Industrywide Issues

Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DCNR Program Leases Under Rivers/Creeks for Marcellus Drilling
February 17, 2015February 17, 2015

Well now THIS is just not supposed to happen. The pure-as-the-wind-driven-snow PA Gov. Tom Wolf’s Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) is stepping up its program of leasing underneath rivers, creeks and mud puddles for Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling–much to the consternation of anti-drilling groups like PennFuture (whose immediate past president, Cindy Dunn, is about to become Secretary of DCNR). When DCNR collected for river and stream leases under Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, the Democrat media machine reported it as a clandestine and secretive activity (see PA’s “Secret” Deal to Lease Land Under Rivers & Streams (Gasp!)). It actually has been quite public–MDN told you about this program all the way back in 2012 when it was launched (see PA DCNR Wants Money for Drilling Under Public Streams/Rivers). Our concern was/remains that the state of Pennsylvania may be claiming money for land that belongs to private landowners–denying private landowners of lease bonuses and royalties. Below we have the lease terms dictated by DCNR, a map of the (almost innumerable) waterways PA claims they own, a list of the names for those waterways, and the criteria DCNR uses in determining whether or not a waterway is owned by the state…
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Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Dept of Revenue Still Takes Bite from Royalties, Just Smaller
February 17, 2015February 17, 2015

Last month we shared with Pennsylvania landowners who receive royalty checks the distressing news that the PA Dept. of Revenue is attempting to deny them deductions for certain production costs (see The Tax Man Returneth — for PA Landowners with Royalties). It appeared that the DOR was ramping up an aggressive campaign to drill landowners for money, sending out semi-threatening letters. Accountants told landowners to sit tight and see how this shakes out. Turns out that was good advice. DOR is now backing down on their previous aggressive claims. Oh they still want a pound or so of flesh–they still claim not all deductions are allowed that have been taken–but they are being more reasonable…
Read More “PA Dept of Revenue Still Takes Bite from Royalties, Just Smaller”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Marshall Co Gas-Powered Electric Plant Gets WV Green Light
February 17, 2015February 17, 2015

A somewhat complicated plan to build a 549 megawatt electrical generating plant near Moundsville, WV (for $615 million) that will be powered by Marcellus Shale gas has been making steady progress since last year (see Plan Advances to Build $615M Gas-Powered Electric Plant in WV). Marshall County voted to approve the plan, which includes a condition that the county accept the deed to the plant once its built in an arrangement to reduce potential property taxes on the facility (see Marshall County Votes to Accept Gas-Powered Electric Plant). Good news: the West Virginia Public Service Commission has issued a final order approving the siting certificate. The next step along the road is for the plant to get its financing (investors) lined up and then begin construction…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

PA Dem Congressman “Steps Up” Frack Waste Witch Hunt
February 17, 2015February 17, 2015

Pennsylvania Congressman Matt Cartwright, an anti-drilling Democrat from northeast PA, began a bash-shale-drilling meme late last year (see PA Dem Congressman Demands Info from DEP on Frack Waste and PA Dem Congressman Cartwright Continues to Bash DEP). Cartwright wants to violate the U.S. Constitution and remove individual states rights to regulate oil and gas drilling and instead concentrate that power in Washington, D.C. where people like the arrogant Cartwright can control it via fiat. Cartwright is at it again. He’s “stepped up” his so-called investigation into shale waste disposal. The AP recently visited with Cartwright to take dictation…
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Industrywide Issues | M&A | Research | Supply Chain

New Report on Shale Energy Deals from Top Energy Law Firm
February 17, 2015February 17, 2015

In July 2013 one of the country’s top energy law firms, Steptoe & Johnson, published a report detailing the biggest legal challenges faced by drillers that operate in shale plays (see New Report Details Top Legal Issues for Shale Drillers). Steptoe & Johnson have just published a follow-up report. Titled “Below the Surface 2: Digging Deep on Deals” (full copy embedded below), this new report takes a look at energy transactions and deals to find where natural gas producers are exploring for energy, their level of involvement, lessons they’ve learned, and what roadblocks they must overcome to succeed…
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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation

OH Gov Kasich Says Utica Shale Industry Making State “Poorer”
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

The only question that remains (for us) about Ohio Gov. John Kasich is this: When does he plan to change the (R) after his name to a (D)? He is, in almost all respects, a liberal Democrat at this point. What other conclusion can you draw after he made this statement last week when referring to oil and gas drillers and the incredibly high severance tax he’s proposing: “Every time you take valuable things out of the ground you make us poorer.” This is a typical Democrat class warfare argument he’s using to justify his high tax proposal (see OH Gov. Kasich Increases Proposed Severance Tax Rate by 236%). Kasich and his lackies keep harping on “out of state” (i.e. “foreign”) companies, as if they are robbing the state blind and absconding with Ohio’s money in the dead of night. The reverse is true. Those “foreign” companies are providing jobs and tax revenue like crazy to the state. But let’s not destroy Kasich’s tax fiction with a dose of non-fiction reality. Last week John “foreigner hunter” Kasich went on the offensive against the oil and gas industry in his state. Yes, he’s declared war…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Susquehanna County

Cabot O&G Clipped $50K by SRBC for Lack of Water Permit
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

Timing is everything. If you start drilling a hole too early, it will cost you. In this case, $50,000. That’s the amount Cabot Oil & Gas has offered to pay the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) for their eager-beaver error in drilling a hole on a new well pad in Susquehanna County, PA before they had the necessary approval from the SRBC. No, the SRBC doesn’t suddenly issue permits to drill–that’s the job of the DEP (Dept. of Environmental Protection). However, the SRBC does issue permits for the water that’s needed to drill, and it was that permit Cabot didn’t have in hand when they started to drill late last year. The SRBC says it’s not a big deal and that Cabot is normally “very compliant.” That is, it was a mistake and not intentional. There was no environmental harm as a result. However, for Cabot, it was a costly mistake…
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DTE Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

DTE Energy Analyst Call: Utica/Marcellus Big Part of Co’s Future
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

DTE Energy is a major utility and midstream company headquartered in Detroit, MI. DTE is part owner of the Millennium Pipeline across NY, sole owner of the Bluestone Gathering system in Susquehanna County, PA, and partner in the NEXUS Pipeline planned to cross OH. DTE is also the part owner of the Vector Pipeline, a pipeline that until recently has moved gas from Chicago (coming from Canada) to storage facilities in Michigan. A number of shippers have stopped using Vector for that purpose and it will now be used to flow Utica Shale gas, delivering it to both the NEXUS Pipeline and to Energy Transfer Partners’ ET Rover pipeline. According to DTE officials on an analyst call last Friday, the Utica and Marcellus Shale play a big role in the company’s future. Below we’ve extracted the juicy bits from the analyst call touching on the Utica/Marcellus, NEXUS and Vector pipelines, and how company officials say it all ties together…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Conway MA Offers Lame Excuses to Oppose Tenn Gas Pipeline
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

If it wasn’t so tragic, it would be funny. Otherwise “intelligent” people in the Massachusetts town of Conway have concocted an ominous “report” on the proposed Kinder Morgan expansion of the existing Tennessee Gas Pipeline through their area. Since there are no real negatives to building the pipeline (it IS a pipeline, it gets buried in the ground never to be seen or heard from again)–they have to invent negatives to oppose it. Here’s how the lie goes: shale gas has a lot of radon in it (it doesn’t), and the gas traveling through the pipeline will be shale gas with radon, and EVERYONE knows those pipelines leak like sieves (it’s a wonder any gas actually makes it to market through those pipelines), and that leaking, nasty, fracked shale gas with radon will leak out and cause cancer. Just one teeny, tiny problem with that particular lie. How do you mitigate radon? Anyone? That’s right: You vent it into the air where it dissipates immediately…
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Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Court: Developing Shallow Wells Enough to Hold Utica Layer
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

An important Ohio Appellate Court case was recently decided in Ohio relating to Utica Shale lease rights. The case is called Marshall v Beekay Company. Beekay Company had drilled shallow, non-shale wells on the property of Gary and Cora Marshall. At some point along the way, Beekay had separated the deeper mineral rights (shale) from the shallower mineral rights. The landowners said because Beekay didn’t develop the deeper mineral rights by drilling in the deeper layers, they had broken the original contract. The upshot was the landowners hoped to lease the lower layer to someone who would develop it. But the court found that development and continuous extraction of gas from the shallow layer effectively holds the rights to the deeper layer. That is, the court shot down the request by the landowners to force development of the shale layer…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Using Technology to Stay Profitable in the Marcellus/Utica
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

Given the low, and for now staying low, price of oil and natural gas, what can Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers do to stay profitable? A professor of Petroleum Engineering & Geology at Marietta College takes a look at some of the recent innovations in technology that hold promise for northeast shale drillers, including liquefied carbon dioxide and gelled propane…
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Industrywide Issues | Research

Just 4 Countries Around the World Produce Shale Gas – Why?
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

Here’s an interesting factoid from our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Did you know that shale gas is currently produced in just four countries around the globe? One of them is the U.S., of course. Can you name the other three? Before reading the EIA article (which we’ve included below) we didn’t know there are only four countries currently producing shale gas. The other three countries are…Canada, China and Argentina…
Read More “Just 4 Countries Around the World Produce Shale Gas – Why?”
Accidents | Brooke County | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia

ATEX Express Ethane Pipeline Now Fixed, 100% Back Online Today
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

Sometime today, the Appalachia-to-Texas Express (ATEX) ethane pipeline will once again be fully operational. On January 26 a section of the pipeline in Brooke County, WV ruptured and caught fire (see ATEX Ethane Pipeline Explodes, Burns in Brooke County, WV). The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is investigating but so far they don’t have a final determination. When that section of the pipeline went offline, two of four processing facilities that feed ethane to the line we bumped off. Starting today, all four processing plants will once again be flowing ethane through the ATEX…
Read More “ATEX Express Ethane Pipeline Now Fixed, 100% Back Online Today”
Earthquakes | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

EPA Sees Connection Between Some Injection Wells & Earthquakes
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

On February 5th the Underground Injection Control National Technical Workgroup, part of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, released their final report on a potential link between wastewater injection wells (called Class II wells) and earthquakes. To which we say, we knew a probable connection existed three plus years ago. That’s the typical lag you get with when the federal government “investigates” something. The report is titled “Minimizing and Managing Potential Impacts of Injection-Induced Seismicity from Class II Disposal Wells: Practical Approaches” (the full 415-page copy is embedded below). The report says, in essence, while they can’t prove there’s connection between injection wells in some locations and earthquakes, the relationship is “undeniable.” MDN’s comment: What everyone acknowledges is that when you inject fluid into the earth over an active fault line, that fluid acts like grease and eventually the rock layers can, in RARE circumstances, slip and slide, causing a LOW LEVEL earthquake–typically so light no one feels it at the surface. The EPA study was based on cases from four states, two of them (OH & WV) in the Marcellus/Utica region…
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Bucks County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Taxation

Latest Tax Marcellus Bill from Rep Tina Davis: Effective Rate of 11%
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

It’s another day, must be time for another liberal Pennsylvania Democrat to propose taxing the the Marcellus industry into oblivion, and right on cue PA Rep. Tina Davis (Bucks County, near Philadelphia) has introduced one. Her plan goes well beyond the plan offered earlier this week by PA Gov. Tom Wolf. Wolf’s plan is for a 7.5% tax, that taken with the existing state corporate income tax pushes an effective severance tax rate to well over 10%. That’s not enough for the tax ravenous Tina Davis: She not only wants a 5.2% severance tax with 4.6 cents per Mcf (effective rate of maybe 8% total), she wants to keep the current impact fee, which is another 3% (not the 1.9% claimed), creating an effective rate of somewhere around 11%. Let’s just save the Dems some time: Tax the Marcellus industry 99% and let those money-grubbing corporations keep 1%. That’s what PA Dems really want. What’s that? You say not all money earned by corporations (and citizens) belongs to the government? You silly goose. Of course it all belongs to the state…
Read More “Latest Tax Marcellus Bill from Rep Tina Davis: Effective Rate of 11%”
Carbon County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation

More Silly Antics from Antis at FERC PennEast Pipeline Hearing
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

We’ve been to a number of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) scoping hearings, as well as hearings by the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Whether it’s a hearing on pipelines, compressor stations or shale drilling, anti-fossil fuel nutters always show up and it seems as if they read from the same script every time. The latest example of that comes from Carbon County, PA where the silly antics of antis was on full display once again, this time at a FERC hearing on the PennEast Pipeline. Example: One anti-pipeline nutter used part of her 3 minutes of talk time to read the lyrics from a Disney movie (boggles the mind)…
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