Patterson-UTI Energy 2016 Update – $319M Loss
Each month MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Patterson’s rig count kept sinking month by month until June 2016 when things turned around. Since last June, Patterson has reactived and began running new rigs (higher rig count) in each successive month. Just last week Patterson released their numbers for January and once again it was good news (see Patterson-UTI Jan Rig Count – Continues to Climb). However, financially speaking it’s not all butterflies and unicorns for Patterson. Yesterday the company released its fourth quarter and full year 2016 numbers. Patterson lost $78 million in 4Q16 (compared with losing $59 million in 4Q15), and lost $319 million for all of 2016 (vs. losing $294 million for all of 2015). Looming on the horizon is Patterson’s buyout of, and merger in, of Seventy Seven Energy (see Seventy Seven Energy Throws in the Towel, Sells to Paterson-UTI). Seventy Seven Energy (SSE) is the old Chesapeake Oilfield Operating company–spun out into a standalone company. It never did make any money, from the moment it became a standalone company. Patterson hopes by combining SSE into its own operation, they will spin some gold from straw–the straw being that both companies now lose money. They hope (gamble?) is, of course, that with a pickup in drilling, Patterson’s fortunes will change. Here’s yesterday’s update…
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The clock just ran out for Ohio landowners who either thought Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline would not get authorized, or hoped to hold out and get higher rates of payment to agree to allow the pipeline to cross their land. As pipeline companies often say, the use of eminent domain to gain access to property is a “last resort.” The time of last resort has come. As soon as Rover received its final authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday (see 
Déjà vu all over again? Last Friday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a long-delayed project–National Fuel Gas Company’s Northern Access 2016 pipeline project (see 
Acting Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Patrick McDonnell held a “hastily arranged” meeting on Monday with several antis who are opposed to Sunoco Logistics Partners’ Mariner East 2 pipeline project. You may recall these same antis predicted the DEP would grant the final permits needed for Mariner East 2 last Friday (see 
Anti-fossil fuel protesters (some of them paid) will go on a camp-out in Amish country (Lancaster County, PA) beginning this Friday to protest the imminent start of construction for the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project. The same group built themselves a magic tree house along the planned route of the pipeline (see 
The Baker Hughes rig count continued its rocket ride in January. The international rig count (worldwide) was 933, up 4 from the 929 counted in December. However, in the U.S., the January rig count was 683, up a huge 49 rigs from the 634 in December. The Marcellus/Utica displayed equally good news. The combined rig counts for PA-OH-WV was 61, up by 3 rigs from December’s 58. Both PA and OH gained 2 rigs while WV lost 1 rig in January. Here’s the full set of numbers (and a pretty chart)…
In 2014 MDN reported that MAX Environmental, operator of the Bulger hazardous waste landfill in Smith Township (Washington County), PA since 1958, planned to expand the landfill by 21 acres in order to handle an increase of drill cuttings and even liquid waste (which they will turn to solid waste) coming from Marcellus Shale drilling (see 
Marathon Petroleum subsidiary MarkWest Energy and Antero Resources’ midstream subsidiary Antero Midstream have announced a 50/50 joint venture focused on gathering and processing natural gas and natural gas liquids in northern West Virginia (Tyler, Wetzel and Richie counties). Antero Midstream will contribute its gathering operations for 195,000 acres in WV, boosting MarkWest’s total WV Marcellus gathering operation to a huge 360,000 acres. In addition, the JV will add three new processing plants to MarkWest’s Sherwood Complex in Doddridge County, WV. And get this: the JV contemplates building another eight (!) processing plants at Sherwood and a new/second location. Antero expects to invest “up to $800 million” through 2020, and has already made an initial $155 million investment. We think it’s no coincidence that on the same day Antero Midstream announced the deal (yesterday), they also announced a new round of units (i.e. shares of stock) they hope to pedal to raise $198 million. Here’s the details on the JV deal between Antero and MarkWest…
When reporting on the flurry of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approvals from last Friday, before Commissioner Norman Bay resigned in a huff over losing the chairmanship of the agency (and leaving the Commission with only two Commissioners, not enough to vote on more projects), we noticed there was one major Marcellus/Utica pipeline project that didn’t receive a final approval: the NEXUS Pipeline project. NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. It is a critically needed pipeline to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. It is a joint venture between DTE Energy and Spectra Energy. In December FERC issued a positive final Environmental Impact Statement (see 
Midstream and utility giant Dominion has ~26,400 megawatts of power generation, 14,600 miles of natural gas transmission/gathering/storage pipelines, and some 6,600 miles of electric-transmission lines. They are “a producer and transporter of energy.” Dominion, whose official name (on paper) is Dominion Resources, Inc., has decided to change its name. The new name will be Dominion Energy, Inc. Why? “In recognition of its focus on the evolving energy marketplace and to unify its brand following last year’s merger with Questar Corporation.” In addition to a new name comes (of course) a new logo…
According to rumors floating around the Pennsylvania environmental wacko movement, today is the day the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) will issue the final permits needed by Sunoco Logistic Partners to begin construction of the Mariner East 2 NGL pipeline that will stretch across the entire state. Neither Sunoco nor the DEP would confirm the rumor, but the wackos are agitated and saying their “inside sources” (of which they appear to have many) are telling them it’s today. And what if it happens? According to Maya van Rossum (THE Delaware Riverkeeper), the antis will employ their two favorite tactics: Sue in court, and whip up the more radical folks in the movement into a frenzy so they “rise up in protest.” You know, like the “protesters” (i.e. criminals) did in North Dakota–the ones who fired shots at police officers, burned tires, and engaged in illegal actions to stop work on the Dakota Access Pipeline (see