Industrywide Issues

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    US Senators Join Chorus: “Illegal” Steel Pipe Dumping by S Korea

    On Monday MDN reported that the chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Robert F. Powelson, was up in arms over what he considers to be the illegal dumping of steel pipes by South Korea in the U.S. (see New Issue: Ban Use of Cheap/Imported Steel Pipes in PA Marcellus?). Many (most?) of those steel pipes are being used by the shale drilling industry across the country, including (presumably) in the Marcellus/Utica region.

    Powelson is not the only person to voice a concern. Now, liberal Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and conservative Republican Senator Jeff Sessions (Alabama) have joined the chorus. Citing a new report that says illegal dumping of steel pipes threatens a half million U.S. jobs, Brown and Session are pushing U.S. trade officials to remove an exemption on steel imports for South Korea…
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    Latest Earthjustice Scam: “Clean Air” Petition Signed by 64 People

    Here’s a scam for you. If you’re an anti-driller, make up a hokey name like Berks Gas Truth, Riverkeeper, Catskill Mountain Keeper, or Breathe Easy Susquehanna County–claim it’s a huge, many-membered group (when it has half a dozen or less active members), and then be used by a small group of fanatical lawyers in Washington, DC calling themselves Earthjustice to claim “64 environmental and community groups” are “demanding” the federal government, via the EPA, should illegally usurp individual state’s rights and begin regulating the oil and gas industry by the back door–using the Federal Clean Air Act. Which is just what Earthjustice is claiming with its latest publicity stunt. The radical (and small) Earthjustice has prepared a proposed rulemaking petition for the federal EPA and used their loosely affiliated lackeys in the aforementioned “groups” (64 in all) to “sign” the “petition”. And news outlets like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette fell for it hook, line and sinker, reporting it as real news when it’s nothing more than yet another propaganda play.

    When was the last time a group like Earthjustice organized a 3,000-member rally against drilling like was recently held by pro-drillers in Harrisburg, PA (see First-Hand Account of History-Making PA Energy Rally). What’s that…Never? That would be correct. Below is the so-called petition written by a few lawyers in DC, signed by a few devoted anti-drillers from the hinterlands, and packaged as a “movement” of gazillions of people rising up with pitchforks in hand to demand “clean air.” Plueeze…
    Read More “Latest Earthjustice Scam: “Clean Air” Petition Signed by 64 People”

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    PPG Says Drilling is Killing PA Residents – via Traffic Accidents

    We’re not exactly sure when the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette turned anti-drilling. We’ve previously theorized that perhaps the drilling industry is throwing more advertising money to their arch-competitor, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and so the PPG’s strange turn to anti-drilling is either sour grapes, pay-back, or an elaborate shake down to get more ad revenue. However, one thing is for sure, the editors at the PPG don’t like drilling, as evidenced by the increasing number of negative articles and editorials they write about the industry. When they hired reporter Anya Litvak away from the Pittsburgh Business Times last year we were thrilled. After a few initial stories–they’ve all but hidden her talents away. We haven’t spotted an Anya story on shale in months.

    Perhaps Pittsburgh-area residents should cancel their subscriptions to the PPG in protest? Here’s the latest editorial by the PPG that asserts “drilling will kill you because of traffic accidents” …
    Read More “PPG Says Drilling is Killing PA Residents – via Traffic Accidents”

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    Range Resources Finally Wins Case to Drill 2 Wells in Robinson Twp

    cold shoulderA surprising victory for Range Resources in a court case against Robinson Township (Washington County), PA. Robinson is one of the seven selfish towns that sued the state and eventually got large portions of the Act 13 law overturned–potentially screwing all townships out of impact fee money throughout the state. The court case between Range and Robinson is over Robinson’s decision to block permits and drilling at two proposed wells Range wanted to begin drilling back in 2012. Range won the right to proceed, in a decision by Judge John DiSalle.

    The surprise is because Judge DiSalle is married to a very active and vocal anti-driller and the judge is known for a string of anti-drilling decisions in the past (see Washington County, PA Judge Continues Anti-Drilling Decisions). Based on yesterday’s decison by DiSalle, Range is free to begin drilling as early as today, if they want to. We predict Judge DiSalle will get the cold shoulder from the misses at home for a while…
    Read More “Range Resources Finally Wins Case to Drill 2 Wells in Robinson Twp”

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    PDC Accident: Drilling Mud Spills into Creek in Morgan County, OH

    In the hubbub of news that comes from Utica Shale drilling in eastern Ohio, one county we don’t hear much about is Morgan County (southeast part of the state, below Muskingum County and left of Noble County). So it was with interest we noted last November that PDC Energy was issued permits to drill three wells in Morgan County (see Morgan County, OH Looks to Join the Utica Shale Well Club). The drilling has been under way and we didn’t know it! Except now.

    Last week there was a “mishap” at the drill site for one of the wells and about 140 barrels of drilling mud spilled at the site (something like 5,800 gallons). Around 100 barrels of the semi-liquid mud was contained on the drill pad, but about 40 barrels spilled into a nearby creek where it was contained. Apparently PDC hit a pocket of gas which escaped and forced the mud out of the hole faster than they could contain it. The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources is now investigating to determine whether PDC can move forward with drilling or will need to plug that well and abandon it. Here’s what we know at the moment…
    Read More “PDC Accident: Drilling Mud Spills into Creek in Morgan County, OH”

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    Access Midstream: Major Expansion of Utica Processing Facility

    Seems like Chesapeake Energy and its old subsidiaries can’t get enough of…Aubrey McClendon?! MDN told you in April that Cheapeake Energy is leasing some of its rigs to its former CEO, Aubrey McClendon, for drilling in the Utica Shale (see Aubrey McClendon Leases Rigs from Chesapeake to Drill in the Utica). Yesterday came word that Access Midstream (used be called Chesapeake Midstream before Chessy spun it off into its own company) is planning a major expansion of its Utica East Ohio natgas processing facility in eastern Ohio. Why? Three existing customers need more capacity–but also because they’ve picked up a brand new long-term, VIP customer. Can you guess who it is?

    Here’s the press release from Access about the coming expansion of UEO which will give them a capacity to process 1.1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas…
    Read More “Access Midstream: Major Expansion of Utica Processing Facility”

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    GreenHunter 1Q14: Injection Well Volume up 97%, Barging Soon?

    In the parade of quarterly analyst calls, GreenHunter Resources–the wastewater handling division of Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation–held their call yesterday. We learned some interesting things from reading the transcript. Like, GreenHunter now owns and has operational 9 wastewater injection wells (often referred to as salt water disposal wells, or SWDs). We also learn that once the U.S. Coast Guard grants permission to begin barging wastewater down the Ohio River, GreenHunter will need something like $20 million to build out their barge facilities.

    Below is the opening/prepared remarks from Kirk J. Trosclair, GreenHunter’s Chief Operating Officer, along with one Q&A about the barging facilities…
    Read More “GreenHunter 1Q14: Injection Well Volume up 97%, Barging Soon?”

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    Wetlands Banking Comes to PA – No, It’s Not a Savings & Loan

    At some time in the past 25 years, radical environmentalists succeeded in renaming swamps to “wetlands,” thereby re-casting the debate over whether it’s OK to build something on, in or under them. In other words, environmentalists made it really hard to drain a swamp, giving rise to things like mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus. But we digress. Although this will sound rather bizarre, there is a new program alive in Pennsylvania whereby companies that want to, say, dig up a wetland to lay a natural gas pipeline, can buy credits to do so. What kind of credits and how?

    Companies may now buy credits that create swamps, er wetlands, in other areas. That is, as long as the net amount of wetland acreage remains the same, the federal fascist bureaucracy is happy. (We know! Don’t bother will silly logic. Don’t ask questions like, “What happened when Indians ruled North America and nature created and destroyed swamps all on her own? Was there anyone around to ensure Mother Nature didn’t screw herself?”) Here’s the (to us) funny and bizarre story of what’s called “mitigation banking,” sometimes referred to as “wetlands banking”…
    Read More “Wetlands Banking Comes to PA – No, It’s Not a Savings & Loan”

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    Plan Advances to Build $615M Gas-Powered Electric Plant in WV

    The plans continue to advance to build a 549 megawatt electrical generating plant near Moundsville, WV that will be powered by Marcellus Shale gas (see Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant Coming to Marshall County, WV). As MDN previously reported, the deal to get it built and operating is a tad complicated (see Complicated Deal for Proposed WV Gas-Powered Electric Plant). Essentially the deal boils down to this: the company that will build and operate the plant will turn over the deed to the facility once it’s built to the county and pay the county lease payments each year in lieu of paying taxes. It’s a win/win for everyone. Right now the land on which the plant will be built is an EPA brownfield producing no taxes.

    Here’s more details on just how the plan will work for Marshall County:
    Read More “Plan Advances to Build $615M Gas-Powered Electric Plant in WV”

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    PA Marcellus Shale Gas Going to…Latvia?!

    The prime minister of Latvia–Her Excellency Mrs. Laimdota Straujuma–recently visited Philadelphia. For those who don’t know, Latvia is an ex-Soviet Union country in eastern Europe. Mrs. Straujuma wants U.S. natural gas–Marcellus gas–really bad. Some of the unnamed people she met with in Philly said they’ll be more than happy to sell her some–as soon as the Obama administration gets off it’s rear-end and issues export permits.

    Here’s the story of how home-grown, cheap, abundant Marcellus Shale gas may give freedom in Europe a boost (and give the dangerous bully Putin a poke in the eye)…
    Read More “PA Marcellus Shale Gas Going to…Latvia?!”

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    Media Bias in Story re NJ Senate Vote to Ban Frack Waste

    We’re always amazed that because a newspaper is published on dead trees, the reporters for that paper are somehow accorded the honor of being impartial and unbiased–and the pap they write, especially about drilling and fracking, is somehow impartial and unbiased. When in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Case in point: an article appearing in today’s Hackensack, NJ’s The Record, reporting on a bill that passed the NJ Senate yesterday that would ban the treatment or disposal of frack waste in the state. The story says “environmentalists” are delighted because they may be able to arm-twist enough legislators to override a veto by Gov. Christie this time around (they tried it in 2012 and failed).

    It’s the way the obviously anti-drilling reporter “reports” (or rather mis-reports) the news that is so egregious. The article is anything but impartial. The “reporter” (we’d say anti-drilling advocate) definitely takes a side, and attempts his best smear job at clean, safe fracking for natural gas–used by his own state in quantities larger than most other states. To which we say: When will PA, WV and OH start banning their shale gas from being sold to states like NJ and others who ban fracking or the clean, safe treatment of frack waste? Here’s is the article with MDN’s suggested edits, using strike throughs and [brackets]…
    Read More “Media Bias in Story re NJ Senate Vote to Ban Frack Waste”

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    Final PA Democrat Gov Debate Interrupted by Anti-Drilling Kook

    Last night was the final debate in Philadelphia between the final four Democrat candidates seeking the nomination to run for governor in November in Pennsylvania. Which was a yawner. All four are Democrat hacks that will try to screw up the economic miracle happening in PA from Marcellus Shale drilling. None of them deserve your vote–including the presumptive winner of today’s primary, Tom Wolf.

    We only mention last night’s debate because a hysterical (i.e. distraught) young woman who is anti-drilling took to the stage and interrupted the debate to vomit out the same old lies that drilling’ll kill everyone and Mother Earth, while the obsequious candidates just looked on. It was, well, hysterical (i.e. funny)…
    Read More “Final PA Democrat Gov Debate Interrupted by Anti-Drilling Kook”

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    Rumor Mill: Aubrey McClendon Buying Enduring Resources

    rumor-mill.jpgReuters is reporting the rumor that Aubrey McClendon, former CEO of natgas behemoth Chesapeake Energy and current CEO of a new startup–American Energy Partners–is close to sealing a deal to buy Enduring Resources. Enduring is a shale driller with active rigs in both Utah and Texas. Rumor has it that the deal values Enduring at $2 billion, which is about how much money Aubrey has raised so far for his drilling program in the Utica Shale.

    We told you before and will tell you again–never sell Aubrey McClendon short. Chesapeake (and corporate raider Carl Icahn) will come to rue the day they booted Aubrey out the door. Here’s what Reuters says about the rumor…
    Read More “Rumor Mill: Aubrey McClendon Buying Enduring Resources”

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    Status Report on PA Royalty Bill HB 1684 – Recess Limbo

    As MDN told you three weeks ago, Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 1684 has hit some turbulence on its way to quick passage (see PA HB 1684 Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act Hits a Snag). The bill, as originally introduced, was supported by the PA chapter of the National Royalty Owner’s Association and would provide for landowners to receive a minimum 12.5% in royalties, disallowing some of the shenanigans Chesapeake Energy has engaged in with reducing post-production expenses via a back door (see PA NARO Alert: Tell Your State Rep to Vote YES on HB 1684).

    But along the way the drilling industry objected–rather loudly–saying lease contracts signed by two parties, the landowner and the driller, should not be modified by the legislature (see Rare Schism Between Landowners & Drillers over PA Royalty Law). Since the original bill, a number of amendments have been proposed, one of them that may well get adopted, that would fundamentally gut the intention of the bill to provide a minimum 12.5%. Lawmakers debated HB 1684 and amendments last week–before adjourning and heading out of town for a 3-week recess (wish we had a 3-week vacation whenever we wanted!). Here’s a status report and update on what happened last week and where things now stand with HB 1684…
    Read More “Status Report on PA Royalty Bill HB 1684 – Recess Limbo”

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    PA DEP Publishes First Annual O&G Report + Video (Very Cool)

    Last week the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) published their first-ever Oil and Gas Annual Report–for the year 2013 (full copy below). The report celebrates the miracle of fracking shale in PA and the DEP’s hard work to keep it safe. Along with the report (with a lot of great information) the DEP has released a video starring some of the hard-working people for the Office of Oil and Gas Management. It is a FABULOUS video–we’ve embedded it below. Please give it a watch and as you have time, peruse the 31-page first-ever Annual report.

    First up, the DEP press release announcing the report and its raison d’être…
    Read More “PA DEP Publishes First Annual O&G Report + Video (Very Cool)”

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    Rogue Federal EPA Tries New Power Play to Regulate Fracking

    On Friday the rogue and out-of-control federal Environmental Protection Agency continued its rogue and out-of-control ways. Even though the drilling industry has formed FracFocus.org to register the chemicals used at every single well drilled, and even though many states require their drillers to file reports with FracFocus, and even though anyone, including you and me as well as the EPA can run a quick search on any well to find out what chemicals have been used–the EPA is considering their own rule on reporting. On Friday the EPA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR, full copy embedded below) that threatens to bring down the jackboots of the EPA on the necks of drillers everywhere–requiring them to do what they already do. In their ANPR the EPA says maybe new regulations will be federal regs (in violation of the U.S. Constitution which stipulates the states regulate oil and gas drilling), or maybe it will be voluntary, maybe it will be just a report filed with the feds, maybe a report filed with a third party (like FracFocus). Lots of maybes in the generic, mealy-mouthed ANPR.

    Make no mistake. This is the beginning of a huge power grab–something the EPA has lusted for. The clock is ticking on the failed Obama administration and they want to grab any power–by law or fiat–that they can. The EPA has NO business regulating oil and gas drilling in the United States–unless we hand it to them on a silver platter. Once published in the Federal Register there will be a 90-day comment period. Let’s flood the power-crazed EPA with comments telling them “no thanks.” Below is the EPA press release along with a copy of the draft ANPR…
    Read More “Rogue Federal EPA Tries New Power Play to Regulate Fracking”