Energy Services

Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

GreenHunter’s Plans to Move Wastewater by Barge Delayed
December 17, 2012December 17, 2012

The U.S. Coast Guard must decide whether or not to allow fracking wastewater to be transported by barge along rivers and lakes in the U.S.—so says Cmdr. Michael Roldan, chief of the Coast Guard’s Hazardous Material Division. If the Coast Guard decides transporting fracking wastewater is not allowed, that would be a huge problem for GreenHunter Water. They’ve already invested in five barge terminals in Pennsylvania and West Virginia to do precisely that—move Marcellus and Utica fracking wastewater to facilities that can treat and dispose of it. They’ve made those investments with the understanding it would be allowed. Their understanding may have been misplaced.

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Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnerVest | Industrywide Issues | M3 Midstream | NGLs | Ohio | Processing Plants

Columbiana County NGL Plant On Track for May Opening
December 17, 2012December 17, 2012

An update on the excellent progress being made with the construction of a new $400 million natural gas liquids collection and processing plant being built in Hanoverton (Columbiana County), Ohio by M3 Midstream:

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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Stantec | Stark County | Washington County

Canadian Firm Buys PA Marcellus Survey/Mapping Company
December 17, 2012December 17, 2012

Canadian firm Stantec, which provides consulting service in engineering, surveying and environmental sciences, announced on Friday that they have bought out Landmark Survey and Mapping. Landmark, with 24 employees in both Washington, PA and North Canton, OH, specializes in surveying and mapping oil and gas pipelines—a growing area of focus for Stantec.

From the announcement:

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Accidents | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

PUCO Fines Dominion East Ohio $500K for Pipeline Accident
December 14, 2012December 14, 2012

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has fined Dominion East Ohio $500,000 over a natural gas explosion and fire at a pipeline regulator station in January 2011 in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. The resulting fires severely damaged 11 homes and another 150 homes required repair or maintenance of their gas-powered appliances because of the mishap.

From the PUCO press release:

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Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Hilcorp Energy | Lawrence County | Noble Energy | Ohio | Pennsylvania | R.E. Gas Development

Latest Round of Drilling Permits Along PA/OH Border
December 13, 2012

Hilcorp received a permit last week from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to drill its 18th Utica Shale well in Lawrence County, PA. Meanwhile, Chesapeake, Noble and R.E. Gas Development received permits last week from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) to drill six new shale wells in Carroll and Harrison counties.

The details of who is drilling and where:

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Energy Services | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Muskingum County | Ohio | Statewide OH | Supply Chain

Small Businesses Learn about Selling to Utica Shale Drillers
December 13, 2012December 13, 2012

Do you work for or own a company interested in providing products or services to the drilling industry industry in eastern Ohio—specifically in and around Muskingum County? People in your shoes attended an Oil & Gas Seminar at the Muskingum County Business Incubator yesterday and heard about how to start selling to the industry.

Some sage advice for businesses wanting to sell into the industry from Halliburton Procurement Manager Daniel Etter:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wetzel County

MarkWest’s Mobley, WV Wet Gas Processing Plant Goes Online
December 13, 2012December 13, 2012

MarkWest Energy today announced the first of it’s three planned Mobley processing plants, located in Wetzel County, WV, is now online and producing. The plant is currently operating at 60% of capacity.

MarkWest’s announcement:

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Mahoning County | NiSource | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants

Mahoning Utica Pipeline/Processing Plant “Moving Forward”
December 13, 2012December 13, 2012

Back in July, MDN told you about a new joint venture between Hilcorp and NiSource to build a wet gas pipeline and processing plant in the Youngstown, Ohio area (see this MDN story). There is still no official location (yet) for the new project, which will cost between $300 and $500 million to build, but we now have a name for it: the Hickory Bend Pipeline System.

According to a NiSource spokesperson, Hickory Bend (the pipeline and the processing plant) is “moving forward.” What does that mean? It means the Mahoning Valley will soon see a big boost in jobs for construction workers and welders:

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Accidents | Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | NiSource | Pipelines | West Virginia

Update on WV Pipeline Explosion Near Charleston
December 13, 2012December 13, 2012

On Tuesday, the 20-inch Columbia Gas Transmission natural gas pipeline exploded near Sissonville, WV—about 10 miles from Charleston (see this MDN story). Yesterday, NiSource, the parent company Columbia Gas, issued this update on the explosion:

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Access Midstream Partners | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Williams

Chesapeake, Access & Williams in Complex 3-Way Midstream Deal
December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

Chesapeake Energy has sold off its remaining midstream operations (pipelines, compressors and processing plants) to Access Midstream Partners for $2.16 billion. The sale includes Chesapeake’s midstream assets in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, along with assets in the Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Niobrara shale plays.

At the same time (keep your eye on the bouncing ball here), midstream giant Williams paid $2.4 billion to buy a 50% stake in Access Midstream. That is, the two deals are connected—Chesapeake to Access, Access to Williams. On paper, Chesapeake sold its midstream properties to Access, but it practice it seems the sale was actually to Williams via Access Midstream. In addition, Williams announced that Chesapeake is “supporting” their effort to build a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline from the Marcellus/Utica area to the Gulf Coast.

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Accidents | Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | NiSource | Pipelines | West Virginia

Columbia NatGas Pipeline Explodes Near Charleston, WV
December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

This is big news because it’s so extremely rare: A 20-inch natural gas transmission pipeline—the Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline (owned by Nisource)—exploded near Sissonville, WV, 10 miles north of Charleston. The resulting fire burned for more than an hour and has shut down a portion of nearby Interstate 77 for at least two days.

The explosion happened not far from the Lanham Compressor Station, although there is no indication the compressor station had anything to do with the explosion. An investigation into the explosion is just beginning and there are few known facts. The (rather thin) details as we know them:

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Energy Services | Falcon Drilling | Indiana County | Pennsylvania

2 Employees Charged with Embezzling $6M from Falcon Drilling
December 11, 2012December 11, 2012

More than $6 million was embezzled from Falcon Drilling Co. over the past eight years by two of its employees. Falcon is a Marcellus Shale drilling contractor with 13 rigs headquartered in Indiana, PA.

On Monday, federal prosecutors charged a former controller at the company with conspiracy to embezzle. Previously, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) had been charged.

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Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Tervita | Wastewater

Chesapeake Hires Tervita Corp to Build OH Wasterwater Plant
December 7, 2012December 7, 2012

Calgary-based Tervita Corporation, an environmental and energy services company, has been selected by Chesapeake Energy to build a wastewater treatment facility in Carroll County, OH. Carroll is the epicenter of Chesapeake’s drilling in the Ohio Utica Shale. The facility will be used to recycle drilling wastewater from Chesapeake’s Utica drilling, as well as other water-related services.

From the Tervita press announcement:

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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Fairfield County | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Pipelines

ATEX Express Ethane Pipeline Will Pay OH Airport $450K
December 5, 2012December 5, 2012

The Appalachia-to-Texas (ATEX) Express Pipeline, a 1,230 mile ethane pipeline which will run from the Marcellus and Utica region to the Gulf Coast is about to ink a deal with Fairfield County, OH Airport to allow the pipeline to run under airport property. If the deal is signed, as expected in the near future, the airport will receive $450,000 to allow the pipeline under its property.

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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

FERC Green-Lights 2 Dominion Pipeline Projects in PA
December 5, 2012December 5, 2012

Last Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an “environmental assessment” (EA) covering two Marcellus pipeline projects proposed by Dominion Transmission: The 19-mile Tioga Area Expansion project, spanning five counties in Pennsylvania and New York, and the nearby 3.5-mile Sabinsville to Morrisville project.

FERC’s EA says neither project will adversely affect the environment, giving the projects what amounts to a green light to move forward with construction next year.

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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream

EQT Unveils 2013 Plans for Marcellus & Utica Shale
December 4, 2012December 4, 2012

EQT Corporation, with major drilling and pipeline projects in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale, released their 2013 crystal ball today (i.e., their 2013 “operational forecast”). According to the plan, EQT will spend $820 million to drill 153 Marcellus Shale wells in 2013, and $40 million to drill 8 liquids-rich Utica Shale wells. They’re also spending $320 million on various midstream (pipeline) projects too.

The full EQT forecast for 2013:

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