Energy Companies

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants

Chesapeake Sells Mississippi Lime Midstream Operation for $300M
May 2, 2013

Yesterday, SemGroup Corporation announced it had signed an agreement with Chesapeake Energy to purchase all of the assets of Mid-America Midstream Gas Services (a Chessy subsidiary), which owns gas gathering pipelines and processing plants in the Mississippi Lime play. SemGroup is paying Chessy $300 million in cash.

Technically it’s not a Marcellus/Utica deal, but MDN is covering this story because…
Read More “Chesapeake Sells Mississippi Lime Midstream Operation for $300M”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

More on Chesapeake’s Fire Sale of PA Acreage to Southwestern
May 1, 2013May 1, 2013

A blogger on the Seeking Alpha website delivers a bit more information about the announcement earlier this week that Chesapeake is selling their leases for 163,000 acres in NE PA to Southwestern Energy for what MDN called the “fire sale” price of $574 per acre (see Southwestern Energy Buys 162K PA Marcellus Acres from Chesapeake).

According to Seeking Alpha, Chesapeake paid an average of $610 per acre to lease that acreage between 2006-2009, so they actually lost money on the deal…
Read More “More on Chesapeake’s Fire Sale of PA Acreage to Southwestern”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | NGLs | NiSource | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Utica Shale

Location ID’d for Mahoning County, OH Cryo Processing Plant
May 1, 2013May 1, 2013

In December, MDN told you the name of a newly formed joint venture between drilling company Hilcorp and midstream company NiSource would be Hickory Bend. The new joint venture will build a wet gas (natural gas liquids) pipeline and processing plant somewhere in the Youngstown, OH area (see Mahoning Utica Pipeline/Processing Plant “Moving Forward”). At the time, no plans had been announced about where the pipeline or cryogenic gas processing plant will be located.

Although the jv is still mum on a pipeline route (they’re acquiring lease rights to build it), we do know where the processing plant will be built…
Read More “Location ID’d for Mahoning County, OH Cryo Processing Plant”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Statewide PA

Southwestern Energy Buys 162K PA Marcellus Acres from Chesapeake
April 30, 2013April 30, 2013

Southwestern Energy announced yesterday that they’ve picked up 162,000 Marcellus Shale acres in northeastern Pennsylvania from Chesapeake Energy for $93 million. Along with the acreage comes 17 producing (1.2 net) wells with a (very small) 2 million cubic feet of net production per day. The Southwestern purchase nearly doubles the amount of their Marcellus Shale acreage.

The first interesting thing to MDN about the deal is that all of this new acreage–as well as all of Southwestern’s existing Marcellus acreage–is squarely in the “dry gas” area of NE PA. Obviously Southwestern, like Cabot Oil & Gas, believes there is money to be made in the dry gas window of the play. The second interesting thing is that Southwestern got the acreage at the fire sale price of $574 per acre…
Read More “Southwestern Energy Buys 162K PA Marcellus Acres from Chesapeake”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

PA DEP Says Drilling Did NOT Contaminate Water in Franklin Forks
April 30, 2013April 30, 2013

As Paul Harvey used to say, here is “the rest of the story” about the contaminated well water for three homes in Franklin Forks (Susquehanna County), PA… In December 2011, three families complained to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) that their well water looked and smelled like it was polluted. Since WPX was drilling natural gas wells nearby at the time, and since two of those wells had been cited by the DEP as having substandard well casings, the assumption was the drilling activity was polluting the water wells (see PA DEP Asks WPX to Help Families with Water/Methane Issues for background).

The rest of the story: After a 16-month thorough investigation, the DEP announced yesterday what residents of Susquehanna County already know–the water in Franklin Forks (and indeed most of Susquehanna County) sucks and has sucked for generations. The DEP found, contrary to the bleating of celebrities, that drilling did NOT pollute the Franklin Forks wells. Those wells are polluted from natural causes, the same natural causes that closed a nearby trailer park more than a decade ago (BGD, before gas drilling)…
Read More “PA DEP Says Drilling Did NOT Contaminate Water in Franklin Forks”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Monster Well in NE PA Yields 8 Bcf in 667 Days
April 30, 2013April 30, 2013

Energy analyst and Seeking Alpha blogger Richard Zeits listened in to the recent Cabot Oil & Gas investor’s conference call and came away with some mind-blowing numbers. The bottom line from the call and from Zeits’ analysis is that Cabot has indeed found a “super-productive” location in Susquehanna County, PA where they own leases on about 200,000 acres. New wells they’ve recently drilled prove that all of their acreage is in this sweet spot.

One startling find by Zeits: A well drilled by Cabot in Susquehanna County has, in just 667 days, produced a cumulative 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas–a single well! That equates to an average of 12 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from that one well. Astonishing. (No wonder Southwestern just picked up an additional 51,000 acres from Chesapeake in Susquehanna County earlier this week, for an average of $574 per acre. Chesapeake was taken to the cleaners).

Here’s some of Zeits’ analysis of the Cabot call, with lots of facts and figures:
Read More “Cabot Monster Well in NE PA Yields 8 Bcf in 667 Days”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

Did PBT “Badger” PA Gov Corbett on Shell Cracker Plant Date?
April 30, 2013April 30, 2013

Yesterday MDN told you about comments from PA Gov. Tom Corbett that seemed to indicate he’s changed his story about when a final final final decision may come from Shell about whether or not they will move forward with building an ethane cracker plant in Monaca, PA (see Corbett Story Changes: Decision on PA Cracker Plant Delayed Again). However, Corbett’s may not be the only story that got changed. According to a spokesman for the governor, the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Business Times “badgered” Corbett into forecasting the 2014 date when a decision may be made, and then shaded their coverage to make it seem as though Corbett has changed his story…

Read More “Did PBT “Badger” PA Gov Corbett on Shell Cracker Plant Date?”
Cambria County | Chevron | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

Chevron to Start Marcellus Drilling in Cambria County, PA
April 30, 2013April 30, 2013

Chevron is about to ramp up drilling on some of their half million plus Marcellus Shale acres located in Cambria County, PA. Construction will begin this summer and drilling will begin in the fall at the Goldenrod Sportsmen’s Club in Jackson Township:
Read More “Chevron to Start Marcellus Drilling in Cambria County, PA”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania General Energy

PA DEP Fines PGE for Spills, Discharges in Lycoming County
April 30, 2013April 30, 2013

The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has fined Pennsylvania General Energy Co. $125,500 for two different sets of violations in Lycoming County, PA that occurred in 2011 and 2012. The fines were for three spills and for excessive sediment discharges into a local creek.

The details from the DEP:
Read More “PA DEP Fines PGE for Spills, Discharges in Lycoming County”
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:

Read More “Corbett Story Changes: Decision on PA Cracker Plant Delayed Again”
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”…

Read More “OH School District Gets $400K Lease Bonus from Antero Resources”
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:

Read More “Range Resources 1Q13 Update: Marcellus Provides "Impressive Results"”
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:

Read More “Cabot Keeps Rockin’ It in the Marcellus Shale”
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:

Read More “EQT 1Q13 Report: It’s All Looking "Up" – Thanks to the Marcellus”