Energy Companies

Bradford County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania

Chesapeake Creates Hands-On Rig Training Center in Bradford PA
November 7, 2011November 7, 2011

Chesapeake Oilfield Services has just launched a hands-on training program at its Eastern Housing Center and Training Facility in Athens Township (Bradford County), PA. They’ve installed a working drilling rig at the facility to give new hires real-world, hands-on training. The primary aim of the facility is to teach new workers safe work habits while learning how to handle rig equipment. In addition to the rig, a water transfer system has also been installed to teach workers how to safely and efficiently deliver water from its source to the drilling site, especially in sub-freezing temperature.

Read More “Chesapeake Creates Hands-On Rig Training Center in Bradford PA”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | EnerVest | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Statewide OH

Mystery Company Invests $2.14B in Chesapeake Utica Shale JV
November 4, 2011November 4, 2011

The Utica Shale in eastern Ohio, and Chesapeake Energy’s discovery that it contains oil and wet gas in addition to methane, is paying off big-time for the company. Yesterday, Chesapeake announced a major cash infusion from a new joint venture with a mystery/unnamed “international major energy company” to the tune of $2.14 billion. Some $640 million of that will be paid when the deal officially closes, and the balance of $1.5 billion will be paid by the end of 2014.

A third company in the joint venture is EnerVest. The joint venture values the land leased by Chesapeake and EnerVest at $15,000 per net acre. The previous highest deal for Utica Shale leases was Hess—for $8,000 per net acre. The overall deal between Chesapeake, EnerVest and the unnamed company is a bit complicated (see the press release below), but the gist of the matter is that Chesapeake will get enough money to fully fund their Utica Shale drilling program in Ohio, and the overall value of the joint venture means Chesapeake will eventually receive $3.4 billion.

Read More “Mystery Company Invests $2.14B in Chesapeake Utica Shale JV”
Broome County | Energy Companies | Inflection Energy | Lease & Royalty Payments | New York

Broome County NY Landowners Receive Money to Stay in Lease
November 4, 2011November 4, 2011

At least one energy firm has voted with its pocketbook that drilling will come, eventually, to New York State. Inflection Energy has just paid landowners in the Town of Maine (Broome County), NY $1,000 per acre to not bail out of the previous deal they signed.

In 2010, Inflection signed a deal that Maine landowners would receive a $6,000 per acre signing bonus over eight years plus 20 percent royalties. The initial payment was $1,000 per acre, the rest due after New York starts issuing permits for drilling. Problem is, those permits have not been issued and under the terms of the deal, landowners would have the right to vacate their leases and find a better deal later. So to keep them in the deal until permits are finally forthcoming, Inflection paid an additional $1,000 per acre (one-time payout) stipulating the landowners will not cancel their leases.

Read More “Broome County NY Landowners Receive Money to Stay in Lease”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Chesapeake First Customer for Ethane Pipeline to Gulf Coast
November 4, 2011November 4, 2011

Looks like Enterprise Products’ plan to build an ethane pipeline from the Marcellus and Utica Shales to the Gulf Coast (see this MDN story) is already paying off. Chesapeake Energy is the first company to commit to using the pipeline, which is due to be completed and in service by 2014.

Read More “Chesapeake First Customer for Ethane Pipeline to Gulf Coast”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Southwestern Energy

Benton Twp Supervisors Back Down on Exploratory Well
November 3, 2011November 3, 2011

Rather than pay legal fees to defend their legislation, the supervisors in Benton Township (Lackawanna County), PA voted Wednesday to change the language of their legislation restricting the drilling of an exploratory well by Southwestern Energy. The supervisors voted to grant Southwestern the right to drill the exploratory well back in June, but slapped 18 specific (and costly) conditions on the project, making it unfeasible according to Southwestern who challenged 11 of the 18 conditions. The supervisors changed 9 of those 11 yesterday.

Read More “Benton Twp Supervisors Back Down on Exploratory Well”
Butler County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy | Utica Shale

Rex Energy Completes its First Utica Well in Western PA
November 2, 2011November 2, 2011

Rex Energy has just completed drilling and fracking its first horizontal Utica Shale well in western Pennsylvania and plans to bring it online once a gathering pipeline to the well is completed in January.

Read More “Rex Energy Completes its First Utica Well in Western PA”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Energy Seeks OH Refiner for Oil from Utica Shale
November 2, 2011November 2, 2011

A roundtable discussion at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, OH brings us this update about Utica Shale drilling in Ohio:

Read More “Chesapeake Energy Seeks OH Refiner for Oil from Utica Shale”
Bradford County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Susquehanna County

Southwestern Energy has 40 Wells in Northeast PA
October 28, 2011October 28, 2011

Southwestern Energy provides the following update of its Marcellus Shale activities in its recently released third quarter report. The update shows that Southwestern’s Marcellus activity is concentrated in Bradford and Susquehanna counties in PA.

Read More “Southwestern Energy has 40 Wells in Northeast PA”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA

Range Completes 56 New PA Marcellus Wells in Q311
October 26, 2011October 26, 2011

Range Resources, one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus Shale, reports in its third quarter operations update that the company is on track to produce 400 million cubic feet of shale gas per day from its Marcellus Shale gas wells. During the third quarter, Range drilled 56 new wells in the Marcellus region of PA with a total of 229 producing wells across the state, most of them in the southwest part of the state.

From the Range quarterly operations update:

Read More “Range Completes 56 New PA Marcellus Wells in Q311”
Air Quality | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | West Virginia

Morgantown Gas Wells Fracked, No Air Pollution
October 25, 2011October 25, 2011

MDN has chronicled the attempt by Morgantown, WV to ban drilling up to one mile outside of the city line—a saga that spanned many months. In the end, a judge struck down the ban and two wells were drilled and fracked. The main concern was that fracking might somehow contaminate the city’s water supply, which comes from the nearby Monongahela River (something that did not happen). But another concern was that the fracking process might cause air pollution that would affect a nearby elementary school. It seems that fear was also unfounded:

Read More “Morgantown Gas Wells Fracked, No Air Pollution”
CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Hess | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

CONSOL Completes Joint Venture with Hess for Ohio Utica Shale
October 25, 2011October 25, 2011

A second joint venture that CONSOL has announced in recent months has just been completed. Yesterday, CONSOL received an initial $60 million of a total $594 million from Hess to develop 200,000 Utica Shale acres in Ohio. Previously, CONSOL entered another joint venture with Noble Energy for $3.4 billion to develop 663,350 acres in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia (see this MDN story). Why all the joint ventures? Money! CONSOL needs cash to develop its Marcellus and Utica Shale acreage, and in order to get the cash, they have cut (so far) two deals, granting their partners a 50 percent interest in each case.

Read More “CONSOL Completes Joint Venture with Hess for Ohio Utica Shale”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Monongalia County | West Virginia

Drilling Heats Up in Monongalia County, WV
October 25, 2011October 25, 2011

Shale gas drilling in Monongalia County, WV is heating up with two new well permits requested and more on the way:

Read More “Drilling Heats Up in Monongalia County, WV”
Energy Companies | New York | Norse Energy | Statewide NY

Norse Energy Fire Sale of 130K Acres in NY
October 24, 2011October 24, 2011

Norse Energy’s big gamble that New York would allow shale gas drilling sooner than now has not paid off and they are throwing in the towel, attempting to find a buyer for their 130,000-acre leasehold in the state.

Read More “Norse Energy Fire Sale of 130K Acres in NY”
Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Final Resolution to Dimock, PA Water Problem?
October 21, 2011October 21, 2011

Dimock, PA has been a rallying cry for many who oppose shale gas drilling. For those with only a peripheral knowledge of the struggle, the word Dimock conjures up an image of nasty hydraulic fracturing fluids seeping into ground water supplies and contaminating them so they are now undrinkable by humans or animals. But such an image would be wrong.

What happened in Dimock, according to the PA State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), is that the drilling company Cabot Oil & Gas did not properly case (enclose the bore hole), which led to methane (natural gas) escaping through cracks into the local water supply for area homes. Methane gas in water does not kill when consumed, but it can become an explosion hazard as happened with one local water well in the area.

Read More “Final Resolution to Dimock, PA Water Problem?”
Anadarko | Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Ohio Utica Shale Permits Double in Last 3 Months
October 13, 2011October 13, 2011

Interest in Ohio’s Utica Shale gas is booming as evidenced by the ramp up in the number of drilling permits issued. More than half of all permits issued have come in the last three months.

Read More “Ohio Utica Shale Permits Double in Last 3 Months”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Range Resources Sues Cecil Township Over New Ordinance
October 13, 2011March 24, 2012

Cecil Township in Washington County, PA—a suburb of Pittsburgh—recently passed an ordinance changing shale gas drilling from a permitted use to a conditional use, meaning each well drilled would have to be approved by the township on a case by case basis. It requires drillers to do twice the work—once in filing a permit application with the state, and a second time with the local municipality. Range Resources, one of the nation’s largest Marcellus Shale drillers (and with operations in Cecil), has just filed a lawsuit requesting the new ordinance be overturned.

Read More “Range Resources Sues Cecil Township Over New Ordinance”