Shell

Chevron | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Processing Plants | Shell

The (Long) Timeline for Building an Ethane Cracker Plant
March 13, 2012March 13, 2012

An article in today’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review calls attention to what MDN pointed out yesterday about the Shell CEO comment that a decision on whether or not to build an ethane cracker plant in Appalachia is “years away” (see this MDN story). However, the T-R article adds some interesting information from Shell’s competitor Chevron about how many ethane cracker plants the region can support, and how long it takes to build a plant once the decision is made:

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell’s Cracker Plant Actually “Years Away”?
March 12, 2012March 12, 2012

Are we still on track to find out in the next few weeks where Shell plans to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant? According to a Shell spokeswoman, yes. But in parsing the words of Shell’s CEO at a conference last week, even though the site may be announced, a “final decision” about investing in the site may still be “quite a few years away.” Here’s how it played out last week:

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Anadarko | Chesapeake Energy | Chevron | CNX Resources | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Range Resources Corp | Seneca Resources | Shell | Talisman Energy

Pennsylvania’s Top 10 Marcellus Drillers in 2011
February 27, 2012February 28, 2012

NOTE: The facts and figures below were cited from a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article. MDN has been contacted by several of the drilling companies in the list to let us know the numbers in some cases are not at all accurate. MDN is attempting to verify now (Feb 28) and will correct these numbers as soon as the raw data can be further analyzed.

In 2011, Marcellus drilling expanded exponentially in Pennsylvania. According to the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), companies drilled 2,755 Marcellus shale gas wells in Pennsylvania in 2011, up from 1,386 in 2010. That’s nearly a 200 percent increase (or doubling) in one year alone.

Below are the top 10 Marcellus drillers in Pennsylvania ranked by amount of gas produced. Included are some other bits of information (PA figures only) to give you an idea of the size and scope of that company’s operation in the PA Marcellus. (mcf = thousand cubit feet)

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

PA Finally Joins the Cracker Plant Sweepstakes
February 14, 2012February 14, 2012

It seems that Pennsylvania has finally woken up to the fact that Shell is about to decide where they will invest some $2 billion and generate thousands of new jobs by building an ethane cracker plant. One of three bills signed into law by PA Gov. Tom Corbett on Monday was a bill that,

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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Waiting Game: Cracker Plants Talk to Property Owners
February 3, 2012February 3, 2012

West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio are all in the hunt to land an ethane cracker plant in their respective states (see the long list of MDN stories on a potential cracker plant in the Marcellus/Utica Shale region). According to WV Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette, Shell and another unnamed company are now in talks with private property owners. That is, the deals are now being negotiated, and it’s a waiting game to see the outcome.

All three states have offered huge tax incentives to land the plant. Shell originally set January for an announcement, but changed it a few weeks ago to be February.

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants | Shell

New Timeline for Shell Cracker Plant Announcement
January 19, 2012January 19, 2012

MDN has extensively covered Shell’s plan to build a $1.5-$2.0 billion ethane cracker plant somewhere in the Marcellus region (see MDN’s previous coverage here). A cracker plant “cracks” ethane, a component of raw natural gas, into ethylene, a raw material used to manufacture plastics. West Virginia has been perhaps the most vocal and energetic of prospective locations in their efforts to attract Shell’s investment inside their borders. But Ohio and Pennsylvania are also making a serious effort to attract it as well.

Until now, the word was that Shell would likely make their announcement in mid- to late January. The timeline has apparently changed to be mid- to late February, according to West Virginia officials who remain jazzed about their possibilities in winning the cracker plant sweepstakes.

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Ohio Offers Shell Cracker Plant $1.4B in Tax Incentives
January 2, 2012January 2, 2012

Competition to attract an ethane cracker plant is heating up. West Virginia has made no bones that they intend to be the winners of the investment that will be made to build an ethane cracker plant to be built by Shell. The plant will cost upward of $2 billion and will create thousands of jobs to build the plant, operate the plant, and just as importantly, in the industries that will locate near the plant once it’s operational. It’s an economic jackpot worth $5 billion or more, and those who are in the game to attract it are in it to win.

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Shell

Shell’s Major Shift to Natural Gas, US Gas-to-Liquids Plant?
December 7, 2011December 7, 2011

Shell is moving into natural gas in a major way. In fact, natural gas will eclipse crude oil for Shell sometime next year by being more than 50 percent of Shell’s global production. Shell has committed to spending $2 billion to build an ethane cracker plant in the Marcellus region of the U.S., and now they are talking about building a gas-to-liquids plant. Shell invested an astonishing $19 billion in a gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar. Imagine that investment coming to the U.S.! Such is the transformative power of shale gas.

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Shell | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Shell, One Other Company Close to Cracker Plant Announcement
December 7, 2011December 7, 2011

According to officials in West Virginia, who are super-serious about attracting at least one ethane cracker plant to their state, Shell and one other company will announce site selections for their plants in January of 2012. West Virginia fully intends that at least one of those two plants will be inside their borders, and they are pulling out all of the stops to ensure it happens. In fact, according to WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s chief of staff, it’s the newly-elected governor’s “No. 1 goal.”

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Shell

Shell Nears Decision on Where to Build $2B Cracker Plant
September 7, 2011September 7, 2011

Shell Oil is “nearing a decision” on where to build a multi-billion dollar ethylene cracker plant in the Marcellus region, and states in that region—specifically Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio—are aggressively competing to have the plant built in their state. (See MDN’s petrochemical primer for details on how shale gas drilling relates to the chemical industry).

The stakes are high indeed. The cost to build the plant will exceed $2 billion, and it’s estimated the plant will attract some $16 billion in associated industry expenditures and provide more than 17,000 jobs in those associated industries.

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Energy Companies | Lawrence County | Pennsylvania | Shell

Lawrence County, PA Gets its First Marcellus Shale Well
August 9, 2011August 9, 2011

Lawrence County, a western Pennsylvania county which borders Ohio, has just had its first Marcellus Shale gas well drilled, with hydraulic fracturing of the well under way now. With 815 land leases signed since last year, it’s a pretty safe bet more wells are coming to Lawrence County soon.

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Butler County | Energy Companies | Lawrence County | Pennsylvania | Shell

Shell’s Marcellus Shale Exploration & Drilling Strategy in PA – Drill the Edges First
July 12, 2011July 12, 2011

An article about Shell’s activity in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale, particularly along the western fringes of the Marcellus in Butler and Lawrence Counties (PA), reveals interesting insights about their strategy:

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Energy Companies | Shell

Shell PR Offensive: Full Disclosure of Fracking Chemicals, Groundwater Monitoring, 100 Percent Wastewater Recycling
June 30, 2011June 30, 2011

Royal Dutch Shell, one of the largest energy companies in the world, is going on a public relations offensive with respect to its shale gas operations in the U.S. In a master PR move, Shell used the uber-liberal Aspen (CO) Ideas Festival to unveil its Global Onshore Tight/Shale Oil and Gas Operating Principles. Among the things Shell announced is support for full disclosure of fracking chemicals, monitoring of groundwater and a reduction of the water used in fracking. They also stated they recycle “almost 100%” of fracking wastewater in their operations.

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Shell

Shell Commits to Building a Billion Dollar Chemical Plant in the Marcellus Region of U.S.
June 7, 2011June 7, 2011

Royal Dutch Shell, one of the largest energy companies in the world, announced on Monday that it will build a “world-scale” chemical plant in the Marcellus region of the United States. The chemical plant is called a “cracker” and typically costs more than a billion dollars to construct. Its construction would provide thousands of both short-term construction and long-term operations jobs. Both West Virginia and Pennsylvania have been actively courting chemical companies to build one or more cracker plants in their states (see this MDN story).

The cracker plant would take advantage of one of the byproducts of Marcellus Shale drilling—ethane—which is converted to the hydrocarbon ethylene. Ethylene is a “feedstock” (or raw material) used to make plastics, including polyethylene, the most manufactured and widely-used plastic in the world (see MDN’s brief petrochemical primer here).

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Chesapeake Energy | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Exxon Mobil | New York | Schlumberger | Shell | Southwestern Energy | Statewide NY

Surprise! New York State’s Pension Fund Invests $1 Billion in Shale Gas Drilling Companies
May 9, 2011May 9, 2011

In an interesting (some would say hypocritical) twist on New York State’s moratorium against drilling in the Marcellus Shale because of environmental concerns, it seems the state’s comptroller has no problem investing some of the state’s huge $140 billion pension fund in shale gas drilling operations, to the tune of $1 billion:

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Chesapeake Energy | East Resources | Energy Companies | Equinor/Statoil | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Shell

Foreign Investment in America’s Shale Gas: Is it Good or Bad?
April 11, 2011April 11, 2011

One of the main arguments in favor of Marcellus shale gas drilling is that America can become more energy independent—less dependent on the energy (oil and gas) from other countries. It is an argument that strikes a chord with many Americans. The argument also goes that much of the gas produced in the region will stay “local” and cause natural gas prices to remain low for consumers. But what if foreign companies and foreign-backed government entities start buying leaseholds and come here and drill? Will the gas remain here, or will it be exported?

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