Economic Impact

Commodity Price | Crude Oil | Economic Impact | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | NGLs

Rusty Braziel Sketches Scenarios for U.S. NGL/Crude Prices
December 5, 2012December 5, 2012

Russell (“Rusty”) Braziel is one of the country’s most respected authorities on energy information and markets. He’s the former vice president of BENTEK Energy (bought out by Platts in 2010). He speaks, he writes, and he’s now President & Principal Consultant at RBN Energy, LLC.

Rusty presented at the LDC NGL (natural gas liquids) Forum in San Antonio yesterday, and he had some interesting things to say about the future of NGL and crude oil prices in the U.S. When Rusty speaks, people listen.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants

Northeast Oil Refineries, Powered by…
December 4, 2012December 4, 2012

PBF Energy, headquartered in Parsippany, NJ, purchased three northeast oil refineries over the past two years—two of them belonged to Valero (Paulsboro, NJ and Delaware City, DE), and the other was Sunoco’s Toledo, OH refinery. PBF paid a combined $1 billion for all three (and hundreds of millions to update them).

Last year the three refineries were profitable, brining in revenue of $16 billion—and this year they’ve already brought in $15 billion. PBF recently leased 2,500 rail cars to bring in Bakken Shale crude oil to help expand the operation. But the really interesting thing (to MDN) is how the three plants are powered:

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Economic Impact | Hancock County | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants | West Virginia

WV Refinery Expanding with Marcellus/Utica Crude Oil
November 30, 2012November 30, 2012

Ergon, Inc., a crude oil processor headquartered in Jackson, MS but with operations in other states, including West Virginia, announced Wednesday there’s enough crude oil flowing from the Marcellus and Utica Shale region that they are investing $78 million to add more refining capacity to their plant in Newell, WV.

From the Ergon press announcement:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Jobs, Wages Go Up Because of Marcellus Shale Drilling
November 29, 2012November 29, 2012

WorkForce West Virginia issued a new report to the WV legislature on Wednesday documenting that employment throughout WV in the oil and gas industry has increased 10% since 2008, and average wages for those workers have gone up 19%. Why? The Marcellus Shale, of course.

A few more interesting facts and figures from the report:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Marcellus Shale Production Up 72% in One Year
November 28, 2012November 28, 2012

A few facts and figures about the Marcellus Shale and it’s immense importance to the energy picture in the United States, from a recent U.S. Energy Information Administration report:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Marcellus is “Global Superstar” of NatGas Plays
November 27, 2012November 27, 2012

An opinion-editorial piece in today’s Harrisburg Patriot-News co-written by PA Dept. of Environmental Protection Sec. Michael Krancer and Gov. Tom Corbett’s energy executive Patrick Henderson touts Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale as the “global superstar of natural gas formations.” Referring to recently released reports from the IEA and S&P, here’s what else they said about the mighty Marcellus:

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Belmont County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Ohio

Belmont County, OH Drilling to Take Off Soon
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

Want to know where drilling is set to rapidly expand? One of the indicators is how busy the county clerk or county recorder’s office is. Before you drill you have to lease, and in order to lease, you have to perform title searches to be sure the landowner has free and clear title to enter into a lease. Busyness at the county recorder’s office is a good signal for what will soon follow.

Using the metric of how busy the recorder’s office is, Belmont County, Ohio is due for a lot of drilling activity in the not-too-distant future:

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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

EIA Report: Rig Count in Utica Shale Doubles in One Year
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Yesterday the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) provided a detailed update on shale drilling activity in the Utica Shale. They found that the number of drilling rigs in the Utica has doubled from October of last year to October of this year. Also of keen interest: 86% of the active rigs in the Utica (now) are targeting shale oil. Last October the number of 15% of active rigs—which shows a remarkable shift in the Utica. Although the report says “shale oil,” MDN takes that to mean “wet gas,” or shale oil and natural gas liquids. The report finds that Chesapeake Energy continues to be the Big Kahuna in the Utica Shale with 39% of all new well starts in Ohio year-to-date.

Here’s the full EIA Utica Shale update posted yesterday (along with some great charts):

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Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Says 3 OH Counties are “Core of the Core” in Utica
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

On the third quarter earnings call with analysts earlier this month, Chesapeake Energy officials were asked about the Utica Shale and their thoughts, now more than a year in, of how the Utica stacks up against the Eagle Ford, and how Chesapeake’s “core of the core” strategy is working in the Utica. Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon answered the question this way, identifying the three counties in Ohio that are “the core of the core” for the company:

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Alternative Energy | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues

Geological Consultant Says Shale Gas is a Commercial Failure
November 19, 2012November 19, 2012

Two weeks ago MDN highlighted the opinions, as expressed in a book to be published in the spring, from an “expert” who says shale gas supplies in the U.S. will last less than 10 years (see this MDN story). We were a bit incredulous and doubtful—the book is written by an energy investment advisor, not a geologist. But we now have a second contrary voice to add to his—this one is Arthur Berman, a geological consultant with 34 years of experience in petroleum exploration and production.

Berman says, among other things, that the decline rates for shale oil are very steep and that unless we’re drilling thousands of new wells each year, we won’t even stay even with the oil we’re producing now. His opinion is in stark contrast to the IEA, EIA and other governmental organizations that predict the U.S. will soon surpass Saudi Arabia to be the world’s largest oil producer (we’ve already surpassed Russia to be the largest natural gas producer). Here’s some of Berman’s comments in an interview on shale gas and oil:

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Allegheny County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

I’ve Been Workin’ on the (Short Line) Railroad, All the Live-Long Day
November 16, 2012November 16, 2012

More feel-good stories of how the Marcellus Shale has almost single-handedly revived the short line railroad business. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has an excellent roundup piece that covers a number of short line railroads that have gotten a second chance because of the Marcellus. The article begins with this story about the Allegheny Valley Railroad company, located in a Pittsburgh suburb:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Lehigh County | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Canadian Firm Building 2nd NatGas Power Plant Near Allentown
November 16, 2012November 16, 2012

Two months ago Canadian firm EmberClear Corp. announced they will build a new 300 megawatt (MW) electrical generating plant west of Allentown, PA. The plant, called Good Spring NGCC 1, will cost $400 million to build and create $1 billion in economic impact for the community (see this MDN story). The original plan was to use coal to power the plant, but EmberClear changed and decided to use abundant, cheap Marcellus Shale gas instead.

Although construction on that plant has not yet begun, EmberClear announced on Tuesday of this week that they now plan to build a second 300 MW electrical generating plant on the same property—Good Spring NGCC 2—which will also use Marcellus natural gas for power. From the EmberClear announcement:

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Economic Impact | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wood County

Wood County, WV in the Running for Ethane Cracker
November 15, 2012November 15, 2012

According to Kevin DiGregoria, executive director of the Chemical Alliance Zone West Virginia, Wood County, WV is one of the prime locations in the state being considered for a new ethane cracker plant. DiGregorio also said the Marcellus Shale will be around for at least 30 years and is “an economic grand slam” for the state.

DiGregoria was joined by WV Commerce Sec. Keith Burdette at a roundtable discussion in Wood County. Burdette, who has been in the hunt for a cracker plant for the state for nearly two years now, said he’s in regular contact with interested companies:

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues

ExxonMobil: Shale Gas is Revitalizing U.S. Petrochemical Industry
November 13, 2012November 13, 2012

At a petrochemical industry conference last week in Philadelphia, a senior ExxonMobil executive said shale gas in general, and the Marcellus Shale in particular, is revitalizing the petrochemical industry in this country.

Comments from Lynne Lachenmyer, senior vice president, ExxonMobil Chemical Company:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Obama’s Re-election Impact on Ohio’s Utica Shale Drilling
November 12, 2012November 12, 2012

A sobering and excellent article in the Coshocton Tribune takes a look at how the re-election of Barak H. Obama will negatively impact small businesses and the Utica Shale drilling industry in Ohio. We highly recommend you read the entire article to gain an understanding of the implications for all types of small businesses—businesses that are the economic backbone of our country.

Here’s a small portion of the article that deals with federal impacts on shale gas drilling in Ohio:

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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues

Energy Industry Expert Says Shale Gas Will Last <10 Years
November 9, 2012November 9, 2012

Here’s a contrary view if ever we’ve seen one: Bill Powers, editor and writer of the Powers Energy Investor newsletter and someone who has sat on the board of three oil and gas companies and has been an active investor for 25 years, says shale gas supplies in the U.S. have been vastly overhyped. Over the past three years Powers researched and next spring will publish a new book called: Cold, Hungry and in the Dark: Exploding the Natural Gas Supply Myth. In the book he argues that contrary to the popular belief that the U.S. has a 100-year supply of natural gas due to shale gas fracking, he believes it’s more on the order of 5-7 years. Say what??

Powers was interviewed by The Energy Report and the interview was posted on the Seeking Alpha website. Here’s a brief excerpt:

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