| | | | | | | |

Texas Judge OKs Chesapeake Royalty Lawsuit Deal w/PA Landowners

U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal

U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, Chief Judge for the Southern District of Texas, oversees three cases from Pennsylvania landowners originally filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Those cases ended up in a Texas court because Chessy’s bankruptcy filing was in a Texas bankruptcy court. On Monday, Judge Rosenthal granted final certification for the class action lawsuits brought by PA landowners against Chesapeake for shorting their royalty checks. How much do landowners get? We have the details…
Continue reading

| | | | |

Former Access Midstream CEO Reappears – on MarkWest Board of Dir

Last June, Williams announced the biggest midstream news of the year–a deal to buy Access Midstream (the old Chesapeake Midstream) and fold it into their own operation (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). After clearing all of the regulatory and financial due diligence hurdles, the two companies officially merged on February 2nd (see It’s Official: Williams and Access Midstream Tie the Knot). But before they did, Mike Stice, the CEO of Access and the President and COO of Chesapeake Midstream before it was Access, left Access as of January 1st of this year (see Access Midstream CEO Replaced by COO Under Williams Ownership). We don’t know if Stice’s departure was amicable or not. Stice’s #2 man, Chief Operating Officer Robert Purgason, took over as the head of Williams’ new Access division. Mike Stice has turned up again–this time on the board of directors for Williams’ arch competitor MarkWest Energy…
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | |

PA Landowners File RICO Royalty Lawsuit Against Chesapeake/Williams

lawsuitAlong with acquiring Access Midstream (formerly Chesapeake Midstream), Williams has just acquired a brand new lawsuit. Two Bradford County, PA law firms along with a New Jersey law firm on Tuesday filed a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuit on behalf of 90 landowners in Bradford County against Chesapeake Energy and Williams Partners (because Williams is now the owner of what was Access Midstream) claiming Chessy and Williams/Access conspired to defraud landowners of royalty money by deducting post-production expenses they had no right to deduct…
Continue reading

| | | |

It’s Official: Williams and Access Midstream Tie the Knot

Tie the KnotSeveral weeks ago MDN told you that yesterday, Feb. 2, would be the big wedding day for the merger (actually takeover) of Access Midstream by Williams (see Wedding Day: Williams & Access Midstream Get Hitched on Feb 2). The wedding took place as planned and the marriage is now happily consummated. The groom was Williams (grooms are always men…pushy and domineering ya know). The bride was sweet Access Midstream, previously known as Chesapeake Midstream. Bride Access took the Williams name as of yesterday, creating a midstream behemoth whose market capitalization will come close to rivaling the country’s largest midstream company, Kinder Morgan…
Continue reading

| | | |

Wedding Day: Williams & Access Midstream Get Hitched on Feb 2

It looks like February 2, 2015 will be the day of the wedding for Williams and Access Midstream. In June 2014, Williams announced a friendly takeover/merger with Access Midstream (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). Access was once Chesapeake Midstream, spun off into its own company. Both Williams and Access have major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. The takeover is going just fine and Access stocks will be distributed/swapped/split/converted/traded/whatever (makes our eyes glaze over just to read it) on Friday, January 30. By the time it’s all hashed out over the weekend, when trading begins on Monday, February 2, Access will be part of Williams…
Continue reading

| | | |

Access Midstream CEO Replaced by COO Under Williams Ownership

Mike Stice is the current CEO of Access Midstream, which used to be the old Chesapeake Midstream before it was spun off into its own company. Access has a large footprint in the Marcellus/Utica region. In June, Williams announced a deal to buy Access Midstream and fold it into their own operation (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). The deal is now done and all that’s left are some regulatory approvals and lawyers generating mountains of paperwork back and forth (see Deal Details for Williams/Access Midstream Merger – TTV of $50B!). Williams expects to put its own name plate on the Access door “by early 2015.” So what does that mean for Access CEO Mike Stice? Sayonara, apparently. Williams issued an innocent-looking personnel press release yesterday that says Stice’s #2 man, the current Chief Operating Officer, Robert Purgason, will take over running the Access Midstream division of Williams…
Continue reading

| | | | |

Deal Details for Williams/Access Midstream Merger – TTV of $50B!

One of the biggest–perhaps THE biggest–midstream stories of 2014 is the buyout of Access Midstream by Williams (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). Access Midstream, formerly Chesapeake Midstream, has a big footprint in the Marcellus/Utica region. Yesterday (Sunday night) Williams and Access issued a joint statement that the merger plan is now done. The deal outline is settled–and now it’s down to the lawyers and approvals from the government. They expect the completed merger/takeover by Williams to be done “by early 2015.” Yesterday’s announcement (below) gives the blow by blow of the negotiated deal. It also outlines the roles that Access’ corporate officers will play in the newly combined company. As MDN said initially, this deal has the makings of creating a worthy challenger to Kinder Morgan, the nation’s largest midstream company. We originally estimated the combined value of Williams and Access combined would be around $38 billion. According to the announcement yesterday, the “total transaction value” (TTV) of this deal will be ~$50 billion!…
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | | |

Cardinal Gas Courts S Koreans to Invest in Utica JV

Cardinal Gas Services is a midstream company (pipelines and processing plants) concentrating on the Ohio Utica Shale. Cardinal is actually a joint venture between Access Midstream (formerly Chesapeake Midstream, now being bought by Williams), the U.S. subsidiary of French driller Total, and EnerVest Energy Partners. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more complicated, it does. Reuters is reporting the rumor that a new consortium including South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) and South Korean gas seller E1 Corp are making a play for 34% of Cardinal…
Continue reading

| | | | |

Williams 2Q14 Update: Selected Comments, Slides & Databook

Williams, a major midstream company in the U.S. and one of two major midstream companies in the Marcellus/Utica region (MarkWest Energy being the other) released their second quarter 2014 update on Wednesday. Much of the update deals with the monster deal Williams is in the middle of with acquiring all of Access Midstream, the old Chesapeake Midstream (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). We’ll link to the update below if you want to wade through it. However, we found the obligatory analyst call much more informative when it comes to Williams news about the Marcellus and Utica. We’ve scoured the transcript and pulled out those sections where Williams talks about their northeast operations. We’ve also embedded the slide presentation they used and a copy of their latest “databook” (now where did they get that name?!)…
Continue reading

| | | | | | | |

2nd PA Class Action Lawsuit Against Chesapeake re Royalty Fraud

lawsuitWe’ve only spotted this news in (so far) two legal publications, but last Friday the Suessenbach Family Limited Partnership, using a Wilkes-Barre, PA law firm, launched a “sprawling class action” lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy and Access Midstream accusing the two companies of a $5 billion scheme to defraud landowners out of royalties rightfully due to them. MDN previously covered how this scheme worked (see Chesapeake Shafting Landowners out of Royalties Mess Gets Messier). This is the second such class action against Chesapeake over royalties in PA we’re aware of (see Bad to Worse: PA Royalty Owner Asks Court for Chessy Class Action). There are all sorts of ramifications from this latest lawsuit…
Continue reading

| | | | | |

Williams/Access Midstream Deal Continues to Reverberate

The news continues to roll in about the proposed merger/buyout between Williams and Access Midstream (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). As MDN reported yesterday, such a merger has the potential to create the country’s largest midstream company (by market capitalization), potentially displacing Kinder Morgan from that lofty throne. The stock market certainly likes what it sees in the proposed merger. Williams’ stock ended trading yesterday up 19% in a single day, closing at $56.02 per share. More on the proposed deal and what Williams CEO Alan Armstrong said yesterday about it…
Continue reading

| | | |

Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B

Big-news.jpgReally big news in the midstream (pipelines & processing plants) world, not only for the Marcellus and Utica Shale, but for other major U.S. shale plays as well. Williams announced yesterday (Sunday!) that they are buying Access Midstream for $6 billion (actually $5.995B, but we’re rounding it up). Access, you may recall, is the renamed and former division of Chesapeake Energy called Chesapeake Midstream (see Chesapeake Midstream Changes Name to Access Midstream).Williams says they will pay for half of the purchases with “equity,” meaning ownership via stock and shares in Williams, and the other half with debt borrowing and cash on hand in the kitty. The proposed merger is expected to be completed later this year. What does it mean for the Marcellus/Utica?…
Continue reading

| | | | | | | |

Important Supply Chain Takeaways from Chamber Midstream Meeting

The Canton, OH Regional Chamber of Commerce recently hosted the Midstream Ohio 2014 event to help connect companies seeking to sell to the Utica drilling industry with those drilling and building pipelines. By all accounts it was a huge success for both sides. Here’s some great takeaways from the event, to help supply chain companies that want to sell, or sell more, to the Utica industry:
Continue reading

| | | | | | |

Harrison, OH a Hub for Midstream Processing – Continues to Grow

A few weeks ago MDN told you that Access Midstream and partners M3 Midstream and EV Energy Partners are planning to boost capacity and add a second “processing train” to their Leesville, OH gas processing complex (see Access Midstream: Major Expansion of Utica Processing Facility). With added capacity, the complex will be able to process 1.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day! In addition, the jv partners’ Scio, OH facility is currently building a third processing train to their fractionation (liquids-separating) operation…
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | |

Access Midstream: Major Expansion of Utica Processing Facility

Seems like Chesapeake Energy and its old subsidiaries can’t get enough of…Aubrey McClendon?! MDN told you in April that Cheapeake Energy is leasing some of its rigs to its former CEO, Aubrey McClendon, for drilling in the Utica Shale (see Aubrey McClendon Leases Rigs from Chesapeake to Drill in the Utica). Yesterday came word that Access Midstream (used be called Chesapeake Midstream before Chessy spun it off into its own company) is planning a major expansion of its Utica East Ohio natgas processing facility in eastern Ohio. Why? Three existing customers need more capacity–but also because they’ve picked up a brand new long-term, VIP customer. Can you guess who it is?

Here’s the press release from Access about the coming expansion of UEO which will give them a capacity to process 1.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas…
Continue reading