Industrywide Issues

Anschutz Exploration | Chemung County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York

Exclusive: Anschutz Wins 4 Yr-Old NY Methane Contamination Case
December 29, 2014December 29, 2014

An MDN exclusive: In 2010, at the beginning of widespread public consciousness about the Marcellus Shale and a time when drilling was just taking off in Pennsylvania, a New York City personal injury law firm smelled opportunity with a group of landowners in Chemung County, NY. Nine families living in Big Flats claimed that nearby gas drilling from Anschutz Corporation had “contaminated” their water wells (see our story at the time, Supposed “First Claim” Filed in New York Alleging Water Contamination from Hydraulic Fracturing Gas Drilling). The NYC law firm claimed in a press release (falsely) that the two wells drilled by Anschutz had been fracked (see Anschutz Exploration Responds to Lawsuit Claiming Drilling Operations Contaminated Water Wells in Big Flats, NY). The case started out in a lower court, called Supreme Court in New York (go figure) and eventually ended up in U.S. District Court in Western NY. Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Siragusa dismissed the case against Anschutz…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Regulation | Statewide NY

Q Poll: Majority of New Yorkers Support Cuomo’s Frack Ban
December 29, 2014December 29, 2014

If we New Yorkers are ever to one day see shale drilling and fracking in the Empire State, we must face the truth squarely in the face. We must be willing to admit to ourselves what the facts are (relative to the PR war we are in) and move on from there. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted shortly after Gov. Cuomo’s ignominious decision to ban fracking throws a bucket of cold water in our collective faces and is a wake-up call for those of us who support drilling (which is the correct and righteous position on this issue). The poll, conducted statewide, shows that NY state voters approve of Cuomo’s decision to ban fracking by a margin of 55% to 25% who oppose his decision. Republicans, sadly, support his decision by 42% with 40% opposed, and Democrats are simply in lock-step mode (they don’t think for themselves anymore, too much hassle): they support the man-child’s decision by 67% to 11% against the decision. Not one single party, gender, age or regional group had a majority that disapproved of Cuomo’s decision to ban fracking. That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news…
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Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Reliance Industries

Marcellus Ethane will Head to India Aboard 6 New Japanese Ships
December 29, 2014December 29, 2014

You may recall that all of the LNG (liquefied natural gas) that will be produced at the under construction export facility in Cove Point, Maryland will be sold to two countries: Japan and India (see Dominion’s Cove Point LNG Facility Achieves Important Milestones). Japan and India are teaming up again–but this time it’s for America’s ethane instead of methane. Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s single largest company of any kind (conglomerate that includes oil and gas drilling) has ordered up 6 Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) for an undisclosed sum from Japanese company Mitsui. The VLEC ships will transport some 1.5 million tons of ethane per year to India, where it will be used to feed Indian ethane cracker plants. Since RIL has two joint ventures in the Marcellus, it’s a safe bet that some of that exported ethane will be coming from the Marcellus…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

Water Withdrawals from Creeks Next Point of Attack for Antis in OH?
December 29, 2014December 29, 2014

Are water withdrawals the next point of attack for anti-drillers in Ohio? Perhaps. We noticed an interesting story where a pair of elected Democrats (one from the Ohio House, one from the Ohio Senate) are making noise about the drilling industry’s unrestricted right to withdraw water from creeks as long as they report it to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). The Dem politicians seem to be saying they would like to slap a new law in place to limit (or disallow) water withdrawals…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

WashPo: NY Gov Cuomo “Ignoble”; Wrong on Frack Ban
December 29, 2014December 29, 2014

The Washington Post, one of the more liberal newspapers in the country and self-appointed arbiter of national news, released an editorial (penned by their very own reporters/editors) that floored us. The Post editorial says fracking is OK when done right, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo screwed up with his decision to ban fracking. Duck down! Was that a flock of pigs flying by?…
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Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Online Tool Tracks PA Production by Well, Calculates Royalties
December 29, 2014December 29, 2014

Several times in the past, MDN has touted what we consider to be the best online database for Pennsylvania landowners interested in tracking the production of gas wells in the Keystone State. It’s called MarcellusGas.org and for $20 a year you can all the data you can handle with regard to how much a given Marcellus well is producing–based on the semi-annual reports filed with the state Dept. of Environmental Protection. MarcellusGas.org sports not only data on historical production, but a royalty calculator that projects out what a well may produce based on the production of other wells in the area that have produced longer. And according to landowners who have compared the projections with their royalty checks, they say it’s pretty darned accurate…
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Ethane | Industrywide Issues

Louisiana Ethane Cracker for Marcellus Gas Built with Intl Money
December 29, 2014December 29, 2014

In June 2014, MDN told you about a Range Resources deal to sell some of their ethane to a cracker plant, yet to be built, in Lake Charles, Louisiana (see Range Announces Multiple Agreements to Sell Natgas & Ethane). The Lake Charles cracker plant is part of a huge $8.9 billion petrochemical complex that will be built by energy/chemical company Sasol. In a press release last week, Sasol announced they’ve secured $4 billion in a “credit facility” (i.e. loans) for the project, although they don’t mention when construction will actually get under way. Aside from the fact that Marcellus ethane, in part, will feed the plant, what struck us as interesting is the international nature of the project. Some 18 international banks and investment firms are involved in the $4 billion credit deal. Sasol itself is a South African company; the Bank of Tokyo is the administrative agent for the deal; Bank of America is the account bank; HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is the “security trustee” for the $4B loan; and the Bank of Scotland is financial adviser. It’s a real panoply of international involvement!…
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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Landowners Fight Back Against Cuomo Frack Ban, Rally on Jan 5
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

Two important bits of news for New York landowners–a group not broken and not cowed by the likes of Andrew Cuomo. First, the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is hosting an important radio show on Sunday, Dec. 28 with special guest Dr. Gilbert Ross from the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). Dr. Ross will debunk the sorry, lame excuses offered by NY State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker and his so-called report on fracking. Second, the JLCNY has put the word out that they will hold a rally at the Holiday Inn Arena in Binghamton, NY on Monday, Jan. 5 at 4 pm. The JLCNY needs every pro-driller and family member who can, to attend. Details below on both…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Rice Energy

Rice Midstream IPO Falls Short of Goal by Approx. $134M
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

Earlier in December Rice Energy, a Marcellus and Utica Shale exploration and production company, launched an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for their midstream division–spinning it off into it’s own company (see Rice Energy Launches Midstream IPO – MDN Nails the Price). Rice had hoped to get between $19 and $21 per share. The IPO is now done and dusted–and Rice only got $16.50 per share. So instead of the hoped for $546-$604 million in new cash (call it $575 million), they got $441.6 million. Still very respectable, but certainly short of the mark…
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Accidents | Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Triad Hunter

Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Ohio Fixed, Residents Go Home
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

On Monday we noted that it had been 10 days since a well blowout at a Triad Hunter Utica Shale well pad in Monroe County, OH with some 50 area residents still displaced from their homes (see Residents Near Leaking Triad Hunter Well in OH Still Displaced). Good news: residents near the well pad will be home for Christmas. Magnum Hunter (parent of Triad Hunter) reports as of yesterday Wild Well Control has successfully replaced the well head and temporarily capped the well. Residents are now home, just in time for the holidays. We sense a new Hallmark Christmas movie coming…
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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Ethane | Housing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Odebrecht | Ohio | Processing Plants | Washington County (OH) | West Virginia | Wood County

WV/OH Officials Going on Field Trip to Prepare for Cracker Plant
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

The Odebrecht ethane cracker plant planned for the Parkersburg, WV area continues to walk/smell/act/behave like it’s the real deal. The latest evidence: Odebrecht has told area officials around Parkersburg, you need to be prepared for when the 100% official announcement comes, cause at that point, things will happen fast. So area officials are boning up now to be prepared for an influx of people and jobs–both a good thing, and a challenge. Area officials from Wood County, WV and neighboring Washington County, OH will head to the bitter-cold north country–Minot, North Dakota–in January (!) to see how that community has dealt with a rapidly expanding population and influx of new jobs due to the Bakken Shale…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH | Wastewater

OH Anti Group Wants EPA to Suspend ODNR Injection Well Oversight
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

Whenever anti-drillers in a given state don’t like how the state environmental authority is doing its job, they run to the federal government like a petulant child clinging to its mother’s skirt. “Mommy, mommy! Johnny hurt my feelings!” Such is the case with Ohio Citizen Action (OCA), an anti-drilling group that is accusing the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) of falling down on the job when it comes to regulating injection wells–wells used to dispose of frack wastewater. OCA’s demand? That the federal EPA suspend ODNR’s oversight of the injection well program in Ohio and that the feds move in and take over. OCA used 16 untrained volunteers (activists), gave them mountains of official paperwork from the ODNR archive, and armed each of them with yellow highlighters. The 16 untrained volunteer activists found every reference they could of what they say is incompetence and malfeasance by the ODNR, stitched it all together in a “report” (full copy below), and are now calling on Mommy EPA to “do something” about it…
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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Supply Chain | Wayne County (OH)

OH Company Innovates Spray Foam Barriers to Lay Pipelines
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

Ask anyone who’s ever worked on laying pipelines and you’ll find it can be back-breaking work. First you dig a trench, then you lay the pipeline. However, while digging the trench and laying the pipeline, you also need to install a barrier every 50 feet or so to stop water from running down the trench, leading to soil erosion. Most of the time sandbags are used. Stacking 30-50 pound sandbags around a pipe in a single location typically takes a couple of people an hour or more. However, Ohio entrepreneurs have come to the rescue. Dalton’s Spray Foam Solutions in Dalton, OH now offers a much faster and easier way, using spray foam. Spray it in, the foam hardens–clinging to the pipe and the soil–and in about 15 minutes (1/4 the time) a much easier solution is in place, protecting the environment, saving time, and reducing the need for Icy Hot Patches for the workers…
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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

NJ Residents Breathing Easier Thanks to PA Marcellus Shale
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

New Jersey has, for decades, not met federal air quality standards. And although NJ continues to not meet some of those standards, they have just been told by the feds they now pass for one very important air standard: the standard for particulates in the air. Particulates are tiny bits of solid and liquid droplets in the air that come from soot, pollen and other sources. Gov. Chris Christie (Rhino, er, a, RINO) has pulled a muscle in his arm patting himself on the back taking credit for the news. The truth is, NJ’s lower particulate count has virtually nothing to do with NJ itself and is mostly due to, yes, the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Let’s Use Anti-Drillers’ Road Map to Win the Fracking War in NY
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

The preening and pretentious Chip Northrup has weighed in on how and why a “rag tag” band of hippies “won” in New York’s battle to ban fracking. Chip pretends to be Somebody in the oil and gas world, implying that he’s run oil/gas operations, when all he has done is invest in oil wells with his trust fund money. Chip has a summer home in Cooperstown, NY where he likes to attend local lib cocktail parties–so he became a minor anti-fracking celebrity due to his “oil and gas connections”–a kind of “whistleblower” from “the industry” who appeared on anti-fracking television stations (in Albany) and gave interviews to anti-fracking “reporters” (in Albany) to talk about the horrors of fracking. He’s a real legend in his own mind. Anywho, Chip outlines for us on his No Fracking Way blog how his side won this round. We found this graf interesting and instructive, where he describes his side’s “stalking” (their word) of Gov. Andrew Cuomo…
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Air Quality | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues

ExxonMobil to EPA: We Don’t Need New Methane Regulations
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

The oil and gas industry, including shale drillers, continue to wait on pins and needles for the jack boots of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to come down on their necks with new “rules” (i.e. laws from the Executive Branch, never sanctioned by a vote in the Legislative Branch) on methane emissions that supposedly come from oil and gas drilling. The EPA is desperately trying to regulate that which Constitutionally belongs to the states to regulate: oil and gas drilling. The latest word from nameless/faceless “sources” at the EPA is that they will wait until “after the holidays” to release these onerous new rules. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil, on their Perspectives blog site, points out shale drilling has already led to some of the lowest methane emissions in decades. They say shale drilling is “delivering in spades” when it comes to reducing methane emissions–so why are new rules from the EPA needed at all? It’s a great question from the largest oil and gas company in the U.S….
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