Energy Companies

eCORP International | eCORP Stimulation Technologies | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

eCORP Tests New Waterless LPG Fracking Method on First Shale Well
January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

Last year MDN told you about a deal in Tioga County, NY between landowners with 135,000 acres and drilling company eCORP to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, or propane) fracking as an alternative to water-based fracking. The deal, which had a complicated structure with the landowners as part-owners of the venture, fell apart (see Tioga County, NY Lease Deal with eCORP Falls Apart). One of the interesting aspects of that story is that by using a non-water-based fracking method, eCORP may have been able to proceed with drilling ahead of New York’s much-delayed new fracking regulations. However, that theory never came to a test.

Here’s the new news: eCORP was going to use GASFRAC’s LPG fracking technology in Tioga County. Since that time, a newly formed subsidiary of eCORP called eCORP Stimulation Technologies has developed its own LPG fracking technology that uses 100% propane and zero chemicals or additives of any kind. eCORP fracked the very first shale well with the new technology in December…

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake’s CEO McClendon Will Not Get a $1.95M Bonus for 2012
January 9, 2013January 9, 2013

In a regulatory filing on Monday, Chesapeake Energy said it will not pay CEO Aubrey McClendon a bonus for 2012. Since 2009 he’s received a $1.95 million bonus each year. But the company had a tough year in 2012 with the revelation that some of McClendon’s financing deals were a bit sketchy. Too, the stock price for the company took a real tumble in 2012 because of a lot of debt, and the company’s chief asset—the ability to produce natural gas—suffered from the low commodity price for natgas. Chesapeake ended up selling off many assets to pay down their debt. Throw it all in the pot and Aubrey had a lot of Excedrin headaches last year.

What we know about the recent regulatory filing, and a quick recap of Chesapeake’s tough year in 2012:

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Cayuga County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Minard Run Oil | New York | Seneca County

PA Driller Buys Land, Wells from Chesapeake–in NY Finger Lakes
January 8, 2013January 8, 2013

A small independent exploration and production company from Bradford, PA—Minard Run Oil Co.—has just picked up 56,130 acres of leases, 200 miles of pipelines, compressor stations, and 413 natural gas wells—all located in the Finger Lakes region of New York. They purchased the assets from Chesapeake Energy for an undisclosed amount. According to Minard, Chesapeake was “a willing seller,” which kind of feels to MDN like it was a “fire sale” on the part of Chesapeake to get a little more cash on the books before the close of 2012.

For now, Minard plans to continue vertical-only drilling and drill another 20-30 wells in 2013. The company did not mention any plans for horizontal fracking in the future.

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

Chesapeake’s Drilling Security – A Serious Business
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

Chesapeake Energy takes security in and around it’s drill sites seriously—so much so they employ 24 full-time security officers to conduct roving patrols in an eight-county region in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

Security for Chesapeake, however, involves far more than driving by a drill site and rattling a chained fence…

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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

NC Utility Signs Deal with Cabot for PA Marcellus Gas
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

Piedmont Natural Gas, a natural gas utility based in North Carolina, has just signed a 15-year contract with Cabot Oil & Gas to buy a “meaningful portion” of its natural gas supplies from the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale starting in 2015.

Although the details of the agreement are confidential, Piedmont’s CEO did share the following on an investor’s call yesterday:

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Encore Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OH Utica Leasing Agent’s Acreage Grows to 1/4 Million
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

In July MDN told you about Encore Energy, a horizontal well operator formed last year and headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, that’s acting as a leasing agent for a large tract of Utica Shale acreage. At the time they advertised they “have access to” 175,000 acres in Ohio (see Encore Energy Shopping 175K Utica Shale Acres in OH). That number has grown. Encore is advertising they have now have access and rights to lease a quarter of a million acres in the Ohio Utica.

Wanting to remind drillers they’re still around and have land deals to lease, they issued another press release on Wednesday:

Read More “OH Utica Leasing Agent’s Acreage Grows to 1/4 Million”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | Monroe County | Ohio | Triad Hunter

Two Fierce Competitors Join Forces to Drill in OH Utica Shale
January 3, 2013January 3, 2013

Drilling company Magnum Hunter Resources announced a joint operating deal yesterday with Eclipse Resources to drill 12 Marcellus and 12 Utica Shale wells on 1,950 acres in Monroe County, OH over the next three years. Both companies together will invest $200 million in the program.

The reason for the partnership between these fierce competitors? According to Magnum Hunter, it’s due to the “treacherous terrain in this region” of the state. They want to pool resources and keep costs down. Of course, it also helps that Eclipse will start using Magnum’s pipeline system (Eureka Hunter Pipeline), providing more revenue for the midstream area of the business.

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Antero Resources | Ashland County | Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Devon Energy | HG Energy | Medina County | Monroe County | Noble County | Ohio | Portage County | Stark County | Utica Shale

Flip Side: Some OH Utica Shale Wells Get Plugged/Abandoned
January 2, 2013January 2, 2013

When it comes to drilling in the Ohio Utica Shale, a lot of attention has been focused on the ramp up in activity—the growing number of drilling rigs, huge land lease deals, and eye-popping initial production results for some of the wells drilled. But there is another side to the story.

Every now and again, a well does not produce. Could be the driller did not properly find the shale layer (extremely rare). Could be they did find it but for whatever reason the layer doesn’t produce in that area. More likely there were problems during the drilling that caused the work to be stopped—like a broken-off drill bit. In Ohio, there have been nine Utica Shale wells that have been plugged and abandoned (so far). Here’s where they are located and who did the drilling:

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Energy’s Huge Vote of Confidence in Ohio’s Utica Shale
January 2, 2013January 2, 2013

Chesapeake Energy is the largest driller (by far) in the Ohio Utica Shale—a situation not likely to change any time soon. Chesapeake is in love with Ohio’s Utica Shale.

Here’s a rundown of their drilling operations in the Ohio Utica, including how many wells drilled (to date), how much they’ve invested in the state, and their plans for 2013:

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Accidents | Chesapeake Energy | CNX Resources | Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | West Virginia

WV Landowner Sues 3 Companies for Methane Contamination of Water
January 2, 2013January 2, 2013

A landowner in Marshall County, West Virginia had previously sued Chesapeake Energy, claiming Chesapeake’s nearby drilling and fracking operations (from 2009/2010) caused methane to migrate and contaminate his water well. Chesapeake sampled the well and found the kind of methane in the well (the “fingerprint” for the methane) does not match the methane from their drilled natural gas well.

The story then gets complicated. It seems that CNX Gas, a division of CONSOL Energy, had previously drilled a number of shallow natural gas wells in the area, and that Columbia Gas, a division of NiSource, has an underground natural gas storage field adjacent to the landowner’s property. Oy vey. There’s no shortage of possibilities for how the methane may have gotten into his well, and so now everyone is now getting sued…

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Probe into Chesapeake’s CEO Aubrey McClendon Nears End
December 31, 2012December 31, 2012

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the probe into the financial dealings of Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, which started in April 2012 and was supposed to be wrapped up in “weeks not months” has still not concluded, but will do so by mid-January. When it does, don’t expect McClendon to step down as CEO…

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Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Ohio | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

Trumbull County’s First Utica Shale Well Now in Process
December 31, 2012December 31, 2012

Although BP is the largest leaseholder for Utica Shale drilling in Trumbull County, OH with 84,000 acres under lease, Halcon Resources, which purchased 15,000 acres of leases from Carrizo Oil & Gas in October (see this MDN story), is the first to put drill bit to earth and is currently drilling the county’s very first horizontal Utica Shale well:

Read More “Trumbull County’s First Utica Shale Well Now in Process”
Antero Resources | Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Monroe County | Ohio | PDC Energy | Utica Shale

11 New Utica Shale Drilling Permits in OH, as of Dec 12
December 28, 2012December 28, 2012

The latest round of permits to drill new Utica Shale wells from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) includes 11 new permits, 8 of which went to Chesapeake Energy.

Here’s the latest Ohio Utica permit report (with grand totals by county) as of Dec. 12:

Read More “11 New Utica Shale Drilling Permits in OH, as of Dec 12”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

Shell Ethane Cracker in PA Still Not a Done Deal
December 27, 2012December 27, 2012

As MDN has cautioned in previous stories, and as Shell themselves have said, the $2 billion ethane cracker plant planned for Monaca (Beaver County), PA is still not a done deal. Yes it’s looking good, yes PA passed the necessary tax incentives, but Shell is still studying the site for the proposed plant. Although Shell was supposed to purchase the land by the end of 2012, that now will not happen.

Like any real estate deal—until the money is in the bank and the deed in your hand, anything can happen…

Read More “Shell Ethane Cracker in PA Still Not a Done Deal”
Energy Companies | EV Energy Partners | Utica Shale

EV Energy Partners Utica Acreage Sale Delayed Until 2013
December 24, 2012December 24, 2012

Last week MDN told you to be on the lookout for a sale by EV Energy Partners (EVEP) of their Utica Shale acreage (see this MDN story). EVEP’s Executive Chairman, John Walker, said in November the company was looking to sell its interest in 100,000 operated acres by the end of 2012. Looks like that was a tad optimistic on Walker’s part…

Read More “EV Energy Partners Utica Acreage Sale Delayed Until 2013”
CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies

CONSOL Energy’s Executive Management Shake-up
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

CONSOL Energy, headquartered in Pittsburgh, has been known as a coal company for generations. More recently, they’ve accumulated the fourth largest number of Marcellus Shale acres under lease and have a very active shale drilling program in both the Marcellus and the Utica Shale. So when CONSOL issues an “innocent” press release announcing three members of the executive management team are retiring, we notice.

MDN has no idea whether these announcements really mean anything beyond what they are: long-time employees retiring—although one of the three has only been with the company since 2005. Still, a big change (shake-up?) in upper management may spell a strategy change coming for the company. Here’s CONSOL’s press release from yesterday:

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