, CONSOL is also one of the country’s largest coal producers–and the coal portion of the company weighs down its financial performance, as evidenced by their most recent financial update. Last week, CONSOL released its first quarter 2013 financial and operational update and although earnings were disappointing, Marcellus Shale gas production was up a very healthy 60% over the same period in 2012. CONSOL is transforming itself from coal company to natural gas company that concentrates on the Marcellus and Utica Shale region.

Portions of the 1Q13 update, including a very interesting breakdown of the costs to extract gas, which shows in that CONSOL sold gas for an average $4.30 per thousand cubic feet in 1Q13, of which $0.77 per Mcf was profit:

Read More “CONSOL 1Q13 Update: Transition from Coal to NatGas Continues”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lenape Resources | Litigation | Livingston County | New York | Regulation

Lenape Appeals Ruling, Seeks to Overturn Frack Ban in Avon, NY
April 26, 2013April 26, 2013

Lenape Resources Inc., a small independent oil and gas company located in western NY, and its president John Holko, have “guts.” The Town of Avon, NY (Livingston County) where Lenape has a good portion of its operations voted last year to ban fracking. The poorly written law violates existing New York State law which says towns can’t regulate oil and gas drilling. It also was so broadly written it affects conventional/vertical drilling as well as unconventional/horizontal drilling. Lenape has used vertical fracking in Avon for decades (for background, see Fracking Ban in NY Town Closes Conventional Wells Too). Lenape shut down operations in Avon and sued to have the ban overturned.

Unfortunately, in March an “acting” judge in a lower court decision (misleadingly and quirkily called “Supreme” Court in NY) supported Avon’s illegal law (see Third NY Town Wins Court Approval to Ban Fracking). Lenape has received overwhelming support from the oil and gas industry and landowners, so they’ve decided to appeal the lower court ruling to the next level up in an effort to resolve this mess for all drillers in NY:

Read More “Lenape Appeals Ruling, Seeks to Overturn Frack Ban in Avon, NY”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA

Range Resources 1Q13 Update: Marcellus Provides "Impressive Results"
April 26, 2013April 26, 2013

Range Resources, the first driller to sink a Marcellus Shale well in western PA in 2004, issued their first quarter financial and operational update yesterday. According to Range, the liquids-rich Marcellus in southwestern PA “continues to provide impressive results.” Range’s daily production hit new highs in 1Q13. Most of their Marcellus work is concentrated in the “super rich” area of SW PA where they brought 25 new wells online in the first quarter. However, Range also drilled 7 new wells in NE PA, in the “dry gas” zone of the Marcellus.

Here’s part of the Range update, including details on their Marcellus operations:

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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Keeps Rockin’ It in the Marcellus Shale
April 25, 2013April 25, 2013

Yesterday, Cabot Oil & Gas issued financial results for the first quarter of 2013. Natural gas production for the company was up a whopping 50% over last year, and up 13% from last quarter! As MDN had previously noted, the company was the first to hit 1 billion cubic feet of production per day in the PA Marcellus Shale (see Who’s a Member of the Marcellus “1 Bcf/d” Club?).

Net income for the company was up over last year ($42.8M as opposed ti $18.3M last year in 1Q). According to company CEO Dan Dinges, the key to their success is the Marcellus. The Cabot statement from yesterday:

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Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT 1Q13 Report: It’s All Looking "Up" – Thanks to the Marcellus
April 25, 2013April 25, 2013

EQT turned in a report on the first quarter of 2013 today and the numbers are excellent. Marcellus Shale production for the company rose 103% over the same period last year. Midstream volumes are up, revenue is up, profits are up. Hey, it’s all looking up for EQT!

EQT had 79.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale for 1Q13–they’re closing in and will soon become the second member of the 1 Bcf/Day Club (Cabot is already in the club). Here’s the EQT report issued this morning:

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Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT & Gas Utility Company Deal Gets Federal "Approval"
April 25, 2013April 25, 2013

On March 1, MDN told you about the complex deal agreed to between EQT and People’s Natural Gas. EQT wants to swap its gas utility division, called Equiptable Gas Company, to People’s in return for cash and a midstream company owned by Peoples called Allegheny Valley Connector (see Pittsburgh Driller & Gas Utility Co Want to Swap Assets). Good news today from EQT. They report the Federal Trade Commission has “not objected” to (meaning it approves of) the transfer–a big hurdle to completing the deal. However, there’s still a number of other approvals from state agencies that need to be obtained before the deal can be finalized.

The announcement today from EQT about the FTC “approval”:

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Anadarko | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Bradford County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Sullivan County

Manufactured Controversy over Drilling in Loyalsock State Forest
April 24, 2013June 6, 2013

A new manufactured “controversy” is being ginned up by PA Democrat officials and anti-drillers over Anadarko Petroleum’s plan to drill on land they legally own the mineral rights to—25,000 acres in Loyalsock State Forest that covers parts of Lycoming, Sullivan and Bradford counties in PA. Here’s the first time we’ve heard this phrase: The forest contains a “critical bird nursery.” I mean, who could possibly drill in a nursery? Drilling will also happen underneath part of the Old Logger’s Path—not the New Logger’s Path, not the Plain and Simple Logger’s path, but the Old Logger’s Path. And drilling may include portions of the exceptional value stream known as Rock Run. We wonder, are other streams unexceptional? And (OMG!) it may include the lumber ghost town of Masten. DO NOT disturb ghosts—they don’t like it.

Isn’t language in an anti-drilling demagogue’s hands a marvel to behold?…

[Please see an update/note at the end of this article.]

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Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Noise | Ohio | Trucking | Trumbull County

Trumbull County Mobile Home Park Doesn’t Like Utica Drilling
April 24, 2013April 24, 2013

The down sides of drilling, if you happen to live close to a drill site, are noise, flood lights for working at night, and truck traffic. Residents of the Westwood Lake Mobile Home Park in Trumbull County, OH can attest to that. The good news is, drilling only lasts a short time—typically a month or less. Still, someone banging on your door at 3 a.m. in the morning is a bit much…

Read More “Trumbull County Mobile Home Park Doesn’t Like Utica Drilling”
Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Rice Energy | Westmoreland County

Marcellus Drill Cuttings Set Off Radiation Alarm at SW PA Landfill
April 23, 2013April 23, 2013

A truck with Marcellus Shale drill cuttings entering a landfill in Westmoreland County, PA triggered a radiation alarm last Friday. The truck was quarantined and after finding that yes indeed, the cuttings were a tad too radioactive for disposal at the landfill, the truck was sent back to the drilling site in Greene County.

The details:

Read More “Marcellus Drill Cuttings Set Off Radiation Alarm at SW PA Landfill”
BP | Energy Companies | Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trumbull County

ODNR Awards 2 New Forced Pooling Orders in OH – to BP
April 23, 2013April 23, 2013

The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) recently issued two new “unitization” (or forced pooling) orders, bringing the total number of unitizations to four that they’ve issued in the Utica Shale. Both of the new orders were issued on behalf of BP and both were in Trumbull County. Here’s the details of the two orders, including how much the reluctant landowners were awarded as a bonus and how much they’ll make in royalties:

Read More “ODNR Awards 2 New Forced Pooling Orders in OH – to BP”
Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration

Gastar Sells East Texas Assets, Will Concentrate on Marcellus
April 23, 2013April 23, 2013

Yesterday, Houston-based Gastar Exploration Ltd announced they’re selling their East Texas “assets” (land, wells, etc.) to Cubic Energy, Inc. for $46 million. Why? So they have more money for Marcellus drilling…

Read More “Gastar Sells East Texas Assets, Will Concentrate on Marcellus”
Belmont County | Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Opens New Regional Office in Belmont County, OH
April 23, 2013April 23, 2013

Chesapeake Energy has just opened a new field office in Belmont County, OH at the Fox Commerce Park, just west of St. Clairsville:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues

PA Anti-Drilling Groups Demand EQT Give Up Right to Free Speech
April 19, 2013April 19, 2013

A group of extremist anti-drilling organizations, including PennPIRG, PennEnvironment, Public Citizen, Keystone Progress, One Pittsburgh, Common Cause PA, University of Pittsburgh students and “others” held a press conference outside EQT’s annual shareholder meeting in Pittsburgh on Wednesday to unilaterally call for EQT to forfeit their rights to free speech under the U.S. Constitution. These extremist groups want to muzzle EQT’s right to contribute money to political candidates who would stick up for the legal rights of industry to drill for natural gas and oil. Thing is, these extremist groups aren’t willing to give up their right to free speech (i.e. spending money on political campaigns), so why should EQT?

A very twisted press release from said groups:

Read More “PA Anti-Drilling Groups Demand EQT Give Up Right to Free Speech”
Butler County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Makes Lease Offers to Western PA Towns
April 19, 2013April 19, 2013

You don’t read much these days about new land deals and offers being made in the PA Marcellus. Oh it happens, but not nearly as much as it used to. So when MDN runs across mention of a new offer, we figure that’s news you want to know about—particularly where and how much?

Rex Energy has just made an offer to Middlesex Township (Butler County), PA to lease some or all of the town’s 20-plus acres located on Browns Hill Road. Rex is just floating the idea at this stage to Middlesex—no specific numbers were thrown on the table. However, Rex did recently make an offer to neighboring Clinton Township, so it stands to reason the numbers for lease bonus and royalties would be similar. Here’s the details:

Read More “Rex Energy Makes Lease Offers to Western PA Towns”