Shell

Air Quality | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | West Virginia | Wood County

Cracker Race Continues: Odebrecht Files Remediation Application
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

The race continues to see who will build the first multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant in the Marcellus/Utica region. Yesterday MDN brought you the news that Shell had filed, back in May, a detailed air pollution application with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for their proposed cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (see Details for Shell Ethane Cracker Revealed in Air Pollution Application). Although arriving on the scene several years after Shell’s project, Odebrecht announced last November they want to build a cracker plant near Parkersburg, WV (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). Odebrecht has now filed a similar document–a Voluntary Remediation Program application–with the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP)…
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Air Quality | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Regulation | Shell

Details for Shell Ethane Cracker Revealed in Air Pollution Application
August 25, 2014August 25, 2014

We now have a very detailed, inside look at Shell’s proposed ethane cracker plant. In May, Shell filed an Air Quality Plan Approval application with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection. The 715-page document (just now coming to light, full copy embedded below)–mammoth in scope and size–lays out, in detail, just how much air pollution the proposed ethane cracker would produce. As part of that document we gain insight into the technology Shell plans to use at the plant. The application also outlines other potential impacts from the plant, including soil and vegetation. The application concludes that the proposed plant emissions “are not expected to result in adverse effects to soils, crops, or plant species of concerns, within the vicinity of the project site”…
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Butler County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Potter County | Rex Energy | Shell | Tioga County (PA) | Ultra Petroleum

After Selling 208K Marcellus Acres, Shell “Buys” 155K More Acres!
August 15, 2014August 15, 2014

In a seemingly strange twist, Shell has just picked up more Marcellus and Utica Shale acreage. Say what? Yesterday MDN told you that Rex Energy just bought 208,000 Marcellus acres from Shell in southwest Pennsylvania’s wet gas area (see Rex Energy Takes Shell to the Cleaners – Picks up 208K Acres). We pointed out that many majors like Shell seem to have a hard time turning a buck in American shale plays, and that Shell CEO Ben van van Beurden had warned of scaling back their shale operations. So what happened a day later? Shell further divested itself of both conventional and unconventional holdings–this time in Wyoming and Louisiana. As part of the same deal, the picked up new Marcellus acreage (155,000 acres) in Pennsylvania’s dry gas area. Let’s try to sort through these Shell gyrations…
Read More “After Selling 208K Marcellus Acres, Shell “Buys” 155K More Acres!”
Butler County | East Resources | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy | Shell

Rex Energy Takes Shell to the Cleaners – Picks up 208K Acres
August 14, 2014August 14, 2014

What is it about the oil majors that they can’t seem to turn a profit in America’s shale plays? Somehow the smaller, leaner independents keep beating the majors, time and again. Latest example: Shell. In 2010, Shell paid a whopping $4.7 billion to buy East Resources (see East Resources Sells to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 Billion, Deal Includes All of East’s Marcellus Shale Operations). The deal included 650,000 acres of Marcellus Shale leases in PA, WV and NY. Shell is now starting to divest itself from that acreage. They just sold 208,000 acres in the Butler, PA area to Rex Energy for $120 million in cash. Talk about a fire sale! In very rough numbers, Rex just picked up nearly 1/3 of Shell’s acreage for chump change–for 2.5% of the money Shell paid back in 2010…
Read More “Rex Energy Takes Shell to the Cleaners – Picks up 208K Acres”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Shell | Shell Midstream Partners

Shell Files IPO to Spin Off Midstream/Pipelines into MLP
June 19, 2014June 19, 2014

While Aubrey McClendon and his financial partner EMG are getting back into the midstream/pipeline business (see today’s story about getting the band back together), Royal Dutch Shell is getting out of the midstream business. Well, not exactly getting out–but Shell announced yesterday that the company has filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to create a pipeline subsidiary called Shell Midstream Partners. The new company would have a master limited partnership (MLP) structure, which floats something akin to, but different from, shares of stock. They’re called units and the reason for spinning it out as a separate company under the MLP banner is tax-related. According to the paperwork Shell has filed, they anticipate raising up to $750 million in unit sales. Will Shell, via this new subsidiary, own any pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica?…
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American Energy Partners | Doddridge County | East Resources | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Marion County | Monroe County | Ohio | Shell | SWEPI | Tyler County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

McClendon Buys 48K WV Marcellus Acres, 27K More OH Utica Acres
June 10, 2014June 10, 2014

Yet another major announcement yesterday from Aubrey McClendon, former CEO of Chesapeake Energy and current CEO of a new company he founded, American Energy Partners (AEP). Aubrey is spending another $1.75 billion to buy more acreage (and functioning wells) in both the Ohio Utica and now, for the first time, in the West Virginia Marcellus Shale. The WV acreage is in the wet gas areas of the state. According to the AEP press announcement, East Resources is the seller. Which is interesting to MDN since Shell bought all (or nearly all) of East’s northeast shale acreage in 2010 (see East Resources Sells to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 Billion, Deal Includes All of East’s Marcellus Shale Operations). So was the deal actually with Shell using the East name on paper? Or leftover vestiges of the old East Resources?…
Read More “McClendon Buys 48K WV Marcellus Acres, 27K More OH Utica Acres”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Takes a Few More Baby Steps Toward PA Ethane Cracker Plant
June 9, 2014June 9, 2014

A small bit of progress to report on the Shell ethane cracker plant planned for Monaca (Beaver County), PA. According to comments made by Shell Chemicals Executive Vice President Graham van’t Hoff at the American Chemistry Council’s Annual Meeting last week in Colorado, Shell has made a few more baby steps toward making the cracker plant a reality–but they still aren’t committed to it just yet. Here’s the steps recently taken…
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Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Big News from Shell PA Meetings: Beaver County WANTS a Cracker!
April 17, 2014April 17, 2014

Yesterday Shell held two meetings in Beaver County, PA to talk to area residents about their proposed plan to possibly build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant. One session was from 11 am to 2 pm, the other from 4-7 pm, both held at the Shadow Lakes country club in Hopewell. Shell expected around 350 people to show up for the daytime session–more than 700 showed. By the end of the day, well over 1,000 people attended the two sessions. As predicted, Shell did not say they’ve decided to move forward, but they are still actively pursuing the project. From that perspective, neither event produced anything “newsworthy.”

Yet, there was big news coming from the two sessions: Attendance was twice what they expected, and the overwhelming majority of those attending support the project and want to see it built. We would go so far as to say Beaver County came out in force with open arms and rolled out the red carpet for Shell. They WANT this cracker plant, and they want it bad. Which is good news for Shell–to have such overwhelming community support…
Read More “Big News from Shell PA Meetings: Beaver County WANTS a Cracker!”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Meetings Today in Beaver County, PA on Ethane Cracker Plant
April 16, 2014April 16, 2014

Shell is holding two public meetings today at the Shadow Lakes club in Hopewell (Beaver County), PA to discuss the possibility of building a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant in Monaca, PA. The meetings, according to Shell, are not an indicator that Shell has decided to move forward with the project. The meetings are, according to Shell, a way for the company to hear concerns from the people who live in the area and would potentially be affected by the plant, and for Shell to share information on where the project stands at this point and what’s ahead. It’s all about good, two-way communication.

More details about the meetings today, and a brief background on the proposed Shell ethane cracker…
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Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

County Officials Meet with Shell on PA Cracker, Come Away Hopeful
March 27, 2014March 27, 2014

Seems like it’s “cracker day” at MDN. Long before Odebrecht announced their potential ethane cracker plant for Parkersburg, WV, Shell announced plans to build a cracker in Pennsylvania. In fact it was exactly two years ago this month that Shell announced the location would be Monaca (Beaver County), PA (see Shell Announces Location of Ethane Cracker Plant). PA state legislators eventually voted on a package of significant tax breaks for the proposed new plant (see PA Legislature Reaches Deal on Tax Credit for Cracker Plant). However, since that time, it seems like the PA cracker deal has cycled through highs and lows as to whether it would actually get built (see PA Ethane Cracker – On Again, Off Again…Now On Again?).

More recently MDN told you the pendulum had swung back to the pessimistic side (see Shell’s Shale Pessimism Signals Worry for Some re PA Cracker). But what’s this? Last week some 30 Beaver County officials met with Shell about the proposed ethane cracker plant and left that meeting feeling “hopeful”–which is a good sign. Shell told the officials about moving forward with plans to move a portion of a local roadway, relocate power lines and other big-ticket projects that Shell would not be spending money on unless there is serious interest in moving forward. Here’s more from last week’s hopeful meeting between Shell and Beaver County officials…
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Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Cracker Plant Talk Spurs Economic Growth in Beaver County, PA
March 26, 2014March 26, 2014

Over the past couple of years the prospects for an ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA have swung from wild optimism to wild pessimism and everything in between. Most recently the pendulum has once again tilted negative (see Shell’s Shale Pessimism Signals Worry for Some re PA Cracker). But don’t talk negative to the businesses setting up shop and expanding in Beaver County. The mere talk that it’s possible Shell will build the $2-$3 billion ethane cracker in Monaca has caused a significant uptick in the local economy. One Realtor has said for businesses looking to get a piece of the coming economic pie–you’re already late! Many have already grabbed up space and it’s increasingly difficult to find commercial real estate in the county.

Here is the story of the economic boom already under way in Beaver County just from talk–talk that Shell may build a cracker plant there…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Using GTL Technology to Convert Natural Gas to Motor Oil
March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

What if a company perfected a method to convert natural gas into motor oil–a motor oil extremely pure and high quality, because there are no impurities associated with using crude oil? Shell has already done it–is doing it at their massive gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar. Shell issued a press release last week to make sure everyone knows they are (so far) the only company that converts natural gas to motor oil on a full production scale. The oil they produce is used in their premium brands: Pennzoil Platinum® and Pennzoil Ultra® Platinum Full Synthetic.

So far no American shale gas is being used in Shell’s Middle Eastern GTL operations. Perhaps with abundant, cheap natural gas here at home Shell will consider setting up an operation somewhere on American shores? Here is the very interesting technology Shell is using, that may one day arrive here commercially…
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Energy Companies | Shell

Cuts Coming to Shell’s Marcellus Shale Operations
March 14, 2014March 14, 2014

In a statement issued yesterday, and from comments made by Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden on a “management day” analyst phone call, Shell has signaled they aren’t happy with the return they’re getting from their shale plays in the U.S., including the Marcellus. Specifically Shell has said they plan to decrease spending and investment, and trim operations, in dry gas (methane only) shale areas starting this year. Trim by how much? The statement they issued says 20%, but van Beurden is reported to have said 30% in his statements on the analyst call. In either case, look for Shell to sell some of the their 900,000 acres of Marcellus Shale leases and trim back on the 300 workers they currently have working in the Marcellus play.

It was just four years ago that Shell bought all of East Resources and their Marcellus operations (see East Resources Sells to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 Billion, Deal Includes All of East’s Marcellus Shale Operations). Apparently they now believe that was a bit of “irrational exuberance,” to borrow a phrase from Alan Greenspan. The odd thing for us is that much smaller companies, like Cabot Oil & Gas, make money hand over fist in dry gas-only areas of the Marcellus, but the big boys like Shell are hamstrung and don’t make money. Why is that? What gives the smaller players a leg up that simply can’t be matched by companies like Shell?…
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Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell’s Shale Pessimism Signals Worry for Some re PA Cracker
March 14, 2014March 14, 2014

The Shell emotional roller coaster continues to gyrate up and down when it comes to the fate of a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant previously announced by Shell for Beaver County, PA. We knew it would be a years-long process just to make a decision, and told you that two years ago almost to the day (see Shell’s Cracker Plant Actually “Years Away”?). Since that time it seemed at one point like all was lost (see Rumor Mill: PA Ethane Cracker Plant on Shell Chopping Block?). Over the past two years we’ve written dozens of stories, at first it seemed like a sure thing, then it wasn’t, then it was again, then it wasn’t again… you get the idea (see our list of Shell cracker stories here).

According to a Morningstar analyst interviewed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the pendulum has now swung back to the pessimistic side again in light of Shell CEO Ben van Beurden’s comments yesterday knocking U.S. shale (see our companion story today). van Beurden said Shell is triming back on U.S. shale investments this year, “restructuring” those assets (which is CEO talk for selling a good portion of it). Although the ethane cracker will be fed by Marcellus and Utica Shale gas, Shell’s impotence when it comes to turning a profit from shale drilling doesn’t mean they will walk away from a huge petrochemical plant. Such big projects are what they think they’re best at doing. Still, van Beurden’s comments have at least one analyst wondering if the PA cracker plant is now down the list of Shell’s priorities…
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Allegheny County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Shell | Southwestern Energy

New Preservation Organization – Friend or Foe of PA Drilling?
March 6, 2014March 6, 2014

We’re not quite sure what to make of this, but we’ll take it at face value (for now). A new non-profit organization has sprung up in (where else?) Washington, D.C. Called the Gas and Preservation Partnership (GPP), the purpose of the new group is to form a voluntary alliance between preservationists and drillers. That is, people who are concerned that drillers may sink a well in an old Indian artifact area, would like those drillers to use seismic mapping of the site to see if anything of archaeological significance is present, and if it is, either drill somewhere else or take time to excavate the site before drilling. The fear is that once drillers start pushing dirt around to level a drilling pad, it might destroy something of historical significance. Which of course sounds to our hypercritical ear a lot like “delay in order to slow down or kill drilling.” But, according to GPP, that’s not their aim.

GPP says they do not (at this time) “plan to advocate” for regulations that will slow down drilling in PA and other shale states. Rather, GPP hopes drillers will cooperate voluntarily, apparently so they won’t have to advocate for regulations. GPP is holding a summit in Pittsburgh later this month. Shell and Southwest Energy are co-sponsoring the summit which aims to bring everyone together to the table to sing kumbaya, er, talk about how drillers can lend a hand with ensuring they don’t destroy any arrowheads buried in the dirt…
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Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Beaver County, PA – In the Marcellus/Utica Catbird Seat
February 21, 2014February 21, 2014

In many ways, Beaver County, PA is in the catbird seat with respect to the Marcellus and Utica Shale. The county has seen some Marcellus drilling with 17 unique well permits were issued for Beaver for the last four months of 2013 according to the latest volume of the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. However, it is Beaver’s geography for reasons other than drilling that gives it its advantage: the Ohio River flows through Beaver; two interstate highways pass through; lots of railroads; and of course, close to the Pittsburgh International Airport.

Beaver is also the chosen location for Shell and their $2-$3 billion ethane cracker plant. It’s been a roller coaster of will they or won’t they build it? Lately, it certainly seems like Shell is favoring a green light for the project–but only when they finally buy the property on which a now closed zinc plant sits will everyone breath a sigh of relief that the project is a done deal. (See Shell to Begin Demolition at PA Ethane Cracker Site Early 2014 for the latest.) Even if Shell doesn’t build the cracker plant, Beaver County officials say there’s still a lot happening in the county and the future looks bright, because of the Marcellus…
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