Seneca Resources

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    Western PA Pipeline Upgrade Almost Done; Benefits Range & Seneca

    upgradeA pipeline upgrade project in western Pennsylvania is making excellent progress. In February 2014 National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Line N West Side Expansion and Modernization Project in Washington, Allegheny, Beaver, Venango and Mercer Counties, PA. The project calls for building some 23 miles of new pipeline next to an existing NFG pipeline in Washington and Beaver counties, along with compressor station and other upgrades along other portions of the existing Line N pipeline. NFG previously signed Range Resources and NFG’s own subsidiary, Seneca Resources, as customers for an increase in capacity to flow an additional 175,000 decatherms per day, Dth/d (175 million cubic feet per day, MMcf/d). The extra capacity allows Range and Seneca to move of the Marcellus Shale gas they produce in western PA to market. Although construction is still underway, NFG has asked FERC to begin partial service now, two months ahead of schedule…
    Read More “Western PA Pipeline Upgrade Almost Done; Benefits Range & Seneca”

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    It Speaks! An “Ecosystem” has Filed to Join a Lawsuit in PA

    Better be careful, the water table running under your property may decide to sue you for sinking a water well into it and withdrawing water for drinking, showers, etc. What…Absurd? Funny? Foolish? We’re not kidding. It seems that water tables and rock and dirt are now considered “ecosystems” and, if a lawsuit is allowed to stand in a Pennsylvania court, such an “ecosystem” has the right, under law, to sue. A motion has been filed by the radical leftist PA-based group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) on behalf of an ecosystem to intervene in a federal lawsuit to defend its own “right” to exist and flourish. Background: In 2013 the CELDF convinced enough ignoramuses in Highland Township in Elk County, PA to pass a so-called Community Bill of Rights. Essentially it’s a way to prevent wastewater injection wells from being drilled in the township. Seneca Resources filed a lawsuit to overturn the illegal law. Highland Twp taxpayers are now defending their illegal action with $upport from the deep pockets of Big Green groups (i.e. the CELDF). In an attempt to bully Seneca into backing down from the lawsuit, the CELDF claims to speak for the ecosystem and has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the ecosystem. It’s utter bull crap of the highest order–but a dangerous precedent if allowed. We can see your dog suing you, the trees that ring your property suing you, wrongful death lawsuits for killing a snake…you get the idea. An ecosystem filing a lawsuit would be funny, if it weren’t such a tragically vicious attack against the fabric of this country and the HUMANS that live in it (the only living things with “rights” under our Constitutional form of law)…
    Read More “It Speaks! An “Ecosystem” has Filed to Join a Lawsuit in PA”

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    National Fuel Gas/Seneca Res. 3Q15: Marcellus Production Down 12%

    National Fuel Gas Company, a large Buffalo-based utility with subsidiaries active in drilling and midstream, released their third quarter (everybody else’s second quarter) financial and operating results yesterday. National Fuel Gas is the parent of Marcellus driller Seneca Resources and midstream company Empire Pipeline. Sounding like a broken record, Seneca Resources, like just about every other driller in North America, had a horrible quarterly net income statement because of write-downs in the value of their assets–i.e. a paper loss (not an actual cash loss). Unlike many other drillers, Seneca’s Marcellus production was down year over year by 12%–presumably from lack of drilling and completing new wells. Below we have the scoop on National Fuel’s drilling/upstream operations (Seneca Resources), and on their pipeline/midstream operations (Empire Pipeline & National Fuel Gas Midstream), along with a snapshot of their production numbers, broken out by oil/gas and by region…
    Read More “National Fuel Gas/Seneca Res. 3Q15: Marcellus Production Down 12%”

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    National Fuel Gas’ Appoints New Bd Member from Colorado – Why?

    reading tea leavesOne of MDN’s favorite pastimes is reading the tea leaves. Connecting the dots. Warning: sometimes the dots we connect end up not connecting. 🙂 We don’t bring you every personnel announcement, especially new appointments to boards of directors, because, well, how does that affect the average landowner, driller or business that wants to profit from the Marcellus/Utica? We try to bring you relevant news–things that impact you. Today we have an observation–purely speculative–about a new board of directors appointment. National Fuel Gas Company, a Buffalo, NY-based utility that also has a big drilling division (Seneca Resources) and a large midstream (pipelines) operation, has just named Joseph N. Jaggers to its board of directors. Who is he and what does his appointment portend?…
    Read More “National Fuel Gas’ Appoints New Bd Member from Colorado – Why?”

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    PA DEP Loses its ‘Common Sense’ in Seneca Air Pollution Ruling

    Every now and again the legal definition of “adjacent” and “contiguous” pops up in lawsuits in Pennsylvania related to natural gas drilling. Two years ago we highlighted the issue (see Should PA Compressor Plants Miles Away be Considered “Adjacent”?). The argument revolves around lumping together several potential air pollution sources, like compressor plants and even well pads and pipelines–into one, common, larger source of air pollution for the purposes of regulation. Smaller sources are regulated by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and larger sources, over a certain threshold, by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with much stricter and more expensive standards. The PA DEP, for whatever reason, has gone after Seneca Resources and its parent company National Fuel Gas Co. for their operations in Lycoming County, PA. Even though Seneca’s well pads, pipelines and compressor stations are miles apart, because they are all owned by one corporate entity, the DEP wants them all lumped together into one source for pollution regulation. Although the combined single source would not trigger EPA regulation, Seneca/National Fuel Gas is suing the DEP to push back, on principle. The case will get a hearing in court this week…
    Read More “PA DEP Loses its ‘Common Sense’ in Seneca Air Pollution Ruling”

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    NFG Building Compressor Station in NY to Pump More PA Marcellus Gas

    In an effort to pump more cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas from Pennsylvania into frackless (and feckless) New York State, National Fuel Gas Company has announced they’re building a $42.5 million compressor station in Cattaraugus County, NY in the Town of Hinsdale (western part of the state). Amazingly the county wants it! And the county industrial development agency (IDA) has approved it. While construction is going on, some 100 workers will be employed earning close to $7 million…
    Read More “NFG Building Compressor Station in NY to Pump More PA Marcellus Gas”

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    Another Impressive Utica Well Pops Up…in Pennsylvania!

    whisperingTioga County, PA is getting a reputation. No, not THAT kind of reputation silly! Tioga County, PA is getting a reputation for impressive Utica Shale wells. Last September MDN told you that Shell had drilled a pair of Utica wells in Tioga County (see Shell Drills 2 Successful Utica Wells in NEPA Marcellusland). Shell’s “Gee” Utica well produced a respectable 11.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day (Mmcf/d). However, their “Neal” Utica well had an initial production rate of 26.5 Mmcf/d–a top-tier well. The current reigning champ for Utica wells is Range Resources’ Claysville Sportsman’s Club No. 1 well in Washington County, PA which initially produced a mind-blowing 59 Mmcf/d (see Range Resources Drills Highest-Ever Initial Producing Utica Well). Back to Tioga County. Yesterday Seneca Resources, a division of National Fuel Gas, reported drilling a Utica well in Tioga with an initial production rate of 22.7 Mmcf/d. VERY respectable–placing it in the top tier of Utica wells. Oh! And the well is located on PA state-owned land. Isn’t this news delicious–coming after Gov. Tom Wolf has signed an executive order preventing any new leasing of state-owned land…
    Read More “Another Impressive Utica Well Pops Up…in Pennsylvania!”

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    Seneca Resources Hits 1/2 Bcf/d Production in Previous Quarter

    Last week National Fuel Gas Company, parent of Marcellus Shale driller Seneca Resources, reported its quarterly update for the quarter ending Dec 31, 2014. Everyone else calls it fourth quarter 2014, but for National Fuel Gas, it’s their first quarter 2015. What does the latest report show? During the quarter Seneca produced 48.2 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe), an increase of 11.1 Bcfe or 30% over the prior year’s first quarter. Seneca has hit the half billion cubic foot per day club: average daily production during the quarter was 524 million cubic feet equivalent (MMcfe) per day…
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    Seneca: Volume Up 44%, Drilling Utica Well in Tioga County, PA

    National Fuel Gas and its wholly-owned drilling subsidiary, Seneca Resources, filed their fiscal year fourth quarter (everyone else’s third quarter) update late last week. National Fuel Gas is not only a Marcellus/Utica E&P but also a midstream company (pipelines) and a utility in western NY and northwestern PA. Among the pickings from this latest update: Seneca’s drilling program continues to generate success–natural gas volumes were up 43.8% in the northeast compared to a year ago. Seneca is operating two rigs in the Marcellus and a third rig is currently drilling a Utica Shale well in Tioga County, PA…
    Read More “Seneca: Volume Up 44%, Drilling Utica Well in Tioga County, PA”

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    Seneca No Longer Interested in Buying Sewer Water for Fracking

    MDN told you 4 1/2 (!) years ago about a plan by the Kane Borough Sewer Authority in McKean County, PA to sell sewer effluent to Seneca Resources for drilling gas wells. Seneca is the oil and gas drilling division of National Fuel Gas Company (see Kane Borough Sewer Authority Making Money from Selling Effluent to Marcellus Shale Driller). Effluent is the treated water discharged from sewage treatment plants. In an update to that story, it seems Seneca and other drillers are no longer interested in Kane’s sewer water…
    Read More “Seneca No Longer Interested in Buying Sewer Water for Fracking”

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    Seneca Resources 3Q14: Drilling Moves Away from Lycoming County

    Seneca Resources, the Marcellus Shale drilling division of midstream and utility company National Fuel Gas headquartered in Buffalo, NY, issued their fiscal third quarter (everyone else’s calendar second quarter) update yesterday. Among the interesting items: Seneca has shifted its focus on new drilling away from Lycoming County, PA (Williamsport area) westward to Elk, McKean and Cameron counties. The shift in focus will remain until Williams completes its recently announced Atlantic Sunrise Expansion pipeline project. Also of note was the increase in Seneca’s production and where it came from…
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    Corporate Raider Pressures National Fuel Gas to Sell Seneca Res.

    MDN loves capitalism–the BEST economic system ever devised by humans, benefiting the most people and lifting more out of poverty than any other system in the world. Capitalism is the free market making its own decisions about where, and how, to invest. But there are downsides. One of the negatives with capitalism–in the U.S. version of it anyway–is putting up with loathsome corporate raiders. Corporate raiders buy up enough shares in a publicly traded company to force that company to sell off assets and slash employees in order to drive the price of the stock up so they can turn around and sell their shares at a huge profit. Think of the snake Carl Icahn and what he’s done to Chesapeake Energy (via his toady Doug Lawler). The media today has euphemistically renamed what they used to call corporate raiders to “activist investors.” Same thing with the same end result.

    So we were sad to see that a corporate raider is now targeting National Fuel Gas (NFG), the Buffalo, NY-based utility company that also owns a sizable Marcellus drilling division called Seneca Resources. Corporate raider Mario Gabelli has snapped up 9.1% of NFG’s stock, and now he’s making noise about forcing the company to sell off Seneca Resources, which he thinks will raise the stock by another $25/share–from the current $75 to around $100/share–making him even richer than he is now. We think corporate raiders are a cancer on the oil and gas industry. Here’s more about Gabelli pressuring NFG…
    Read More “Corporate Raider Pressures National Fuel Gas to Sell Seneca Res.”

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    17-Mile Gas Pipeline in Steuben County, NY Makes Progress

    Empire Pipeline, a subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company (which also owns driller Seneca Resources) is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for approval on a new 17-mile pipeline in Steuben County, NY. The project is called the Tuscorara Lateral Project and will cost a projected $43 million. The pipeline will connect a gas storage field and compressor station in Tuscarora, NY (also owned by National Fuel Gas) with the existing Empire Pipeline network–a network that stretches from Buffalo to Syracuse and down to Corning. This “little” piece of pipeline will open up much needed extra volumes of natural gas for Upstate New Yorkers.

    Empire/National Fuel is now negotiating with landowners to run the pipe under their property. They hope to begin building later this year and have the pipeline in service in November 2015. Below is a story about the project, the reason for it, the jobs it will create, and finally a copy of a presentation given last year at a special open house with full details…
    Read More “17-Mile Gas Pipeline in Steuben County, NY Makes Progress”

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    Seneca Drills First Upper Devonian Well with Impressive Results

    Seneca Resources, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Buffalo-based National Fuel Gas Company, reports drilling their very first Upper Devonian shale well in Lycoming County, PA. The results are impressive: a peak 24-hour production rate of 14.1 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day, and an average 8.6 MMcf per day during its first 30 days. The Upper Devonian (UD) is a number of shale layers lumped together under one umbrella name. The specific layer targeted by Seneca for their first UD well is the Geneseo rock layer.

    Word of Seneca’s success in the UD comes as part of an operational update issued by National Fuel Gas yesterday. Another gem in the update: Seneca has just completed drilling a 9-well pad and is almost finished drilling a 6-well pad. Here’s the full update from Seneca with the exciting UD news…
    Read More “Seneca Drills First Upper Devonian Well with Impressive Results”

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    Marcellus Gas to the Rescue: WNY Customers Avoid Step Price Jump

    National Fuel Gas Company is a large, integrated energy company with its HQ in Buffalo, NY. They have operations spanning from upstream (Seneca Resources, a major Marcellus Shale driller) to midstream pipelines to a downstream utility company serving customers in western New York State and northwestern Pennsylvania. A story from the NFG utility company caught our eye today. NFG is putting the word out to its hundreds of thousands of customers that they might want to consider hopping on the budget plan–to spread out their winter heating bill payments. Why are NFG’s customers paying a lot more this winter to heat with natural gas? Simply because this is one of the longest and coldest winters we’ve had in decades.

    The interesting part of the NFG “you ought to get on the budget plan” story is that, according to the company, it could have been a lot worse than it is. The price of NFG’s natural gas is steady and has not gone up. What’s helping to save western NY (and NWPA) gas customers from huge price spikes being experienced elsewhere? PA Marcellus Shale gas…
    Read More “Marcellus Gas to the Rescue: WNY Customers Avoid Step Price Jump”

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    National Fuel Spends 2/3 of Capex Budget on Drilling, Mostly Marcellus

    National Fuel Gas company is a big, diversified company. They own operations in all three segments of the oil and gas business: upstream (their subsidiary Seneca Resources is a big Marcellus driller), midstream (gathering and storage pipelines in PA), and downstream (utility company in the Buffalo, NY area). So they really “do it all.” Yesterday, in the ongoing parade of 4Q13 updates, National Fuel issued theirs–only everyone else’s 4Q is actually National Fuel Gas’ 1Q14. Regardless, it covers the last four months of 2013, no matter what you call it. And what does it show?

    It shows that National Fuel Gas via its Seneca Resources division continues to be the main focus of the company. They spent 2/3 of their capital budget on exploration and production in 2013–and the lion’s share of that in the Marcellus. Here’s the narrative part of the update issued yesterday:
    Read More “National Fuel Spends 2/3 of Capex Budget on Drilling, Mostly Marcellus”