Energy Companies

Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EV Energy Partners | Industrywide Issues | M3 Midstream | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Utica Shale

Hanoverton, OH NGL Processing Plant on Track for May 2013
November 12, 2012November 12, 2012

In May 2012, MDN told you about a new $400 million cryogenic processing plant to be built in Hanoverton (Columbiana County), Ohio by a joint venture between Chesapeake Energy, M3 Midstream and EV Energy Partners (see this MDN story). The plant will collect and process shale gas, separating out natural gas liquids like propane, butane and ethane. In early October we told you construction had begun and the first phase of the new plant is due to come online in May 2013 (see this MDN story).

Last week an official for M3 Midstream, one of the partners in the project, visited the construction site and said things are track to meet the “very aggressive” May 2013 opening date:

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Energy Companies | New York | Norse Energy | Statewide NY

Norse Energy 3Q12: Revenue Down 33%, Waiting on NY Moratorium
November 9, 2012November 9, 2012

Norse Energy is the plucky drilling company still holding on in New York State. MDN has written quite a bit about Norse. They rolled the dice and bet on acreage in New York State (brave people). Norse currently holds some 130,000 acres of leased land in New York. Problem is, there’s no shale gas drilling in New York and there hasn’t been for 4 1/2 years. All of which has caused Norse to do everything but sell off the kitchen table in an effort to “hang in there” until the day New York does finally allow drilling.

Yesterday Norse released their third quarter financial and operational update. Oil and gas revenue for Norse was down 33% from one year ago. The company says they produced less gas, and the gas they did produce was sold for less money (due to the low commodity price) than gas from a year ago, which led to the decrease in revenue.

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Energy Companies | Trans Energy | West Virginia | Wetzel County

2 New Wetzel County, WV Wells Best Yet for Trans Energy
November 9, 2012November 9, 2012

Trans Energy announced impressive production numbers yesterday for two Marcellus wet gas wells in Wetzel County, WV. In addition, they also provided details on other Wetzel County wells:

Read More “2 New Wetzel County, WV Wells Best Yet for Trans Energy”
Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy

Hilcorp Most Aggressive Driller in Lawrence County, OH
November 9, 2012November 9, 2012

The Youngstown Business Journal reports that Hilcorp has three more new permits for Utica Shale wells in Lawrence County, OH, making it the most aggressive driller in the county:

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake Energy Gets New, Unsecured $2 Billion (!) Loan
November 8, 2012November 7, 2012

Holy smokes. Yesterday Chesapeake Energy, one of largest drillers in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, took out an unsecured (unsecured!) 5-year loan from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies Finance. How much? Try $2 billion (with a “b”). The loan will be syndicated or sold off to a large group of investors. Chesapeake is using the loan to pay off other previous loans. The company continues to sell off parts of the company to pay off all the loans, including this new one.

Here’s a quick statement issued by Chesapeake about the new loan:

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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Noble County | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH

Antero Resources Inks Deal with MarkWest for Ohio Utica Shale
November 7, 2012November 7, 2012

On Monday MDN told you about Antero Resources’ sale of their Piceance Basin assets so they can laser focus on the Marcellus and Utica Shale region (see this MDN story). A day later—yesterday—Antero followed up that big announcement with another big announcement: They’ve signed a deal with MarkWest for pipelines and processing in Noble and Harrison counties (Ohio) to give Antero’s operations in the Ohio Utica Shale a boost. Interestingly, the Harrison County project will yield ethane that MarkWest/Antero will send to the new ATEX ethane pipeline that runs all the way to the Gulf.

Terms of the deal between Antero and MarkWest were not disclosed. Here’s the joint press release announcing the particulars of the deal:

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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies

Carrizo 3Q12: Record Revenue, Slight Loss, 1 Marcellus Rig
November 7, 2012November 7, 2012

Carrizo Oil & Gas released their third quarter financial and operational update yesterday. The company, with drilling operations in the Marcellus and other shale plays, reported record revenue of $96.2 million in 3Q12 with a net loss of just under $1 million. The update says Carrizo plans to continue operating one drilling rig in the Marcellus, in northeastern PA, during the fourth quarter. They also say the Eagle Ford Shale is their primary focus for new investment.

Carrizo recently brought online 10 new wells in the Marcellus in Wyoming County, PA. The 10 wells are producing a collective 50 million cubic feet of natural gas per day on average. Highlights from the Carrizo 3Q12 update:

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Energy Companies | Statewide WV | Stone Energy | West Virginia

Stone Energy 3Q12: Income Down, Revenue Up, Marcellus Expands
November 7, 2012November 7, 2012

Stone Energy reported third quarter results yesterday. The company’s 3Q12 net income was down about half of what it was in 3Q11 (to $23.7 million), but overall revenue was higher—$226.7 million in 3Q12 vs. $209.3 million for 3Q11. The company reports drilling a total of 59 horizontal wells in the Marcellus Shale so far, 17 of them this year (in West Virginia). Of the 59 wells, 35 of them are currently producing.

Highlights from the Stone 3Q12 report:

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Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Harrison County | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Gulfport Energy 3Q12: Profits Up, Drilled 5 New Utica Wells
November 7, 2012November 7, 2012

Gulfport Energy Corporation, a company that has two of the highest producing natural gas wells in the Ohio Utica Shale, released their third quarter financial and operational update yesterday. Counter to most other large drillers, Gulfport showed a slight profit in 3Q12—of $0.5 million—on $60.5 million in revenue. If not for some income tax expenses their net income for 3Q12 would have been $16 million.

In the 3Q12 update we get production details for a sixth horizontal well drilled by Gulfport in the Utica—the BK Stephens 1-16H well (in Harrison County, OH), which is producing an initial 1,224 barrels of condensate per day, 6.9 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, and 759 barrels of natural gas liquids per day.

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Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

WPX 3Q12: $64M Net Loss, But Production in Marcellus up 333%
November 6, 2012November 6, 2012

WPX Energy, a company formed in January 2011 by Williams (created by spinning off the Williams exploration and production division) released their third quarter financial and operational update last week. The report losing $64 million in 3Q12. Most of WPX’s operations and focus has been in plays other than the Marcellus, including a big focus on the Bakken Shale, where they drill for oil, and the Piceance Basin in northwestern Colorado where they drill for wet natural gas.

In comparison, the Marcellus (where they drill for dry natural gas) is much smaller. However, the Marcellus was the only natural gas play in which WPX has production where the numbers went up in 3Q12. Production in the Piceance, Powder River Basin and San Juan Basin all went down between 7% and 16%. The Marcellus? Up an astonishing 333% from 3Q11 (although the overall numbers are still pretty small, see below). WPX reports they have drilled and completed 28 wells in the Marcellus so far in 2012—all of them in Susquehanna County, PA. They have two rigs operating in the Marcellus.

Read More “WPX 3Q12: $64M Net Loss, But Production in Marcellus up 333%”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero Resources Sells Piceance Assets, Now Focused on NE
November 5, 2012November 5, 2012

Antero Resources announced today they are selling off 61,000 acres of leases and 30 miles of pipeline, along with other assets, in the Piceance Basin (pronounced “pee awns”, located in northwestern Colorado) for $325 million in cash to an unnamed private company.

The fact Antero is selling assets elsewhere would not normally be news for MDN—except this time. Why? The reason they’re selling it is to invest the money in more drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. With the sale of the Piceance, and earlier this year the sale of their Arkoma Basin assets, Antero is now totally focused on the Appalachian (Marcellus/Utica) basin.

Read More “Antero Resources Sells Piceance Assets, Now Focused on NE”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Energy Still in Love with Utica Shale
November 5, 2012November 6, 2012

Even though Chesapeake Energy posted a $2.1 billion loss for the third quarter, in an analyst call on Friday, Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon (“bad boy” poster child for anti-drillers) said he’s thrilled with the results the company is getting from the Utica Shale.

Here’s a recap of what McClendon and other top Chesapeake executives’ said on Friday about the Utica:

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake 3Q12: $2.1B Net Loss, NGL/Oil Production Way Up
November 2, 2012November 2, 2012

The U.S.’ second largest natural gas producer and most active driller, Chesapeake Energy, released their third quarter earnings and operations report yesterday. The update contains both good and bad. The media will no doubt focus on the bad: Chesapeake posted a $2.1 billion net loss for the quarter mostly due to lower natural gas prices and the need to write down certain assets. But there are signs the company is turning around both financially and operationally.

For some time Chesapeake has focused their activity on liquids-rich plays, and the latest 3-month period reflects it. Chesapeake’s average daily natural gas liquids (NGL) production in 3Q12 was 143,000 barrels/day, an increase of 51% from the same period last year, up 10% from the previous quarter. (Chesapeake’s NGL production represents 21% of their overall production.) Average daily oil production in 3Q12 increased a whopping 96% from the same period last year—up 21% from the previous quarter—to 97,800 barrels/day. And natural gas production in 3Q12 increased 24% from the same period last year—up 9% from the previous quarter—to 4.142 billion cubic feet per day.

Read More “Chesapeake 3Q12: $2.1B Net Loss, NGL/Oil Production Way Up”
Energy Companies | Southwestern Energy

Southwestern 3Q12: $145M Net Loss, Production is Up
November 2, 2012November 2, 2012

Southwestern Energy reported its third quarter financials and operations update yesterday. As with many other shale drillers, Southwestern posted a net loss for the quarter. Southwestern’s loss for 3Q12 was $144.8 million. Why? They blame low natural gas prices. Southwestern CEO Steve Mueller says the “main drivers” for the business are moving in the right direction—and that includes a “rapid ascent in activity and production” in the Marcellus Shale. Southwestern currently has 50 producing Marcellus wells, an additional 44 wells waiting for completion or to be hooked to a pipeline, and another 34 currently being drilled. They use four drilling rigs in the Marcellus.

Below are relevant sections of Southwestern’s lengthy 3Q12 update, including the operations update for the Marcellus:

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Anadarko | Commodity Price | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues

Anadarko: Gas Must be $4 Mcf Before More Marcellus Drilling
November 1, 2012November 1, 2012

An interesting comment yesterday from Anadarko Petroleum’s CEO about where price levels for natural gas have to be before he’s willing to commit more money for dry gas drilling. The magic number for Anadarko is $5 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf). Equally interesting was a comment by the VP of E&P that for the Marcellus Shale, the magic number is $4 per Mcf—because drilling in the Marcellus costs less than other plays. The current price of natural gas on the Nymex is currently $3.70 (as of this morning).

Until prices improve, Anadarko will stick to drilling in wet gas areas and not invest in Marcellus drilling. Here’s what Anadarko’s executives said yesterday on an earnings call:

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Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Gulfport Energy | Harrison County | Ohio

Gulfport Energy Releases New Production Numbers for OH Wells
November 1, 2012November 1, 2012

Gulfport Energy is one of the few Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers who regularly reports on production results for its new wells (something we appreciate!). MDN told previously told you about Gulfport’s “King” of Utica wells, the Shugert 1-1H in Belmont County, Ohio, which produced 20 million cubic feet of natural per day, 144 barrels of condensate per day, and 2,002 barrels of natural gas liquids per day (see this MDN story).

Yesterday Gulfport released numbers for more new wells in Harrison and Guernsey counties in Ohio. Although the methane output of the wells is not spectacular, the condensate and natural gas liquids output is noteworthy. Here’s the latest report from Gulfport:

Read More “Gulfport Energy Releases New Production Numbers for OH Wells”